While walking down the streets, seemingly in the red-light district, I witnessed the city's nightlife, and it was as generic as one would expect; groups of intoxicated men entering brothels alongside women wearing skimpy clothing. I don't know why the red-light district would be close to the slums; it doesn't feel very hygienic, though given that it's still the sixteenth century, I doubt anyone in the world is worried about hygiene, except for me.
'I may be a little crazy, but I'm not disgusting; there is a big line between the two.' Mused Diddy while walking through the city, ignoring the various women as he searched for the whereabouts of the Sebas Visage.
Considering the person I was looking for was a leader of a mafia called the Elegant Mafia, I presumed the people part of the group would be, well, elegant. So with that mindset, I figured I wouldn't find anyone affiliated with the Elegant Mafia entering brothels, though I could be wrong, but then again, what's elegant about a brothel? Besides, none of the people I spotted wore anything remotely classy; they were all wearing old, cheap, ragged clothing, as one would expect from peasants, and the few that weren't were only wearing decent clothes.
Though I didn't completely give up on the red-light district, an organized illegal gang would need money to operate properly, and who is to say these brothels aren't a part of their business? I may happen to come across someone affiliated with the Elegant Mafia who came to collect payment; however, unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case, and for the next thirty or so minutes, I didn't spot anyone I would think would be apart of the Mafia.
Funnily enough, though, I happened to hear rumors about a fantastic prostitute at one of the brothels who was able to send men to heaven in mere seconds, and it didn't take a genius to figure out it must've been Freyja enjoying herself, surprised she hadn't sucked anyone dry yet.
'Annoying, but whatever; let's check a pub or bar. In movies, those places are always the best place to go when you're searching for information. Wonder if it works in real life too.' Pondered Diddy as he shook his head and approached the end of the red-light district.
I don't know what this district is called, but looking around, I noticed several taverns and inns; though now that I think about it, this may very well be the same district, though I couldn't really care. Observing my options carefully, after a few minutes, I finally decided on which tavern to enter, and unsurprisingly, it also had the most traffic.
"Greyson Tavern." Muttered Diddy as he stood before the entrance of the noisy building while looking up at the glowing sign before shrugging his arms and entering.
Just like one sees in movies, the instance I entered the tavern, though the music was still playing, everyone quieted down, and all eyes were focused on me, causing me to raise an eyebrow as I looked at everyone.
"W-What is y-your kind d-doing here!? D-Don't you k-know, t-this place only a-accepts humans!" Yelled a drunk man angrily as he stood up and slowly approached Diddy, his oversized stature causing him to tower over him.
Looking up at the large man, I merely smirked before blasting him, along with everyone else in the entire tavern; with my bloodlust, my actions caused the music to stop playing while the man standing before me instantly went pale and fell to the ground in fear while slightly trembling as he looked at me. Ignoring the man, I stepped over him and headed deeper into the tavern, passing by people sweating intensely while sitting at tables; when I arrived at the bar, everyone who was sitting there instantly stood up and distanced themselves from me.
Sitting on one of the stools, I looked at the trembling and sweating bartender, who seemed to be on the verge of fainting, before retracting my killing intent, causing the man to calm down somewhat, though he was still very terrified.
"Heh, what's going on? Isn't this supposed to be a place where you can enjoy yourself? Play the music." Questioned Diddy with a grin as he looked at the numerous people beside him before eyeing the band on stage, who were just as frighted as everyone else.
Shortly after I spoke, the band started playing music once more while everyone else began talking, though unlike before when people were yelling without restraint, they practically spoke in a whisper, though it didn't bother me; all I came here for was information.
"Bring me your best beer." Ordered Diddy while tapping his nails on the counter as the bartender quickly began working on prepping the drink.
The bartender must've been rather experienced because it wasn't even ten seconds after I requested a drink, and a bottle of beer was already placed before me, though I'll say it didn't smell that tasty at all.
"I-It's on the h-house." Said the bartender with a forced smile.
"Good, because I never had any intention to pay anyways." Remarked Diddy with a smirk as he grabbed the bottle and began chugging the beer, only for him to spit it out onto the bartender a moment later.
