Chapter 53

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Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.

Chapter 28– Tarnish.

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"And here is your prize. Don't spend it all in one place. Enjoy." The owner of the establishment says, handing over a sack of Galleons to me. By which, I mean chucking it on top of his desk and then going back to whatever it is he is doing. It is literally around an hour after the fight, and I am here in the back, talking to the boss to collect my winnings. That hour was spent with a lot of cheers and partying. Even those that lost money ended up getting caught in the mood and partied, though I think it was more that they were drinking away their sorrows.

I only just managed to get away from it all since I was the centre of attention. And when asking for my deserved earnings except, I am not getting my deserved earnings. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I am being stiffed, given that the prize money and the revenues that they just got from my unexpected win should have netted them a whole lot of profit.

"Fifty Galleons? Really? I am sure it should be more than that, right?" I say, acting affronted and insulted at the paltry amount I am getting paid for winning the competition. It wasn't even the total amount promised to the winner, which was one hundred Galleons, so clearly, something is up here. I am not even really bothered about the money since I have loads from all the deals and business Gilderoy had up and running along with me, and this is just a paltry amount for me.

However, for one, Edward N Stick, this is a lot of money. This matters to him, and so I have to keep up appearances and try and get the money I am owed because that is what Edward N Stick would do. Sure, nobody probably cares, but this is an alternate identity for me, and I could use it for other things as well. I have a lot of hair left over. This is why I need to make sure this is solid and nobody finds anything suspect because they could follow it from there and unravel it. Rather than a completely unknown person coming out and committing a crime, having a fake identity with a bit of renown could throw some people off the track.

"Listen, pal. Nobody expected you to win, okay. The odds were very stacked, so the few people that bet on you really made it quite big, which really evens out the amount we earned today. So, tell you what. You keep winning, and you'll get paid in full the next time once you can keep up the consistency." He says, not even bothering to look up and dismissing me quite easily.

"Tch, whatever." Leaving him with that, I snatch up the sack and spin around with some flair before stalking towards the door. Right now, I am feeling like I am having a Peter Parker moment, and something crucial and life-defining is about to happen. I stop just outside the boss's door and wait there for some hoodlum to come and rush by me to rob the inside and take the owner for all he had.

And then he would sprint off with the money, but I would be in the way, and the owner would tell me to stop him, but I would miss the part where that was my problem and let him go. Only, later on, this would be to my own downfall as he would do something that would hurt me and haunt me for the rest of my years, and the guilt would drive me to never miss the part where that is my problem.

I wait a moment, and when nothing happens, I chuckle to myself and then move on. Damn, that was a great movie. Sure, the MCU came along and made a more grounded and realistic universe, but the classics were excellent. The Spider-Man trilogy was my favourite trilogy, and it was awesome. I suppose, aside from the great fights and scenes, I related to Peter in some weird way and was a bit envious. He lost his parents, though he ended up with a great aunt and uncle. And he was a bullied nerd just like me, that changed it around and got the girl and became a hero.

I lost my last life and gained this one, and now I have the chance to turn it around and do everything I have ever wanted. Still, the cinema greats I loved have not been made yet, and I don't know that they ever will be, but I do love movies. So I suppose I should try some films out, and I think the Batman movies were coming out around this time.

I try to go to the back exit, but it is my bad luck that I manage to get spotted by a couple of partygoers, and I get dragged back into the party. Well, I wouldn't mind having a little more fun before leaving.

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"Yeah, just need to use the loo. Keep the party going, alright!" I say to the cheers of the people behind me as I continue to walk off without looking back, having had my fill of fun for the evening. I had contemplated on having a woman come home with me, but I had obviously not done that as I had nowhere to take them as I am not Gilerdoy Lockhart at this time, and I did not want to go home with them. Also, I was running low on the Polyjuice I kept in a flask, and I would rather not change while in their bed.

I also had a healthy amount of requests for companionships right here and now, inside the club, with them offering to find a quiet corner of the club or go on a trip to the bathroom. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have just said I am going to the toilet, because I can see quite a few girls hungrily eyeing me as I am leaving. That was part of the reason why I had rejected them since they had only one thing on their mind, and they were also very much drunk, so no thank you.

