Simon just awkwardly stared at Helen, who began to jump onto his back, hugging him tight.
"Wait what- what do you think you're doing? Get off of me! And also you literally can only be powerful for a few minutes? That's a massive weakness." He tried to shake her off but she clung to him much like a cat would to their owner.
"Nooo I'm tired, you're my ride now." She hugged him even harder, and to that, he just sighed. Even while weakened, he can't exactly overpower her, much to his frustration.
"And yeah, I can't maintain my power for long. I need to do stuff like eat, drink and sleep so that my energy can be refilled…" Her cheeks turned red as she remembered there was another way to be refilled, but there was no way that she would ever do that with someone.
Especially to someone she had just met
"I see, and I will guess the more explosive and powerful moves that you can use also tax you on this?"
"Correct, they do. See, you're getting the hang of this."
She smiled and gave a yawn, leaning against his back.
"I have to. If we're going to work together, we might as well know as much as we can."
Simon started to plan out his next course of action while he made his way to the pawning shop.
He walked on the snow-covered pavement, contemplating how to proceed now and, more importantly, where to hide and rest out.
----------
The crunch of the snow was quite soothing but soon had to come to an end as Simon stepped in front of a wooden door; right beside it was a lamp that had already been buried by the snow.
He knocked on the door a few times before awaiting an answer, which came in the form of the eye slit opening up for a few moments.
"Who are you?" The voice that came from the slit was old, already halfway through a cough.
"A customer looking to sell."
Simon raised up his suitcase, so which the voice grunted, opening the door as it revealed an old disheveled man with a white beard and head of hair much like a mop.
He stood in what appeared to be a mix of a library and a kitchen, with stacks of strange trinkets inside as of books on the shelves and display cases instead of any actual cookware on the sides.
"Alright, come in…" The old man walked with the vigor of a younger man as he began to grab a hold of a nearby handle by the door, cranking it as the dimly lit lights of the inside began to grow higher.
Simon nodded and walked inside before placing the briefcase onto the counter where the old man was stationed, opening it for him to check.
The old man carefully lifted off the valuables from the briefcase, inspecting each one for a few seconds with a magnifying glass that glowed for a little bit. He did not seem to question at all where Simon may have procured them.
All he did was nod along, carefully placing it behind his counter before taking out some amount of coins, weighing them against a scale that counted to 500 before placing said coins into the bag and handing it over to Simon. "Here you go 400 nummuns."
Simon scoffed at the number as he took the bad. "All of that for 400? Really now? The last time I exchanged, it was at least 500, I even made sure there was no damage."
"Hah, there's been a change of priorities recently. Don't take it up with me; I don't make the price."
"Then who does?"
As Simon asked that question, the door opened up to reveal two tall men wearing padded black armor with what seemed to be masks covering their mouths and noses while carrying pistols hidden underneath a padded belt.
He quickly stepped aside for the armored men who stepped forward to the counter, their boots muffling each of their steps.
They said absolutely nothing but reached out their gloved hands towards the old man, who sighed and handed them small pouches filled with coins.
The men opened the pouches up to check the contents before nodding at each other and leaving without so much of a word, closing the door behind them gently.
"I presume they're the new priorities?" Simon looked at the old man with curiosity in his eyes.
"Yes, they are called the Imperium Sanguinus. A few days ago, they and their boss went around the markets, shooing away any competition or sending them away. Those who wanted to stay in business, you now pay them for protection."
Simon frowned. That shouldn't be something so easily and quickly done in a few days. There would have been word of it at least, but to be so hushed up? That's not natural.
"Do you know what their boss is like?"
The old man shook his head. "Not a single whiff of hair. All I know is that they must be mighty powerful to be able to strong-arm all the other hooligans around these parts."
"Understood. Thank you for your business, then." The conman tipped his hat towards the old man before leaving the store behind, quickly heading into an alleyway where he stuffed away his hat into his suitcase.
He donned a large blanket, covering himself and Helen from the winter snow before placing a small cap on his head and completing his look of a hunchback by grabbing a stick off the ground.
There was one thing clear in this world: It was that there were no coincidences.
A powerful gang leader strolls up, taking over businesses, and then a few days later, some random lady claims that a mighty artifact came into this city.
It was time to investigate this Imperium Sanguinus and see what they truly were.