First Target: Mistral City Treasurer Part 1

"The sun is reaching noon, it's gonna get hot soon," grumbled Ace as he walks along the streets of Mistral City, "why is it so hard to find the cheapest tavern here? This is what I hate when I don't count my money, maybe I got to start setting a side for future in case I'm low again" he continued as he walks to a door with a sign 'Happy Times'.

"Welcome to Happy Times, where we wish you happiness...." the waitress stopped halfway as she stared at the visitor with a wry smile. In front of her was a man who looked like as if he had just fought a hundred battles. His clothes had wrinkles, leaves sticking out of his unkempt hair and dirt over his face.

"How much for a night?" asked the man. The waitress suddenly swung her serving tray towards the man, but was shocked when she realised he stopped it halfway with a pinch of his fingers.

Suddenly, the pressure of the room dropped making the waitress unable to breath. "Look here woman, I don't want trouble here. Swing that again and I'll show no mercy" the man warned as he stared straight into her eyes.

As the pressure of the room returned to normal, the waitress gasped for air, cold sweat covered her body as she tried her best to stand. The owner of the tavern suddenly came beside her with a smile, placing a hand in front of her. "What seems to be the issue here?" He asked politely.

"Seems like you're the owner here" the man answered while looking at the owner. "I came asking her how much it was for a night to stay here and she suddenly swung this at me" the man continued while raising the serving tray towards the owner.

"I do apologise for the bad service that you have received, I can make it up to you by giving you a one night stay here for free, how does that sound?" the owner suggested.

"Sounds good to me, I'll be going in then" the man replied. "May I know your name sir? For documentation sake", the owner asked as he was bringing the man over to the room. "Ace", the man replied as he went inside the room and closing the door.

The owner stood in front of the door for awhile as his face slowly changed. He straightened himself up and went back to the counter where the waitress was still standing there.

"Sir, I can explain myself, I ..." the waitress stopped halfway as the owner raised his hand. "Serena, you're lucky he only stopped you, if I did not intervene, you wouldn't be here anymore. Not because of me, but him" the owner said as he raised the service tray to her face.

"I suggest you apologise to him when you have the chance", the owner continued as he passed the tray and walked to his office.

Sarah stood there rooted staring at the serving tray as there was a flattened space at one side. 'How did he do this with two fingers? It's difficult to even bend it even with my strength she thought through her head. Slapping herself with both hands,'keep calm Sarah, I will apologise to him later' as she went to continue cleaning the area before the lunch crowd comes in.

"Fuck this, I'm just going to set a pouch that I think is good enough for the next time I go out again. Why count when you can weigh I always say" Ace groaned to himself before taking off his clothes and slumping on the bed. "Got to get enough rest, big job tonight" before shutting his eyelids and snoring.