G&S Pawnshop (III)

"Oh, by the way I forgot to mention something." Arthur broke the silence again with a calm smile on his face as he looked at the thoughtful Mr. Yokota. "In order to sell the gold coins faster, I plan on selling all them for 80% of the current market value."

Mr. Yokota stared at Arthur without blinking while multiple lights kept flashing through his eyes until he finally closed his eyes and sighed. "Alright."

"Pleasure doing business with you." Arthur smiled and offered his hand.

Since he decided on it, Mr. Yokota returned to his calm appearance and shook hands with Arthur. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Arthur motioned towards the small red chest on the table. "Until the deal is complete, you can hold on to it."

"Alright." Mr. Yokota stood up with a smile. "Ill go call my friend and ask him to help you with your legal problem." He made his way towards the door.

[You better not betray me…] Arthur's eyes flashed a hazy killing intent as he watched Mr. Yokota leave.

After Mr. Yokota left, the only ones left in the room were Arthur and Shizu Furusawa. Seeing her boss leave, Shizu Furusawa seemed to relax slightly as she stepped forward and sat down on the couch with her legs crossed.

"Thankfully, you weren't lying." Shizu Furusawa narrowed her eyes at Arthur. "If you didn't show up, I would be out of a job right now."

"Oh?" Arthur looked at Shizu Furusawa with interest in his eyes as he sipped on the iced-tea that the clerk just gave him before he left again. "Did you make a bet with your boss?"

"Yeah." Shizu Furusawa rolled her eyes with a light smile. "I don't know why I did it, but I made a bet with him that if you were lying and didn't show up or have the gold coins, I would give up my job."

"Interesting…" Arthur murmured to himself as he glanced at the woman across from him with interest. "Do you like your current job?"

"Do I like my current job?" Shizu Furusawa repeated the question in a low tone, but soon shook her head with an unusual look in her eyes. "Of course I like my job."

"I see." Arthur nodded his head with a shrewd light in his eyes as he offered with a sincere smile. "If Miss Furusawa ever feels that you don't want to work here anymore, she can always come and work for me." Feeling his mouth a little dry, he took a sip of iced-tea. "I plan on establishing a company with the money I get from selling the gold."

"Oh?" Shizu Furusawa bounced her leg up and down as she looked at Arthur with a curious smile. "What type of business are you going into?"

"Technology." Arthur stared out the window with a determined look in his eyes as he whispered. "Technology will make all our lives easier."

Originally he only wanted to get a legal identity and money to buy a house to live in while he waits for SAO to start. But now things have changed. Now that he decided on becoming a King, he needs loyal and capable people to help him control and run his future worlds. Loyalty can be cultivated, while capabilities are trained. It just so happens that this world has something that even the military is using to train their soldiers. That is Full Dive technology!

Although later 'the seed' will probably get released. But that is only used to create normal VR worlds. Arthur's goal is to create extensive and realistic VR worlds used to discover and train talent throughout the population with servers all over the world. This requires a lot of money, time and energy. The money is easy, but the time and energy is something he can't give. So he needs to find someone who is talented and trustable to create and operate the company under his name.

[Although she might need some training, she seems to have some talent with business. She might be an excellent choice for CEO if I can pry her away.] Arthur glanced at the charming woman sitting across from him with the corner of his mouth raised and a subtle light in his eyes. [Good thing she doesn't seem to be thrilled with working here.]

While Arthur was pondering how to poach his district manager. Mr. Yokota was in another room in front of a large window overlooking the street below, with a cellphone in his hand.

Mr. Yokota swiped through his contact list and stopped on someone named Mr. White with a default icon on the side. He glanced around to make sure he was alone before he pressed the green call button.

Ten seconds later, the phone stopped ringing and a high-pitched voice came through the phone. "Hello, Mr. Yokota. Is there anything I can do for you today?"

"I need you to check out somebody's information for me." A dark haze flashed in Mr. Yokota's eyes, but soon cleared as he squinted at the birds flying in the distance. "If he comes back completely clean, I need you to help me get him a fully legal identity with a background and everything."

