Chapter 104

Glass of Heaven was a bar that was in the same street as the Half Inch bar, but its business model was different. While the Half Inch Bar catered to more heavy drinkers and people from the East Borough serving drinks like beer, whisky, and malt wine, Glass of Heavens established itself as an upscale wine tavern. It was smaller than the Half Inch Bar, with a garden like interior, where more expensive wines and delicate drinks were available, along with the ordinary wine bottles sold in bulk.

It was inevitable there was competition between them, but except for some middle class on the verge of the upper class, the customers of the two businesses did not overlap. Added to it was the fact that Alvin hardly cared about the business of the bar. Thus, they did not clash, despite being of the same service. They were the only two shops with the same purpose on the street.

Alvin always thought it was ridiculous that someone established an upscale wine tavern in Cherwood Borough instead of Hillston Borough or West Borough, where there would be more customers for them.

Alvin also wondered if this guy was here to try and buy out his shop, and force him to move. The previous owner of the bar tried to do something like that, but left after Alvin best the shit out of him.

"Mr Hoffman, please do tell" said Alvin.

"Call me Marvin please. According to the newspapers and some people I overheard, there was some illegal transaction of weapons in front of your bar, and they caused extensive damage when the transaction failed. Is that correct?" asked Marvin.

Alvin realised he was probably talking about the fight between the 6 Warrior pathway Beyonders, and the two Pyromaniacs was what Marvin was talking about. The whole thing was covered up as an arms trade by the Nighthawks.

The fight did cause some damage to the bar, and it needed some repairs, but the Nighthawks reimbursed him for those expenses.

"Indeed such a thing happened. Why do you ask?" questioned Alvin.

"The people responsible for public security are really bad here. Just yesterday, something like that happened in front of my bar!" said the man angrily.

"Really?" asked Alvin.

"Apparently those gangsters in the East Borough don't want to hold transactions there anymore, in fear of a third party intervening. Thus, they are coming into the edge of Cherwood Borough for their transactions. And they really seem to like transacting before places that sell wine" said Marvin angrily.

"What happened?" asked Alvin.

"Yesterday evening, a few people in suspicious attire were hanging around in front of my shop. A little while later, my shop was blown up. I called the police, and they did nothing useful. They just blabbed about a lot of stuff and went on their way. I have suffered a loss in an excess of 1000 pounds, not only with regards to the structure, but the many bottles of alcohol I have stored in there" said Marvin angrily.

"Was your store robbed? And how do you know they were arms dealers?" asked Alvin.

"No. They just blew stuff up from outside. And the explosion was loud and big before it reached the shelves with my wine. It couldn't possibly be that huge without gunpowder. So it's obviously someone dealing weapons. I plan to write a petition to the police and protest the inefficiency in dealing with this matter. Since you too are a victim, you should join me" said Marvin.

Alvin realised that this guy probably just wanted some moral support as he pulled some shit with the officials. But he was interested in the apparent destruction of property so close to his bar and his current home. Wondering if there were Beyonder elements involved, he secretly decided to investigate later on.

"Ah, but my loss was not that much. It was less than 100 pounds in total, and the perpetrators were caught and I was compensated. So I have no interest in joining your petition" said Alvin.

"What? How did those police manage to catch them?" asked Marvin.

"Have patience, and give them some time. If the police can't do anything after a few days, contact me again. I will put you in touch with some bounty hunters from the East Boroughs. For the right fee, they can be tasked to find the perpetrators. That's how I found them" said Alvin.

"Really? Maybe we should find the right away" said Marvin anxiously.

"It's better to let the police have a crack at it first. If you hire bounty hunters before they finished their investigation, it will simply antagonise them unnecessarily. And plus, the bounty hunters would be unwilling to clash with the police. So it's better to let the police do their thing. Who knows, the arms dealers may carelessly expose themselves, and the police may find them today itself. Would bounty hunters be a waste of money then?" asked Alvin.

"You are right. Let's do it like that. If by Wednesday, the police haven't made any progress or effort on this case, I will hire the bounty hunters you mentioned" said Marvin.

As Marvin was preparing to leave, Alvin said, "Do you think I could come inside and see your shop? I am merely curious that's all"

"I mean if you want. The whole structure is in shambles, and the walls are half collapsed and anyone can enter. The police refused to let me retrieve the remaining stuff from inside until the morning, but I managed to get what remained earlier. Now it's just a half burnt shack" said Marvin.

"Still I would like to see it" said Alvin.

Marvin nodded, and beckoned for Albin to follow him. Alvin wrote a note for Riccardo and followed Marvin out of the bar.

"Well, here it is" said Marvin to Alvin, showing the ruins of what once was a quaint building with plenty of flowering trees.

Alvin curiously looked around, hoping to spot some clues.