Before, he had given most of his cash to Elliog, and now a meal had cost him several hundred euros. A few more meals , and he feared he might return to the extreme poverty he had just escaped upon returning to Saint Nali.
The claws of poverty were creeping back over him, making him shiver.
Moli, on the other hand, re-embraced the pile of Magic Materials. This time, out of embarrassment, she used the bag of materials to partially cover her face, but after seeing that Professor Fisher bore no grudge, she breathed a sigh of relief, a bit embarrassed.
In front of her classmates, she usually ate just enough not to be hungry, worrying about money and her image. For some reason, she had eaten more than usual after Professor Fisher had announced, "it’s on me".
Just when they were about to resume browsing the rest of the Magic Market, that short-haired girl they had seen before, named Meg, appeared in front of them again.
She loitered with her hands in her pockets, wearing a cool outfit leaning against the side of the street, constantly glancing over at Fisher. After Fisher finished lunch, she hesitated for a long time before slowly approaching,
She looked like she had something unspeakable to say and was really embarrassed.
"Meg, is there something you need from me?"
Meg seemed to find it difficult to speak. After glancing at Moli, who was holding the Magic Materials, she finally gritted her teeth, avoiding eye contact, and said,
"I heard you were researching demi-humans, right? I have some information about demi-humans from the sea, the kind that no one else has seen. I can sell you this information..."
But Fisher didn’t take the bait. Looking at the naive girl in front of him, it was only up close that he noticed she had put on a light layer of makeup and eyeshadow, making her look quite unfamiliar.
After a few seconds, Fisher suddenly said,
"Are you really short on money?"
"... Yeah." Meg was silent for a moment before responding softly,
"My boyfriend took some drugs from a gang, some of it was borrowed, and now he can’t pay it back. He’s hiding, and those people have come looking for me."
Fisher almost laughed at Meg’s silliness; he hadn’t expected the formerly quiet and petite girl to end up . But considering Gina’s temperament, it wasn’t surprising; you couldn’t expect a chain-smoking, fiery-tempered thug to raise a proper Nali Lady.
"Did you use those drugs?"
"No... I didn’t! I didn’t dare..."
Seeing her frantically trying to explain, Fisher actually felt relieved, but his face remained as cold as ever. He frowned and asked,
"Why is it your problem if he’s the one who used them?"
"If I don’t pay the money back, the gang will harass my mom’s store every day. They said if I don’t pay them today, they would block me at my mom’s store’s Gate..."
"And you, like a silly thing, went back to ask your mom for money to help your drug addict boyfriend pay off his debts?"
Fisher didn’t wait for Meg to finish her sentence before he interrupted her with a sneer.
"But they’re gang members, there are so many of them... they... they’ve come, they’re looking for me!"
Meg started to explain, but halfway through, she seemed to have spotted something, her expression turned extremely panicked, and she turned to run but was grabbed by the collar by the indifferent Fisher, who stopped her in her tracks.
"What are you doing... Fisher, let me go!"
Fisher’s hand clamped down on her collar like a vise, preventing her from escaping no matter how hard she struggled. He turned to look across the street, spotting a group of young Nali men, cigarettes dangling from their mouths, shirt collars undone, nonchalantly checking out goods by the roadside and openly ogling the buttocks of passing Ladies.
Just one glance, and Fisher understood—these were not gang members, just a bunch of idle young hoodlums.
As the hoodlums searched the surroundings, they quickly noticed Meg, who was caught by Fisher.
"Boss, look, it’s that stinking wench!"
"Heh, she must’ve tried to steal that gentleman’s wallet and got caught..."
"I think she doesn’t have the money to pay back Tom, should we go for her mom?"
"Why bother? Can’t she make up for it with something else?"
The hoodlums smirked as they walked over, their eyes roving over Meg’s body, but they quickly noticed Moli standing next to Fisher. Her striking figure left the hoodlums speechless for a moment.
Perhaps the malice was too obvious; Moli also raised her head to look at them, her brow furrowed slightly.
Where Fisher couldn’t notice, it was as if countless streams were swirling in her eyes, a vibrant blue shimmering with life. But upon seeing those hoodlums, the lively streams began to darken with inky black.
But at that moment, the cold-faced gentleman holding Meg stepped in front of her, blocking the hoodlums’ view.
Moli sneaked a glance at Fisher and at Meg, who was still struggling.
"Are you Meg’s creditors? She said you’re with a gang. Which gang is it? Let’s hear it."
Hearing Fisher speak first, the young hoodlums exchanged glances, and the leader among them puffed out his chest and said,