In the place where a fight has begun.
A sword was struck on a man's shoulder, trying his best not to show that he's in pain but failed the moment he tried to grab the sword as the one holding it moved it sideways a little.
It causes a sting and a sharp pain that still libgers even after Yuri pulled out his katana.
"Ugh....!" The man grunt, as he clenches his shoulder and toughen his muscles to stop the bleeding and succeded.
He stand up then looked at Yuri, who's still holding his own sword covered in his blood.
He was ready to attack but stopped and wonder why his opponent looked relaxed. It's as if he was never interested in fighting his at all.
"Do you want to continue?" Yuri asked,
"Do you?" He sarcastically said, even putting on a fake smile to try and conceal the pain.
It didn't work because Yuri suddenly appeared right behind him then give a light punch to his wounded shoulder.
It startled him then starts to dodge, still clenching on his wounded shoulder but whenever he tried to dodge the attack towards his shoulder, another one came from the under and hit him to the sides.
'Why the hell is this guy so fast?!' He wondered as his thoughts were interupted by another attack towards his stomach.
"Half-witted attacks like that won't kill me."
Even though that's what he said, he is actually kind of writhing in pain.
"...."
Yuri didn't said anything back then continued his attacks, increasing the power of his attacks by a little bit.
"....!" The man felt the increase in power of his attacks and even the increase in his opponents precision. It's as if he was toying with him all this time.
The amount of hit he can handle anymore can just be counted on one hand so he did what a sane person would do,
"Stop!" He yelled, even raising both hands as a sign of giving up.
"I give up..."
When Yuri was certain that the man finally gave up, he put his sword back to it's sheath and take the two books he was supposed to buy.
"Free?" He lift the two books to show to the place's owner and even sliding the one on the back of the other to show the two books.
"...." The old man was dumb-founded, shocked by what he witnessed,
Then finally, Yuri snapped his fingers, along with not only the old man, but also all of the people in the room.
"Hmph, I supposed i can give it to you." The old man finally said, even going back from the his seat as he stand up when the fight started.
"Boss....!" One of the guys talked, as he helped his boss stand up.
"Haap....!" The man grunt as he stand up,
Even though he is in pain earlier, he managed to reduce the pain and even managed to stand up on his own after one of his subordinate helped him.
He turned his back from both Yuri and the old man. He planned on going back another day to confront the old man about his debt, as an obstacle appeared infront of him.
"Now....." Suddenly, someone behind of him talked.
Curious, he turned to his back once more and saw Yuri right behind him.
"Shall we talk about what you are good at doing?"
*A Few Minutes Later*
"Is the tea to your liking?" The gentle yet, kind of nervous voice of a girl said after pouring a cup of tea and giving it to both his old man, Yuri, and the strapping man earlier.
They finally decided to talk after all that's happened earlier, so they are currently sitting around a circular table inside the kitchen of the book shop.
"The outside and even the shelves where you put your dusty books looks like it''s going to turn to pile of ashes sooon. But this place looks fancier. Are you hiding your wealth?" The man with strapping physique asked.
"Shut up, bastard! You are not supposed to be here! If it weren't for my daughter, i wouldn't have let you in in the first place!" The old man roared at him which didn't even made him budge.
"And if I am trying to hide something such as golds or jewels, i wouldn't even go as far as to be in such debt!" He added.
Earlier, Yuri asked him to talked which the man didn't agree at first but when Yuri acted like he was going to stab him again, he finally agreed.
He asked him where he would like to talk and when Yuri was about to say something, the old man's daughter have actually heard what they were talking aboutand decided to let them in.
The old man, on the other hand, was actually very opposed from the idea but her daughter ended up scolding him instead which ended with him sitting right infront of the two men he isn't really fond of.
"So, what do you wanna talk about?" The man started, trying to look all tough but at the same time, trying to avoid Yuri's gaze.
"What is your occupation?" Yuri asked first,
"I'm a warrior." The man said.
