Lukacs and Zoé walked out of the shopping mall. People rushed past them, an ambulance wailed in the distance, and a small crowd had gathered in the parking lot. Lukacs glanced toward the people, briefly considering whether to send the entire group after the boy with a single snap of his fingers. Then he realized he didn’t have enough charge for that. He’d need to recharge soon—preferably tonight.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhRHThOmCcn
He reached into the pocket of his coat where he kept his cigarette heating device. Without a word, he handed it, along with all the refills, to Zoé, then took her hand and led her across the street.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAwD6wpEEp
They’d have to find another store since they couldn’t pay for the items they’d picked out here—after all, a young boy had suddenly fallen ill...
...
They stood in front of the supermarket across the street while Lukacs studied the display window.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WXoOvjem8
‘When we get home, I want a rematch,’ he declared, speaking more to his own reflection in the glass than to Zoé, who was smoking beside him.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwhmIMePGt
The girl covered her mouth with her hand.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOejh1mx2sM
‘I thought you’d be satisfied with this much. I really wanted that warrior figurine. I had to leave it because of you.’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgVJOvc5yi
‘You could’ve just taken it,’ Lukacs shrugged.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCEiXHUWDS
‘And you’d handle the cops?’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWjvLJsnqX
Lukacs shrugged again. Zoé exhaled smoke and flicked the spent refill away. The butt spun through the air, bounced off the curb, and rolled under the cars. Lukacs looked at the girl, who held out the device to him with her large yellow eyes.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuuOG18ETc
‘Keep it. I’ll buy myself another one,’ he said.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnCQyD8iCN
Zoé tilted her head, her eyes gleaming with sudden realization.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDlyy3PGL0
‘So this is how you make me owe you. Clever.’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXm5AINeeIc
Lukacs sighed.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTqAitrg5H
‘Rematch?’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSw1mqvC89
‘Rematch.’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Ocxz5a0e0
Lukacs nodded in satisfaction. Zoé grinned.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxA6n1HBvj
‘But I’m only playing for fun today. Hope you don’t mind.’ She twirled into the motion-sensor doors, arms outstretched. ‘So, are you coming, or what?’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJxe7vQ9Zf
Lukacs spat on the ground.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGCGWXCtFW
His saliva didn’t hit the pavement until after they’d already disappeared between the aisles. It slid down the supermarket’s glass wall, right where Lukacs’s own reflection had stared back at him moments earlier.
...
They piled the most diverse assortment of chips, nachos, gummies, chocolates, plush toys, and beers into their shopping carts. Zoé only filled two carts, but for Lukacs, that was more than enough. Some shoppers lined up at the windows to watch the ambulance parked in front of the other supermarket.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2mIbQ1scq
‘What happened there?’ they murmured.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgdfZkpq0nM
‘Someone got sick,’ an old woman muttered.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbCeCM72tu
‘Probably because of the prices, like in that Sheep O. Slaveman story.’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzOrw70zPs
‘Which one?’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgolMphSsss
‘You know, the...’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagejaMU733
Lukacs waved dismissively. He knew Sheep O. Slaveman’s dystopian tales but had never related to them. The protagonist always found himself in situations with no way out—facing unaffordable prices for items anyone should be able to buy; caught in bomb threats at malls where you couldn’t leave without paying first, and only with a card, and so on. Lukacs thought it was all utterly bland and pointless. No one cared about another person’s suffering; no one cared about anyone else’s fate. Why should a poor man read stories satirizing his grim reality? And why should a rich man read about the exploitation of the poor in critical, sarcastic prose? It was meaningless.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0h7bddWyF
Lukacs was still shaking his head when he and Zoé got in line to pay. In front of them stood a slick-haired, greasy-looking bureaucrat, chattering into the phone pressed to his chest. When he noticed them, he turned and asked:48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8rcx7yFnx
‘Do you know what happened across the street?’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlnGJi3Xolx
‘I snapped my fingers, and someone had a heart attack,’ Lukacs replied.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvc2YKNBRT
Zoé burst out laughing, and the bureaucrat nodded blankly before returning to his call.
