酷视

Chapter 39: Nothing beats politely making the other man happy

Did I do the right thing? Or was there a hint of regret and disappointment in the face Fay showed when I left? Was her hesitation due to her feeling forced to pay me back like that, or was it due to her natural shyness?

Hundreds upon hundreds of questions like that continued to fire up in my brain, only to burn bright enough to cause me a headache before vanishing without a trace, replaced by a set of fresh questions on the same topic.

\'Was it the right thing to do, what I did?\'

This was the main question... that I had little to no hope of finding an answer to.

And so, unable to fill this query... I decided to move on.

Sadly, my emotional state couldn\'t be changed with just a decision to get over it. Just like my mom telling me to hurry up while I was waiting for the bus wouldn\'t make the bus arrive sooner. Some things simply needed time to work.

And walking by the desolate streets of the government-abandoned part of the town, I at least found some winds to help me clear all those desperate thoughts from my head.

\'We are about to go back to the other world. There, I will be able to finally learn what were the intentions of that damned bus-like fox!\'

Unable to stop thinking about Fay, I gave up on trying to put her to the back of my head. And rather than moving on from the topic of that too beautiful-to-be-real girl, I finally noticed a glaring inconsistency.

On one end, that damned parent-fox entrusted her to me. But on the other... Didn\'t it mention how Fay\'s form was created according to my deepest wishes, likes, and desires?

Was this some sort of test? Or maybe a cruel joke?

"I guess there\'s no point thinking about it that hard," I muttered to myself as I moved through the familiar roads with a single direction in mind.

The Makary\'s pub was one of the places where the forces of the local gang liked to gather. And the place the thugs I met just a few hours before directed me to. And soon enough...

"Are you lost, mate?" A voice reached my ears the very moment I stepped out of the corner. As soon as my eyes caught up, I spotted at least twenty different thugs sitting all over the alley located at the back of the pub that was my destination.

\'What, are we in Brittain now?\' I thought, holding myself back from uttering a mocking comment.

I was still not well-known enough in the gang for the usual thugs to let this kind of discourtesy, even if well-earned, slide.

After casting a short glance at the most thug-looking thug I ever saw in my life, I took a moment to look around. Only once I knew the general location of all the local gangsters, did I turn my eyes back to the truest thug in the group that spoke out.

"I\'m here to talk with Mark," I coldly announced, making sure not to reveal any emotion on my face.

Just talking with the trio from before was unnerving enough with how they all had either a firearm or a knife on them. But right now?

Right now, I was already surrounded by more than twenty men. And I only had my young face to thank for them not pulling their guns on me on the spot. After all, what kind of a threat a mere kid like me could be to them?

"Bring me to him," I added with the same, empty expression as before and in a voice that allowed no discussion.

Sadly, those thugs clearly didn\'t get the hint.

"Who the hell are you to tell us what to do?" the man who was the first to call me out now stood up and hooked his thumb on his belt, to make it easier to pull the gun if he deemed it to be necessary... Or he simply did so to try to intimidate me.

"I\'m someone following the orders from above," I spoke and shrugged my shoulders.

After dealing with a real officer of the gang, what could those small fries to do me? As long as I got the point of belonging to the group along, I would pretty much be safe.

"I\'m under orders given to me directly by a certain gentleman residing at the heart of Lizzie\'s strip bar," I added, to make the task of getting the message easier for those thugs whose faces looked like they were yet to be tainted by an intelligent thought.

And just like before, when I dealt with those three thugs who jumped me on the street, a moment of consternation followed my words.

"So you are Makary\'s new pet," the thug muttered, before shaking his head and backing off two steps while turning sideways. "Follow me."

From there on, things went quite quick and without any additional trouble. By following the thug, I got into the dim insides of the pub, only to nearly instantly choke on the thick smoke of used cigarettes that permeated every inch of the room.

"Keep going," the thug hurried me up as he went to the back of the bar before leading me to one of the few office rooms at the very back of the building. And there, as if someone intentionally copied the design of Lizzy\'s strip bar, I found a carbon copy of Makary\'s office, with the only difference being the man sitting behind the desk.

That, and the fact the thud didn\'t even bother to knock, opting to just push the doors open, drag me inside before leaving and closing the door behind him.

"Who the fuck are you?" the man, allegedly Mark, raised his eyes from the desk while lowering the erotic magazine he was browsing on the table.

"According to your men, I\'m Makary\'s new pet," I replied with a shrug of my shoulders. "And as ordered, I brought some gold to sell," I added before reaching into my pocket, grabbing the very edge of the cloth of the coin pouch, and then pulling it out with just two fingers.

\'It\'s better not to make him think I\'m trying to flash a gun on him,\' I thought as I carefully held the pouch up before, just as carefully, bringing it down on the table, pulling its cord, and allowing the coins to fall out of their passage.

"Woah," Mark gave out a small moan of surprise when he saw seven gold coins roll down his desk.

"It\'s a simple trade. Take whatever is a fair tax for the group and just give me the rest," I requested with a shrug of my shoulders.

Mark raised his eyes from the coins and to my face, taking his time watching my expression for a while.

"I didn\'t believe the news when I heard them, but it looks like you are going to go through with your promises..." he then sighed before opening one of the shelves stacked all over the back of the room and pulling out a thick wad of cash. He then took a moment to weigh the coins before counting out roughly twenty-five hundred-dollars bills.

"Here, your fair pay," he spoke, throwing the money on the table in a leisurely move. Then, he followed up with a sigh. "I believe I know what you think about our group, but we do not do our own people dirty," he added when noticing my reluctant look.

A reluctant look I had on my face only because the entire thing appeared to be... too easy. And I couldn\'t help but hesitate about grabbing the cash he threw on the desk, wary of a potential trap.

"If that\'s the case..." I muttered, only for my eyes to be drawn to one piece of equipment that I severely lacked with the perspective of my expedition just ahead. "Could I maybe get a gun too?"

If Mark hardly paid me any mind before, his expression changed the instant I uttered my question.

"A gun, huh?" he muttered, the look in his eyes sharpening. "And what would you need one for?" he asked while leaning over the table and drilling holes with his eyes in my face.

"Walking around this area with gold stuffed all over my pockets..." I muttered in response, only to turn my eyes away and whisper, "What I\'m going to do without a gun if the next group of robbers that jumps me on the street won\'t belong to the group?"

With my eyes turned away, I couldn\'t really gauge the reaction on Mark\'s face. But judging by the silence that followed, I at least gave him some food for thought... Even though his face was as innocent of bearing an intelligent thought as the faces of the thugs outside.

"That\'s a good point," Mark finally admitted after taking some time to consider my words. "But I still don\'t know why should I just give you one," he spoke. "Those things do not come cheap," he added while spreading his arms out.

With a sigh, I placed the wad of cash back on the table before moving my hand over to the small tower of gold coins that Mark built while playing around with them.

"It\'s only up to me how many coins I bring to sell to the group," I muttered, picking two of them off the top of the small tower and placing them aside... only to then push them towards the man with only silence for the explanation.

But judging by the smile that appeared on Mark\'s face, he understood my intentions. Without a word, he grabbed the wad of cash I returned, and pulled out roughly a third of the bills inside before placing it back on the table. Then, he leaned back and pulled open one of the drawers of his desk before placing a brand-new-looking pistol and two full spare magazines.

"Nothing beats politely making each other a happy man," I couldn\'t hold back the small comment... Only for a grimace to appear on my face when I what words I used. "Ugh... You can ignore the other meaning, okay?"