Chapter 43 - Failing Father
"LECIA! Where are you?!" A man appeared and disrupted our work.
The filthy man with dirty clothes and unkempt beard, trudged around like he was drunk and hollered at the guild building.
"And you are?" I left my precious boxes and asked him.
"Huh?! I'm her father! Get out of my way you brat-"
"I'm an executive of this Guild."
"Hah!" He scoffed. "A little brat like you is an executive?"
"It's the truth." The receptionist glared at him. "Mr. Samur is the head of our R&D department."
"Hooh…" The man's eyes glinted with obvious greed.
As I thought, he came here to earn some quick cash. The sheer audacity of this bitch.
"I'll take this man inside and talk to him. Meanwhile, can you please send Lecia to my room?"
Let's do this.
"I understand." The receptionist nodded and went off.
"I think I know what you're here for." I turned back to the man. "So, why don't we discuss it in private?"
"Hehe, you're pretty smart for a child." He smirked.
"I've been told that quite often." I turned around and started walking towards my room, and the man followed me.
"Woah…" He gasped as he laid his eyes upon the ceiling.
The grand chandelier hanging from it was a sore sight for eyes.
"The New Dawn Guild is incredibly rich. I'm sure we can cater to the needs of the father of one of our guild members."
"Haha, damn right you can! I really like you!" He patted my back. "What's your name?"
"Samur." I covertly brushed off the place he had touched.
We walked up the stairs and reached my room (as I didn't have an office yet). By the fact that the door was ajar, it would be safe to assume that Lecia was already inside.
The receptionist sure works very fast.
"Right this way, sir." I opened the door.
"Thanks- oh, my dear daughter!" The man's face immediately brightened upon seeing the figure that was sitting at the edge of my bed.
On the other hand, Lecia's reaction was the exact opposite.
Her eyes widened to their absolute extreme, while her body shivered fiercely. And was that sweat glistening off her skin?
"Please, do not approach her." I stopped the man before he could reach her and stood between them. "Let's resolve this matter like civilised adults, shall we?"
"Eh, whatever you say." He brushed me off but stopped his advance.
"Thank you. Please take a seat there."
He grabbed a chair and placed it right in front of Lecia. The moment he placed his butt upon it, Lecia flinched.
Her eyes started darting around as tears gathered at the edge of her tears. The man simply disgustingly grinned at her reaction.
Before she could do anything stupid, I patted Lecia's head.
"Don't worry." I assured her as she looked up at me, but I don't think it did anything to calm her down.
"Heh." The man scoffed.
I pushed Lecia out of the way and sat in her place. She stood right beside me, not daring to move or say anything.
"So, Lecia, this man here claims to be your father. Is that true?"
Well, her reaction practically told me everything I needed to know, but there was still a possibility that this man was someone else who Lecia feared immensely.
However, she remained silent.
"Go on, tell him, Lecia." The man urged her.
"Y-yes." She nodded as a teardrop fell down her eyes.
Hmm, looks like we're simply not at the same level playing field. Lecia does not trust me and fears this man.
Time to bring us to the same levels.
"Please do not pressure her." I politely asked him.
"I am not." He smirked, perhaps relishing in my helplessness.
"I said, do NOT pressure her." I asked again, politely of course.
However, I also released a small amount of blood lust.
"Eeek!" He almost fell out of his chair. "Alright, fine, fine!" He frantically waved his hands.
"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"
The man quietly nodded.
"Now, since Lecia has identified you as her father, let's move on to the next step. What are your demands?"
"Oh, right to the point, eh?" The man's scared demeanour vanished instantly.
"Of course. I would not want to waste any more of your time."
"Damn right! You are so different from that bastard! Are you seeing this?" He showed me his black and blue right cheek. "He did this to me!"
Just a punch to his face? That sure is lame.
"My apologies on the behalf of the Guild Master. We'll also compensate you for that."
"Now that's what I like to hear!" He nodded with a big smile. "Now, you have two options. Give me back my daughter, or compensate me."
Would you look at this fucker? His tone changed to that of a businessman the moment money talk started.
"We obviously cannot give you Lecia. So, how much do you want?"
"Well…" A pig-like smile appeared on his face. "I was going to make Lecia work to support us, so I want the same amount of money that she would have earned in her entire lifetime."
Make Lecia work for him?
"What kind of work, exactly?"
"You know, entertaining customers and all that."
Lecia by my side clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white.
"So you were making her sell her body."
"Oh, of course not! You make me sound like a villain or something." He waved his hands again. "She just had to tend to the needs of the customers."
I stole a glance at my side, and sure enough, Lecia was clenching her fists so hard and biting her lips so strongly that blood was flowing from both of them.
That gives me the confirmation I needed.
Boy oh boy.
"I see. So, what's the figure we are looking at?"
"Mmm, roughly around…" He acted like he was calculating the figure. "50,000 Golds sounds about right."
Woah, that's the amount I'll earn after slaving away for 10 years.
"Understood."
"Perfect!" The man smiled.
"Eh?" Lecia turned to me with a jerk.
"As you can imagine, arranging such a large amount right away is not possible. I would like you to give us some time."
"How much?" He asked, a bit impatient, a bit sceptical.
"Have you seen that big building in the centre of this district?"
I asked the man about the 4 storeyed building I had noticed when Neia brought me here on her back.
By my calculations, that place should work like a charm.
"Uh-huh."
"Please meet me in front of it at 6 pm. It's a public space, so the exchange would be safe and clean."
"I like that." The man nodded with a smile. "Alright, I'll meet you there. Don't you dare try to trick me though, otherwise…" The man licked his lips as he turned his eyes to Lecia.
"Ah please, don't worry. New Dawn Guild is known for its honesty. You'll get all of your money on time."
"I'll be looking forward to it." A beaming grin appeared on his face as he turned to Lecia. "You've caught a big fish, Lecia. I'm proud of you. You really are my daughter." He chuckled.
With that, he left the room. After his footsteps receded, Lecia released her breath.
The next moment, she fell to her knees and broke down crying.
"Waaaaaa! I'm sorry, I'm sorry *hic* because of me *hic* you have to *hic*-"
"Ah, don't worry about that. I'm not going to pay that man anything."
"Eh?" She turned to face me.
"What did you expect? No way in hell are we paying him 50,000 Golds. You're not worth that much."
That was an unfortunate fact.
"E-eh? T-then, what are you going to do?"
Hmm, she didn't even bat an eye when I told her that her life wasn't worth a bunch of coins. Just how low is her self-esteem?
"That's not my job. I'll report this to Azell when he comes back and he'll handle it."
"You are not going to do anything?" She asked as she stood up.
Looks like the shock she received from my absurd statements made her forget about herself for the time being.
Nice.
"I'm a 12-yeard-old child. I'm younger than you. What do you expect me to do?"
"Wha…" Her mouth hung open.
Did she expect me to swoop in like a Hero and rescue her from the villain that is her father?
Hmm, the fact that she had that hope means she still has some innocence left in her. Noice.
"Anyway, you can go back to your room. Azell will handle everything. He saved me, so he can save you as well." I said as I pushed her back and kicked her out of the room.
"B-but-"
"Like I said, leave this to the adults. There's nothing we children can do."
"R-right." She nodded and made her way back to her room.
As I saw her open the door with a hunched back, I closed mine.
Now then, time is of the essence here. If I want to execute my plan, then I need to do it fast.
Time for little old me to save the day once again.
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