The next day, Ren calmly walked out to the park.
He sat on a bench in the park, checking the stock market on his phone, wanting to see if he could find a certain future famous company to invest in.
While he was reading, a man wearing a ragged, torn, and dirty suit sat next to Ren.
Ren nodded to the eldest and continued reading from him.
-youngster.
" Yes?
- Can you show me that?
Ren didn't see it as bad, he just showed it to him.
The old man went through the bag and took a newspaper out of his jacket, I looked at the accounts for a while.
- Do you want to make a bet with me young man?
"Um, let's see what it is.
- It's simple if I guess a company that will go up, you will give me a coin.
ren as he was bored, he agreed.
The old man looked at the shares, he pointed out to Ren a company that was in the red.
Ren for playing bought some shares there, and a few moments later, their values rose and began to turn green.
Ren was quite surprised, they continued to grow.
a few moments later the old man said.
- sell it all.
Ren hesitated for a moment, but he did so quickly.
he had earned more than 500 coins from a small company, he looked at the old man again.
"You are wise, old man.
- and your intelligent boy, I rarely find someone who plays with the bag like that, the few I saw usually refuse, those who took my challenge as a joke and agreed, once they saw that I was right, they got more excited at that moment.
- but when I told them to stop they ignored me and kicked me while they were leaving, after a while they were heard screaming while they were looking for me, and none of them gave me anything.
"Are you an accountant?
- and also a young economist.
"And if he knows so much, why does he look like this?
- well, if you can listen to this old man's story, I can tell you like the advice of an old man.
- when I was young, I studied economics and then accounting, I studied everything that the universities could offer me and that's how I ended up at 30 years old, after a while, since work was scarce at that time, I was lucky and I was able to work for a Duke, I started as an accountant in one of his smaller companies, and so after a while, I was able to meet a wonderful woman who later became my dear wife.
- Over time, my great work caught the attention of the duke, and the duke commissioned me to get money in the bag.
- I found out that the duke was someone who did a lot of things in the dark, sometimes they ordered me to sell the shares of certain markets, even when their values were rising rapidly.
- but I still did it at the time, and hours later, those shares dropped completely to 0.
- were competencies of the duke's companies.
- I was working in the stock market for 8 years.
- When I turned 38, my daughter was born, I felt in the best of my life.
- I was quite happy, but a calculation error, in one of the securities in the stock market, almost made the Duke lose money, I didn't lose anything, but I didn't win either.
- The duke once found out, he fired me, I borrowed and took away everything I had saved in all that time, my wife died sick too and left me alone with my daughter.
- since then I don't have a job anymore, I had to come with my daughter here to the slums, to be able to see if I can find work as an accountant or something, but my black spot doesn't give me anything, that's why never trust yourself when you're comfortable, never you know if a mistake can cost you everything, especially if you are linked to people who are dedicated to evil.
"You're in luck, man.
Ren took out 10 coins from his pocket and placed them in the old man's hands.
-I can't accept this young man, it's his money.
"It is the payment for his advice, believe me, I will treasure it.
the man began to shed a couple of tears from his slightly wrinkled eyes.
"Old man, how about he help me with something?
- Do you want me to work for you?
"You could put it like this, I need to go through some accounts and see if there are any mistakes, I'll pay you.
- Sure.
" perfect.
Ren then got up and went to a library and asked for a private room.
Once inside, I check if there was a camera somewhere or something.
once ren checked everything and made sure 5 times that nothing was watching him.
The old man realized that this young man was about to teach him something secret, he prayed in his heart that he would not be killed afterward.
I show the account book to the old man.
Before the old man read the book, Ren left 5 coins on the table.
"Because of his silence.
the old man nodded and began to review the book.
Something Ren found in the guild was Duke Holland's ledger, he didn't know what he was doing there, but it was none of his business.
the old man checked the account book well, and once he finished he explained it to ren.
- The tax was 25% of the total of everything collected, but here it says that it only implies that only 15% of the original amount was entered, the rest says that it was used to invest in other things, wait a moment? , I recognize these numbers, this is from -
The old man looked at Ren and saw him making a sign with his index finger on his lips.
The old man knocked a couple of times and continued with his report.
- If what he says here is true, almost all that money was directed towards the improvement of the upper-class areas, in addition to the fact that there was clear embezzlement that went to secret accounts can be seen, among other embezzlements of that lost 10%.
Ren nodded, and asked for the book back, the old man agreed and Ren left another 5 coins on the table.
"It is payment for his services.
the old man and ren walked out together a few minutes later.
once outside, ren addressed the lord again.
"If I see you outside the park tomorrow, please help me with the bag again, and I'll give you another 10 coins.
The old man accepted and said goodbye while he said his name.
- Nice to work with you young man, my name is Bálder.