Walking through a back door, I come to a split, and instead of heading right towards the toilets, I take a left and make it towards the back exit. I had used this several times before as it is very discreet, and I would rather not chance anybody seeing me and where I am headed or, even worse, them witnessing my Polyjuice potion wearing off. To that effect, while I open the backdoor, I also reach into my robes and withdraw my flask, uncapping it and taking a swig from it to prolong my transformation. Thank you, Barty Crouch Jr, for the idea, you insane Death Eater, you.

Leaving the building, I quickly take measures to hide myself and make a clean getaway, using multiple spells to conceal my presence before moving on. I am not an idiot, though sometimes I do idiotic things. I could see quite a few of the people in there eyeing me up, knowing that I had just won the prize money, which they thought to be more than I actually got.

Their thinking is that I am weak after that big fight, and even if I wasn't, they could attack in a group and rob me of my winnings. I read quite a few minds in there that were thinking of this, and it is also the reason I decided not to take up any of the girls on their offers since they were just ploys to rob me. Even those minds I read without ulterior motives I didn't trust, nothing is impossible with magic, and maybe they were able to hide their thoughts or are being used unwittingly.

I wait for a moment nearby the exit, and sure enough, they come. Just as dogs will always hate cats, and men will always think with their dicks, there are greedy pricks that want money. I wait until the groups of men all run out of the door and quickly split off to try and find me so they can rob me blind, the fools. After they have all run off, and I am sure that no one else is coming, I pick an alleyway with which I have grown familiar and begin to make my way home.

I had taken this same route home after every competition I have attended because I had found it to be the most barren and deserted route with hardly anybody around and nobody knowing about it much. The path I walk is quite dark and dreary, which is how nobody really finds it, and I was just lucky to do so when thinking about how to arrive and exit without revealing my identity.

Sure, I could apparate or just use the floo, but those things leave traces, and it is a bad habit to start apparating in the exact same place or area as people could use that against you, which is why I go this way to stay hidden and disappear without notice. After I get to a particular spot, I will either apparate somewhere or make my way to a floo in a nearby shop or just walk home since I do live in Diagon Alley.

I continue to make my way through various alleyways and tiny gaps between buildings, shuffling through them. I am strangely reminded of my past life when I actually had somewhat of a friend who I was doing a project with, and I managed to play some video games at his house instead of watching them on my crappy laptop on youtube.

All these tiny alleyways remind me of the Yakuza games, of Kamurocho, where in some of the games, you could shuffle very slowly through the gaps between buildings. One of the only fun times I had in my past life, the rest of it mainly being shit. That only lasted till the project was over, and then it was back to watching movies on my shitty laptop at home and hating my life the rest of the time. I am so fucking glad that I got this chance because I am not being the little guy anymore. It is crush or be crushed, and I ain't being crushed.

Slipping through a particularly narrow passage, I near an empty lot that is almost always deserted with quite a lot of space, so much so, in fact, that I had thought of using the area for my own needs and repurposing it. With how shoddily put together most of the wizarding world is, hidden and forgotten spots like this are all over the place. It's not like people used to ask for planning permission and stuff when they had magic, and they would just pick a spot and build, which ended up in this weird, mismatched world we live in.

But as I said before, this place was almost always deserted. Almost, because until today, it very much was deserted, but that no longer seems to be the case. Because right now, there appears to be a little gathering going on in the empty lot, and I seem to be familiar with at least two of the participants of this meeting.

"So? The usual amount, or do I get a little extra on account of the massive payday?" I hear a voice say, and I could swear I have heard it before, except I just can't place it. However, I know that this voice is talking to someone I do know, as I can see them clearly.

"Ha, well, you did good work today. So I suppose I could give you a little bonus." I see the event organiser and boss of the bar we were just at, say, looking much more friendly than when I had seen him last when he stiffed me. I also recognise the guy next to him, being the big motherfucker that always followed him around. I don't know why, though, because size doesn't really have anything to do with might or at least magical might.

