Following a maid upstairs, Ed left a trail of blood the entire way to the guest bedroom. Stepping into the room, he found it to be roughly the same size as his apartment in the company, with its own personal bathroom included. Scanning the room, he found it to have everything he would need for a well-deserved rest.

“If you need anything, you can use that screen there to call for help. If you want food, select this option here and place an order. It will be sent directly to the kitchen and will be brought up to you as soon as it is ready. If you need assistance, just press this button and I will come to help as soon as I can.” The maid said, waiting patiently at the door.

“Thank you. Actually, there is something I need your help with.” Pained, Ed sat down on the bed.

“Of course, sir.” Sighing, the maid began unbuttoning her blouse as she expertly used her foot to close the door behind her.

Huh? Ed blinked, taking a moment to process what was happening before frantically trying to stop her. “Uh, no t-that wasn’t what I was asking for.” Slightly flustered, he looked away, allowing her to get dressed in peace.

“Of course, sir. What did you need my help with?” She asked while unhurriedly fixing her clothes.

This is gonna hurt, but I don’t have much of a choice. “That battle has done a number on my body; I need an extra set of hands to help remove the shrapnel.” I wish Buddie would do this, but he’s probably enjoying my suffering right now.

“I will assist you in whatever way you need me to.” The maid stepped closer and stood at the foot of the bed.

With a sigh, Ed took off his shirt, showing his torso that had been peppered with gunshot wounds. Blood continued to flow from the holes unceasingly, pooling on the bed beneath him now that his shirt was gone. Damn, it looks worse than I thought it would.

“Let’s get started on that.”

“Cool, do you need to get any tools to- uugh.” Ed’s sentence was cut off as he felt an intense burst of pain. Looking down, he saw that the maid had somehow shoved her hand into one of the bullet holes. He felt her arm slide painfully along his insides, but somehow she managed to not cause any more damage or open the wound up at all.

Her long, thin arm slid along the path the bullet had opened up in his body, eventually reaching the shrapnel. Ed felt as the piece of metal was dislodged from his body. Not too long later, the maid’s hand left his body, and the shrapnel dropped onto the bed. Ed felt a burning sensation running through the hole, as it slowly closed up.

The maid got to work clearing out the shrapnel and healing up the rest of the holes in Ed’s body.

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That feels so much better. Exhausted but satisfied, Ed dropped onto the bed and fell asleep.

The night passed peacefully.

Ed woke up the next morning with a burning feeling in his stomach. His body was yearning for food. Shaking himself awake, he heard a knock at the door. “Come in.”

The door opened and Ed saw the maid from the night before. “The master of the house would like to invite you to breakfast.” Before Ed could reply, the maid walked away, expecting him to follow.

Guess I don’t have much of a choice. Getting out of bed, Ed followed behind the maid. Walking down the stairs, he found that the entire house had returned to how it was when he first entered. The walls had been repaired, and even the trail of blood he left behind had been cleaned. If he hadn’t seen it happen, he wouldn’t have known that a fight had occurred less than a day ago.

Entering the dining room, he saw Mr Milani at the head of the table, but he also saw Arthur and Victor sitting there.

“How are you feeling?” Seeing Ed enter, Arthur stood up to greet him.

“I’ve had better days.” Ed said, sitting down at the table.

“I’m sorry about everything. I should’ve told you what you were getting into.” Arthur apologised.

“That would’ve been nice, but I know why you did it. At least I’ve got some money out of it.”

Hearing that, the group dug into their breakfast, not saying another word until they were finished.

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, Mr Milani turned to Ed. “Arthur told me that you were heading to Pride City. Are you interested in making some extra cash on the side?”

Ed thought for a moment, considering it. I don’t know how quickly I’ll go through what I have. Since I can’t die, I might as well do it. “I’m interested, but I want to know what I’ll be getting myself into. I don’t want another repeat of what just happened.”

“That’s reasonable, you deserve to know. I’ve got a potential new client that lives in Pride City. I need someone to discuss the terms of the agreement and get him to sign the deal. I would go, but I need to stay here in case of any other attacks.”

“I would love to help, but I’m not exactly experienced with this kind of stuff. So, I’m probably not the best choice for this.” Ed said plainly.

“That’s fine. Victor has done this before. He’ll take the lead on this one. You’ll follow along and do whatever he tells you to. How does that sound?” Mr Milani asked.

“I’m okay with that.” Ed nodded.

“Good, there’s a car out front to take you to the train station, go make yourself presentable and you can head out whenever you’re ready.”

Saying goodbye to Mr Milani and Arthur, Ed and Victor left the room. Heading back to the guest room, Ed found a nice suit waiting for him on the bed. Getting changed, he made sure to pick up the bag of coins before meeting with Victor out front. Jumping into the car, Victor spent the entire ride explaining the details of the agreement, slowly filling Ed’s lap with a mountain of legal documents.

“There’s still plenty of time until we need to meet with the client, so take your time to familiarise yourself with that document. Negotiations have been going on with this client for a while, these are the terms everyone has agreed on, so this should be a quick in and out deal.” Victor said.

The two spent the rest of the ride in silence. Getting out of the car at the train station, the two grabbed the provided suitcases from the back before the car drove away. Showing their tickets to the guard, the two were led to a cordoned off area and took a seat on the platform, as they waited for the train to arrive.