Chapter 12: Loan sharks

Chapter 12: Loan sharks

The next morning, Hans made his way through the dirty streets on the outskirts of Chicago, drawing a couple of unfriendly gazes from the residents.

Soon he found what he was searching for: a dark alley to his left where three men were sitting on some steps while they smoked.

As he approached cautiously, Hans received skeptical stares from the trio.

One of them even reached into his back pocket, taking out a pocket knife, however, while maintaining a calm demeanor, Hans declared, "There's no need to do that; take me to your boss, I just need to repay some money."

After a moment of silent talk between them, the three gazed at the sports bag in Hans' hand before nodding and emerging out of the shadows, showing their faces.

The one leading them, though young, looked quite tough and was a little bit shorter than Hans, while on his left, was a bald middle-aged man with a chubby and short stature, and under his loose white tank top, one could see various tattoos on his shoulder.

On the right of the young fellow was another man, but other than being really ugly, there wasn't much in him that stood out.

The one leading the other two spoke, "Follow us."

After that, they opened the door behind them, allowing Hans to enter a dimly lit bar.

In the bar, many people remained seated but their faces were obscured due to the smoke and poor lighting.

The room almost fell silent as Hans and the other three made their way except for some whispers here and there.

The three accompanied Hans to a table located at the furthest corner from the entrance before leaving for the entrance once again.

Seated at the table was a tall man with defined muscles and sharp features.

The man had black hair and brown eyes and was dressed in a white shirt which was paired with a black jacket and black pants.

He also wore a tie.

He eyed Hans before asking, "What do you want?"

"My name is Hans.

Six months ago, I borrowed a significant sum of money and today I'm here to repay my debt," Hans replied naturally, though a hint of intimidation lingered beneath the surface.

The leader noticed the bag in Hans's hand and inquired, "How much do you have?"

"It's about a hundred and ninety," Hans answered. However, after hearing the number, the people all over the bar turned around and stared at the young man and his bag with immense greed in their eyes. Gét latest novel chapters on nov(e)lbj/n(.)c/om

A guy even approached the boss and whispered in his ear, "Boss, should we-"

But before the guy could even finish, a cold response came from the leader, "No!"

After that, the boss ordered one of his goons to bring him the list of loans.

After going through it and making his helper count the money, he signed the paper of Hans's loan to be paid off and declared, "Well done, Hans. As for the accord, you have given back the money with a monthly interest rate of 10%, you now have no ties with our group. It was a pleasure doing business with you and you will be welcomed if you want to come back anytime." The man smiled.

'I hope I won't ever have to come here again,' Hans thought while giving a short bow before leaving the place.

By the time he was done with all of them, the unconscious leader woke up with a still blurry vision, but after looking around he could only see Hans's silhouette.

Seeing that he had woken up, Hans squatted, his face about fifty centimeters apart from the leader's, and warned him with a firm voice, "Don't ever try anything like this again, or I swear I won't be as soft as I've been this time."

The guy on the ground almost pissed his pants and backed away while using all the power he could muster from his left arm.

Luckily for him, Hans left without going any further.

_____

20 minutes later.

Back at the bar.

The boss was sitting at a table alone, smoking a cigar, when a breathless man burst in.

Panting, he exclaimed, "Boss, we have a problem!" while holding onto the chair beside him to avoid falling due to exhaustion.

"What is it now??! Liam," the boss grumbled.

Between pants, Liam explained in his defense, "I forgot to tell the guys outside not to go after the guy... And they gathered a group of about ten members to squeeze something more out of hi-"

Before he could finish speaking, the boss interrupted him, "Then what are you doing here!? Go give him his money back and go apologize!!"

"That's not the point boss!" Liam shook his head and continued while still gasping for breath.

"Pant... pant... we found all of them were passed out in a storehouse."

"And there were some who were even about to die."

As Liam finished, the boss's eyes widened in surprise as he asked furiously, "What in the world happened?!"

"It's only a guess, but between the witnesses for his strength and the money he made so quickly, there's a probability that he is an awakened," Liam answered.

"Awakened huh?! ... Ok," the boss calmed down and simply continued smoking his cigar.

Seeing his boss's unbothered attitude, Liam asked, "What will we do now, boss?!"

"What do you mean we will do, just continue doing what you always do," the boss shrugged.

"But boss, he injured our members, we have to pay him back-"

"LISTEN WELL LIAM! This is the last time I'll say it. Stop telling me what to do! It was your idea to irritate him even after the boy had repaid his debt. You should be grateful that he merely taught them a lesson or else I would've done that myself."

"Now scram away before I beat the shit out of you," the boss rasped.

Being ridiculed and humiliated in front of all the other tables, Liam ran outside.

When the doors closed and he was left alone, Liam seethed with hatred and embarrassment in his voice, "How dare you, kid. Awakened or not, I swear I'll f*ck*ng kill you."