Chapter 8: Jerome's Enterprise
Although everything felt like a dream, the dangerous firearm on his floor and the ring wrapped around his middle finger was a wake-up call for Reed to wear a t-shirt, which was not slightly tighter over his shoulders, and sweatpants before sneaking his feet into crocs.
Bath?
On a beautiful Sunday morning?
When Reed did not have a single soul other than him in his own life?
Thank you, no.
Although Reed was still unaccustomed to his new gun, he still pushed it through the elastic of his sweatpants. The fact that the barrel continued to poke at his hip as he walked was extremely uncomfortable but he made sure to check the safety on the thing twice.
*Click*
Locking the door to his small apartment, Reed walked down the wooden hallway and jogged down the stairs. Although he wasn't particularly rich and his financial state could be better, Reed still lived in the 'better' side of the neighborhood. At night, there are no solicitors. Even though he does hear the news of someone getting their purse snatched up, it was still better than the southern district of the city.
His eyes squinted slightly at the bright view of the street. The sun still hadn't reached its peak which prompted men and women like Reed to get their affairs in order before the cruel tortures of the noon. His apartment building was next to a few more buildings owned by the same landlord.
Although the old man is a warm person, the manager of the property is an absolute...
Deuce.
'The road still isn't finished,' Reed sighed as the dry, dusty walkway filled with stones and broken bricks stood out slightly.
It is a simple case of the realignment of the sewer pipes but as usual, once half the job is done, the road itself is left and if Reed isn't wrong, it would take months before the work to repair the road begins, and even if it does, the way the tar road is constructed always leaves much to be desired. In fact, the monsoon is the nemesis of weakly built roads around here.
But what could Reed do except evading tax? No, that's not right.
He always showed amount enough to bring his ITR to a nil.
Meanwhile, his life was lubricated by side-earned cash.
*Pip* *Pip*
A scooter moved over the road, continuously bumping due to the poor state of the street.
Not paying any attention to the poor soul, Reed turned to his right and began walking out of the street.
The entire block was basically a residential area and many private houses were built next door, too. There were a few shops that catered to groceries and other daily needs built within the house, usually owned by slightly older uncles and aunties, but Reed's goal wasn't a bag of potato chips.
So, he slowly made his way towards the one shop near his stay that actually supplied for the Warlock's needs.
*Dhrrrr*
*Vrrrr*
*Peeep*
Reed moved through various streets, the frequency of bikes and scooters around him slowly thinning out as the temperature rose.
'I'm not even sweating that much... amazing,' Reed's steps grew quicker. He did not have any means of transportation and he would be happy to choose a taxi service if the shop wasn't simply 20 minutes away.
By no means did he have great plans to save money or anything else. If he did, he wouldn't be such a mess.
Soon, Reed huffed slightly and stopped in front of a store with a large flex board fixed over the upper edge of the building.
*Jerome's Enterprise*
This is the state of most of the local stores. Named after themselves in case of recent ventures or named after their father and grandfather. The Jerome's Enterprise was built on the empty plot of the 'fast' street. In fact, the fast-food stalls saturating the street only grew prominent because of Jerome's Enterprise.
The entrance of the store was marked with various advertising materials. There was a life-size board of Jess Rhodes, a handsome blonde warlock, the brand ambassador of multiple 'energy' products. The glass entrance of the shop had its edges taped by another brand.
All in all, the place was saturated with brand advertisement which allowed other potential warlocks and similar customers to realize that any brand willing to invest marketing in the shop must be receiving a great amount of generated sales and if so, the seller is definitely an experienced one.
The age of customer satisfaction has only boomed to a greater level after the appearance of mystical horrors.
Pulling the door open, Reed's body relaxed slightly as the cold interior of the shop was much more pleasing. At first glance, the shop was divided by several counters. Most of these counters were as high as an average male's chest which made all the salesperson of the shop to remain on their feet in the presence of customers.
Reed blinked and gazed at the number of items displayed on the long glass shelves. Not only that, smaller items were displayed in the see-through crystal top of the counter.
