Four years prior to current events.In a small lavish mansion the suns light shined through the thin white curtains, inside a single man dreamed of a time far in the past in a home made of mud bricks and wood, a young boy was placed on the floor, with his eyes dim and faint, his clothes ragged and dirty a wet cloth placed on his forehead. from the corners of his eyes he could spot his older twin brother,who sat next to him, in tears his hands caressing his younger brothers cheeks, " look at you getting a fever" he said solemnly.Except for their hard working mother they were abandoned and alone.The dream quickly became hazzy and shattered, like a puzzle being disassembled.as if waking up from a nightmare the man's torso catapulted forward as he opened his eyes.His forehead dripping with sweat .
Around him on his left and right side were naked women, their full bodies almost completely exposed, if not for the thin bed sheets that they hugged tightly,he had a dark tanned skin tone, black slightly curled hair a triangular curved jawline a long face with a muscular body,surrounding his neck was a gold neclace its appearance was of a vertical cross having a circular emblem with pointed rectangular points representing rays of light as the center piece, the man was none other than Pierce Romanty
After being fired from his post the money he made over the years working for a Generous Duke nonetheless, had allowed him to continue living a lavish lifestyle.In all honesty it was enough to start his own business ,he yawned "huaaww" breathing in and out " Damn I cant believe I overslept like that ,gotta wake them up before things become complicated ",moving the sides of the womens thighs he signaled that they needed to go back.Afterall his experience taught him to always be careful these women could potentially be married to less gentlemanly men .
After they had woken up ,Pierce stood up in his white boxers and wore a gentleman's attire which included a purple vest, with some vertical lines on them, a white ruffled jabot with a black bow, gold accessories, a ruffled white long sleeved shirt, long black pants and purple leather shoes.later he safely escorted the women out each attempting to flirt with him along the way, to not build any type of attachment he presented a calm detached demeanor.One of the ladies in curiosity braught up a question asking him if he had any future marital plans,
his answer left their insides in a state of shock and anger.
" I have not found a virtues wife yet "
This had many meanings, this made them feel inferior as they had cheated on their respective husbands, with him ,disqualifying them from contention, but at the same time, they scoffed, what did he know of virtue,one of the women persing her lips, replying "you only get what your worth ",Pierce smiled "I have my doubts ", his mansion was located in the edges of ymir City as he escorted each one into a carriage for safety reasons.
Not too far away from the docks where many ships gathered, located on the Cities coast was the entertainment district filled with orangish light lantern decorations ,art ,beauty, and fireworks, Silk manufacturing shops,money laundering dens,Gangs ,brothels,winerys,taverns,hostels and Casinos where all types of debauchery took place, these places gained their wealth from the visitors who got off boats in the Docks looking for entertainment,relaxation and good booze
In the midst of these places Pierce drowned himself in beer as he looked at women left and right, after he lost his job from maids accusing him of harassment,and others who he had only slept with once or twice claiming that he was the father of their children, which effected sir Conrads reputation causing him to get fired. Something he had already excepted but without that foundation he slid further into his own viscious pit of addiction.
In the mornings he would go out and spend his money on gambling ,betting on certain horses to win this led him to buying expensive luck charms to increase his chances of winning despite how it was against the values of the aletheian church which were against the complete ulteration of lifes nature, they believed this reliance on magic would only bring humanity greater doom,thus when applied to other things women were allowed to use multiple means to decrease the pain of periods and pregnancy for childbirth to go smoothly but they were not allowed to change biological factors using magic to get pregnant,if it was deemed this was a natural due to age.But diseases were to be cured
This world had other sports aswell, for example a variation of football existed,pioneered by Sir Doumond who later lost majority shares to the ones he had pitched it to. In major cities people still practiced a yearly event that took place over the course of months, where small to troublesome criminals with fighting ability or strong wills would be inlisted within battle royals in coliseums they would be braught from all across the province with elevan seperate Tournaments .The single victors of each would be immediately inlisted and trained within the military an order directly from the throne itself.This became so popular that men would intentionally become criminals to get such an opportunity as many could not meet the standards of the military other options were to become adventurers.
At night when the moon hung high Pierce could be found in a tavern sobbing for his latest loss.Drinking bassilisks fire a much more expensive beer, for a normal man drinking one cup was best advised.He lamented the horses he placed his bets on,coming in tenth place ,expressing his dissatisfaction to the bartender as the men around him laughed at his troubles "I cant believe this " he yelled letting his frustrations out ,Pierce looked at the bartender "hey Arnold one more cup " slamming a few silver Leo's and a thin gold slab ,Arnold sighed cleaning a cup then skillfully pouring beer passing it to Pierce, "You seem like a wreck" he said in a concerned manner "what do you want to do with your life cause,right now my friend, I'm not gonna lie to you ,your a mess ,Pierce replied "my jobs gone and I'm running on borrowed time "
Arnold looked at him "Did you really want to be a teacher all your life " Pierce smirked pointing his head down when I was young I wanted to be an aventurer, or a knight, I even became a knights squire learning a few tricks here and there some hand to hand and sword skill,but it was too unrealistic at the time" Pierce chuckled raising his head up slightly " I guess when you think about it the subjects I majored in,history ,Geography, finance, were all parts of an adventurers dream, I guess when I grew older I blocked my own ambition letting it manifest in different ways "
the bulky bartender looked disatisfied as he said "you still owe me a number from a few weeks ago ,you got to pay your tab friend" in that moment two strong men walked up touching Pierce shoulders
"alright, alright I get it " Pierce said calmly the bartender sighed again "It hurts me to do this but Im running a business over here,your not allowed to come back until you pay your dues,I'll be coming to collect in two days time" ,Pierce mouth twitched his eyes rolling as he was dragged out ,that same night In a brothel he got kicked out for loittering without any money "what do you guys think your doing! " he exclaimed,"I'm your best customer " he said drunkingly
Afterwards vommitting as trying to keep his own composure wiping off his mouth with his left arm. ,"all I need to do is get enough money to pay off some of my debts", he said breathing in and out, he had a clear and tested strategy for that , entering his favorite casino this time the attendants greeted him with a sense of fear their faces slightly contorting as they exuded obviously fake nervous grins inviting him in.To play in here
was his element, he thought to himself at that moment why he loved this place, was it the smell ,the laughter, the goldish decor, the chandeliers,or the very walls that exuded class, what was so addicting was how each game toyed with your mind giving you a dopamine rush when you won, it was always logical enough to intrigue you ,to give you a sense of hope like a carrot on a stick, it was a combination of intelligence and luck, but in this casino specifically luck was on his side.
