Inside the Trade Center of Maple City

He entered the place with the boy, and he directed him to an empty desk where another attendant sat with a bord face. 'It doesn't look like she gets to work a lot.'

"Hello, how may I help this sir?" she asked politely once they come closer to her table.

"Hi, I wish to buy him?" Liam pointed at the boy by his side that had a bright expression on his face. He looked much younger now. Maybe seven. His sleight of hand was the best he'd seen as of yet.

"Does sir have reason to buy him?"

"Yes, I witness his skill myself, his very talented," Liam said with a bright tone, a smile playing on his lips. Only he and the boy knew what the talented part meant.

The boy blushed his face red as a tomato.

"What is the boy's name or code?" the attendant had seemed to open her screen and started tapping on the keyboard.

"Um, what is your name?" Liam asked the boy and the attendant looked at him in confusion. She let it go and focused on her work. It wasn't something she cared about or needed to know anyway.

"I don't have a name, only code, Red 46289, the others call me 49." the boy answered that attendant.

"A farmhand has some skill?" Liam didn't like the women's tone one bit and attacked her with his own words.

"Huh, a biased person, how stupid of you to think that a farmhand can't become king just because of his low birth. One just needs education in the right field to become that field's boss. He might be a farmhand here but what if I take him to Meira and give him a proper education there. He could slap you silly there once he has all the knowledge the city can offer him."

"How dare you? Why would Meira City even teach commoners?" she had been offended by his words.

"There has got to be a reason you were sent here," Liam laughed at her, "Maybe that was why, because no one would tolerate an insolent and stupid person, who thinks the world of herself. Hehe, and the City will always give those who have money, even if it comes from a commoner's hand," he laughed at her again. That was true everywhere.

She couldn't tolerate his claims, even though she know it was true. But how could she tolerate something like this? She pushed the red button under the table to have the people removed. Four guards appeared.

"Ahh, thank god you're here! Get me another attendant, that one seemed useless," he addressed the guards like he had called them, acting like he owned the place.

The boy was frightened by all this but suddenly felt the need to snicker and covered his mouth with his hands.

"... what seems to be the problem?" one of the guards asked hesitantly as he felt that the hooded man wasn't a simple character.

"I wish to buy this young man, but she," he pointed at the fuming attendant, "for some reason didn't believe me."

The boy had witnessed everything and was a little shocked at his words, still, he kept his mouth hidden behind his hands. 'Was that man a Noble? Did he really mean what he said? Did he want to buy him? Did he really have that kind of money?' he didn't know and he had zero means to find that out.

"That is only a half-truth, you called me a bigot!" she half yelled.

"No, I didn't, but that isn't much different from what I called you. Do you think that you look like a good attendant right now? Arguing with a customer, who wishes to give your employer money?"

That sure did shut her up and she looked around, many people were looking at her while the man in front of her was calmly sitting down and having a conversation.

She pulled herself together and started to tap on the keyboard again, but she heard the man's voice again, which irritated her a lot. She didn't want to deal with that man. He was talking to a guard.

"Can I have someone else; I don't wish to deal with a person like that. She looks like she would explode if I said something to her again." The guards themselves felt the need to snicker but hid it well. Concentrating on their job, they looked at one another for a moment and one went to look for the manager.

Sure enough, this made the attendant eyes widen in shock. Really, how could they treat a person like nobility if they didn't know if he was that or not? His hair was covered and no one saw his eyes. To her, it looked extremely suspicious. She decided to act on her impulse and walked toward the man, seeming to look like she was going to apologize. She bowed her head and started to say something when her hand grabbed the hood and tried to move it off his head.

She was stopped by the man and yanked down.

"If you wish to be punished by hands, go ahead and move that hood, but I will spank that pretty little ass of yours a moment later," a cold but amused whisper entered her ears. Shivers ran across her body and she froze in that pose. Somehow feeling quite aroused. She shook her head and started to apologize for real this time.

"I-I am s-sorry to-to have di-disres-pected d-dear s-sir," she stuttered and scurried away without looking back. She was thinking that the man was a pervert, but she was also afraid of it happening. That was why she had apologized.

The guards looked at the attendant. They already knew that she was a troublemaker, but the man had shut her up faster than her father who was a wealthy commoner in Wisteria City.

Everything Liam had said before had been a big fat bluff. He at least was thinking that it was a bluff, but in reality, it was very true. He had the power and if he'd known that his looks held power here, he'd probably use it to its fullest extent. Just to lessen the hassle of the problem.

Either way, he didn't care. He had seen something interesting in the boy and he wanted to confirm it. That was why he had decided to buy the boy.

Liam got to sit for a few minutes in silents when the manager of the place appeared and brought another attendant to serve this guest.

Everything went smoothly after that, and Liam went back to the inn with the boy. He went right to the front desk and asked.

"Is someplace still open for business. He needs proper clothes," he pointed at the dirty boy following him.

"I'm sorry sir, everything is already closed. The sun will rise in half an hour, but if sir doesn't mind then I can bring him some of my son's clothes."

"That's fine, how much?"

"This one doesn't dare ask money for something this trivial," he said humbly.

"Sigh, if I take your son's clothes, then it means he doesn't have any. It would not be good for you or your family, now take this and do not complain. Just make sure the clothes are clean." Liam put another silver coin on the table and turned to the dirty boy.

"Go wash up, and come to my room after that," he said the room number and left. The boy was left in there and he looked at the attendant.

"You lucky boy, the washroom is there," he pointed to a certain direction and added, "I'll bring you some clean clothes after. Don't put the dirty ones on, I'll have them washed later."

The boy scurried off and the attendant was left to wonder who that man was. The attendant lived close by, so it wasn't a hassle to get all the stuff. He explained only a fraction of what the man had asked of him and gave the silver coin to his wife.

The boy was washed and waited for his clean clothes to arrive. He got dressed and went to the room where the man was staying. There was a bed and a couch in the room. The man seemed to be sleeping already and the boy made himself comfortable on the couch. The window was left open, and the air filled with sleeping gas or powder entered the room and the boy fell asleep. Still, unable to believe that all this had happened to him.