Eyebrows jumping up in surprise, Kendal patted himself down when he saw that Nolan had snatched his spatial bag.

“Give that back this instant.”

Nolan summoned another barrier around the young man, smirking as he said, “This’ll disappear in about ten minutes. There’s only twenty million in this bag, so take some time and think about how you’re going to get me the other 574,000,000 by the end of the night.”

Feeling like some sort of greasy drug dealer, Nolan separated the spirit stones within the spatial bag from all of the other miscellaneous items and then portioned a million of them into two spatial bags. These bags quickly floated over to where Alicia and Aine were standing, both accepting them with thankful smiles.

Those two look pretty cute in a dress. He hoped that they would stop being so self-conscious about their looks, something he’d discreetly noted after travelling with them for so long. They were always comparing themselves to the other girls in the group, which wasn’t a healthy habit to have.

He returned to where Melissa and Katerina were sharing a hushed conversation, ignoring the eyes that still lingered on him. “I’m gonna go meet up with some of my sect mates, you two are welcome to come if you’d like.”

“Are they arrayment practitioners, too?”

“Yep, though some of us are newer to it than others.”

“I’ll come!”

Katerina shook her head with a coy smile. “While I appreciate the offer, you seem to attract a bit too much attention for my liking. There’s something that I need to discuss with Lord Consul anyways, so for now I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Alright, see you around.”

Ian and Sean were talking to some girls on the opposite end of the pool where an open dance was taking place beneath a backdrop of mixed conversations and gentle ambience. A symphony of flutes, drums and harp-like instruments were being played by an orchestra of fifty servants, all of them professional in their practices. Sensing how interested the ladies seemed in his buddies, Nolan thought against interrupting the two and decided to see what some of his other friends were up to.

Hmm, why are May, Nyla and Delia off in that dark corner? Hold on, Delia? He honestly hadn’t expected the quiet, merciless woman to accompany the others here. Not only did she normally go to great lengths to ignore the other members of the group, but Delia didn’t strike him as the sort of person to enjoy large social events like this. Noticing that the three girls seemed to be in the midst of a serious conversation, he decided to see what Lyra was up to.

Nolan led Melissa over to a series of golden tables that had been set up in the area around the pool that was closest to the main gates to the property. “We’re going to see what my friend Lyra is up to. Just a heads up, though, she’s kind of an asshole sometimes so don’t take it to heart.”

“I’ve spent the last two weeks hanging around Kendal. I think I’ll be fine.”

“Ah, and she doesn’t know any arrayments or anything.”

Melissa seemed a bit let down at that, though she shook the disappointment from her face and followed along nonetheless. Although the girl’s father wasn’t particularly of any prominence within the association, she was very well informed about the individuals attending the party. On the walk from the grounds of the previous competition to the outdoor dining area, she pointed out all of the most influential people in sight and detailed what lines of business they were in as well as which faction they were a part of. When asked how she knew so much about the other members of the CMA, she admitted that she helped her father with a lot of his administrative work which often involved logistical support. After filing thousands of business reports and authoring countless contracts of sale between different parties within the association, she had come to know quite a bit about the people within the same faction as her family.

Nolan found Lyra without any trouble, though he had a difficult time believing his eyes once he finally caught sight of her. Sitting at the head of the largest table in the area, she was enjoying a light shoulder massage from one of the girls that had been auctioned off earlier in the night. Another girl was feeding her raspberry-like fruits while several men in wealthy clothing were fighting one another for the chance to give her gifts.

“Goodness,” breathed Melissa, eyes settling on the only girl at the table. “Your friend is so pretty.”

“Sometimes,” he muttered. “Don’t be fooled, though.”

Lyra was wearing a thin golden dress of shiny, satiny fabric that perfectly hugged her fit frame. Thin straps lined her slender shoulders which were covered by long, wavy strands of luscious gold that were styled for the first time in Nolan’s memory. Braided at the back and at either side of her forehead, her lightly powdered face was on full display thanks to the careful partings in her hair, lips glistening from one of the sap-based balms that were commonly used by women on Venara. On her feet rested princess-like slippers the same colour as the rest of her outfit, her golden eyes standing out among the others around her.

Noticing his approach, Lyra spoke up in a loud voice so that he’d hear her despite the fact that he was still picking his way through tables and chairs a few dozen metres away. “Done causing trouble, are we?”

Seeing that she was addressing a young man, many of her admirers appeared displeased.

He let out a short laugh as he drew up to her table. “You noticed, huh.”

“I’m not blind.” Looking at Melissa as the two of them arrived a few paces away from her, she rolled her eyes and said, “Another pretty girl? You’re secretly an animal, aren’t you?”

“You act like I’m out prowling the streets for stragglers.”

Lyra looked at the men that occupied the seats directly to the right of her, accepting an extended spatial bag before faking a smile and then returning her attention to him and Melissa. “Who’s your friend, anyway?”

Nolan introduced them to one another, Melissa fawning over Lyra’s apparent ‘coolness.’ This pleased Lyra greatly, and soon the two girls were flattering one another over cups of golden spirits that Lyra insisted they enjoy.

Welson arrived a short while later, a bit more buzzed than the last time Nolan had seen him. He seemed a bit uncomfortable, however, and when asked after the reason for his stubborn frown, the man asked him about what had happened with the competition earlier.

“Why do you ask?”

“I told you to be careful not to offend anyone here, and you go off and humiliate the chamberlain’s son? His father’s one of the eight most powerful people in their faction!”

“It didn’t seem like a big deal when I thought about it earlier, but hearing you say it like that…shit eh. Sorry, I kind of got caught up in the moment.” Feeling a bit awkward, he added, “To be fair, though, he did everything short of getting on his knees and begging me to embarrass him. I mean, he tried to steal half a billion spirit stones from me.”

“Half a billion?” said Lyra, genuinely shocked. “What’re you doing here, then? Go get them!”

“That’s the thing. He basically forced me into that competition earlier because he saw me talking with Welson—by the way, Welson, I don’t think he’s a fan—and when I won he ran off with all my winnings.”

“Who is he? Just point him out and I’ll get them back for you. Just be sure to give me half.”

“You think I need your help?”

“I don’t see any spirit stones in your hands, do I?” She shook her chalice in front of the girl that was periodically feeding her fruit, nodding in thanks as her cup was topped off to a satisfactory level. She went to say something to Melissa but suddenly turned her head and glared at the man on her left. “Stop looking at my chest.”

“Come on, Lyra. That dress is so thin that I can pretty much imagine what they look—ah, what the hell?” Even though Nolan was stronger than her, the unexpected stomp to the toes still hurt quite a bit.

“Show a little class.” The former Varai clanswoman turned to Melissa with an advisory gaze. “You don’t know him too well, but he’s actually pretty perverted. You’d do well to keep an eye out for those wandering hands of his.”

Annoyed at the way she was misrepresenting him, Nolan bickered back and forth with Lyra for a time, though they were eventually interrupted by a commotion from the front gates. About three hundred metres away from their table, a large retinue became the focus of attention throughout most of the grounds, with many people trickling over from the various venues. This included many at their table as well as people from those around them that had been enjoying peaceful conversations within the limits of the dining area.