"My name is Ren Artega, I'll see you later, Mr. Bálder.
-Please tell me only Balder, his surname seems noble.
" Well, I have the heart of someone from the village.
- Hahaha, I sure do.
The 2 went their separate ways.
Ren went back to his room and decided that he would give the headmistress a report when he got back, if someone tracked down his message it would be troublesome.
He had used him All id to get into the bag, as his personal account was frozen, he could only use that, luckily he could use that at least.
Ren then went back to his room, he had found a treasure in that office, more precisely what was behind a painting.
He found the reason why the duke doesn't close the dungeons.
Humans are beings that can allow mana into their bodies.
once the body accepts the mana, they become awakened.
but in case the body rejects the mana, it becomes a poison for normal people.
Duke Holland wanted the awakened from the slums to be called up to be trained to make his army.
and instead of hiring students from All, he creates his own in his territory.
He also says about all these D-rank dungeons being artificial, but there are no human-made dungeons, the dungeons are usually triggered randomly.
But they come up with someone forcing the creation of dungeons? Ren found it problematic and although he didn't want to, he had to investigate that too.
Ren would like to kill him, but he can't, the duke is a damn S rank, although not all nobles have a good rank, this guy has trained since he was young and managed to be strong.
That is why he has been a duke for so many years, something casual about the awakened ones is that mana gives them longevity, the more rank you have, the longer you are.
Ren had quite a few husk clones as janitors in the white fang guild, since they don't use mana, they could infiltrate without anyone bothering them.
Ren just sighed and got ready for tonight's outing.
Ren chose a dungeon from a different part this time, it shouldn't seem like he's following a pattern.
After his annoying adventure, ren went out and came back to that park again.
The girl was waiting for him, although it was cold in the dungeons, the girl had sandwiches in her clothes to keep him warm.
The girl once saw Ren, took the sandwiches out of her clothes and put them next to her as she sat looking up at the sky.
Ren secretly laughed as he sat down next to the girl.
" How are you girl?
- Well, thank you, sir.
" Really?
- Yes, last night we were finally able to eat something with my father.
"I'm glad, and where is your father?
- is working.
"Aren't you afraid that you'll go and meet someone?
- If that happens, I just hit them.
"Ho, and how do you know your fists won't be tickled?
- Do you want to try one?
" I don't see why not.
Placing her sandwich next to her, Ren stood up and placed her palm in front of her.
"hit here.
- he has!
the girl yelled as she punched ren.
Ren on the other hand once he took the hit, he didn't even move.
- Are you an awakened?
" I am.
the girl sat down and took her sandwich while she exclaimed
-mou, you would have said that from the beginning, I'm still too weak to fight with one.
Ren was secretly quite surprised, his hand was numb.
He felt the girl's brain activity.
" one moment.
Ren approached the girl.
The girl saw Ren suddenly approaching her and she got nervous.
- Is something wrong, sir?
" wait a minute.
Ren put her hand on her head as he tried to feel the strength inside her.
The girl felt the warm hand of the man, and strangely she felt calm.
Ren was still there, he realized that this girl was a D rank at least in mana.
she found an awakened one, but it seems that this girl's talent was fists.
Now looking at her better, although this girl is in dirty clothes, besides having all her hair dirty, she was pretty.
It's not like she awoke a fetish for girls or anything, just that she reminded him of a Loli that she had a similar appearance.
"How do you say your name, girl?
-My name is Kelly sir.
Exactly, ren found a purchasable character in the game.
It was a playable character who came in a package with another, the bad thing is that you had to buy it.
"Girl, what do you want most in life?
- be happy with my dad.
"Do you know how you get that?
little Kelly was confused by that, but she answered anyway.
- strength?
"I was going to say money, but it's also an answer.
Ren thought that she could have found a gem for Kiriko, in his mind he was already planning how she could move this talent.
"What do you think about me training you?
- Sir, I know that I said that I am an awakened one, but I did not say that you know how to fight.
"Do you want to bet with this man?
- What kind of bet?
Instead of answering, Ren got up, took a bag full of coins from her ring, and left it on the ground.
"If you manage to hit me in any part of the body, this bag of coins is yours.
- ok!
Kelly stood up quickly and got into position with her 2 fists.
Ren, on the other hand, put one hand in his pocket, the other out of his, as he settled into a relaxed position.
- You're making me very angry sir.
Kelly thought she was being underestimated just for being small, so she ran as fast as she could to punch that rude and snooty man in the face.
But when she was about to punch him in the face, her fist ended up connecting to the ground.
She heard a voice behind her speak to her.
"Did you say something?
Kelly pulled her fist out of the ground and tried to punch.
From afar a couple of passers-by saw how a girl desperately tried to hit a man who had a boring face, they were about to get in, but a look from Ren made them tremble and they ran away.
