Ch.271[Chapter 271] Repayment

The strange standoff between the elderly man who called himself Mr. Wang and Sir Dominic ended when the lights came back on.

Mr. Wang slightly furrowed his brow as he looked at the fluorescent light that had turned on.

“I suppose I’ll have to move offices soon. I signed the contract right away because the rent was cheap, but with power outages happening this frequently…”

“Does it happen quite often?”

“About seven times a month. The landlord said his son is mining something called coins…”

“Hmm.”

Mr. Wang seemed to have quite a relaxed personality as he began to make small talk.

However, Sir Dominic, wanting to finish his business quickly, interrupted Mr. Wang with a cough.

“As you probably know, I’ve come to repay a debt.”

“Debt. Debt, you say.”

Mr. Wang smiled kindly.

“I don’t recall lending you any money.”

“Do you remember Magan, the son of the Kanku warrior?”

“Magan…? Ah. That young man who borrowed 300 million Gacha Stones? Of course I remember him.”

“Then this will be quick. Here’s 350 million Gacha Stones to repay the debt. I’ve included the interest.”

Sir Dominic handed Mr. Wang a pouch full of Gacha Stones.

However, Mr. Wang shook his head at Sir Dominic’s words.

“Unfortunately, I cannot accept that money right now.”

“…Why not?”

Sir Dominic subtly covered his scabbard with the shield in his left hand.

And he casually placed his right hand on the handle of his sword.

It was a precautionary measure in case things went wrong.

“We don’t accept cash. We take internet banking. In today’s world, who still handles business with such analog sentiment?”

Mr. Wang spoke to Sir Dominic as if it were obvious.

“Besides, GachaLand’s system is more sophisticated and secure than any other dimension, so those who don’t use it are at a disadvantage. Don’t you agree?”

Sir Dominic was stunned by Mr. Wang’s unexpectedly sound logic.

“But since you went through the trouble of bringing it, I’ll accept it this time.”

I should stop by the bank later, Mr. Wang muttered.

“…That’s not the kind of logic I’d expect from someone of Mountain Bridge Marsh.”

“Mountain Bridge Marsh, you say.”

Knock knock knock.

“Excuse me, I’ve brought coffee.”

The voice of the awkward man from earlier came from beyond the door.

“Come in.”

At Mr. Wang’s command, the awkward man placed one cup on the table in the center of the office and another on the desk where the boss was sitting.

After bowing at a 90-degree angle to both of them, the awkward man quickly opened the door and fled the scene.

He felt that if he stayed any longer and made a mistake, he would be scolded by his seniors.

Mr. Wang took a sip of the coffee the man had brought and looked at Sir Dominic.

“It seems you have quite a grudge against Mountain Bridge Marsh. Isn’t that right?”

“…?”

Sir Dominic gave Mr. Wang a puzzled look.

Did this mean Mr. Wang had no connection to Mountain Bridge Marsh?

But the person who had threatened Magan was from Mountain Bridge Marsh.

There must be some connection between the two.

Having reached this conclusion, Sir Dominic decided to take a stronger approach.

“If you’re trying to escape by claiming you have no connection to Mountain Bridge Marsh, it won’t work.”

At Sir Dominic’s words, Mr. Wang took another sip of coffee.

“You’re not wrong. I am a member of Mountain Bridge Marsh. Or rather, I should say I was a member of the old Mountain Bridge Marsh.”

“The old Mountain Bridge Marsh?”

Sir Dominic narrowed his eyes at Mr. Wang’s words.

“As you know, Mountain Bridge Marsh is… famous for illegal activities.”

Mr. Wang said self-deprecatingly.

“And people who engage in illegal activities always try to stab their partners in the back. I’ve never seen someone in illegal business who had strong loyalty.”

Sir Dominic almost nodded unconsciously at the persuasive statement.

He remembered when bandits appeared in Feralant, and they betrayed each other’s hideout locations to save themselves.

“It’s no different for executives. Everyone tries to frame and slander the old executives to become one themselves… that sort of thing. I was lucky enough to retire as a backroom elder…”

Mr. Wang slightly trailed off.

“I’ve talked too much. Anyway, I have no connection to Mountain Bridge Marsh now. I washed my hands of it long ago.”

Mr. Wang acknowledged the connection between Mountain Bridge Marsh and himself, yet also denied it.

And to Sir Dominic’s ears, his logic seemed flawless.

Sir Dominic removed his hand from the scabbard again.

He thought he could lower his guard a little.

Instead of pressing further about their relationship with Mountain Bridge Marsh, Sir Dominic decided to ask about the executive who had intimidated Magan.

