"Hallo! Lookin' for a partner, pretty boy?"
Raven black hair with red strikes. He's wearing a white coat over a red polo and topped again with a flower decorated black mantle. His aura screams mature with a face that is quite androgynous.
Kayne extended his hand and he accepted it.
"Venalis Koiren," the guy said.
"Kayne. Nice to meet you."
"They said I have luck on picking things. Mind if I do the shot?" Koiren said while caressing his own hand.
Kayne gestured him to do so which he followed.
After he's done picking their assignment, Koiren reads what's inside. He gave the piece of paper to Kayne without any sign of emotion.
"Ah, I see. Dreamsleeper, huh?"
"Mm, dreamsleeper." Koiren seconded.
"You said you're lucky. It seems like those hands of yours only want the best things."
"Mm, best things," he seconded once more.
"Mind if I chop it?"
"Please."
Silence. A gust of wind can be heard in the space between them. Out of all the possible results, they got the best thing to have yet the worst to acquire. Dreamsleeper – an oil that can be extracted from the scaled ones which can bring even the mightiest hero into sleep. And the hardest one to obtain. Its price starts from 2 500 gold at market but this price goes thrice at least during auctions.
"Hey, I heard you are the son of Rigel Regulus, pretty boy. Then you must have deep pockets." Koiren broke the silence.
"He's strict," Kayne hissed.
Koiren shut him up with his finger on Kayne's lips. "We'll just take some hundred golds to start a business."
"What kind of business are you talking about?" Kayne asked, showing interest in Koiren's suggestion.
"Gambling."
Kayne coughed as he heard the word 'gambling'. There's no way that a vice such as gambling could be turned into a business.
Koiren gave him a heavy blow at the back to stop him from coughing but instead of getting some help, Kayne's situation worsened.
"Stop overreacting, I know a gambling site where we could surely win. Trust me."
Trust me. The word that's given by all liars as if a free token.
"We're partners, right?," Koiren even continued.
"If it's anything shady. I'll wreck the place and kill you myself."
"Wow, what a serious death threat. Don't worry, you won't get hurt, pretty boy." Koiren tucked crossed his arms and smiled smugly at Kayne. "I'll come get you tonight."
The comedic duo tentatively discontinued their discussion and focused on the last minute reminders of the female professor.
The night comes and Kayne is sitting comfortably on his bed, wondering if he'll go outside with Koiren or not. For the record, Koiren didn't mention any place where they could meet. His deep thoughts were answered by a knock at his bedroom's door. He opened it and there he saw Koiren leaning on the wall.
"Pretty boy, you did not forget about me, right?" He's still in his uniform without the white coat. "Quite a bookworm, you are...," he added, running his fingers on the pile of books inside Kayne's room.
"Where are we going?"
"Gambling."
"I know we're gambling. Don't start me with that—"
"Aaaaahh!"
Kayne's words were cut off by Koiren's screaming.
"What's wrong?" Kayne asked, looking at Koiren's stupefied figure beside the "toybox" given to him by Rigel to practice his mana control.
Overcoming his own shock, Koiren stood up and shook Kayne frantically. "K-kayne, p-pretty boy. Why are there a lot of magical devices here?"
"Huh?"
"Look! Magic rings, bracelets, necklaces, pendants and a lot more. There's this watch and earrings too. Wait! Let me look at your earrings." Koiren launched himself to Kayne and took out the strands of hair blocking his earrings. He had his eyes almost bleeding when he saw the earrings Kayne is wearing. "You walking treasure box! Let's be rich together!"
Kayne covered his partner's mouth and helped the crazed Koiren to calm down. "Are you done? I can't do what you're thinking. But if you say that these things are valuable then maybe their pieces could be good too." Kayne kneeled on the side of his bed to take out a separate box where he kept the similar items drained with magic. He puffed air to the box before opening it to remove the dust on its lid. He stood up and let Koiren scan the materials on the floor.
Koiren saw the bizarre collection but instead of shouting from joy or keeping himself calm, he bursted into agony and a painful cry emerged from him. "Oh, horror! What did you do to such treasures!"
Kayne kicked Koiren but it did not land as he wished. Before his kick met Koiren's body, he already had his hand pointed to his crotch which caught Kayne off guard.
"Are you a pervert!" Kayne screamed.
"I am aiming for your neck. But I guess this too works as efficiently as that move." Koiren laughed.
"You! You'll drive me crazy. Let's finish our business tonight and secure the dreamsleeper." Kayne left the room hurriedly and went to the sink to wash his face in order to calm his nerves down. "That stupid Koiren, I'll kick him later. He said he's Venalis Koiren. I'll make sure to remember that."
"Thanks for remembering me."
Speaking of the demon, Koiren spoke behind Kayne's ears that made the latter jump in shock.
"Are you a ghost!"
"Oh, haha! My bad, I did it out of habit," Koiren said before leaving Kayne's side.
Just like Koiren, he decided to keep his uniform without the coat, leaving only his black shirt on top.
"Bring your dagger," Koiren directed. His face became stern and serious unlike his usual energetic one.
"Why?"
"For self defense, of course," he said and winked.
Scratch what Kayne thought earlier, he's still the Koiren who loves to play around.
As soon as Kayne tried to sneak out by jumping from the window, Koiren grabbed his hand which caused him to fall on the floor.
"We'll sneak through the front door," he said and smirked at Kayne nastily.