"Yes, yes, indeed—"
Just as Cesar was closing his distance towards Melinda, she immediately put it to a halt as she raised her hand to stop him.
"Look, your threat isn't going to work anymore." Melinda spoke with a strong tone mixed in her voice, "The one above me discovered that I lost fifty thousand in the get-go after giving out the list of expenses for the month. She came from the branch itself and asked some questions. Here I am, being sent here as a punishment for my wrongdoings,"
Cesar frowned, "They didn't fire you yet?"
Melinda grumbled as she crossed her hands, "They understand my situation and were giving me a second chance to make it right. Now, I'm here to sell these products."
Cesar studied her face for a moment before interrogating her, "When did you come here? I couldn't see you a couple of days ago. Must be today, right?"
"No, I've been here the moment my boss heard that an academy brat like you has scammed me."
Melinda would sound so sincere if not for the fact that Cesar had already seen her lie once. With already having a history between them, it wasn't hard for Cesar to distinguish the truth from her untruths. Her actions failed even to strengthen her words as she appeared fidgety while avoiding eye contact with him.
Cesar chuckled, "So today it is. I don't understand why you need to lie something for this. Your shop is literally full of equipment that I couldn't help but be lucky again for this encounter that it started to scare me,"
Still thinking that she wasn't seen, Melinda tried to shrug it off with a short laugh, "Why are you such a brat? Anyway, let's get into business. Are you perhaps looking for that specialized revolver?"
It seems that Melinda had already caught Cesar's interest in her shop as she already had eyes for whatever he liked even though he hadn't asked any questions.
"Yes. Why, are you going to scam me again?"
Melinda snorted, "I've become anew so let's forget all our grudges and bad history, yeah? I'll honestly tell you the price."
Cesar gave a suspicious look to Melinda before giving her a cue that she could explain the revolver in a much more detailed manner.
Melinda trod at the walls and grabbed the revolver with care. She explained, "This is a specialized weapon derived from the Colt 1851 Navy Revolver. Coated with a special alloy, it can handle three types of demon-hunting shells and normal bullets. Good at close and mid-range, very risky at far range. Count your stars if you want to shoot someone perfectly, unless you're a god of revolvers that is,"
Melinda showed the revolver's intricate design which was oozing out a dangerous atmosphere as she continued explaining.
"The grip is easy to handle, the recoil isn't that much, and the trigger is effortless to press. It has been tried and approved, and professionals have marked this revolver as usable. It doesn't have a name yet, you can give it yourself after you buy it,"
Melinda handed out the revolver to Cesar and asked, "So, how is it?"
Cesar positioned the grip of the revolver at any angle as if he were shooting targets in the air. He tried different ways to use it like holding it with his two hands, one hand, and many more.
Satisfied with how compatible the weapon was for him, Cesar shifted his gaze at Melinda and demanded, "How much?"
Melinda, as if her scammer senses tingled in, was about to open her mouth before leaving no voice out. Contemplating how to deal with Cesar and remembering why she's in the city, he decided to go for the honest route.
"its forty-five thousand Vennon cash,"
"Pricey—"
Melinda interjected, "I'm not done yet. I'm giving you a fair price for a fair package deal. This package already involves a holster, twenty normal bullets, and five demon shells. Three sleeping shells, one piercing shell, and one delirium shell,"
Cesar wanted to retort back but upon realizing that the price was fair, he didn't want to try taking it for free this time. At least this time, she didn't pull any kind of crap,
Though he could ask for the price to be lowered.
"I only have thirty-five thousand with me."
Melinda frowned, "Why are you bargaining as if this is some sort of deal? My price will always be forty-five. No higher and lower. And believe me, this is very generous,"
Cesar fake pouted as he lightly chuckled, "Okay. You're no fun. I missed the old you a few weeks ago,"
Cesar then nodded, "All right, I'll buy this. Can I receive it in the morning tomorrow?"
"Of course, we'll do the payment there then. Can you tell me the address as to where it will happen?" Melinda asked as she took a moment of pause and curiously added, "By the way, is Jacqueline coming with you? The number one rookie of the academy in your year?"
Cesar's smile dimmed once the mention of Jacqueline resurfaced from her lips. He frowned and blankly stared at her before speaking honestly.
"Oy, oy, if you're going to reveal what you're here for, it wouldn't be fun for me, no?"
Melinda sighed and stated calmly, "Whatever you think it is, you'll never know. I don't know as well after all. For some reason, my boss is very interested in her,"
Not wanting to involve himself as to whatever ploy she was thinking regarding Jacqueline, Cesar bid farewell to Melinda after saying his goodbye. For the little time of rest he had left, all he wanted to do was lay his body on his bed and sleep.
…
Early in the morning, Cesar met Melinda in a recreational room a building just beside where he was staying which was meant for the soldiers to run around in their free time. It's more like a training area though rather than a place where people should drink around since the city has been transformed into an army base already.
At this point, their deal was already finishing with Cesar already losing almost all of his scammed money that came from Melinda itself. However, he wasn't disheartened by the loss. In fact, it looked like he was only returning the money he had stolen from someone which he didn't feel any guilt of.
By the end of this, he got something away from it.
"Hey, it's finally yours,"
Melinda pushed a metal case toward Cesar with an indifferent expression while her eyes roamed around as if she were searching for someone.
What lay upon on his front was the same specialized revolver, twenty-five bullets consisting of twenty normal bullets and five specialized bullets, and a leather holster that had been crafted with precision.
Cesar studied the revolver with a hint of glee amongst the other things before shifting his gaze to Melinda specifically,
"I'm sorry to disappoint you but the rookie you're talking about is on her shift right now. She'll be back on the night but I know her destination is on her residence anyways,"
"Oh, no worries, I don't really expect anything in return for this deal…"
Cesar observed Melinda's "not expecting anything in return" across the table when her actions suggested otherwise. Though he indeed wanted to try and convince Jacqueline to come with him to have an idea why Melinda was suddenly interested in her, but stopped at his thoughts.
They are busy after all.
"Well, you can get out now,"
Melinda pouted, thinking that Cesar didn't like her presence being there which holds a significant truth because he, in fact, didn't like her staying here at all.
Once she was out of the way, Cesar used the remaining time to practice the revolver within his grasp. There was still time left till they began their search routine once more and readied for the next step of their plan in case the first option wasn't going through well.
Just as he was thinking the stale improvements were going to continue, something 'huge' happened.