Chương 120: 33 - BOTOX AND ICE CREAM

When Ellie threw the backpack of loot on the exchange counter, the service lady's eyes widened. Expectedly, she wasn't used to getting this amount of loot from a single hunter.

"My… another extraordinary haul, Madam Brazer," she said. Most hunters were still getting their bearings in the new world. They were only about a week in at this point. Which meant everyone was a brand new hunter. So when this thin auburn-haired woman in a plum dress that didn't fully fit her brought in her bags of dead demon trophies, the entire room shifted its gaze at her. If Ellie hated anything, it was being gawked at.

So she never tried to make a fuss about it, hardly saying a word, so the woman would take her card and say, "The requisite funds have been added to your account. Would you like a receipt?"

"No, thank you." She took her card and started walking down the hall on the first floor. Past the waiters, maids, armed guards, and other hunters. She was making a beeline straight for the loot store. Once she had the tracking loot in her, that was a direct shot at finding Tyene and ditching this place for good. However, there was an obstacle in her path. Two of them. One male and one female hunter. The woman was skinny to the bone, wearing a dress far too similar to Ellie's.

But where Ellie's was plum, hers was violet, and where her waist was plain, this woman's waist was bejeweled in a diamond and gold belt. Her pale shoulders were covered by an overcoat of white fur. She was middle-aged, right at the cusp of 50, with a Botox injection in her cheeks that made it look even more obvious. Ellie tried to turn away and walk in any other direction, but it was too late. The woman was already walking up to her.

"Ah, there you are," she said in an overdramatic tone, as if she were a talk show host.

"I don't think we've had a proper chance to be introduced. People around here call me Mauve." She stuck her hand out to shake, but her palm was fast down, forcing Ellie to take it from below. Though she didn't plan on giving this woman her name.

"I just wanted to congratulate you on another successful hunt," Mauve said.

"You've certainly made a name for yourself around this place. The word on the street is that you currently hold the highest number of confirmed kills, Madam Brazer. Is that true?"

"I don't really keep track," Ellie answered, shifting her gaze around the room. The woman was far too unpleasant-looking to meet her in the eyes. It was one of those faces that got bad reconstructive surgery, and the only thing that attempted to fix it was another botched surgery. The skin was tightened to look almost skeletal, and Ellie was pretty sure the woman's nose was going into her face instead of coming out of it.

"Well, you should be proud," Mauve said.

"It takes a certain level of adaptability to thrive in this new demon-infested world. It isn't for the weak-minded, I'll tell you that. I'd almost feel bad for all those poor folk who needed a self-help book to tell them how to want something for themselves. They're surely dead now, or being coddled by someone much stronger than themselves. Not a problem you or I have, right?" She didn't wait for Ellie to answer. If she had, she undoubtedly wouldn't have liked what Ellie had to say.

"I once met a monk in the mountains of the Himalayas. He told me that true strength comes not from the ability to be unmoved but from the ability to be moved and remain standing. To bend to the wind and not be snapped in two by it. Isn't that profound?"

"It isn't profound," the man accompanying her joined the conversation. He was a gothic-shaded man with long, straight black hair, dressed like an emo teen in vampire cosplay. He had the dark suit, ruffled shirt, and all. But it was the thing following him that made Ellie take a step back. It was a giant gorilla-like creature with black, shadowy fur and a flaming skull as a head. It wore an assembly of tiki accessories around its neck and arms, matching the neon green color of its flames.

It must've been a beast summon. It towered over the man, who seemed to be using its body to shield his eyes from the sunlight.

"Everything that's happening now is natural selection at its finest." His voice was so soft that she had to strain to hear him.

"The world always finds a way to weed out the weak so that only the strong remain. Beasts are more elegant in that way. While we coddle those too weak to survive on their own, there are some species that literally eat the weak. I find that profound. So does the Skull Eater." The man gestured for the gorilla-like creature to bend to his hand, then proceeded to pet its skull, despite the green flames surrounding it. His hand didn't burn.

Ellie stared uncomfortably as the man made a face, as if looking at this skull eater was turning him on.

"Don't mind, Emile." Mauve waved him off.

"He made his fortune in the tech sector. All those people are a little off the wire between you and me." She smiled at Ellie, who was completely ready for this conversation to be over. But these two were insistent on standing right in front of the loot store.

"So were you doing business with Corlander before?" Stolen story; please report.

"What do you mean?" Ellie cocked her head.

"I mean, you must have been. A man like Mitas Corlander wouldn't invite just some random nobodies into one of his famous clubs. So what did you do, Madam Brazer?"

"Uhhmm… Well, you see… I…" she started to stutter, not knowing what she was going to say. That's when Cannon showed up to save her, right on time.

"She's with me." He proclaimed, throwing his arm around her. And in her mind, Ellie thanked the lord for blessing her with Cannon Valkyr.

"Ahhh," Mauve fake-screamed while Emile continued his love fest with his beast summon.

