Chapter 149: Club Cards (1/2)
”What is this rain?!”
Allan frowned and turned toward the door when he heard someone shout from outside. He had already used his Aura to keep the water away from his body.
”Hey! Open up!” Someone started banging on the door and the children gathered together behind Nana in the half of the building that was covered from the rain.
”Do you know who it is?” Flavia asked the young caretaker of the place.
Nana nodded slowly. ”I think… they're here to kick us out. The owner of this place came here a few days back… He wants to demolish this building to rebuild over it,” she uttered and a few children hugged her legs tighter.
”That's shitty luck,” Allan commented and Flavia glared at him. ”…sorry. Don't hit me again please.”
”Do you have somewhere else to go?” She asked. ”Another abandoned building for example?”
Nana shook her head. ”I don't think so… the only reason this place was even vacated was because of a fire. We've been here for a few months. It allowed us to sleep without the risk of freezing to death or being beaten up.”
Allan scratched his head. ”Well, if it comes to the worst… we wouldn't mind lending you a hand.”
”Do you want me to send my snakes?” Marie offered openly. ”They can kill them and no one will ever suspect anything.”
”…” Everyone looked at her in silence.
”What? Did I say something wrong?”
”Anyway,” Allan continued. ”What do we do? It's not like there's anything illegal going on here. We won't attack them out of nowhere, right? Not that I know this place's laws…”
”I could charm them,” Evelyn said with a finger on her chin. ”I never really tried it before but basic mind manipulation shouldn't be too hard for me as a succubus.”
”Hey! We know you're in there! Open the door!” A shout came from outside.
”It's not locked though…” Nyx deadpanned and the others chuckled.
Allan sighed. ”It's at times like this I wished Rak was with us,” he grumbled and walked to the entrance. ”For now, let's just let them in,” he said and opened the door wide. The wind from the outside rushed in at once and he was faced with a group of around ten men. The one at the front was wearing a suit and they were all shielding themselves with their Aura, even as small as it was.
”Um… hi!” The blond raised his hand with a bright smile and they blinked at each other.
”Who are you?” The one in the suit asked and leaned to the side to look inside the building. His face froze when he saw a gathering of women more striking than anything he had seen before.
”What are you looking at?” Allan's voice jolted him.
”Uh…” He stepped back and exhaled. ”Ahem, just answer the question; who are you? We are going to proceed with preparation for the demolishment. If you are going to interfere, we will be forced to come to hands.”
Flavia stepped forward. ”Are you really going to kick out homeless children without remorse? You could at least make an effort to help them relocate.”
”Lady, it's not my problem. This kind of thing happens everyday, everywhere. This town is already small enough and tight in resources, we don't need people to freeload. It's just the basic cycle of life. I have other things to worry about.”
Allan sighed. ”I told you, girls… let's just get the kids out of here for now and we'll discuss what to do with Rak. I'm sure he'll-” He abruptly paused and slowly walked out of the building with a sigh.
”Hm? What's wrong?” Marie asked as she followed him.
The blond snorted. ”I just got the chills and I think I know why,” he laughed to himself and turned toward the owner. ”Hey, you, you can talk with the guy who's coming. We'll do whatever he says to do.”
”Who are you talking abou-” The man couldn't finish his question as a wave of cold hit him. He obviously knew that there were ropes of water falling around him but this was wholly different.
”B-boss,” one of his men spoke up and pointed at the sky.
He bent his neck to look up and his eyes practically popped out of their sockets. The rain around them was slowing down and turning into something even more inconceivable than rain in the middle of the desert.
”Snow?!”
After a short moment, the temperature had fallen even more and the rain was entirely turned into snow for at least a radius of several meters around them.
Allan snickered and hinted somewhere with his chin. The building owner furrowed his eyebrows and turned around. What he saw would forever be branded in his mind. In the distance, a therian with four tails flailing behind him was getting closer and closer.
He had a taciturn face that he had scarcely ever seen an equal before, even on trained killers. There was an Aura of pure coldness around him and he was sure that the snow around him was probably closer to floating rocks than anything else. His hands were in his pockets and he was smoking as if the weather-altering presence of his was nothing to fuss about.
”Sometimes I wonder if he is from a comic or something,” Allan whispered and the girls who heard him couldn't help but agree. ”Goddamn, I wish I can get that kind of entrance one day…”
When Rakna finally reached them, the group led by the building owner reflexively took a step back and gulped loudly. ”What's going on?” The therian asked coldly. For his companions, it was the most normal of interactions but for anyone else, it was as if they were being interrogated by the devil himself.
”You should tone that down, they're going to pass out like this,” Nyx said with a small smile. Rakna responded with a genuinely confused look and she couldn't help but giggle. ”May I ask why you're turning the rain into snow? Isn't that a waste of mana?”
”I don't like rain. Snow is a thousand times better, is it not? Also, I couldn't have it extinguish my cigarette,” he said offhandedly. ”Aura can't affect objects for some reason. Additionally, maybe it's because this rain is from my spell, but it's somewhat easy for me to turn it into snow.”
”You could just have used a barrier to cover yourself, you know?”
Rakna shrugged and huffed a cloud of smoke. He glanced at the shivering men and pointed at them with his thumb. ”Who's this?” He asked and then pointed at Nana and her children. ”And they?”
”Long story short,” Allan pointed at Nana's group. ”Destitute.” He pointed at the building. ”Shelter.” Then pointed at the owner who was being absolutely still. ”Owner.”
”…isn't that a bit too short?” Evelyn retorted quietly.
However, Rakna seemed to ponder before nodding. ”Got it.”