Viscount Sidmouth stuck his hand out. The crowd of onlookers whispered amongst each other. The new Debt Collector was Lord Cain's first Debt Collector and Viscount Sidmouth was already taking an interest in him by introducing himself. It was definitely going to be a chaotic day.
"Nice to meet you, Viscount." Lee Seng shook Sidmouth's hand. "I hope we can get along."
"I hope so too." Viscount Sidmouth nodded. The two pulled away as Viscount looked around. "Someone of your status shouldn't stay down with fodder. You are, of course, Lord Cain's Debt Collector. You must be special to work under him." Sidmouth commented like he was already splitting the difference between Lee Seng and the others. The way he was holding himself up told him everything he needed to know.
"Lord Cain told me to stay down here. He didn't tell me to accept special treatment of any sort." Lee Seng replied. He forked some more food into his mouth and turned to look at Viscount Sidmouth. He had a peculiar look about him.
'He hides his emotions well.' Lee Seng thought.
"I see. Lord Cain has told you that, himself?" Viscount asked.
"Didn't say a hundred percent, but I'm pretty sure that's what he wants." LEe Seng shrugged. The thugs all stood up and slowly shifted around the Viscount and Lee Seng. They made their way to Takio, who seemed a bit more hesitant on attacking. Lee Seng glanced over at Takio and his men and asked, "Are we good here? I have a long day ahead of me so I'd like to eat in peace, please." Takio didn't expect the newbie to ask him if they were done here.
"Uhhh," Takio dragged out. He was processing everything that was happening. The Viscount scared him more than this newbie. "Fine. Only because I don't need to stoop so low!" Takio pointed at Lee Seng.
"But you already did." Lee Seng muttered.
"You guys don't mess around! We got a long day ahead of us, alright?!?" Takio turned and ordered his men. They all answered with a yes and shuffled back to their seats as Takio turned and gave one last look to Lee Seng and Viscount Sidmouth.
'I'll find a way to pummel this kid when that snob isn't around.' Takio thought, jumping back up to the second floor.
"If that's all," Lee Seng turned to look at Viscount Sidmouth. "I'd like to eat in peace, please."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Of course. Eat. It'll be a long first day for you. Good luck." Viscount Sidmouth nodded at him before disappearing back to his spot. Lee Seng let out a breath and sat down in his spot. The teenager boy and scarred girl were staring at him in disbelief. Lee Seng ignored their stares and stuffed the rest of his food in his mouth before his watch beeped.
[You've received one new message.]
He clicked his watch and noticed it was a message from Lord Cain.
"Go to the Debt Collector Board and get a quest from there. I'll send you some personal fetch quests when I get them. Don't try to get into too much trouble," the message read. Lee Seng sighed and looked around. The teenage boy and scarred girl were still looking at him.
"What is it? Do I have something on my face?" Lee Seng asked, wiping his face. The two stared at him for a bit longer before the scarred girl started to stutter something.
"W-w-w-w-well…" She began. "Y-y-y-you're L-L-L-Lord Cain's… D-d-d-debt Collector? A-a-a-are you kidding?"
"Why would I lie about that? Everyone else seemed to take it well." Lee Seng replied.
"It's not that everyone thinks you're a liar. Th-they're just… We're just shocked." The teenage boy told him. The scarred girl nodded in agreement with the teenage Australian boy. IT became quiet with the three of them. Lee Seng wondered how they even knew he was Lord Cain's Debt Collector.
'Wouldn't it be too easy to say "I'm Lord Cain's Debt Collector?"' Lee Seng thought to himself. The teenage boy shifted his entire body to sit facing Lee Seng.
"I think we should get introductions out of the way." The teenage boy spoke up. "I'm David Connors. I work under Lord Eros." He looked over at the scarred girl. She seemed like she wanted to introduce herself but was too shy to. "The girl right there goes by Lisa. She works under Lady Esme."