"You're too weak for that." Yuri said.
"Are you provoking me?"
"Examining. I'd say examining."
"I don't think so." The man said, taking a sip from the tea.
"A warrior lending a money to some old man? I have never seen that before–No, scratch that, I've never even heard of it." Yuri reverted back to the topic, but his expression never changed.
It is still blank.
"Well, you do now." The man said.
"You act more of a bandit than a warrior. You also looked more of a failure than intimidating."
"...." The man didn't say anything. He didn't flinch or even looked at Yuri but his face darkened.
"I would have laughed if i didn't know that you are being serious about your intimidation earlier." Yuri added.
"....Haa.... I admit it. You caught me, I'm actually a bandit. I'm here to collect payments for the debts. Happy now?" Just when the man was about to stand up, Yuri patted his shoulder using his sword without taking it out from the sheath.
The shifted his head and little along with his gaze turning back to Yuri once more.
"Sit down. We're not through yet." Yuri demanded but the man didn't comply.
"What more do you want to talk about? I have already told you my real occupation." He answered, though he is still standing up.
"A bandit? Inside the kingdom's capital? I admire your courage," Yuri said as he hold his cup,
"Or should i call it foolishness?" He added.
The man was trembling, clearly holding in the anger he's feeling inside. He knows he wouldn't win even if he is in perfect condition, match less now that he is already in bad condition.
He turned around and faced Yuri once more, only to slam the table and yell;
"What the hell do you really want?! All you do is mock me and make fun of me! I already told you what you want to know, what else do you want?!"
"I told you already. I wabt to know your occupation." Yuri said, calmly.
His composed appearance just added more fuel to the already raging temper of the huge man. Just a little more and he would just forget about his condition and go straight to him.
"And I also told you already, I'm a bandit collecting debt-money!" He shouted more.
"How much does this old man owe you?" Yuri asked.
"Two hundred and fifty-five thousand golds, With the interest rate of 7%" The man clearly said, even crossing his arms.
"So, Two hundred and fifty-five thousand plus, the 7% interest rate is equals to two hundred seventy thousand and five hundred golds?" Yuri calculated,
"No! It's two hundred seventy-two thousand and eight hundred fifty gold!" The man shouted when Yuri got the right numbers wrong.
"This huge muscle head is too smart for a bandit." The old man replied, clearly talkibg about the man.
"Keep your stupid mouth shut, old man! If you just obediently handed over the money for your debt, all of this woundn't have happened in the first place! So technically, this entire useless conversation was because of you!" He scowled to the old man while the old man scowls back at him,
"If you had just done your part quickly, i would have already gotten to the others that has a debt to me too by now! My quota for today is getting ruined because of you!" He even added.
"What a greedy bear! If you already got some of your money to one of the people you lend money to for today, you should have gone back to your home and go back again for tomorrow!" The old man shouted back at him.
"If i did that, my money is going to dissapear quickly! Plus, the next person I'm go to next owed me 100,000 golds with the same interest, and the next to that is 650,000 with the interest of 5%!,"
"So if you combined all of the money I'm supposed to collect for today without the interests, ut's gonna come out to 1,005,000 golds! If you add the the interest, it's all gonna add 1,062,350 golds–"
At that moment, the man realized something. He looked at Yuri who is quiet all this time and is looking at them, smilinh very gently and calm.
Although his smile looks very gentle and his handsome face becomes even more handsome because of his smile, the man felt somethibg odd as his eyes looks like a void, as if it succesfully proved something.
And he knows what it is.
"You know the right numbers, didn't you?" He said, nervously.
Yuri finally stand up and looked directly at him, goibg back to his usually expressionless face;
"Let me formally introduce myself–My name is Yuri Sworde; It is very nice to meet you..." Yuri lend his hand to the infront of him, who's still smiling while sweating furiously.
"Mr. Echo Jewelring, the head of Jewel Merchant."