Chapter 56: Friendly conversation

Although I know where the Tyrone brothers will be, that does not stop me from doing a little sightseeing. Like, who in the world will ever say that they truly saw the world they created face to face? He would first finish with his sightseeing, then go and deal with the Tyrone siblings. He already knew where their hideout would be, so a little detour wouldn’t be so bad. They were creatures of habit. They would go to a big battle, come back all beaten and wounded, lick their wounds, and then they would start the hunt again. And they would be predictable. And other villains also noticed the act of the Tyrone brothers. I made it so. I remembered that I wrote something about something happening to one of them around this particular time. Although I don’t truly know what that something is, I just skipped around it. After all, their role wasn’t set to do anything monumental. I remembered that it was one of their enemies that caused this, and I believe it’s around this period it happened.

As I kept walking, I kept seeing the scenery around me, and I became more fascinated by it. I then saw something that drew my attention and immediately went toward it.

Without waiting for any permission, I immediately jumped toward the person’s direction without even an ounce of respect or disrespect.

"Nice to meet you, Frederick Tyrone."

"...Excuse me, who are you? And why do you know me?" he said while moving back slowly.

"You don’t have to feel fright. I come in peace. I am just here for some perfectly healthy discussion," I said.

"Healthy discussion, you said. And do tell what that healthy discussion is about," he said.

"Although it’s healthy, I don’t think it would be wise to talk about it here. After all, this is an open place. We need somewhere more private. Words do fly, my friend, and they may fly to the ear of someone we do not warrant," I said, while also looking around.

"Hmph, and you said it’s a healthy discussion," he said.

I could see his untrusting look. He doesn’t trust me and doesn’t believe me. And that’s fully expected. Who will trust a stranger who comes out, says your full name, and demands that you listen to a discussion that couldn’t be said in the midst of people? Literally nobody will ever trust that person at all. Especially people like the Tyrones, who will have plenty of enemies, both known and unknown. So I truly understand his lack of trust for me.

But even with that, I still have to talk to him. I have found my prey, and I ain’t letting him go. So after some back and forth between us, we later came to a little agreement between us.

We decided to go to a diner in the town to discuss it. We felt that if both our hands were full, it would be harder for anyone of us to pull any tricks without the other not noticing, and we can also use it to talk.

Although I felt that it’s just too much, I still went along with it. It doesn’t matter the amount of money I spend. As long as I convince him, it doesn’t fully matter. As soon as we reached the diner, I wanted to dive into the conversation immediately without even wasting any bit of time, but my partner decided for the cuisine to arrive, that we can start the conversation once the food is brought to us. Thankfully I didn’t have to wait for too long. The food was brought to us after waiting close to 5 minutes. 5 minutes of weird silence between us.

"They said you are the go-to between you and your brother, that you are the one that gets things done in the right way, quickly and efficiently," I said.

"And what about that?" he asked back at me.

"That means that the last mission that you and your brother did, that any enemies that you guys have will have more animosity for you, rather than your brother. After all, you are the true brain of the operation, while your brother is more like the brawn."

He gave me a look that said keep going.

"A news has begun spreading in town, that one of your enemies you failed to kill fully is out to get you, and that enemy is related to the hero, and now they are out to get your brother and you. Maybe you have heard of that news," I said.

He looked at me like nothing was wrong, but I saw the little unconscious twitching of his hand.

"And so what? What if that’s true? What’s your purpose here, Mr. Man? What do you want?" he said.

"My purpose? I don’t really want much. I am just here to do some business. A business to prevent some people’s death, if they are interested," I said.

He looked at me and asked what I meant.

"I meant what I meant. I am not here for nothing more than a partnership. You have a problem, I fix it for you, and you give me something in return. A little trade, that’s what I call it," I said.

"In this trade, I am more of the person with the higher veto power. I want something, and you have the means to get me that something," I said.

"What do you mean, Mr.? And how sure are you that I would agree to your demand?" he said.

"I mean what I said. I have power over you. I am sure that your enemies are numerous, and they all want to find you and your brother. But you are both too good at hiding. But that would be a different case if they had your location, isn’t it, my friend? A great chaos would ensue, don’t you think?

"..."

"But I wouldn’t do that. After all, you are my dear friend and partner. And friends don’t do that to each other. But that would be a different case if you aren’t my friend," I said with a smile.

I said it with a smile, and I heard the words I said myself. I have played a villain for too long that it’s now easy for me to sound like them without even trying. Like, how can anybody throw that kind of threat while continuing to smile?

From my words to Frederick, I could see the change in his expression, which was no longer subtle.

His face had already turned pale, like he was wondering how I knew who he was.

On a normal basis, most villains wear costumes to do their deeds to protect their identity. It’s like the basic thing both heroes and villains should know.

So there is always a low chance of their identity ever being exposed. So how I know his identity is something he couldn’t possibly imagine.

He almost wanted to argue the point with me, but I am sure he too saw that there wouldn’t be any point in that. During my conversation with him, I wasn’t unsure of his identity at all. I tackled him like it was something I was very sure about, and he himself could sense that perfectly. So there would be no point arguing that.

"....You."

He said, looking at me, but I just smiled without saying anything for some time.

"Don’t worry, this is only a friendly conversation process, nothing more."

"I don’t think this conversation is peaceful or friendly from the beginning. It was never those words at all."

"But truly, this is just a friendly, peaceful conversation."

"If it’s not peaceful or friendly, I would rather expose your identity, your location, and your hideout to your enemies. And I am sure they would be thrilled about the information," I said.

"..Monster."

"I don’t think our friendship has reached that point yet, the point where you would call me that," I said with a smile.

"....You, how much do you know?"

"Hmm, that’s a nice question. Let me think about the answer first."

I replied with interest.

My attitude was still calm and normal, like I am finding no joy with this, even though a smile was plastered on my face.

"Well, that depends on your attitude from now on. Don’t you think? And I am sure you cherish our friendship enough to not do anything unsightly," I said.

"Okay, just tell me what you want. What does the partnership entail about? How do me and my brother fit into all this?" he said.

"Our partnership is very simple. I just need you guys to work under me, and to work with some other people without ever thinking of betraying and selling us out. It’s that simple," I said.

"Is that truly all? I am sure there’s still a lot that you aren’t saying," he said.

"You’re right about that, but that is for the future you to face. What you have to face now is what I have told you. So are you in, or are you in?" I asked without even giving him any other choice.

"I am in, but I have to talk to my brother about this. We are not that close. We are both working through some issues at the moment. We are just partnering up because of some situation. I don’t know if he would agree with me or not. From your tone, I am sure that you need both of us, so could you possibly give us some time? I would try to convince my brother to agree," he said.

"I truly hope for both of your sakes that he agrees, that both of you wouldn’t plan something underhanded and dirty. I truly hope for your sake you wouldn’t turn out to be my enemy," I said with a smile on my face.

---ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