BXBX NOVEL Chapter 492 Settling In
"And see you do." Cain motioned at Lee Seng. "Come over here, Lee Seng. Acquaint yourself with another Lord. This is Lord Varjo the Shadow. You might traverse into his territory at some point while working for me, so keep a good relationship with the Lords and Ladies, got it?"
"Yes, sir." Lee Seng nodded.
"Oh, you were serious when you told him to not address you so formally?" Varjo spoke. If he had eyebrows, he would\'ve raised them. He came to stand next to Cain as he studied Lee Seng. He had the shape of a humanoid but shadows billowed around him. Even the shadows around naturally tried to pull themselves towards Lord Varjo. Lee Seng stuck out his hand and watched Lord Varjo shake it. IT felt like cold tendrils wrapping around his hand. They shook and pulled away.
"What do you think?" Cain asked Varjo.
"Why do you ask that? Why must I tell you what I think? What if I\'m not thinking of anything?" Lord Varjo retorted.
"Oh come on, Varjo." Cain wrapped an arm around Varjo\'s shadowy shoulder. "You\'re making that look when you\'re thinking. Just tell me." Varjo\'s eyes narrowed.
"He doesn\'t seem that special at all. He has strong energy but it\'s of an infant. He feels like he isn\'t really all that. Why do the other gods and yourself like him, Lord Cain?" Varjo asked.
"That\'s a good question!" Cain pulled his arm away from Varjo. "Why do I like Lee Seng so much? Is it because he\'s someone else\'s? Is it because he\'s a Fox? Is it because he\'s Human?"
"Don\'t answer my questions with questions, Lord Cain! Explain to me why you\'re so interested." Varjo pointed at Lee Seng. "Or maybe I\'ll just dig myself." The shadows tendriled out towards Lee Seng. Cain simply watched, amused, as the shadows inched closer and closer. Varjo\'s shadowy tendrils had about two feet left before the strong pulse of Golden Light lit up.
"Argh!" Varjo shrieked. The tendrils retreated backwards as Varjo took a couple steps backwards. "What is this? Someone from the LIght is here?!? Lord Cain! You know I can\'t be around those with Light!" Cain let out a big smile and began to laugh at Varjo. "It\'s not a laughing matter, Lord Cain! Get rid of him at once!"
"No can do, Lord Varjo. He\'s already agreed to the contract. I need him here until he turns to stone."
"Just skip the Debt Collecting and continue onwards!" Varjo motioned. Varjo\'s curiosity had quickly turned defensive against Lee Seng. Lee Seng didn\'t even know he could repel darkness such as Lord Varjo.
\'If I can repel something like Lord Varjo, I wonder why I can\'t repel the thing inside my body.\' Lee Seng casually thought.
"No can do, Varjo!" Cain moved over and wrapped an arm around Lee Seng. "We already have so much to do. Look forward to working with him."
"I will–" Varjo became furious as Cain shushed him. Crow rolled her eyes and caught Lee Seng\'s attention.
"Lord Cain, am I done here? May I leave? I have things to do." Crow asked.
"You want to leave, already?" Cain frowned. Cain nodded. "You may leave. Thank you for your help. You\'ll get your reward when I\'m done here."
"Thank you, m\'lord." Crow bowed and turned to leave. Varjo glared daggers at Lee Seng as Cain turned his attention back onto Varjo.
"Come on, Lee Seng. Let\'s get you settled into your room. You\'ll meet the other Lord soon enough. You\'ve technically met Lady Esme and Lady Beth. Say a proper goodbye to Lord Varjo." Cain patted Lee SEng.
"It was nice to meet you, Lord Varjo." Lee Seng bowed. "Until next time." Lord Varjo watched Cain take him out of the large ornate doors, arm around the Debt Collector.
\'That one reeks of Light. I should be careful.\' Varjo made a small note to himself before walking into the shadows of the house, disappearing.
The mansion was quite huge to Lee Seng. He still didn\'t know where this existed in the realm of things, but the ornate details made it feel a bit too rich for his personal taste. Cain led him down some halls, showing off some of the house.
