Close Combat Mage
chapter-55

The banquet was currently ongoing, and the event was reaching its climax. Taking advantage of the timing, Wen Ya took the opportunity to make a grand announcement. During tonight’s celebration, Honored Guest VIP cards would be available. This VIP card was invaluable, because with it, one could become one of Lord Suo Jia’s seven esteemed clients.

The reason that this item was considered priceless, was because Lord Suo Jia would only personally provide long-term service for seven members. As for others, although they could enjoy service in the White Villa, they would not receive personal service from Lord Suo Jia himself!

What kind of person was Suo Jia? Among all of the people sitting here currently, his reputation was like ‘thunder piercing the ears’. Wasn’t he that mysterious mage who miraculously helped Wen Ya lose weight? To become one of his esteemed clients, wasn’t that something that any woman would dream of?

Seeing the distinguished households’ spouses, Wen Ya could not help but laugh. These invitations were not randomly distributed. Wen Ya had a decent understanding of aristocracy, and she only invited those with power and authority. Also, the distinguished guests who desperately needed Suo Jia’s help were pretty enough as they were. As for the ones that did not desperately need Suo Jia’s help, even if they wanted invitations, they would not get any.

Looking around, Wen Ya smiled, “Right now, would everyone kindly draw a card from the boxes that the maids are currently holding? The lady who ends up pulling a golden card will become one of Suo Jia’s esteemed clients. Of course… if you do not require the services of Lord Suo Jia, then we will offer you one hundred million gold to buy back the card as a consolation prize.”

“Woo!” Hearing Wen Ya’s words, although the people within the courtyard were distinguished and venerable guests, they still cried out in shock. After all… the figure that Wen Ya listed, although it wasn’t astronomical, it was definitely an amount that could not be looked down upon.

Looking at everyone’s startled expressions, Wen Ya secretly sneered. Although on the surface, this seemed like a fair lottery, in reality, the results had already been predetermined. The person who would ultimately draw the golden card had already been planned out. No matter what, others wouldn’t be able to draw the golden card. And those who were destined to draw this golden card wouldn’t sell it even if they were to die, because they didn’t care about money, but were very concerned about their appearance.

Very quickly, Wen Ya threw the golden cards with the pile of other cards into ten boxes and jumbled it under the gazes of the public. Everyone was looking forward to it. The maids carried the boxes with both hands and walked towards the direction of the guests. On the surface, those golden cards were obviously in the ten boxes. Everyone had seen Wen Ya put the cards into the boxes with their own eyes. How could they be mistaken?

But in reality, although those golden cards that were thrown into the boxes were not fakes, there was a transparent string on the cards. When Wen Ya had jumbled up the cards, she had lightly pulled the other end of the string. Those golden cards were thus secretly hidden in Wen Ya’s sleeves. So in these ten boxes, there were only white cards and no golden cards at all.

Very soon, the lottery began. Ten maids were carrying the boxes filled with cards and continuously went from one guest to another. Everyone went beside the maids in succession and reached their hands into the box to pick out a card. But no matter who, all they drew were the white cards.

Around this time, a tall maid carrying a box with both hands walked towards a woman, who was not only fat, but also had wrinkles from head to toes. Looking at this woman whose skin were drooping, the maid almost laughed out loud.

This maid wasn’t just anyone, it was Eldest Sister. Seeing the woman in front of her, Eldest Sister secretly thought, “This woman is just as Miss Wen Ya had said; at first glance, nobody can resist thinking of a Shar Pei (TL note: a species of dog). It would be a different story if her whole body was just fat, but what is so frightening is that her fat droops over itself, layer by layer. With one quick glance, it’s obvious that she looks remarkably like a Shar Pei.”

What struck out even more vividly were her fat and lax cheeks. Fat was fat, but was it really necessary to have cheeks that drooped over itself like a Shar Pei? It really made it difficult to differentiate between human and dog.

However, even though Eldest Sister really wanted to laugh, she definitely could not really do so aloud. Although this woman looked like a Shar Pei, just like her father did, her father was Holy Light Empire’s famous Economic Master, the minister responsible for the Holy Light City’s financial affairs. He had high power and influence, second only to Duke Wen Sha. If it weren’t for his bad image, which made it impossible for him to rise to a higher noble position, than his status would definitely not be below Duke Wen Sha’s.

Moreover, although this fellow looked like a Shar Pei, he was an unrivalled genius in the field of economy. At the age of 18, he had already established an enormous amount of family assets. Although he wasn’t the richest individual in Holy Light Empire, he was definitely one of the top 3 richest individuals in Holy Light City.

