Line outside the store

Tsk! That cost me a lot of magicoins! Frederick thought as he stared at the yawning young store owner, seeing him off.

"We'll come by once before noon, you better have the product ready by then!"

"Aaah... haaaaaaa... yeah yeah, just make sure you guys line up and make no trouble, okay?"

"Hmph! Don't worry about it, and don't forget about the free pack per person!"

The owner waved his hand and shut the door, and a few seconds later, the lights of the store turned off. The street went dark, with only the stars and the moonlight to gently illuminate the sleeping city.

~~

Frederick had Graves wake the other two up, and they all went back to their den, heading straight into Frederick's office.

"I'm sorry for the trouble, boss!" Graves knelt and apologized as soon as he closed the door, the other two following suit.

Frederick just stared at them silently for a minute before knocking his fingers on his wooden table.

"The trash from Elum will be arriving at the docks three days from now. I want you to integrate into his circle and find out more about the Pitch Black Gathering, specifically information on their recent actions here in Kalamar."

At the mention of the notorious cult, Graves and Rufus showed fear on their faces while Chico clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

"P-Pitch Black Gathering? But boss, those guys are lunatics! If we get sniffed out, they might kill us and target you as well!"

"That's what you need to do to atone for your f*ck-up. Also, 'we'? No, Graves, you'll be doing this alone. Rufus and Chico will follow me to the store later and will be busy peddling some goods for the time being."

Rufus was about to say something, but Graves stopped him with a glare. "I understand, boss. I will accomplish this mission." He bowed down before standing up, patting Rufus and Chico's shoulders, and going out with a determined look.

As the door closed, Frederick once again tapped the table, furrowing his brows in thought. Rufus and Chico stood nervously, awaiting his orders.

"Gather fifty of our best members and have them line up properly at the store before noon. I can trust you two with that task, right?" Frederick said, leaning back in his chair. "Make sure that nobody makes any trouble. Got it?"

Rufus and Chico nodded vigorously. "Yes, boss! We'll make sure everything goes smoothly." They then left his office.

After the two left, Frederick closed his eyes. A blurry yet smiling young woman, the scent of a burning manor, and a bloodied hand reaching out to him, pieces of memories from his past flashed by. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, blood trickling down his arm as his nails dug into his palm's flesh.

I'll come back and make you all pay... Take everything you have until it's mine...

Frederick stood up, shaking off the haunting images. He had no time for ghosts of the past, he needed to focus on the present. He walked over to the window, looking out at the city of Kalamar. 

Frederick knew that today would be crucial. The strange cards had piqued his interest, and the potential profits were significant considering that he could fence them with higher prices to the nobles in other nearby kingdoms. But more than that, this venture could serve as a stepping stone for his larger plans. He needed to ensure that the deal goes through smoothly in order to gain the trust of the young man from House Clara. He wasn't entirely sure why the young man was doing some strange business in Kalamar, much less its outskirts, but he had to grasp at any possible opportunity in order to achieve his goals.

It was still a few hours before dawn, and he decided to get some shuteye before it arrived. He sighed before leaning back into his chair. He quickly drifted to sleep and was snoring loudly.

~~

It was an hour or two before noon, and a group of kids were walking by Kalamar's main street as they headed towards the outskirts.

"Maaaan! I can't wait to beat you guys with my new monsters and spells!" Nina said as she walked backwards in front of the group.

"Hehe... I don't know what monsters you got, but my dad and I were lucky to get great cards, so don't expect to win this time!" Annie rebutted as she held onto a thick deck of cards.

"My uncle and I got lucky, but sadly we only got one rare card. Later in the afternoon, once he's done with his business, he's going straight to Milky's and we'll buy more packs!" Failer excitedly waved his hands.

"My mom will come by later since my dad has a lot to do, we didn't get the Blue Eyes White Dragon that we wanted but got this cool Flame Swordsman instead." Jiji showed the shimmering card his friends, and they all clamored at how premium looking it was with its muted gold foil border.

"My sister will come by later too! After she's done studying the spell cards in the magic tower, she'll play with me!" Nina excitedly said as she skipped along.

"My family played the cards together, but we forgot some of the rules, so my mom and dad will come by later as well to use the magic tables. Let's duel with each other later to practice and beat the adults!" Annie added.

As they walked along and excitedly talked about all the cards they got and all the duels they'd play with each other, they noticed a long line outside of the store.

"Woah! There's a lot of people here!" Failer said as he counted the people in line.

"T-they look kind of scary..." Annie muttered as she noticed most of them had intimidating frowns, tattoos, and scars.

Jiji gazed in the storefront's direction and squinted his eyes, "Is the store not opened yet? But the sun's already out high in the sky..." 

Nina ran up to the store and shouted, "Why don't we go to the front and ask?"

Annie and the others tried to stop Nina from talking with the scary looking men, but she already rushed ahead in front of the line and went up to a tall, well dressed man with silver hair and silver eyes.

"Hey, mister! Why are you just waiting in front of the store?" Nina asked curiously.