Physical might is not so prevalent in the magical world, not when we can blow shit to kingdom come with just the twirl of a stick. So he probably just keeps the big fellow around for intimidation, which would only really work on the idiots, which is fair enough, I suppose. Most of the wizarding world is made up of idiots. Anyway, back to the situation at hand, I can see the owner and his bodyguard, as well as two nasty-looking creeps sitting to the side as well as one guy who is too far for me to make out properly.

"Thank you very much. You know, I was quite happy with the performance I put on today. Quite the show it was, my best one yet." The voice says, tickling me even more because I know I have heard it before, but I just can't remember where. I must have thought it was not necessary, but something about this situation feels off and kind of ominous.

"I'll say. I thought you were actually losing, ha. Still, you actually almost made me believe that you had lost to stick and didn't take a dive like planned. So here's your cut." He says, and hands over a sack that looks to be quite hefty as the other man laughs. The resounding laughter that rings out as the other man accepts the sack serves only to piss me off as I come to the realisation of what had just happened and what they were discussing.

"Haha, yeah. Yeah, Quick Stick certainly made it hard for me. Hard for me to actually lose. I was seriously finding it hard to find a time to actually take a dive without it looking off. Well, this is a good thing, so let's keep it going." Piotr Rasputin, the man I just defeated to become the Blackwood Duelling Competition champion, smirks, chucks the sack up, and catches it again, allowing a little jingle to ring out.

"Haha, of course. Let's hope that little sucker will keep showing up so we can make more money off of him. Now, gentleman here is your share. I hope your boss will be pleased." The owner, who was such a hardass with me before, suddenly looks like a little puppy. The little kiss-ass starts trying to lick the ass of the two nasty-looking men who don't give a fuck and merely walk off after getting the Galleons without a word spoken.

With them gone, the owner and Piotr stare at each other for a second before the bodyguard leans down and says something in his boss's ear. Hearing whatever it is, he wastes no time, and with a quick nod to Piotr, he departs, his bodyguard following after. With no reason to stick around, Piotr also moves and leaves, both of them taking different paths, not the one I arrived from.

I watch with cold eyes, fury roiling in my veins at the fucking mockery they have made of me. While I was trying my hardest and giving it my all to win, with all seriousness driven to improve myself, these fuckers were laughing and making money off of my efforts. Was the other time I won against Rasputin also planned? Did he take a dive and make a lot of money off of it? Off of me?

I am confused now. I don't actually know the actual level of skill I hold and my own capabilities. Have all my matches been faked, has it all been decided without my notice, and was I so weak that I was so easily led? I had worked so hard, and I thought I had improved, but how was I supposed to know anymore? Watching them leave, a sudden thought occurs to me. And with each second that passes, it grows bigger and bigger and even if it might not be wise, I decide to follow it.

Right now, this rage in me has to be expelled because I don't know what will end up happening if I leave her with it and let it stew inside me, affecting my every decision. I can't live without resolving this fucking thing since I am most sincerely pissed off.

Watching them go, I think about going after the owner since he was behind everything and is the reason why this was done, along with those two other guys that probably had a big boss. But after a moment of thought, I decided to forget it. He is a businessman, he is always looking to make money, and even if I do go after him and do something to him, another guy will just come along and fill his place. But, Piotr Rasputin. He is different. Already, without me realising it, my body has started to move in his direction, to follow him.

Piotr Rasputin is different, and I need to settle whatever this is with him. With him, he was my opponent, and he chose to go down. We both put ourselves on that stage with the understanding that we were both going to give it our all to be the one still standing, or at least I did. He shat on that. I need to confront this fucker and find out if he did actually dive and play me the whole time, or did I actually do it, and he just said he dived? Even if that is what he planned, I took him down.

I start to trail after him, following him through various passageways and alleys. Not knowing what I am actually going to do, and not actually doing anything yet since I am unsure. How do I handle this? How do I get what I want? What do I actually want?

"You can come out now," Piotr says all of a sudden, having stopped in the middle of a deserted area with only one exit. Shit, I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't realise I followed the fucker to a dead end. Shit, I hadn't really trained at all with stealth in mind, and clearly, this guy is a lot more experienced with me in a lot more than duelling. He probably knew I was following him this whole damn time, motherfucker. I should read up on this stuff later, maybe go out and find some muggle thief to use his memories to help my expertise.