After years of losing he came to a conclusion despite their being observants meant to keep the use of skills from interacting with the game the outcome clearly felt bought.It was clearly rigged so why couldn't,he be a participant , as he got to the poker table winking at his friendly dealer the atmosphere itself felt off he looked to his left and right, in the corners he could see male servants sneakily looking at his direction as they gossipped,this was to be expected as he had won big thrice, in the period of about a year at this point fame was natural, the casino knew their was a chance they would lose money everytime he arrived.
In his heart he felf he was the main character,narrarating to himself within his own head " their are multiple ways to cheat" he said,while holding a hand of cards towards his face " by taking advantage of certain moments, if one has skill in slight of hand they can add extra chips onto a winning bet,other ways include secretly partnering up with a dealer,using tech or magics to gain an advantage, all these require the ability to exploit a moment create distractions and to not draw attention on what you dont want to be seen, " as he said this he used his eyes to signal the dealer " I payed off most of the security team and my favorite dealers ,creating losses here and there to make things seem as natural as possible ,its only logical,that the more you lose the higher the chance of you winning "
Pierces ,experience taught him many things ,but as a human being perfection was an impossibility and one mistake could be your very end,there were several ways one could be caught for example live surveillance,rotation of dealers,or the use of automatic shuffling ,his eyes looked at the cards and darted left and right.Behind the dealer he saw bouncers on his left being led by male servants ́in black and white to his direction. On the right hand side he saw a group of four men bursting threw a small crowd as women dressed in servant attire carried trays from one point to another.
The scene of the four men sent a shiver down his spine ,he remembered, sitting in a office a large man with a bald head wearing a grey suit sat across from him " so ,your going to pay me in three months " he said as he slid the contract infront of Pierce, his body leaning as his bodygaurds towered over,the scars on their faces clearly indicating, their experiences in certain matters, Pierce smiled nervously, with a confused innocence " I have to play the part of a innocent child to get their trust " he said in his head.
But at this moment his pupils dilated cussing out silently " fk ! ,dammit why now only a few more days " he knew for sure about the left hand side of people coming at him he looked again remembering the attitudes of the male servants that had greeted him. Picturing each scene " I see they were found out and punished but were kept as bait for me" his eyes ,locked with one of the bouncers as they got closer,he instantly threw the cards on the table bolting for the door ,the two parties unbinounced to one another shouted "hey !,hey! dont let him escape "
He knew that the doors would be guarded by security but that wasn't an issue as he smirked while running "always come prepared" he said taking out a magical greenish stone from his pocket,and crushing it with his bare hand, immediately a light ingolfed him and his surroundings,his body twisting within the lights, reality melded together a few seconds later he woke up at home in his bed .The outside of the mansion covered in plumes of fire as the maids ran screaming Pierce quickly stood up,and looked out the window, Outside was a a plump man holding a type of shotgun with a top hat and a black suit besides him was a women tightly holding his arms,as she was shoved to the side holding his leg tightly surrounding him, were armed men fireing shots into the air.
His eyes wide open as he looked out the window quickly scavenging for his most important belongings opening a pocket watch that had a picture depicting the servants the most important servants of Sir Conrads estate, his peers who had become his family, Claus who had scolded his behavior, like a strict father wanting the best for his child, "why didn't I listen" he said to himself gathering pictures and the rest of the wealth he had on hand,quickly wearing a cloak of invincibility, the flames rose up blocking the passage ways as he jumped breaking through one of the windows running for his life " the banks gonna take all my money after this" he said as he huffed and puffed
In the office of the military Francis respectfully stood up with his back straight ,the man infront of him was a fleet commanding officer Gordon sclamarch his navy uniform revealed years of decorated performance and hard work he had a scar from his chin that almost reached his left eye and a white beard with deep brown eyes
"So your looking to join the Frontline Battle against the pirates" ,Gordon said with a smile revealing a gold tooth as he rested his face on one hand " after running away from your responsibilities and your post ,men like you disgust me , even after your accomplishments how can I trust that your crew will have your back and not think of you as a coward"
Francis responded lifting up his chin " A man that runs in fear keeps a grudge for life ,what I once was is far inferior to my current resolve, no I'm prepared to stake my life looking to make a change "
"Gordon smiled his face showing his wrinkles in this battle in order to move north,in the future the pirates must be eliminated,and one extra fighter is just another soul to the cause,whether they make a change or not is up to the lord ,I'll inform the higher ups from next week onwards,you will be the captain of the ship, sinners bane"