"What? Is it really the Demon?!"
He sighed once again when he heard one of the men sitting at the bar shouting excitedly. It seemed that the red-bearded man's shouts had really drawn the attention he didn't want, but well, there wasn't much he could do to stop it now.
"I can't believe it! I'm your biggest fan, Demon!"
Once again, another random person appeared in front of him shouting, this time a middle-aged woman with brown hair.
Quickly, several people began to gather around him, excited, all shouting his "name" and talking about how much they enjoyed watching him. But he didn't react to any of these people. In fact, he just kept staring at the ground as if none of it concerned him.
He wasn't allowed to interact with strangers, let alone cause a commotion like this, so… he was in trouble.
Oh yeah, he was in trouble. He could already imagine that spoiled brat complaining about it.
And as if the heavens were proving just how accurate his imagination was, the sharp crack of a whip snapping through the air startled the people around him, parting the crowd and creating a clear path between him and that wretched lump of fat.
The spoiled brat was no longer sitting on the bar stool, but he probably looked taller while he was. That idiot was really short, and with that round face, wide nose, long curly black hair, and thick eyebrows that seemed to merge into one, it was genuinely hard to look at him without thinking he was ridiculously ugly.
On top of all that, there was that huge fur coat he was wearing.
It wasn't even cold today! In fact, it was hot as hell! But that bastard really thought he looked like a pimp in that coat.
Oh god, he really hated that spoiled brat. But... this probably wasn't the best time to be mentally cursing him, after all, at that exact moment, the whip in the brat's hand was flying straight at him.
Oh yeah, that beautiful sensation of a sudden burn, like liquid fire being poured directly onto his skin, followed by the throbbing pain of nerves just realizing the assault they'd suffered. Demon didn't react, even with the intense, sharp, burning pain in his chest and shoulder after being whipped.
He simply stared coldly at the spoiled brat's ugly face, feeling the blood trickle from his freshly acquired wound. Well, it wasn't like he lacked the desire to just jump on the brat's neck and send him straight to hell, but even if he did that, his situation wouldn't improve one bit. In fact, it would only guarantee that he'd lose all the comfort he had.
I mean, he might be living in hell, but it wasn't that bad. He didn't have to worry about cooking, doing laundry... he even had his own room! With his own bed! Yeah, yeah, he was doing pretty well. Except for the fact that he had just been whipped for no reason, of course.
'But that's not so bad, right? I mean, even with a whip, this fat brat hits like a little bitch!'
Well, as much as he wanted to keep cursing that idiot in his mind, his internal reflections were interrupted by the brat's irritating, shrill voice:
"You useless piece of shit! I told you not to draw attention, and you can't even manage that!"
Considering the hysterical voice and the expression plastered on that ugly face, the spoiled brat was pissed. Well, it wasn't like it was the first time this idiot got extremely irritated over something trivial, but Demon really didn't want to go back to that place just yet.
And to continue his lovely city tour, he needed the spoiled brat. So... he did his best to put on an expression of regret and fear. He lowered his head, stared at the ground, and really tried not to let the hatred he felt for the brat seep into his voice:
"I'm sorry, sir. I was wrong."
He then carefully glanced at the spoiled brat's face. It was clear that bastard wasn't satisfied with the fake apology, but he had to settle for it. After all, it's not like the spoiled brat could hurt him as much as he wanted.
Even though the brat's father truly loved his useless son, Demon simply made too much money for him. And knowing that old mercenary, the money he earned was probably more important than the love he felt for his son, and the spoiled brat knew that very well.
So, as Demon expected, the brat spoke again, clearly trying to convince himself he was superior to his father's golden goose:
"Hmph! Since you know, don't screw up again! Let's go! You made me lose the mood to finish my beer."
The spoiled brat spoke irritably and started walking away from the small crowd of curious onlookers that had gathered. Demon just gave a cold look at the brat's back before also starting to walk and follow him.
Even though he had managed to keep his city tour alive, he was a bit disappointed that he couldn't finish hearing the old woman's story.
'Ah, whatever... It's not like a homeless woman would know what happens inside God's Path anyway.'
...
Meanwhile, the old woman remained sitting in the same spot, wrapped in colorful blankets and tightly holding the silver coin she had received. The little girl had long been distracted by the commotion and seemed to have forgotten about hearing the rest of the story.
But unlike the girl, the old woman didn't seem to pay any attention to the chaos. She just looked up at the sky with a mysterious smile and murmured:
"Ohh, my dear fate, you are truly interesting... It seems the path will get very lively soon... After so long, a God will finally die!"
Unfortunately, no one there heard the old woman's words.
...
