Chapter 19

Sunday, 6/5/119

Outside the Capital of Harrelson

Two figures in dirty clothing walk down an unpaved road towards the capital. One of them, Ethan, appears nervous and hesitant at entering the small city while the other, Chris, longs for nothing more but to see buildings once again.

We passed by multiple towns on our way here but never stayed in them! What a tease! I could practically feel a warm bed within my grasp!

He faces the new city with exhaustion but relief in his complexion. This is from being unable to get a good night's sleep that past few days. Despite this, his eyes have grown gleeful once more. Although the city is on the horizon, he can feel a bit of strength returning to him.

Only then does Chris notice his surroundings. Off into the distance, he sees the giant opening of a mine with what seems like hundreds of people going in and out of it. He squints his eyes, trying to see the sight in more detail.

“You see that mine?” he asks Ethan. “You think it's a Diamond or something?”

“It’s a Batrock mine,” he answers. “They’re mining for a kind of mineral that can be combined to create an alloy called Batrock metal. The alloy is near indestructible and Geinta conductible.”

“Oh, so you even know that.” Chris comments, having not noticed Ethan's pained expression when talking about the subject.

“There are a shit ton of people working in there.” He then looks forward to see wheatfields encompassing the landscape surrounding the capital. “Why the hell is there so much wheat?! The fields are even bigger than Arbhar. And there’s a ton of people working in them too.”

He turns back to Ethan. “Does the entire city work in the mine and fields? There can’t be that many hard labor workers among the citizens, right?”

“Well, remember how high the population is here, so maybe,” Ethan tells him.

“I see. Oh man, I’m getting horrible flashbacks to my days of doing field work. I feel like I’ll suddenly hear an old man pawn his chores onto me. Oh, the horror!”

It’s at this point that Ethan starts to ignore his melodramatic jesting. He, over the last few days, has begun to develop a skill he never thought he’d need; selective hearing. He’s become quite adept at blocking out the sounds of his companion’s drivels.

***

Center of the Capital

Harrelson Mansion,

Harrelson sits in his office with a smile on his face as he awaits Ethan’s return. However, as he scans over a pile of reports, this expression suddenly crumbles.

He continues to read the report with his mood becoming worse and worse. When he finally reaches the end of it, he squeezes the paper, slightly crumbling it, before laying his hand over his eyes.

Fuck. It’s getting worse.

In the midst of his internal struggle, there is a knock on the door, and a moment later, his assistant Ms. Till enters the room.

“Sam, we have a guest.”

“Is it him?!”

“No. The President of the Rose Corporation has arrived. He says he has urgent business.”

“T-the President?”

His mood sours even further upon hearing this piece of news and he slowly descends into internal panic.

Why are they here?! Is it because of the request I sent?!

However, out of time and options, he straightens his tie and prepares to meet his guest.

“Ok, let him in.”

***

Outside the city wall,

In front of the city entrance, a black armored SUV sits idle, waiting for permission to enter. Inside the vehicle, there are four people dressed in high-end black suits. The two in the front seats are men of large builds and radiate an intimidating aura.

In the back of the SUV sits one woman, sneering as she looks out the window, while next to her is a young man, in his early twenties, with curly brown hair and a serious expression.

He looks forward from out of his window at the guard stationed on top of the city wall. His eyes are immediately drawn toward the high caliber weapons they have aimed at him.

“They better not shoot us while we’re sitting here,” he says casually. “That would suck.”

The woman sitting next to him lets out an arrogant cackle. “Ha! These piss ants wouldn’t dare. Not unless they want agonizing death.”

He sighs at her comment. “Let's hope that is the case. I would rather not participate in meaningless fighting today.”

At that moment, a guard waves them through the front gate and the SUV continues on to Harrelson’s mansion. During their drive in, although the city is not as poor as the Border Town, the citizens still gape at the sight of an expensive-looking armored vehicle.

“Who’s that?”

“Is it someone important?”

“Are we being taken over?”

Questions like these begin to fester amongst the people as they continue to drive slowly up to the mansion.

Once there, the four suited people within the vehicle step out, all being glad that the mansion driveway is stone rather than dirt.

“At least they can afford this much,” the woman says arrogantly.

“Agreed, but Nichole, play nice. We’re not here to stir up conflict.”

Nichole clicks her tongue in annoyance at his reminder. “Yeah, yeah. I got it. ‘Peaceful negotiation’ and all that boring shit.”

They are escorted through the mansion to Harrelson’s office where a couple of guards open the doors to let them in.

As they swing open, Harrelson’s figure is revealed to be standing in front of his desk, waiting patiently for their arrival. He gulps and forces a smile to his face upon seeing his guests.

“Welcome to my home, people of the Rose Corporation,” he addresses them generally as he is ignorant as to who is in charge amongst the group.

Who’s the president?! The two to the side look like bodyguards but the other two appear far too young to be the company president. I mean, if I’m not mistaken, the Rose Corporation president is Damon Rose, but he should be in his mid-fifties.

That’s when the young man steps forward to correct his misconception. “I think you're mistaken. I’m the only one affiliated with the Rose Corporation. As a high ranking member in the Kingdom, I have the privilege of having my own hand picked attack squad who are accompanying me today.”

“Attack squad?!”

“Don’t worry Mr. Harrelson. They are present only as a precaution. Pretend they aren’t here.”

“I see,” Harrelson chokes out. “So you're the President, I assume. You surprise me. Your age doesn’t reflect your status.”

“You flatter me,” the young man says with a seemingly genuine smile. “Since we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting each other, I should introduce myself. I am Nathan Collins, and along with being the current President of the Rose Corporation, you could say I also hold a title similar to that of Prime Minister. I hope that clears up any misconceptions you have about me.”

Harrelson flinches at the last part. What a clever way to state that your position is higher than mine. You damn brat.

Harrleson tries to keep his smile, but he can feel his face slipping. As this happens, he observes Collins and can tell that the smile on his face is also faked, but to a much more convincing degree.

He extends his hand to Collins as the other does the same. While their hands shake, Harrelson lowers his head slightly as a show of respect, albeit a fake one.

“Well, welcome President Collins. I hope I can help with whatever business you have here today.”

“Yes, I hope you can as well. May we take a seat to talk business.”

“Yes, of course.”

The two proceed to sit on opposite sides of his desk, with Collins looking far more comfortable in the office than the owner himself. He casually refuses a a drink from Ms. Till and sits comfortably in the chair as if he owns the place. This, obviously, irks Harrelson.

“You seem to be quite comfortable,” Harrelson asks out of spite. “You must be quite experienced in negotiation.”

“I would prefer if you didn’t let my age fool you,” Collins replies calmly. “I wasn’t handed my title nor was I given any favoritism. To earn the title of President at my age is incredibly difficult. In my pursuit of doing so, I, of course, developed the skills to transverse a negotiation with even the most egotistical idiot one can find.”

Harrelson’s face twitches at the sudden insult which was laced into his civilized and sophisticated words.

“I see.” Harrelson then looks at the ‘attack squad’ behind Collins and is reminded that he is indeed a high ranking official in the Rose Kingdom.

I had heard that the government and business of Rose Kingdom were connected, but I hadn’t seen the proof with my own eyes until now.

Harrelson then directs the conversation back on track. “So, if I may ask, what is the reason for this visit?”

Suddenly, Collins’s smile crumbles and he leans forward in his chair. “I never thought you’d be the one to bring it up, but apparently, I underestimated your brazenness.”

Harrelson can't hide his surprise at the sudden outward showing of hostility. He decides to tread carefully and to continue being respectful.

“I’m not sure what …”

“I’ll cut to the chase, Mr. Harrelson. We at the Rose Corporation have decided to terminate all of our business dealings with you.”

“What?!”

“You have violated our agreement many times, and while we are grateful and somewhat dependent on your product, we cannot afford to continue our relationship any further.”

Harrelson starts panicking even more. “No! You can’t! We’ve had an agreement for years! My territory … my life is dependent on our deal! Please, don’t be so rash and tell me how I can fix this!”

Collins begins to open his mouth, but Nichole suddenly speaks up before he gets a chance.

“Such disrespect. Hey,” she turns to Collins, “since he’s such a pain, can I kill him? It would be faster that way.”

The guards standing behind Harrelson ready themselves to draw their weapons, to which the other two men behind Collins do the same. A standoff between the two parties has begun.

Collins waves off her offer. “No. As I said before, I’d prefer to avoid a fight. This is a business discussion, not a battle of egos. If we had any need to flex our strength, we would have struck from the very beginning.”

Nichole clicks her tongue and backs off while Harrelson’s guards begin to relax slightly. However, Harrleson himself can not do the same.

“Please, just give me a chance,” he says with desperation in his voice.

“Mr. Harrelson, the reason we’re doing this is because for the past half year, you have charged us the same price while providing merely half the product. At first, we decided to let this matter go, even after our previous negotiator was sent back to us in a body bag. After all, our Kingdom is quite dependent on your wheat, especially in the more impoverished areas, and even the metals you sell us are very useful. However, just recently, you sent us a letter saying you were ‘forced’ to increase the prices for an even lower product amount.”

Harrelson sits there, unable to say a word. His initial thought about the reason for their visit was spot on. He thought it was strange that the President himself would show his face.

“Okay, I’ll ... lower the prices again. Just …

“But I thought you were ‘forced,’ meaning you had no other choice,” says Collins, cutting him off.

“I …”

“And if you were forced, then you can’t afford to lower the price. Why? Well, if I’m not mistaken, it’s because you mine is about to run dry while your crops are constantly destroyed, creating quite the shortage.”

Harrelson’s eyes grow wide. “Y-yes. I can’t afford to sell at the normal price any longer.”

“It's a shame that you had to experience the F beetle.”

“The F beetle?! Is that what’s destroying my crops?!”

“Most likely. Other territories farther south have had problems with them as well. They’re an experiment gone wrong. From what our contacts tell us, they’re an artificially grown Mythical Beast created for warfare by Daniel Riverdale. Unfortunately, he let them out into the wild by mistake and some happened to find their way to you.”

Despair slowly starts to fill Harrelson’s eyes. “Y-your fucking kidding me right? I can fix it, right? Will I be left ot suffer at the hands of this fucking experiment?”

“There’s a way, but it's too hard for you to do. Only Rose Kingdom can do it.”

“T-then you can help me! Please, I’ll pay whatever! Just do it!”

Harrelson grabs Collins sleeve, but he yanks it from his hand. He then readjusts his cuff and informs him off the terrible news.

“Do you understand just how expensive that would be? No, I suppose you wouldn’t. Either way, as Rose Kingdom is planning to expand within the next year, we haven’t the money to spare to aid you in what would ultimately gain us little. Sure, the people who depend on your product would be at a loss, but they would survive. It’s honestly not much of a loss for us.”

After Collins's harsh words, Nichole smirks while watching Harrelson’s expression turn ever more anguished, which angers him even more so.

“Anyways,” Collins continues while standing from his seat and buttoning his suit jacket, “I figured I owed you an explanation since you and our company have such a history. We will no longer be buying from you anymore, which also means we cannot provide you slave labor either.”

Collins’s smile once again returns. “I hope you can find some else willing to do business with you,” he says in a genuine sounding voice. “I mean it.”

However, these ‘kind’ words are the straw that broke the camel's back. Harrelson is unable to see them as anything other than a condescending gibe masked as a considerate farewell gesture, and to be fair, he’s not entirely wrong.

His face turns red with anger as he curls his fist. As Collins turns his back to walk away, Harrelson flips his desk out of his way and launches a punch at the back of the other's head before his attack squad can react.

“You can’t do this to me!”

However, Collins swings around, extending his hand, and catches the fist before it can land. The impact between fist and palm creates a loud bang accompanied by a small shockwave, while the excess kinetic energy is transferred through their feat and into the floor, severely cracking it.

The sudden clash of two strong Awakened startles everyone in the room, however, what’s even more startling is the ease in which Collins caught the punch.

I thought he was just a kid with a knack for business!

Harrelson looks at the hand which has a vice grip on his fist, only to find a large, muscular arm with red, charred skin that looks like it survived a third degree burn. His eyes then continue towards the shoulder of this arm and then to the face.

What he sees is the large portion of Collins’s face, on the same side of his body as the arm, covered in the same ugly skin along with a single, bloodshot eye that looks as if it will pop out from its socket. It is not a pretty sight.

“What the fuck?!” Harrelson accidently exclaims, which forces Collins to realise that he has transformed, much to his surprise.

“Look what you made me do.”

!!

The voice which says these words is a deep growl more suited to a monster than a human being. With the situation having exploded, both sets of guards on each side begin to point their weapons at each other, ready to kill if necessary.

“As payment for making me transform, I think I’ll take your arm.”

Harrelson’s eyes widen with regret as he tries to pull his arm away, but finds that he can not. He continues to struggle as he feels this grotesque hand starting to squeeze harder on his fist.

“However, I said I wouldn’t fight. Stand down you guys.” Collins's voice suddenly returns to normal and the red skin which covered his right side has faded, leaving nothing more than the memory of it. He then releases Harrelson’s hand, who is very glad he does so.

With this, both sides lower their weapons, which disappoints Nichole greatly. However she doesn’t get a chance to voice this opinion as Collins concludes their business.

“I trust you will not have us shot on the way out of the city,” Collins tells him in a very suggestive tone, causing Harrelson to stare blankly at him in defeat.

Before they leave, Collins looks down at his arm and sees that his suit jacket sleeve has been ripped by his transformation.

“You ruined my suit,” he says as parting words.

Harrelson watches them from his window being escorted to their vehicle and them driving away from his estate. After a while of silence, and noticing that the SUV is out of sight, he feels his anger take over that he had been forced to swallow during the confrontation.

“FUCK! That cocky fucker! I’ll fucking kill him!”

He starts smashing the objects within his office to relieve his anger while his guards stand by, watching and flinching every time something is smashed. Eventually, after roughly ten minutes or so, with his office in shambles, he finally calms down.

The second the office becomes quiet again, Ms. Till makes an entrance as if she were waiting for him to cease his destructive behavior.

“Did they terminate the agreement?” she asks, having already speculated the reason behind the sudden visit.

To her question, Harrelson says nothing, which only serves to answer her question. Seeing him starting to grow furious just thinking about it, she decides to change the subject and asks him another question.

“Samuel, calm down. What is your next move?”

“Next move?!” he yells. “There is no next …” but he stops himself from finishing the sentence as saying that would be admitting his complete reliance on the Rose Corporation. Falling into deep thought, his mind drifts off into his own world as he starts racking his brain for solutions.

What can I do? I can’t look South! Everyone down there is already affiliated. And the North is off limits because of Sucker’s Road. There’s no way I can … the North?

He then suddenly remembers a certain Territory not far north of his own that contains numerous farms just waiting to be taken over.

And if I remember correctly, they just had a huge tragedy up there, so they might even welcome a takeover! Maybe it’s time I pay a visit while the gettin's good. I always thought they were an Empire allied territory but if such a tragedy can happen then I was clearly wrong.

A gleeful smile starts to form on his face as he starts envisioning himself ranking into loads of profit from the ‘untapped gold mine’ that is Arbhar.

And if they resist, those dumb farmer hicks won’t know what the fuck hit them. Ohhh, how did I not consider this before?

“Ms. Till, call for all committee members to come to my office immediately. I just had a brilliant idea.”