Chapter 371.

Chapter 371.

Chapter 371. Operation: Brainjack, Phase 1; War of Attrition Day 1 (3/6)

“I’m not a child. Don’t ever treat me like a child.” She grabbed me by the scruff of my neck with her right hand and pulled me toward her as she pulled her left leg up over the counter leaving her right leg dangling over the edge. It was like she was trying to see my face through the costume’s fabric. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t see anything.

“Are you a man or woman?”

My hands up to my sides again, I shrugged helplessly while shaking my head.

Who knows? But does this constitute assault? Seriously, what’s taking Rosa so long? Why is she taking so much time in the back? I wish she would hurry up and get back here already.

Halfway seated on the counter, she moved her face beside my ear and whispered, “Hey, if you come with me right now, I’ll show you a good time. We can have a little chat while we’re fooling around. It’ll feel great.”

I wonder how many men she’s deceived with these lines.

I remained completely still, neither accepting or rejecting her offer.

Seeing my lack of response, she likely thought her attempt to seduce me was finally showing some signs of success.

She took the sucker in her left hand and lowered it down to her left inner thigh facing perpendicular to the counter. She touched it down near her knee and dragged it toward her body.

“Don’t you think you’d like to take off that mascot customer and get a taste of this sucker?” In a highly suggestive manner, she slowly swiped her left pinky finger over where the sucker contacted her skin before she raised up to her tongue and licked her pinky finger.

I had to admit, her seduction technique wasn’t bad. I could probably use this as some reference material for writing a scene in a story later on.

“Maybe you’d like to taste something better than this sucker. If so, I - don’t - mind. Letting you have a small taste would be alright.”

As if I’d believe that.

Why hadn’t any other customers been entering the store since she arrived? Well, she likely had her people around the perimeter keeping them away. They were monitoring this place.

But, that was still within the realm of what I planned for though.

The Faceless gang was also around to keep them in check. That was part of the arrangement I made with them. They also had people hanging around the second store, but from a good distance, so they wouldn’t be noticed by Swastika.

Why would I have them hang around here when that would raise the enemy’s suspicions? It was for exactly that reason. I wanted them to stay focused on this location as much as possible. The more of them the better. We were drawing them out. I was acting as the bait.

Was Yuna inside this costume? Or was it Yuna’s boyfriend? As long as they didn’t know with one hundred percent certainty, they wouldn’t act for no reason. If they acted and it turned out it was neither, they would end up in a gang war over nothing. Swastika was more than eager for a gang war, but they wanted it to be in an advantageous position the moment it broke out. It starting here wasn’t very convenient for them as Faceless was scattered about and not all in one place. They would want to catch Faceless when the entire gang is together all at once in an ambush. To play dirty. To gain the most while they lose the bare minimum.

As such, they wouldn’t act violently with the Faceless gang around as a deterrent.

“Uh... by the way... the arrangement we had last time... if I make another purchase... can I get the same deal as before?”

What? Had she actually shown up for that rather than because of Malory? I hadn’t actually arranged for her to come inside to deal with Malory beforehand. I thought Rosa was more than enough for that, but she’d taken her sweet time.

Was Rosa really stuck back there? Did they block the back door off too? That shouldn’t be possible though. It was closed off on all sides by a gated area for trucks to enter. Unless... Malory had someone park their vehicle to block the gate from opening while she was in here.

That’s quite annoying.

I exited from behind the counter and headed to the backroom door to remove the wedge preventing the door from opening.

“Hey, I helped you out just now, don’t you think it’s rude to ignore me? By the way, that girl is really bad news. You shouldn’t get involved with her, you understand?”

I’d forgotten about the request Lea made just now because I got distracted.

I turned back to face her and nodded.

“It’s good if you understand that. Also, what about my... request just now? Is it fine?”

I raised my hands helplessly and nodded. She did help me after all.

Her eyes brightened up as she moved toward me, but before she could wrap her arms around me, I placed my palm on her forehead to keep her at arm's length.

“Huh? What are you doing? Wasn’t that a yes?”

I stuck out my hand to her.

When she placed her hand on top of mine in a natural somewhat conditioned fashion, I shook my head from side to side.

“Huh? Not that? Then what?”

I stuck up my index finger then made a money gesture by rubbing my thumb over my index and middle finger.

“Oh yeah... the dollar. I forgot about that.”

She stuck her hand in her pocket and retrieved a dollar as she grumbled, “You’d be a much cuter mascot if you weren’t such a cheapskate.”

After I received the dollar, I put it away in a pouch. I also dropped the sucker Malory had given me inside it.

Once my hands were both free I resigned myself to my fate as a puffy mascot character and allowed Lea to hug me for the minute she paid. I counted the seconds as they went by, and as soon as time was up, I released and pushed her back.