"Ugh, utterly disgusting! I don't know what I was expecting; alcohol in the 1500s wasn't going to taste good, not to mention I've never been a fan of beer." Muttered Diddy with a frown as he threw the cup at the wall, creating a small hole.
"I-I-I c-can g-get y-you a-another d-" Said the bartender while shaking in fear for his life as he looked at Diddy's beastly eyes, which only further frightened him.
"Heh, I don't want alcohol; what I want to know is, where can I find the location of the Elegant Mafia? I have some business with Sebas Visage." Stated Diddy with a smirk, though his words caused the entire tavern to quiet down again; even the band stopped playing.
"Ho, it seems like Sebas Visage is quite popular, so do anyone of you know where I can find him?" Asked Diddy as he turned around and eyed everyone, though everyone stayed silent and kept their heads down, avoiding eye contact, well, except for one person in the back.
"For you to spout Father's name like that, you must be new here; what's your name?" Said a man in the corner of the tavern as he stood up and approached Diddy.
Focusing on the man, who was wearing a trench coat, a black hat, black pants, black shoes, and smoking a cigarette, approaching me, I smirked, and without any warning, I appeared right before him and tightly clutched his neck as I lifted him into the air.
"My name? Hehe, only people I deem worthy get to know my name, and you're not one of them; take me to Sebas this instance, or I'll kill you along with everyone in this tavern." Declared Diddy with a feral grin as he choked the man, who was attempting to break free, yet all of his actions proved futile.
While holding the man by his neck, all of a sudden, he stopped moving; his arms and legs as they became soft while lifelessly dangling beside his body, causing me to raise an eyebrow since, while it may seem like I had killed him, I can still hear his heart powerfully beating. However, as I looked at the man again, I was surprised; while nothing about him had changed physically, I could tell he wasn't the same; the aura and demeanor drastically differed from before.
'Split personality? No, that couldn't be it; even if that were the case, the change wouldn't be this drastic; it's almost like, I'm holding someone completely different.' Mused Diddy with a frown as he released the man from his hold, causing him to fall to the ground while gasping for breath.
"So, what are you? No, I should be asking who are you?" Asked Diddy as he looked at the man who was regaining his bearings.
"Hehe, very perceptive; I'm surprised you managed to spot the difference; I think this is the first time I've ever been uncovered." Remarked the man lightly as he stood up and dusted his clothes off before eyeing Diddy.
"Well, you shouldn't be; not many things are able to conceal themselves from my senses." Said Diddy as he folded his arms while looking at him fix his clothes.
"You're quite rough, though, given your history of destroying two islands in the span of one week; it's nothing unexpected, Diddy D. Kong." Mentioned the man with a slight smile, his words causing Diddy to display a bloodthirsty smirk.
"Hehe, since you know who I am, let me take a guess; you're Sebas 'Grandfather' Visage?" Stated Diddy while looking at the man, who took off his hat and gave an elegant bow.
"I would say in the flesh, but I'm sure, as you can see, this isn't my true body, merely one of the few vessels I can inhabit. So then, shall we take this somewhere more private, a place where we can speak to our heart's content?" Said Sebas with an elegant smile, to which Diddy nodded in agreement.
Shortly after nodding my head, Sebas's aura suddenly disappeared from the man's body, only for the previous man's aura to reappear, and although I could sense slight fear, it wasn't as much as I expected.
"Follow me right this way, Kong; I shall take you to Father per his orders." Declared the man as he exited the tavern.
With a smirk, I followed behind the man and left the tavern as well; we continued walking down the street, leaving the red-light district as we seemingly headed into the market district, which was unsurprisingly empty, before suddenly making a sharp right down a dark, yet relatively clean alley, only stopping once we arrived at a set of stairs leading down to a dimly lit door.
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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, it also works this time; I've reset it again, https://discord.gg/FTH6ms5n
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 149: Elif & Comet) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 29: What Is a Hero?) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 44: Hina, The Black Cage's Defeat!) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]