Murphy begins to strip out of the wreckage as he tries to find something. Then when he found the wreckage of his cupboard, or what was left of it he quickly went through its wreck to find something.
"They stole my safe too!" Murphy shouted.
Seeing Murphy and the hobo's current plight. Daniel wanted to help, especially now that he has the power to do so.
"Do you know where this Ardito Veneziale lives? I'll go talk to him a bit."
Murphy and the hobos look at Daniel like looking at a madman. They know how influential this local mafia is, even the police and local authorities didn't dare to touch him.
"Don't do anything…" Before Murphy's sentence ends, his hobo friend who is despairing about his lost saving money suddenly speaks.
"Downtown north! 25 street! A very big estate with a green roof at the end of 25 street!"
"Pete! What the hell are you doing!" Murphy immediately admonished his friend.
"Don't you dare lecture me, Murphy! That money was my savings for my wife's surgery fee! Even if it is just a vain hope, I'll still bet on it!" Pete retorted.
Hearing Pete's reason, Murphy didn't know how to respond as he could relate to Pete's plight a little bit.
"You don't need to worry about it, old man. I'll just pay a visit to this man and have a talk for a bit. Who knows, maybe he would see the reason and give all of your things back." Daniel said with a smile before turning back and about to walk off to Ardito's address. Someone holds his shoulder and he can't help but turn back to see who he is and it was Murphy who stopped him.
"Be very careful lad. Ardito might not be a large figure like those politicians in the cabinet, but he had enough sway over some of the politicians and authority to help him in most cases. As long as he didn't kill a person with a lot of witness and rock solid proof, he could almost get out of it scot-free." Murphy warned.
"I understand old man. Don't worry." Daniel said and walked off into the distance.
—
After Daniel went out for five minutes. Murphy, who is helping Pete recover his things, suddenly remembers something and immediately rushes to his recycling junk pile and immediately digs something up.
"What are you doing Murphy?" Another hobo friend of his asks in curiosity.
Murphy didn't say anything, he just brought a metal box out of the pile of recycled junk and then let out a smile.
"Good! It's still here!" Said, Murphy.
"What was that?" Pete asks while Murphy was checking the content inside.
"It's a souvenir from when I was still working… not being a hobo I mean. It's very important to me." Murphy replied.
Pete's eyes were also checking the content that Murphy checked one by one, and what he saw nearly made his heart stop.
All of it was the file, photos, and important papers including the bank statement and a lot of evidence that involved many big-name characters he usually saw on the TV and news.
If his memory serves him right. There was a police force commander who didn't give a shit about those big names and was determined to destroy the human trafficking business until he was hunted down by those influential figures before he could present all of his evidence and go into hiding.
But from what he knows, this police force commander should have hidden in a foreign country.
Also, Pete heard a rumor that the one who was actually getting the benefit of the human trafficking was none other than the Tessia Royal family and he also heard that there is a very generous reward from the royal family to whoever could tell them where this former police force commander is.
Pete thinks about it, even if Daniel could bring his money back, his wife still needs a lot more money than he had if she were to have a hope to survive.
"I'm sorry…" Pete uttered silently through his gritted teeth.
— Veneziale Estate —
Outside of the Veneziale estate, A mysterious man in an expensive-looking suit stood in front of a large black steel gate that is more than 4 meters high. There are two guards at the door who are looking at him with less-than-friendly intentions.
This man was of course Daniel who just bought the most expensive suit he could get his hands on in the luxury emporium of the people who have their income at the top of the pyramid. He does this to make himself look more respectable and convincing of the identity of the mage from the Curtained World.
"What the hell are you loitering around here? Get lost already!" One of the guards said in an offensive tone as he walked toward Daniel who was still raising his head looking at the black steel large door.
"I want to have a word with Mr. Veneziale. Go and tell him." Daniel said to the guard.
"Ahhh!? and Who the hell are you? Do you think this is a public park or something?" The guard ignores what Daniel said and continues intimidating him.
Another guard who seems to be older and calmer looks carefully at Daniel from top to bottom. A handcrafted blue suit from a famous brand in Paris, and pants were also from the same brand. Judging from the get-up of the stranger in front of him he was sure that this stranger should be anything but simple.
So he decides to stop his subordinate before this hot-head idiot begins the conflict and gets himself into trouble.
"Stop this at once and apologize to him!" The head guard said to his younger subordinate and walked to Daniel before bowing his head and using his hand to force his subordinate head to bow alongside him.
"I'm very sorry for this idiot's behavior sir. May I know who you are?" The head guard politely asks but his eyes grew sharp as if trying to catch on anything suspicious or a lie that was going to come out of Daniel.
"My name is not important to you. I'm here because it is a matter related to the Curtained World. If your boss has great influence as people say he will know what I mean." Daniel answered as he acted mysterious.
He doesn't know if the people from the curtained world would act like this or not. He really wants to ask Wrath herself how to act like one. Unfortunately, wrath didn't give him any means of contacting her, he had already checked the phone she gave him but the contact was empty.