The interior was much wider than the entrance and right from the entrance, one would find himself standing in front of the desk of the owner of the shop.
The middle-aged man chatting with a much wider individual from across the table with two bottles of soft drinks placed in front of them looked a little haggard. A thin monitor set on his desk alongside multiple QR code standees of various UPI payment applications placed in front of the monitor to make the payment system more efficient.
In fact, this was the case everywhere.
Out of many payment applications, only a few could make a solid stage for themselves due to intense marketing strategies and the tactics of reaching out to various local vendors voluntarily.
"Sigh, I really have my hands tied," the man on the opposite side of the counter, possibly the owner himself, sighed deeply. He looked at the plastic catalog.
"The incentives are certainly enticing but there's not much market for these gems, you know. Yeah, a few around here have fire-attributed reptiles but most of us own dogs, cats, or bulls. Even goats and horses are much more popular despite their feeding standards because of the adjacent forest."
"Jerome," the fat man in the suit slumped his shoulders slightly, "Believe me, you want these on your shelves right now. Has any of my product ever stayed on your shelves for more than 2 weeks?"
Jerome hesitated for a moment.
"Is... something going to happen?" Jerome inquired slightly while Reed casually walked to the youth standing behind the counter next to Jerome.
"Something might. But it's a good time to have a reptile contractual pet for these few days."
"Tch, fine."
"How much? 120 sacks?"
"Ha!" Jerome chuckled, "80. I still have pending cheques."
"About that... I can give you this much cut if you pay at delivery," the man raised three fingers while Jerome shook his head.
"No. I'll cut the cheque for the next week, as usual."
"Sure," the man stood up and left while Reed was still gazing towards the discussion.
"Bro?"
"Brooo?"
Reed saw a hand in front of his face and he instantly flinched.
Hurriedly looking towards the youth with slightly tensed shoulders, Reed smiled stiffly, "Sorry. This is my first time. Ah, I just wanted to purchase a tube of contract fluid."
"Sure," the youth nodded, "Which kind of beast are you planning to contract with?"
"A... cat," Reed replied. Stray dogs were hard to find given the changes in the perception of stray animals by humans but there was a troubling stray cat who would sneak into his humble abode every now and then.
"For a cat, you should really try the Contract Fluid released by Kerma. They are the best when it comes to Feline products and feeds. But it's... you know, a little expensive. The fluid is mixed with some form of mutated catnip. Gets the contract done without any trouble but it gets harder with the rise in ranks," the youth explained while Reed nodded.
'Kerma does have more name than any other brand when it comes to cats, tigers, lions, and stuff...' Reed thought carefully while making sure to glance around him every now and then. The earlier conversation had attracted him to the point where he lost focus of his surroundings and Reed didn't want it to happen again.
"How much?"
Reed inquired while taking out his cellphone and finding the price online.
"120," the youth smiled as he glanced towards Reed's cellphone.
'Heh, always looking a price on the net. The net loots people more nowadays and even 120 bucks will leave us with substantial profit. The business for the products of warlocks is simply unreal!'
"It's a little pricy," Reed mumbled. It was his dearest hope to one day, successfully negotiate for a price of his liking.
But as he gazed at the smiling face of the youth, his heart faltered.
'Nevermind... I'm not that guy. It's just 120... he can choke on all the money he wants,' Reed thought internally as he nodded.
What else could he do?
He didn't have enough practice to hold a regular conversation.
Only god knows how he got a girlfriend but even deep down, Reed knew that he had nothing on him which could have helped him hold onto Juli.
With his conversation abilities, he had no hope of lowering the price.
"Boss, Kerma contract fluid. No rank. 120?"
"Yeah," Jerome nodded without looking towards them and continued to browse something on his monitor.
"I'd like to pay online," Reed said while the youth nodded.
Sliding open the drawer of the crystal chamber of the counter, he picked a finger-sized tube filled with clear liquid and handed it to Reed.
"The QR code's on the desk," he pointed out the obvious and Reed quickly paid for the product. Before leaving, Reed did ask for a cloth bag since he didn't trust his pockets enough to save a crystal tube.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone