"Alright, let me check." Lars pulled out a telephone and made a quick call to Boa. Once he confirmed that his companions were returned in good condition (though they were still unconscious), he nodded and thanked Joker who quickly bowed once more and left.

"Well boy, can we hurry up? As they say, time is money, and my time especially is worth more than it's weight in gold...! What are your next requests? Make it quick!" Duke Silvan was already rather on edge both from the time wasted as well as a bad feeling about the way things were moving.

He consoled himself once more as he lifted the cup of tea to his lips and took a deep long breath, drawing the warmth wafting from the teacup into his lungs. The newly refilled hot water brought out the best fragrances and flavours of the tea leaves and Duke Silvan felt his soul calmed and his emotions soothed by the refres.h.i.+ng and warming scents which stood in contrast to the cold underground surroundings, especially now that they were on the cusp of winter.

He felt better as he began to sip at the tea as he reasoned that this was but a small stepping stone and a tiny investment in view of the grand scheme of things. After all, what did it matter if a little chick affronted him? It was not in public or anything and it wouldn't affect him at all!

Satisfied with these thoughts, he raised the cup to take a long draught of tea as he watched Lars speak chirpily.

"Okay! Then, I want to marry Princess Moira after the Nationals!"

Instantly, Duke Silvan splurted out his entire mouthful of tea in front of him in a nearly 180 degree arc of temist, covering the

'G.o.dd.a.m.n MOTHERF***ER!!! How dare he ask such a preposterous thing?!? Who does he think I am, the King already???' Duke Silvan huffed and puffed as his face turned a myriad of colours - mostly red - in shame, disgust and resentment.

The worst part was that, as he was facing in Lars' direction when he did this, he would have covered Lars in a coating of saliva and tea but for the fact that the boy had instantly vanished from where he sat and appeared 5 feet away, just out of range of the fountainous liquids spouting from Duke Silvan's mouth!

'Almost as if though he already knew that was going to happen!!!!!! b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!!!!' But the handsome and refined middle-aged gentleman refused to let it get to him even as he felt the veins in his forehead throb. He wiped his face and the front of his gold-embroidered s.h.i.+rt as he recited a mantra to soothe his nerves: I'll skin that boy, I'll skin that boy, I'll skin that boy x1000000.

Lars stood there and looked on in amus.e.m.e.nt, not even bothering to veil his maddening smirk as he seemed to mock Duke Silvan's circ.u.mstances. This made the blood rush to the duke's head once more and he felt as if though his vision were turning red and pain lance through his chest.

'Ugh!! No!!! Silvan, Silvan! Calm yourself down... You can't let a suckling baby get to you like this; what will you do when you become King and Emperor then...? You can't let just anybody affect your emotions... Don't be like grandpa who died from a stroke when he was too mad after learning that you had impregnated your sisters... You gotta be zen and calm... Chillax bro Silvan... Chillax, me...'

Silvan closed his eyes and took deep breaths, ignoring the fact that he was making a spectacle of himself in front of Lars. He did not mind; the boy would soon be a contractual slave, anyway, how could he speak of this to anyone...?

He began to open his eyes and speak his reply, "Boy, haha, that is out of my capabilities. For such a thing--"

"Yes, just as I expected, you're not very useful, are you..." Lars folded his arms and sighed, putting on an expression of disappointment as the duke tried to smile in self-deprecation, but the smile came out as something more like a snarling animal hoping to tear out the throat of it's mortal enemy.

"Alright then, simple! I want to be a.s.signed as Princess Moira's personal guard and butler - no, her exclusive guard and butler! You can do at least that much, can't you...? Or are you incapable of even that little...?"

Refusing to take the bait at the obvious jab at his pride, Duke Silvan nodded and smiled magnanimously, saying, "Just that...? Of course, of course! It shall be done the moment the Nationals are over, you have my sworn word, engraved into our contract. Here, let me do it right now - I'll modify the contract array on the spot. You can watch if you don't believe me!"

"Really...? Wow! You're the best! If I had known you were so influential, I would have asked for something more... Oh, wait, I forgot - you already told me you're not able to do it... Nevermind then..."

Duke Silvan nearly choked in rage as his mouth opened and closed, lips trembling and unable to speak in his blinding anger. He felt like it would be better to die in anger and take the boy with him than endure any more of this verbal and mental torture! He breathed in and out deeply, closing his eyes for a moment as he hissed out venomously, "Come on, boy! Tell me your remaining three requests! I don't have time for your games! If you don't want to strike this deal, it's off and over with! But don't forget - since you didn't fulfil your part of the deal, you'll have to bear the costs of all the Underworld's services, including the ransom fee and "transportation" fees!"

