Chapter 84: A kilo, maybe two

"Do you have the other thing I asked for?"

This question was nowhere as simple as it sounded like.

Not when I asked for a fresh dose of whatever that junkie was drugged with, all neatly and cleanly prepared and ready for use. And especially not when I asked this from a man who I believed to be heavily against drugs.

Makary... didn't act out, though. With a sigh, he reached into the inner pocket of his tuxedo and brought out a relatively huge syringe with a plastic-covered needle. And surely enough, some sort of thick liquid was rocking up and down within the syringe's container.

"I do," the gang officer admitted... Only to reach out his hand with another heavy sigh, passing the needle over.

"Why are you giving it to me?" I asked, seemingly dumbfounded. Only a moment too late I realized that without letting the man know anything about what I've planned, I couldn't expect him to understand my intentions.

"Give it to one of your men, and have them walk inside that room. Once I give the signal, have them leave the syringe on the table so that you can see what will happen."

Once again, my instructions were as clear as they were simple. That's why, when Makary squinted his eyes, now openly showing hostility all over his face, I could tell it wasn't because he misunderstood my request.

'Giving a fresh dose of a drug to someone who just got himself high with it... I think he believes I want to kill that pitiful man,' I thought, gulping my saliva down when I realized just how close I went to crossing the line Makary wouldn't allow me to cross.

Yet, contrary to my expectations, the man didn't burst out in anger. And once I gathered my wits and looked up... I realized his face was no longer hostile. And his eyes, in fact, weren't even directed at me but Fay.

Prompted by Makary's look, I turned my own eyes over... Only to see a look of casual understanding blossom on Fay's face as she retreated from the Venetian mirror with a small, knowing smirk on her face.

"Basra!" Makary called out before I could even turn my eyes back to him.

"Yes, boss?" the aide from before walked over from the shadowy corner of the room where he hid himself after carrying the glass of tea over.

"Get the syringe and the tea. Make that pitiful man drink the tea and wait. Once you hear the knock..." Makary suddenly stopped and looked over at me.

"Just place the syringe on the table, well within that sad man's reach. But if he reaches for it..." I pressed my lips together, knowing full well that what I would say next could come to bite me in the ass in the most painful way possible.

Because if my prediction proved to be wrong, I would effectively turn out to be someone who caused Makary to do something he really disliked. And for apparently no reason at that!

Basra didn't even get to place the needle on the ground when the poor man on the other side of the desk jumped out with such force the bolted-down chair nearly fell over.

"T-take.... T-t-ta-take it AWAY!" he suddenly screamed out, his eyes filled with panic... Only for him to suddenly turn to the side, bend over, and throw out with all the might left in his feeble body.

This wasn't just a random act of vomiting. The man was actively trying to throw out all of his insides, just at the mere sight of the drug that just a few minutes ago, he would be more than willing to suck dick to get his hands on!

I turned my eyes away from the insides of the room and back to Makary's now astounded face. The intense look from before vanished without a trace, replaced with utter and unadulterated shock. Then, his eyes suddenly twitched and his hand shot to his belt, right where he held his gun...

"All I know is that while the effects are pretty good right now, they are temporary. It takes some time for the body to get used to this herb, so one could mix it into whatever they like to take while avoiding most of the negative effects on their body and mind," I spoke out the exact meaning Leinei taught me about, simply translating them into terms Makary would understand and easily accept.

"As for curing addiction..."

I turned my eyes back to the Venetian mirror, giving a short look at the still throwing-out junkie and the shocked Basra inside.

"It would be too great to be true if this simple herb could cure addiction in one go," I admitted, much to Makary's disappointment. Still, while he was sad to learn that he overestimated the potential effect of the herb, he was still more than content with what I ended up showing him.

"Curing addition would probably take a month or two of consuming this kind of tea daily," I then offhandedly added, much to Makary's repeated shock which, in turn, translated into Fay's amusement.

Makary's chin suddenly grew more pronounced as he slowly turned his head over and looked at me with an expression I hadn't seen him make before.

'He must be clenching his teeth really hard,' I thought, ridding my lips of the mocking smirk and looking the man in the eye properly.

"This herb has to be fresh to have any use. That's its main limitation. And for now, I can only provide an extremely limited supply whenever I return from my..." I intentionally hesitated before squinting my eyes and turning them away.

"Whenever I return from my assignments," I completed my sentence while making it seem as just an excuse, a cover-up story for what I was actually doing or where I was going to get my hands on this miraculous herb.

"Thinking about it, I believe I could get you about a kilo every week or two? Maybe two kilos?" I muttered, rubbing my chin to appear as if I was deep in thought.

Then, I shook my head and finally put the small, slightly mocking smile back on my lips.

"Now then, where do we stand on the topic of that penthouse I asked for?"