“Hahahahaha. I love this boy!”

As the spectators were being escorted out of the Colosseum, in one of the compartments at the top, someone was laughing gleefully.

“He’s such a manipulator,” the voice spoke between the giggles.

The voice was sweet, enchanting, and melodious, making it clear that it belonged to a woman, but just like the other compartments, this was dark from the inside.

The only thing perceivable was a pair of golden eyes that seemed like orbs of light floating in the darkness.

“Who would’ve thought that he would introduce the girl by using those two boys who fought tooth and hard?” The voice giggled again, adding, “It was such precise manipulation of people’s minds that even I found it frightening.”

To normal people in the audience who were fully immersed in the match due to their low power level, the words spoken by Alex before were emotion-stirring, but for those who didn’t feel anything other than surprise when they saw the match, Alex’s manipulation was clear.

He had used the match that made people stand from their seats as a base to rile them up emotionally, and when the moment was at its peak, he, instead of calling Mira as Blue, called her by her real name.

The moment was so perfect that although everyone’s mind registered that Alex had introduced Mira, they didn’t focus much on it, as they were emotionally connected with something else.

“As a cherry on top, he even made her look like a hero, fully aware that, in doing so, he was damaging the reputations of the other two promising young men with bright futures ahead of them,” the voice continued, as though the speaker wasn’t merely talking to herself but recounting those details for someone else.

Alex had also made Mira look like the one who did best in the performance. His goal from the start was to give Mira an image good enough to not get bullied in the academy like she was in the original plot.

Now, with what he had done, even if the high-ranking students later realized that they had actually cheered for a commoner—something some noble kids like the sons and daughters of kings and high nobles would never want—Mira would already be a figure that many would be looking up to.

“He went as far as taking the risk of offending the demon lord,” praised the voice, honestly surprised that he would do it, but he did.

Yes, Alex was using the demon lord’s name as he saw showing Mira to be better than Keryu. He was using Keryu’s name as the demon lord’s youngest son as a stepping stone; it meant that he was using the demon lord’s name as a stepping stone.

“I guess having a mother as strong as Vanessi gave him confidence, but not anyone can have resistance to the intimidation of the demon lord,” the owner of the voice chuckled to herself, mentioning Vanessa in a term that made them seem quite close, and then…

Rustle

“You did a good job.”

The sound of clothes shifting was heard along with the golden orb-like eyes going higher. The owner of the voice was now clearly standing.

“He’s not naive—way too mature for his age even. He’s not some goody to shoes and seems like the guy who would be evil if necessary. He’s a manipulator. And last but not least…” The owner of the voice took a deep breath, giggling a bit, her golden eyes forming a crescent as she added, “… he’s one of the most handsome guys I have ever seen. Hehe.”

“Thank you, my lady.”

It was then that a voice—distorted and broken—was heard. It was as if someone was using a walkie-talkie. The gender of the owner wasn’t perceptible due to the static interference of the device, but they sounded happy to receive the compliment from this lady.

“Hm, hm, hang up now. I need to meet with Vanessi now!” The owner of the glowing golden eyes spoke; her eyes were always bright, making it seem like she was smiling all the time.

“As you wish, my lady.” The voice on the other side of the walkie-talkie-type device listened to her command, and with a beep, the call was cut off.

Even after the call was cut, the owner of the voice still didn’t move; her eyes were staring at Alex, who, after handing the mic to Lilia, was now moving toward the board, a hint of desire flashing past her golden eyes but disappearing as soon as it appeared.

“My god, what was I even thinking? Hehe.” She giggled to herself, “Vanessi would kill me if she were to hear about it.” She shook her head jokingly before vanishing from the spot.

The room descended into silence as soon as she was gone, leaving nothing but a golden-colored coin on the table, shining bright like her eyes, but soon, the coin, which was placed on the table, dissolved into it, disappearing just like the woman.

……

Meanwhile, Alex, oblivious to the fact that he was being stared upon by someone, was right now talking with a guy—the one responsible for the construction of the voting board.

The guy had short-trimmed, jet-black hair falling low across his forehead and wore square-framed glasses, which made him look more mature than his age. He was wearing a simple beige long-sleeve shirt and black pants. He didn’t look like a person who cared about his looks at all.

His black eyes were focused on Alex as they went through the oath they had taken before, retaking them.

“Hah… Why did we have to do it again?! This is just a waste of time; I was never going to reveal anything, anyway.” The guy, after completing the oath, sighed in indignation.

“You know that I don’t like half-assing things,” Alex, however, just shrugged, not really bothered by the guy’s tone, as he knew that although this guy had some anger issues and sometimes spoke more than he was supposed to, he was not really a bad guy.

He was supposed to be the biggest supporter of Ben, who would accidentally save this guy, but Alex, not wanting to wait for that plot, just bought the guy with money. This guy loved money, after all.

He was Thorin Anvilbrow, a dwarf with some special circumstances, and it is due to those circumstances that he, unlike other dwarves, isn’t actually small in height.

Right now, he might not be much, but in the later part of the story, this guy becomes really rich, as he is the best craftsman you can find.

“Yeah, yeah. Give me the damn contract now!”

Thorin, however, just waved his hand and demanded something with his other hand extended toward Alex.

“Here, have it.” And Alex, taking the contract paper from his storage ring, handed it to Thorin with a disinterested look. “It would be safer on you, anyway.”

Thorin, who got the contract, didn’t even hear Alex’s second line, as the moment he got the contract, he started reading through it.

This contract was related to the voting board. Alex had promised that he would let Thorin sell the voting board under his own name, even though it was Alex who came up with the idea. All Alex wanted was 5% of the total profit.

It was a pretty loss-inducing offer for Alex, but that was precisely why Thorin agreed because he could see only profit in it.

Yeah, there was this condition that was not written on the contract but Thorin took an oath of existence for, which was to not reveal anything about what had happened today.

“Good, I will be taking my leave now.”

Soon, however, Thorin turned around, walking away from there, fearing that Alex might stop him and try to change some conditions since the contract was just like what he had said it to be.

Thorin was always thinking that Alex was trying to cheat him, but it looked like he wasn’t—which, although hard to believe, wasn’t something he should be thinking about right now.

For now, he just wanted to run away from here, not wanting the worst of his fears to come true, and Alex, who saw the guy almost tripping in a hurry, just chuckled, shaking his head.

He had settled one more thing with this.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep