Chapter 20
“No! You can’t!”
Zhang Ye instantly pulled onto me.
“Are… Are you planning to kill them all? Don’t do it! You don’t have to do that sort of thing for such a small restaurant like mine!”
“Is that so? But if I don’t do so, they will continue to hara.s.s your entire street, you know.”
“But killing is wrong! Even if they’re the bad guys…”
“……”
I stared at him for a long while, and helplessly sighed.
“Alright, alright~ Since you insist, then I will forget it. But that only applies if they don’t offend me. If they were to come to me themselves, then I will simply act out of ‘self-defense.’
I stepped out of the door, and looked at the situation of the entire street.
Earlier, I did not really pay attention to it, as I simply looked at the styles of the buildings. But, I did not expect that, when I did a thorough scan of the surroundings, there were indeed not a single human figure pa.s.sing by.
There were stores which had already placed signboards on their doors, indicating that they had already moved out. And there were also shops like Zhang Ye’s restaurant that were still holding on.
“It’s not a good idea for this to continue like this either. Once you guys make a complete loss, you people won’t be able to continue to run your shops either. Oh, right, I have to pay you for the food.”
After saying that, I threw a silver coin, which had its markings completely erased, over to him.
When he caught it, he stared at it for a long while. And then, he rubbed his eyes and looked at it again.
“This… Dear guest, what you just gave…”
“It’s not a problem. Keep it. It’s not really that big of a sum.”
“Thank… Thank you very much! Otherwise, I might not have enough money to buy fresh buns… Wuu…”
After saying that, that guy actually started crying.
Tears began to pour out of his eyes, and he kept using his clothes to wipe off the tears.
Oh my G.o.d, don’t you have towels or tissues?
“Hey, hey. Why is a man like you crying for? Geez. Seeing you like this, I have no choice but to help you, don’t I? Let’s just freeze those Black Wolf Tribe or whatever people into ice statues in a single breath.”
“No!”
He suddenly stopped crying.
“Killing is wrong! No matter how much we’re suffering, as humans, we still have a line that we will never cross.”
“In times like this, you’re actually rather serious, huh. Geez. Aren’t you increasing the difficulty level here? It’s been raised from ‘easy’ to ‘normal’ in an instant.”
I pondered for a moment.
“Why don’t I give all of these shops a gold coin each? Then you people will be able to slowly pay their fees?”
“No! Definitely not! We will definitely not accept money from others so casually!”
“This doesn’t work, that doesn’t work. And not even a single hint to this quest. This must be set at the ‘hard’ difficulty, right?”
I pondered for another moment, and then, clapped my hands.
“Let’s go! Purewhite!”
I suddenly shouted.
“What is it, master?”
Purewhite who had been watching the steaming baskets instantly ran over when I called her.
“I decided to use some under-handed means.”
“?”
Looking at Purewhite’s and Zhang Ye’s skeptical expressions, I shook my head.
“In any case, I decided to visit their base.”
Although I said that I was going to their base… it was actually just half a minute walk from the right of the restaurant.
Compared to the regular single-floored shops along the streets, the Black Wolf Tribe’s base was actually a three-floored building, and it was even completely made out of wood.
It will definitely be amazing if it’s set ablaze… No, wait. I’m here to use underhanded means… No, that’s not right either. I’m here to negotiate.
Only Purewhite and I were present. I don’t wish to pull Zhang Ye into this, after all. Even though I’m specialized in battle, I’m not specialized in protecting others. It won’t be good if a problem occurs.
But… When I saw those two level 6 minions outside, I had no idea how to comment at all.
But, I guess that’s understandable. After all, the king of the kingdom who framed me was only level 15. This was already considered quite good for mere minions.
“May I ask, is this the Black Wolf Tribe?”
“Hah? This is the Black Wolf Estate Development Limited Company! Who the h.e.l.l are you!?”
There’s a need for them to raise their mannerism standards, hey. How can they welcome customers like this?
But, when I heard them say that this was a limited company, I silently opened my terminal.
Strange… There’s not a single otherworlder nearby, but the term ‘Limited Company’, no matter how I look at it, it’s something that came from our world.
……
Haah…
“Is that so. Then I will have to trouble you two to open the door.”
“Who do you…”
Before they could even finish, I instantly used an elementary-grade wind magic spell【Air Pressure】to send them flying to the door behind them, crashing it open!
“Thank you, you two, for opening the door in our stead. Let’s go, Purewhite.”
“Un, master.”
After entering, I realized there were a bunch of people, dressed in what looked like western suits, looking at me.
When I took a closer look, they were actually between levels 7 to 20, and they had cla.s.ses like Warriors, Rogue, and etcetera.
They looked at the people on the ground, and then, they looked as us.
“Boss! It’s those two! It’s those two who stopped us from collecting protection fees.”
One of them suddenly leapt out, pointed at us, and said. It seemed to be the person who was at Zhang Ye’s restaurant earlier.
However, he currently has his helmet off, so I’m not able to recognize him.
Name?
Are you kidding me? Do you remember the names of all the NPCs in the games you play? Won’t you be tiring yourself to death if you do so?
And in the next second, everyone in the room pulled out their weapons and pointed them at me. And, to that, I’m simply waved my hand. Countless ice magic formations appeared in my surroundings, and 【Ninety-Nine Ice Arrows】 pointed at everyone in the room.
The b.a.s.t.a.r.d who shouted earlier immediately hid to the back when he saw those ice arrows. It seems like when the ice arrow pierced his thigh earlier, it left a pretty deep impression on him.
“An Onmyouji that can use Arcane spells and control a Shikigami at the same time. Impressive. May I know of your name?”
A man wearing a black armor walked out of the crowd. The shoulder plate of his black armor was decorated with a wolf’s head.
Xiao Zhe
LV 28 Heavenly Sword User
[Neutral] [Wise] [Wanderer] [Merchant] [Gang Leader] [Black Wolf Tribe Master] [Murderer]
“Heavenly Sword User? To think I would encounter someone with a cla.s.s that has such chinese characteristics.”
“Oh? You’re actually able to recognize my cla.s.s? Even though I don’t have my sword on me.”
“But a gang leader as a merchant, and you’re even a Heavenly Sword User. Your career match-up is rather interesting.”
“I agree with this point. But, I was simply given the role of a merchant by someone else, I’m nothing but a martial artist.”
“Alright, can we stop with all this refined and formal way of talking? I want to ask you this. Why the h.e.l.l is there a need to modernize this entire street? Don’t you know there’s actually a market for retro as well?”
“……”
He was stunned for a moment, and then, in a flash, he rushed right in front of me.
Purewhite instantly stood in front of me to block him, however, I tapped on her, and pulled her to the side.
“Don’t worry, this guy isn’t planning to attack me.”
Because earlier, his name evidently yellow, but, after I finished stating my question, it instantly turned green!
This only meant one thing…
He took the initiative to enter the friendly state…
Why!? Hey!
“Although I was sent by the upper echelons to turn this street into a commercial district, I have completely no idea how I should do it. So, I’m simply followed the guidelines given by the people at the top. However, it seems like the current problem has turned pretty severe, so, if you have an idea how I should go about doing this, please give me some pointers! I will be extremely grateful if you do so!”
He said all that in a single breath, and I took a long time to digest all that before I could react to it.
“Is that so…”
I nodded.
“That’s not a problem. I have played many business simulation games.”