Zich opened the door. Beyond the delicious aroma coming from inside the shop, he heard some chaotic noises. He stepped inside without hesitation. It was the restaurant that Tim had called ‘trash’ repeatedly just a few days ago. As if the commotion that happened there before was a lie, the restaurant was full of vitality. The owner of the restaurant had looked at the sky as it was about to collapse, he was now taking orders while beads of sweat trickled down his face.
Zich raised his hand to make an order.
“Yes! What should I get y…!” When the restaurant owner checked Zich’s face, he looked surprised. It seemed like he recognized Zich. After all, it had only been a few days since he grabbed Zich’s hand and sang about how evil the gangster who messed up his shop was.
“Are you not going to take my order?”
“Sorry? Ah, yes.”
The restaurant owner handed the menu to him. Zich ordered a simple meal and one glass of beer, and the restaurant owner left while taking the menu board with him. Zich looked around the shop.
‘He isn’t here.’
Zich couldn’t find the person he was looking for, but he wasn’t disappointed. If he was the person Zich was looking for, there was a high chance that guy was looking for Zich. Furthermore, Zich knew where that guy lived already. However, since the situation would get easier if that guy approached Zich first, ZIch waited in the spot where he last saw Tim.
‘I don’t think I will have to wait that long either.’
The restaurant owner’s attitude was strange. As if he was looking at a dark magical object that would curse him if he got too close, the owner quickly took Zich’s order and distanced himself. There was really no apparent reason for the owner to act in this manner. Although Zich had caused some trouble with Tim at the shop, he resolved the situation pretty well and didn’t have any troubles with the owner after that. Perhaps, he was worried that Tim would stir up some trouble if he accepted Zich as a customer, but Zich thought it was something else.
‘This proves that Tim is looking for me.’ Then, Zich could understand the restaurant owner’s attitude. If the guy who wrecked his shop was looking for Zich, he probably wouldn’t want to even go near him at all. If he could, the owner probably wanted to chase Zich away. Yet, Zich’s connection with Tim also robbed him of the option to do so. If the owner chased away the person Tim was looking for and Tim heard of it, there was a high chance that Tim would flip the restaurant upside down again. Thus, the owner probably wanted Zich to quickly finish his meal and leave the restaurant.
“Here it is.”
Zich’s guesswork was accurate since his food came out much earlier than the other table’s. However, Zich had no intention of granting the owner’s wish. He shredded the bread and dipped the pieces into his soup. Then he placed it into his mouth; a savory and salty smell lingered around his lips.
‘It really is quite a good place.’ Since he had to come to this restaurant for several days, he would have been annoyed if their food wasn’t tasty. Zich savored his meal and enjoyed it very slowly. He saw the restaurant owner fidget while looking at him from a distance, but Zich didn’t care. Like that, he cleared his food and drink and placed his utensils down. The owner looked relieved, but it was too soon to respond that way.
Zich stretched out his hand and called the restaurant owner, “One more glass of beer and snacks to go with it.”
The restaurant owner swallowed back the cries he wanted to let out.
* * *
Like he was teasing the anxious restaurant owner, Zich sipped his alcohol. As he did this, Zich noticed someone entering the shop. The door to the restaurant opened, and Zich’s eyes shot towards it. The restaurant owner welcomed customers while swallowing back his sighs due to Zich’s presence, but he suddenly froze in place. Opposite him, Zich’s eyes sparkled in welcome. The person who entered the shop just now was Tim.
With his usual swagger, Tim glanced across the shop. Zich took his eyes off from Tim and tilted his beer glass to act like he failed to see Tim. Soon, the sound of footsteps approached him, and two feet stopped next to Zich’s table. Zich raised his head and saw that Tim was standing right next to him.
Zich asked, “What is it, sir?”
“You don’t remember me?”
“I do. That’s why I am asking you. I don’t think our relationship is one where we can chat with each other. Do you still have some unresolved anger about the incident from last time?”
“It is resolved. Very resolved.” Tim flashed his teeth and smiled. He took out a chair in front of Zich and sat down. Then, he shouted to the restaurant owner, “Give me one glass of beer!”
The owner looked at Tim with an indescribable expression; but like he had given up, he hung his head low and moved to prepare the drink.
“You aren’t planning to not pay, right?”
“What? What do you take me for? I have loads of money. I won’t steal a glass like this.”
Yet, Zich continued to look at him suspiciously and said, “You can’t sneakily place the cost of your food onto my bill later.”
“Okay, I get it. I will pay for this drink in advance. Will that satisfy you?” Tim took out money from his pockets and placed it on top of the table. It was more than the price of one glass of beer. When the restaurant owner came with his glass of beer, Tim handed over the money.
“I will pay first. You can keep the change.”
“Ah, yes…” The owner hesitated, worried that Tim would cause trouble and try to get the money back; in the end, he had no choice but to accept it. The owner quickly accepted the money and moved far away from the table.
“Okay, so what is it? Even if we resolved the situation, I don’t think it’s common to sit at the same table with someone you had trouble with for no reason,” Zich said.
“You shouldn’t act so rigid. I am not the type of person who holds others accountable for their past actions. I already forgot what you did,” Tim said. Zich was sure that Tim was lying.
