It's a castle for a rich douche for sure...

The inside of the castle was not too different from your expectations, which, ironically, was a surprise.

A bunch of Characters dressed up as maids bustled about as Chun-Li led you upstairs. Some of those you recognized, others you didn’t.

What appalled you was the sheer headcount of the Characters.

The gardeners and maids alone were already much more than you could keep on track, and Chun-Li or Seth didn’t seem to be in either category, meaning that this millionaire might have had hundreds of Characters under his position.

Chun-Li stopped on the 3rd floor and knocked on one of the fancy bedroom doors.

“Master, the guest is here.”

After a brief silence, the door opened.

To your surprise, Android 18 opened the door.

Less surprisingly, she was completely naked and sweaty… although you suspected that sweat wasn’t the only thing on her skin.

“You came here early, didn’t you?”

18 muttered.

Chun-Li locked her jaw.

Still, she ignored the comment and led both you and Juri inside.

“...gross.”

Juri wrinkled her nose as soon as she stepped into the room.

You couldn’t blame her.

The room reeked with the musky scent of sex, and the man sitting in bed wasn’t making any effort to hide the fact that he had been enjoying the steaming action up until the very last moment.

The man had Chi-Chi and Bulma leaning on him from either side, neither of them wearing anything.

Thankfully, the man had enough decency to cover up his lower half with the bedsheet.

“Ah, right. This is the one who smashed Cammy’s jaw?”

“Y, yes.”

Unlike Juri, Chun-Li was blushing deeply.

She squirmed in her spot, as if the mere presence of her master made her horny, which was probably true.

The man gazed at Juri, who shivered and took half a step behind you.

“And loyal to! I like that.”

“Fuck off!”

Juri raised a middle finger over your head.

You would have told her to behave herself, but you didn’t appreciate that douche’s tone as well.

“If you brought me here just to evaluate my Character, then back off—she’s not for sale. If you want Juri Han, then get your own.”

“Aww…!”

Juri hugged you from the back and pressed her lips onto your cheek.

“That’s so sweet, daddy!”

“…”

You silently waved her face away, although it didn’t feel particularly bad.

Juri kept grinning widely as she turned her gaze back to the man.

“You heard him! Let us go, or I’ll match your chin with your dolly!”

As soon as she spat out the threat, both Android 18 and Chun-Li reacted.

In less than a second, they each grabbed Juri’s arms and slammed her back onto the floor.

“Hey!”

You tried to complain, but Juri wasn’t going to let herself get beaten up as well.

Before you could either tell her to retaliate or stand down, Juri stretched her legs into a split kick and hit both Characters on the head, forcing them to let her go.

Chun-Li grunted as she staggered back, but Android 18’s eyes glinted in the dark room.

“Oh, this bitch is getting some!”

“Enough!”

Android 18 stopped mid-lunge.

The man stepped out of bed, thankfully wearing briefs and short pants.

“This gentleman is our guest, and we don’t break our guest’s toy.

18, you’re under punishment for the rest of the day.”

Android 18 looked like she was about to argue, but then, she hung her head and trudged out of the room.

The man nodded in your direction.

“Sorry for this fiasco.

Chun-Li, kindly take our guests to the drawing room while I get ready.”

“Yes, master.”

Thankfully, the drawing room was not filled with musky scent.

One of the maids inside brought out snacks and placed them in front of you and Juri.

You slapped Juri’s hand as she reached out for a basket of homemade cookies.

With a small sigh, Chun-Li picked up the cookie and took a bite.

“It’s not laced with anything, I promise.”

“…”

“I don’t trust you, you skank!”

Juri spat angrily.

However, her eyes lingered longingly on the cookie as it slowly disappeared into Chun-Li’s mouth.

Eventually, you decided to allow Juri to take some snacks for herself.

You still didn’t fully trust the man in charge here, but even so, it wasn’t the smartest move to keep being antagonistic when he was being welcoming.

While Juri went to town on the variety of snacks, much to the maids’ disgust, you turned to Chun-Li.

“Who’s your master?”

You asked.

Chun-Li wiped her mouth with a piece of tissue and sat up straight.

“Our master’s name is Lucius Vanderbilt.

Master is a wealthy man, as you must have noticed. That’s because the Neo Pantheon is being run by him.

He may be a bit debauched, but I can assure you that he has a good heart.”

“Your assurance for your master doesn’t mean jack-shit. Are you going to believe Juri 100% if she says I’m the best person in the world?”

“You are though.”

Juri said while chewing.

You put a hand over your eyes in exasperation.

Chun-Li chuckled to herself.

“I think I would believe your Character, but I also understand your skepticism.

As you can see, Master has countless Characters under his wing, and well… that sort of power does make changes in someone, whether they like it or not.”

“I’m one of the oldest Characters he acquired, and…”

“And?”

Chun-Li flinched in her seat and whirled around.

