酷视

Shook me to the core, because of how much it struck home, without actually raising any particular memories or observations in my mind.

It felt as if her realization was the most obvious in the world, something I should\'ve long since noticed myself… But in spite of this inner feeling, I couldn\'t bring out a single memory that would back up such a claim.

"I don\'t think I\'m qualified to answer this," I admitted after giving the topic some thought. "Even if there indeed is some sort of outside influence…" I took some time to clarify my thoughts and my own stance on the matter. "Even if someone or something is influencing my life, it wouldn\'t make the rookie mistake of allowing me to notice it."

If Fay\'s guess ever proved to be correct, then such an elaborate scheme wouldn\'t do with methods halfassed enough to let me see through them. Not when the other party was capable of either using or granting aura to others!

But just like Fay mentioned before… was I even the target? Or maybe I was simply an unfortunate bystander who just happened to chance upon the people involved in some sort of scheme?

\'I don\'t want to fall for the main character syndrome… But with how I have a system and portal to another world, or just recalling that weird message my alleged father left with his last and only gift…\'

In all honesty, Fay\'s question was so on the point, for the first time since I gained the ability to think for hours upon time within just a single moment proved insufficient.

The noise of the city\'s life was too distracting. The potential danger lurking behind every corner absorbed too much of my attention for me to fully focus on cracking this puzzle.

"Even if there indeed is some sort of outside influence, as the one subjected to it, I don\'t think I would be able to notice it," I gave my full answer.

"That\'s a good point," Fay spoke before lowering her eyes and rubbing her chin with her free hand, still thinking something through. In the end though, when I suddenly came to a stop, Fay raised her eyes…

And all the worries, all of her doubts and hesitations vanished without a trace, when challenged by the importance of the sign hanging above the entrance to a small, relatively elegant shop.

"Drunken Sailor\'s Warehouse," I read the name of the shop out loud. The corners of my lips raised a little, as I couldn\'t help but feel amused by the fitting name for a specialist, alcohol store.

"Shall we go inside?" Seeing the obvious signs of vivid interest burning in Fay\'s eyes, I asked while already pulling her through the doors.

And there, Fay stopped, rooted in her spot the moment she cast her eyes at the rich selection of various bottles displayed on fancy shelves all over the dimly lit interior of the shop.

Sniffing a bit, I could sense a delicate note of a mild, vanilla-flavored tobacco filling the room, proof that someone inside cared not for the strict fire-safety standards.

"Which of those bottles contain alcohol?" Fay asked in a faint voice, overwhelmed by the huge selection and simply in disbelief that one could gather that much booze in a single place.

I opened my mouth, ready to reply… only to freeze for a second when I noticed a strange, unpleasant feeling. And as I tracked the source of this feeling down with my eyes… There he was.

My eyes went wide.

\'I thought he only existed in urban legends,\' I thought, gulping my saliva down, overwhelmed by a certain aspect of the presentation, of the vibe of a man sitting behind the counter with his greedy eyes locked on Fay\'s figure.

\'This little shit!\' I fought off the desire to lash out at the man so blatantly eyeing out my woman. And while I knew something like this was bound to happen given Fay\'s insane looks…

Just how come the first contender for Fay\'s heart turned out to be someone who gave off the disgusting vibe of a massive fuckboy?

"All of them," I replied coldly, my voice mimicking the tone of the stare I threw at the rudely staring clerk.

The clerk didn\'t even bother to turn his eyes to spare me a single look, too busy tracking every hint of Fay\'s bodyline that her relatively simple clothes occasionally revealed.

The girl herself didn\'t seem to give two shits about the man\'s stare, too focused on the charming sight of all the bottles containing the precious liquid…

"I would like for you to call your manager," I took a step towards the counter, making sure to position myself right in the man\'s line of sight on Fay. "With all due respect, I don\'t think a simple clerk is enough to help us out with the requests we came here with."

There was no point playing the pretend game.

From a single look that he finally spared me, the clerk could tell I was simply acting protective over my girl. And as I looked directly into his sleazy eyes, I could tell he didn\'t really put me in his mind.

Still… As justified as I could be in my wariness of the man, I still couldn\'t help but cringe when a certain realization struck me.

\'Did I just turn into another urban myth, the legendary Karen?\' I thought, gulping my saliva down. \'Or rather, it\'s the male counterpart, a Ken?\'

"I\'m sorry, but I\'m the only one at the store right now," the clerk put on the usual, fake smile one had to master while working on the frontlines of customer service. A smile that I myself, back in my part-time days, perfected.

