[Aventurine fell silent.]
[The shadow smiled smugly: "Did I get it right? You're just that kind of person—cautious and careful yet also self-deprecating. You've won so many times, yet you're still more afraid of losing than anyone."]
["People only see you throwing down thousands of gold on the card table, yet they don't know that under the table there is another hand gripping the chips, trembling nonstop..."]
[At this point, the shadow couldn't help but sigh in admiration: "Amazing. No wonder the tavern sent you an invitation. You were born a great actor… not only skilled at deceiving others, but even more skilled at deceiving yourself."]
["The most brilliant way to avoid showing weakness in front of others is to first deceive yourself." Aventurine's tone was light.]
["Haha, of course. I understand you too well… but it's strange—why did you refuse that invitation? Clearly you once had the chance to embrace [Elation]. Isn't that what you wanted most? Yet you still chose the Company's card table..."]
["For the sake of [Preservation]? Hmph, I don't think so. Do you have even half a connection with [Preservation]?"]
["I thought you knew… don't you understand me so well?" Aventurine turned around impatiently. "Enough. Either shut your mouth right now, or hurry up and disappear from my sight."]
["No problem. But the one who is about to disappear here—exactly who is it?"]
[After speaking, his phantom gradually melted into the shadows.]
[Aventurine coldly snorted: "…Anyway, it's not me."]
——
One Piece.
"So, has this kid completely overcome his own flaws?" Green Bull looked up at the Celestial Screen. He saw that Aventurine had been so clever even as a child, and after growing up he had even become a P45-level executive. Most of his shortcomings had been polished away.
"He hasn't overcome them. These flaws have accompanied him from the very beginning... they are related to his origins." Fujitora stroked his cane-blade and gently shook his head. "…He is simply acting extremely well—so well that everyone believes it is true and thinks he is that lofty person within the Company."
As Aventurine, he was perfect. As Kakavasha… no matter how many years passed, he was still that child in the yellow sands who would feel inferior and afraid.
Yet it was precisely because of these "imperfections" that he had become Aventurine—the elite of the Investment Department who could hold a [Cornerstone].
Thinking of this, Fujitora couldn't help but feel a wave of emotion.
"I really want to gamble with this man."
Beside him, Green Bull coldly laughed: "Gamble? This guy's luck is so good it's unbelievable, you know? Aren't you afraid of losing everything?"
"My luck isn't bad either." Fujitora smiled faintly, the scar on his face relaxing. "Besides, he won't cheat, and neither will this old man. Deciding victory purely by luck—that is the true pleasure of a gamble."
"I believe that as long as the opponent doesn't cheat, he will never be the first to break the rules. If this kid dared to cheat first, he wouldn't have lived until now—by then there would probably be a whole bunch of people across the galaxy hunting him down, right? Would [Diamond] really acknowledge someone who plays such petty tricks?"
——
[All along the way, the child's voice continuously came from ahead.]
["Ah—want to play hide-and-seek? I'm best at this—"]
["Now it's my turn to hide— I bet you guys definitely can't find me—"]
[Aventurine arrived at a filming base. Everywhere here were castle and balloon animated background boards. It was indeed a good place for hide-and-seek.]
["Hide-and-seek… truly sweet childhood memories." The shadow appeared behind Aventurine again. "On the day you said goodbye to your mother, how many Katika people were chasing after you from behind like jackals?"]
["I bet you can never forget their sharp laughter. In order to disappear from under those savages' noses, you and your sister could only roll around in the blood water, ruining the only piece of clothing Father left behind..." the shadow said with regret.]
[Aventurine turned back and looked at him coldly: "It wasn't ruined. I've always kept it."]
["It's just a scrap of cloth. You can never wear it again." The shadow lightly laughed. "Now you no longer need to hide and conceal yourself. You even have the mood to complain that your precious outfit got wet from the rain… your identity has truly changed."]
[Aventurine gritted his teeth and said: "…I have never changed."]
["No, you have changed… now you have become the one doing the chasing. This final game of hide-and-seek… enjoy it well."]
——
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
"Goddess-sama...?"
Bell suddenly noticed that Hestia beside him had become extremely quiet.
Under the dim yellow lights of the tavern, Goddess-sama's shoulders were trembling slightly. Crystal-clear teardrops kept falling onto the plate in front of her, splashing tiny water droplets on the metal surface.
"Wuwu… that child Aventurine..." Hestia sobbed softly, continuously wiping her tears with her white gloves. "Hiding and running for his life at such a young age... aaaah the Katika people aren't even human! Are they even human at all?! How could they do something so heinous?!"
Hestia finally couldn't hold it in. She planted one foot on the stool and roared loudly: "This race, if it were in the Dungeon, would definitely have to be party-raided! Raided hard! I also want to go up there and slap them a couple of times!"
"Raid the Katika people! Raid the Katika people!"
Her impassioned speech made the crowd of adventurers in the tavern cheer and respond one after another. After all, everyone had been fiercely stimulated by the bestial acts of the Katika people. But after the excitement died down, everyone quickly realized a problem—namely, that there were no Katika people in Orario... in other words, the prerequisite for raiding this race would be to go into space, cross countless star systems, just to slap them across the face.
...Not only was the cost a bit high, the key point was that it was fundamentally impossible.
The people in the tavern who had just been passionately stirred up instantly fell into a stretch of silence.
Until one adventurer took the initiative to speak and break this awkward quiet:
"Hey, I say... there are goblins in the Dungeon too, right? That kind of monster also loves to abuse and massacre weak adventurers. How about we form a party and raid them instead?"
"Makes sense. Might as well change the raid target? Although they're not quite the same race as the Katika people, and their status isn't quite the same either... but anyway, let's go with them!"
——
[Aventurine was curious whether that child was inside. He continued deeper forward, yet saw a familiar object.]
["This is..."]
[He picked up the golden-yellow stone on the ground. His pupils suddenly contracted: "[Topaz]? Why is it here..."]
[His thinking was accompanied by an even stronger sense of dizziness. He could only support himself against a nearby photo board, barely holding up his body.]
["What? Does her Cornerstone tear at your heart this much?" The shadow walked over from behind.]
["…I'm just curious why it's here."]
["Perhaps that winged-head deliberately placed it here to mock you. To make you understand that the grand magic show you painstakingly arranged is nothing more than a dying struggle." The shadow said lightly. "The color of the Cornerstone is exactly the same as the radiance of Qlipoth's holy body… and you managed to come up with such an absurd excuse. If he had even one more careful thought, your lies would collapse at a single touch."]