Fraid had to swallow hard everything he planned to say and stand still.
He gritted his teeth so hard it felt like they would transfix back and forth, but helplessness surrounded him. He easily found himself at a dead end.
He didn't doubt that this guy was going to kill him. He didn't even mind killing Sir Brandiel, a person of distinction and exalted status. How could he hesitate to kill him?
He could use his blood to sign himself a document that, while it would be false, no one could testify against it because the blood was there as a signature.
What else could he do?
As he looked at the 100 million on the floor, the girl behind him, and the dead people around him, he was forced to lower his head.
"...I'll sign it." He whispered loud enough for Louis to hear.
"Very well." He replied. "Then have it transcribed right away. I want it ready in 30 minutes in the name of Louis Carwine. In all that time, you can't leave the room."
Fraid gritted his teeth, turned around, and instructed a few people to transcribe on first-level parchment what he needed to do.
After that, he went back inside.
Nothing was spoken or said during all this time. A tense atmosphere seemed to be felt, though Louis couldn't sense it.
Only Jessy and Fraid could.
When 30 minutes had passed, someone ran into the room and handed the document to Fraid.
He pulled out a pen and held it between his fingers. His heart clenched as he read the entire contents.
'My work of years... 100 million...' Intense rage grew inside him.
This meant giving up everything. He would be selling his portion, but he could do nothing.
His life could not end today, even though he seemed to be slowly losing his mind.
He took a few breaths before taking courage and signing it. He also put his bloody handprint on it and handed the parchment to Louis.
After confirming it, Louis also signed his part and smiled at him.
"Good, Mr. Fraid." He stood up and held out his hand to him. "Thank you for closing the deal. I promise I won't attempt your life."
Fraid squeezed his hand and nodded.
"I hope my family won't get caught up in this either."
"Hahaha, enjoy your days with your family, Mr. Fraid. I'll take it from here on out."
Fraid shot him a reproachful look, before leaving. He felt that the House of Shadows would be finished before long.
A young man barely of age wanted to start running it... What was the point? They were going to fail.
As he reached the door, he stopped and looked back.
"Since you are now one of the owners, I must tell you that the other three have called for a meeting. At the factory, in 1 hour."
Then he left; he had something on his mind: this wasn't over yet.
When she saw him disappear, Jessy frowned.
"I thought you'd kill him, sir."
He shrugged. "You have to know how to stop, too, Miss Jessy. That guy won't stay quiet, but he'll come in handy later."
"Will he attack you again?"
"Probably."
"Doesn't it scare you?"
"I've known fear before..." He said, smiling. "It doesn't look like that."
Then he started walking to the door.
"The flies are starting to get close, Miss Jessy. Let's talk somewhere else."
They both went outside, for the corpses were beginning to attract the attention of all sorts of "flies."
When they were outside, Louis stopped and looked back at her.
"Would you like to work for me, Miss Jessy? I've been short of people lately."
"Huh? Work for you?" she looked up at him with her eyes sparkling. "What could I work for you on? I'm a good spy!"
She lifted her chest to proudly show off the profession she had achieved through hard work and self-learning.
"Hehe. Let's see..." He put a hand to his chin to think first. "You can be my assistant for now. Since you have a lot of knowledge of this area of the City, I will surely need you. I would also like you to clean my house. I have a big house, and it gets dirty very quickly, you know."
Her face suddenly darkened. She wasn't sad; she felt that being someone's assistant was difficult.
When she worked as a spy, she had tried it a few times, and they had become her mistakes during her journey as a spy. She had failed those missions precisely because she couldn't fulfill that role well.
Still, she encouraged herself.
"I'll try my best to do it, sir. I can clean your house too, I'm good at it."
"Haha, fine. Then you can call me Louis."
"Okay, Lord Louis. But..." She paused momentarily before speaking and pulled out all the money he had given her. "What do I do with this? It's a lot."
"It's yours. You give his share to Mr. Gon and present him with my apologies for what happened. Then you can set up your business as you wanted, or just wait patiently for me. You'll have to help me with many things before long."
She nodded softly. "I understand, Lord Louis."
Louis then started walking. "Come on, take me to that place they call the factory. We'll meet up with those guys."
She quickly caught up and looked at him. "You intend to meet with them? They're the leaders...I'm afraid they'll be upset with this sudden change you just forced."
"Well, now that I'm in command alongside them, I must get to know them. We'll have a strange friendship, but eventually they'll get used to it." He smiled a cold smile.
'Or I'll just force them to get used to it.' He thought, looking at his System.
There was the reward from one of his last missions upgraded by 10.
250 System coins and 25 Stat Points.
He also looked at his status window, as he had leveled up earlier.
[Louis Lockward's Status Window]
| Race: Human son of God [Level 12]
| Class: God of Money [SSS]
| Craft: Armamentalist [First Sequence: Armsman Novice, Rank E]
-
[Stats]
HP: 720/720.
Mana: 140/140.
| Strength: 68.
| Vitality: 36.
| Agility: 36.
| Intelligence: 41.
| Perception (Innate): 111.
[26 Stats Point Available]
Considering that he had also raised a level in his skill, which gave him a point to add freely, his 26 points were well deserved.
This gave him the confidence to confront those leaders, although, following their course of action, they would most likely do nothing at this point, so he was more than confident.