Tim held strong contempt for people’s past wrongdoings; there was no way he didn’t. Although the Tim Platt before him wasn’t the ‘Werewolf’ Zich knew, Zich knew what Tim said was a lie based on the behaviors Tim had displayed until now. Zich smirked and drank his beer; it was to show that he didn’t believe in Tim’s words.
Obviously, since Tim had a shitty personality, he grew annoyed. “What the hell? You don’t believe me?”
“If you were me, would you believe your words?” Zich dropped his honorifics and replied. Tim had been fake smiling so far, and he stiffened at Zich’s words.
The owner watching them from afar also stiffened as the atmosphere between the two became tense.
“…This bastard, when I’m trying to be nice!”
“You want my money?” Zich cut off Tim who was about to angrily yell at him. Tim immediately shut his mouth.
Tim was startled that Zich had realized his intentions; he wondered if he should agree or deny Zich’s words. Should he continue getting angry or try to be friendly again? Tim’s thoughts became a mess because Zich cut him off with perfect timing.
‘Cute punk.’ At times like this, it was easy to see Tim’s lack of expertise.
Zich said, “Well, fine. I can give you more.”
Tim shut his mouth again after he had finally decided to continue yelling at Zich.
“But you need to also give me something in exchange.”
“…In exchange?”
“Yep, in exchange. I gave you compensation last time because I was rude to you. Well, I did give you a lot for such a small matter. However, there’s no reason why I should give you anything right now. If you want my money, you obviously have to give me something in return.”
“…What kind of exchange are you talking about?”
“Why don’t we move to another location? There’s a lot of people listening to us right now. Moreover, a lot of people seemed to be focused on us because you’re quite famous as well.”
Tim scanned their surroundings. When his eyes reached the people around them, they quickly moved their heads down. Tim frowned and glared at them. He also wanted to yell at them, but because Zich suddenly stood up, he lost the right timing to do so. Zich raised his cup and gulped down his glass in one shot.
Thud!
Zich roughly put down the glass and after paying for the meal, he left the store. At Zich’s fast movements like the wind, Tim dumbly watched on as Zich went outside the door.
“…Ugh, fuck!” Since the situation was not going as planned, he swore and quickly gulped down his beer like Zich. Then, he quickly followed behind him.
An infamous local gangster had quietly left his store; moreover, he even paid for his alcohol. The owner thanked his luck today and let out a sigh of relief.
* * *
Tim followed Zich’s back in a swagger. His sharp eyes carefully scanned Zich’s body.
‘Should I fuck him up?’ As Zich predicted, Tim was targeting Zich’s money. Last time, he was threatened by Zich’s aura, so he swiftly retreated after receiving one jewel.
However, when he went back to his lodging, he felt extremely regretful that he let go of a pushover that gave an expensive jewel from such a small quarrel. Even though his opponent’s ability seemed pretty good, he didn’t think he would fall behind in skills at all. He decided to first get close to Zich and see if he could rip more money off from him.
With this in mind, Tim went out of his way to find Zich. However, it was an extremely difficult feat to find one person in a big city like this. Moreover, Zich was outside the city most of the time searching for bandits. Tim continuously frequented the store that he first met Zich, and his efforts finally paid off when he was able to find Zich again. On the other hand, Tim didn’t know that Zich had predicted Tim’s thought process and specifically went to the same store so that Tim could find him.
Tim thought that if he defeated Zich right now, all of Zich’s fortune would become his. So, his fingers twitched in excitement. However, in the end, Tim gave up on ambushing Zich.
‘He definitely doesn’t seem like an ordinary person.’
His instincts warned him that this guy was dangerous. Even though he didn’t think he would lose, he probably couldn’t win easily either.
‘Even if I attack him right now, I shouldn’t fight him inside the city.’
If their fight got longer, there were too many things that could hinder them. Tim thought he should at least listen to what Zich had to say. After thinking this, Tim brushed off the complicated thoughts in his mind and calmly followed Zich.
‘He gave up.’ Zich could predict all of Tim’s thoughts. Therefore, even though he was looking forward, most of his senses were directed towards his back. After Tim began following him, the unstable tension around Tim disappeared at a certain point; it seemed as if Tim had decided to make his final decision after talking with him.
This was also fortunate for Zich. He didn’t have to take his old subordinate’s neck. The place that Zich led Tim to was an empty back alley where there were lights or people.
‘There’s no one here.’ Tim had his guard raised in preparation for a trap, but he eased his guard a bit after sensing no one around.
“Why don’t you start talking? I think this is a good enough place if you’re looking for a deserted area.”
“Yep, it definitely seems so.” Zich spun his body around.
Tim shrugged. “How important is your business that you dragged me all the way here? At this point, I’m even getting really curious.”
“Yeah, that’s understandable. Rather than fulfilling your curiosity, aren’t you more interested in this?” Zich took out a jewel from his clothes.
Tim’s eyes glinted with greed. ‘As expected, this guy is filthy rich.’
Tim replied, “Yep. You know me well.”
“I know you’ll like it.” However, Zich put the jewel back inside his clothes.
Tim frowned. “What are you doing? Why are you putting that back in?”
“I told you. This is compensation. I’m going to give this to you if you do what I want.”
“…What is it that you want?”
Zich asked with brimming hope, “Do you know anything about the bandits that are running around here?”