God of Tricksters

A few days later.

Richard came out of his room. This time, he wore a white shirt and long black pants, looking a bit more formal compared to his usual days.

As expected, his bodyguard had been waiting for him outside. "Good morning, Sir Richard."

"Mhm." Richard nodded.

"…" Seeing this kind of response as well as the uncomfortable expression he had, it seemed that having him wear a shirt for formality was a bad idea. However, they were going to meet the fourth strongest person in the world, Flora Wegener, so they couldn't dress casually.

"Please be at ease. I'll also be supporting you as usual. And His Highness will also be with you today."

"I understand." Richard timidly nodded.

There were three different things he had to face today. The first would be his clothes which made him slightly uncomfortable because he wasn't used to wearing this type of clothes. Though, the prince had at least made him a bit more comfortable by taking off the tuxedo.

This wasn't the first time Richard met important people since he had been helping people from all over the country, but their status couldn't be compared to Flora Wegener and the rest of the people he had to meet today.

Last but not least, there was no way a normal person would trap him and torture him that way while exploiting his ability. Hence, meeting important people reminded him of the people that exploited him in the past.

This made his face pale, making everyone worried.

However, they still had to go. His bodyguard led him to the prince who had been waiting for him with another person. The bodyguard he arranged was a muscular middle-aged man.

He looked reliable from everyone's perspective, but his size truly made Richard a bit uncomfortable.

"Richard. How are you?!" Prince Karl put on a gentle smile as soon as he noticed Richard's pale face.

"I'm fine." Richard put on his best smile, but with that pale face and a wry smile, it truly made Prince Karl doubtful.

"Don't worry. You don't need to fear anyone today, for I will stay beside you to protect you."

"Thank you." Richard's eyes brightened a bit, but his face was still pale. Even the prince could see his shaking hands. He could reassure him a bit, but it seemed he couldn't really do it completely.

He said, "I promise, Richard. Just for today. After today, you don't have to do something you don't like anymore. You don't have to wear these uncomfortable clothes and meet someone you don't want to."

"I understand. Thank you, Your Highness." Richard nodded as he clenched his fists as if trying to stop his trembling body and get rid of his nervousness.

Karl nodded before he noticed a signal in his Skylink. He started walking while saying, "Let's go. Our guests have arrived."

"Yes."

They immediately headed out of the royal mansion and found numerous people outside the gate. There were two people leading them. The first one was Flora Wegener, while the other one was an old man with long white hair.

"Welcome, Madam Flora, as well as Sir Haiskal." The prince stepped forward, welcoming them. It turned out the old man was the eighth strongest person in the world, Haiskal Hetson.

However, Richard could see through his identity in a glance as he was none other than Mason Griffith, who used his other identity.

"Thank you for welcoming us here, Your Highness." Flora confidently said with a big smile on her face.

"No, it's an honor to receive you here, Madam Flora." Prince Karl smiled and shook her hand. "Please come in."

"Before that, Your Highness. I have to say something to you. I want to upgrade my skill right now, so I want you to make it possible." Flora smirked.

Prince Karl's heart beat rapidly. This was a bold request from Flora. There were numerous people behind her, and all of them had their own reputations. He had agreed for Flora to be the first person to be upgraded, but he never thought that she would declare it in front of everyone.

It was similar to her trampling other people's status. However, no one could say anything because Flora was the strongest expert in this base, so if they didn't agree, Flora could simply leave the base, creating a big hole in their base. This was extremely dangerous.

However, Flora pressed him by stating, "I want you to do it right away since I don't want to go through the formality. I'm sure you can understand me, right?"

If this was a normal world, her arrogance would be condemned by people all around the world. But no one could say anything right now because after the apocalypse, the strong ruled. There was no freedom of speech anymore, considering you could easily be killed since the government wasn't the same as the one before the apocalypse. They didn't have enough strength to maintain order, let alone fight against the strongest person in the base.

"Noah." She called someone's name as a person with a butler suit stepped forward with a big case filled with Skill Cards.

"I don't know how much you need, but I have brought with me at least a hundred A Rank Skill Cards, a thousand B Rank Skill Cards, and two thousand C Rank Skill Cards with me. I want you to upgrade my Ice Field to S Rank." Flora declared out loud. "You can use the rest to upgrade my adjutant's skill."

"…" Prince Karl wanted to decline politely, but Flora didn't allow him to do it. He gritted his teeth and glanced at Richard. "What do you think, Richard? Can you do it for me?"

"That's…" Richard looked down as if he was scared of her.

"What's wrong? You're not telling me that this is just a scam, right?" Flora narrowed her eyes, pressuring them.

"Madam Flora. If you truly want to upgrade your skill, it's better not to pressure us like this, or you're bound to fail." Karl stepped forward, protecting Richard.

"I'm bound to fail? A quite interesting choice of words." Flora narrowed her eyes as her expression became colder and colder.

Karl bit his lips and said, "Please, Richard. Just be at ease and do what you always do."

Karl had to take a step back and just let Flora do whatever she wanted. Her arrogance was completely beyond his imagination, but he had no choice.

But the words that came out of Richard's mouth stunned everyone.

"I… I can't."

"!!!" Everyone widened their eyes in shock because Richard actually dared to reject Flora's request.

"Hoh?" Flora's eyes began emitting killing intent, ready to blow up and destroy everything here.