Date- 18 April 2321
Time- 09:31
Location- Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City
"Why would you ask something like that Cortney?" Diana asked as she did not think someone as beautiful and outgoing would require a pleasure card to meet her needs.
"It just does not seem fair, women also need pleasure as much as men do. Why is it that they are selling pleasure cards for only males and not females?" Cortney replied, with a pout, recalling a few women in her life who could use a male version of a pleasure card to bring more diverse kinds of happiness to their lives.
Since Cortney's doubt was from the market point of view, Diana had no problem answering it, "That is because the market for the male version of pleasure card for women is not that big. In the market, except for cosmetics, clothes, and apparel, when it comes to bold products like these, it is a fact that men create demand and soon women follow. Take the example of the tobacco and liquor industry. It is not that they don't want to create a male version of the pleasure card for women but it still isn't time for it."
"Oh, I see. Women get all the cool stuff late," Cortney said recalling how hard it was for her hoverbike card to come in pink shade. She had to pay extra to have it custom-painted. She was not like most women. As the Tao Tongue of her generation, her beauty was way above average and never needed cosmetics and apparel to enhance it.
Meanwhile, the Field Marshal was wrecking her brain trying to think of Wyatt's game plan. It had been several minutes since they had agreed on the wager, yet he was having a casual discussion with his staff and friends. His nonchalant demeanor was getting to her. Because if it were her in his place she would be hurrying to get to the facility holding Clown Mask before the wager time limit concludes.
Eight hours might seem a lot but it was not enough for one to make it to the facility, infiltrate it, take Clown Mask out of it, and hide her in one's custody. Not to mention the time required to come up with a detailed plan to infiltrate and break out Clown Mask without getting noticed. 'Why isn't he doing something?' the Field Marshal screamed in her mind as she could not see what Wyatt was up to. 'If he just planned to give up then why agree to the wager?' Thinking of this the Field Marshal shook her head believing, 'Dalton Wyatt, I know, doesn't give up. He is up to something.'
Field Marshal thought of every possibility she could think of and even recalled every word Wyatt spoke while accepting and after accepting the wager to see if she missed something. She even remembered the joke that Wyatt cracked that his people would not hurt the guards guarding Clown Mask, just then a thought crossed the Field Marshal's mind but she did not believe Wyatt would resort to that, 'No, he would not.' But then, seeing his laid-back appearance, she thought, 'He might.'
Unable to conclude if Wyatt would resort to something like that, she decided to get confirmation from Wyatt himself. 'Wyatt, tell me you are not planning on having our buddies from the Dark Realm help you break Clown Mask free from the facility.'
Listening to the Field Marshal ask him that, Wyatt's expression showed subtle changes. Catching them the Field Marshal yelled, 'You are. How could you collude with Dark Races, Dalton Wyatt? So now you trust them more than me and the Southern Royal family? You do know that that facility is sealing quite a few tricky devils and demons with weird abilities that even our ancestors could not kill? I knew I should have nipped this in the bud when you started borrowing the devil's powers and exchanging information with them. Look where it has gotten you, you guys are now partners in crime. Don't tell me you agreed to help them free those devils in exchange for their help. You didn't, did you?'
Just from the subtle change in Wyatt's expression, the Field Marshal thought the worst. How could she not? This was the most she had gotten while trying to read him since their meeting. When interrogating him, getting a subtle reaction was already a win in her book as this kid was a tough nut to crack. Somehow he was able to evade the deduction of her intent sense and manipulate her.
'No, why would you even think that? What makes you think I would release a few sealed devils just to win a wager? Is that what you think of me?' Wyatt denied it, as he would not need to join hands with dark races for something as little as this.
'Then what was that sudden shocked look on your face, when I asked if you planned to get help from your dark race buddies to free Clown Mask? Don't you dare lie to me, Dalton Wyatt!' the Field Marshal sternly inquired Wyatt.
'That is because I planned to use something I gained from the Dark Realm to free Clown Mask and I was just astounded to see you get so close to guessing my plan,' Wyatt replied honestly. He was really surprised that Field Marshal almost guessed his plans. It appears she was a lot smarter than he gave her credit for. Unfortunately for her, she had very little experience of the dark realm so she could never guess of how he was planning to free Clown Mask.
'I did? I almost guessed your plan,' the Field Marshal, herself, could not believe she came close to guessing Wyatt's game plan to free the Clown Mask. She felt proud, but then her expression changed and she hurriedly asked Wyatt, 'Now that I know, are you going to change your plan?'
'Don't get ahead of yourself, you know nothing. The plan is still a go,' Wyatt responded with a chuckle.
...
[AN: Check out Reader's Quest Board in the Author's Thoughts section for ma.s.s release.]
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