So he can only imagine that people who are in power behind the scene and holding many secrets in hand would have thought of themselves as being superior to anyone outside of their community. Even if he can't bring himself to act like an arrogant asshole, acting mysterious like this should be enough to pass as the people from the Curtained world.
"The Curtained world?" The head guard repeated. He doesn't know what that is supposed to mean but his instinct tells him not to mess with the mysterious man in front of him and he better leave the judgment to his boss. This instinct of his saved his life more than once already so he chose to trust it rather than not.
"Could you please wait at the guest waiting room behind the guard post sir? I'll immediately report this matter to our boss." The head guard asked politely.
"After you…" Daniel gestures to the door and then says with a tone that was neither humble nor haughty.
The head guard led Daniel through the door beside the gate to a small but elegant guest room that was built near the guard post outside of the house for the guest who didn't make any appointment beforehand.
Daniel waits patiently inside a small guest room as he enjoys the high-grade tea and some cookies from a beautiful maid that the head guard had called to entertain him.
—
In the main building of the Veneziale estate. A young man in his twenties is drinking with his group of friends celebrating the day he finally came home from studying abroad.
Russo Veneziale just came back from his long study and today he got a job from his father, Ardito Veneziale to evacuate the hobos that are staying in his newly acquired property, the abandoned apartment.
His father didn't instruct him on how to do the job, he just said that he wanted the hobo out of his property as fast as possible. So he brought his friend to visit those hobos, planning to intimidate them a bit and bruising them up a little to hurry them to evacuate, but when they arrived, he found no one.
Since he didn't find the hobos because they went to work outside. With his personality, he didn't bother to wait for the hobos to come back. He decided to demolish the hobos' home with his friend, who would have thought that one of them would hoard a lot of money in their pitiful safe so he and his friend also take them back along with another small safe made of tempered steel.
The head guard quickly walked past the living room toward the meeting room at the back of the main building which drew attention from Russo to himself.
"Where are you going head guard? Dad was in the middle of an important meeting. If it's not too urgent you can tell me." Russo asks with a smile. He wanted to prove himself to his father that he could handle some of the gang business.
The head guard stops then turns toward Russo and politely refuses.
"I'm very sorry, young master, but I think this matter should be reported to the boss directly."
"Dad was in a very important business talk. Are you sure you can take it if what you are about to report is not important enough for him to deal with while he's in the middle of this kind of meeting?" Russo asks again as he tries to shake the head guard's confidence.
The head guard stopped and thought about it. He never heard about the term Curtained world before. He also didn't dare to overestimate himself as to know every term that is to know in this business but the word Curtained World he heard today was the first.
On the other hand, his instinct warned him to not mess with that mysterious man. That's why he wanted to report it to his boss and let him judge since his boss should know more secrets than him and might have heard about this "Curtained World" term.
"Young master, Have you ever heard of the term "The Curtained World"?" The head guard decided to ask the Young master in front of him since he is the heir of his boss. He should know something more than a lackey such as him.
"The Curtained World?" The young master repeated then confused. "What's that?"
"I'm not sure sir, but I'm afraid these terms should be a word only people with a lot of influence know. Since he said that "If Boss has a lot of influence as people say, Boss should know." " The head guard answered.
The young master tries to remember where he heard of this term. He thinks he heard it from somewhere long ago… Maybe from his dad? Then again, if he heard it but he didn't remember it, surely it wouldn't be that significant. Otherwise, he would surely remember it, like the terms, Kickback, Grease Money, Salty, or Gacha. Well, the last two were just his personal favorite pastime.
"I think I heard it from somewhere a long long time ago, but if I didn't remember it. It means that it's not significant enough for me to remember." The young master said with a little bit of narcissism and arrogance. All he thinks is that if he can't remember then, it's not significant enough for him to remember.
Hearing that, the head guard decided to play safe. Since the young master thinks he heard the terms somewhere before but can't recall it. This means that the mysterious man he met was not just bullshitting but there was actually something in the term Curtained World".
"Then I need to inquire about this from Boss. It's not good if we let him wait for long in case he was truly a VVIP as he presented himself to be." The head guard said and was about to head toward the meeting room but the young master's voice stopped him.
"Wait, You said that he might be the VVIP right? How many people did he bring?" The young master asks.
"He came alone, sir." Answer the head guard.
"Eddy, I don't think those VVIP people would have come to the house of the most influential mafia in the city alone without any escort. Or at least, I wouldn't do that. It would be too stupid to do something like that, don't you agree?"
The young master said with confidence before standing up from the sofa and then inquiring.
"Do you know his name?"
"No sir, He said that his name is not important and I didn't dare push for an answer." The head guard responded.
The young master let out a smile as if this is the answer he had expected all along.
"Eddy, Now I'm 80% sure that he's just bullshitting us. Harris, Max! Come with me. We'll beat up some scammer who got into my house." He called his two friends and walked out of the living room and called some of the men that are guarding the main building to come along with him.
