Entering the store, they both had different reactions. Bruja found the store old and outdated, and Elliot found the store charming. Unlike all stores and houses these days, the store still followed old customs. The floor was wooden and creaked whenever feet reached there.
A few mannequins were arranged around the store, and there was a wooden counter with an old cash register. The ceiling fan turned slowly. Looking behind the counter, Bruja and Elliot saw a man. The man was wearing a button-down shirt and slacks. He appeared to be in his early thirties, 5.8 feet (1.77 m) tall, with short black hair and small eyes. Although he looked a bit overweight and wore shirts that went down to his wrist, you could still see that this was a man who had a body that had been sculpted years ago.
Elliot walked slowly around the store, looking at each piece of clothing. Bruja just stared bored at all these clothes that to her, at best, were old-fashioned and ugly. Bruja looked out the window, and across the street, she saw an amazing store, with amazing clothes and amazing people. Why the hell did Elliot have to be a strange person and come to this decadent store?!
Elliot walked up to the counter where the man was standing. The man looked him in the eye, and Elliot didn't look away. The scene was tense and uncomfortable, but for Bruja, it was just a competition of who would blink first.
"I came to buy clothes," Elliot said in a neutral tone and expressionless face.
"I know, you idiot. This is a clothing store, it's obvious what you came here to do." The man said.
Elliot clenched his eyes slightly but didn't comment on it. Bruja, on the other hand, found it hard to contain his laughter. Looking around, Elliot's face took on a sneering expression.
"Now I understand why this store is empty. I've been here for a while, but no one has come to take my measurements. How deplorable... tsk, tsk, tsk." Finishing with a click of his tongue, Elliot's tone was enough for the man to frown.
The man, with clear unwillingness, rose from his chair, picked up a tape measure, and walked over to Elliot. With an angry face, he showed a large mirror, and took it, and pointed it out, so Elliot walked over to him. Elliot unhurriedly walked over. His slow steps seemed like an eternity to the man, but he held on bravely.
The man began to take Elliot's body measurements, and he took advantage of this to look at what made him come to this store. Before returning to the past, 5 months after the death of his brother, Elliot remembers that even in another country, he saw on the local news about a big robbery that took place in town H. Nobody knew who this group was and how they managed all this without being caught. The only thing they knew was that all the members had a tattoo on their hands or wrist. The tattoo was of a two-headed serpent wrapped around a dagger. And this was exactly the figure that was in the window of this store. Elliot doesn't know if they were caught in the end, after all, 4 months after this robbery he was kidnapped.
Elliot had ambitious plans for the future. And to achieve all these plans, he would need capable and loyal people. Elliot knew that he would never be able to trust anyone again, not completely. Even though he had left that place, Elliot still felt like he was handcuffed in an underground prison somewhere in the world.
It had only been one day since Elliot had returned. Maybe at some point, Elliot would forget these traumatic moments. Maybe he could laugh sincerely. But at the moment, Elliot feels that this is impossible and all he seeks is the security that nothing and no one will be able to reach him.
While still being measured, Elliot thought of measures and countermeasures for all the hypothetical situations his twisted mind could create. Elliot was an impulsive person by nature, and having to think so hard about every move he would make was a major headache for him. But he knew that life is not a game, and it is not because he was reincarnated once that this will always be the case.
Elliot looked at the semi-transparent screen, his status now had an experience bar, but it didn't indicate how he would gain said experience. Would it be like in games, and he would have to kill? Elliot already had some targets in mind to test this theory.
The first person would be the one who stabbed him in the back. If it wasn't for running everywhere and doing so many things since his return, Elliot would have already killed every person who ever dared to harm him in this town. Looking to the side, he saw Bruja playing with brooches while trying to find something interesting in this old store. Elliot gave a slight smile and decided to add some targets to his list. Someone like a doctor who promised to help a teenage girl who had a sick little brother... provided that the teenage girl paid with her body.
Elliot's eyes went wild for a moment, and his whole body posture changed. Just thinking about such things made him go into battle mode, and the man who was taking his measurements noticed this and with a jump quickly moved away from Elliot. Realizing that his emotions were struggling to get out, Elliot thought of a way to fix his mistake.
"I apologize for my friend's mistake. He was a fighter until recently, and when he gets lost in thought, he still has a habit of getting into that battle mode." Bruja was quicker and tenaciously corrected Elliot's garfe.
The man still had a suspicious look on his face, but still approached Elliot cautiously. Elliot, seeing such a scene. The man was brazen enough to act like someone helpless. Elliot saw him almost stab him to death with a pocket knife at that moment. The man only changed his mind and jumped away, as he remembered that Bruja was also here, and Elliot had a gun at his waist. Elliot would not be dumb enough to leave unarmed.
As he thought, Elliot reviewed what happened when he lost control of himself for a moment. The man's body went rigid, and his hand instinctively went to his pants pocket. But he stopped suddenly when he saw the object at Elliot's waist and saw that his hand barely left the area where he could draw his gun quickly. This man's quick decision-making could not be perfected by mere months of combat with his life at stake.
