SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant-Chapter 462: A New Seat Among the Eight [IV]

Chapter 462: Chapter 462: A New Seat Among the Eight [IV]

Trafalgar looked at him for a second, then at the empty space beyond the balcony where the cigarette had disappeared. "I didn’t expect to find you here. Aren’t you supposed to be inside doing business?"

Augusto clicked his tongue and leaned one arm against the silver railing, as if losing the cigarette bothered him more than being caught outside. "Doing business, he says. Look at you. You’ve become important enough to ask questions like that now. I’m just kidding you know that, right?"

Zafira stepped up beside Trafalgar, her glass still in hand, watching the lycan with quiet curiosity.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Trafalgar tilted his head slightly toward Augusto. "Zafira, this is Augusto. Merchant based in Mariven Port." Then he looked back at the lycan. "And Augusto, I assume you already know Zafira du Zar’khael."

Augusto straightened at once and gave a proper bow, much more polished than one would have expected from someone like him. "Lady Zafira."

"A pleasure," Zafira replied with a small nod. "If Trafalgar knows you this well, I imagine you must be good at what you do."

That made Augusto grin, showing the sharp line of his teeth. "Now that is praise. I like to think I have a good reputation, yes." He glanced back toward the doors leading inside, then let out a quiet breath. "But honestly, with Trafalgar as one of my partners, I don’t really feel like standing in there smiling at people I don’t care about. I’d rather be out here smoking in peace."

Trafalgar’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Did something happen again? Has the Mariven family tried something similar?"

Zafira’s gaze shifted between them. She clearly did not know what he meant, and Trafalgar did not miss the faint change in her expression, though his attention stayed on Augusto.

Augusto scratched the back of his neck, then reached into his coat and pulled out another thin cigarette. He held it between two fingers. "Does this bother either of you?"

"I don’t care," Trafalgar said flatly. Then his eyes moved to Zafira. "But don’t smoke if possible. She’s here."

Augusto looked at Zafira, then back at the cigarette. A second later he put it away. "Fair enough."

"Thanks." Only then did Trafalgar return to the earlier question.

Augusto’s grin came back, sharper this time. "No, they don’t even dare set foot near the shop anymore. The problem isn’t them." He paused. "The problem is you."

"Everyone knows by now that you use my shop to move some of your goods," Augusto said, pointing loosely at Trafalgar with two fingers. "Ever since your reputation exploded, people keep coming in asking about you. Every day. Nobles, merchants, guards, random fools with too much curiosity. Everyone wants to know something about the great Trafalgar du Morgain."

That made Trafalgar let out a short laugh. "Really?" He took a small sip from his wine. "You should start charging them for questions and then give them wrong answers. You’d make a fortune."

Augusto snorted. "I like my good name too much for that." He folded his arms over his chest, tail flicking once behind him. "I hired more guards. Expanded the place too. You should come by one day. Some interesting things have arrived recently."

Trafalgar’s eyes shifted slightly. "Oh? Really."

"Really."

"Hm." He thought about it for a second. "I could use some items soon. Not weapons or armor. But accessories and useful things? Those would be worth looking at."

Augusto’s grin widened. "I have plenty of that."

"We won’t have to go clear out a mine again like last time, right?"

"Oi." Augusto placed a hand over his chest as if offended. "Who do you think I am?" Then his grin returned immediately. "Though I guess that depends on what you want. Still, last time worked out pretty well, didn’t it? You filled your pockets enough."

"I won’t deny that."

The exchange flowed so casually that Zafira ended up watching the two of them in silence. It was strange. Trafalgar was not someone who relaxed easily around others, much less outside the people he already trusted. And yet with Augusto there was a rhythm that felt too natural to fake. Not warm exactly, but easy. Familiar perhaps. Like they had already tested each other enough to know where the lines were.

Augusto noticed Zafira’s silence and glanced between them. Then he clicked his tongue softly. "Well, I’ll head off. I still have a few people I need to meet." His sharp grin turned knowing. "Feels like I interrupted something anyway."

Trafalgar did not bother denying it. "See you."

Augusto gave him a small salute with two fingers, nodded respectfully toward Zafira, and disappeared through the balcony door.

Once Augusto was gone, Zafira looked at the balcony door for a second, then back at Trafalgar. "It looks like you two get along well."

Trafalgar took another sip from his glass before answering. "Does it look that way?" He leaned one arm lightly against the railing and looked out over the clouds. "I usually stay colder with him so he doesn’t start crossing lines he shouldn’t just because we’ve done business a few times. It’s mostly a business relationship. Still, he does good work."

Zafira nodded slowly. A small silence settled between them before she spoke again. "When are you planning to go to Mariven Port?"

"Probably after the wedding. Maybe one weekend when I have time."

"Do you want to go together?"

Trafalgar blinked once. "You want to buy something?"

"Maybe." Her voice remained calm, but there was something quieter underneath it. "So? Will you take me with you?"

"If you want to come with, you can come."

A faint smile appeared on her lips. "Then it’s a promise."

"A promise?"

"Yes." She took a small sip from her wine. "And it really is true, then. You’re getting married soon."

"It is."

Zafira was silent for a second after that. "I didn’t expect the two of you to end up getting along so well at the academy."

"We kept running into each other. One situation led to another. You already know how it happened."

Zafira gave a small nod, but said nothing else. The silence this time felt different. Trafalgar knew what she felt. He had known for a while now, and Zafira knew that he knew. That was what made moments like this awkward in a quieter way than open conflict ever could. He could not answer those feelings now, not with their positions, not when even the path in front of him was already tied to politics, bloodlines, and a marriage that mattered far beyond himself.

Maybe one day things would be different. Right now, they were not.

Zafira was the one who shifted the topic first. "The final exams for the first year are soon."

"I know. I’ll be back in about a week. I’ll ask Barth to help me catch up." Trafalgar swirled the wine in his glass once.

"Speaking of what we talked about before..." Zafira’s voice lowered slightly. "Your talent, Trafalgar. Do you realize there are only five people alive with SSS talent now? With Icarus dead, you took his place. Most of them are hidden. They all have targets on their backs."

"The ones with the real target are the ones who don’t belong to anyone important," Trafalgar replied, his gaze turning colder by a fraction. "The Great Families would rather erase them than let them become a problem. We’ve already seen what one person can do. Imagine if two of them started working together."

Zafira exhaled softly. "Hm. You’re right."

Trafalgar was about to answer when his eyes shifted past her, toward the corridor beyond the open balcony door.

Someone was walking there.

His mind froze for a second. He knew that face. Not from this life. From the game. One of the legendary characters.

And she was here.

His eyes narrowed slightly. Then he looked back at Zafira. "Should we go back?"

Zafira studied him for a brief moment, then nodded. "Of course."

Trafalgar pushed himself away from the railing and followed her toward the door. But his mind was no longer on the Council. He needed to speak to that person.