Shovels In Spades

Daz raised an eyebrow in interest. "Well, you're not lying at least. Thanks for that, but, yeah, not gonna happen," he said in response to the rainbow-haired man.

Jeremy's face didn't falter even slightly. "Could I ask why? I'm sure I could compensate you for any losses you'll incur from not completing the quest or mission or whatever else brought you here. My companions and I are even willing to join you back in Waterford and live as your citizens once the sinkhole matter's dealt with."

The happy man held his hands together and smiled charmingly, though there was a slight tremble of fear in his arms, no doubt caused by Daz's Enemy of Chaos skill which he was avidly trying to ignore. "Please?"

Daz stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment then nodded. "Sure. You need to give me fifty points into all of my stats and a B-rank item."

Jeremy's smile widened. "Only that much? I can triple th-"

"I wasn't done," the young reaper interrupted. "I need those and a city."

Jeremy flinched slightly but soon resumed smiling. "Easily done. From what I can remember, there should a few cities in California that haven't been claimed yet that I'm sure we can help you obtain. Of course, we'll pay the bill."

Daz laughed faintly. "No."

"Pardon?" Jeremy was certain that he'd misheard Daz. "Could you repeat that, please?"

Shrugging, Daz replied, "Sure. I said 'no'."

"I... I see..." Jeremy frowned deeply. He ran a hand through his well-styled hair and asked, "Would you mind telling me why? I'm not a big fan of being led on, so please tell me if you never had any intentions to even consider my proposal."

"Oh, I considered it, it's just, well, the system promised me a free right to claim any city in Nevada that I wish as a part of my reward for preventing the sinkhole from destroying the state," Daz said calmly.

The young reaper then walked up to Jeremy and wore a small smirk. "I asked the system which city has the best facilities, so I'm thinking of choosing Vegas. Give me Vegas, then sure, I won't stop the sinkhole."

"You... you want Las Vegas? That's already owned. Please, I know I'm a bit silly on the eyes, but I'm perfectly capable of using my brain," Jeremy sarcastically stated. He had already lost his cool and was debating on what his next move would be out his available options.

Daz just shook his head disappointingly. He walked away from Jeremy and returned to Mu's side. "Hey," he said, looking at his fellow reaper, "You understand why he's being an idiot, right?"

Mu happily nodded as he finished off his ice-cream and cancelled his Soul Vision. "Isn't it because of the system's wording?"

Jeremy scowled but quickly wiped his sour expression from his face since that would only result in worsening his complexion, which simply would not stand. "The wording?"

'It's now or never. I only need to stall for a little bit longer...' the flamboyant man secretly thought as he loosely rubbed the mirror hanging at his hip.

Mu cocked his head to one side and scratched his thigh with his sandalled foot. "The reward for Daz said 'any city', no? It did not say 'any unowned city'. Fine print is a very dangerous weapon, maybe even more dangerous than guns were a few weeks ago."

Jeremy's countenance paled very slightly despite his dark and tanned skin. "You were promised something so absurd just to save a single state? A state where only 100,000 people live?"

"100,000? Wow. That's a lot considering Nevada only had, like, what, just under two-mil before the apocalypse? You guys did well for yourselves," Daz said in genuine praise. "But yeah, I'm stopping the sinkhole, so either leave us alone or get lost. I dunno why you want Nevada gone from the map, but that is not going to happen."

Jeremy looked a bit disheartened, but he wore a defeated smile and shrugged in disappointment. "Oh well. There's no way that I'm going to outtalk you, and I'm way too weak to kill even one of you, let alone both of you, right? I'm scared to even try to use Lesser Identification on you boys."

Daz nodded. "More or less. I'm glad you have some reason in you," he said then waved his hand in apparent farewell.

"Haha, yeah. I could never beat you, but I wonder how you'd deal with three yous?" Jeremy asked coyly.

The next second, he whipped his mirror out and it shone brightly when he said the word, "Release."

The four-armed man, Bruce and the short snake-oil salesman-lookalike both appeared out of thin air.

Daz frowned, but he was still beyond relaxed. "I'll let you know right now, my instincts aren't warning me about you guys even slightly. Attack me, and you'll die. Me saying this now is my mercy to you, so don't waste it."

Fear entered Bruce's eyes as he was encapsulated in Daz's charismatic words and his Enemy of Chaos skill effect. His knees threatened to buckle, but he stayed strong.

The moustached man was perfectly fine. He simply stood there calmly as he held his briefcase and wore a professional smile.

"Last warning," Daz said as he saw Jeremy moving his mirror in a strange pattern.

Bruce cracked at the coldness in the reaper's tone. "Hey, maybe we shouldn't do this. There'll always be another ch-"

"Shut up!" Jeremy yelled. "If we fail, we'll die anyway, so what's the fucking difference?!"

The suited man stayed silent during this exchange while Bruce clammed up upon seeing Jeremy actually getting seriously enraged.

Bruce was a simple-minded man at the best of times, but he had to ask himself, what was better; dying now, or dying later?

Daz could obviously see this mental struggle going on in the short man's mind, and it made him smile on the inside. 'He's got potential if he's already evolved. He's clearly chaotic judging by his shaking, but he knows when not to fight someone outside of his league, and I don't think he has any poor feelings towards Mu or myself... That... lawyer? I've no clue what he's supposed to be, but he's not chaotic at least, which I can work with. Unless he's just straight-up evil. Well, these guys are my enemies for now, right? I guess I'll just find out exactly who they are instead of standing here patiently doing nothing. I've already given them more than enough chances and warnings. Master Identification.'