Amber looked at the quest information with an inscrutable face.

“Hmm… If the details are right… Our target should be around this area. Some lowlife called Oerd.”

I looked around us.

The entire street was filled with bars of various kinds so it’s obviously a place that one would go to get inebriated.

Even though it was technically ‘morning’, there were already quite a number of people scattered around the place in various stages of inebriation.

“Err… What’s the description of that guy again?”

She looked down at her own personal terminal, “Hmm… Red hair, dead eyes, obvious signs of substance abuse… Well, that really doesn’t narrow down our list at all. At least they have a picture.”

Amber showed me the screen and it displayed the profile of a red haired man with soulless eyes. I read further and found there was a brief comment about him hanging around a certain bar called ‘Miner’s Stop’.

“Maybe we can start there?” I asked, pointing to the info.

Amber shrugged, “Fair enough. I know the place, quite a popular hangout for the miners because of the cheap ass drinks. Come on.”

I followed her lead as she navigated through the streets, avoiding bumping into any of the drunkards that were currently out.

There were a few catcalls but she ignored them like she was already used to it.

Soon enough, we reached the bar in question and a quick glance revealed there was no red haired patron there.

Without a hint of hesitation, Amber went up to the bar where the owner was standing behind and showed him the picture of our target.

“Yo, boss. You’ve seen this dude around?”

The bar owner, who happened to give off the feeling of a grizzled veteran, raised an eyebrow at us, “What do you need him for?”

Amber rolled her eyes, “Come on. You know why a bunch of mercenaries would roll up to look for someone like this. He owes some people money and doesn’t want to pay up. We’re just here to remind him of the priorities he should be having.”

The old man scoffed, “Well, this old man here doesn’t have a good memory you see. I don’t even remember the faces of my customers, assuming he even is one of mine.”

I could already tell he was lying through his teeth, but I know that even if we were to call him out on it, it wouldn’t get us anywhere.

Amber, however, had different ideas.

“Look here boss, we’re the kind of Mercs that would simply, gently remind him to pay up and then persuade him with words if he doesn’t. Both of us own combat ships so we’re not in a rush to complete this quest. The other Mercs who work here though, they won’t be as lenient as us. So I would say it’s in your red haired friend’s best interest that he has us persuading him than someone else who would get the money out of him with whatever method is needed to extract it from that poor sap.”

The old man stared at her and she stared back, the two of them maintaining the staring contest for at least a few minutes before the old man sighed.

“That damned idiot… You’ll find him by the alley three buildings down from here… Assuming he’s not out mining of course…”

Amber snatched back her personal terminal and nodded, “Much thanks.”

The old man grunted in response before we left the bar in the direction he indicated.

I counted three buildings before we turned into the alley right after that.

Sure enough, there was a red haired guy seated with his back leaning against the wall in the dark of the alley. All around him were empty beer bottles with a half empty one dangling in his hand.

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Amber stalked up to him, her footsteps getting his attention and causing him to look up.

I kept my eyes on the bottle he was holding, prepared to jump in in case things got violent.

“You Oerd?” She asked, her hands on her hips.

He frowned, “What’s it to you?”

She lifted her left foot and slammed it against the wall right beside his face, causing him to flinch from the sound of the impact.

Amber then leaned on her outstretched foot, bringing her face closer to snarl at him.

“You owe some people money, my friend. And we’re here to collect it. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, your choice.”

Damn… Can I say… That’s hot?

The guy slunk a little lower in his seat, “Tch… Do I look like I have money to give? Threaten me all you want but I literally have nothing to give you. You’re wasting your time.”

“Oh really? Then where did the money to buy all these bottles come from? Don’t tell me you stole them?”

“I don’t have any money ok?! Tell… Tell whoever sent you that I’ll come up with something next week!”

“Oh, no you don’t. I know you have some credits lying around to buy more booze and drugs. Hand those over and you might be able to extend the deadline of your loan.”

“Fuck you!” He growled, the hand holding the bottle swinging towards Amber’s head.

I reacted instantly, my hand unholstering the blaster at my waist to fire a shot at the bottle.

The energy shot out from my pistol hit the bottle in his hand, but it did not shatter like I thought it would.

Instead, the bottle melted into a goop like substance and the man yelled out in pain and dropped it, presumably from the heat.

Unfortunately, that made Amber take a step back away from him since she was trying to dodge the blow but it also gave him the opening he needed to make a run for it down the alley.

I fired another blast at him but it only grazed his shoulder, though it did make him stumble a little before he turned the corner.

Amber let out a curse before she chased after him, prompting me to follow along behind her as well.

She sprinted down the alley and turned the corner in record speed, kicking off the wall to absorb her impact.

I was just a second behind her and the man was trying to reach the end of the alley that reached the street in order to escape us. If he manages to reach there, it would no doubt be a problem for us to find him again.

I was just about to try shooting him again when Amber suddenly jumped into the air with an explosive force, generating a small shockwave as she propelled herself towards the running man.

The sound caused him to chance a look behind, only to see Amber flipping midair to kick him across the face.

He fell onto the ground and rolled ahead for a few metres, stopping just short of reaching the end of the alley.

My Merc partner then strutted up to him before picking him up by the collar, slapping him a few times before throwing him in between us.

“Fuck! Fuck!! Alright, alright! I… I got it!! Fuck!! I only have five thousand Credits ok?! I’ll pay back the rest later!”

He quickly dug into his coat to pull out a Credit Chip from his pocket.

Amber nodded at me, indicating that I should be the one to take it.

I held my blaster at my side with one hand while stretching out my palm with the other, just in case he got any more ideas.

He dropped the chip in my hand begrudgingly before scowling, “Can I go now? You fucking vultures.”

“Scan it,” Amber directed me.

I realised what she meant after a moment so I plugged the Credit Chip into my Codex.

The Codex quickly beeped and showed me a value of two thousand Credits.

I looked up at her and shook my head.

She grabbed him by the collar and pulled back her fist.

“Fuck!! Wait!! Wait!!” He cursed, quickly digging into the other pocket to toss another Credit Chip at me.

I snatched it out of the air and plugged that in as well, this one showing that it had three thousand Credits.

I then gave Amber a nod and she stepped aside, allowing the guy to storm past her while muttering expletives at us.

I frowned at her, “All that just for a twenty percent pay of the money we get from him? Split between the two of us, that’s five hundred Credits each. Our dinner last night cost more than this.”

She smirked at me, “What did I tell you? This place is the boonies. Don’t expect to get rich quick here just working a normal job~”

I grimaced, then I had to ask the question…

“What was that just now? How did you suddenly run so fast?”

Her smirk widened a little, “Ah… Well… Let’s just say that was one of my trump cards. Maybe you might find out more in the future~”

Hmm… I’m guessing she’s also using some kind of gene mod or something…

Oh well, like they said, it’s a normal thing here anyway.

But is there another way to earn money? This is definitely not enough for me…

I guess I’ll take up Amber’s offer of visiting that underground Gene Mod Clinic…