"Ah, okay. I'm Lee Seng." Lee Seng nodded at both of them. "Are you guys going to the Debt Collector Board? I was told to go there after breakfast."
"We-we're g-g-going that way. Y-y-y-you could come with us i-i-i-if you'd like." Lisa shyly offered.
"Although all of our work is solo, so hope you can survive on your own out there." David nodded off into some random distance. "But I guess I don't need to tell you that. You seem like you can handle yourself after that display of power." A bell chimed and everyone began to stand up. Lee Seng followed David and LIsa, leaving the trays of food on the table.
"This w-w-w-way." Lisa motioned.
"We'll take you to where you'll probably go ninety percent of the time." David added. The two stood slightly in front of Lee Seng, leading the way. They moved down the sleeping quarters and eventually ended up in a nice noisy place. It was multiple stories with stairs that went up and down.
"This is the l-l-l-lobby." Lisa motioned. There was a front desk area with chairs and round tables around. People seemed to chill here. "This p-p-p-place is many stories high. Y-y-y-you will start with t-t-t-that board there. W-w-w-when you p-p-p-prove yourself, you can go up to the s-s-s-stronger boards." Lee Seng nodded, eyes focusing on the huge set of boards off to the right. Loads of people flocked to it while a trickle of people climbed the stairs.
"Let's check out the board and see if there's anything interesting today." David motioned. He led Lee Seng with Lisa over to the board. The crowd was quite large. They were snatching papers and pulling out of the crowd, eyeing Lisa and David when they realized Lee Seng was behind them. The three eventually got to see the board and a lot of the quests were gone. There were only leftovers.
"Soothe child to sleep for afterlife decision."
"Round up the cats of Limbo."
"Search for this person on Earth."
"Shadow Sector V/E. Keep an eye out for any strange behavior."
"These all sound kind of… Weird." Lee Seng commented. Lisa snatched the 'round up the cats' quest while David grabbed the Shadow Sector quest.
"Well, they need to be done." David shrugged. Lee Seng sighed and grabbed the 'search for this person on earth.' It sounded the most interesting out of everything. He looked at the paper and read the contents.
Search for this person on Earth.
Please help me! I've been in Limbo for many, many months now and I constantly hear my lover crying. I think something's happening and I need you to tell them I'm okay! If my lover knows I'm fine, I can move on!
'Hmm, this reminds me of a drama that was going to air… What was it called? Today?' Lee Seng shrugged turning around
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"So you're going to go with that one?" David peeked over Lee Seng's shoulder.
"Traveling to Earth to help a spirit with her lover." Lee Seng replied.
"Hmm, going to Earth as a Spirit isn't fun. I always get attacked by dogs or kids."
"H-h-h-h-how long h-h-h-has it been since you've last s-s-s-s-seen Earth?" Lisa asked.
"Hmmm." Lee Seng thought aloud. He really didn't know. He had been stuck in the Freezer for a while. "I guess… it hasn't been that long."
"Oh, so you know how Earth is now!" David chimed in. "I guess you'll have a better grip on how to navigate the place."
"Well, if it's from the place I grew up in, it'll be easy."
"You could go anywhere with that. That's why you have to figure out where to go by talking to the Spirit."
"Ahh and how do I do that…?" Lee Seng asked.
"Bring it up to the desk ladies and it'll get registered into your System. It'll show you where you need to go. Let's go to the front desk first." David and Lisa led the way, lining up at the end. The line moved fairly fast and before Lee Seng knew it, he was next in line.
"Next!" A low voice called out. It sounded like a woman who had a smoker voice of sorts. He moved over and set the paper down. The large woman took it and looked at it. After reading it, she nodded and flipped the paper over. "Name?"
"Lee Seng. Do I have to give you my last name?" Lee Seng replied with a question.
"Your first will do. Lord you work for."
"Lord Cain." Lee Seng replied. The large woman stopped scribbling on the back of the paper and looked at him.
"You're lying. Give me your Crest." The woman motioned.