Chapter 9: Greed kills

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"We, the fairies, are the most peaceful and content race. While the others destroy themselves in war, we work together, in the spiritual world. With this in mind, it is no exaggeration to call the fairies, Peacekeepers.”

Exodia XI, King of the Fairies

Year ???

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--POV: Maduro—

--Place: Nick’s Bar / Time:20:13—

The beer here taste like bitter water, seems Nick is saving expenses by cutting the quality of the drinks here.

I give Nick, the bartender of this run down bar, a deadly glare as I chug the rest of this beer –sour water I mean, down my throat, wondering why the hell I paid for this shit.

I, by the way, am a proud information broker, who uses his ears to pick up all the nasty rumours and gossip, that happens in, not just the slums, but the whole underworld of Adion’s capital.

I am so informed, to the point, I know how many minutes it took for the most infamous gang leaders here, to take a shit. So, of course I’d be proud.

I have been getting decent income in this run down bar, a perfect place for clients who want information, but don’t want to be caught looking for it.

Nearly everyone here is wearing a hood, or a cloak of some sort, proving how valued privacy is here. Especially among clients, not just the regular customers.

*DING* *DING*

Speaking of clients, the door bell rings as another hooded person makes his way through the tables of the filthy place. Heading straight to the bartender.

“….L…ookin..g…..nfo….rma…tion” The bartender gestures towards me with his eyes, after the person asks a question. Seems like I got another customer!

Let’s see, here. I observe him as he approaches, he is tall, like above 6 feet, kinda tall. Just as I was about to greet him, he beat me to it.

“Let’s find somewhere private, shall we” Ooohhh? Cautious, are we? These type of people tend to pay well for my services, I can’t wait to see how much I’ll get outta this!

I take him upstairs, showing him to one of the private rooms. These places tend to be locked down by Nick, but I don’t think he’ll mind if I pay him a portion of the reward I’m gonna get.

After closing the door, and taking a seat at the unstable table in this dimly lit room, I start talking business. “What do you want to know, sir?” Have to be respectful to the clients, they’re the one paying me in the end.

“I want to know about a person called…..” He pauses for a second, but I can tell he is observing me in detail “Ryuta Koichi” Him? The weird guy?

Need to set a price before I give anything away “10 gold coins, and you’ll know all information available about him” Even though I’m demanding a bit much, I am open to negotiation, plus I have to pay Nick for using this room.

He takes out 10 gold coins onto to the table on front of him “Start talking” A rich guy, huh? No hesitation. Maybe I can withhold some info for more fees.

“So word on the street is, he lives in the palace, he has been seen on some rich streets, with both the first princess and second prince.” I take a breath of air “Where he came from, and what do the royalty want with him, is not certain. However, there are some rumours about this”

“mhmm” He makes a noise of consent, as if he is asking me to continue.

“Some say he is war potential, others say he is a product of some ritual. Some even call him a hero, however, one thing I can tell you for sure, is that the church was involved.”

“The church?” He asks, I can detect surprise in his voice.

“Yep, in some rumours, they claim the pope was involved” Seeing him not reacting, I decide to try and get some more gold out of this. “However, I seem to have forgotten that he left the capita-” Before I can finish, he brings three more coins out of his inner pocket, dropping them on the other gold coins.

*CLANG* *CLANG*

I hear the noise of gold hitting gold, and I can’t help but gulp at such an amazing fortune I amassed in a day. “He left the capital, about a fortnight ago. Equipped with a sword that shines ominously bright, and to add to that, the best blacksmiths in the capital can’t identify what metal it’s made with, only adding to the mystery.” He gestures me to keep talking “He went in the direction of the Silent Forest”

“The silent forest?”

“Yep, a forest that is ominously quiet, said to be overcrowded with monsters of many kinds” He doesn’t know about the forest? Weird “Some even state he only came back at around 3 in the morning, completely covered in what can only be identified as monster blood”

“I….see, anything else?” He nods his head, content with what he heard.

“No, not that I’m aware of. If you want, I can update you whenever new information comes aroun-” I suddenly feel a very sharp pain in my chest, only to look down and find an arm going through it.

Following the arm to it’s owner, I find my client, with his hood brought down, he is smiling at me as he takes his arm out of my chest.

“W-why?” I don’t understand, why would he do this? Did I not give him what he wants? Regret, fear and anger washes over me as I fall of the chair and slump to the ground.

Using the remains of my energy to move my head towards his direction. I find him standing above me, looking at me with that same smile.

“Thank you for your service, and good luck in the afterlife” He says in a crystal clear tone, as my vision darkens, that sentence he said is the last thing I will ever hear.

--POV: Nick—

--Place: Nick’s Bar / Time:23:04—

The hell is taking that greedy bastard so long? First he uses one of the upper rooms without my permission, then he stays there three hours with his client, are they trading information or fucking? I seriously can’t tell at this point.

“haah…” A sigh escapes my lips, breaking the everlasting silence. The few shady motherfuckers who were here already left, leaving me alone in this bar.

But it isn’t as if I’m not used to the silence. Sometimes, I actually enjoy having the time to myself, to sit on my chair, and clean glasses, with a not so clean rag.

*CREAK*

The stairs that lead upstairs creak, indicating someone is coming down them. Fucking finally, I’m taking 10% of Maduro’s commission, if he thinks he can use this place like it’s his.

However, what I see, is the hooded client coming down the stairs, by himself.

*CLICK* *CLACK*

His footsteps is the only thing I hear, as he approaches the counter.

He leans on the counter “I dealt with the corpse” The corpse?!!! Fuck, fuck, fuck….Maduro just got done in?!!! He then proceeds to take a single gold coin, stained with blood. And using his index finger, slides it towards me on the counter. “You didn’t see anything, got that?” He raises his head a bit, allowing me to see his blue eyes, overflowing with bloodlust.

After getting a nod from me, he turns around and exits the bar.

*DING* *DING*

The doorbell waking me up from my shock I start breathing deeply, realizing I could have just died. Those eyes held no emotion, I didn’t even register as trash to him. Shit, I can’t stop shaking.

I’m sorry, Maduro. Whatever happened today, I’m taking with me to the grave.