Casino…
A long while later…
A crowd of people was gathering around a table, Kale was sitting at one side while the rest of the spots were taken by four men and a woman.
All five of them had a set of cards in their hands, their expressions were solemn, they were switching glances among them like having a wordless discussion then glanced at Kale at the side who doesn't seem to even care about them.
A heap of gambling chips was present on his side, a satisfied expression was plastered on his face, there wasn't even a hint of tension on his tender little face.
Everyone around the table was quiet, they were all silently looking at him like they were watching a monster hiding in a child's skin.
Kale noticed their gazes and lightly chuckled, he threw the last four cards on the table.
When the cards were exposed and the people saw the four kings, they couldn't help but spare some pitiful looks to the other five players.
The only female player shook her head then put down her cards "I quit, seriously little brother, just what trick are you using?" She said with a bitter smile.
Kale smiled "Lady Freya, all five games were played in front of everyone's presence, we can't even use any type of energy here so how can I cheat? Moreover, I don't believe a business tycoon like Lady Freya would care about such a meager amount of money,"
The old man sitting on his left smiled, he too placed his cards on the table and quieted, without any argument he took out a card and placed it in front of Kale "Brat you have some skills, my company deals in wholesale trading if you are interested in this business in the future, then this will help, this old man will take his leave for now," He said then stood up and left.
Kale nodded and took the card, he knew why he was so generous, unlike others, the old man was most experienced, he understood the psychological game he was playing all along and choose to quit, a person who can understand others' psychology is bound to have talent in the field of business negotiations.
The other three men weren't in any better condition so they too quit this game and started preparing for another one, apparently, they wanted to go on.
Kale was thinking of playing another round when his phone buzzed, he took it out and checked the messages.
{Come to me, ASAP!} (Layla)
{What do you want?} (Kale)
{You will know when you come, I can't talk right now,} (Layla)
Kale wanted to acquire more information but Layla didn't reply to his further messages.
He was helpless, he looked at the bundle of gambling chips on the side and decided to quit here.
The efficiency of workers in the casino was high, it only took him a few minutes to convert the chips into digital money and transfer it into his account, Kale looked at his 85 G balance and nodded in satisfaction, he then left for the hall where the party was going on.
***
Kale walked through the corridor and entered the hall, he noticed the lights in the room were turned dim, light music was being played and several couples were engaged in dance.
It was a ballroom dance. The type of dance enjoyed by the Aristocrats here.
With one look, he understood the situation and the reason Layla called him here.
He looked around and his eyes landed on Layla, she was dancing with Arlo who had a bitter expression on his face.
As a Beast Tamer, Layla was asked by many from the younger generation to have a dance and she didn't like it, that's why she called him and forced Arlo into having a dance with her.
Arlo was the most helpless one, it was an opportunity for him to dance with other girls and impress them but he was stuck with her in the name of friendship, he knew the closest person to Layla was Kale and she had no interest in him whatsoever, she was too wild for him to even have thought about her.
When Kale looked at her, Layla also looked back at him, her eyes shined, she was about to finish the dance and approach him, but Kale turned his head completely ignoring her. He had only one thought in his head 'retreat'.
Dancing with her? It would be like letting the ones pursuing her know his face. He had no intention of being investigated by others or engage in petty quarrels of show off.
Layla knew it, that's why she didn't tell him the problem. She was about to chase him, and Kale was about to escape but another figure approached him from the side and blocked his path.
He looked at the girl standing in front of him, she was a blonde with pale blue eyes and an innocent face, she was wearing a long blue dress, it was Kanna.
When Kanna sensed him intently staring at her, her soft cheeks turned into a shade of red, she bashfully avoided his gaze.
She had seen his face before when Misha was healing him after his hunt of Vanishing Lizard, only his eyes were hidden at that time, but his eyes were still hidden under his hair right now, just like before.
Kale first glanced at her then the three boys watching from afar, it was obvious that his retreating plan was on the verge of failing.
"You don't have a partner… So would you like to… Dance with me?" Kanna said, by the end of the sentence her voice was smaller than a mosquito, she didn't dare meet his eyes as she spoke, it was likely that she had used up all her previously gathered courage in speaking those words.
Kale slightly frowned, he was an expert at reading people, Kanna was like an open book placed in front of him, he could tell what type of feeling were tacking roots in her heart.
His first thought was to scold her and destroy this seed of crush on the spot but when he saw how innocent and immature the girl was, he knew she was likely to get hurt and even cry if he really did it, if she spoke about this matter to someone else right now then he might become the target of others to curry her favour. At that time, even if she didn't want to do it, Kale would get in trouble.
Several thought appeared and disappeared in his mind, in the end, he decided to politely reject her by making a minor excuse.
Kale was just about to put his decision into action when he saw another familiar figure approaching from the distance, it was Misha.
He changed his plan. Kale faintly smiled and bowed "With pleasure," He said as he extended his hand towards Kanna.
