Control instinct.

That's the word that popped into Kain's head the moment Jamie finished speaking. Although he couldn't see his own expression from another's perspective, Kain was certain he hadn't shown any sign of being "dissatisfied" or anything similar.

Yet, Jamie had said he "seemed dissatisfied," which was worth noting.

Combining this with Mera's expression upon seeing the huge reward money, Kain realized that Jamie felt insecure because she couldn't control him with money. Although the relationship between the employer and the employee is equal in terms of compensation for labor, the employer always wants to control the employee in some way, because they believe they have the upper hand.

This is a common phenomenon, and it's even more understandable as Jamie is a noble, a class with a very strong desire for control.

Therefore, she had attributed the emotion of "dissatisfaction" to Kain to lay the groundwork for later negotiations. And also, for control. Humans are often afraid of what they don't know or understand, and the way to fight that primal fear is to give it a name, a concept, a definition. Just as ancient people gave the state of lacking light to see by, the name - darkness.

Only in this way could Jamie feel at ease.

"Tsk, what a hassle," Kain sighed inwardly. He then looked up, facing Jamie. His deep golden eyes once again met her noble emerald eyes.

But this time, Jamie suddenly shivered.

For a moment, her defenses seemed to shatter, as if the person in front of her was dissecting her to the very last layer. And she was just a pitiful girl lying on a table, waiting for him to cut her apart piece by piece.

But then, the feeling vanished, as if it were just her own illusion. Jamie composed herself, just as Kain opened his mouth.

"Nothing, just why isn't the content of the game here? If you want my help, you have to let me know what to do, right?"

A very normal question. Jamie tried to forget the feeling from before and calmly replied.

"Unfortunately, the rules aren't set by us, so no one knows the rules until the game begins."

"That's tough, isn't it? Then I want an additional one million Cents in the bonus. And during the game, I want to bring her with me."

Kain pointed his thumb towards Mera, who was nudging him because he had suddenly demanded an extra one million Cents as a reward. Mera whispered,

"What are you doing, Kain? Aren't you afraid she'll walk away with such a high price?"

Mera was truly flustered, but Kain replied with certainty.

"It's okay. I've got this."

Just as Kain predicted, Jamie appeared to be deep in thought, but secretly, she was pleased.

"So he just wants more money. That's simple."

Jamie wasn't afraid of greedy people, only those who lacked greed.

"Regarding the extra reward, we can negotiate. And that girl... Mera, was it? I can agree to let her participate, but any mistakes she makes will be attributed to you, understood?"

"Fair enough. Now, let's talk about the money."

Kain clasped his hands on the table and began negotiating with Jamie.

It was called a negotiation, but in reality, Kain was reading her and cooperating to land on a reasonable price. Mera watched this harmonious scene with a relaxed atmosphere and didn't know what to say. Although every time Kain spoke, Jamie would likely have to fork over hundreds of thousands of Cents, she still looked quite... happy?

"Nobles are so strange," Mera could only think to herself, even though she was technically also considered a noble.

Finally, the reward was settled at two million plus 600,000 Cents, a very good deal. Kain and Jamie shook hands symbolically, and he signed the contract.

"Alright, now tell me about our upcoming opponents."

Now, Kain was truly focused.

Jamie also became much more serious, beginning to explain the situation by starting with the power structure of Adia's inner city.

Adia's inner city was divided and controlled by ten major noble families.

The Sword Family.

The Zento Family.

The Acer Family.

The Flamed Family.

The Madea Family.

The Bethel Family.

The Raymon Family.

The Nostag Family.

The Don Family.

The Egretta Family, which was Jamie's noble family.

"So, how does your family compare to the other noble families? I mean, in terms of power and influence."

Kain, of course, wouldn't ask directly about the Sword Family, as that would be too obvious and might make Jamie suspicious. So he took a roundabout approach.

At this, a look of embarrassment and distress flashed across Jamie's face, but these expressions passed quickly. She cleared her throat and explained, "The Egretta Family is at the bottom rank among the noble families in Adia. Along with the Don Family, the Madea Family... generally, almost all the other noble families are on par with us."

"So, which noble families are at the top?" Kain asked, although he already had a vague answer in mind.

"The Sword Family and the Bethel Family. Compared to us, they are the two true monsters wrestling each other." At this, Jamie sighed.

The Bethel Family... Now that he thought about it, Kain had heard of this family before. They were a branch of the descendants of a lord who had been extremely powerful before the Akazac Empire was founded. At that time, before the Akazac Empire unified everything, there were three great nations: Ugar, Lydia, and Alessia. This was a chaotic period where countless lords formed factions and fought for control of various territories. It goes without saying how powerful the nobles were during that time.

Through what Jamie said, Kain silently made some deductions about the situation in Adia. Compared to the Sword Family and the Bethel Family, noble families like Jamie's Egretta Family were in a weaker position. Therefore, these lower-tier noble families either sided with and supported the two great families, or they vaguely gathered together, forming a protective circle in case the two great families ever had the intention of annexing them.

Of course, with eight noble families combined, this force was incomparable to either the Sword Family or the Bethel Family alone. This forced these two monsters, despite their political and power struggles, to maintain a vague connection with each other. This connection was how they cooperated to fend off all the others, to prevent a rebellion.

In short, Adia was formed by a three-way stalemate. The great noble families suppressed the smaller noble families, the smaller noble families joined forces to suppress the great noble families, and the great noble families joined forces to balance the combined smaller noble families.

"Alright then, I want to get the records of the previous resource distribution games."

"No problem, I have them ready."

Seeing Kain's request, Jamie became even more satisfied. Compared to the others she had tested, Kain's performance was the most pleasing to her.

She knew that the game itself was not simple, not to mention that the opponents were nine other formidable factions. This was not something that could be solved just by making an empty promise. That's why nobles like Jamie hired people; they needed those with genuine foresight.

If Kain hadn't proactively asked for this today, Jamie wouldn't have provided it. The contract was signed, and Kain had to bear the responsibility he had accepted. If he failed, it would be due to his own negligence.

Jamie rang a small bell, and the old butler approached, respectfully handing Kain a carefully bound stack of documents that looked just like a book.

"These are the records of the ten most recent resource distribution games, Mr. Kain."

"Thank you." Kain took the documents and flipped through them. They were indeed organized like a book with ten clear chapters, the earliest one detailing the game held three years ago.

Satisfied, Kain turned to Jamie. "Then, I look forward to our cooperation."

"To our cooperation." A slight wrinkle appeared at the corner of Jamie's eyes as she smiled in reply, a sign that she was genuinely pleased.

With that, Kain and Mera left.

But as soon as they were gone, Jamie's expression darkened. The old butler seemed to have anticipated his mistress's thoughts and said softly, "Miss Jamie, although everything is settled with Kain, it's not certain that the other parties will just let this slide."

Jamie nodded, then rubbed her forehead and sighed.

A noble family could never be as solid as a block of steel, at least not internally. Although Jamie was currently the leader of the younger generation of the Egretta Family, the person with the highest chance of inheriting the position of family head, it hadn't been realized yet. She just had the highest chance.