Yet, this damn man didn\'t stop there.

"And I\'m more than happy to serve such a beautiful…"

"The next time you give me that look, I will feed you your own balls, you filth," Fay casually mentioned, paying no real mind to the man as her attention ended up absorbed by the labels of some of the nearby bottles.

Still, she somehow noticed my distress and judged it severe enough to act out!

\'Just what did I do to deserve her?\' I asked myself, feeling how my tension started to air out. \'Yeah, what am I even doing, acting all jealous and hurt? It\'s not like I would expect Fay to fall for whatever trick this kind of scum uses to get the girls…\'

I shook my head, devastated by my own immatureness. Yet, the very moment I turned my eyes away, more interested in searching for what I came to this shop for rather than further diving into the pool of my jealousy and keeping my guard up towards that clerk…

Right the moment I turned my attention away from the man, Fay happened to come closer, a particular set of fancier bottles closer to the counter grabbing her attention. And with my eyes turned away, Fay right on the edge of his reach and only a short window of time to make use of the opportunity…

"Oh, don\'t be such a prude!" the clerk wailed while keeping a huge, amused, and easy-going smile on his face. "I will show you the things your loser of a boyfriend…" the clerk stood up and hung himself over the counter, reaching out for Fay\'s hand.

\'That\'s enough,\' I clenched my jaws.

I knew what I was going to do next was the epitome of stupidity… but what would be the use of all my physical and social power that I worked hard to obtain if I couldn\'t even keep my Fay away from the filth of that man\'s hands?

Stumbling forward, I \'accidentally,\' threw the nearest bottle of expensive vodka off the shelf. And in my \'botched attempt\' at rushing forth to grab it before it fell… I just happened to have my foot lose the grip on the floor, sending my dominant foot flying forth…

If this was a volleyball ball rather than a fragile, glass bottle, the spectators of the match would hail me kicking the ball as some sort of a brave yet desperate attempt at keeping the ball in the game.

But the bottle of vodka was no inflatable ball. When I struck it with my food, it drew a nice arc through the air before smashing into the only camera directed right at where all three of us stood.

BANG!

The loud, cracking sound of the glass breaking followed by the noise of liquid dropping down on all sorts of surfaces, filled the room when the shattered glass struck the camera and rendered it, for all intents and purposes, unusable.

"If he dares to touch you, tear his arms off," stabilizing myself in the instant my leg fell down to the ground, I turned to Fay and ordered.

"Sure," only sparing a single glance at my stunt, Fay shrugged her shoulders before looking slightly to the side, carefully tracking the path of the man\'s hand as she continued to reach out for her hand.

Before he could do commit the greatest mistake of his life, though, I stepped forth and stared him down.

"Now, are you sure the manager isn\'t…"

"What\'s with all the ruckus?!" A new, unfamiliar voice filled the shop\'s slightly stinky insides, quickly followed by serious coughing. "Tom, you wretched bastard! How many times have I told you not to smoke inside?!"

A mere moment later, a middle-aged yet extremely well-kept lady rushed out from the back of the shop. She threw a quick glance at the scene, her eyes instantly drawing towards where the glass remains of an expensive bottle fell to the ground, bathing in the precious liquid they once kept stored away.

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The woman\'s eyes lingered on the bottle for but a second, only to move up, to where the bottle shattered against the round glass protecting the camera lens.

\'She didn\'t even twitch,\' I noticed, watching how the woman\'s eyes moved away from the camera, hastily swept over the two of us before locking on "Tom\'s" face. And the moment she looked at the clerk…

The woman only managed to heave a long, deep sigh.

"What happened?" The woman asked sternly, crossing her arms over her chest as her face reflected just how mentally exhausted she became on the spot.

Sensing something with… well, would it be correct to claim that I sensed it with my aura? At this point, I still couldn\'t be sure about it. But still, somehow sensing that Tom was about to say something, I decided not to give him the opportunity to do so.

"I will assume you are the manager of this place," I spoke out, just to stop others from taking the initiative. "Your employee disrespected and attempted to harass my woman," I then threw the accusation that in another age and place would be enough for me to claim that fucking fuckboy\'s head.

"And seeing how he was about to touch her, I simply made sure no record would be left of his punishment for him daring to do so."