"You knew I was following you," I say after a moment, walking out and dispelling my hiding spells since they are clearly ineffective. And, well, I guess I am not the kind of man that hides away. Not anymore. Plus, I feel like getting face-to-face with this man and getting some answers. So hiding isn't something I see the need for anymore.

"The whole time. Though I didn't know the identity of my stalker, but now I do. So what do you want, Stick?" He says, turning around and smirking at the sight of me. He's pissing me off, but his wand is not drawn, so I don't pull mine out, either—no need to escalate this just yet.

"Did you actually take a dive?" I ask, needing to know the answer. Because I am still trying to figure out what the truth is. I know what I heard, but I also know what I did on that stage. I know the spells I cast and the spells that he threw, and just how the battle was going. And I am sure that that victory was the result of my own effort, and my winning just sort of worked out for him since it was what he wanted. However, knowing that we both went onto that stage with the same goal in mind, how can I be one hundred percent certain?

"...Does it matter?" He asks after a moment, just staring back at me. I don't even dignify that with a response and just continue to level my hard stare at him, waiting for an answer. Neither one of us relents, me not moving on from my question and him refusing to answer. Eventually, I take his silence as guilt and affirmation that he did indeed take a fall.

"Why did you do it?" I move on, asking the subsequent follow-up question. Maybe he was blackmailed into it, though it seems unlikely. Perhaps he needed the money to support his family or to save the life of a family member. I feel fucking angry that he would tarnish our match like this, but I can't ignore the possibility that he was forced into doing such a thing. If he was, then I can't very well take things to another level. It would rub me the wrong way.

"Why do anything? Money. It's always money. I had a lack of it, and I saw an opportunity to gain more of it. End of fucking story." His tone gets a bit more gruff, and he clearly wants this over with and to leave. I have touched a button. I don't know what sort of button, but I have. and I will be damned if I am going to let up now.

"Don't fuck around. Why? The real reason. What did you need the money for?" I push, even as his face turns purple, and I can see the veins bulge on his forehead as he feels immense emotion at my words. There is something here I am not seeing that is serving to piss him off truly. Good, because I feel even angrier than that.

"You think I want to do this, huh? I did it for the fucking money because I hardly have any! I was practically royalty at the Durmstrang Institute, top of my class. I had everything, and they were all practically eating out of the palm of my hands. And now, because of those fuckers... those Koshki, I am here fucking scamming idiots like you to survive." He starts to rage, throwing some Russian in there that I don't understand. What the fuck is a Koshki? I don't have time to think about it, though, because this man is throwing his spittle everywhere and looks about a second from drawing his wand.

He comes to a stop, panting hard, his tirade over. His face is still red though it seems to be paling, and he is regaining his calm. I don't say anything, leaving him to regain his wits. Still, from what he said, he clearly didn't cheat and take a dive for a noble cause or anything, and he didn't need the money for anyone but himself. He used to be a wealthy young master with everything, and then, due to some people, these Koshki people, he lost it all, and now he is doing this to try and continue the high life.

"Whatever, I don't have fucking time for this. See you later, asshole." He says, having calmed down. And then, obviously having somewhere he would rather be, he goes to leave, not giving me another minute of his time.

"Hey, where the fuck do you think you are going! We are not finished here!" I shout, even as he nears me, ignoring me as he walks towards the exit, passing me by.

"Piss off, idiot. I don't have time for you. The only way you will ever win anything is if I take a fall for you, and I bet others do the same. So just be a good money-making scheme, and toddle along. I'm a fucking busy man." He snarls as he continues walking towards the exit. However, I am not going to let that happen. I still have this rage in me that's burning more than ever, and I need to let it out. I draw my wand.

"Shit! What the fuck!" Piotr shouts as he comes to a stop, my spell having halted his path and cut a deep rivet into the ground in front of him.

"Like I said before. We are not finished here."

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I want to talk more with you guys, so I am starting to leave little notes at the end of each chapter like this.

So, I don't think I have told any of you guys this properly unless you follow me on pat reon, but I stream. I stream games on Twitch, and I upload them to youtube. Sometimes editing them if I feel it needs it. Just recently, I finished Lost Judgement, which was a great game though I think the first one had a better storyline. I have now completed all the Yakuza games except Isshin, which I will get around to.