“By the way, the person who threatened Magan was an executive of Mountain Bridge Marsh.”

“That’s right.”

Mr. Wang was hiding nothing from Sir Dominic.

“Actually, my son is in Mountain Bridge Marsh.”

Mr. Wang took another sip of coffee.

Looking glumly at the now empty paper cup, Mr. Wang continued speaking with his head bowed.

“Once, when I was still an executive, when it seemed like the world was mine, when everything I had achieved seemed eternal, I had my son join.”

Mr. Wang clenched his fist.

The paper cup in his hand was completely crumpled, its original shape unrecognizable.

“In truth, I wanted to pass down what I had built, but… nothing in this world is eternal, especially in illegal business, wouldn’t you agree?”

Mr. Wang stared at the crumpled cup for a moment, then bitterly tossed the remains into the trash can.

A moment of silence passed.

Both Mr. Wang and Sir Dominic seemed to be contemplating what to say next.

Mr. Wang was the first to break the silence.

“They took my son hostage.”

“Hostage?”

“Yes. They wanted me to sell the debt relationships to Mountain Bridge Marsh with my son as hostage, but I told them I couldn’t because trust is paramount in this business. Then they asked me to at least let their people handle the debt collection.”

It was more like a threat than a request, Mr. Wang said with a small sigh.

“In my position, I couldn’t refuse their offer any longer. In fact, sometimes it was better to have other professionals handle it than us.”

Sir Dominic gazed steadily at Mr. Wang as he listened.

“Was it also Mountain Bridge Marsh’s doing to offer to reduce the debt by half for certain tasks?”

“Reduce the debt by half? That’s impossible. We might not collect at all or collect over a very long period, but we never cancel debts or anything like that. I believe in doing business properly.”

Sir Dominic found a vague clue in Mr. Wang’s words.

Magan had said that an executive from Mountain Bridge Marsh told him they would reduce his debt by half if he completed a task.

But Mr. Wang said they had never done such a thing.

Sir Dominic thought:

These people are bait.

It’s Mountain Bridge Marsh’s scheme to use Mr. Wang and Magan as sacrificial lambs while hiding behind them to gain actual benefits.

My goodness. Sir Dominic had rarely thought so logically before, but his deductions were mostly correct.

“…It seems you only lent money to Magan without any other intentions. Is that right?”

“From my position, I lend money and get repaid, that’s all. I had no intention of doing anything else. Now that you’ve brought the money, my role is finished.”

“Then I have no reason to confront you anymore.”

“Well, if you’d like to chat more, you’re welcome to stay. I’ve been feeling rather lonely lately…”

Mr. Wang stroked his beard with a kindly expression.

Sir Dominic suddenly remembered that Mr. Wang had said he was a member of the old Mountain Bridge Marsh.

Since Sir Dominic had quite a deep grudge against Mountain Bridge Marsh, he thought to gather some information about them.

However, their relationship wasn’t deep enough to ask directly, so he thought he’d first build some rapport.

“You mentioned you have a son. You said he’s in Mountain Bridge Marsh?”

“That’s right. He joined when I was at my peak, so he must have been working there for decades by now.”

Decades. Sir Dominic was astonished, thinking that was enough time for mountains and rivers to change several times over.

“That’s enough time for him to have risen from a rookie to an executive or higher.”

“Well, I don’t know. Mountain Bridge Marsh is a merit-based organization. The better you perform, the easier it is to become an executive. If your performance reviews are poor, you’re used as expendable fodder, what they call mobs, small fry, minions, or shock troops. He was full of spirit but lacked intelligence, trying to solve everything with luck, so who knows what became of him…”

“Your son is in Mountain Bridge Marsh, and it seems you haven’t seen him in quite some time. Can’t you contact him?”

“That’s right. Mountain Bridge Marsh is such a closed organization that once you join, you often lose contact with your family—”

Sir Dominic and Mr. Wang were having a pleasant conversation.

Suddenly, Sir Dominic’s senses gave him a warning.

He raised his shield and turned his body toward the direction his senses were alerting him to.

A bullet broke through the window and hit Sir Dominic’s shield, creating a hole in the ceiling.

Outside, thunder and lightning crashed as rain poured down as if the sky were collapsing, so the sound of the gunshot wasn’t heard at all.

“What is—”

Sir Dominic turned his head to look at Mr. Wang.

He was about to accuse him of stalling to set up this backstabbing, but upon seeing Mr. Wang’s expression, Sir Dominic had to close his mouth.

Mr. Wang was just as surprised as he was.