“Mister. You really sounded like the Ren, I know!”
“. . .” Ren almost shut Nikolai’s mouth with his palms, but that would only make it so obvious.
“The Ren, you know?” questioned Leonel.
“Ah.” Sumeri laughed a little. “He’s talking about the player he met. In fact, you were together with him,” she said to Silvia.
“Are you talking about Ren in a hood with a pet?” Silvia asked, and Nikolai vigorously nodded his head.
Silvia looked Ren straight in the eyes, and the latter didn’t avert his gaze no matter what. It was a good thing that Evie was gone or things would get complicated. But that didn’t stop the sweat tickling on the curve of Ren’s spine.
This was why he didn’t want his Merchant self to associate with players. Now his past actions were hunting him.
Under scrutinizing gazes, Ren held his ground.
“What are they talking about?” Leonel asked Ren.
Ren shrugged and lied, “I don’t know.”
While Ragnar chuckled behind his glass of wine and Ren cut him a glare.
Silvia then waved her hands and giggled. “They merely have the same voice and name.”
But Nikolai wasn’t convinced and asked Ren himself. “Are you Ren? The one I met?”
“Nikolai.” Sumeri reprimanded while she widened her eyes at him.
“It’s fine.” Ren faced Nikolai and looked seriously into the boy’s eyes. “I’m not. This is the first time that I saw you.” Don’t ask me any more questions, or I’ll block you.
Nikolai lowered his head and sighed in disappointment. “Bummer. And I thought I really met mister in real life.”
He then played with the pasta on his plate while sighing from time to time. “Where could he be?”
“Sorry, he just really idolized that man.” Sumeri clapped her hands in apology while one eyes was shut, looking cute and apologetic.
“No worries.”
Silvia ruffled Nikolai’s hair. “Don’t worry. We’ll have Ren accompany us in the game again.”
“Really?” Nikolai got excited.
“Of course. Leave it to big sister. That guy is a money mongrel. He will surely come if I offer him big bucks.”
Ren’s eyes pierced Silvia while Ragnar almost choked, repressing his laughter.
While everyone chatted, the clock moved forward, and eventually, Ragnar asked for the bill since he and Silvia had something to do.
“Allow me.” Leonel volunteered to pay. His grin was until his ears.
Ragnar looked him straight in the eyes. “Are you sure?”
Leonel laughed. “Yep. My treat. I’m feeling good today. And as a way to give back from what blessing I received.” He had money now, so it was not going to be a problem.
Ren rolled his eyes. If Leonel was going to treat someone, then treat the poor and not the rich.
“How generous of you.” Ragnar chuckled, and his smile contained meaning behind it.
When the bill was handed over, Leonel readily accepted it. The waiter even looked him up and down because his get-up didn’t seem like someone who could afford the bill.
And he was right.
Leonel had a big smile on his face, but when he flipped the book over, he was surprised by the many zeroes on the receipt.
He turned to stone while his stomach churned and his limbs turned cold.
He then slowly turned to look at Ren. Every crack of his neck felt like he was catching his breath.
“R-Ren . . .”
“You pay for it.” Ren cut him and twirled the wine in his glass before drinking it. Leonel was so smug about paying for the whole food, so he would face the consequences himself.
With a heavy heart, Leonel could only swallow his tears and put a lot of thousands into the book. He even wrestled the waiter, for he didn’t want to part with that much money. Never in his life had he paid so much for a portion of food in just a single meal.
Who knew that meals in here cost a limb!
Me and my big mouth. Leonel lamented.
“Maybe we should ship in?” Silvia whispered, eyes on Leonel, who almost passed out from heartache.
“No,” Ren said immediately and tapped Leonel’s shoulder. “Leo got it.”
“Yeah. Thank you for the treat,” Ragnar seconded and raised his cup in Leonel’s honor.
“Y-you’re welcome.” Leonel’s heart was bleeding. Such a great friend Ren and Ragnar is.
After some more conversation, Ragnar and Silvia said their goodbyes while Sumeri, Ren, and Leonel chatted a little more.
On the side, Nikolai was still enjoying his dessert in silence. He knew better than to butt in on an adult’s conversation. He was also a little shy since it was his first time meeting with Ren and Leonel.
Though Nikolai got to admit that he felt at ease with Ren and Leonel since he didn’t feel any malice from them, unlike with Scar, whom he still didn’t like even until now.
Though Scar was smiling, Nikolai only felt like a prey in front of a predator when the guy was around.
“So what class are you going to play in the game?” Leonel asked Sumeri.
Sumeri shrugged. “I haven’t thought about it. Maybe a white mage so I can support Nikolai.”
“I can take care of myself,” chimed Nikolai.
Sumeri beamed at her little brother. “I know you can. But just to ensure that you stay longer on the battlefield to protect your big sister.”
Looking at the relationship between the two and how they interact, Ren couldn’t help but feel a tinge of envy. He didn’t have any siblings, so he could only look with jealousy at someone who did.
Leonel only stuck out his tongue. “So jealous of you guys. My little sister and I are like cat and mouse.”
Ren smirked. “And you’re the mouse.”
Instead of denying it, Leonel only shivered as he remembered his little sister, who was innocent as a deer in front of her friends but as violent as a bull with a red flag in front of her face when it came to him.
“That midget is so scary. I’m so glad that I don’t see her anymore.”
“By the way, which guild do you guys belong to?” Sumeri questioned after a short silence.
“I don’t belong to one. I took mercenary jobs,” Ren replied.
“I don’t, too. And I’m thinking of not joining one since a guild doesn’t suit me. I’m going to do mercenary stuff with Ren.”
Sumeri raised her brow while Nikolai’s eyes sparkled. “That’s so cool!”
“What do you do exactly?”
Leonel opened his mouth and then closed it before he shifted his eyes at Ren. “What do we do exactly?”
Ren answered in a confident tone, “We accept any job related to dungeon hunting, boss fight, or even guild wars. In short, in exchange for real money, we will help our clients in dungeons, raids, quest and other stuff.”
“I see . . . I did hear from Silvia that they employed someone to get firstblood in Vulcan’s Cave. But isn’t it going to be hard now that there are guilds? After all, they have the numbers for it.”
Ren stifled a laugh. “If you think that numbers and power pushing are all there is to it in COVENANT, then you’re gravely misinformed. The proof is the fact that Black Lion died multiple times in Vulcan’s Cave. They have the numbers, and even pro players were in their ranks.”
Sumeri thought for a second. She did hear about it in the news, and those were the days that made her laugh.
“But . . . you need to be good to attract a lot of clients. Are you confident enough?”
Ren only smiled in an overbearing kind of way. “I wouldn’t have chosen this path if I am not.”
Looking at Ren breaming with self-assurance, Sumeri saw her past self at him and even Scar for a time. The two had a lot in common. Ambitious, confident, assertive, and both spoke like what they said would happen.
Ah . . . She was definitely getting old.
“Maybe . . . I should also become a mercenary?” muttered Sumeri under her breath that only she could hear.
—-
A/N
3 BONUS CHAPTERS Later.
Thank you to Darted_Table for the super gifts! �
PS. If I can’t publish later then the rest will be tom