บท 67: Conflict brewing between syndicates
Entering inside the district again after one hour, instantly told Vlad what happened after he killed the syndicate members. He could see people with black and blue clothes rooming around the district as if they were a wasp nest being attacked.
When Elisabeth saw them, she stopped a bit in her steps, but seeing the rest of the group moving forward calmly while being behind Vlad, she gripped her fists and got back to the group rhythm.
Vlad used his blood powers to hear better what happened inside the district and could hear at the periphery the yells of two men. He guessed from how heated their argument was that they were the leaders of the two syndicates he would target soon.
His focus was on the periphery, and at one point, when walking towards old Marcus place, the thought of giving them a visit ahead of time run in his mind. However, this thought was quickly pushed back since he didn't want to place the little kids in danger once he was away, even if Sofiya seemed promising in the way she handled herself in this district.
Picking his ears in the conflict direction, he could make sense of some words, but his ability was still in its initial stages. He heard them accusing one another at first, but when their tone calmed down a bit, he couldn't listen on their conversation.
With that said, he didn't even bother too much and continued walking towards Marcus's place.
Meanwhile, as Vlad was going forward to his destination, at the periphery of the district where 6 corpses were lying on the ground, a large group of people gathered staring with angry faces at their dead people. The ones in the front, a tall and lean middle-aged man with dark hair and savage burn scars on the left side of his face.
Next to him was a man long-limbed as a stork, with a wiry body and brown eyes, and having a scar around his neck while also missing his left eye.
Staring murderously at the tall, middle-aged man, the man with missing eye roared in anger. "Nellon, you bastard what is the meaning of this? Why are my guys dead in this manner? Don't tell me are you plotting something on me? Damn, you want to start a war in these cloudy times you retard?"
"What do you mean, you blind idiot. Paldot, you moron, look at those who are dead more clearly with that remaining eye of yours, there's clearly some of my guys dead too. Stop being a crying bitch and even think about starting any conflict with my Gargoyles. Since some days passed, some of my men reported losing the grunts for actually no reason. There's no sign of even attack on their body. Here look at this one. He doesn't have any marks of even being attacked.
Pointed Nellon, the syndicate head of Gargoyles, while trying to keep a calm approach in this situation that could quickly escalate into an all-out war between the syndicates.
Then even Paldot, who was fuming with anger, turned his attention on the dead guy that Nellon was before he ordered one of his guys to come to get that dead guy in his reach. His lackeys complied and brought the dead guy close to Paldot. After that, he began checking his body for any wounds and gritting his teeth, he said.
"I remember having some of the peasants in the market noticing some of my guys being dead in the same manner. But who's the bitch trying to fight us? Don't tell me, is that old man Aldenis? What do you think Nellon, is that old fox trying to rid both of us and take control of the district?"
"I doubt the old man even has such guts. You know that once one grows old they start backing out from doing crazy things, there must be someone else having a problem with us, but who? I don't think I offended any person of noteworthy, the peasants can't do shit against us, so who is the fucker killing our men?"
"Argh, so frustrating, as if we're picking a fight with a ghost? There's not even some leads to this killer, we're always late. Even when my guys first got killed in my zone, I was minutes away from there, yet I couldn't see any lead to the killer."
As Paldot said that, a man of a normal stature walked towards him and said in a normal tone. "Boss, the weapons on our guys seems to be there, the killer this time didn't even bother taking our guns."
"Heh, its seems this bitch is trying to insult me or something, like he doesn't even need my weapons."
"Kavos go increase the patrolling of our guys, and make them focus, no gambling, no drinking, no playing around. Understood. We can't let this unseen enemy chop as bits by bits without even responding back."
The man standing by Paldot's side, who looked to be his right hand, nodded his head and began ordering the syndicate members. In the same fashion, someone beside Nellon did the same to the black-clothed syndicate members gathered here.
In no time, the lackeys picked the dead guys and only left a weird blood pattern on the ground, as if someone pushed the blood in a circular manner instead of being messy, yet the two syndicate leaders didn't bother to take note of this scene, thinking that it was just a coincidence.
"Paldot we really need to find this guy killing our guys and disturbing our operations, or the nobles will really start sniffing harder and get in our businesses that they can't get into. You heard right, the old king is missing and the situation in the capital is getting worse with each day, we need to calm down our guys and also keep the rest of the peasants living here get some peace."
