Time flew by quickly, and the sky was slowly growing darker, it was already nearing the hour by which Nero had planned to leave the Paradise Palace. However, this was the time that the crowd only grew more active and clustered, but even this was still far from this place's peak activities.
Uncle Ian was currently bored, he now sat alone with a kiss mark on his cheek and a paper with a number in one hand, he already sent away the lady after playing for a while, but he still knew of his most essential duties.
Glancing to his right, he saw Avollo laughing away with two girls, with no care in the world, Uncle Ian smiled while muttering, "It's good, at least with this he can forget about those problems..."
As Uncle Ian said this, he made a weary look, not bothering to think about it. His eyes then wandered about the different tables, eyeing the various guests, soon, he noticed a few peculiar and suspicious-looking individuals.
"'Hmm? Those three? Aren't they from that bunch within DU? I wonder, what's brought them here?' Uncle Ian thought as he noticed the three men that wore coats and hats that covered most of their faces.
He pondered for a bit, but his eyes notice a few other characters, these were rough-looking individuals with tattoos and multiple piercings. Based on the stereotype, they seemed like delinquents due to their manner, but sadly, if anyone were to mistake them, they would undoubtedly be in for a big surprise.
As if one of them sensed something, he turned to look at Uncle Ian, but as Ian had quickly acted, turning his sights elsewhere, the person only raised an eyebrow in a confused manner before looking away.
Uncle Ian frowned, but he didn't look at them again, he glanced at Avollo and spoke, "Young Master, did you..."
"I know," Avollo, who had only now sent away the girls, said, lying back in a fulfilled manner. He had covered his head, but if one peered at him closely, they would notice that his eyes were staring through its cracks at the thug-like men.
"Bit Hunters... and such poorly disguised ones at that, they might even be amateurs. I don't know who they are here for, but they don't even realize that they are far too many big faces in this pub," Avollo said with a smirk.
Uncle Ian chuckled as he replied similarly, "Indeed so..."
When he said this, his eyes fixed on a few locations, picking out a few faces before he locked onto a butler-like middle-aged man with a curly mustache.
'Oh, a Balkras? I'd have never thought that even the Graceful Swan's EX Bodyguard would come here off duty, the world sure is a strange place...' Uncle Ian thought, before shifting his eyes from Screwgelman.
Avollo didn't know his thoughts, his mind was somewhere else as if he decided something he spoke, "I've made up mind, I am going to wait until Nero is finished with work, I think it's better to take him home from this mess, who knows what kind of shit is about to go down?"
Uncle Ian nodded and replied, "A wise choice, hmm... by the way, where does this Nero live?"
Avollo made a thoughtful expression before his face turned awkward as he spoke, "Eh? Ummmm... I... hahaha, you know, we only recently met, and I think I'd forgotten to ask."
"...." Uncle Ian was speechless; he made a strange look before he sighed and spoke, "I'm taking this down."
"..." Avollo remained silent, not saying anything as the two no longer conversed.
At the opposing side, Screwgelman had felt as if he was being watched. He narrowed his eyes and looked towards their direction, but there he saw someone that made his eyes widened, he exclaimed inwardly, 'What? That Mendez fellow, he's here on his time off? Or is it that he's out for those inexperienced Bit Hunters?'
Screwgelman contemplated as he shifted his eyes from Uncle Ian onto the thug-like group in silence. As he thought for a bit, he no longer paid attention to them and looked towards the gaming sector, noticing that Elly was smiling and chatting with her friends.
"It's great to see the young miss like this, so much different from that other school and even her younger years...' Screwgelman thought as he recalled the image of a lonely little girl, misunderstood by everyone else but her family.
As Screwgelman thought to himself, the thug-like individuals were speaking to a person who hid their features in a robe, but judging by their shape and tone; one could tell it was a young girl.
Naturally, this person was Kailyn, who had formed some simple disguise before entering the building. Her eyes were glaring at Elly in a ruthless ray.
The leader of this group of ruffians was none other than a man with colorful hair, obviously dyed to look like some rainbow. He had pierced ears, a hooked nose, full lips, and brown eyes. His muscular arms rippling through his sleeves shirt as he wore black jeans and steel boots.
He glanced at Kailyn and spoke, "You said you wanted us to deal with that girl?"
The man asked while gesturing towards Elly with his eyes, Kailyn nodded and spoke, "Yes, you can do anything you want, just don't kill her. Here's the first payment..."
When Kailyn spoke, she placed a card down on the table; it flashed with a digital number showing a unit in the tens of thousands.
The man didn't even glance at the money, and one of his lackeys picked it up and stored it away, he then took out a picture from his pocket and showed it to Kailyn before he spoke, "You said that she's also connected to this guy, right?"
When Kailyn saw the photo, she hesitated for a bit while she thought, 'This again... he keeps asking about Nero, what the hell is wrong with them?'
As Kailyn was silent for too long, the men started to show her dark looks; she trembled for a bit before she spoke in an extremely naive manner, "Y-yes, she's related to him, but that's because she's trying to ensnare him. He isn't into her; w-will you be bullying him?"
As the leader heard her words, his face changed from a serious look to a more joyful one, as he laughed and spoke, "Haha, of course not, I used to know this brat's father, we worked in the same line of business. I've searched for him for quite a long time now; you have no idea how happy it is for me to find him, you say this girl is trying to use her looks to ensnare him, hmph! We'll certainly teach her lesson; just make sure to come to that spot we told you about to give us the last payment, understood?"
Kailyn, who was typically smart, wasn't in the right state of mind. She only heard Nero wouldn't be hurt, and Elly would be taught a lesson, she heaved a sigh of relief as her face shone with delight when she spoke, "Y-yes, I most certainly will, thank you!"
After saying this, Kailyn hurriedly walked away, traveling to a distant corner as she wanted to watch as Elly is humiliated personally.
When Kailyn left, the smile on the man's face vanished, as his look was one of coldness. He stared at the photo and smirked when he muttered, "That fool Scarface, because he failed one mission, he doesn't want to make a follow-up. Ha, what could be so hard in taking a Digital Bit? Even more so for a rookie whom the Digital Union has yet to initiate, tsk, he doesn't deserve to be high in the rankings."
While the man mumbled to himself, one of the thugs around him spoke, "Boss Perm, what do we do with that chick?"
Perm showed a slightly playful expression as he spoke, "Hehe, what else? That foolish little girl was nothing more than dessert, so when we're done with this mission, we need good fresh women to celebrate with, hehe, doing what even Scarface couldn't, we'll be likely to rise to the top."
"Haha, the boss is right," The other Bit Hunters said as they laughed in agreement.
Perm's eyes shifted to eye with a bright ray as he licked his lips, and spoke, "Huhu, let the games begin..."
The other Bit Hunters had a strange look on their faces as they slowly began to make their way over to Elly, planning to use her to bring Nero out.
By this time, Nero, who was serving in the game sector, was preparing to wrap up his day's work, but at this time, he noticed that a little distance away from him, Elly and her friends were playing.
"Hmm, Elly? What's she doing here?" Nero thought as he looked over, but as he saw how she was much different from the usual, showing a side he never saw before, he found it a bit cute.
'So cute, heh, if she's always like this, she'd make a good wife. Mother was right; sometimes one can't judge a rose by its thorns...' Nero thought to himself, he decided to observe in silence a little longer than while working. He still had a bit of time before 6 PM. However, while doing this, he was unaware of the trouble heading their way.