Chapter 64 – The Old Man and the Rock Deer (Two)

After changing their clothes, Ray’s group checked their reflections in the mirror.

The clerk trailed after them, pouring out heartfelt admiration.

“My goodness! It suits you so perfectly!”

All the while, their gaze kept darting towards the inside of Philip’s jacket where the money pouch was, the golden-hued desire within their Vessel squirming in sync with their master’s glances.

“Try this on too, and oh, just a moment, this one is so pretty too! Kyahhh! What do I do!”

What do you mean, what do you do.

Philip shook his head emphatically.

“Ray, do you remember how many times that is?”

“Twelfth.”

“Hey, guys. How about this? Is it okay?”

“Yeah, uh-huh. Seems okay.”

“Now it’s the thirteenth.”

“Huh? Your answer sounds soulless? Is it really okay?”

“Wow! Veronica! It really suits you so well! You’re so pretty and beautiful, I can’t stop being amazed! Hah-hah! I’d believe you if you said you were a princess!”

After Veronica’s fashion show concluded, the group each picked one set of clothes.

Shirts and pants, a jacket, a dress and shoes.

They weren’t as flashy as the other clothes in the clothing store, but they were certainly elegant, made from materials with excellent mobility.

At the counter, Philip talked with the clerk about something and succeeded in purchasing the clothes at a 15% discount off the marked price.

As they left the clothing store, Ray asked.

“How did you get the price lowered?”

“That’s a trade secret.”

Philip grinned.

Ray was impressed.

So you can lower the price this much without using conversation tools like guns or knives.

Having left their original clothes, which they had changed out of, at the lodging, the group resumed their movement towards the hotel.

As Philip had said, the children on the street no longer picked fights; rather, some even flinched and ran away when they passed nearby.

The looks of suspicion and wariness remained.

Only, the emotions in their Vessels had changed.

Admiration, longing, envy, jealousy, and so on.

Mana of murky Hues, like muddy water, sloshed within their Vessels.

Just a change in attire could alter reactions this much.

“Is there another device that can change people’s reactions? Besides clothing.”

“Hmm… Anything related to appearance is generally like that. When you first see someone, all you can judge them by is what’s visible on the outside.”

For example, looks, attire, tone of voice, and so on.

“But the most important thing is the atmosphere the person themselves exudes. A kind of aura. So depending on the person, some can look dignified even in cheap clothes, and conversely, some can look shabby even in expensive clothes.”

Philip thought Ray belonged to the former case.

No one would believe that Ray, now wearing a well-pressed shirt and pants, was a street kid.

‘Not even enough to be a rich family’s young master.’

A modifier beyond that was needed.

How to put it, it felt like looking at someone of an entirely different race.

Tap— tap— tap—

The group continued moving, taking in the street scenery.

Before long, they arrived at 22nd Street and could spot the Gallot Hotel towering among the other buildings.

Veronica and Philip were amazed.

“It’s incredibly tall. I’ve never seen a building this tall before.”

“Yeah. A whole five stories.”

Objectively speaking, it wasn’t a floor count you could call particularly high.

However, among the buildings the kids had seen, it was the one with the highest number of floors.

At the hotel entrance, surrounded by a reddish-brown wall with an antique feel, two guards in uniforms stood in solemn postures.

In front of them, people who appeared to be guests were seen coming and going sporadically.

Philip spoke.

“It seems they don’t do separate checks like ID inspections or anything. Wouldn’t it be better to just go in rather than keep waiting here?”

They had changed clothes, but now that they were about to enter, they lacked confidence.

According to Skyle, the client was staying inside the hotel building with personal bodyguards.

Almost never going out, just waiting for the mercenary group to return with search results.

He would come out someday.

But since they didn’t know when that would be, blindly waiting would be a huge waste of time.

“Let’s go in.”

Ray strode ahead.

At the movement taken without any signal, Philip and Veronica, startled, followed behind.

“Ray, wait a moment, but we could get caught, so we should agree on a story in advance—”

“No, we won’t get caught.”

Ray’s answer to Philip’s question was grounded.

When their eyes had briefly met earlier, there wasn’t a trace of hostility or wariness in the guards’ Vessels.

As they neared the main gate, Philip and Veronica’s anxiety grew.

They could feel the guards’ gazes.

It felt like at any moment, their collars would be grabbed, and they’d hear a fierce demand to prove their identity.

The moment they unconsciously bowed their heads deeply.

“It’s okay.”

A whisper from Ray in front reached them.

Simultaneously, the anxiety in their hearts melted away as if by magic.

Raising their heads again, Philip and Veronica followed Ray through the main gate with relatively confident strides.

There was no hindrance whatsoever.

Rather, when they turned their heads back and made eye contact, the guards even nodded their heads with faint smiles, greeting them.

Philip muttered.

“…This is really working.”

On the way from the main gate to the hotel entrance, they also encountered quite a number of guests.

All of them passed by, smiling at Ray’s group or nodding in greeting.

The vast majority of the guests were affluent individuals who had come to Sector 48 for various purposes like business trips or travel.

Unlike the lower-sector residents who lived each day tenaciously, they had an air of leisure ingrained in them.

Furthermore, among them existed an implicit bond as those far removed from the ‘misfortune’ of being born and living in a ‘lower sector.’

“Is this also because of our attire?”

It felt quite novel to Ray.

The fact that people could show such a high level of goodwill from the very first moment they saw someone.

“I think it probably is.”

While receiving greetings from the guests, the group completely blended into the hotel’s atmosphere.