He nearly bellowed out this ultimatum to Lars and, to his pleasure, he saw that the boy was taken aback and slightly shaken, appearing unsettled and nervous. Silvan smiled at the small victory and waved his hand twice quickly, indicating for the boy to hurry up.

"O-okay... Then, your grace... My next three requests are truly simple, I won't be asking anything difficult that you can't do, as I understand that your abilities, powers and wealth are truly too limited to be of any use... I understand and won't waste any more of your time, for your time is limited as well, but not as limited as your abilities, powers or wealth... And I understand that your time is also very short and precious, so precious that I would not dare to take up any more of it by speaking worthless words, no! Why, how dare anyone presume to take up your grace's precious time? It is like gold; no, worth far more than gold, diamonds or precious jewels! How great it is to be one who can bask in the glory of your presence for more than one second, how glorious and envious it must be for those who can ever-dwell in your abode! This humble one..."

"HURRY UP AND SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!!" Duke Silvan roared and grabbed Lars by the collar, shaking him back and forth violently several times.

He lost his self control entirely and only after shaking Lars more than 10 times did he realise what he was doing - and that he might injure the boy severely and disqualify him from partic.i.p.ating in the Nationals!

He quickly released his hands from Lars' collar, leaving him to drop to the floor in a heap. Nervous and worried that he had gone too far when blinded with anger, he fell to his knees and immediately channeled healing and strengthening mana into Lars' body. He focused and sent his mana to every part of the boy's body, focusing especially on the boy's internal organs to repair any internal trauma caused by the high-powered shaking rendered.

Normally his Legendary-level mana pool would be enough to heal more than a hundred peak-Experts; but to Silvan's shock, the boy seemed to be like a bottomless pit, sucking more and more and more of his mana! And before he noticed it, Silvan felt tired and drained; by his estimates, in just a flash and a blink of an eye, more than 20% of his mana had been sucked into the boy's black-hole body to repair his cells and rejuvenate his body!

Nevertheless, to his relief, despite the vigorous and aggressive shaking, Lars looked alright, merely turned pale.

"Thank the G.o.ds you're alright... What a scare! I wouldn't know what to do with my plans if..." Silvan breathed out a long sigh of relief and began to speak worriedly before he suddenly caught himself and realised that he was revealing too much to the boy! He gulped and quickly changed his relieved face to be a cold and angry face, scowling as he changed his tone immediately and shot to his feet, pus.h.i.+ng the boy away roughly - but gently so as not to injure him.

"Scoundrel! That will teach you to mess with me! Now GET TO THE POINT!" He raised his voice to a shout for the last words as he turned away to regulate his emotions.

'What's wrong with me...??? Being toyed with by a kid! When I get back, I'll have to go into training for emotional, social, verbal and political exchanges once more - today has been a great failing on my part...' Silvan sighed and chided himself. Regardless of how he was aggravated, he as the bigger man should not be reacting as such. He shook his head in disappointment at himself and turned to wait for Lars to recover and finish his request.

"Al-alright your grace... Please, forgive me... I don't dare to do that again, never! I would by no means dare to ever again speak too verbosely just to waste your time; by the heavens, no! There's no way I would--"

"SHUT UP!!!!!! YOU DARE TO DO IT AGAIN???? JUST SAY YOUR PART OR BEGONE ONCE AND FOR ALL FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH!!!!!!!!! AND I MEAN IT!!! JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE USEFUL FOR MY PLANS DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE IRREPLACEABLE!!!!!!!!!! WANNA SEE ME RIP OUT YOUR BRAIN AND USE IT AS A SPONGE???????"

Lars looked shocked as a heaving, puffing, panting, enraged Silvan literally screamed this in his face - but the man did not dare lay a finger on him even in his show of rage.

Then Lars chuckled as he said, "Alright, alright... Enough fun and games! Though I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did... I'm just worried that you'll be unhappy if I tell you my request... Maybe I shouldn't continue and just pay back everything; you know what, I feel bad to be taking advantage of you and all. I think I'll just withdraw and leave right now without making anymore requests--"

"NO!!!! NOT AT ALL!!!! JUST F***ING TELL ME YOUR REQUESTS!!!! I'M BEGGING YOU, JUST TELL ME ALREADY!!!! PLEASEEEEEEEEE!!! P-P-P-PUH-LEASEEE!!!!!" Silvan did not know whether to laugh or to cry as he literally fell to his knees and was halfway between screeching and sobbing, turned insane by the boy that he had though would be a puppet dancing in the palm of his hands...

...Only to find that he was the puppet hanging on strings at the behest of the masterful manipulator before him!

Laughing jovially once more, Lars said, "Well, since you asked..."

"My request is... I want a huge, tall, mountain-high cliff...!"

"?????"

Seeing Duke Silvan's look of shock and inability to process what he had just heard, Lars shook his head and laughed it off.

"Just kidding! What I actually want are..."