Thomas had much more fame than she could have ever hoped for. Only a few days later, Serena had established full control of the gang.

With a little bit of intimidation with Thomas as her spearhead, even the supporters of the previous leader, Chris, succumbed. Though they were still hostile, they followed her commands and she could keep them in check.

Thomas was a monster hunter. From what she could gather, they all respected him. Anyone could become a monster hunter, but most would never make enough to live by. Not to mention, you put your life on the line each time you went for a hunt.

He was also the idol of those that resided here, young boys aspired to become like him. Occasionally, he would come back to his home area where he used to live as a child and donate everyone huge amounts of money.

But the gang Serena was in charge of didn’t care about those things.

Everyone present knew that Thomas was dangerous. There were numerous rumours about his childhood, and she couldn’t yet confirm any of them. However, they all called him ruthless. He may look weak, but with a knife in his hand he was unstoppable.

The gang had a problem. There was another gang within the slums, trying to swallow their territory and the drug business. Apparently, Chris had kept them away until now with his brutality. As soon as the news of his death spread, gangs had been eyeing on the territory. Most of them also wouldn’t know who Thomas is, since they are from further away in the slums.

The gang that was currently the most threatening to them had an alcohol business. Apparently, it did well, but they were greedy. To them, the drug business seemed like an excellent extension to their business.

Serena had already made the gang more profitable. She scouted the areas where selling would be most profitable, improved the sales pitches and adjusted the price. She had more ideas, but they would have to wait.

She walked into her own bedroom. The gang had their own facility, with only a few rooms and wide halls. Most of the people from the gang were still kids, and they would sleep and spend their time off-work in these halls. The rooms were for negotiations and personal bedrooms for the high-ranked personnel such as Serena. Her room also had an extension to her own bathroom.

It was almost winter, so the gang members spent even more time in the halls than usual since it was so cold outside. The gang members made some money, and weren't in a complete poverty.

Serena fell on her bed and sighed. She didn’t know what to do about the situation with the alcohol gang. She had assured the gang members Thomas would come help if anything were to occur. She only did it to keep them working.

The men Chris left behind weren’t reliable. They hadn’t tried anything yet, but it was only a matter of time. They were also bothering some of the girls within the gang.

Serena walked outside to gain inspiration. Saying she was in a pinch was not an exaggeration, and she had been thinking about the solution for the past two days. She was in much prettier clothes than those mud-stained rags she had been wearing for weeks, and she enjoyed having her hair so clean. Everyone would stare at her hair for long periods of time, until they heard she was Thomas’.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

She would often walk around in this specific part of the slums with for reason. It was Thomas’ childhood grounds.

She saw a young man as tall as her with a brown scarf that was hiding the bottom half of his face. He was looking at an old book in his hand.

Serena panicked inside of her mind. Her mind was telling her to run. She shook her nervousness, and approached him. He was the reason she had come, no backing off now.

”H-hello. I’m Serena.”

What was this? Did she just stutter? It was the most awkward social interaction she had ever done. As a manipulative person, she could turn into a social butterfly when required. But looking at those eyes that were like bottomless pits, she felt fear. There was no emotion in his eyes; they only twinkled when he was about to kill someone.

She extended her hand, but he didn’t take it.

The boy stayed quiet and after glancing at her, he slowly turned his head back to the book in a smooth motion.

”What do you want?”

He was completely closed off. Serena followed her eyes onto the title of his book.

”Are you.. perhaps interested in chimeras?” she asked carefully without expectations. She had to warm him up to her somehow.

However, the boy surprisingly turned back to her with great curiosity. ”Do you know much about chimeras?” he asked in a tone that almost sounded excited.

It was the first time she had heard him speak like this. When his deep-blue eyes looked into hers, she had to avert her eyes for some reason.

”It depends what you need to..” she was cut off by the boy.

”Follow me.”

She was back in front of his house. The boy took out an old looking keychain, and opened the door.

When she stepped inside the room, she almost fainted.

There was a chimera in his house.

Serena had lived outside the walls for most of her life. She knew of various monsters.

The vampires had rules. Having rules is the prerequisite for a community. The baseline, something that everyone had to follow.

Rule number five: Never go near a chimera’s nest.

Chimera was a being that the vampires respected.

There were other dangerous monsters, but the stinger and its capability of breathing fire made multiple vampires lose their lives whenever they fought. You can’t run from a chimera, when they have their eye on a prey.

If a chimera had children, they were the most aggressive. That was why the rule stated not to agitate their nests.

The chimera was still small, but the brown shirt it laid on was nothing short of its nest.

Serena stayed a few meters back, ready to spurt if it started spewing fire.

To top it off, the little monster was crying and making screeching noises for some reason. It must be ready to destroy the whole kingdom.

”Chimney’s having a tummy ache,” Thomas walked to the chimera and raised it up from its armpits.

..

Serena chuckled nervously ”..a chimney?”

”It’s Chimney, not a chimney.” The boy hugged the chimera close to his chest while staring at Serena as if she had wronged the chimera.

For some reason, the chimera that snuggled into his chest also turned its pure green eyes towards her.

”Are you insane!” she snapped in a loud voice, but immediately regretted it. She didn’t want ’that’ look to return into his eyes.

Solution..

She had to forget about the abnormality of the situation, and help Thomas. She had to reconcile somehow for all the things she had done and couldn’t afford to be angry at him for even a second.

She apologized for raising her voice. She looked to the ground, there was some sort of meat scattered around.

She was trying to think. ”What are you feeding it?”

”Dried pork meat,” he said as if it was obvious.

”You can’t do that,” she said. Thomas looked at her, confused.

She quickly explained, ”It has too much salt in it. That’s probably why.. Chimney has a stomach ache.”

Thomas was waiting for more instructions, still not knowing what to do.

”Chimeras eat giant birds outside the wall, so maybe try chicken?” she suggested.

”Chicken.. got it.”

Serena thought she had managed to get on his good side now. A little more, and she could tell him about the gang’s situation and have him practically volunteer to help her. No matter how powerful this boy was, he was still a male and she could hold the strings.

However,

”You need to take care of Chimney for a while. You’ll do that for me, right?” His pressuring eyes rested on her.