I turn to the people around us and say in a loud and clear voice.

—"Using my prize of this duel, I want to know who's going to support his next challenge. That person, consider yourself challenged."

Many of them open their eyes and mouths, in shock and disbelief.

THIS IS CRAZY! The adrenaline on my body is making my face boils. I don't even know how much people will support him. Challenge a person out of nothing, this is so stupid! Still, I can't let fear take me. I must make my stand here.

—"Even me?" The one who asks is Mr. Blake, the King of Greed.

This is bad for my stomach, I need to cool down a little.

—"Yeah, but only if the support is declared." I say while going in the direction of the table.

I grab two drinks and I give one to Dean, who's looking at me in with the same face of the others but he's almost laughing inside. He knows my plan, but he won't spoil. And he knows how this can fuck me up. The game ended but I'm still betting.

—"Fine, sit here. Your support is him, right?" He says while looking at Alexander.

FUCK!

Looking at Dean, he shrugged. C'mon man! I tried.

—"Yeah, the same dice?" I say, giving up to this turn of events and taking my seat.

—"Oh, good choice." Greed says while taking the dice.

—"10." I make my bet.

—"7." He replies.

An employee rolls the dice, showing the result. 5.

—"I won, boy." He says grinning.

Oh, for god's sake.

—"The dice keeps as the game. My bet... You must answer a few questions. Honestly." He calls while typing something on his cellphone.

I sigh, and I reply to him with my deal.

—"My bet is for you to challenge everyone that supports the Lust against me."

When I look at Alexander's face, he's red and angry. His intention was probably to challenge me in sequence until he gets my life. I spoiled his plan now.

After hearing my words, some people start mumbling something, but I can't hear.

—"Hmm... Interesting. You're funnier then I heard." He says with a hand on his chin.

Funny? And who told him about me? Francis? Ah... It must be Mr. Woods, as some kind of plan B?

—"!My bet is 7." I tell him.

—"Hmm... 13."

The dice is rolled... Shit. 14.

—"I won again kid." He keeps grinning. —"Same game... My bet is... You gonna enter my Ring."

Ah... I don't know what this means. And I can't say this loud... Dammit. I can't refuse.

He looks at the Lust, that sighs and nods to him. So this needs approval? I need to ask about this after.

—"Same bet."

The diced is rolled again, and the result is 14. Now I have to do something that I don't know what it is.

—"Won again."

This guy... He's messing with me.

—"Same game. The bet... You're going to make a call for one person."

Huh? This guy is making these requests... Mr. Woods know such a strange person...

—"Same bet." I answer him.

I'm only losing... The bets doesn't sound so harsh, but I have a feeling of something tricky on it.

—"8." He makes his call.

—"12."

The dice is rolled again and the result... 9.

—"Oh boy... I win again. This way you gonna leave a bad impression, you know? You sounded so cool earlier."

Why is this guy picking on me? He felt insulted earlier? I only said in self-defense, He took this seriously?

—" Same game... The bet is... You gonna quit your work, and work for me."

Huh? This doesn't make any sense... Well, if I take as a basis the brothel's costs and the clothes they use, these people surely deal with great amounts of money, so that bet is basically useful for me. Maybe he doesn't know? I don't have much complains from working on the neighborhood's grocery, but I can imagine how probably pay less than work for him.

In any case, I'll think about it later.

—"Same bet." This is getting repetitive. I'm only losing...

—"9." He says.

—"10." I call.

After the dice was rolled, the number that appeared was... 4.

—"All that act was just luck, boy? Fight! C'mon! Make a surprise to this old man!" He tells in a joking tone.

He's riling me up... I feel conflicted, I've done this to Lust... I can't really complain about this situation.

—"Same game. The next bet is... I want your life." He calls with a serious tone, changing all the expression he had before.

Now I'm a little scared. He's like Alexander? This group only has crazy people?

Dean is looking at me, and he doesn't know what to do. I can't even use our strategy. Maybe I should bet more rounds? If I think about it... His other requests sound manageable. But I can't lose now.

—"Same bet." I tell him.

I don't need the annulment. If I get this, I can deal with other problems with more time and less stress after.

—"My bet is... 20."

What? This guy... He's losing on purpose? This only gives him one chance...

—'19." I tell him.

He gets up from the seat, not waiting for the result, but it's pretty obvious who won... The result was 19.

—"You liked the kid, huh." Lust says with an annoyed expression.

—"Now everyone, who's gonna support our little Alex? I'll refrain from games today, I have an appointment." He says in crystal-clear voice.

The people around us keep in silence, while some of them go to the table to get a few snacks.

—"Sorry, Lust. No more challenges for today. Don't forget your bets." He says while turning off his phone.

The people return to their talks, and Lust leaves fast-paced, with an angry face.

I look at Dean, and he sighs. There's no much we can do, right? At least we got what we wanted, even if we had a few costs.

I go into Greed's direction trying to apologize, but he interrupts me.

—"Sir, sorry if what I said sounded..."—"Come you two, I already called the driver." He told us with a serious expression.

In silence, we follow him, leaving the shooting range.

When we leave, a shining limousine is waiting for us. Entering the car, this spacious place and air conditioner make me feel a little more at ease, even if he has an intimidating aura and I own him some rewards.

