"Hello," Davies answered the call.
"We have completed the purchase procedures of the land,"
"What are your plans for the place, sir?" the voice from the other end asked.
"Hmmmm… for now, I don't really have any plans for the land," Davies replied.
"What about the restaurant, The Rising Sun that is currently occupying the land?" the voice asked again.
"Oh, the restaurant?" he repeated, then a wicked grin appeared on his face as he answered,
"… Burn it down."
"Burn it down? Why?" the voice from the other side came back quickly, shocked at Davies's words.
"I don't think it's anywhere in your job description to question my orders," Davies replied, his tone hardening slightly as he responded.
"But I don't think doing something like that would be allowed, especially right in the middle of the city,"
"Maybe you could get it demolished instead," the voice replied, his voice more subservient now, but still trying to dissuade Davies from this rash decision.
"Whether it is allowed or not, do it… I'll be waiting to see it burn,"
"If anyone has any problem with that…" his grin widened even further, but then he didn't say anything else and hung up the call instead, not caring about the dilemma the person on the other end of the phone call had been thrown into because of his orders.
He took up the cup of coffee and took another sip, enjoying the taste and not caring about the looks of bewilderment, shock, admiration, and jealousy he was receiving from the people in the restaurant.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"This really is good coffee," he could not help but praise again after taking another sip of the delicious coffee, but his coffee appreciation was interrupted by a stammering voice from behind.
"E- Excuse me, a-are you Mr. Davies Lake?" a shivering stammering voice came from behind Davies.
Davies frowned immediately as he looked behind him at the old man that was the owner of the restaurant and he wondered how this man knew his name as he hadn't mentioned it, but then he remembered that his phone was on speaker the entire time and even though his name hadn't been said, the conversation that had taken place did more than point to him as the person who had just bought the land that this restaurant was standing on.
"Yes, that's me… What do you want?" Davies responded with a question of his own as he grabbed his fork, picked a piece of bacon from the plate, brought it to his mouth, and began chewing it slowly.
"W-well, you see, I couldn't help but overhea-" the old man began,
"And so? Your point?" Davies cut in.
"Hey," he then turned towards the brown-haired teenage girl and called,
"Did you make the coffee?" he asked her.
"Uh… yes," she replied hesitantly, not knowing why he asked, but worried that he was dissatisfied with the taste of the coffee.
"Can you cook?" Davies asked her again while taking another mouthful of the bacon and eggs dish that was before him.
"... Well, a little bit," she responded hesitantly again, anxious at his questioning and tone that made it feel like she was being interrogated.
"Well, that doesn't really matter much," he muttered and then asked again,
"How much are you being paid…"
"Wait, don't tell me…" he held up his hand to stop her from talking,
"It doesn't matter much anyway…"
"Would you like to work for me for ten times whatever you're being paid here," he made a surprising offer to the brown-haired girl.
'Daniel does need somebody to help around the house so he can focus better on tasks I'd assign him… when he wakes up,' he thought to himself as he made the offer.
The brown-haired did not even need to think about it as the moment she heard "ten times", she was already pulling off the apron that covered her outfit and prevented it from getting stained while she worked.
"Thank you for taking care of me all this time boss," she said a bit loudly as she bowed respectfully to the old man.
"Take this card and call the number on it tomorrow, you'd get all the details of the job then," Davies said as he handed her a card with Daniel's name and number on it, he obviously was not going to do something as bothersome as sorting out employment issues.
"Yes boss," the girl didn't think twice, accepted the card, and rushed out of the restaurant joyfully. She was already completely sold on the idea, she get ten times the pay, and she'd get to admire Davies's handsome face while she worked… she wouldn't lose anything in this deal.
Everyone that was watching the situation didn't even know what to think.
From coming into the restaurant and fighting with another guy over a girl to buying the land on where the shop stood, ordering the shop to be burnt, and then finally offering a random attendant a job with ten times her current salary.
Was this how willful and whimsical rich people were, or was Davies a special case even among the rich and powerful, they couldn't help but wonder in their dazed state.
Suddenly Davies pushed everything and stood up, he had used more time here than he originally planned to and was already behind schedule.
"Mr- Mr. Lake, about the re-" the old man tried to say to Davies,
"Don't bother, old man, I meant what I said and you can't change my mind," Davies interrupted the old man before he said anymore.
"But why?"
"Why would you do that?" the man fell to his knees and asked in an aggrieved tone.
Looking at the man that was old enough to be his grandfather kneeling on the ground like he had lost all his reason to live did nothing to shake Davies's emotions. He simply replied,
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Because… it'd be fun to watch it burn," he said with a wicked smile adorning his face and began to walk out of the restaurant before pausing midway and looking back at Jessica,
"Are you coming?" he asked.
"Y-Yes!" Jessica managed to stammer out a response and quickly stood up as well and ran after Davies as they left the restaurant, leaving behind the early morning customers, a broken old man, and a restaurant that was soon to be burnt down.
To be honest, what Davies had done to the old man's restaurant was cruel and unreasonable, but he couldn't care less.
Things like rules and common sense were for the weak.
Buying wine for millions when you could drink water wasn't common sense and neither was buying a car for millions when there were cars worth thousands, but who could say anything about it?
They were even hailed for doing such things.
Nothing the rich and powerful did ever made sense, but nobody can hold them to it, because they had power and money.
This was the hard truth of whichever world one lived in, and this world wasn't any different. It may have been a whim on his part, but it only happened because he had the capabilities.
Davies got into the Ventley along with Jessica and without a word, he drove in the direction of Imperium Technologies main office building.
Upon reaching the building, Davies got out of the car along with Jessica and handed over his keys to the valet that drove the car away into the underground parking lot, while Davies walked into the building with Jessica in tow.
As he walked through the lobby slightly hurriedly, he noticed unnatural looks from the staff in his direction. At first, he thought that they were shocked at his appearance as it had probably been widespread information that he had entered a mission gate without an unclear chance of survival, but after noticing the emotions on the different faces, he concluded that he wasn't the one that was the recipient of those looks, rather it was Jessica that walked behind him.
Even after coming to that realization he showed no reactions neither did he try to find the reason for the strange looks immediately, but instead he waited until he had reached his office and sat down comfortably.
"Talk," he said as he looked intently at Jessica.
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