Chapter 12

Kei looked at the person standing by the door. Followed by an elderly butler who stood beside her.

She didn’t look at Kei at all while speaking, as if she didn’t want to dirty her eyes.

Kei just ignored her and went with Fether deeper inside the building. They went up to the second floor and started there.

Kei saw a variety of magical products there, rings, hairpins, and others. “Why are ornaments being sold here?” He asked Fether.

“Those ornaments can be used as a substitute for wands and contains magic stones.” Fether answered him.

[To add to what he said, wands are needed by most mages to direct their magic at something. Without the stick, their magic would probably fly off somewhere and wreak unintended havoc. Magic stones come from creatures with magic like devils, demons, and angels. Magic circuits are the same as the magic stones, the difference being that circuits cannot be harvested from humans.] Remy spoke and shared her knowledge.

Kei picked up a ring and closely looked at it. “Good choice, sir. This ring can deploy a magic barrier around you that can even block a missile.”

As if knowing that Kei would be curious about how the ring works, Remy spoke again. [The magic barrier is engraved as a magic rune on the ring and the magic stone will power it. If the stone runs out of magical energy, you can just put a new one on it. Of course, it needs to be the same size.]

“How much is it?” Kei asked the staff. “It’s 30 million won, sir. It’s a product of the famous Tinkerer.”

Kei nodded and put it back, trying hard to hide his shock. ‘Damn, that’s expensive. How much do I have right now anyway?’

Fether noticed him and grabbed the ring. “Miss, can you please pack this with that one?” He pointed at a bracelet by the side.

Kei whispered to him, “What are you doing? I don’t want it.”

“Who the fuck said it was for you, it’s for my little sister.” Fether retorted.

Kei was embarrassed and changed the topic. “So, you have a little sister, where is she?”

Fether unsheathed his sword and placed it on Kei’s neck. “You’re not touching my sister.”

Kei got scared and raised both his hands. “All right, put that back.” He touched his neck and thought, ‘A siscon!’

The lady staff was calculating the price when the rude lady from the entrance entered the room. “Pack that up for me. Whatever they bought, I’ll double the price.” She shouted at the staff.

The staff walked to her and bowed. “Madam, sorry but these items are already bought by this mister. If you want to get them, it’s no longer Treasured Castle’s item so you need to buy it from them.”

“The fuck is this wench talking about? Did he pay for them yet?” The woman was very obnoxious and kept shouting at her. This naturally attracted the attention and ire of other customers in the building.

‘Goddamn it, she’s a fucking Karen.’ Kei shouted in his mind.

Soon, a man who seems like the manager of the building came and talked with the woman.

“Ma’am, what seems to be the problem?” He asked her.

“I want that ring and bracelet, pack it up.” She answered him, still shouting.

The staff who attended to Fether and Kei earlier whispered to the manager.

“Ma’am, I’m afraid we can’t do that. Both of these items are already sold to this gentleman. How about other items? We have a lot of items better than these if you want, I can give you a discount.” He tried to convince the lady.

“I said! I WANT THAT!” She shouted at the manager, spit flying out of her mouth.

‘She’s an adult but acts like a kid. I thought they only existed in stories, but man was I wrong.’ Kei thought.

The manager finally got mad and replied sternly. “Ma’am, please behave yourself. You are disturbing our customers.”

“Do you not know who I am? My husband is the leader of Dragon Slayer Guild.” She got irritated by his reply and kept shouting. She showed him a badge with a shouting dragon in the middle.

The manager looked at her with disdain. “Even if you are the leader of Holy Flames Guild, the Treasured Castle is not scared. If you want a battle, your husband might even divorce you.” After saying that the manager called for the guards and dragged the lady outside.

“I won’t forget this!!”

The manager walked towards Fether and talked to him. “I’m sorry for the disturbance.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not your fault.” Fether responded.

“I’ll give you a 20% discount as an apology.”

“Many thanks.”

The manager then told the staff before leaving.

Kei returned to choosing what to buy after the manager left.

“Sir, this is a dimensional bag. Spatial magic has been inscribed on its inside and outside.” The staff that was being shouted at earlier showed Kei a string bag.

Kei showed interest and asked. “It can store much more than how it looks?” The staff nodded to which Kei asked again. “How much can it store?”

“The spatial storage is said to be able to store ten times its actual storage.” She responded respectfully.

Kei nodded. “How much is this? And also, I need a short sword and a protective bracelet like Fether’s.”

“Yes sir, this bag costs 100 million won, the swords are in this area.” She responded and pointed at another area, and led Kei deeper into the second floor.

Kei went inside and chose a short sword. He tried to circulate his magic energy and make it flow into the swords. The sword in his hand didn’t respond and the magic energy just covered its outside. The staff noticed what he was doing and spoke. “Sir, all of these swords don’t have any circuits engraved on them. If you want swords that can handle magic energy then you need to go to the third floor.”

Kei went to the third floor and Fether who just came back from paying for his items saw and followed him. “Why are you going on the third floor?”

“The staff said there are swords with magic circuits on them on the third floor.”

“If you want a good sword, then I can recommend a shop.” Fether told him.

Kei stepped out of the elevator when he entered back again, pressing the button for the second floor. “I’ll pay for my items, wait for me outside.” Fether nodded and also entered the lift.

…

Kei and Fether left the building. The building was certainly the largest and most famous shop in the district, so for anyone to leave it with satisfied looks, must mean that they have the money to buy from it.

A kid was running through the streets, he wore shabby clothes and is about 16 years old. He kept running as if someone was after his life. He then bumped into Fether, falling on his butt.

‘What an amateur.’ Kei thought. He then helped the kid stand up and patted his back. The kid apologized and bowed. He then ran away, grinning. “Heh, easy targets.” He spoke as he held the bracelet that Fether just bought.