‘No, darling, I didn’t learn anything; some dad was joking earlier. No, darling, I can’t get you anything from there. You’ll have to settle for what’s here...’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJthZWNMJc
Lukacs sighed. Zoé nudged his arm and pointed to a rack of Kinter Bountys near the register.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7nu4e2BBV
‘Want one?’ she asked.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0juWEZovY
‘I want to split it with you.’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uwc5IvQ9d
‘Oh, how sweet,’ Lukacs replied sarcastically, tossing a handful of Bountys into the cart with exaggerated flair. Half of them fell, which wasn’t surprising given the mountain of chips they’d already built. Smiling, Zoé crouched to gather the chocolates. Casually, she added:48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GztD6IDyx
‘I still want to go buy a phone and some new games for the Gamestation afterward.’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0Lk0ckCVy
‘Sure.’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4lTzZkhJF
‘I won, remember?’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEXtttHE3F
‘Shut your mouth.’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hFHA7OCn7
Zoé giggled again.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hn3mgwk5l
‘You’re so funny, Lukacs. Did I ever tell you that?’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK16e2bPUTg
Lukacs shook his head, ignoring her.
The bureaucrat quickly paid—with a Black Card, of course—and rushed out to the parking lot. Lukacs was sure the man was one of the wealthy from Silk Valley. Thinking harder, he might’ve seen him before. Lukacs watched him closely, even ignoring the cashier as Zoé began placing their items on the counter.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfDjymr0B6
What kind of car does he drive?48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZb1bFghMCp
Standing on tiptoe, he spied the man getting into a plain white Nustang from two years ago and backing out of the lot. Lukacs exhaled in relief. He doesn’t have a better car than me. He unclenched his fist, realizing he’d been ready to snap if the unyielding truth demanded it.
He turned to help Zoé, noticing the cashier’s disapproving glance for not assisting his "daughter."48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2itFOSPX1
‘Is there a problem, kid?’ he asked the cashier, clearly a student worker.
Once, Lukacs had worked too—though not for long. Until the day he found the wallet. But as a teen, he spent afternoons behind a register, working late to help his father and brother, and to afford weekend outings. Memories of those days flashed before his eyes like a distant, faded film.
Those drunken nights by the Ren River near his high school; stolen kisses from classmates; hazy, lavender-tinged rooms filled with the scent of passion. He saw the boy he used to be—charming, angelic, a true ladies’ man. Those teenage nights lived forever in his heart, an eternal homage to his past self.
Of course, everything had changed the day he found the wallet now resting in his coat’s inner pocket—the wallet that gave him everything and took it all away.
I should’ve left it where it was.
The student silently scanned their items while Zoé packed them.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxw9tJXyTm
‘Cash or card, sir?’ the cashier finally asked.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5zhRmnqLH
‘Cash.’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZImxUY1dXQ
‘That’ll be 120 Till.’
Lukacs reached for the warm leather wallet, breathing faintly, as if alive. Inside was the exact amount, along with two black cards engraved with the image of Sheramiel, the rebel archangel. He handed over 120 Till, then stuffed the remaining ten thousand into the cashier’s pocket. The boy stammered in protest:48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluGXD9sRn3
‘But, sir...’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQEpEHjxFk
Lukacs grabbed his vest and stared deeply into his eyes.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpPQVzJEI6
‘Keep it, son.’
...
They walked out just as the deceased boy’s body was being loaded into the ambulance. Lukacs shook his head, pushing their cart toward the car. Zoé followed happily, loading the trunk. Lukacs glanced at the crying girl beside the ambulance and considered killing her too—it would be merciful. Ultimately, he dismissed the idea, savoring her suffering. Maybe he’d ask Sheramiel or Braxas for her address, just for fun.
‘I could use a smoke,’ he muttered.
Zoé silently handed him the device. Lukacs’s eyes briefly glimmered with an unusual mix of emotion—gratitude, perhaps. He waved her off and resumed packing.
‘Forget it, Zoé. I already promised to get another one.’
48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUCxasCOkg
48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7Wjs7HE9K
important note: "Till" is the same like USD
ns3.19.30.32da2
