Chapter 183: Speechcraft
Basil walked around the facility with a book in his hand, followed by Barrett, who handled the money itself, while Basil handled the gambling process.
They made sure to have all those with any money to their names place it down. Talia’s aide, Boa, placed a considerable amount of money.
Lexie, on the other hand, said, "Like hell I’m doing gambling. Who do you think I am?" and rejected them right away. Her aide also refused to place any money, even when she believed blindly in Moon’s chances of winning.
Which wasn’t a loss for them; Basil realized that. "Why, almost everyone who was placing money on Boss Moon today is a damn pauper like us!" he exclaimed in anger.
"If we didn’t have any money from the last round, things would have gotten even worse," Barrett added.
Basil looked at the book, a list of names. "It’s good we didn’t split the money yet; otherwise, we might have never gotten a chance of placing anything."
"Do Colten and his group have any money on them?" Barrett asked skeptically.
Basil shook his head. "I had them pay their underwear last round," he said as he went through the list of names one by one.
"Regardless, we made a good amount of money anyway, and once Boss, hopefully, wins, it’ll be fine," Barrett assured the worried Basil.
Basil shook his head. "Bro Barrett." He raised his gaze to Barrett’s. "We should make sure our group is rich before the second trial starts. This is our only chance to make some money."
"What are you guys doing?" Next to them, a voice came, familiar. They turned around to see Dorbish passing by.
"Dorbish bro, you placing money on the winners of the next round?" Basil snapped his invitation right away.
Dorbish blinked. "I’m not sure. I don’t have much money left, and I’m not sure who would win either." He shrugged before adding, "It’d be bad if I lose all my money; I’m not a rich guy from a rich family," he explained.
"You’re not from a rich family?" Basil gave him a doubtful look, squinting deeply.
"My family is rich; I’m not," Dorbish clarified. "Don’t expect a clan descendant’s worth of money on me. If you want that, find Colten and Roran instead."
"Colten said he doesn’t have any more money right now," Basil said in a questioning tone; he wasn’t sure of the reality of things. How much did a rich kid go around with? He didn’t know.
Dorbish leaned closer to Basil. "He obviously has more money, but he’s afraid of getting beaten by Moon if he placed his money on Talia, and he doesn’t want to place his money on Moon either," he whispered with a very astute glint in his eyes.
The glint reflected in Basil’s eyes, who nodded in understanding. "Dorbish bro, now I know what I need to do," he said, before he shook his head in sadness. "Who would have thought the one we treated very well would be a traitor?"
Hearing this, Barrett rubbed his forehead. "Was he ever treated well?" he asked skeptically.
"Letting him live that long is the best treatment he could ever dream of," Basil clarified with utmost certainty.
Barrett pursed his lips, nodding. "You’re not wrong, I guess," he ended up agreeing. "What do we do now?" he asked.
"We’ll play a different game," Basil said with a heavy face before he turned back to Dorbish.
He leaned closer to him. "Dorbish bro, since you’re not a rich kid, do you think holding onto the pitiful money in your pockets would bring you anywhere?" he said all of a sudden.
Dorbish raised an eyebrow. "Of course not; still better than being entirely homeless," he answered.
"Then why wouldn’t you take a risk, a small risk with high return, a risk that would change your life?" Basil whispered, his eyes smiling sharply while the mask covered his mouth and nose. "A risk that might one day place you in equal standing to your clan entirely."
Dorbish squinted at him. He whispered back, "Did you work as a scammer before ascending?"
Basil chuckled softly. "Dorbish bro, you’re quite sharp for a kid from a rich family, though your assumptions cannot be said to be right."
While they were talking, or rather, fighting each other verbally for money, someone spoke all of a sudden with an annoyingly light tone that made Dorbish nearly jump in surprise. "Dorbish, found you at last."
"Ascender Roran, good to see you." Barrett stepped forward, leaving Dorbish and Basil to watch him with questioning gazes.
"Oh, I remember you," Roran said with evident surprise. "You’re that well-behaved guy from, cough cough, Moon’s, cough cough, group."
Roran was suddenly thrown into a fit of coughing at the mention of Moon’s name; he rubbed his neck a couple of times as he said the name.
Barrett smiled softly. "Glad Ascender Roran remembers me; my name is Barrett," he introduced himself. "I wanted to have a short minute of your time if it’s fine with you," he requested.
Roran nodded. "Of course, you can have a long moment too, haha," Roran spoke lightheartedly back, welcoming the friendliness Barrett radiated.
"Well, we were gathering bets, gambling to be exact," Barrett explained slowly with a very practiced smile—nice, friendly, and stable. "Boss Moon will be having a duel against the stunningly beautiful Lady Talia herself."
"Oh yeah, let’s watch this round together then," Roran nodded. "But what about the gambling part?"
Barrett’s smile widened slightly. "Let me explain." He clapped his hands together.
"Honestly, Lady Talia is too strong considering his background; she’s almost invincible," Barrett whispered. "We’re doing Boss a favour by betting on her to raise a good amount of money once he loses the duel," he said straightforwardly.
Dorbish and Basil looked at him wide-eyed, stunned, but Roran on the other hand was nodding in understanding. "Yes, Lady Talia is a beauty only seen once in the heavens," he said as he placed his right hand on his heart and raised his eyes to the sky. "A beauty, strong, classy, a lady beyond any words."
Barrett nodded. "She indeed is beyond what words could describe," he agreed readily, before adding, "So, would Ascender Roran be willing to place his money on her name winning this duel?" he asked.
"OF COURSE!" Roran answered excitedly. "OF COURSE, WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?" He took out a pouch of coins. "This is all the money I have; I leave it in your hands, friend," Roran said, before running off somewhere. "Dorbish, I’ll see you later!" He waved at Dorbish one last time before disappearing somewhere.
"The hell was that?" Basil looked wide-eyed at Barrett. "How did you do it?" he asked, stunned beyond words.
"Your speechcraft is impressive; where did you learn this?" Dorbish also couldn’t hold back his question and asked.
"Have you forgotten already? My entire family are merchants; of course I can win over a friendly customer and convince him easily," Barrett said casually.
"Scam him casually, you mean," Dorbish corrected.
"As long as we can raise enough money to survive the next trial, everything is good," Barrett retorted.
Basil exhaled slowly. "Barrett bro, I guess we were meant to meet and work together."