Chapter 35 : Other End of Bargain

Mr. K throws Carponio on Rosario's table. Carponio groaned in pain. Rosario coldly peek up at Noche. The rest of the customers looked at them curiously.

Rosario smirked. "Bravo! You actually bring him alive."

"Curious," said Noche as she sat down. "Looking at your capabilities, Carponio isn't that much of a threat. I have a feeling I'm working with a small fish."

Rosario laughs. "Don't worry. I'll keep up to my end of the bargain." He stands up. "Let's move to the VIP room," said Rosario as he gestured to Noche to go ahead.

Noche confidently walks ahead of him.

"What about Carponio?" Vidonne asks.

"Oh, you can have him," Rosario answered indifferently.

"No, NO NO NO. Please... I'm sorry. I-Im sorry. I won't trespass your territory again. I promise," Carponio begged.

But Rosario ignored him. Carponio kept on begging as Rosario walked away with Noche and Mr. K.

The VIP room is spacious with a karaoke set and few sofas. '

"So, what info do you want to get?" Rosario asked as soon as they sat down.

"Mademoiselle Mendoza's Cirque de Sombre," said Noche straightforward.

"Hm? I didn't know bounty hunters are hunting freaks these days," said Rosario as he took a sip.

Noche stayed silent.

"Cirque de Sombre always changes their show's schedule. They only open once or twice a week. Sometimes, they don't even perform for two whole weeks. Cirque de Sombre tickets are limited to 100 tickets per show, including 10 to 15 VIP tickets," Rosario explained.

"With the fame of Cirque de Sombre and very limited seats, not only the ticket price would be high but we're also competing on who gets the seat first," said Noche.

"Correct. But, with my influence, I can get you in if you'd like," Rosario offered.

"For how much?" Noche asked. "Surely you won't let us in so easily for free."

Rosario chuckled. "You're right. But I'll make an exception for tonight. I'll let you in for free. I want to be on your good side."

"Fair enough. I'll let you know if someone hires me to kill you," said Noche coldly. She put a holographic card on the table. "Send me details about Cirque de Sombre to that number."

"Hmm... I'll tell my informant to send you the files. Don't expect much tho. He's not nice with paper works," said Rosario.

"Just a simple essay about it is enough," Noche replied as she stood up. "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr Rosario."

Rosario stands up. "Sure. Anytime," he replied as he offered his hand.

Noche silent for a moment before she gives a firm handshake.

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"That's slightly unexpected. I thought it would be harder to squeeze out information from Rosario," said Kaizo as they walked out of the bar.

"Perks of being class S bounty hunter. Everyone wants to be on my good side," said Axion indifferently.

"Hmph. What's so great about you anyway?"

Axion stopped. She went silent as she lowered her head. Kaizo looked at her in wonder. He can feel a moment of gloom around her.

"I kill shits. That's what I can do," Axion grimly answered before he walks away.

Suddenly, they heard a loud sound. They looked at the source of the sound. Shadow of two figures emanates from an alley right beside the Vivre bar. One of the shadows seems to be bowing. They can hear a girl's voice apologizing countless times. Kaizo was about to check it, but Axion stopped him.

"Silently," she whispers. She looks around, trying to spot any CCTV. Kaizo tiptoes to the mouth of the alley. He peeked to see an alien girl being scolded by someone who seems to be a manager of Vivre bar.

"I'm sorry, I will be careful next time...." the girl pleaded.

"This should be the last time you dropped my goods. You hear me! Your salary for a month won't be enough to afford all of this!" said the alien-man.

Kaizo's mask scans their faces. His data recognizes the girl. It's one of the missing aliens. He put his hand on his sword, but Axion stopped him again.

"Axion..."

"I know," said Axion, cutting off Kaizo. "But we need to be patient. She's not the only victim in our database. If we get her now, our identity will be compromised, and it will be harder for us to save the rest of the victims," Axion calmly explained.

Kaizo clenched his fist. He looked back at the girl.

"I'll come back for you," Kaizo thought to himself.

"Let's go back to the circus. The rest of our team must be waiting for us," said Axion.

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"Oh, you two went on a date?" Ramenman teased.

Kaizo coldly looked away.

Axion chuckled. "We were investigating something," said Axion as she peeked at Kaizo. "How's your side of the investigation?"

"I've listed some people that come to the circus. I didn't find anyone that matched our list of missing persons. But I've listed people who have certain criteria," said Rum.

"What kind of criteria?" Kaizo asked.

"I've listed people who are rich, have a big influence, and people that might be a suspect," said Rum as she handed over a computer tablet.

"As expected of a merchant's daughter. You have keen eyes on your customers," said Axion.

"We merchants need to know our customer's interest in order to have good business," said Rum with a smug face.

"What about the rest?" Kaizo asked.

"I've made a quick summary of the Cirque du Stellar member schedule. I might need some time to get more detail," said Lahap as he handed over his tablet.

"Any suspicious member?" Axion asked.

"Hard to say. Some of the circus members are so eccentric. I'm not sure if they just have that eccentric trait of an artist, or they're just simply crazy," said Lahap.

Axion laughed. "Understandable."

"You found something?" Kaizo asked Ramenman.

"Similar to Rum. I made a rough list of people I met on the street. But, there's something that catches my eyes," said Ramenman, slightly dramatic.

They all looked at Ramenman with a raised eyebrow.

"The scanner in my mask captured someone who is on the list of missing persons," said Ramenman. He shows a missing file of a person on his tablet. "I saw her not far from our circus. I managed to hand over a flyer with a tracking device to her."

"Where is she?" Kaizo asked.

"At a restaurant called L'ultima Cena. It's a big restaurant just a few blocks away from our circus," said Ramenman.

"Should we check it?" Lahap asked.

"Let Rum and Ramenman check on it. The street will be their search area. I'll leave the circus search area to Lahap," said Axion.

"What about you guys? Found something on your date?" Ramenman grins.

"Ugh...." Kaizo rolled his eyes.

"We found a circus called Mademoiselle Mendoza's Cirque de Sombre. Kaizo and I will check on it," said Axion. "Does anyone have any objection?"

"Nope," said Rum.

"We're good," Ramenman adds.

Lahap nodded.

Axion looked at Kaizo.

"... fine with me," Kaizo answered indifferently.

"Then it's settled. Let's have a meeting again under the next notice."