A deal with a gang boss?
"Ugh... Can you please let us all go? It's really important for my mission, the Fiends boss might suspect me if I go back alone." The bald, bearded muscular man, Graves, pleaded to me.
I could let them go as long as they promise not to mess with me and my shop, but I also wanted to take advantage of the situation and have these guys buy off some products so that I could complete the quest faster, Alucard thought. He was about to make a decision when he heard a few knocks on the door.
A tall man wearing a gilded, tight-fitting, dark brown noble suit was standing in front of the glass door. He had a head of silver hair and piercing silver eyes, He smiled lightly as he stood waiting. When I was escorted here, the Brightguards, as instructed by my brother, had given me some information about the nobility and other notable factions of the Pacific kingdom. Based on the man's features, he might be from one the three ducal houses of this kingdom, the Fiends family.
I wondered why a person of such status would come to this place on the outskirts late at night, though I had an idea as I stared at Graves' lowered head. I stood up and signaled to M-Warrior #2 to follow me while M-Warrior #1 stood guard over Graves and his companions. I had M-Warrior #2 open the door for me, this time making sure that he did it carefully as I didn't want him to break the glass door. I stared at the silver haired man for a few seconds, then greeted him.
"I wonder what business does someone from House Fiends have with me that they'd go here in the boonies late in the night? To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" I asked him straightforwardly.
The silver-haired man looked a bit surprised, then he chuckled lightly. "I apologize for disturbing your store at this ungodly hour, and I also apologize for my men making trouble with you as well. May I enter your store so that we can discuss this amicably?" My suspicions were confirmed quickly, the man in front of me should be the boss of Graves' gang, Mors Furia. Though I wondered how someone from a ducal house would have connections with gangs, much less lead one, thinking about it, it wasn't that surprising.
A lot of noble houses, especially ones that have stood the test of time and have strong foundations, usually have 'dogs' that deal with their dirty work. My family also had forces dealing with underhanded and scandalous matters. I nodded to the man and invited him over to sit at one of the tables. He glanced at the two unconscious thugs before sitting down next to Graves, who was sweating bullets. I was surprised that this nobleman didn't have any reservations about sitting next to a commoner like Graves, most of them usually like to talk shop at a separate table or venue, away from servants that's specifically set for whatever matter was at hand.
"Thank you for your hospitality, hmm... This place is quite bright, yet the light isn't as harsh as the sun. It's pretty cool here as well. Are you perhaps a mage who specializes in light and ice magic? People with talent for either element are pretty rare, much less one specializing in both." The silver-haired man asked me as he observed the store.
"You haven't introduced yourself nor stated what your business is with me here yet." I calmly smiled and replied back to him.
"Ah, forgive me! Where are my manners? I am Frederick Fiends, and as you've guessed, I am indeed from House Fiends. Well, at least I was from the House of Fiends. Now I run a small local business here in Kalamar. I am here to apologize to you since my men decided to make trouble. As their employer, I am embarrassed at this turn of events. Please do forgive us, and I'll promise that we won't trouble you again." Frederick said in a tone of sincerity, yet I'm pretty sure this won't be the last I see of him or any of his goons.
"I don't care whatever drama you have with the ducal house, but having gang members sniff out my place then try to break into my business does not sit well with me." I stared into Frederick's eyes and made my stance, I don't care whatever gang business the Fiends try to get into, but if they plan to disrupt my business or cause me harm, then I won't just sit still.
The temperature in the room got colder, and Frederick met my gaze with a solemn expression.
"What do you think needs to happen then? I didn't expect someone from House Clara to be as headstrong as you." he asked.
House Clara huh? Well... they are distant relatives and one of the ducal houses in the Pacific kingdom. I guess the red eyes made him assume that I'm from that family. I thought.
"I don't really care if a gang guarantees to not mess with me or not, you're not the only gang nor the only underworld force here in Kalamar. Even if your Mors Furia is the biggest force, it doesn't guarantee my peace when all of you thugs are up in each other's throats. I have only one position, don't mess with me and I won't mess with you. Since you messed with me, you have to pay the price." I leaned forward and smiled lightly to Frederick, obviously provoking him.
"What price are we talking about here?" Frederick squinted his eyes.
"How many men do you have?" I leaned back, relaxed. This would be more intimidating if I had a cigar, I thought.
"What's with that question? Are you perhaps wanting to get some of them or hire us for a 'job'? I have almost a thousand men under my command." he responded back, a bit puzzled, but he sounded enthused at the prospect of being hired.
"That's quite a lot, Okay, I want your gang to purchase my goods, specifically, your men need to purchase them here in this store." I replied back.
"Why do you need them to purchase it from this store by themselves specifically? Couldn't you just sell your product to me and I'll buy however much you're asking me to buy? Also, what kind of product are we talking about here? What's in it for me? Surely you don't expect me to buy off your wares without any benefit, right?" Frederick was visibly confused. He tried to pry for more information and benefits, which I understood.
"You have too many questions. Remember, you are the one in the wrong here. I have your men, and you inside my store, what makes you think that you can leave this place scot-free? I might just make a killing the next morning when I give you to the city guards." I nonchalantly answered him, ignoring his questions.
"I'm starting to think you aren't from House Clara, they have always acted with grace even with the most tense negotiations... I need to know what I'm buying and how much. I know we broke your peace, but I'm no pushover. If your goods aren't worth shit, then don't expect me to bite the bullet just for you to profit." Frederick stood his ground this time.
