Unexpected Turn

"This is so comfortable"

Conor murmured. He was currently sitting down on a huge comfortable couch.

After the ludicrous situation with the baldie, Conor was dragged to their hideout. And despite his reluctance, he currently reclined his back on the couch, sitting in the most comfortable position. At this point he just accepted that he was somehow one of those thugs. He was tired after drinking all day, and the couch was making him sleepy.

He thought that Lou would still following him even in the hideout, but apparently not. Conor could not sense the strange aura that Lou had anymore. Conor didn't know if his disappearance was because he wasn't able to break through the safety system, or because he had enough material to report back. Whichever it was, Conor was enjoying his time without the troublesome butler.

Conor looked around the room. He noticed that beside the comfortable couch, their hideout even had fireplace, kitchen, and some bedrooms. It was strange considering that they just looked like a group of street thugs. Were they actually some kind of influential group in underworld? Conor tried to remember about the underworld in the novel, but this group was never mentioned once.

"Big Bro! It's really been a while. You used to come here everyday"

The intimidating bald head said, which scared Conor a little. Not only his voice was out of control, his excited tone was also the total opposite of his frightening appearance.

Ignoring him, Conor kept examining the room. The room even had paintings and vases as decorations. He was curious where these guys had the fund to keep this kind of hideout. As for the location, it was hidden inside the bar as a basement. Unsurprisingly the bar owner from before was also one of their lackeys.

Despite Conor ignoring him, the baldie continued.

"Our fund has stopped too. I thought Big Bro is gone for good"

The moment Conor heard that, he felt like a fool. Of course the original Conor would fund them. Who else was as rich as him in this territory? Conor felt like laughing dryly.

"Oi, Boulder. Don't you have any shame? How can you ask for money when we haven't taken care of that mysterious group which is in our way lately?"

The other guy chimed in. Conor didn't pay any attention to what he had said, except for the baldie's name.

'Boulder?? He seriously named himself Boulder?'

Conor was secretly laughing. He was aware that anyone in a group like this had an alias. And as much as he hated it so much, his alias might be 'Big Bro'. But there were three more guys in the group, and Conor was curious what their aliases were. It might be his breeze of entertainment in the middle of his bad mood.

Conor took a glance at the guy who talked to Boulder earlier. He had a long black hair, tied lazily into a bun. He was also skinny, the polar opposite of Boulder. However, he was almost as tall as Boulder. Conor took a look at those skinny, long legs. His alias might be giraffe or something.

"You're one to say Hawk, Big Bro stopped coming here cause you keep scaring him. You make that mysterious group scarier the more you talk about it" The other guy also said.

Hearing that the giraffe guy actually named Hawk, Conor was somehow disappointed. His breeze of entertainment was now gone. But he still had two more names to guess about. Conor observed the rest of two guys who looked so much like each other. They were undoubtedly twins, and also looked much younger than Boulder and Hawk, maybe around eighteen. On top of that, one of the twins had a burn scar on his face, and one of his eyes was probably blind. Conor just assumed because he kept his one eye shut. This burnt and blind twin was the one who talked to Hawk anyways.

"But it is! Ki, aren't you and Ri spying on them like there's no tomorrow?" Hawk said again, complaining to the twins.

Paying no attention to the real conversation, Conor once again was disappointed with their names. He thought something cool or unexpected would came out, but their name were the most ordinary out of all.

Boulder, Hawk, Ki and Ri. Boulder was the most funny one in his opinion. It was even funnier since his name matched his appearance well.

Bored of the conversation, Conor yawned. It was past his bedtime, and the fluffy couch made him sleepy. When he yawned, the four guys surrounding him gave him a look. As if asking him to made any comment to their conversation.

But he didn't care in the slightest.

"Do you guys have any coffee?" Conor asked.

Conor thought that it wasn't good if he fell asleep here. He didn't sense any hostility from those guys, but he also didn't want to let his guard down.

The four of them had a blank look once Conor asked that. But the other twin, Ri which was the one without the burn, quickly stood up and made his way to the kitchen.

"Thanks" Conor said before Ri disappeared to the kitchen. But seemed like Ri didn't hear it. Instead, the three guys who still sat down stared at Conor in a strange look.

"Since when Big Bro ever say thanks?" Boulder suddenly made a comment, which sounded more like his thoughts were leaking out. Hawk and Ki hastily hushed and tried to shut Boulder's mouth.

"Oh, really?" Conor replied nonchalantly.

But three of them were silent. Looking at them like this, Conor felt that he understood what was Conor position in this group. The original Conor was a provider, he funded the group and made those guys a place to stay. It sounded a lot like boss, but seemed like the original Conor never got involved in any of the group activities. It was more like a benefactor in a way. Then, what did the original Conor aimed to achieve with being in the group?

