Chapter 7

Androsov looked excited, but pleasantly excited. It turned out that his father's people came out to him. However, contrary to his misgivings, they only inquired about his needs, inquired about some recent events, and offered assistance, which Andrey indignantly refused. And he seems to be incredibly proud of it. Well, yes, quite an adult ... Ha ha ...

We ordered food and drinks, and while snacks were being carried, we drank a couple of glasses of cold vodka, washed down with tomato juice. An interesting combination of flavors, I liked it, although I preferred to have a snack.

Andrei told the latest gossip and events at the Center. Helga closed the Rift yesterday, but she just came back very tired and angry.

Of course, the entire Center was buzzing after yesterday's incident with the wandering Rift, from where the leader of the duty group, Count Fedorov, returned without his shield and sword, and blacker than clouds. Again, rumors quickly spread around the Center, and they said that Ist 4th class had lost his weapon in some unusually stupid and perhaps even shameful way.

And considering that today in the East database it was written that A. Galaktionov closed East 5th class, Androsov is very interested in whether I had a hand in this incident?

The hot appetizers just arrived. Under the julienne of mussels, the vodka began to come in like a native, and I, as always, laughed it off so as not to create unnecessary problems for the Count-Slayer, because he had fulfilled his part of the deal, and the conversation easily flowed into a leisurely conversation of two friends relaxing after a hard day's work .

And then - everything is as usual, inside me, with each new portion of alcohol, a raging flame of sexual desire flared up. Andrei, on the contrary, became sleepy and soft, risking falling asleep right here on the couch.

As a result, I spotted a lady, slightly over thirty, who was sitting with a friend not far from us, and constantly shot her eyes in my direction. The woman was, as old Mac said, "in the juice," ignoble, but clearly wealthy, well-groomed and appetizing, especially in the chest, and I, seizing the moment, followed her to the toilet, which had a common room with washstands and mirrors. Our conversation took quite a bit of time.

Having loaded the "warm" Androsov into a taxi, I took a new acquaintance by the arm and we got into another taxi, which took us to the already familiar hotel. But something needs to be decided with Karamelka in the future, maybe rent a neighboring apartment for her? So this infection, I am absolutely sure, will gnaw through the wall! The life of a Hunter is hard, even if he is now a bit of an aristocrat...

For the next few days, I took a break from hiking in the Rifts. This was due to the strong tension of the last days. Still, the current body is still very far from what I had in the past. And so intensively chasing energy inside the body was fraught with "energy exhaustion."

Energy exhaustion is something like an injury to the astral body, which has different consequences and takes time to recover. If compared with the physical body of a person, then in gradation from a dislocation of the arm to a fracture of the spine. Accordingly, in the first case, the body recovers quickly, and in the latter, in some cases, it never recovers. So, speaking in analogies, I had something like a dislocation.

In the last Rift, where the wrong bees almost crushed my spiritual armor, and in general, the fight with the blue giants and the duty group of Exterminators slightly knocked me down energetically.

No, I could still function normally. Yes, why be sorry, even in this state, my combat effectiveness was an order of magnitude higher than many other Gifted at the peak of their abilities. But out of old hunting habit, I didn't want to get into trouble. Overconfidence in Hunters often led to death. After all, catastrophic accidents occur according to the law of meanness, at the most inopportune moment. A strong monster can come across to me right now, and I won't have enough of those same percentages that are currently "off" for me.

Well, I put that time to good use. Regular trips to the Rift and fresh souls did not put pressure on my head and other places, allowing me to think quite sensibly. I even took time for myself - I went for several massage sessions, at the same time putting my hair and nails in order. So now I looked like a real major aristocrat of the middle hand.

The last loot, namely the clubs of trolls and other small things, were accepted by Arkhip for 8450 rubles, which somewhat replenished my budget, which had become impoverished after transferring the tax. As a result, my capital was now a pleasant 19 thousand. Considering that ten thousand will need to be paid to Rafael for the next month, as well as continuing to pay tax, it cannot be said that my financial condition was at least satisfactory. But I still decided not to risk it.

By the way, Arkhip had two news for me. As usual, good and bad. The bad thing was that if I brought him a live queen bee, I would immediately become richer by 50 thousand! It turns out that these bees were also bred in our world by especially stoned beekeepers-enthusiasts.

I shrugged my shoulders and phlegmatically remarked: "Who knew?" To which I received an unexpected answer: "Yes, everyone knows!". Hmm... Looks like I need to flip through the bestiary again.

The good news was that my "miner's Kama Sutra" was sent to St. Petersburg for examination. It seemed that this was not just an erotic manual for stern bearded diggers, but valuable information about one of the intelligent races, traces of which occasionally came across in the Rifts. There were no such specialists in Irkutsk, so they had to be sent to the capital. Moreover, its cost was still not known even approximately.

At the same time, Anna issued the analytics I required on merchants and their enterprises. The last blow to the warehouse brought some confusion to the society of the city. Especially when the merchants threw claims to the Rod guarding this warehouse. Well, how did you throw it? They showed, so to speak, concern, given that it was announced to a noble family from rich commoners.

As far as I know, there were not without mutual claims and reproaches. It seems to me that the merchants have added gray hair after these negotiations, but in the end the parties resolved this issue amicably, partly citing force majeure, namely my "disappearing rats." In part, the Meshcheryakov family admitted its responsibility and paid compensation.

As a result, I got another unfriendly company. But my most important task was completed. The merchants began to fuss, and their main expense in the last week was the hiring of new guards. Money flew out the pipe, and insurance companies dramatically changed the terms of the contract. In some places, having significantly raised insurance premiums, in others insurance contracts were terminated. All this was given to me by Anna - scrupulously, to the penny, describing the data about the product, about the potential damage, and also about the likely resistance.

Too bad I'm out of rats. You never know where you will find, where you will lose. For some, that Rift was simple and almost useless. For me, it was luck, having caught it, I got myself faithful assistants, who, unfortunately, ended.

Several times I rode around the city in a taxi, passing by establishments that interested me. Partially walked around them all on foot, trying on, evaluating approaches, and developing a plan. Shnyrka helped me a lot with this. Ideas were taking shape in my head, but they haven't taken shape yet. It was foolish to enter into a direct confrontation.

In the end, I never came up with anything smarter than to summon a fiery salamander that burned down one of the warehouses of that unfortunate trinity. In terms of the effectiveness of the application, it was like covering a rabid dog with a howitzer shell, but nothing smarter came to my mind. And what is the main task of the avenger? That's right - always keep the enemy in suspense.

This event slightly extended the tension of my enemies, and also provided a whole day of work for local firefighters. No, I assumed that there was oil in the warehouse, but somehow it all spread too quickly. And yes, I wanted to burn down one warehouse, not an entire warehouse complex. Although ... did I already mention the howitzer shell?