"That's what I was thinking you cunt. Sigh, we probably need to teach those bugs to not act almighty just because they got guns to enforce rules now that we got this ghost on our heads. Damn I have no evidence that the old man pulled the strings on us and killed our guys. Argh so frustrating. Nellon I feel like killing someone."
Nellon, the tall and lean middle-aged man, snorted, annoyed at the man missing his left eye while checking to see if his guys still had any guns. He noted that the guns were in good condition. He later turned to look at Paldot, saying to him.
"Just go to lady Felicia and ask for a hot chick or instead ask if she wants to fuck you, but I doubt. She's still hot even after she turned around 35 years old. Ahh, forget what I said. She might even kill you before you even taste her sweet fruits. I've heard some stories while I was doing some business in the Common District. She killed many of those idiots trying to force themselves on her. She even killed some minor nobles. She's no joke at all. The saying with her goes like this, "You can watch as much as you can, but never touch. Once you touch, you feel death grasp you."
Anyway, aside from this, I heard she has some problems in the common district with the merchants and nobles, pressuring her to abandon her monopoly on the prostitution domain or other entertainment businesses."
As Nellon said that, Paldot listened with attention and nodded his head, saying to him. "It would be best if that whore abandons her monopoly on the sex industry. We can easily create here a pink or red district that would pull the rich from the Noble District and the commoners. We really have some great beauties here, like that white-haired bitch Sofiya. She will sell so well to some important noble that I dare not imagine how much I would make.
"You got some ideas you bastard, let's hope that whore Felicia yields to the pressure and the opportunity to eat on her clients appears. However before that, I feel that we should put our idiots in place to not act like some idiots when some wealthy guys from the noble or common district appear here. We might think we're strong and mighty, but I know that we're just small fishes in a little puddle. We should meet all the three of us, even that old man Aldenis and clarify everything. How does a meeting sound to you in about two weeks' time, since I have a good business to handle for a prominent noble that goes around arms."
"Ohh, lucky fuck, to think that a noble took notice of a rat like you quite fascinating. Any business for me too?" said Paldot while staring at Nellon with his remaining eye in a sharp manner.
"I don't know man, you know how nobles are. They don't talk much, just order you around and if you don't comply you're dead to them."
"Hmm, right. That's why I'm even stuck here. My business got fucked by a count that wanted to invest and the business failed hard after some time. I had to abandon my family, sell everything under my name and run here to start over. Now look at me, I'm a fucking thug boss extorting those idiots to get myself some money."
"It's easy money you bastard, if those idiots can't even protect themselves, they are our cash cow. While us syndicates are the cash cows of the nobles, it's a pyramidal system. In the end we're just some criminals. What, do you have any remorse about your life you blind idiot?" asked Nellon wearing a sarcastic face while saying this to Paldot
"Fuck you Scarface, you got a problem with my missing eye? Do you want to get the rest of your face burned and you don't know how to get it done?"
"Haha, you're so touching blind fuck, maybe I should be the one to get your remaining eye and just kill you."
Like this, the two syndicate leaders continued arguing like some idiots about who would kill who, as if they already forgot what they talked about some minutes in the past. While this was happening, Vlad already reached old Marcus's alley, and after some more minutes of walking, they went inside.
The place was having the stable guys that seemed to never get tired of dining at old Marcus's place. Hearing someone enter made the server boy Ricardo get out from the kitchen to check on the newcomer, and when he saw Vlad, he began walking towards him while having a small notepad with a small piece of charcoal.
Noticing the addition to the group, especially about the fact that Elisabeth was also a beauty in her own rights. After seeing Vlad effortlessly move the tables and placing them in a gathered format, he asked them after they took their seats.
"Big brother, big sister, what should it be for today? Same as yesterday? Ohh, does this include the other big sister?" said Ricardo to Vlad and Sofiya while also making reference to Elisabeth, who was also seated beside Vlad.
Looking at Ricardo, Vlad nodded his head to the server boy, followed by Sofiya.
Going back to the kitchen, Ricardo said to old Marcus, who was moving around the kitchen as if he was doing a weird dance between stations. "Old man, Vlad came again to dine, he brought another beautiful big sister with him this time. She only said that she's called Elisabeth. Right, he and big sister Sofiya wants the same food as yesterday, the brats too."