"Hmmm... I sell playing cards, luxury playing cards for collecting or playing duels."
"Huh?" Frederick's face twitched, he had no idea what I was talking about.
I suddenly pulled out a deck of cards from my pocket, this deck didn't have the M-Warriors in it. The reason for that is, I didn't want any of my customers to get the connection that you can really summon monsters with these cards. Not right now and, certainly not a shady person like him, at least. If it happens naturally that one of my customers was able to summon a monster, then there's nothing much I can do about that. I will just have to work harder to finishing my current quest so that I can use the lvl 3 store's summoning feature and pay to win a Blue Eyes White Dragon.
My sudden action startled him and made him pull out a short staff from his breast pocket. I looked at him like he was an idiot, though in my mind, I had signaled a command to M-Warrior #2 to draw his blade the moment he pulled out the staff. I can act like a bigshot, but I still need protection from someone who could be in Tier D or higher.
Hey system, be ready to summon a lvl 4 or 5 normal monster if things go down, just charge me the price later, I asked the system in my mind.
Since we're doing summoning experiments today, sure, but you don't really need to summon level 4 or above monsters. This guy is just barely in the middle of Tier D, the system replied.
Great! Let's see how this plays out first, then I'll try to de-escalate the situation, and if it goes south, then the M-Warriors should try to handle it first, summoning a lvl 4 monster will be the last resort. I said to the system, which went back to silent mode.
Frederick stood abruptly. "W-What are you planning to do? If you try to do anything 'funny', no one will leave this place unscathed!" he pointed the short staff to me and M-Warrior #2 alternately as he panicked.
"Relax, this is my product. These are called Yu-Gi-Oh cards, you can collect or play with them. They're luxury products with various artworks within them, you know art, right? Your family probably has a bunch of sculptures and paintings, that's what these are, except they're easy to carry, durable, and you can actually play with them!" My merchant's smile naturally came up, and I realized that I was actually no better than the system when it comes to trying to scam people and make profit.
"Sit back down and let me show you the cards. Trust me, you can sell these with a markup to your noble connections, and they won't be the wiser." I tried to assure him that he wouldn't be harmed and was able to convince him. Frederick sat down slowly, keeping the short staff in his grasp. He stared at the deck of cards on the table and took a handful of cards from the top.
He felt the cool and smooth surface and was intrigued by the mysterious and ominous back design, it looked like a portal to another dimension to him. He stared at the backside of the cards for a few seconds until he turned them over and was surprised by the first card art he saw.
Pot of Greed: Normal Spell card
Draw 2 cards.
He was mesmerized by the evil looking pottery, it felt alive with its nefarious grin. It was completely different from the luxurious ceramic tableware and sculptures that his house purchased from the far east. Frederick was drawn to it, as if the mouth on Pot of Greed was speaking and tempting him with sweet words.
"Hey, are you okay?" I called out to Frederick as he was stuck in a daze.
He shook his head and looked at the other cards in his hand. While he stared at them for a few seconds, it wasn't as long as he did so with Pot of Greed. He appreciated the card art inside of them, and found my words to be true. He picked up the rest of the cards and checked them out carefully, one by one. Sometimes he'd comment on the elegance of the card art, and sometimes he'd gasp at how horrific and realistic some images are. As per my suggestion, he even tried to bend, chip, scratch, and rip the cards in half. All of his attempts failed, much to his surprise.
After some time, he put the deck of cards carefully on the table. He sighed and then turned to me.
"These are fine and luxurious goods, I can see some applications to them based on their durability, but are you sure these are only for playing games and collecting? Not that I disagree, but they're pretty durable and can be used as padding or even armor."
"They're not that durable, and using them as armor would be uncomfortable. These cards won't protect you from ki or mana, so don't even bother."
"Hmmm... if that is the case, then never mind. You said these are for playing games, what game can you play with these?"
"You can play a game called Duel, where you try to summon monsters and defeat your opponent by depleting their life points."
"Summoning monsters? Life points? What do you mean?"
I was about to teach him the glory of dueling, but I suddenly felt an outburst of exhaustion and drowsiness.
"Yaaaawn... Look, man, I'd love to teach you all about it but it's really late. I want to sleep now... "
"What about the deal you're proposing and my men?"
"Well..."
~~
In the late hours of the night, evenly spaced out torches lit up the central Keep of the city. Some soldiers stood guard, some were going in with arrested criminals in tow, some were heading to the local cafeteria. One soldier was rushing towards the keep, he was stopped by the others stationed to inspect at the entrance. After saying a few words, he was let through and he sprinted towards the third level. Once he was at the third level, he knocked on a wooden door that had a sign indicating it was the captain's office.
A stern and calm voice told him to enter. As soon as the soldier went inside the room, he saw a young man with a head of messy black hair and bright purple eyes. He felt a sudden pressure bear down on him, it took him a few seconds to muster the words he carefully thought to report. The pressure lessened, but he still felt uncomfortable with the gaze of the young man, who was analyzing his every action and word.
The young man permitted him to leave after he was done with his report. The soldier hurriedly went back outside to resume his patrol. The young man observed all of this through the window in his office, he squinted his eyes and rubbed his nose. He went back to sit on his chair and sleep.
This young man was Derrick LeFlamme, the eldest of the duke's children.