Chapter 399 - Betting
"These are your final five! Congratulations: Skrrag, Nebbrt, Luther, Javvg, and Franklin!"
As the announcer spoke out these names, a 'BANG!' could be heard from the private booth which made many nearby turn around, wondering who was so angry.
If they had known that it was the sect leader who had set up this whole tournament in the first place, they would have been very surprised.
"Ha ha, sect leader! And here I thought I would never get one up on you! Fate truly acts in mysterious ways!"
"Humph."
Deciding not to give an answer to Jaggrv's jibe, the sect leader angrily stormed out of the private booth, as they were in a recess anyway before the finals would begin.
Seeing him leave, all of the top assassins and the previous sect leader had smiles on their faces, but none of them rubbed it in his face like Jaggrv.
Of course, it was to be expected that the rudest top assassin would be the only one to tease the sect leader after he had lost so much money.
Controlling his laugher, Jaggrv said, "He will be able to pay up, right?"
Stefan, who was sitting beside him, replied in an amused voice.
"Of course. He is the sect leader, you know. He wouldn't possibly try to shake off his debts. After all, you know what he said. He really values his debts. That's great for us, considering how much of a debt he has now."
By the end of his statement, even Stefan started chuckling.
He couldn't help it. When he had heard about the betting, he had thought that it would be very tough to earn any money at all, as the sect leader seemed like someone who was very astute.
However, until now, the man had consecutively lost three bets.
Some of the top assassins had been cautious at first, but by the third bet, everyone has started to pool in their resources to take advantage of this opportunity and skin the sect leader dry.
In their opinion, it was naïve of the sect leader to even announce this betting when all of them knew that they had much more experience in assessing assassination skills than some outsider.
They had had this thought since the beginning itself, but it became more and more apparent in their minds after they saw the sect leader lose the first two bets with frustration on his face.
Some of them had been scared that he might back out of the third bet for the third round, but saying that he had to go through with something after he had promised it, the sect leader still sat and allowed bets and even made his own.
By the end of the third round, although there were a few losing bets among the top assassins too, no one had lost more than the sect leader.
Tallying up his losses, everyone widened their eyes when they saw that in total, he owed 2 million gold coins and 2 Warrior level trinkets.
Seeing this, even they started to doubt whether he would be able to pay up.
Well, they didn't need to concern themselves with this fact. After all, someone who had been exiled from the Big Four and spent a lot of time in the Central Continent must have built up a tidy fortune over the years. In fact, it was said that the business of that honey repelling liquid in Lanthanor itself had been ultra profitable.
So, they just sat in their seats and started thinking about what they would do with their newfound wealth.
Just as the recess was about to be over, the sect leader walked back in, surprising them all.
Wait… Hadn't he had enough?
His words answered this question of theirs.
"All of you must be delusional if you think that I would give up one last chance to win back at least some of that money. And if it ends with me losing even more, well, that's that. Oh, don't worry, even if it kills me, I'll pay up. Last round of betting, people. If you are thinking that I have quite a fortune saved away, you're right. So if you have anything you're holding back, now would be the time. Don't be cowards."
This statement was met by silence from everyone in the private booth, as they couldn't believe that someone could wish for even more misfortune.
Clearly, the man had no skill in gambling, but he also seemed to be addicted to it.
At first, they felt sorry. After all, all of them knew how difficult it must be to not try one last time.
"It's alright, sect leader. You don't need to do this."
These words were said by Stefan, and the others nodded, because even though they did have the desire to win more, this was their respectable sect leader who had just saved them.
"Oh, shut up. All of you know you want to do it. I don't need you all to decide anything for me. If you're out, get out. If not, just walk up here and start making those bets. Don't leave me thinking that you all are much poorer than I imagined."
At this insult, whatever intention they had of saving their sect leader from crippling debt, vanished.
Well, they had tried.
Jaggrv was the first to walk up to the sect leader, grinning.
"Right. If you feel like jumping off a cliff, no one can stop you. Why should I not take advantage? I bet 3 million on Skrrag."
With this, the others followed suit, betting enormous amounts of money and valuable trinkets.
Most of the bets were on Skkrag, as he was the one with the best performance so far.
It was only the introverted reptilian who bet on a different candidate, and the others understood why, as that candidate was the reptilian's disciple.
Agmar, on the other hand, did not place any bet, as it turned out that he was the poorest among them all. Due to his grief of continuously losing one family member after another, he had apparently spent most of his time instructing instead of taking contracts.
As Daneel watched each of them bet such huge amounts of money, he had to struggle hard not to had let his jaw drop.
Assassination was truly a ludicrous business, he realized.
The betting worked in such a way that a common amount would be decided on, which all of the betting participants would put up. The bet was on whether a contestant would make it through to the next round or not. If they were right, and if everyone else was wrong, they would both get back their money and the money of all the others. If someone else had also bet on the same contestant, and if the others lost, they would have to split their winnings. If they lost, they would lose the money they put up. If multiple people won, the money of the losing participant would be split among the winners.
Right now, the common amount was set at an incredible 3 million gold coins and one Warrior level trinkets.
Clearly, they really had been conserving their fortunes up until now.
This made Daneel understand why the Hidden Kill Sect was ranked among the top forces in the Central Continent even though it had so few members. The wealth of its top members alone could almost match the entire operating budget of a Kingdom.
In fact, the amount right now was so high that Daneel hesitated a bit.
If they really lost everything, would they still continue to support him, or would they go entirely crazy?
It was a risk, and he had to think about it.
As all the bets were done, the five top assassins and the previous sect leader stared at Daneel, who had an expression as if he was thinking hard about something.
The started to worry whether he was having second thoughts about this betting round, but they decided to wait and see.
Seeing those eager expressions on their faces and knowing that they were all definitely hoping that he would lose again and distribute his wealth among them, he decided.
[email protected]@k them.
If they really went crazy, then he would handle it.
After all, at the end of the day, they were still bound by oaths.
Clapping his hands, he said, "Good job! So you all aren't as poor as I thought, after all. Four of you have bet on Skrrag, and one of you on Javvg. My bet- is on Luther. I don't know why, but I feel like trusting my disciple's commander. If I lose, so be it! But if I win, all of you better not start whining."
Hearing this, there was another brief silence for a few seconds, after which Jaggrv burst out laughing once again.
"Luther? You dumb-"
"Jaggrv!"
"Oh, yeah, never mind. Good luck, sect leader. Don't worry, we will be ready to pay up. I hope you will be, too."
Luther was the contestant who had just barely made it into the finals, so hearing his name, all of the top assassins and the previous sect leader became convinced that this 'expert' had once again [email protected]@ked up.
Jaggrv, of course, had been about to call out the sect leader for the same, but he had been stopped by Stefan. So, instead, he had spoken those words in a mocking tone that was hard to mistake for anything else.
Trying hard not to smile wide, they sat back down on their seats, not noticing the joyful look on their sect leader's face.