"Isn't he bored of just dining at my place? Hey Ricardo don't think you're getting scottfree from this. To the station, we got some food to cook for our dear customers." said Marcus with an evil smile to Ricardo, which instantly made the serving boy mumble something with a dejected face.
Time passed, and the old man finished cooking together with Ricardo the food. Just as it was done cooking, Ricardo began doing the serving without much fuss while stealing some looks from Elisabeth before going quickly back to the kitchen.
After about half an hour, the kids were done eating with smiles on their faces. One could see that the taste of the old man cooking was something to never pass over. When Elisabeth, who had never entered or knew about old Marcus' place since coming to Sagletius, tasted the food, she was left surprised.
She wanted to go to old Marcus and ask about his recipe that maybe he could use when cooking for the little guys, but she stopped that thought of hers from going overboard.
The group remained for some more, to let the food digest in the restaurant, where Vlad keep quiet while having the rest talk with each other. Sofiya and Elisabeth, from what he listened on their conversation, had some similar tastes. Where one of the lines said by Sofiya got stuck in his head.
"Big sister, you really need to buy yourself some clothes. You can't walk around with those rags on you, it would be absurd. Almost like those clothes are men's clothes. You hear this right Vlad, you better give us some money to get Elisabeth some new clothes since she will stay with the little kids."
"Sigh, I will give you about 200.000 𝔅 to spend on Elisabeth's clothes. Meanwhile, I will take the brats for a walk and see if I can buy any vegetables, meats and so on."
Smiling when Vlad said that, she giggled a bit and said to Elisabeth, who still had a worried face when hearing that large sum of money. "I told you he would agree big sister. We'll have to spend some time by ourselves, until we pick the best there is in the bazaar."
Minutes passed, and Vlad paid the food he ordered, pestering the old man a bit in selling his wine with him, unsuccessfully.
The group walked in the bazaar direction, and before entering inside, he placed Aerius on Elisabeth's shoulder, saying to him in a serious tone.
"Little guy, if there's any syndicate bastard making any problem for the two of them, you run straight to me if they can't handle the problem."
The girls heard Vlad's serious tone as he said that to the little gryphon. Sofiya wanted to chuckle a bit at Vlad's worry, but after thinking of how unpredictable the syndicate guys were, she agreed, only saying to Aerius, looking surprised from Elisabeth's shoulder at Vlad and Sofiya.
"You heard him Aerius, we're in your care." said Sofiya to Aerius, who was excited for being with the by himself alone with the girls.
"Leave it to me beautiful girls, If things go wrong I will make sure Vlad's find it as fast as possible."
Vlad turned to look at the little kids around him and said to Robert and the rest of the kids while the ladies went for their shopping.
"Well little guys, it seems that the hard job is on us. We have to find some good place that sells ingredients. Any idea Fay, Alicia, you boys?"
When Fay heard Vlad ask this, she quickly remembered some places from the market that sold food ingredients. Turning her beautiful purple eyes bigger, she rushed to take Vlad's hand and tried to take him to where she remembered the ingredient sellers were.
As she took Vlad's hand and grabbed him in to follow her, just from the first step, she couldn't bulge Vlad.
Vlad just looked at the little girl that was just like a scared little cat, not too long, turning slowly to how a normal child should be. Seeing her try to take him along the market, he ruffled her jet-black hair and began walking behind her as she had his hand moving forward.
The rest of the kids, especially the orphans, guessed where Fay wanted to take Vlad and just followed along.
The sellers and people walking around the bazaar looked with curious faces at the tall young man being led by a little girl towards the spot the people selling food ingredients were located.
After some minutes of walking, Vlad could smell the scent and flavor of the spices and ingredients. All kinds of spices and ingredients assaulted his senses, from pepper, basil, garlic, oregano to cheeses, cured meats, eggs, green vegetables, or regular ones that he got to taste in this second life, such as potatoes or tomatoes.
Arriving in the this part unknown to Vlad belonging to the bazaar, he could see some seniors from grannies to old people selling diverse foods.
Fay, still holding his hand, guiding Vlad to the stall of an old lady, which instantly reacted when she saw Fay, and the other orphan kids.
"Little Fay, and you little guys I'm glad to see you doing so well now. This young man should be the fabled caretaker? Well, what would you want to buy from this old lady?"
