Chapter 87: First Question

I hated hearing him talk.

Every word, every sound, the huskiness in his voice, the grating gruffness like a low note turned permanently sour in his vocal cords was simply unbearable to my ears.

Add to it a constant inflection of blatant patronization, and you got yourself the vocal equivalent of sharpened fingernails against old chalkboards. Even then, I think I'd prefer the chalkboards over this guy.

Squeaky and shrill as they were, at least they weren't such conniving, cunning bastards, were they?

Ash's real name funneling out of his smirking lips, marred by the same sourness and dourness that came with, it felt like an assault on the senses, it just felt so wrong.

He knew her name, knew who she was, and where she was from.

It was enough of a reason to continue lingering about just to hear what he had to say. But that wasn't the reason why we drew back to our seats, with him drawing another chair to settle alongside us.

Downright deplorable as it was, I can't say really that I was all too surprised still. After the initial shock had subsided, rationality kicked into high gear and formed itself a reasonable conclusion.

The magical realm of video games isn't exactly exclusive only to the young and youthful. Chronicles of Asteria as well seem to adhere to a more mature crowd. Who's to say that he wasn't part of the crowd?

Mob Boss must have got himself some other hobbies.

So no, I didn't just stick around because he knew of something that could be burrowed out from a simple Google search. I stayed because there was still the chance that that wasn't actually the case. That he knew more than he was really letting on.

I stayed to find out just what else he knew about us if anything at all.

Even if I have to sit with him, even if I had to bear heeding his words for longer than I wanted to, I just had to know.

"Now," He swung open a menu that laid on the table. "What would you two like to eat this evening?"

Indulging him seemed to be the only of getting some answers out of him, so… with cravings all but diminished, I followed along and flipped open another menu to browse through their many exquisite selections.

Moments later, the restaurant manager himself heeded our orders - medium steak for me, and carbonara pasta with a hefty sprinkling of their finest cheese for Ash.

I mean, if we're gonna stay, might as well chow on something pleasant while experiencing something unpleasant. Ying and Yang, I guess.

Mob-manager, listening intently, wrote down our request with a pen and paper he withdrew from his chest pocket. A swift resounding snap of his fingers later, and the waiter-waitress duo came barreling through the door once more with a gracious bow in unison.

Without a single word shared amongst each other, the waiter plucked the scrap of paper from the boss's fingers, and both hurriedly left the same way they arrived - with another synchronous tilt of the head… 'course they did.

The clack of the door handle brought with it a silence that consisted of only stares at one another. Wariness on my side, raw indignation in Ash's… Mob Boss shifted the amusement in his from left to right.

Unlike your typical mustache-twirling villain, he didn't gloat. Finger tappings and quiet hummings were all he had to offer as we waited for the arrival of our orders.

Patience was nice, but I wasn't about to dawdle in silence for nothing. He's got his compliance from us. Now I believed it was our turn to be indulged. He wanted to meet our needs, did he? Well, I got just the perfect need that needed meeting right here - the first question out of many that were surely yet to come.

"How'd you find out?"

At one corner, Ash's ears perked slightly upwards at the sound of my voice. On the other, the tapping and humming came to a sudden halt.

"It's nice that you aren't even trying to deny," He said, his gaze an approving one. "Honesty. I've always valued that in people."

Oh, that's so rich coming from someone in his line of work, and it clearly I wasn't the only one that thought so.

"I dearly hope the irony of your statement hasn't been lost on you," Ash muttered to him with brazen contempt.

He inclined his head. "Believe me, I'm fully aware of my vices. You're not wrong to scorn me for it. But crooked as I am… even I have my virtues, and I do intend on showing them to you - both of you."

"You had your men shoot her in the head," I pointed out. "How virtuous, indeed."

"Again," He said sharply. "Vices. Even with my peers, I do not tolerate any form of disrespect. Can you say for certain how she acted that was in any way tolerable? She disrespected me, and what's more, in my domain, in front of my men. I couldn't just let that go, could I? She was supposed to be an example."

"Funny how that turned out then, hm?"

"Unlike most others, I for one am willing to admit when I've acted too brashly with my judgment, and I knew I did back then," He confessed, turning his eyes to the affronted gaze that watched all this time. "So here's a virtue. Would you like an apology, Ash?"

That affronted gaze remained affronted. "And do what with, pray tell?"

"We'll make amends."

"You've yet to give reason for it," Ash said, aggressively nudging her head my way. "Answer my Master's question and refrain from delaying any further than you already have."

Direct compliance was the last thing I would have expected coming from him considering everything so far. Actions spoke louder than words, and he was a loud one indeed.

So loud, that when he went quiet, somehow, that was even louder.

"How'd I found out," He repeated, the windows to the murky outdoors reflecting back the solemnity in his expression. "It's an answer as simple as one could possibly hope it'd be."

"Then don't dumb it down," I said. "Tell the whole story."

Direct compliance. Actions and words quietly in tandem.

"Your father, to start. One of the only few men I can ever trust my life with. His son on the other hand - well, I trust him as much as you can trust a man taken in by such an obvious scam. One day I received a call. It seems that Daddy's boy has gotten himself into a jam… suddenly he had no home to go to, suddenly somehow I was supposed to resolve that issue for him, suddenly… I have to trust him with a home of his own."

He took a sip of the wine I left untouched before continuing.

"I had to take precautions," He said. "Plus, you don't just brush off witnessing someone take a bullet to the head. You two are a bizarre pair, and as I've mentioned before… I am quite fond of the bizarre."

I did not like the way he phrased that at all and I especially did not like that look in his eyes as he spoke again.

"A clock in every room of the house. I'm sure you found that strange, didn't you? Strange enough for you to notice it, but certainly not strange enough for you to actually question it. Shouldn't be so readily trusting of a stranger's home, take that to hindsight next time."

"You shit…" Another loud clatter on the table, my hands aching from the impact, the words spewing out of my lips before I could fully process what was just said and even then I was more disbelief than outraged. "You wiretapped the house?"

Ash instantly turned towards me. "Wiretapped? Master, what is that?"

"Ria, Adalia, Amelia, and Irene… let's not also forgot Amanda from yesterday," One by one, he listed them off with the tip of his fingers, names I never wanted to hear uttered by those twisted lips. "It's a bizarre crowd you're mixing with, and I'm all for it. Every day always brings itself another particular conversation to behold. I especially am fond of Ria's stories. Costa Rica is indeed a beautiful place."

"How is that you - ?" Ash's bewildered stare ping-ponged around from left to right. "Explain this."

"He's been listening in on us Ash, using some kind of device in the clocks," I said, feeling my anger rise to peaks I didn't even know existed. "Ever since we moved to the new place, he's been listening to our every conversation."

"Not every conversation," He interjected. "I honestly do not have the time nor the patience to listen in all day. But the times when I do, I always seem to learn something new."

"Yeah?" I said, a furrow on my brow. "Like what?"

The look he gave to me just then, the little squint in his eyes, his lips half curling, it was crystal clear he was enjoying every single moment of this conversation… no ulterior motives poking through, no devious intent as far as I could see…

"Phoenixes do not like their broccoli."

He was just… having fun.