"I know you. Where have I seen you before?" Cannon flipped up his shades and extended his hand.

"They call me Cannon Valkyr. I've been on TV a time or two."

"Is that right?" Mauve started ogling him.

"Well, you are a specimen of a man, aren't you?" Cannon smiled, the flattery going to his head as Mauve took it upon herself to start running her hands over his massive arms.

"Yes, you are a fine young man," she mumbled.

"Young man? I'm actually 39."

"You're lying," she playfully slapped his arm.

"You have to tell me your secret." Cannon leaned in with a broad grin and whispered to her.

"I hit the gym." Mauve gaffawed far louder than any human ought to.

"Ok. Fine. You don't have to tell me now, but I will squeeze it out of you." She gave one last squeeze of his bicep as she said that before walking over to Emile.

"Let's be off, Emile. I want to hit the pool before it gets dark." The Skull Eater lowered his arms and picked them both up to carry them out of the room like they were oversized babies. Ellie rubbed her eyes, unable to understand why she'd been exposed to what she just had.

"You alright, El?" Cannon asked.

"That was probably the worst conversation I've ever had in my life."

"From my angle, it didn't look like much of one."

"My gosh, they just came over and kept talking, and I didn't know how to escape." She sighed.

"Thanks for coming to save me. I don't know how you get along with these people." Cannon shrugged.

"I've had to deal with their types. Promoters, executives, the money people. You learn how to just smile and flatter so they don't cause problems. Because when they don't like something, they want everyone to know it. So I wouldn't look so disgusted in front of the strongest two hunters here."

"The strongest?"

"Ranked only under you and me. And they don't have outside help. So next time you run into them, I'd suggest smiling more." She watched them be carried down the hall, feeling that giant beast's footsteps rumble through the floor, and concluded that she would never understand people like that. The low rumble of a generator reverberated through Uriel's library. So did the clicking of game controllers and the slurping of orange soda. At some point, Monan had turned Uriel's special library into his own living room.

He and the young blonde boy had scavenged enough snacks, soda, and electronics to play video games on Uriel's couch for days. Uriel patiently watched, standing behind, thinking to himself, "This is what's wrong with the youth today." He didn't know what they were playing, but whatever it was, Monan was getting his ass royally whooped.

"Goddamnit. What the hell am I supposed to do in this shit? There aren't any combos in this game. You just throw me off the stage, and I keep dying."

"It's called a platform fighter, nerd. And the answer is get good." Acelin gloated.

"I'll show you who needs to get what." Monan grabbed Acelin in a headlock and proceeded to give him what people back in the day called a noogie. He dragged his knuckle across the kid's scalp until he was begging for mercy.

"That'll teach you not to be so cocky," he said, standing. Acelin held his head.

"You're just a sore loser. I'll take it easier on you next time if that'll make you feel better."

"I don't want your pity. I'm taking a break. Thinking it's time to grab some grub, what about you?"

"Sure. Sounds good to me."

"You wanna take a guess at what I'm craving?"

"Uhh.. pretzels?"

"God no. What's the matter with you?'

"How about some ice cream then?"

"Now we're talking. Uri, can you help us out?" Monan asked. Uriel sighed, feeling like he was playing babysitter to two kids instead of one. He called over his assistant, David. David politely bowed. Even bent over, he was taller than most people.

"How I help you?" he said in his strange accent. Uriel handed him a piece of loot.

"Take this frost loot and find a couple of cones to make some ice cream." The big man shuffled off.

"Don't put your weird milk in it?" Acelin called. David stepped into the kitchen, growling. When he came back out, he had two cones of perfectly spherical shave ice.

"The boy does not want weird man milk. So the best I do is snow cone." He handed one to Monan and the other to Acelin, who stared at an unflavored pile of ice. That was until Monan snatched one of their cans of orange soda and poured it over the ice, turning it a bright orange while it sizzled the tiny ice.

"What the heck is this?" Acelin lifted this new invention as if it were some legendary treasure.

"Well, when you grow up poor, you find ways to get experimental," Monan said, pouring the soda over his own ice.

"Wow." Monan and Uriel watched the boy go to town on the soda snowcone. Acelin had the cheekiest grin when he felt the carbonation sizzle between his teeth.

"This is amazing and cold," the boy proclaimed. Monan had a satisfied look on his face.

"He's not much older than your own son," Uriel said. The satisfaction on Monan's face quickly faded.

"No… he isn't." Uriel always liked to pry. These days, he hardly wasted time on trivial conversation, preferring to cut right to the meat of someone's soul.

"Out of curiosity, when's the last time you've seen him?"

"Uriel. We all know kids are about the worst thing a Redeemer can have."

"But it isn't like yours is—" Monan cut him off.

"I'm being a good guy this iteration, alright. You really want to risk ruining that?" Uriel grinned.

"Ahh… there you are. I've been looking for you, Monan."

"Not now. I'm enjoying myself."

"Well, when you're feeling the villain again, let me know. There's something I need you for."