The little guys respectfully greeted the old lady, especially little Fay, who was holding Vlad's hand.
Seeing the ingredients the old lady offered for sale, Vlad said to her. "Granny I would like 2 of those bags of potatoes of 10 kilograms, a large bag with onions, rice, flour, carrots, cabbage, and tomatoes. Ahem, do you also sell spices, pepper, salt, olive oil, those kind of things?"
"Wait, wait, young man, let me check if I have enough of what you're asking. I have the basic spices, you're in luck young man, or should I say I'm lucky to sell my vegetables. Thank you little Fay."
The little girl only giggled with a smile on her face that started to regain some weight saying to the old lady. "Granny, you've also helped me with what you could. Big brother said to always remember those that were kind to you, even if it is a little bit."
"I see, you better listen to this big brother of yours." said the old lady while smiling a bit at Fay.
Then she looked at Vlad and said to him, "I will need your help to packed your vegetables. Also, you can take from that corner two bags with potatoes."
Seeing where she pointed, she still had 8 bags of potatoes that she was selling, yet he wasn't greedy enough to buy more than he required.
After some minutes of sorting vegetables and arranging bags, Vlad gave Robert a sign with his eye to pick some of the easier bags.
Then he asked the old lady the price, which later, after some calculating, the old lady said in her old tone. "Well, young man this much should be about 20.000 𝔅."
Taking some banknotes from his dark trousers pockets, he paid the old lady without even trying to lower the price. He didn't feel in any moments of conversing with the old lady that she raised the amount he needed to pay.
Receiving the money, the old lady began staring at Vlad, taking the two bags of potatoes effortlessly in his hand. His arm didn't even tense up when picking the sacks of potatoes.
Later she saw Robert picking the easier stuff being helped by the other boys while the little girls picked up the spices.
"Take care old lady, let's hope seeing you next time in good health." said Vlad as he began walking out of the bazaar, followed by the little kids carrying all sorts of bags.
Meanwhile, in another direction of the market, inside a building, there were two young ladies trying clothes entering and exiting a changing cabin. One girl with sparkling white hair constantly taking clothes from shelves and giving to a brunette beauty to change her clothes.
The atmosphere inside this small clothing store was quite fascinating, especially for Aerius, who was resting on a chair overseeing both beauties.
As Elisabeth was getting out of the cabin wearing simple yet beautiful clothes, he thought in his small head.
'Boss, I'll forever be grateful for this opportunity. I will tell you everything I've saw so far, I'll even tell you my rating score for the two.'
However, outside of Aerius's head, Elisabeth, who got out wearing revealing clothes, asked Sofiya with some worry in her eyes.
"Sofiya, this type of clothing doesn't suit me at all. They even look expensive, isn't this a waste of Vlad's money?
Also, it feels really weird, I'm too old for those revealing clothes. Help me out with some simple clothing that doesn't reveal as much as this one."
Saying that she starred in a mirror at the short skirt, which placed focus on her legs, and an interesting cut shirt that revealed her stomach skin and placed more emphasis on her chest.
As she heard Elisabeth say that, Sofiya facepalmed herself lightly, agreeing on the fact that she shouldn't waste Vlad's money, especially when he was generous enough to give them a big sum of money. Yet when she heard Elisabeth saying that she was too old for those types of clothing, she shook her head, saying to her.
"Big sister, have some confidence in yourself, you're this beautiful. It would be a shame not to be confident in yourself.
You could even say that you've reborn from the ashes after being rescued by Vlad. You should try to start it a new, don't think too much about the bastard who abandoned you, especially if you're not bound to him morally, like if you had a kid with him.
"Sigh, you make it sound so easy Sofiya, as if you've got years of experience in relations. Also I don't know if I should be glad or sad about not having a child."
Then Sofiya gave Elisabeth some simple clothes to try. Then she heard Elisabeth say something surprising to her.
"Right Sofiya, I'm curious. What is your relation with Vlad, since I've seen you quiet close, or so it seems."
"What relation do I have with him, I really wonder also about that. For now I don't know to tell you for certain. I feel that he's a mysterious guy that has many secrets on him, he can be a bit annoying at times, but just from seeing him in those couple of days I can tell you that he's someone worth trusting."