Kanna saw him acting like a gentleman and meekly placed her hand in his hand. Kale carefully took her to a corner space that wasn't in a spotlight to engage in a dance.
Misha saw that he already chose a companion and sighed, a boy that was following behind her caught up and as expected, he asked for a dance, Misha couldn't reject, she had an image to maintain, she smiled and agreed.
Layla in the distance saw it and stomped her foot in anger. Unfortunately for Arlo, it landed on his foot but he could only hold back his painful scream inside and force a smile on his face.
If earlier, Kale had rejected Kanna's request, he would have received another one from Misha, she would have asked him even if she had heard him turning down Kanna, she would have just acted like she didn't see that.
Why? Because she was confident Kale can't easily reject, inside the Academy, she was a student, and no matter how humble she acts, she was a genuine princess here, rejecting her would be rude behaviour, a rube behaviour towards a member of the Royal Family.
This was why Kale accepted Kanna's request, compared to Misha who had already learned to use political tactics, she was an innocent girl at heart.
At present…
He was dancing with Kanna.
Kale held her delicate hand in his one hand and his other hand was resting on her curvy waist. He maintained his pace to match hers, every single one of his moves was skillful and swift.
He was much more experienced in this kind of dance than her, in his last life, as a royal, he had to learn all these things before his aptitude was checked and his inability to cultivate was made known.
Kanna was blushing as she danced, her heart was beating quickly, she was also surprised and a little embarrassed from the fact that how Kale was more skilled in dancing compared to her who was an Aristocrat.
The dance lasted for a long time, Kale was observing people around her, only when he saw that Misha had now changed partner again and had no time to pay attention to him did he show signs of stopping, giving her time to relax.
He had noticed quite a few people who were now eyeing him, or rather Kanna dancing with him.
"It was a good dance," Kale bowed respectfully as he said that.
"Er... Yes," Kanna said.
After saying that much, he decided to leave without saying another word, Kanna wanted to speak but in the next second, she was surrounded by the boys from before and the girls who wanted to talk to her. Even if she refuses to dance now with the excuse of being tired, she couldn't escape having a conversation with them.
Kale had just taken a few steps while escaping from the hall when an orange hair girl blocked his path.
"Where do you think you are going?" Layla said in a low tone, as she extended her hand towards him.
Kale bitterly smiled, he took her hand and followed along, dancing with her.
"Why are you still here? Let's go, leave this place," Kale said.
"We can't, we need to wait at least that idiot couple at the center finishes their dance," Layla said under her breath while wearing a graceful smile on her face.
Kale peeked at the pair dancing in the center of the hall, they were under the spotlight, the boy looked like around 20 years old and had blonde hair, the girl dancing with him was in the same age group as him, she had long brown hairs, and a beautiful face with deep black eyes.
The boy was Xander, the hero candidate of Blazing Sun Kingdom and the girl dancing with him was Lisa, the eldest princess of the Blazing Sun Kingdom.
On the surface, the party was for Mike's elder brother who graduated from the Academy but in truth, it was the gathering of his status people to form connections with each other. Especially targeting the Hero candidate, Xander, and the eldest princess Lisa.
Kale didn't ask more, he chatted with her to pass the time while dancing, he also realized that the better Layla's dagger mastery, the worse was her dancing skills.
He almost felt like she was purposely trying to crush his feet as they danced.
Once the music ended, the duo was the first to step out of the ballhall. They directly headed outside the hotel, took the car, and raced like there was no tomorrow.
They didn't lower the speed until they were just a few miles away from their base, just to be careful Kale advice Layla and switched off both of their phones to prevent any incoming calls from the party.
Only Gods knew what would Mike think if he knew about what these two were doing.
"Come to think of it, what is your current foundation," Kale asked while driving.
Layla smiled at him, he was the only one who would so bluntly ask someone else's progress without hesitation "C-Grade, I'm not stopping until A-Grade,"
Kale nodded without any change in expression but inwardly, he was shocked. Even if her innate talent for magic was above him coupled with her only focusing on nurturing her Origin Chasm with mana, it was still too much for her to progress so fast because as the level increases especially at the time of foundation, every step feels like walking in a swamp.
If the practitioner isn't careful when walking they would only sink into it.
But after some thinking, Kale understood the reason. Everyone in the Academy was either from a well-established family having a deep heritage or a genius born among millions. After all, it was known as the best early practitioner place in the whole Blazing Sun Kingdom, and as the younger generation from deep heritage families, all those students bound to have one or two big secrets on them, the fortunate encounter was another matter.
Most of the students' parents were themselves, strong practitioners, it was likely they knew the short tricks to have a good start, even Academy would turn a blind eye to this matter, in the end, they still had to maintain the strength of the Aristocrats supporting them.
The difference in treatment between commoners and Aristocrats wasn't that far apart in modern civilization unlike magic and martial civilizations, but the thinking process was still there.