This was something he learned after countless times with his life in the hands of death, and yet he stubbornly clung to life. He was a good warrior, but he was not who Elliot was looking for. He was not the boss of this place. He might be a royal knight, but he was not the king.
And Elliot was a damn king! He would not stoop down and handle business with a pawn.
'Haa... I have to rest quickly. I feel like if I spend a few more hours awake, all my self-control will be gone, and the next thing I know, I've blown up this whole damn city!'
After finishing the measurements, the man went back to the counter and wrote everything down in a notebook. He was going to start writing down the prices, but looking at Elliot's beat-up clothes, he decided to first find out what he would buy.
"I have all your measurements. What clothes do you want?" The man asked in a bored tone.
"Suits. Complete sets. At least ten of them. And you don't have to ask the price." Elliot was growing increasingly impatient.
"And the lady, will she also need to take measurements?" The man asked with a suggestive tone, causing Bruja who had remained quiet, to twitch her nose in disgust.
That was the last line for Elliot. He drew his gun at record speed and already placed it against the man's head, and cocked it at the same instant. The man was shocked at how things had developed, and Bruja was already preparing for a fight, but then she reasoned and saw that Elliot had taken such extreme measures without real cause.
"Say that again, you fucking dog. Say it. My fingers are itching to redecorate these decaying walls with your brain. If you have balls of steel, ask to touch her body again. GO ON, SPEAK!" Elliot's last sentence came out in an angry roar.
"Elli? What's with this extreme reaction? Calm down, don't do anything you might regret!" Bruja said quickly.
"You can be sure, Bruja. I wouldn't regret it. I acted like a gentleman since I entered this place, and this human trash didn't take his eyes off your breasts and legs from the first moment. I dismissed it, after all, you didn't seem bothered. But then he started acting like a king when clearly he is a mere pawn. And now he tries to throw himself at you? If I didn't want to talk to his boss, I would have impaled him in front of this store by now!" Elliot's tone was vicious, although the expression on his face was neutral.
"B-b-b-boss? What boss? I own this place. Sir, please calm down! We can negotiate anything." The man said.
Seeing this poor act, Elliot felt what little control he had over his outburst of violence fade away. Elliot took a deep breath and removed the gun from the man's head. The man seeing this thought he had convinced Elliot, and Bruja just slapped his hand on his forehead.
"What have you done, you idiot?" She muttered.
Bang!
Elliot shot in one direction. From behind the wall, beams of light came out of the hole made by the bullet. Elliot calmly observed his surroundings before entering and after entering. He would not enter a place where his life was at risk. On this particular wall, marks of objects being dragged were lightly marked next to the wall, and the coloring of the wallpaper at the edges was more worn, showing that it was actually a doorway and not a wall.
*Ding!
Detected abnormality in the host's psyche!
With each passing second, Elliot felt new things and had new memories and new traumas. Regrets about decisions he could have made, about actions he could have been calmer or more understanding about, people he could have helped or gotten rid of.
Elliot's mind was a mess, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't organize it all. Taking a few deep breaths, Elliot felt the air thinner, it was hard to breathe, as if someone was preventing his lungs from replenishing with air.
"I'm not an idiot, you pig. Bring your boss here, right now. It will be worse if I go after him." Elliot didn't lose sight of his goal, but his vision seemed to be blurring further.
*Ding!
An abnormal state in the host's emotions were detected!
Maybe he should kill this man? That wouldn't be enough. He should destroy this store. Yes, he should do that. And then he would torture this worthless man for daring to try to force himself on Bruja.
"Maybe I should bury him, with just his head sticking out. Then I would cover his head with honey, and go after the idiot naturalists who raise animals and get two cows and two oxen. Their rough tongues would lick the honey off this pig's head until there was no more skin on its face. Yes... that's a good solution." Elliot walked slowly through the store while one hand still pointed the gun at the man who was in a cold sweat at Elliot's words.
The only sound was the sound of Elliot's cane making contact with the wooden floor. Bruja awoke from her stupor. She and Mk had made a fatal mistake, and she only noticed it now. In this city, it was not unusual that you had to become an assassin to survive. Bruja and everyone else here knew that. But she forgot that Elliot never did that. Elliot was one of the few people who were broken inside but kept a certain innocence and purity inside.
Looking at Elliot now, she noticed that he had lost that. Maybe killing that human trash was worse for him than Bruja initially judged. She now felt terrible for not having at least tried to ask him how he felt. Bruja approached Elliot, and before he knew it, she hugged him from behind.
Bruja felt Elliot's body tense up as if he had been ambushed by an enemy. He squirmed softly in Bruja's embrace, but before Elliot could verbalize his disagreement with this embrace, Bruja's soft voice sounded in his ear, almost like a whisper.
"It's okay Elli. I'm here with you." Bruja said.
All the tension in Elliot's body vanished, as if by magic. Elliot's lost, psychotic eyes found focus, and he knew he had lost himself for a moment. Even though he had regained his senses, Elliot didn't leave Bruja's embrace. It was comfortable to be like that, and he didn't want to lose the comfort he found.
*Ding!
A new passive ability unlocked!
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