As for why he wasn’t number one, the reason was obvious; it was because Duke Wen Sha was number one. Holy Light City’s value could not be weighed in money, however even if this was true, Duke Wen Sha was always worried that he would be surpassed by this Shar Pei. That was why Duke Wen Sha had invited the man to help manage his finances, essentially ending all his concerns.

With the aid of this Shar Pei, Holy Light City had smoothly progressed the most in the recent 10 years. During this period, Holy Light expanded from being one of the largest cities in the empire, to becoming one of the largest cities in the entire world. Its scale, wealth, and power, were all increased by more than ten times.

That’s right, this female Shar Pei was Wen Ya’s chosen target. Even though her appearance wasn’t anything much, her family was one that was so rich that money wasn’t used for spending. The old Shar Pei had publicly announced before that he had so much money that even if he spends every day lazing around, eating, sitting, and chatting, he would not finish spending all of his wealth even after 100 lifetimes. Therefore, his family did not need to be frugal. In fact, it was exactly the opposite; he wished for his family members to help him spend more of his wealth. Otherwise, he would monopolize all that money, and the outside [world] would have no money remaining.

Of course, he wasn’t completely serious. However, this confirmed the fact that this fellow really did have a ton of money, and if his daughter drew that card, she definitely would not desire gold. Perhaps she would use the card to exchange for a bun to eat, but she would not use it to exchange for a hundred million gold, since to her, such an amount of money was not worth anything. It was precisely because of this point that Wen Ya dared to venture into this lion’s mouth.

This lion’s mouth could not be underestimated. If the Shar Pei woman did not return the card and decided to accept Suo Jia’s treatment, that would mean the card’s value was already above a hundred million gold. In other words, Wen Ya was borrowing the Shar Pei woman’s identity to raise Suo Jia’s status. Moreover, with Suo Jia’s abilities, the Shar Pei woman would definitely end up shouting out loud that it was worth it. This way, it would be impossible not to notice Suo Jia’s name.

In reality, it could be said that Wen Ya and the Shar Pei woman were acquainted with each other, and had even exchanged words before. However, that was the extent of their relationship. Even though Wen Ya was also fat before, Wen Ya wasn’t able to accept it, so she naturally did not want to interact and become friends with people like the Shar Pei woman. Even looking at her made Wen Ya feel disgusted; how could they possibly keep in contact?

Earlier, Wen Ya had only some hired people to send the invitation. She had not personally communicated with the Shar Pei woman at all, so up until now, the Shar Pei woman was still kept completely in the dark. She had no clue that in reality, she had long since been fated to be the one to draw the gold card. Aside from her, there was no way anyone else could draw it.

Lightly carrying the box, the maid smiled and asked the Shar Pei woman, “Miss, I see that you haven’t drawn yet. Do you want to try drawing a card?” While talking, the maid secretly pulled the string on the box.

This box was specifically designed so that the outside was larger than the inside. Once the mechanism was activated, the bottom would be extended from the box’s halfway point. At the moment….that layer was filled with golden cards. No matter which cards the Shar Pei woman picked, she would definitely draw a golden Honored Guest VIP card.

“Yes yes yes…of course I want to draw!” Hearing the maid’s words, the fat on the Shar Pei woman’s face shook as she impatiently replied.

“Ok then, the box is here. Please draw a card!” Facing the Shar Pei woman, the maid smiled.

Hearing the maid’s words, the Shar Pei woman piously clapped her hands together, and closed her eyes, muttering some type of prayer. Seeing this scene, all of the people could not help but want to laugh. However, they also did not dare to laugh, and instead restrained themselves with difficulty. Everyone knew that within this room, the one that needed the most help, was that woman.

Finally, the Shar Pei woman finished her prayers. Taking a deep break, she stretched out her chubby hands, and reached into the box with difficulty, and randomly fished through the cards. Even though she did not care for a hundred million gold, she very much needed that golden card. If Wen Ya could succeed in losing weight, then it wouldn’t be a problem for her, since her current state was not that “heavy” compared to Wen Ya before. After rummaging around in the box, the Shar Pei woman finally gritted her teeth, grasped a card, and pulled it out.

“Ya!” At the same instant the Shar Pei woman pulled out her large hand…a golden light shot out in all directions within the large hall. Seeing the card in the Shar Pei woman’s hands, everyone could not help but exclaim in shock. They hadn’t imagined that the card would really be chosen by her. Does that mean that there really exists a God of Light that blesses living beings?