Nesh and the remaining 4 of the bully group were astonished. They couldn't believe that the shy malnourished kid they had known for years knocked out a guy much stronger than him.
Mayr took one look at the remaining two boys of the bully group and figured out their personalities. The boy with black hair was the type to engage in fights if he had to. The boy with brown hair was able to know when he was outmatched, which in this case, he was. The unconscious boy with the buzzcut was the unofficial leader of the group.
The black-haired boy charged Mayr. Once he was close, the boy threw a punch at him. Mayr dodged and knee'd him in the stomach, causing him to fall over in a fetal position. Mayr shifted his gaze towards the third boy, the brown-haired boy. He had a fearful expression on his face. He had clearly lost his will to fight. The girls were just standing in the corner, terrified. Mayr looked at them sternly and told them to get lost. They scurried away.
Mayr started searching the pockets of the boys who were on the ground. He found 2 sizable bundles of cash, atleast when considering the age of the boys. He looked at the third boy and told him to empty his pockets as well. The boy listened and presented Mayr with another bundle of cash. Altogether, it was about $500.
It wasn't a large amount of money to Mayr, but finding teenagers with $500 was quite a surprise. He grabbed the three boys' bags, unzipped them, and turned them upside down, causing all of the contents within the bags to fall out.
Each bag contained some school supplies and snacks, but what was surprising was that each bag had a bunch of brand-new cigarette boxes. As Mayr was counting the boxes, the 2 boys that Mayr had incapacitated had recovered for the most part and sat with their backs against the wall of the cubby. They just watched as Mayr was going through the items that fell from within their bags.
Mayr counted about 45 boxes, each worth about $5. After inspecting the boxes, Mayr stood up, looked coldly at the brown-haired boy and started walking towards him. The boy became startled and slowly started stepping backwards. He tripped and fell on his ass. When Mayr was close to him, he squatted down to his eye level and fixated his cold gaze on him. Nesh just observed the whole situation in pure astonishment.
"You guys sell cigarettes?" Mayr questioned coldly.
"Y-yes." The brown-haired boy replied anxiously.
"Explain your process to me." Mayr continued questioning the boy.
"W-well, we buy these boxes in bulk and sell each cigarette individually for 70 cents." The boy answered nervously, "Mostly the people that buy from us are students who don't want to be caught smoking by their parents and adults who are in too much of a rush to purchase cigarettes in a store."
"How long does it take you to sell all of these boxes?" Mayr further inquired.
"We sell outside the school and bus stops. We do that for about 2 hours a day after school. With this schedule, it takes us about a week." The boy answered sheepishly once again.
"So if my math is right, you make about a $720 profit weekly, is that right?" asked Mayr.
"Yeah, but we usually just spend it all on accessories or outings." Replied the brown-haired boy, fearing that Mayr might demand more money.
"From now on, you're gonna give me 10% of your weekly earnings," Mayr instructed with a cold stare, "that's $72 at the end of every week, got it?"
"Wait, what!?" the brown-haired boy exclaimed.
The boy with the buzzcut, who had regained consciousness, gave an aggressive look to Mayr. "You think you can start making demands just because you got a lucky shot!?" he growled. Mayr stood up and walked infront of the boy with the buzzcut. He then took 5 steps back and signalled the boy to stand up.
"Prove to me that I got lucky, and you can have the entire $500 that I took." Mayr said stoically.
The boy stood up and looked at Mayr for a second. He didn't see the scared and unconfident expression that he was used to seeing on that face. He saw an expression of surety.
The boy charged Mayr and threw a punch. Mayr dodged to the left and threw a straight right directly towards the boy's face, but right before it connected, Mayr stopped. This startled the boy and he fell backwards, just as the boy with the brown hair had fallen.
Mayr looked down on the three boys with a strong look of determination. "From today, I'm your boss!" he exclaimed, "If I find out you're fucking with any other students, there will be consequences. However, since you are now my men, I will not allow anyone else to fuck with you without consequences."
The three boys and Nesh became infatuated with Mayr's confidence. Their hesitance to obey him turned into a desire.
"At the end of every week, I expect $72 dollars to be handed over to me in this very cubby," Mayr added with an intimidating amount of confidence, "Obey my instructions, and I promise you that you will earn way more money and respect than you currently have."
Mayr ordered the 3 boys to stand up and the three boys obeyed.
"I'm Soju, Your boss. Introduce yourselves!"
After a moment of hesitation, the boy with the buzzcut put on a determined look on his face.
"I'm Kashi!" He said emphatically. This inspired the other two boys as well.
"I'm Kris!" The boy with black hair exclaimed.
"I'm Bray!" The boy with the brown hair added with a similar energy.
"Nice to meet you." Mayr replied formally. "There are only two rules for you," Mayr added, "No more intimidating or extorting ANY students, and no sale of illegal substances. Understood?"
"Understood!" The three boys said in unison.
"Alright, I'll see you at the end of the week." Mayr said as he started to walk off. As Mayr was walking off, he looked at his right fist, the one he punched Kashi with, and saw that it had swollen a bit.
"Damn, This kid's body is quite weak," he thought to himself, "Luckily I didn't put too much force into the punch and break it. I should start going to a gym and strengthen this body a bit. I'm not even at 1% of what I'm usually capable of."
"Soju! Wait up!" A sound came from behind Mayr. Mayr turned around and saw Nesh running towards him. He waited for Nesh to catch up to him. "What the hell was that back there?" Nesh questioned with astonishment, "You suddenly disappear for a week and come back as a completely different person."
"This must be one of the kids' friends." Mayr thought to himself. "Sorry about that, I was actually quite sick and admitted to the hospital." He said to Nesh in a friendly tone.
"I figured." Nesh responded, "I came to check up on you multiple times but nobody was ever home."
"Thanks for looking out." Said Mayr.
"How did you put on all that weight though?" Nesh questioned, "And what made you want to change your character this much? You used to be such a shy kid with a constant dull look on your face. Now you look like you're ready for anything life throws at you."
"I was quite sick. It gave me some time to reflect on life and think of ways to change it." Mayr responded, trying to sound convincing.
"But that quick? Nevermind, I'm just happy you're back." Said Nesh, "By the way, how are you gonna make sure that those guys actually pay you?"
"Guys like that are attracted to strong wills and confidence," Mayr explained, "Unless I do something to lose their respect, they will stay loyal to me."
"I don't get it, but for some reason, I'm inclined to believe you right now." Nesh responded. "By the way, why are you going this way? We passed the turn for our class like 5 minutes ago."
"Oh my bad!" Said Mayr, "you lead the way."
"Alright, sure." Nesh responded, "Your hand is pretty swollen. Let's pick up some ice from the office on the way to class."
"Sure, Let's do that. Oh, and also-" Mayr said, reaching into his pocket and taking out one of the three bundles of cash he had confiscated from the 3 boys, "Here. I know they've been giving you a rough time. Me taking them under my wing probably doesn't sit well with you. I hope you can accept this as an apology."
"Holy shit $150 dollars!?" Nesh exclaimed, "That does more than make up for it dude!"
Nesh took the money and the two continued their friendly conversation on the way to class.
