Birth Of The Crafts-God

While Lucas waited for the feedback from the Novanio Tech executives, he continued running the store peacefully. There were also a few other agents from businesses who had contacted him during the Silver Fig Trade Convention, however, some of them eventually didn't reach back at all. For the ones who did, Lucas found out that they weren't straightforward and simply wanted to dupe him.

In the end, those conversations crashed and Lucas prioritised only the Novanio Tech company.

At this time, someone walked into the store. Lucas stared ahead and saw that it was a familiar face; the young teen Wally. Behind him though, there was someone else who came in.

"Good day, Mr. Lucas." Wally smiled as he greeted.

"It's you, kid. What brings you here today?"

Seating at his signature spot behind the counter, Lucas stared at Wally, before shifting his glance to the person by his side.

"Good day, Mr. Lucas." The young lady greeted him.

Similar to Wally, she had a brown hair and looked alike. It was easy for Lucas to surmise that they were related, and by roughly estimating her age, which was quite close to that of his physical body, he guessed that she was his older sister.

"Same." Lucas nodded without any expression on his face.

Feeling awkward, the young lady tried to clear the atmosphere.

"I'm here to give my thanks to you for helping my younger brother. I know it's a bit overdue, but please, accept my gratitude." She bowed her head while stretching her hands forward. Locked in between them was a card.

"What's this?" Lucas asked.

"It's payment for the vestige. There is about four hundred federal coins. I know it's not much, but please accept it." She replied as she handed the debit card to Lucas.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I don't need it. He won it in a contest fair and square, so no point in doing this."

Despite being a money-grubber at times, Lucas had his principles.

Previously, when he had just opened the store, Lucas had a spin-the-wheel contest set up in front of the store, where for a low amount, one would get the chance to spin the wheel for prizes. The intent was to attract customers to the store with the top price being a custom vestige. Wally, as luck would have it, was the first and only winner of the game.

This was because after Lucas came back from the Wastelands, he took it down.

"If that's all you're here for, the door is open."Lucas said, before turning his attention to the tablet in his hand.

'What the heck is wrong with him?' The lady couldn't help but wonder.

As someone who had worked as a clerk in some top stores in the city, this was the first time she had witnessed a store-owner pursuing away customers. Sure, they might not be here to buy something, but they could. Since the possibility existed, it was only natural to treat them with some courtesy.

Despite what she thought though, Lucas didn't care. Right now, his attention was on a mail he had just received from the Kalvin Petri.

When Lucas had visited the deputy owner of the Vinis Pawnshop, who also acted as its front-end manager, he managed to strike a deal with him.

Kalvin, being a member of the Petri family, was aware that Lucas was now under the sight of the Red Fangs and had made contact with them. If the latter were to go to the Red Fangs and present evidence of an attempted murder on his life by the pawnshop, not only would they be shut down, but Kalvin might also have to serve jail term.

Although he didn't know how much evidence Lucas had, based on the fact the latter took down the assassin sent after him and had also managed to identify Kalvin as the perpetrator, it was safe to say that Lucas had solid evidence against them. To prevent what could be a catastrophe, both sides struck a deal.

Using the Petri family's connections as well as the pawnshop's, Kalvin would aid Lucas in finding out about Ramirez's whereabouts. In exchange, Lucas wouldn't hand the evidence he has over to the Red Fangs or any security agency.

Kalvin could have asked for the evidence to be destroyed, but there was no saying how many copies Lucas had. Rather, an agreement to not divulge the information was better. That way, even if Lucas did so, Kalvin could sue him for breaking the contract. As long as he won the case, the evidence in the Red Fangs' hands would become null, as it would be termed as 'illegally obtained' by the court.

To Kalvin, winning the court case wouldn't be a problem, so he wasn't at a loss.

As for Lucas, compared to Kalvin Petri, Ramirez had ordered several attempts for his head. Lucas didn't mind setting aside his grievance with Kalvin, as long as it would help him get his hands on Ramirez. For some reason, Lucas didn't feel comfortable knowing the latter still walked around safely; it was simply an instinctive feeling, and it troubled him a lot.

The mail Lucas was going through stated that there were sightings of Ramirez in a district outside of the city. There were a couple of them and based on the direction and timeline of each sighting, Ramirez was clearly headed to the east. Eastwards happened to be towards the safer regions and if one kept on going forward, they would approach a sea.

Crossing that sea would lead them to the next city-state.

The last known sighting of Ramirez was in the Alleva district, which was in a region called the grey zone. Lucas couldn't determine whether the latter was planning to hide there or relocate to the next city-state, so he didn't decide right away whether to go find him.

"Uhm, Mr Lucas." A voice called out.

Lucas raised his head to see that it was the young lady who happened to still be around.

"Since you don't want to accept the payment, how about dinner this evening?" She shyly asked.