After we take our seats and the car starts moving, he starts talking.

—"only saw such idiocy a few times in my life. I must congratulate you". He says laughing.

I look at Dean, and half laughing, we answer.

—""I don't know what to say but... thank you?""

—"The idea of the shoots was good. When I met Alexander we bet on a horse race. He almost lost his title... Well, no use remembering the past. I want a few rewards right now."

—"Err... okay sir... I know that I'm not in the position to ask... But you can explain the change of Rings?" I say to him, a little shy.

—"Ahh... So you don't know... Well, let's add this to the first prize..." He says nodding.

—"First... Why you made such reckless challenges? It was because of someone?"

—"You see... I learned yesterday that sleeping with Diana means challenge the King of Lust... So I have gone after him before he pursues me. About the second question... I think it's better if I tell you all the story." I say meekly.

—"Wait, Vincent, you don't need to..."-"He'll ask eventually. It's useless trying to hide. One way or another we'll gonna end stumbling on this."

—"Very sharp of you, kid." He says nodding.

—"Well... This started at a party in our school. You know Francis Cayden? He's a member of the Ring of Envy, I think."

—"Ah... Cayden's. Only his father is a member. He has access to our services, just like the sons and daughters of our associates. One of your bets involved him, right? He's your friend? Jealousy?" He's laughing again.

—"No, sir. It's just that... He got me drunk, and when I woke up the next morning, I was on The Garden with Diana on the same bed and he left me with part of the bill, with me not knowing about anything related to the Rings." I answer him.

—"But he paid some time with a girl for you... Even if she had a few drawbacks... It's kinda friendly, don't you think?" He says while taking a bottle of water.

—"Well, this can be true. But he used this in his own favor. He has an arranged marriage with Lisa Woods, our childhood friend. But all the things stopped when Lisa said no. So Francis set me and Dean up, to remove nuisances, and proceed with the marriage."

After drinking the water, he asks us.

—"Hmm... Jack's daughter... I think I heard someone talking about this marriage... Why you two were a nuisance? And how this is related to the challenge?"

—"Lisa said to her father that she liked someone... She only talks with me and Dean, so he considered both possibilities. He threatened Dean to force him to reject her, and sent some photos of me and Diana to her and Mr. Jack."

—"Hoo... And who's the boy that she likes?"

—"Me." I say while raising my hand.

—"And you like her?" He asks with a serious tone.

Again, the way he talks make pressure on me, his words sound very incisive.

—"I really can't say... Dean told me yesterday that she likes me. But this was only after she saw the photos, that made her really angry and sad. So I ended chasing after her to apologize. After this, I went to her house to meet her father, something that she planned before all this story started.

He told me about the situation with the King, and that he couldn't make anything against the Cayden's. This way, he suggested me to use one bet to help Lisa. He didn't have much faith in me since he told me to use it as a last wish. But based on the previous results... I kinda understand him, even if it made me a little angry."

He nods again, and with a hand on his chin, tells me.

—"So you played with your own life, and don't even know if you like her? And why his help? You could have asked me. I know Jack."

Embarrassed with his words, I answer him.

—"Err... That's the part of the idiocy."

Again, he laughed. This is making me a little angry. If I was not in this bad condition... But how could I ask for his help? I don't even know him...

—"Well, you survived. But watch out, Alex must be plotting something. " He says.

—"Thank you for the advice." I reply to him.

—"Now... about the change... The biggest difference is that you report to me now. When you do something related to the group, or go to someplace that has this connection, you must tell me. You don't need to tell me everything every time, but make a short resume so we can track your actions. That includes your friend in the reports too."

I exchange a look with Dean for a few seconds and tell to Mr. Blake nodding afterward.

—"Understood."

—"Now... Ah, let's exchange numbers. You'll start next week. After the procedures, I'll send you the schedule."

—"Can I ask you what kind of work is?"

—"Hmm... You gonna be... An office boy. Escort a few persons, that kind of thing. Nothing really hard, I just need a person of trust."

Okay... I think I get it... Someone related to the Ring can keeps secrets, although I can't understand why me especially.

—"The last prize... Let's leave for some other time. About your friend, would you like to join a team in our group? I think we sponsor one or two clubs."

He says while taking a notepad.

Dean's not really into professional play... But it'll sound a little rude, don't? But to my surprise, he says otherwise.

—"Can I, really?"

Huh? What happened?

—"You said that you weren't interested... What happened?" I ask him.

-"Ah... I'm dating Alice so... I'm kinda want to be reliable, hehe."

Hmm... I understood that he's dating her earlier... I guess he's planning to marry her or something?

Mr. Blake looks at him, and smiling tells us.

—"This sounds very promising coming from you. Give me your number too."

So we exchanged our contacts while the car left us at home.

After we said goodbye to each other, Dean went home. Everyone must be tired of this week's events. In only 3 days, everything gone upside down. So many new things... Bad and good things.

Taking the elevator, I keep thinking about how I wanna say hello to my family soon. I got the present for Jenny and uncle Harold, and I wanna talk about the trip.

So I open the door when I take off my shoes.

Everything is there; uncle's cutlery and porcelains, our photos and albums, the couch, the TV, the curtains... Except that...

—"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH, SOMEBODY! HELP ME!"

Everything is out of order, broken, or messed.