Right now, I am playing through the Sherlock Holmes Chapter 1. But once I finish that, I will be moving on to another game. I am thinking of either Ghost Of Tsushima, The Witcher 3 or Hogwarts Legacy. Which one would you like to see me play? I am also thinking I will be playing Spider-Man and Miles Morales after that in time for SpiderMan 2 to come out. Which game do you think I should play next, or maybe you can suggest one for me to play?

So I would really appreciate it if you guys would follow me on Twitch and come watch if you have the time. And check out my Youtube Channel. You can find it through the link at the bottom of the page.

Also, to the cultured individual who told me to check out Black Bible. Thank you for the suggestion, but been there and done that. As much as I appreciate that kind of anime, that was not the kind of recommendation I was looking for. Though feel free to drop by my discord since I have a section for cultured individuals like you.

Now, any movies, anime, shows or even video games that you would recommend? Tell me here or in the discord!

To the person who suggested I watch Black Clover, thank you for the suggestion. I was actually reading the manga before the anime came out, and then I stopped. And then I did the anime, but I dropped off of that as well at some point since I was busy, and I never picked it up again. I think I left it somewhere around an underwater kingdom and mermaids and a shark dude, I think. Is that right? I will pick it up again eventually. Any other suggestions, anyone?

On a different note, I have been seeing a lot of AI-generated images, and they garnered my interest. I looked into it, and all you have to do is download some stuff, so I went ahead and did that. Well, I tried. I tried to do the stable diffusion thing, but it was getting too complicated for me, and so I went with something else.

It's called easy diffusion. To the experts out there, is there any difference? Is stable diffusion or any other versions better? If so, could you help me out here? Maybe drop into the Discord and discuss it with me. I would love to figure this out and then use it to make pictures to supplement my writing. To let you guys see what I am envisioning when I am writing.

Also, speaking of Discord, I will be putting all the images I make up on there, so hop on by if you're interested. I have just been making Batman and Spider-Man images just to start off and get some experience. I need to figure out how the prompts work and how to do them effectively to get the best result. And then, I can start making my characters. Also, I could use some better models. Any suggestions? Come to my Discord through the link below.

ALSO, ONE PIECE LIVE-ACTION TEASER TRAILER!

Notice that it is the teaser trailer and not the official trailer. All of that footage was from over a year ago and was not the final thing, and honestly, I am optimistic. Probably because Oda himself was involved in this, and if there is anything that a One Piece fan can trust above all else, it is Oda's decisions and vision. The actors have been picked as perfectly as possible, though I don't know if the characters will be exactly the same.

Zoro seems too serious, Luffy doesn't seem dumb enough, Nami doesn't look angry enough, Ussop doesn't seem cowardly enough, and Sanji doesn't seem to be simpy enough. Of course, this is live-action, and some things from the manga and anime won't play well in it, and we have to understand that.

However, I want Luffy to be a little dumb and make some mistakes. I want Zoro to be serious but also have moments where he is dumb. I want Nami to get angry at all of them and then forget it when money gets involved. I want Ussop to be scared and cowardly with knees shaking but still follow the rest into danger. I want Sanji to agree with everything Nami says and then for Zoro to get angry and get into fights with him.

Of course, I don't think this will actually happen. Maybe some small instances, but not many. Probably because such things won't play very well in live action and especially in English. People who haven't really watched One Piece before will watch this and not respond well to an MC who is very stupid doing dumb things, a serious guy who is only serious sometimes, a woman that is angry all the time and money hungry, a coward that hides and cries all the time and a guy that simps and bends over backwards for girls.

I don't know. I am optimistic. However, I know it is going to be different from the other versions in probably a major way. I will wait for the official trailer to actually come out before I decide on anything concrete.

P.S. That Buggy looked freaking awesome! Scary clown! I like it!

If you want to chat more about this or any other topic, come to my Discord through the link.

The link to everything you need and my patronage:

https://linktr. ee/dragonfield

(Remover the space between the dot and the ee)

That is all for now. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I will see you in the next one!

Stay safe, and have fun!