Chapter 183 (2/2)
“Make way! Make way! Merchant’s Association coming through!”
Two burly women, followed by a squat, fat man who waddled like a penguin more than walked, pressed their way through the line to the front of the cheeseburger line. When the arrived, the man gave Claptrap a dismissive glance and then sneered at Teliph.
“Hehehe… we are here investigating allegations that you bribed the resident official to obtain a stand… even though the don’t have a merchant’s license!”
The penguin man made this reveal as though it were a revelation from the heavens, but most of the people gathered just seemed annoyed and confused, glaring at the penguin man with folded arms. Honestly, Randidly mused, the only person who seemed scared was Claptrap, who instantly paled.
“As such… this stand is violation of the Merchant Association rules, and it must be shut down. Turn over your… err…. Wares and profits, if you wish to leave peaceably.”
The two burly women stepped forward, producing jagged spears with strange spikes. Teliph turned and looked at Randidly. Although the man had bandages around his face, Randidly instantly understood him, but he had no idea what was really going on. But then Randidly laughed aloud and nodded to Teliph.
The only path for a spear was forward.
Teliph calmly stepped around to the front of the stand and produced his spear. Then he beat the two women bloody, smashing them into the ground. They were likely perfectly capable spear users, but in front of Teliph’s brutal offensive, within 30 seconds they were both broken on the ground. Time in the prison environment produced a much more capable spear user.
Unfortunately, this exertion was already pushing a strained Teliph, and he was then forced to return to the back of the stand and meditate, controlling the tremors and weakness of Aether Starvation. Which left the other male spear attendant as the only person to deal with customers while Helen was away fetching more meat. Which wasn’t ideal, due to his arrogance, but he at least followed orders relatively simply.
So the male spear attendant stepped forward and beckoned the next customer, who stepped over the body of one of the burly women, like this was the most natural thing in the world. Perhaps violence was more common than he thought, Randidly reflected.
After staring at his two flunkies with bulging eyes, the penguin man shouted that they would pay, in a very cliche fashion in Randidly’s opinion, and then waddled away in a hurry, leaving the two women to groan on the ground.
Claptrap breathed in and out, his eyes wide. “Do you… do you really need to offend so many organizations…. The Engraving Guild… the Alchemist Guild maybe…. and now Qtal’s Merchant Association…? Maybe a little bit of diplomacy-”
Randidly snorted. “If there’s one thing I learned, it's that all most conflicts come down to power anyway. Let’s skip the crap and just be honest about it. Besides…”
Flipping a patty onto the bun, he wrapped it up and handed it to the male spear attendant before saying. “Besides, it’s not my fault they have such unreasonable rules. If they weren’t just a bunch of bullies, there wouldn’t be any problems, would there?”
Randidly was surprised at how heated his voice had become, and he paused. For Claptrap’s part, the merchant could only give Randidly a strange look, then shrug helplessly, turning back to his own customers.
Perhaps it was foolish, but… Randidly refused to negotiate with these people who wouldn’t display even an ounce of respect and civility.
Setting those issues to the side, Randidly turned back to his cooking, his lips curling up in a smile. Humming slightly, he made himself a burger and took a big bite. Then he spat it out, shaking his head. That spice combination was definitely out. Then he gave the people who were buying experiments like this a withering glance.
Truly, this world didn’t know fine cuisine. All the better for him, Randidly supposed. Made for quite an easy way to grind skills while making money.