Mystery: Mr. Witch and Ms. Hunter

Chapter 25: Altaïr's Thoughts

Altaïr leaned against the back of the sofa downstairs, and put the revolver into the drawer of the coffee table. Although the spirit coming from the room upstairs was violent, Altaïr could feel that Venata was effectively restraining it, so promotion would not be a problem.

Vinata's promotion is really fast. She is now a mid-sequence Beyonder. When she was Sequence 8, I couldn't compete with her in a head-on battle. Now that she has been promoted to Sequence 7, I'm afraid that what I say will be less and less convincing to her.

Altaïr sighed and rubbed his swollen temple.

Just as Altaïr was racking his brains over how to get along with Venata in the future, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Who would come to see me at this time? Altair was a little confused. It gets dark very early in Backlund. Even though it was just before seven o'clock, it was already dark.

Although he was a little worried about whether there would be trouble again, Altaïr finally went to open the door. Standing outside the door was a middle-aged man dressed simply, with dirt stains on his cotton cuffs. Altaïr remembered this man. He was Mr. Statham from next door, Sophie's father.

"It's so late, what can I do for you?"

Altaïr asked politely,
"Would you like to come into the living room and talk?"

"No," Mr. Statham shook his head. "Don't bother. I'm here today to return the two pounds you gave Sophie."

"Didn't I say that I would give it to Sophie?" Altaïr frowned, puzzled. "I think she deserves it."

"No, this is not a job worth two pounds. Besides, the food that Sophie brought back during your absence has helped us a lot. My family likes those sweets very much. Although they are not fresh, they are still delicious enough."

Mr. Statham stated frankly,

"To be honest, this money was very tempting to my family. However, the Lord of Storms taught us not to accept compensation that exceeds the value of our work. So, I only let her keep the eleven pence in change."

Mr. Statham said with a serious expression.

"...I understand. You are a gentleman of noble character. May the goddess bless you and your family. When Sophie is free, she is welcome to come to my house."

Altaïr breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and accepted the two one-pound notes. Since the other party insisted, he could not say anything else, so he could only watch Mr. Statham leave his home. Then, from the house next door, he could vaguely hear the laughter of children and the sound of calling for family members to eat. Altaïr could see no one else except himself.

Altair was stunned for a moment, then sat down on the steps at the door, looking up at the looming red moon in the sky, and for a moment he was a little absent-minded. He sat there quietly until Venata walked behind him without knowing when.

"what are you doing?"

Venata stood at the door, her tall figure blocking the draft from the door, making Altaïr feel a little warm on his back. It seemed that because she had just been promoted to an arsonist, her face was a little flushed, and she exhaled white mist when she spoke.

"I got promoted successfully. Do you have any wine here? Blackland or Langqi will do. I want to celebrate."

Having said this, Vinata licked her lips somewhat intoxicatedly, as if recalling the aroma of the liquor.

Altaïr looked back at Venata for a moment, then suddenly laughed out loud, leaving Venata bewildered.

"What's wrong with you? Are you frozen?" Venata reached out to touch Altaïr's forehead, wanting to see if he had a fever. "It's disgusting to smile at others like that."

"Excuse me... A-choo!"

Altaïr came to his senses, but at this moment a cool breeze blew by, and before he could take the cold medicine he bought, he sneezed again.

"I don't usually drink, but I remember there should be some wine in the cupboard that my friends brought when they came over during the New Year. No one has touched it... I'll go back and look for it."

Altaïr stood up and escorted Venata back into the house.

"You are a person who doesn't smoke or drink..."

Vinata said incredulously, "You don't smoke, don't drink, and don't go to places like the Golden Rose. It's hard to imagine how you usually live in Backlund. Don't you have a problem down there?"

"You have a problem down there, your whole family has a problem down there."

Altaïr rolled his eyes at Venata. "Clearly I have better things to do than drink and smoke cigarettes and hang out at whorehouses."

"Hey, now I'm the only one left in my family anyway."

Vinata said nonchalantly, "What's the more meaningful thing you're talking about, assassinating a noble? Or seducing the underage girl next door?"

"Be careful with your words, Sophie is an innocent and naive little girl."

