The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

146 The First Guest

“RJC is an evil group. Do you think it is okay to run a business where humans fight like animals without rules? They employ minors who have no choice to earn money other than by fighting.”

The group of young men just stood there listening to Martin’s babble. As it should have been, the atmosphere of the meeting became lively once the man had rejoined.

“I heard they tripled the fee rate for Redvalley Street. They already becoming just like Apollo.” Ian said.

“What is Apollo?” Martin asked. He was the only member who had the least knowledge but always spoke the most.

“That’s a big mafia group that once ruled Redvalley and Bluevalley streets. The leader was Viggo Fisher. You must have heard of the name at least once.” Ian explained.

“Oh.. I heard about it when I was probably in middle school. Damn! So Marcel managed to beat Apollo?! Oh, I heard Viggo Fisher died in an accident, wasn’t he? So it was just a lie?” Marcel asked again.

Calvin nodded, “It was. The true cause of Viggo Fisher’s death was that he was killed by Marcel Douglas. But it seems that Marcel was strong enough to silence the police and the media at that time. Maybe it also was because from the start, Viggo was a mafia, so the police didn’t want to work the case up to prevent a commotion in the public.”

“But the problem we’re still facing now is that we still don’t know where the real location of RJC’s headquarters is. Although it’s not a hundred percent yet, I can already judge that RJC is much bigger and stronger than Hell Gate.” Ian explained. He was sitting in the office chair in the old radio room.

Calvin nodded, “The Underground Cave is way too great. I could find at least fifty guards inside when I once visited the place. The other members guarding the inside and outside of Redvalley and Bluevalley streets were not even counted. And you guys should have known too that the liquor, women, and gambling businesses are the fast cash flows with great profits.”

.....

During this winter break, Calvin Lee had stopped by Bluevalley Street several times under the guise of buying dinner there. Well.. even though he did it willingly because the food there was really good.

“Now, I don’t wonder why Marcel Douglas always wears expensive brand stuff,” Nico mumbled.

Instantly, everyone turned to him, “How did you know his stuff is expensive?”

“Of course he knows. I think everyone can tell that the clothes he is wearing are all luxury ones. He looks like a model. I think I will also start to improve my style to be like that,” Troy looked thoughtful.

“Geez.. You better not try to do that, Troy. You and Marcel are different. Marcel has a supportive face when paired with luxurious clothes.” Ian replied.

Martin laughed, “You’re more suited to a workshop outfit, Tory!” he added, inviting the others to laugh.

Troy glanced at Martin in annoyance and tossed the drink can on the table beside him, but Martin quickly dodged so that the empty can hit the wall instead. In Jita Kyoei’s group, Martin had the best movements and fastest reflexes. He gave a mocking expression to Troy who failed to hit him.

“Actually, I know that the clothes Marcel usually wears are expensive brands because I often see my sisters reading fashion magazines. But I swear they really are expensive. Even it cost like hundreds of dollars for a single t-shit.” Nicko said.

“Hundreds of dollars for a t-shirt? Gosh, that’s insane,” Troy muttered.

“And he still raising the fee rate on Redvalley Street or as they usually said ‘The Deposit’.” Calvin added.

“Wouldn’t that be a strong impetus for us to get rid of that group? They seem to be wolves in sheep’s clothing.” Ian said.

“I’m going to send some boys to go undercover and look for the whereabouts of RJC’s headquarters. I’ve been checking for the past two days that they’re looking for additional members. They’ve even started looking at studios in suburban areas. I’m sure it won’t take more than a week for the information we need to get in my hands.” Frank said.

***

Emma opened the small door on the fence and stepped inside. But this time, something was different. If Emma usually looked alone when she entered the house, now someone was following her from behind.

“You have a beautiful hose,” Rachel said. She looked impressed at the front view of Emma’s house and yard. Even when covered by snow, the yard looked pretty with lots of ornaments and plants that were not leafy.

“Thank you. My dad’s assistant made it. It will look prettier in another season, tho,” Emma answered by continuing to walk in. She smiled happily because she could share the work of a famous architect who was paid by Jonas to build Emma’s small palace. Finally, she could show it off to others.