"This is where you\'ll eat. You\'ll meet some others in no time." Cain motioned to the right. It was a fairly large lunchroom. It was expensive looking, even down to the chairs\' details. They moved through the lunchroom and exited off the right. IT was another similar looking hall. Red carpets leading them through the house. "This is the servant quarters. Everyone who works under the Lords and Ladies all stay here. Your room is at the end over here."
They turned left and walked up to a mercury door at the end. IT was the only door to be different from the rest. Cain stood next to the door and grabbed Lee Seng\'s hand and put it on the door knob. Lee Seng watched as the door seemed to recognize him with a strange pulse of movement, unlocking. Lee Seng turned the door knob and pushed it opened.
"I just had it cleaned and put things in here according to your taste." Cain told Lee Seng. "Let me know if there\'s anything else you need." Lee Seng stepped into the room with the duffle bag in hand. The room allowed a lot of natural light inside with see-through drapes covering. Black out curtains were pulled off to the side, allowing the light of the Realm in. The bed was on the left. It was a huge one. Lee Seng wondered if they all got huge beds like this.
"Drawers, walk-in closet, your own bathroom." Cain pointed out the different things around the room. Lee Seng stepped into the walk-in closet and watched the lights turn on. It had a lot of his own personal clothes in here.
"How did you get all these?" Lee Seng looked at Cain.
"With my power and influence, clothes are easy. I assumed you didn\'t want to look like a mafia member with the fedora so I got you your own clothes and that mask there." Cain pointed further into the closet. Lee Seng turned and noticed a Fox mask sitting on the dresser. He walked towards it, picking it up and noticing the subtle designs. "It has my markings on it. Those who work for the other Lords and Ladies will know you work for me. They won\'t try anything too risky with you, but…" Cain shrugged. "Servants fight amongst themselves sometimes."
"So there are other Debt Collectors here, too? Including your \'servants\'?"
"Yup. Most are souls that made deals with us or sadly got into a situation where they are bound by duty."
"So not everyone has free will here?"
"You\'re bound by contract like most."
"But can they think for themselves?" Lee Seng asked. Cain shrugged.
"I guess. Why? You don\'t want to think for yourself?" Cain smiled. Lee Seng rolled his eyes and dropped the duffle bag in the closet, stepping out with the mask.
"I\'d like to remember whatever I did while I was with you. Maybe I\'ll get Lord Cain to owe me something." Lee Seng smiled. Cain laughed, wiggling his pointer finger at Lee Seng.
"You have the balls! I like you!" Cain chuckled. He watched Lee Seng move to the other side of the bed and enter the bathroom. The mercury colored theme subtly made its way into the bathroom. White tiles, mercury colored faucets and crown molding. Lee Seng nodded and spun around.
"I have a question, Cain." Lee Seng stepped out of the bathroom. "Do I need to keep the mask on me at all times? Crow did warn me when I first entered to hide my identity. Do I still need to follow that advice?"
"The mask will appear instead of your usual Fox mask while you\'re working under me." Cain replied. "You don\'t need to hide your identity to the others here, but some decide to keep their interactions with others to a minimum, so they bear what hides them from others."
"Alright." Lee Seng nodded. He watched the mask dissipate and wandered over to the desk. A watch sat in the middle of the desk with an assortment of jewelry accessories. "What\'s all this?" Lee Seng picked up the watch and turned it around.
"For you." Cain motioned. "Very expensive. Costs more than your pretty little head."
"How much?" Lee Seng asked. Cain took a moment to think and then snapped his fingers.
"The watch you\'re holding is worth about four million creds."
"Wha–" Lee Seng set the watch down and looked at the other things on the table.
"The necklace is two million. The emerald ring is twenty million creds. That bracelet has my emblem on it and that\'s about six million." Cain casually went over the cost like it was nothing. Lee Seng felt his stomach flip. He began to spin around when Cain caught him and grabbed the watch. "You need to at least wear the watch."
"W-w-why? I-I-I-I can\'t do that!" Lee Seng stuttered. Cain pulled him in and held him in place.
"It\'s the way you get your jobs. Your watch is like the equivalent of a phone on Earth. This allows us to keep in touch and I can know where you are at all times. So if you run away, I will know."