The silver haired, silver eyed man, Frederick, who was deep in thought as he waited in front of the line, looked at the little blonde girl who came up to him. 

He stared kindly with a thin smile at her as he asked, "Does this store not open at noon, kiddo?"

"No, it should be open now, mister. Though yesterday, the owner was still sleeping even though the sun was up..." Nina put her hand on her chin as she thought of something. 

"Then it seems like we're going to need to wait for the owner." Frederick replied with a smile as he thought that they would need to wait because of last night's events. He recognized one of the children as the kid of city guard's chief, he knew that the chief visited this store yesterday and is curious as to why his kid is here, like it's a normal candy shop. He then remembered the 'duel' game the owner was talking about and concluded in his mind that these kids must be here for that.

"Sigh... I feel bad for the owner but we need to wake him up since he has a lot of business today." Nina sighed as she put her hands in the air shrugged her shoulders lightly.

"Yeah, I bet he'll be really happy to have lots of customers!" agreed Jiji.

The children started calling out to the owner, knocking on the glass door and banging their hands. Frederick was about to stop them, he feared that the owner would be in a bad mood and act out towards the children, but the sudden slam and yelling complaints of the young owner stopped him before he could do so.

"Damn! Can't a guy sleep in this place?!" The crowd saw through the glass walls a young man storming towards them from inside the store.

Alucard opened the door and glared at Frederick, he was about to snap off, but he then turned his gaze over to the children in front. "You guys won't really let me sleep, huh?" he said as he looked at the kids in annoyance and helplessness.

"We're sorry sir, we just want to play using the magic tables, so we brought our new cards today. But I promise that my uncle will buy packs later!" Failer said as he shyly smiled and scratched his head.

"Yes sir, my mother will buy more packs as well since we didn't get the Blue Eyes White Dragon, we're just going to play here while we wait for our guardians to come." Jiji assured.

Alucard sighed and opened the door to let the kids in. The children cheered and immediately sat on one of the tables and dueled with each other. 

"May we conduct the deal now as well?" Frederick called to Alucard, who nodded and signaled Frederick to follow him to the counter.

As Alucard brought multiple booster boxes and put them up on the table, he gestured towards Frederick, "Since you already paid, just have your people exit out of the store after getting their packs. If you want to buy more, just let me know, obviously, it's going to be extra."

"These boxes are pretty, are they for sale?" Frederick pointed to the opened booster boxes, which showcased Yami Yugi and the featured monsters. 

"Yeah, you can buy booster boxes if you want, separate from the deal we have. They contain 30 packs and cost 300 gold coins or 30 magicoins, we also have pack bundles that consist of 10 packs and cost 110 gold coins or 11 magicoins. The box and bundle also have better odds for the rarer kind of cards, so are you interested?" Alucard said as he put forward the booster boxes.

"Hmmm... I don't know which one to pick, they all look good." Frederick put his hand on his chin as he thought.

"I suggest buying all three boxes, you won't regret it!" Alucard grinned.

Damned greedy merchant, Frederick sneered in his mind. "I need to know more about the 'duel' game you're talking about before buying more. For now, I'll get this box then and for my packs, I'll have three of these each." he pointed to a Metal Raiders booster box, then selected three Legend of Blue Eyes packs and Spell Ruler packs. 

Alucard quickly put the money Frederick handed over inside the register and, handed the booster box and 6 packs over to the gang boss. He then pointed towards the children who were playing and said, "No worries, you can play on one of those tables and try its tutorial features to learn more about the game. You can play with one of your men or try the solo play feature."

Frederick then stepped aside but did not go to the tables yet. He gestured over to Rufus, who was behind him, to select his packs, Rufus picked two of each pack quickly so as not to make his boss wait. Frederick then told Chico to oversee the thugs lining up and make sure they got their packs. He then sat at a table near the children with Rufus. At first, they did not know what to do, but with the help of Jiji and Failer who showed them how to use the table after their duel, they were able to start the tutorials.

Meanwhile, on the counter, Chico also chose 2 of each pack. He then had the gang members choose their packs and sit, they obviously wouldn't be able to fit 100 with 10 tables meant for 4 people each, so he had the other members wait outside without making any trouble.

While the line was going on, some people who were curious about the bustle joined. A hooded figure joined at the back of the line as well, they wore a black cloak that enshrouded their figure, and they seemed to be panting and out of breath. They warily glanced around the area, a glimpse of purple eyes could be seen from under their hood.

The hooded figure trudged along as the line continued to go into the store. Two men, who were dressed as soldiers bearing the LeFlamme insignia, were frantically searching the streets of Kalamar. With their search not bearing fruit, they rubbed their foreheads in frustration. They agreed to have one continue searching while the other decided to go back to the castle and report the situation.

The soldier who continued the search on the outskirts, as they had no luck in the main streets, saw a line of people going into what seemed to be a shiny new store. He thought for a bit and decided to join the line, as he considered that this out-of-place store would intrigue their target's interest based on her common antics.