“Have a seat, please,” Emma said by storing her bag on a shelf attached to the wall. “I’ll drive you home later. So you don’t have to worry.”

Rachel nodded, “Thanks.”

“Would you like a drink?” Emma asked as she stepped into the kitchen, “Actually, I’ve never had guests. So I’m a bit clumsy, you know,” She laughed.

“It’s all right, Emma. I rarely have guests to myself either. You can give me anything to drink,” Rachel smiled.

Emma sat beside Rachel with two glasses of hot jasmine tea and placed them on the guest table in front of the sofa, “So, we have to find out about the Creeper first. That way, we can stop their business. All I know is that the Creeper has several branch groups. It happens that it turns out that all this time, the thugs I often fought because they always committed crimes on the street were branches of the Creeper. I’m sure their income is currently going down drastically because they can no longer bully people on the streets ever since I started patrolling. Maybe that’s also the reason they committed a very serious fraud in the loan business.”

“Seems like you’re right, Emma. If they had imposed a loan with such unreasonable interest a long time ago, surely my grandfather wouldn’t have been trapped. My grandfather said that he was not the only one who was trapped, but his friends around his age were also the victims. They had never heard of any rumours of loan fraud before.” Rachel looked thoughtful.

“Looks like the Creepers are in for a problem that they need to make as much money as possible,” Emma muttered.

“The night after tomorrow is my grandfather’s shift for work at the printing company. The factory is in a Creeper-controlled area. Are you off that day? I’ll only attend one class in the morning. I should have finished my lecture in the middle of the day.” Rachel explained.

“I have all day off. Then, I’ll pick you up at campus. How about it?” Emma asked.

Rachel nodded, “Okay.”

Then, a smile appeared on Emma’s lips. She looked at Rachel intently, “Rachel, actually I have something I want to show you,”

Emma opened the door next to the refrigerator and pressed the light switch. Then, she turned to Rachel who was standing behind her and smiled widely, “Come on down,”

Rachel’s face looked confused. She wondered what the popular girl wanted to show her in the basement of that beautiful house. Could it be that she kept some motorbikes there? Because as Rachel remembered, Emma also liked bikes.

However, Rachel’s guess was wrong. Down there didn’t store motorbikes or anything related. It was just an empty room with a smooth wooden floor and a wall full of a large mirror, “Oh.. It’s a ballet room, isn’t it?” she muttered.

Emma nodded approvingly, “I usually practice ballet here alone,”

“I see,” Rachel gave a nod. “Are you going to take me to practice ballet here?” she guessed.

“If you want, that could be done too. But I have another purpose by taking you to my practice room.” Emma answered.

Rachel’s brows furrowed, “What’s that?”

Emma smiled again and then stepped towards the door that seemed vaguely joined with the wall. It was a fairly large sliding door.

As soon as Emma opened it, Rachel was stunned. Emma smiled even more with satisfaction when she saw Rachel’s expression that matched her expectations.

Behind the closet-like door, there was a medium-sized additional room. Inside there were martial arts training equipment that Emma usually used. Three hanging punching bags of various sizes were attached to a rail and connected to a steel frame. That way, the row of bags could be pulled out into the practice room.

“Holy God! This is.. madness! This is so great, Emma!” Rachel’s two blue irises seemed to tremble at the contents of the warehouse. There were even various martial tools that she had never seen before.

“These are all tools I use to practice. Incidentally, I master some martial arts.” Emma said, leaning against the longest boxing bag hanging beside her which weighed eighty kilograms so it didn’t move an inch as she leaned back.

“Who are you, really?” Rachel glared at Emma as she narrowed her eyes.

Rachel’s behaviour made Emma laugh, “I’m Emma Hilland. Actually, I’ve been practising various martial arts since I was little because of my father’s obsession. I ended up in Handway City because I wanted to live a new life.”

“Looks like you’re not tired of the luxurious life, are you?” Rachel said. She could guess that Emma was a girl who came from a family that could be said.. very rich. There must be something that made her decide to get out of her family’s house and live alone with a dual identity. But she was sure it was not the wealth that was the problem.

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