After some time, the old woman stood up, and after using that silver coin at a fine restaurant, she was never seen in that city again.
But that's a story for another day.
***
After walking through the city for a while, the spoiled brat stopped in front of an establishment with an old wooden facade. Demon also stopped right behind him, the whip wound on his chest still bleeding, staining the ragged fabric covering his body, but he didn't pay much attention to it.
He looked at the establishment in front of him. The old wooden facade was literally falling apart, but well, this wasn't the type of place that survived by attracting new customers with appearances anyway. In fact, this establishment was the reason for his city tour today.
"Let's get this over with."
The spoiled brat spoke with a slightly anxious voice before starting to walk into the establishment. Demon knew the brat didn't like dealing with the kind of people they were about to meet, but he didn't care about that. He had worked hard for this moment, and seeing the brat unhappy was almost like a bonus for him.
A great bonus!
Demon then followed the spoiled brat inside. The interior of the place was even worse than the facade. The wooden floor was almost completely rotten, serving as a home for rats, cockroaches, spiders, and various other types of repugnant creatures. Besides the entrance, the only source of light was the holes in the ceiling, which also acted as passageways for rainwater.
If he had to use a word to describe this place... Trash heap! No, no, that's two words... Disgusting! That's kind of generic... ah, forget it, he never had a proper education, so it was a bit much to expect an advanced vocabulary from him.
On the wall facing the entrance, there was a long bar with six stools lined up side by side. Behind the bar, a handsome man with an impeccable appearance was serving customers. The man had black hair, perfectly combed to the side, a perfect nose, perfect black eyes, huh... yeah, he was very handsome, almost too handsome — to be honest.
And along with that fancy suit that seemed to cost more than this entire establishment, the man's appearance created a certain contradiction with the rest of the people sitting at the bar.
Well... let's just say that the other three men sitting at the bar were simply the most criminal-looking people he had ever seen. Well, since they were here, they were definitely criminals, so that wasn't prejudice... right?
The spoiled brat didn't seem to want to stay here long, so he kept walking toward the bar and spoke with a serious voice — well, he tried. But Demon could easily detect the anxiety in the brat's voice:
"We came here to conclude a transaction."
Even after hearing the spoiled brat's words, none of the three criminals turned around. They just continued drinking in silence as if none of this concerned them. Unlike the criminals, the handsome man behind the counter reacted.
But his reaction was definitely not what the spoiled brat wanted:
"Hey Demon! What's up?"
Demon smiled upon seeing the handsome man completely ignoring the spoiled brat and greeting him instead. He didn't waste time returning the gesture:
"Hey Giovanni! How's business?"
Giovanni, the handsome man, began polishing a glass with a cloth before smiling at Demon and replying:
"It's great, man! I think I've never had so many orders before. I started doing business with a certain young master recently, and that guy really loves to spend money! If things keep going like this, I'll retire soon!"
Demon let out an animated laugh after hearing Giovanni's words. Well, he had a few reasons to be laughing.
First, Giovanni was probably his only friend in this world. Of course, it was hard to call their relationship a friendship, considering they'd only met a few times in life, and all of those times were to complete transactions. But well, they really got along, and Giovanni always treated him with respect despite his low social status.
Second, with what little he knew about Giovanni, he knew the man was already extremely rich and didn't work just for money. He was the type of person who loved breaking the law, even without needing to. Besides, he was also addicted to the power that a life of crime brought him, so... Yeah, Giovanni was definitely not retiring anytime soon.
The third reason, and definitely his favorite, was the fact that the spoiled brat was almost foaming with rage after being ignored by Giovanni so blatantly.
But unfortunately, Giovanni couldn't ignore the brat forever, after all, the brat was here as a representative of someone very powerful in this city.
Giovanni then looked at the spoiled brat, the smile on his face gone as he spoke in a cold voice:
"The payment?"
Demon could see the irritated expression on the brat's face after being treated like trash. He couldn't deny that he really enjoyed seeing that. But the spoiled brat didn't seem to want to give him more time to relish in it, as the bastard quickly grabbed a leather pouch tied to his belt and threw it on the bar counter.
A clinking sound of metal was heard when the pouch landed on the counter. From the sound, Demon knew it was full of coins, and judging by the volume, the amount seemed generous. Well, not that he was very impressed — this was basically his salary after all.
Being employee of the month for who knows how many years really had its perks. Most of his coworkers dreamed of earning any kind of salary or benefits, but Demon... he was lucky. Not only did he earn a salary, but he wasn't even allowed to touch his own money and had to be escorted and supervised if he wanted to spend his own wages on anything.
Oh yeah, life was good.