Luckily for Ren they did not hear the sounds produced by the fists of this little girl, Ren was actually examining what fighting style the girl uses, and now she found out that this is the totally aggressive type.
Although it takes a little while for the lapses of blows since ren sometimes deflected it to fall, Kelly had good footwork, if she were a normal All student, she would be with bruises all over her body, it hurts her opponent it is ren
After a world of beatings later, Kelly dropped to the ground exhausted.
Ren, on the other hand, grabbed the bag from the ground and led Kelly towards the noble area.
On the way, people looked with disgust at Kelly who was next to Ren while making insulting comments.
-Get that filth out of here.
- Keep that parasite away from this place.
- you'll have to clean up if you mess up a brat.
at some point, the teasing became continuous.
Kelly hid behind Ren, out of fear.
Ren on the other hand...
he couldn't care less about this teasing, in his previous life, he was under a lot of teasing for a while, but he learned that if you let them get to you, then they win.
He noticed the girl's frightened face, despite being strong enough to knock out many of these talkers, she was a child after all.
Ren sighed as he took out his phone and earphones, he reached down and wiped the girl's ears as he put the earphones on her and turned on some music.
he then grabbed her little hand, and took her with him still Kelly didn't know where.
Kelly could only see the mouths of the people moving as Ren carried her.
Now that she didn't hear any of that, she laughed at the faces of those people as she walked forward.
Ren, on the other hand, was still looking for a certain store that he saw in his first days here.
he saw a sign that said [beauty salon and spa for all]
In the window, there were also mannequins with clothes, so this place also serves to buy clothes.
When he found it he walked right over there.
Once inside, many workers looked at Kelly with disgust.
Only one lady looked professionally at Ren, not wincing, but Ren saw pity deep in the young worker's eyes as she looked at Kelly.
Ren approached that young lady, her name on her label said Adela, Ren took out the bag from a while ago and told her.
"Good night miss, bathe her and clean her, and give her new clothes, keep the change.
The young woman, feeling the coins, quickly bowed as she guided Ren to a waiting room, Ren before they take Kelly to be bathed, he asked for her cell phone back.
he threw away the already dirty headphones that he used and took out 2 new pairs.
Ren put on one of the pairs of headphones as he started reading a current fashion magazine while listening to music.
After who knows how long, in addition to 4 magazines that Ren had already read, Miss Adela appeared, hand in hand with a girl who did not look like before.
Kelly was eating a booky, she approached Ren as she offered him one of her own.
Ren was quite surprised, even though the game's character designers put a lot of thought into her, still, he didn't do justice to what he saw in this girl now.
Kelly had short blonde hair in a bob hairstyle, her light blue eyes looked cute and now with different clothes she made her look like a little angel
Before leaving, she bought a few more sets of clothes.
when they left the store with Miss Adela bowing as she teared up, she now had enough money to pay for her studies, she wanted to be a beauty stylist.
Ren who coincidentally fulfilled a dream, walked out hand in hand with Kelly, once she looked around, she realized that there were still many people.
She took out the other pair of headphones and was about to put them on Kelly's ears, but the girl with a sure look answered her.
- no longer needed.
Ren just shrugged as he got up again and walked towards the park with her.
When they sat on the bench, Ren casually handed over the ring that Naomi had given him, she had inside it all the clothes she bought and some money.
Kelly received the ring even with the question that was on her mind since she spoke with Adela.
-Why do you do this?
she was not stupid, she knew that Ren was at least a noble, Adela had told her that it is possible that Ren wants something with her, it is not strange that nobles have that kind of fetish for little girls.
She planned to return all of this and never return to this park if Ren gave a wrong answer.
Ren held his chin while she thought of an excuse that wouldn't sound weird.
"Let's just say I'm an All scout.
- My father told me about All, it's a school for the awakened, right?
" Exactly, I come from the same director for a scholarship, I want to train you because if you get a scholarship, you could go there with your father and start a new life.
Kelly did not believe that story, when she was fighting with ren, she realized that ren gave off a small smell of blood, monster meat is also sold in the market, and she felt the same aroma in ren, she thought that maybe he was the one who was closing those dungeons, but he didn't say anything, he just nodded as he said goodbye to ren, she'll find out what he's really doing here.
once kelly left, ren realized that the girl is suspicious, ren knew that living in this place, where you had to manage to live, creates a sharper intuition than in normal people, but it was not something problematic for ren, what he said is not a lie.
He can introduce the girl to the director, and she will be able to see her talent and take her under her wing.
Once that's done, I could take her to All, her talent level is great, once she's under Kiriko's care, I could strengthen her from there.
Ren gave himself a mental high-five.
If all goes well, he could get one more ally for the protagonist, and so he is stronger and can reach his goal more quickly, therefore, the goal of weakening Ren.