Leon

Who could that be?

I walk around my desk and sit down before calling out, "Come in."

The door opens, revealing the Collector from earlier.

He already finished selling his wares?

I wonder if Rose got one?

The Collector enters my office and closes the door behind him.

He then turns around, gives me a short bow, and says, "It is nice to meet you, City Lord."

The Collector raises back up from his bow and continues, "I would like to make a deal with you."

A deal?

"Alright, tell me about this deal," I say while leaning back in my chair.

The Collector briefly bows his head and says, "I would like to set up a home and store here within the Dungeon City and I am willing to offer you a permanent discount on any orbs you wish to buy in exchange."

My eyes widen in surprise.

A Collector wants to live in Wolfdenn?

"Before we go into negotiations, I would like to know why you want to live in Wolfdenn," I bluntly ask the Collector.

The Collector stays unmoving without saying a word.

It's so difficult to tell what this guy is thinking.

I can't even see their face with that helmet on.

"Alright," the Collector finally says.

He finally moves from his position standing in front of the office door to sit in the chair across from me.

"There are a few different reasons," he begins, "the first being that I would like to live in a neutral territory, and Wolfdenn is currently the most neutral territory anywhere near us."

"The second reason is that it is a new, unique dungeon, which makes for great business," the Collector says with a shrug.

Okay, those reasons make sense.

I can work with tho-

"The third reason is because of you, your highness," he interrupts my thoughts.

I shoot up from my chair and reach for my swords.

"Who are you?" I shout at the Collector.

How did he know?

The Collector doesn't budge from his seat and just laughs for the first time since I met him.

"It hurts that you don't remember me, Little Leo" he says while reaching for his helmet.

The moment he removes his helmet, I am shocked at the familiar face behind it.

"Luke?! Luke Reinhardt?!?" I shout, my voice cracking in the process.

What the hell is he doing here!

Several years ago

Ari pats my head as she points to the tall man beside her and says, "Little Leo, this person is my friend from the Elven Academy of Magic. I hope you two can get along!"

My brows furrow in annoyance, but I don't say anything after seeing her bright smile.

I really hate it when she calls me that and pats me on the head.

"Hello little guy, my name is Luke Reinhardt." The man says to me while holding his hand out.

I reluctantly take his hand and shake it.

"Hello, my name is Leon Raizel," I introduce myself.

Not that it was really needed, seeing as he is friends with my sister.

Ari giggles and suddenly jumps on me with a hug before letting go and heading towards the door while calling back, "I have to go talk to father now! You two get to know each other!"

She rushes out of the room, closing the door behind her.

I let out a sigh the moment she leaves the room.

Luke chuckles after seeing me sigh.

I grimace before turning to him and asking, "What?"

"Oh, nothing. I just have never seen Ari look so... giddy before. It was rather strange to see, Little Leo," Luke says, putting extra emphasis on the nickname my sister uses.

Okay, that's it.

I don't like this guy.

Luke laughs again before saying, "I can tell exactly what you think of me just from that face."

I glare at him and say, "Then please stop talking."

Luke smirks and says, "Nah, I find being around you to be pretty amusing, so I am going to keep talking."

Seriously?

I send a pleading look towards the door Ari left through.

Please come back soon and take this overly tall and annoying idiot away from me.

The present

"Now, now, Little Leo, is that how you greet a friend?" Luke says with a smirk.

Please go away.

"Who ever said that we were friends?" I shout at him with a glare.

Luke smiles a warm smile and says, "Why, I did!"

Please go away.

I grunt in annoyance and say, "Well, we aren't friends. You can leave now."

"Bye bye," I add while motioning towards the door with my hand.

Please just take the hint and go away.

The smile never leaves Luke's face as he says, "Now, now, we still have a deal to negotiate, now don't we?"

I stand there glaring at Luke for several seconds before sighing.

He isn't going to leave.

I sheath my swords and sit back down in my chair.

"Fine," I mutter in defeat.

The smile on Luke's face just grows even wider as he says, "Okay, so I am willing to offer you a permanent discou-"

I interrupt him mid-offer, "I am going to need a permanent discount on any orb I may purchase from you, as well as a small 2% fee from the revenue made by the shop you will be setting up, as well as every orb you sell within the city."

Luke's face freezes for the first time since he took off his helmet.

Yes! Now please leave at my outrageous deal!

"I should have expected that to be honest," Luke mutters with a slightly disgruntled face.

Yeah, yeah, now please leave.

Suddenly, Luke begins smirking again as he says, "Alright, we have a deal!"

"Yeah, I thought so... wait WHAT!" I shout at him.

Is he really willing to pay that much just to mess with me!?

Luke's smirk turns into a full-blown smile as he says, "Yep, now we just need to go sign a contract, and, as luck would have it, I happen to have a blank blood contract right here!"

My mouth drops open in a speechless silence.

Luke just places a blank blood contract on my desk and fills out all of the conditions I had mentioned before signing it.

He then just pushes it to me with that never-ending smirk still on his face.

I sit there in silence staring at the contract for a few seconds before signing it.

We both cut our thumbs and press them into the contract, prompting it to duplicate itself before turning into blood and flowing into our bodies.

Luke then nods his head to me and says, "It's been really nice seeing you again, Little Leo! I will be coming back tomorrow to discuss the location of my new home and shop!"

He then proceeds to put his helmet back on, covering up his Elven ears, and leaves my office, quietly shutting the door behind him.

I sit there in silence for several minutes.

I would have just denied his offer, but knowing him, he would just cause me more trouble if I denied than he would if I accepted.

Besides, the deal in and of itself is really good for me.

It just means that I have to deal with him from time to time.

"There goes my peaceful life," I mutter with a sigh.