20 Trying to get by (2/2)

The rental agent hadn't thought that Axel had anything valueable and thought he wanted to sell some stuff on him to pay the rent, so he pointed him to a place that bought anything.

Inside the shop, Axel froze. Guns, everywhere you looked, there were guns. Army rations, Kevlar vests and different types of weapons.

Suddenly, a hoarse voice echoed from behind Axel. It said, ”Brat, I don't think this store is for you.”

Axel turned around only to be welcomed by a man glaring at him. He gathered what shreds of courage he had and said, ”I'mhere to sell stuff.”

”Hoh…” Said the man as he signalled Axel to show him.

Axel was about to show him the items when he remebered something important. He's not carrying what he wanted to sell, it's in his inventory. Sweat began to form on Axel's head when the impatient voice of the man echoed, ”Brat, you gonna show me or what?”

With a cough, Axel looked at the man with a slight smile and said, ”Um… would you like to see a magic trick?”

A physical pressure fell on Axel as the man just glared. After a couple seconds, he chuckled and said, ”Fine. Go ahead brat.”

Axel released a sigh of relief before holding his empty hands up. He said, ”As you can see, I have nothing in my hands, right?”

The man only nodded.

Axel felt his eye twitch but ignored it. He waved his hand as a huge gem, the size of a phone, appeared. The man suddenly shot up from his seat with his eyes wide open.

With a smug look on his face, Axel said, ”What do you-” but before he could finish, the man grabbed Axel by his shirt and growled, ”Brat, where did you get that from? And how did you make it appear?”

Honestly, Axel was far stronger than him and could easily get himself out of the man's grasp, but he didn't want to create problems before he could complete his missions. So he calmed down and said, ”I got it from my girlfriend.”

The man glared at Axel something fierce as he said, ”Lies! No one would just 'give' something so precious away.”

”Look, I really did get it from my girlfriend.” Said Axel as he gently removed the man's hand from his shirt.

The man glared at him one last time before closing his eyes. A second later, he sighed and said, ”How much do you want for it?”

Axel bitterly smiled and said, ”I don't know how much its worth.”

The man sighed with a tired expression as he said, ”Brat, how about this. I'll sell it, and whatever we get out of it, we'll split. 60 - 40. How's that?”

”Hmm… 70 - 30. I'm sure it'll rack up alot of money, so it shouldn't be a problem.” Said Axel. He used appraisal beforehand on the gem and saw that it was a pure ruby, so it should fetch quite the sum of money.

The man rubbed his head, seemingly done with this as he sighed and said, ”Sure, kid.”

The pair shook hands as Axel handed over the gem. The man brought out some paperwork and said, ”Here. Wouldn't want you thinking I'm scamming you. This is a pre-made contract. I've already signed the stuff concerning my end. Now, all it needs is your signature.”

The man pointed to a couple areas, signifying where he should sign. Axel spent a couple minutes reading the contract before nodding. He signed his name and said, ”Here. It looked like a pretty fair contract, even if I don't know law.”

The man took the papers and said, ”Of course, I run a proper business here, after all. Now…” the man paused as he resumed glaring at Axel and asked, ”How did you make it appear?”

A drop of sweat fell from his head as he thought, 'Why am I scared by him? Don't I know magic!?!' With a cough, Axel plainly said, ”I know magic.”

The man froze for a second before bursting into laughter. He wiped the tears from his eyes and said, ”Kid, you sure know how to joke! Fine, I won't ask. Come back here tomorrow, your lucky I already had a customer looking for precious gems.”

Axel suddenly smiled bitterly and said, ”Excuse me but… is there anyway I could get some money now? I… don't have anywhere to stay. Actually, I don't have any money at all.”

With a sigh, the man took out 10,000 yen from his register and said, ”I'm taking this out from the gem. However,” He glared at Axel like a beast and continued, ”If, and I say if, this gem turns out to be a fake and doesn't make any money, you'd best pray you never see me again.”

Axel swallowed as he muttered, ”N-noted.”

Turning to leave, Axel reached for the door when a hoarse voice echoed from behind as it said, ”Kid, what's your name?”

Axel thought for a second before he said, ”Axel. Just Axel.”

A chuckle could be heard from behind as the man said, ”Ok, 'Just Axel', I'm Iwai.”

A small smile appeared on Axel's face as he left.