After half an hour, the two arrived at the deepest part of the slums, stopping before one of the few intact houses in the district.
"Is this the place?" Adam asked, "Should we go straight in?"
"No, while we could barge in rudely, let's not do that." Natsuki said softly, shaking his head, "There's a proper password to get in. Don't let my appearance fool you — I'm a man who's been through this ten times already. I've got all the passwords memorized."
He walked up and knocked on the door. The person inside didn't open it, instead calling out in a deep voice.
"To our noble Dragon Lord?"
As the password exchange completed perfectly, the person inside opened the tightly sealed wooden door.
Natsuki strode in without hesitation, looked around, and let out a breath, "Whew, I'm in again, and nothing's changed at all!"
This was his tenth time here. The bottles and jars on the shelves, the miscellaneous items piled in corners — everything remained exactly as he remembered, giving him an almost homey feeling.
"What are you talking about, young man? I don't quite understand what you're saying."
Valga Cromwell, known as Old Man Rom, a giant massive in both build and voice, led them to sit at the counter.
"Though I don't know how you two found out the password, never mind. This is an open business, and I believe in welcoming all customers, so I won't press the issue." He took out two cups from under the counter and poured some thin, cloudy white liquid for them.
The liquid looked suspicious, but Natsuki didn't hesitate, picking up his cup and downing it in one go.
"Pah! Still tastes the same, just as awful as ever!" He wiped his mouth, "Hey, Old Man Rom, couldn't you add a bit more milk?"
Milk? This suspicious pale white liquid was milk? It must have been heavily watered down!
Not wanting to seem rude, Adam politely took a small sip and... It really was awful!
"Where did this disrespectful brat come from? Don't you know milk is precious in the slums? Regular folks can't even get any." Though Rom seemed somewhat displeased, he still poured Natsuki another cup.
With his century of experience and judgment, he could tell these two young men in their unusual clothing must be extremely wealthy. In that case, what harm was there in staying on their good side?
Unfortunately, he was both right and wrong — Natsuki had no money, but Adam had plenty!
Taking the cup of watered-down milk, Natsuki boldly drank it in one gulp and complained again about its awful taste.
"Really now, you greedy kid." Perhaps charmed by the brat's straightforward personality, Rom not only poured another cup but his expression softened, "Enough small talk — what are you two here for?"
Though he wasn't pressing about their sudden visit, he still needed to ask the necessary questions — he wasn't senile... yet.
After downing his third cup of watered milk, Natsuki said, "We're here to find Felt."
"Felt?" Hearing this familiar name, Rom's thick bushy eyebrows twitched, "What business do you two have with her?"
As he spoke, his hand secretly reached for something under the counter, out of their sight. If these two said something they shouldn't, he'd have to throw them out! Though his method might be a bit violent.
Fortunately, things didn't take that turn.
"We're here to buy something from her." Natsuki placed a white plastic bag on the counter. Then, holding his head in his hands with furrowed brows, he said, "Actually, we lost something and want to buy it back from her."
Hearing this, Rom immediately understood.
Not lost, but stolen. Felt must have taken something from them, and knowing it was her, they'd come to wait and buy it back.
This kind of thing happened often. Though he felt sorry for those who had things stolen, this was her way of survival, and he could only apologize to them.
"Oh, so that's how it is!" Rom's tense body relaxed, and his face grew friendly, "Felt isn't back yet — why don't you wait?"
Then he turned to Adam.
"Young man, you can put away your hostility. I thought you were here to cause trouble earlier, but I didn't mean to harm you — at most I would have just thrown you out." As he finished speaking, he placed his hands on the counter in plain view, letting both of them see his movements.
His battle-hardened instincts had been sending out strong warnings when he targeted the two, telling him just how dangerous the young man in white was.
"Let's hope so." Adam said softly, withdrawing his hidden hostility.
"What's going on?" Natsuki looked confused, not understanding what had happened.
As his conversation with Rom changed, the scene's interactions changed too — even the originally single cup of watered milk had increased to three cups. Events were developing toward a future he didn't know.
Adam said meaningfully, "It's nothing, just that Old Man Rom wasn't sure which way to treat us as guests."
"Oh ho ho ho!" Rom laughed thick-skinned, showing no embarrassment at all.
As expected of a centenarian who had seen it all, this kind of situation meant nothing to him.
"Well then, before Felt returns, I'd like Old Man Rom to take a look at this!" Natsuki pulled out his old flip phone and, with an exaggerated expression meant to convince, said, "Behold! This magical item called a Meteor!"
{T/N: Meteor is the same as Magic Tool or Magical Devices.}
"What's this?" Rom looked curiously at the phone in the kid's hand, this unknown object easily catching his attention.
"This Meteor has powerful functions!"
While Natsuki vividly described the phone to Rom, Adam carefully examined the items in the stolen goods warehouse.
Though appearing to browse merchandise, he was actually surveying the terrain. Since this place would soon become a battlefield, he needed to study the layout and prepare, while searching for anything useful.
Unfortunately, by the time Natsuki finished explaining the flip phone's powerful functions, Adam hadn't found any useful Enjoy reading on NovelHub - your free online novel platform.
"How about it, Old Man Rom? My Meteor must be worth a lot!" The confident smile on Natsuki's face showed he wasn't worried about his phone being undervalued.
Having interacted many times before, he deeply trusted the old man's character and professional integrity.
"Indeed, let me think about what price would be appropriate." Rom fell into thought.
Just then, the tightly closed wooden door of the warehouse burst open. A small girl with golden hair, red eyes, and fangs strode in confidently.
"Oh? Old Man Rom has guests?"
As soon as she entered, Felt noticed Adam and Natsuki, yet she walked right in without showing any hesitation.
"Oh, it's Felt." Rom greeted her.
"You're finally back, Felt!" Natsuki exclaimed joyfully.
Seeing everyone was present, Adam stood up, stretching his neck and shoulders.
"Finally, everyone's here." Then he asked Natsuki, "Tell me, should we follow protocol, or just knock them out and take them?"
The three exclaimed in surprise in unison.
T/N: If you want more chapters , check out my Enjoy reading on NovelHub - your free online novel platform.Enjoy reading on NovelHub - your free online novel platform.com/mrblackwing