"Ehem, is this some kind of proposal?"
"Hmm? Maybe, for a little bit of it."
"Haish, how could you say that with a feasty smug such as yours?"
"Hey, I'm being honest here."
She nervously grinned. "What kind of honesty?"
"That I don't want to lose an important person like you in my life."
I have lost so many things in life, an immeasurable amount of happiness was taken away from me like taking away candy from a toddler.
Back then, I didn't mind if I lost something, pretending that it was how it was supposed to be. Now, I won't let a single grain be taken away, out of my will.
"... Did I accidentally damage your brain?"
"I think not."
Eventually, I was dragged back to the operation room and she opened a few nerves and a couple of parts from my head. It took a while. Eventually, we got back to the same position, right in front of the counter with her having a conflicted expression under her facepalm.
Meteia might be one of the longest friend that I have, if I looked back in time.
I still remember a little bit of that embarrassment that I felt. A broken me, barely making it out alive within this Lowstreet, and the vision of this crazy woman, extending her hand as she plastered a gentle smile on her face.
A creepy smile, actually.
"Hey, I told you."
I got to see this freak flustered like a child, the pain was worth it.
It didn't even take a minute for her to regain her usual composure and demeanor.
"Neurosurgery was not my expertise, as much as I want to prove it."
"I told the truth most of the time." I lied. "Yet rarely do people believe me."
"If that was the case, then… My, my, that's a tad bit of a sudden confession if I properly recall your words."
"I literally just said that a couple of minutes ago."
"Don't you think that you're a little bit cheeky there?" said her, acting tough as she leaned forward with a playful pointing.
Ah, right, my wording on that particular part was a bit misleading, verily so.
Oh well, this is fun. I won't change my statement.
"Needless to say, if things go smoothly, I'll be visiting you again by Sunday, a day after the Hunter Gathering."
She chuckled in excitement. "Don't forget to wound yourself!"
"Nein!"
We waved at each other before I finally departed.
Huh, I imagined it to be rather annoying dealing with her again. Didn't know that I would end up in a favorable position.
With one thing checked off from the list, I decided to check on the big fat gift that I left behind near the territories of the Red Marauder and the Yugen Extra. As I still felt a bit iffy from the operation, I decided to take a nonchalant walk throughout the Lowstreet to get there.
"It's almost nine in the morning, they should have probably covered that ground after finding out that no Streetlight Talons are staying in that area. Though, I heavily doubt that the Red Marauder can take it fast enough as they were severely harassed by the Hatters yesterday."
Which meant that the Yugen Extra had a high likelihood of opening that 'gift',
All the more reason to visit it again.
District 67 had a little bit of history when it came to their veins, Lowstreet, Vascular, whatever you want to call them.
Thanks to the ignorance and beneficial apathy of the Sloth of the Seven Sins, they ended up having a rather unique and robust ecosystem of Syndicates under their roster.
Deals, treaties, and promises were made again and again without the interference of the Sloth, and because its subsidiaries were only second to their privilege, they kinda reformed the whole Lowstreet based on who held the most power.
Major Syndicates came and went, but there were always nothing more and less than four Syndicates under the Sloth within this District; these Syndicates were unofficially known to be the Big Clover.
For the current Big Clover, we have-
The Streetlight Talon at the northwest.
The Red Marauder at the southwest.
The Yugen Extra in the northeast.
The Sucrose Point in the southeast.
These big organizations' location formed a big four leaves clover formation within the entirety of District 67.
And at the center of it all, stood a large circle of infrastructural ground within the Lowstreet.
That was the former territory of an ancient Subsidiary Syndicate, now was glorified as the meeting point for the Hunter Gathering, held weekly at every saturday where every Merchants, Patchers, Workshops, and every representative of the four giant Syndicates show up to sheath their weapons as the event goes.
That ancient organization was once a powerful and feared Syndicate within this District, even when it had been felled, its influence was still abided by the new generation.
The very same organization left many important cultures and traditions upon its downfall.
One of them was the existence of a neutral third party power that nurtured the diplomacy of the four Subsidiary Syndicates. They came in the form of four individuals, referred to as the 'Mediators'.
Each area of the four-leaves clover had one. I'm one of the lucky people that was appointed as the Mediator of the northwest area of District 67, the place where the Streetlight Talon came to be.
Well, I bribed the other Mediators to get that area.
As long as the Mediators exist, the Hunter Gathering would remain as the great hurdles that prevent any four major Syndicates from acquiring excessive power. At the same time, these aforementioned Syndicates would abide by the treaty of the old.
"Hmm?"
Upon my trek, I stumbled upon a person with black suit and tie, donning their professional smile as they approached me. He had a small kite shield strapped on the back of his waist, and a short sword on his back.
"Sir Mediator, I'm so lucky to meet with you here!"
"May I help you with anything?"
He then deliberately explained about how he wants to hire me for protection regarding the business he has on the northeast of District 67, the territory of the Yugen Extra.
As I have the money equivalent of my wrecked apartment's years worth of rent, I humbly rejected the offer. Not to mention, the Yugen Extra was still speculating about the mysterious attacker that may or may not look like me, based on the report they got from the Headlamp Zero's victims.