Eddy, the head guard, is still hesitating whether to report this matter to his boss or not because what his young master said was plausible but then again. He decided to trust his instinct that had saved his life more than he cared to count and went toward the meeting room.
—
At the small guest room near the guard post. Daniel was patiently waiting while enjoying tea and cookies while watching some animal national geographic documentary.
At that moment, the door of the guest room was forcefully opened before three young men that looked to be in their early twenties walked in rudely without greeting or declaring their presence.
The three young men walk straight toward Daniel who still enjoys watching the documentary before one of them immediately launches at him and punches him in the face.
But instead of a fleshy feeling with a little impact from the cheekbone that impacts the young man's fist. It was the feeling of hitting the air but that air somehow stopped his fist and he can't move it further.
The thing that blocked him was not the object or anything he could understand but a blue energy-like shield that protected the face of the stranger in front of him.
"Is this how the most influential mafia in this city receive their guests?" Daniel said, then stood up and continued.
"Or are you thinking I'm just some average joe you think you could bully or take advantage of? Seems like I overestimate your people's knowledge and influence."
Seeing the scene out of his expectation, the young man immediately retreats to regroup with his two other friends who are panicking. One of them who seems to be the leader and has more control over his emotions immediately pulls out a gun and fires at Daniel.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kyaaaaaaa
The maid who was stationed in the guest room screamed as she turned her head the other way, not looking at her guest in fear of witnessing the bloody scene. The handgun in the hand of the leader of the young men repeatedly fired until all of its ammo was spent. But the mysterious man seems to not have any wounds or even a scratch on his clothes.
Daniel, who was just shot at, was panicking inside his mind, fortunately, his mind was within his mindscape while it possessed the quick spell card. In the mindscape, he could see the world outside at a much slower pace and he had plenty of time to adjust his state of mind before it could display fear or panic on his face.
[Fortunately, I've prepared before coming here. Otherwise, I might have already died.] Daniel thought as he was thinking back to when he actualized one of the rare cards he got from his previous endeavor, and now the object that was actualized from that card was sticking on his shirt in the form of a golden brooch.
Card: Atlantean Shield Generator
Picture: A small golden-bronze brooch that has an intricate design with a light blue glow from that design.
Rarity: Rare
Type: Artifact
Mana Cost: 4 Non Elemental mana
Description:
[Mitigate 2] to All damage dealt toward the player.
Flavor text: A solution for a short lifespan problem of any Grand Artificer on the battlefield.
[It seems that a bullet from a normal handgun that could kill an average human didn't deal more than 1 damage.] Daniel thought.
"Now it's my turn," Daniel said and opened his suit letting out countless metal scarabs then turned toward the maid who was looking at him in fear.
Daniel didn't say anything, he decided to control the scarabs cloud to push the three young men out of the guest room.
Boom!
The panoramic glasses of the guest room broke to pieces as the scarab pushed the three young men out in the open toward the lawn in front of the estate's main building.
"Ugh!/Grh.." The three young men groan as the pain from the impact and from the bleeding from glass pieces wracks their bodies.
Daniel slowly walked out of the broken room along with a group of thousands of metal scarabs that were circling around him, protecting their master.
Fear starts creeping out from the depths of their heart as their breath begins to feel more and more uncomfortable to breathe. Now, the terms Curtained World that were said by this mysterious stranger start to feel real and ominous to them.
At that moment, Daniel's mind that is still within his mindscape senses the attack intention coming his way. In that split second, He felt that he could use the quick spell card within the mindscape to counter that intention but he didn't.
Daniel looked in the direction where the attack came from and saw that a group of gangsters armed with rifles and submachine guns were coming his way from the main building.
Like a scene in the slow motion film, Daniel saw one of them aim their rifle at him and fire. He controlled the scarabs to block the bullet for him as he was not sure if a bullet the size of an assault rifle caliber could harm him or not.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four bullets were fired and four scarabs were destroyed.
[One bullet per scarab? Is the rifle bullet causing only 1 damage? Or is it the rule of the game that as long as there is no [Penetration] ability or anything that resembles it, the damage won't reach me or other creatures that are blocking the same attacker?] Daniel thought as he witnessed his scarab being destroyed.
[Let's test it.] Daniel then quickly uses one of the cards that could be used like the quick spell card.
Card: Blade Wall
Picture: A wall made out of hundreds of small glaive-like blades that could fly through the air.
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Artifact-Creature
Mana Cost: 2 Non Element mana
Description: [Blocker] [Flying] [Quick]
Power: 1 (2 Strengthen counter) >3
Toughness: 2 (2 Strengthen counter) >4
Flavor text: A fast yet reliable self-protection tool of Artificer.
In that split second two groups of hundreds of small glaive-like blades formed into two walls in one casting from the speck of white glowing light that was formed under Daniel's feet.
Since Daniel Grand Artificer's profession cards had become level 3. He could actualize one more artifact of the exact copy of the one he cast or summoned, and any artifact he actualized was also strengthened from the profession card as well.
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