Chapter 57 - He Was Doing That For GTA VII
Next day...
I took Ysvéra out for morning coffee.
It was a peaceful enough start to the day, or at least it would have been if not for the fact that someone was staring at me with open hostility from across the street.
The moment I noticed him, my eyes narrowed.
It was the same villain from the gym incident.
The one with the body-flexibility Aspect.
He was looking straight at me.
The instant Ysvéra noticed the killing intent, her expression changed.
She tilted her head slightly and asked.
"Do you know him? Why is he looking at you like that? Should I kill him?"
Her tone was so calm that it made the words even scarier.
I quickly raised a hand.
"For now, no. Let’s move."
Ysvéra didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t press the matter either.
We finished our coffee and spent a while wandering through the streets.
I acted like I was simply sightseeing, but through my perception I kept feeling the same presence trailing behind us.
Just as I expected.
He was following.
After a while, I deliberately turned into a narrow lane where no one else was around.
A few seconds later, the villain finally appeared.
He stepped into view with a grin and crossed his arms.
"You were gone for a while, and now you’re walking around with a beauty beside you?" he said with a low villainous laugh.
"I have to admit, I didn’t expect this."
I laughed right back.
Then I looked at him as though he was an idiot.
"Are you stupid, or is your brain just underdeveloped? I could have called the cops while I was still in the café."
His expression shifted slightly.
As expected of a third-rate villain, he hadn’t thought this through at all.
Still, he quickly recovered and gave me a vicious smile.
"You think I came here alone?"
"No," I said, waving a hand dismissively.
"I just thought I should have a little fun first."
Everything I said was deliberate.
Because now I had supreme protection standing right next to me.
’Ysvéra charm!’ I commanded my bat-type Pokemon.
"A Pokemon...?" she muttered.
I stared at her.
She stiffened for half a second before quickly turning her head away.
"T-There was an advertisement nearby," she muttered in a strangely quiet voice.
"I saw something about Pokemon."
"..."
I narrowed my gaze at her suspiciously.
Still, there was no time to dwell on it.
The villain suddenly raised his voice.
"Are you ignoring me?"
He sounded annoyed, but I could tell he was stalling.
He wanted time.
That was obvious enough.
I kept smiling anyway as we had eye contact clash for some time.
Soon, footsteps echoed from the far end of the lane.
His backup had arrived.
The gang members stepped into view one after another, surrounding us from both sides.
That only made my smile wider.
At the same time, Ysvéra shuddered slightly beside Evren.
Because when she looked at his face, his expression looked very evil.
***
There was not much of a fight.
In fact, calling it a fight would have been generous.
Ysvéra simply let her eyes turn a deep violet for a moment, and the dozen-odd men in the alley went still almost at once.
"..."
I stared at the effortless mental domination.
’This is the power of a royal vampire.’
I felt envy.
Her ability was absurdly convenient.
If I had something like that, I could probably skip half the trouble in life and still come out ahead.
Before I could dwell on it further, Ysvéra turned to me and asked.
"Do you want to learn this?"
I had no reason to refuse, so I nodded immediately.
"Of course."
"But to teach you properly, I need to awaken a little of my energy inside you first," she said, her tone turning oddly cheerful.
"Don’t worry, we can do it slowly."
For some reason, the way she said that made me uneasy.
Even worse, she suddenly began laughing in a way that felt a little too creepy for comfort.
I decided not to ask questions.
Instead, I turned to the villain who had followed me here.
He had introduced himself as Seven.
That was already suspicious enough.
"So, why exactly did you join this organization?"
I had expected some deep criminal ideology or some tragic story about a corrupted soul.
The truth was completely different.
"...T-That boss, I needed quick cash for buying GTA VII VR gear, and the signing bonus the Jaw Breakers offered was huge," Seven said nervously.
I blinked.
Jaw Breakers.
That was the name of the villain organization he belonged to.
"..."
He was just a small-time villain with gamer dreams.
Apparently, he had awakened a body-flexibility aspect, but instead of becoming a hero, he became a criminal because, in his own words, "it didn’t suit his vibe."
I couldn’t even decide whether that was ridiculous or impressive.
And the more he talked, the more absurd his situation became.
The Jaw Breakers had apparently offered all sorts of benefits that were actually pretty decent for a bunch of low-rent villains.
Stable monthly pay.
Weekly meet-ups.
Small-time intimidation work.
Carrying supplies through illegal Rifts.
Acting as porters.
Digging dirt on Heroes.
Watching for rivals.
The sort of employment package that sounded terrible on paper but probably looked amazing if one was broke enough.
Then I learned the real reason they had attacked Old Mater’s gym.
They weren’t even there for destruction.
They wanted the legacy sword Old Mater had passed to his weaker disciple instead of keeping it for the more "deserving" one in their eyes because he was affiliated with a villain organization.
And the only way to prove you belonged to the Jaw Breakers was by making direct contact with the higher-ups and receiving the jaw tattoo.
"..."
They had even tried to recruit me afterward coming to my home.
Apparently Seven was also in charge of that and decided to give me a beating before the offer.
I rubbed my forehead.
"What am I supposed to do with you?"
Seven immediately dropped to his knees.
"Boss, I only do intimidation or maybe break a bone or two! I haven’t killed anyone yet, so please spare me!"
The others followed him almost instantly, kneeling in a panic of their own.
"Really..."
I looked at them and sighed.
Life really did love playing tricks.