Passing the entrance, they headed towards the U-shaped desk located in the center of the first floor.

The manager, with a dignified impression, greeted them with a smile.

“How may I help you? Young ladies and gentlemen.”

“We want to go back to our room, but we forgot the room number!”

“Under what name was the check-in?”

“John Grid. That’s our grandfather’s name.”

At Philip’s words, the manager told them the room number without much suspicion.

Going up the stairs, the group arrived in front of room 207, located at the end of a corridor laid with a red carpet.

Knock knock.

The door opened, and a man with a rugged appearance, dressed in a suit, appeared.

“…What? Who are you kids? Seems like you’ve come to the wrong room.”

Philip and Veronica instinctively flinched and stepped back, and Ray stepped forward and spoke.

“We came to see Mr. John Grid.”

A brief silence followed.

The man frowned and said.

“As far as I know, no one was scheduled to visit the President today. Especially not kids like you.”

“We came through the Skyle Mercenary group. We wanted to hear more details about the Rockdeer you’re looking for.”

The furrow on the man’s brow deepened.

“Just as expected from some loose-lipped mercenary brats. Carelessly leaking client information….”

Muttering quietly, the man then spoke to Ray in a voice tinged with faint anger.

“The President is busy. He’s not someone kids like you can meet just because you want to.”

“We might be able to help.”

“Whoever sent you, tell them if they want to meet the President, they should at least show the courtesy of coming in person.”

The man’s attitude was firm.

Through the emotions in his Vessel, one could also confirm he had absolutely no intention of backing down.

‘Even if I leave the talking to Philip, it won’t be of any use.’

For now, it seemed certain that someone named John Grid was inside.

Also, judging by the presences, it was estimated there were more bodyguards inside.

‘The rooms are one on the left and one on the right past the entrance hall.’

While gauging the room layout from the scenery visible behind the man, Ray also planned how to subdue the other side and get in.

When what he wanted was clear, he didn’t discriminate between means and methods.

That was the boy’s way.

A clue about the Rainbow was sufficient to make it a target.

“If you understand, get going. Before I force you out.”

Just as Ray was about to gather Mana and push off the floor.

─It seems we have guests. They say they want to hear about the animal I’m looking for. Show them in.

A voice came from inside.

The man disappeared for a moment, leaving the door open, then returned and guided Ray’s group inside with a displeased face.

“Young guests, I see. You said you came after hearing from Skyle?”

An elderly man with whitish hair was sitting on the sofa in the central living room.

A faint smile was on his lips, but he gave the impression that both body and mind were worn out and lacking energy.

“Cheffer. What could a dying old man be busy with? While waiting for good news, isn’t it fine to receive guests as a pastime?”

“If that is what the President says….”

The man who had been blocking the door bowed his head to the old man and then approached behind the sofa.

Including him, there were ten bodyguards in total.

However, one of them had a slightly different vibe; he was dressed closer to casual clothes than a suit and looked young, in his early twenties.

“Little guests. Please, have a seat. If it’s alright, I’d like to request an introduction first. Did Skyle send you to deliver news?”

The old man pointed to the sofa opposite the table as he spoke.

Ray sat down first, and Philip and Veronica sat beside him, showing a bit of hesitation.

Then they looked at each other.

‘He says to introduce ourselves.’

‘What do we say?’

The group’s identity was clear.

A community of fate cooperating mutually for each other’s goals.

But when introducing that to others, they didn’t know how to explain it.

The two looked at Ray simultaneously, and indeed, an answer flowed smoothly from the leader’s mouth.

“A mercenary group.”

Of course, it was a completely unexpected answer.

‘Philip, were we a mercenary group?’

‘Seems so. Probably?’

‘If we’re a mercenary group, we should have a name. What should we call it?’

‘As long as it’s not a senseless name like Prang, it should be fine.’

‘……?’

While Philip and Veronica conversed with their eyes, Ray continued talking with the old man.

“A mercenary group? The kind I know? The ones who wander various sectors, accepting and carrying out requests?”

“Yes. And we weren’t sent by Skyle. We came because we heard about the animal you’re looking for and wanted to get more detailed information.”

A brief silence followed.

Suddenly, the old man burst into loud laughter as if he understood the situation.

“Kehehehehe! A mercenary group! Yes, it could be a mercenary group. It would be the youngest mercenary group I’ve ever seen!”

Ray watched the old man’s Vessel.

To grasp his exact emotional state.

Even if he was laughing on the outside, the feelings he harbored inside could be different.

But the old man’s Vessel was full of emotional traces carved over time, making it impossible to accurately grasp his current psychological state.

‘…He’s similar to Grandpa Graham.’

Ray focused his attention on the old man’s facial expression as an alternative.

Recognizing the other person’s face was still a difficult task, but through steady practice, his skill had definitely improved compared to before.

“I see. So the young gentleman with white hair is the leader of the mercenary group. If you want to hear the story, I should tell it.”

“President, they could be spies sent by a competitor….”

“What would they gain by sending spies to a company already fading into ruin? Securing dozens of water sources and supplying drinking water everywhere is just a glory of the past. So. How much of the story did you hear from Skyle?”

The old man seemed quite pleased.

Like a grandfather telling old tales to his grandchildren, his face even showed a hint of excitement.

“We heard that when you were young, you got lost in the wilderness, and with the help of a Rockdeer made of water, you were able to save your life. And.”

Ray caught his breath.

“We heard that a gem emitting a blue light was embedded in the Rockdeer’s forehead.”