"Okay." The high-pitched voice seemed to lower slightly as it came through the phone once again. "You know the drill. Send ten-million yen to my secret offshore bank account and a photo of him standing in front of a white wall."

"Alright, Ill send them now." Mr. Yokota took the phone from his ear and turned around and made his way towards the VIP business room.

Within the VIP business room. Arthur and Shizu Furusawa continued to make small talk while waiting for Mr. Yokota to return. In the middle of their conversation about good places to visit in Japan, the door opened and Mr. Yokota walked in.

Inside Arthur's mind, there were three ways this deal could have gone. The first is that police come and try to arrest him, the second is that thugs come and try to steal all his gold coins, the third he really intends to do business with himself. [Thankfully, it's the third option or my entire plan would have to change.] Arthur glanced over his shoulder and secretly sighed in relief at seeing that Mr. Yokota came back alone.

"I just got through calling my friend." Mr. Yokota stood next to the table and motioned for Shizu Furusawa to stay seated, then explained to Arthur. "He needs a photo of you stand in front of a white wall."

"Okay, lets do it." Arthur got up from the couch and walked in front of the white wall and turned around, then stood there with a light smile until Mr. Yokota took a picture with his cellphone.

"Alright, its sent." Mr. Yokota used his cellphone to send the money and picture to Mr. White and motioned for Arthur to continue to sit. "This isn't the first time he has done this. It won't take long for him to contact me with the drop off location. Once he does, Ill send one of my clerks to fetch your documents."

"Sounds good to me." Arthur sat down on the couch again and sipped a little iced-tea with a calm smile. He watched as Mr. Yokota went to sit down a little too close to Shizu Furusawa, forcing her to move over towards the couch's arm even though he had ample space on his side. [Well… No wonder she doesn't really like her job here.] A subtle light flashed in his eyes. [This can be used…]

Shizu Furusawa had a disgusted look in her eyes as she kept her distance from Mr. Yokota.

Mr. Yokota didn't seem aware of what he just did as he picked up his book on the side and read silently.

[What a thick face…] Arthur sighed inside his mind as he sipped his iced-tea. Feeling the urge to use the restroom, he glanced at the unhappy Shizu Furusawa and asked. "Excuse me. Do you have a restroom I can use?"

"Yes!" Shizu Furusawa looked at Arthur like he was her life savior and stood up a with a light smile. "Follow me, Ill show where it is."

"Alright, thanks." Arthur nodded with a smile and followed Shizu Furusawa out, leaving Mr. Yokota alone in the room reading.

…

Outside in the hall near the restroom doors, Arthur finished washing his hand and walked out of the men's restroom and found Shizu Furusawa leaning against the wall, waiting with her head down instead of returning to the VIP room. Not surprised, he walked over and stood beside her.

Hearing footsteps, Shizu Furusawa raised her head. Seeing that it was Arthur, she smiled slightly and got off the wall, ready to return to the VIP room together. "Lets go."

While silently walking back towards the VIP room, Arthur glanced at the charming woman beside him. "You know I was serious before, right?"

"Huh?" The foot step that Shizu Furusawa was about to take paused as she stopped and looked at Arthur with confusion. "Serious about what?"

"Working for me." Arthur stopped in front of Shizu Furusawa and looked at her with a sincerity and a light smile. "Join me and become the CEO of the company I am about to create."

"I like my…" Shizu Furusawa wanted to say she liked her current job but fell silent when she thought of the way her boss acts around her half of the time. Especially when they're alone. That man is a beast in a suit, always trying to get her to be his mistress.

"I don't need a definite answer now." Arthur motioned with his hand to stop with a light smile. "Take your time and think about it."

Shizu Furusawa hesitated for a second, then nodded with a perplexed look on her face. "Okay."

Arthur motioned with his hand to continue walking and suggested with a smile. "Alright, lets return. Before Mr. Yokota gets suspicious and thinks that we left him alone."

Although she is a little more confused about her future and what she is going to choose, at least talking with Arthur right now made her feel better. Shizu Furusawa gave Arthur a charming glance and started walking together again.