When she ended saying that, a tickling feeling ran behind her back, and in response, she turned quickly only to see the little gryphon give a mysterious smile at her for no reason until she thought in her head.
'Don't tell me this little guy is capable enough of listening to our conversation. Did I said something embarrassing? Ahh, fortunately no.'
"Little Aerius you better keep secret what we talked here. If you don't, we'll get angry at you, and you'll have no one to give you treats without Vlad noticing."
'Damn, she's quick with her head. Why did I have to smile like some inexperienced idiot at them?'
"Don't worry beautiful Sophia, my mouth will be as sealed as a rock." said Aerius with some awkwardness in his tone while staring at Sophia's emerald green eyes.
Sophia still gave Aerius a look before focusing back on Elisabeth. The girls looked for clothes for a while before finally placing so many clothes on the seller's stall that it left him wondering if they could afford it.
Looking at the girl with black hair that was wearing the clothes of his stores which made her far more beautiful compared to the rags she came inside. She was wearing a long skirt with a slight cut around her right leg, showing off her slender olive-tanned skin. Her upper body was wearing a simple white blouse that was fitting the lady perfectly on her body.
The seller applauded in his mind the transformation the girl that came inside wearing only rags could turn out so well.
Looking at Sofiya and Elisabeth, the seller then checked the clothes the girls placed on his stall and began calculating the prices.
After some minutes, he looked at the girls and only said, without any facial changes. "Well my ladies, I hope you didn't waste your time in my humble place and only looked for clothes. The price for all those clothes 100.000 𝔅."
Hearing that price, Sofiya only smiled at the seller before grabbing a small bag that she had tied around her black trousers. She then placed on the cloths merchant the sum of 100.000 𝔅 which made the seller break a bit of his facial expression.
Quickly grabbing the money, he began checking the money, and after inspecting the banknotes for any cheat, he gave the girls a big smile saying as welcoming as possible.
"My ladies, my humble place would always welcome you inside, here also take this card, which will offer you a 5% discount at your next buy in my place."
Sofiya grabbed the coupon and placed it in one of the pockets of her trousers, thanked the seller for the quick procedure, signaled for Aerius to get going. She shared the bags with Elisabeth as they began walking towards the bazaar exit.
As the girls began walking to the exit, they began drawing attention from most of the guys inside the bazaar whenever they passed past them. Elisabeth was very uncomfortable being stared at in such a manner by the guys, but Sofiya winked at her, saying to her.
"Be confident big sister, you're probably the most beautiful girl inside this place right now."
"I don't know Sofiya, walking around wearing these clothes and those new shoes it's really a weird feeling. I also worry that those gang members will get attracted like some flies by us passing. I just can't get in that kind of situation again."
"Don't worry bit sister, we're getting closer to the exit, Vlad is supposed to wait for us there." After some more walking, while still being stared at intensely, especially Elisabeth by the guys in the market, they began to see the back of a tall person with jet-black hair tied loosely on his back while wearing black trousers and a white shirt, carrying in his right hand two large bags of potatoes and in the left arm a large bag with flour.
Following along were the little guys also helping out Vlad while carrying smaller and more weightless bags that contained different vegetables.
Seeing Vlad's tall and straight back Sofiya, who was also carrying quite the treasure trove, thought for a second.
'Did you really had to buy so much food from the market isn't that a lot of money? Ahhh, wait, I should even comment about his choice, I spent 100.000 𝔅 on Elisabeth clothes.'
Then very quickly, the two girls caught up with Vlad and the rest. Sensing their light steps and especially Sofiya's perfumed hair, without even looking at his back, taking Sofiya by surprise, he asked.
"What took you so long my lady? It is really so hard to buy some clothes? I still don't get it. However, since Is it for Elisabeth, I will let this time slide. But before that, tell me, how much did you spend?
Saying with a smile on her face, as if she hit a good deal with the clothes merchant, she said to Vlad, who continued walking with unhurried steps. "About 100.000 𝔅. Should I give you the money back?"
Vlad was still walking behind the little kids, and after some seconds, he responded to Sofiya in a dull manner. "Keep the rest, buy yourself some clothes, or maybe find some clothes for the little kids. In a sense, it's your money. Maybe split it with Elisabeth? Heh, I'll not bother myself, let's get home, we got a lot of things to do."
.....
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