Altaïr pulled out a dusty wooden box from the cupboard, and a slight shaking sound came from inside.

"I still have a lot of things to do, such as paying attention to the stock market, doing housework, and occasionally volunteering at Dame Tripsy's foundation. This was given to me by a volunteer friend at the time."

"You're still trading stocks?" Vinata raised her eyebrows. "That requires a certain level of professional knowledge."

"Yes, because I don't have the relevant knowledge, I am very cautious when making transactions. Fortunately, my Sequence 8 is 'Instigator', which gives me an excellent talent for persuading others, which is also a necessary ability when acquiring shares from others."

Altaïr opened the wooden box and took out the bottle of wine.

"After all, for a company like Backlund Bicycle Company that is generally considered to have a bright future, the dividends of its stocks fluctuate around 6% to 8%. So far, the share price has risen to around 5 pounds, so it would be a big premium to enter the market now."

"By the way, I have about 1000 shares. I bought them shortly after I became a Beyonder. The share price was still 8 soli per share at that time."

Altaïr said with some complacency.

"The dividends from these stocks will be used to pay for the installments of this house, and there will be a certain amount of surplus. In fact, the dividends for one year are enough to buy the house in full, but I don't like the feeling of spending too many pounds at once, which will easily make me develop a habit of spending lavishly."

"That means you can get nearly 400 pounds in dividends every six months?" Vinata asked enviously.

"That's right." Altaïr nodded. "After all, I'm usually frugal and don't have much to spend money on, and being an assassin is a very lucrative job."

"But as a gangster, you should make a lot of money, right?"

Altaïr asked curiously, "What did you spend it on?"

Vinata's face suddenly turned red, but luckily her skin color was wheat-colored, so the blush was not very obvious.

"I like horse racing and often bet on horses at underground racecourses. I spend a lot of the money I earn on betting on horses and drinking..."

Vinata whispered.

"You're just a college student, you always do these messy things all day long." Altaïr shook his head helplessly and poured wine into Vinata's glass. "I didn't notice before that this wine is the special red wine of White Maple Manor... I was a little reluctant to give it to you, but since you've been promoted today, I'll give it to you."

"You don't drink it, so why are you reluctant? But thank you anyway!"

Vinata took the glass, shook it gently, and drank it all in one gulp.

"It tastes good, but the alcohol content is a little low." Vinata licked her lips with satisfaction, "Another cup?"

"Don't talk about eating and drinking for free in such a high-sounding way."

"This is over three pounds of good wine, don't treat it as three pence of Southwell beer," Altaïr complained.

"So, what abilities did you gain after the promotion?"

Altaïr poured himself a glass of wine, took a sip, and frowned.

"I don't know what's so good about this..."

Vinata counted carefully on her fingers:

"Flame manipulation, fire running, weapon proficiency, physical enhancement... that's about it. Anyway, if I don't use other magical items, I can beat five of you."

"How dare you say that..." Altaïr was a little annoyed. "It seems that your ability to provoke has also increased."

"Of course. I really hope you can become a witch sooner so that I can see what abilities you can gain by being a man."

Venata replied jokingly.

Altaïr was silent for a while, then picked up the bottle expressionlessly, screwed the lid on, put the bottle back into the box, and found a seal in the closet to seal the box.

This guy is even more annoying after he was promoted to Sequence 7... Although I know that this is a manifestation of his inability to control his spirituality after being promoted, causing everything he says to sound like a provocation, I am still angry... Just like Gagran's charm, even though I know that it is an extraordinary ability, I still can't control myself from imagining those erotic scenes between the two of them.

Actually, the hunter path is not that good. Who knows, one day I might get beaten to death for saying something too irritating? Altaïr thought to himself in a self-consoling way.

So, the night that Venata was promoted to Arsonist passed with the bickering between Venata and Altaïr.

(PS: I am so tired~ I spent an hour and a half coding this chapter after class. Now my fingers are cramping. I will update the second chapter at 20: pm. Also, I would like to remind everyone that there will be no updates on Saturdays and Sundays. If you recommend more than chapters, there will be an update.)
(End of this chapter)