In that silence, Ri came back with a cup of coffee. Conor who sat down comfortably then straightened his position, and received the coffee from Ri. When Conor was about to take a sip, he noticed that the four of them were still staring at him, made him uncomfortable.

"What? You guys can continue the talk" He said.

But the atmosphere was getting strange, that it took a while for them to start the discussion again. Conor who did not care about a thing they talked about kept enjoying his coffee. It had been a while since he could relax without Lou bothering him.

"Well, then Ki. What is your finding so far on that group? You keep it a secret until now, it's not fair since I shared what I found to you" Hawk started, looking at Ki.

But Ki was silent. Looking at the reluctant Ki, Boulder snorted.

"See? We should just charge them forward. There's no reason to continue investigating like this" Boulder said with his usual blaring voice.

"That's what happen when you think with muscle, you muscle head" Hawk sneered, provoking Boulder in the process.

When Conor expected a fight to happen, Ri who was silent suddenly opened his mouth.

"Hey, guys. Should we just stop chasing them? Because we found some- ughhhh" Before Ri could finish it, Ki quickly covered Ri's mouth.

"I told you not to tell anyone until we are sure!" Ki shouted to Ri, who was trying to get rid of his twin hands.

Ri sent a glare towards Ki, as if he couldn't keep up with Ki anymore.

"But we sent five people and no one ever came back normally!" Ri said in desperation. "Don't you think something is going on, Ki? It is truly weird!" Ri continued.

Hawk was clearly baffled. He never expect Ki and Ri held back the information for such reason. Perhaps, the situation was even worse than he expected.

"What do you mean by 'normally'?" Hawk asked the twins.

Ki sighed. Although he was still reluctant to speak, he finally decided spill the beans.

"They looked like they're cursed. Their skin turned pale, they talk nonsense, and their eyes turned red as blood. That group... is definitely not normal" Ki explained while holding his temple. While Ri remained silent.

Conor who was enjoying his coffee suddenly choked. He felt like those symptoms were far too familiar to him. If his memories served right, it might be one of important pieces mentioned in the novel.

"Are they... getting extremely cold or hot all the time, eat a lot, and somehow afraid of insects?" Conor asked, while trying to wipe the spilled coffee around his face.

The four of them immediately shifted their gaze to Conor. Boulder was the only one showing the face full of expectation towards Conor.

"I... don't know the details..." Ri replied weakly.

Conor clicked his tongue.

"Then, did you find a strange trace of magic?" Conor asked again.

"Yes, I did! It was definitely magic but there's something strange with it. I can't explain it. Are you also investigating it, Big Bro?" Ki excitedly said. His face brightened in hope, something might be different if Conor decided to involve himself.

Conor smiled.

It was a vicious smile, but none of them find that strange. They were distracted due to their excitement. It was a good thing that the usually idle Young Master decided to help them.

"Ki, Ri, I want you to stop sending spy. Install magic device instead" Conor said in a commanding tone.

"Huh, but..."

Hearing that, Ri hesitated. Conor had been funding all the necessary cost and equipment to them. But, Conor was always expecting his money to come back. That was how it'd been for years. That was why, when the problem became more than just a black trade, Ri was sure Conor would draw back as he had no reason to put himself in danger. Moreover, the price of magic device was not something that Ri could pay off in his lifetime.

"Don't worry about the cost, I'll cover it" As if knew what Ri was worrying over, Conor threw a purse filled with gold coins. It was his savings, but he could ask for more from Viscount Marcel.

"I'll give you more next time I come here" Conor added.

The four of them were staring at Conor in shock. They never seen Conor throwing out money at ease like this. Young Master Conor that they knew was a little stingy after all.

But Conor paid it no mind. He didn't know why were they so shocked, but he was satisfied that he found another pieces of the novel to go with his grand plan. With this, he could gain a favor of Viscountess Nadia.

---

When Conor finally back in the mansion, it was already late. The mansion looked a little eerie from the distance as the moonlight shone upon. He never really took a look of his home from outside, and it was interesting nonetheless. It reminded him a lot of western horror movies. When Conor came through the main gate, he expected at least one of the guards had a wondering face or asked him where he was. But contrary to that, they just opened the gate normally.

'I guess it is a normal occurrence, then?'

Conor thought to himself.

Conor then came up to his room, walking while dragging his legs. He was really tired and was ready to crash his bed. However, he found someone crouched in front his door.

While trying to figure out the silhouette only with a dim light from oil lamps and the moonlight, Conor felt an unsettling aura pressing on his chest. Conor quickly realized who it was.

The owner of this strange intimidating aura was none other than Ren.