Lucius Vanderbilt was peeking his head in from the corridor, now with another two maid Characters, neither of whom you recognized.

Chun-Li’s face turned scarlet, more out of shame than anything else.

“No, I didn’t…I mean…I’ll see myself out.”

“Alright.”

Chun-Li hurriedly left the room as Lucius took her seat.

Juri shoved the last bit of cookies from the basket into her mouth before glaring at him, effectively making her less intimidating than ever.

“You really do have a very good Character, James Gardner. Now that’s something even money couldn’t guarantee.”

You froze in your place.

It wasn’t impossible that a millionaire would know your name. They did announce it at the Neo Pantheon, after all. If he were the organizer of the whole ordeal, he’d naturally be aware of your name.

Still, it wasn’t a pleasant feeling for a stranger to recognize you before you ever introduced yourself.

“Speaking of money, how much are you willing to sell her to me?”

“No deal.”

“Bummer.”

Lucius shrugged and snapped her fingers.

You tensed, prepared for the maids to turn 180° in their attitude and launch a full-fledged attack, but nothing of the sort happened.

Instead, one of the maids next to Lucius placed a small stack of paper in front of you.

You tentatively looked over.

It was filled with difficult words that you could hardly make sense of. That meant one thing.

“Is this a contract?”

“Yes, it is.”

Lucius leaned forward on the table.

“You see, when I said your Juri is a good Character, I wasn’t simply praising her loyalty.

Her combat skills are also top-notch. One does not break my Cammy’s jawline with sheer luck. That’s some impressive skills.”

Juri proudly puffed out her chest with a smug grin.

“So, I want to recruit her onto my team.

You still own her. I don’t intend to take her away, even for a bit.

We’re just going to work as partners, get it?”

“…right…”

You squinted down at the contract.

It was difficult, but you had been studying this kind of stuff in your free time.

The longer you stared down at the complex string of words, the meanings slowly pieced themselves together.

“…you want me to stage the fight with you, is this correct?”

“Well, if you’re just going to say it…”

Lucius shrugged.

“Yeah, that’s basically it.

In the Neo Coliseum, I usually let whoever wants to win the most take the victory.”

“You mean whoever paid you the most.”

Lucius waved his hand.

“Yeah, whatever. The important thing is, whenever I influence the outcome of the tournament, Cammy is always my go-to girl.

But now, she got her chin smashed into pieces thanks to your Character.”

“I doubt that you are unable to fully heal her in a snap with all the resources you have.”

You replied.

Thanks to Tsunade, you knew what kind of patients came to the hospital. Most of them were minor injuries, but even the few heavy injuries were easily healed with her healing ninjutsu.

It was very unlikely to think that someone so rich didn’t have that option lying around like a Band-Aid in the house.

Sure enough, Lucius nodded.

“That’s true. But it’s not about the injury. Cammy was supposed to win today’s fight.

By losing, she lost her credibility with my clients.

So… I either need to find a Character that could beat your Juri, or…”

“You recruit her.”

“Exactly.

I’ll pay you $100 every week, regardless of your actual placement in the tournament. Keep the extra prize money you may or may not earn along the way.

All you have to do is lose against the opponent I tell you to.”

It didn’t seem like a bad proposition.

By the looks of it, $100 was the prize money when you won the tournament. If you wanted to earn $100 every week, Juri would have to be the last one standing each week.

Even for someone like her, that sounded improbable.

Besides, if you could earn $100 and more each week, then there was no longer a reason to keep Tsunade going to work at the hospital anymore, not to mention that the remaining cash could be spent on… other things that you had an interest in.

However, before you made up your mind, someone else spoke up.

“I don’t want to lose on purpose!”

Juri said out loud.

“If I’m fighting, I’m going to give it my all no matter who’s my opponent.”

“I see…”

You pulled back the urge to smack Juri over the back of her head.

You didn’t want to miss such a great opportunity to earn more cash with ease.

“Hmm, alright then.”

Lucius rubbed his chin a few times, then snapped his fingers.

“On top of the original offer, I’ll give you one of my Characters as a gift, and Juri gets to pick a fight with one of my warrior girls down in the training dungeon. How about that?”

“Oooh! A training dungeon?”

Juri’s eyes twinkled with excitement.

Lucius chuckled.

“Trust me, those things are expensive even for my standards.

It’s going to be hard to find another way to gain access to one of those from somewhere else.”

Juri looked up at you with pleading eyes.

You let out a small sigh.

“If I can look over Juri whenever she comes here, then fine.”

“Great!”

You both signed the contract, with the additional conditions in place.

After the maid took the contract carefully into her apron pocket, Lucius stood up and stretched.

“Alright then, you can look over my collection and decide who to take home with you!

Eliza, explain the situation and assemble all of my maids in the front hall.”

“Yes, master.”

Eliza quickly left the room with a polite nod.