“Fether, check your hand.” Kei told him. He then checked his right wrist to see that his bracelet was gone. “That damned kid.” He shouted and chased after the kid.

Kei followed behind and smiled. Fether saw the kid’s head and shouted. “Oy, you thief, come back here!”

The kid was startled and ran through crowds and alleys. Fether encountered multiple crowds and many times almost lost sight of the kid.

As the kid entered a dark alleyway, Kei stood in front of him. “You’re still an amateur, kid.” He said as he raised a small pouch. He opened it and took a peek, inside were several rings and other kinds of jewelry.

“Hehh! You had quite a harvest today.” Kei spoke playfully.

The kid patted his entire body to find his pouch, “When did you? That’s mine!” He remembered the time when Kei helped him stand up.

“Nope, these jewelry aren’t yours, but that bracelet is my friend’s.” Kei told him.

“Give that back or else I’ll shout ‘thieves.” The kid threatened them. This time Fether finally managed to catch up and entered the same alleyway.

“Shout all you want, who will they believe? Two well-dressed gentlemen with Hunter’s ID or some brat who wears ragtag clothes.” Kei held his ID between his index and middle finger and waved it in front of the kid.

The kid knew that he had nowhere to escape. “I’m sorry, let me go. I’ll give back your bracelet. But please, give me that pouch, I need the money to pay my mother’s hospital.”

Kei held his chin and thought. “Sure, give me the bracelet and I’ll pay for your mother’s hospital.”

Fether looked at him and seemed to thought. ‘The fuck are you planning?’

Kei just smiled and didn’t say anything. The kid hesitated, “You won’t trick me, if I give you this, you’ll just leave me or maybe even beat me up.”

“Ok, here’s the pouch, throw me the bracelet. Lead the way to your mother’s hospital.” Kei tossed the pouch to him and the kid threw the bracelet back at him. Kei walked towards Fether and gave him the bracelet.

“Lead the way.”

The kid hesitated and didn’t budge an inch.

“I said, LEAD THE WAY!” Kei emitted a suffocating aura.

The kid then began walking, followed by Kei and Fether. “Don’t you try to run away, I’ll beat you up so bad you’ll stay with your mother. You can also lead us to your friends, I need to exercise.”

The kid threw away the thought of running away and just focused on leading the way.

After walking through several streets and crossing highways. They finally stood in front of a hospital. It doesn’t have the finest looks or the most elegant and advanced buildings, but it does look like a hospital. Mostly thanks to the red cross.

“What are you planning?” Fether asked Kei as they entered the hospital.

“Nothing, I’ll just pay for his mom’s hospital fee.” Kei smiled innocently.

He remembered the times when he also resorted to stealing.

…

“Grandma!!” I got some food for us. A boy wearing ragtag clothes full of holes and was so dirty, it looks like a floor mat.

“Kei! Where did you get these?” The lady who Kei called grandma wasn’t really an old lady. She’s a lady in her mid-30s. Her impoverished looks were the cause of Kei calling her an old lady, she’s wearing a white oversized t-shirt and black pants.

“Don’t think about that and just eat.” Kei grabbed her thin arms and placed a bag containing onigiri on it.

“Koraa! Did you steal again?” She looked at him and asked.

“I know you’re hungry, don’t worry about where I got it from. I helped someone cross the road and she gave me this.”

The woman looked at him doubtfully but just gave up. She ate the food and enjoyed it. “Thanks, but you should never steal from anyone. But that also goes that never allow anyone to steal from you.” Saying that, her eyes looked sharp and were full of hatred.

“Look at me! My husband got stolen from me and he threw me into the streets. If it weren’t for you helping me, I would’ve died.” The woman thanked him and hugged him, Kei just sat there eating and didn’t give her attention.

“Don’t worry, once I get my revenge, I’ll give you a proper roof above your head.” She smiled and patted his head.

Kei stood up after finishing his food. “I’m going somewhere now. I’ll try to get some food for dinner. Take care.”

“Don’t steal!” The woman told him sternly.

Kei grinned innocently and ran off into the distance. Not knowing that this will be the last time they can talk happily.

Time passed and it was already deep into the night.

“Old lady!! I didn’t get much food but there’s still this.” Kei’s voice rang out from the distance and within the shadows, he appeared, holding a necklace. The same necklace that Remy resides in.

He stood there, shocked, and his eyes wide open. His blood grew cold and his eyes turned red. He clenched his fist as his knees turned limp. In front of him was the woman, naked as she lied on fresh blood. “W-what happened? Please, get up! MOM!!”

She tried her hardest to stand up and sit down. “Come here, Kei.”

Kei crawled to her and cried. “Who did this?!”

“I’m so proud of someone like you calling me mom. I’m so grateful that in this life I met you. I gave you that name, because honestly, in the beginning, I didn’t care about you at all and just came up with a random name that was easy to say. I’m sorry about that, I should’ve given you a better name.”

Kei shook his head, tears falling down his face. “No, I like this name. Tell me who did this to you, I’ll kill his entire nine generations.”

“Kei, can you smile once more for me?” She said as she hugged Kei.

The blood went to Kei but he couldn’t be bothered. With tears and snot running down his face, he tried his hardest to smile. He looked really ugly as he forced his smile. “Please don’t die, you’re the only one U have.”

“I love you, Kei. I don’t have a lot of time left, please grant me this final wish. My name Aoi Kanata, please don’t forget about me.” She spoke as she cried.

“Mom.” Kei spoke while sobbing, he couldn’t speak properly but tried his hardest to say the word.

She smiled and kissed Kei’s forehead. “Don’t cry, smile.”

She passed away smiling in Kei’s hands.

--End--