"Hahahaha! You are making a deal with a stranger. I like how bold you are. But, what could be my motivator, if I may ask? "
Roger just inwardly smirked and then looked at his father.
"Dad, I know that you know something about me. You are only hiding it. So, I won't limit myself right now."
It is another gamble to make. Now that he has confidence that his father knows him well and was only acting as a father and not an investigator in front of him, he can show what he really is.
After all, acting like a different person in front of your family isn't right and acceptable as it is equivalent to lying to them straight at their face. At least that is the lesson he had to learn when his mother learned that he was a leader of some hoodlums.
Then, Roger looked at the guest and said, "Stranger or not, I can make them have a deal with me as it is a life or death situation... I don't care about the authorities. I have my own ways of if you don't know it."
And as time passed by, the air in their surroundings became denser, almost limiting their air. The guest, as if feeling fear because of Roger, couldn't catch his breath anymore. He looked at Roger's eyes, but they were as if they were the eyes of a predator.
"Fuck... Your son is really adorable, Robert." The guest awkwardly said.
Then, Roger's father stood up and uttered, "Stop it, Roger. We are not here because of that. We are here for you to be honest." And as Roger heard it, suddenly, the heavy atmosphere disappeared.
"What do you mean, Dad?" Roger asked, confusedly.
"We already know that you are the reason why those people had become Awakens and also your sister already admitted it. So, as a conversation between men, I ask you to be honest with us. This matter is important."
"What do you mean, Dad?" Roger asked.
"I made a mistake. Apparently, the help from the headquarters won't be a joke. I thought that they would just send some that could defeat gangsters. But I was wrong; they will clear things for the government."
Roger was perplexed, and as his interest was piqued, he lowered his stance, leaning his hands on the table, and asked about it.
"Wait, where is this headquarters you are talking about?"
"The headquarters of the Hunter Association, the second district, District Overdrive."
And by that, Roger had been frozen.
'My father had bought some bothersome people to handle... Now that I think that the Red Bulls will disappear, another group will arrive, much bigger than they, so I don't have any idea how to handle them.'
"Dad... you should've said things to me if you knew what I was doing..."
"You should've told me honestly."
Roger was silent. His father was right. He was the one between them who was hiding things, and his father was only observing him as his father. Even so, it is clear that he and his father caused a problem.
"Can you tell me how they see our district?" Roger asked.
In this way, his only way to handle things is to be equal to them. He should increase his worth so that he can compete with them and be thought of as important. This is the most common way he does it back in Kluma.
However, it is impossible that everything that he plans will work. After all, he still needs to study things to isolate important information as the crucial parts of his plan.
"District Wish is where most of the unawakened people are. Luckily, our family has blood that can become Awaken. But, for them, those who are not Awakened are not humans. They only see unawakened people as livestock to work for them."
'Tsk... So just the same as other people. Also, Murim people see normal people that way... I didn't expect them to show a similar attitude to Murim people. I guess this will be easy this time.'
Roger let out a sigh, then smiled at his father.
"Dad, don't worry. I have a plan, but can you answer me first? What do you know about me?" Roger asked.
His father sat back in his seat and looked at the guest.
"Donald will be the one who will explain things to you, Roger."
Donald, on the other hand, let out a sigh. "I will tell you everything."
"Let's start from the start. How did we learn your ways, Roger? Well, it started with your activities in the neighborhood. Your father here is a keen person. When he noticed that the neighborhood was starting to become less chaotic, he investigated it immediately. And guess what? He discovered that you are an Awaken by that time, only by using a device that can detect magical power."
"And as he is also an Awaken, even only at the E rank, he still has familiarity with magical power as well. So, he investigated the hoodlums, and there, he learned that they were Awakened as well, but what's more surprising is that they were influenced by you. You are the reason they were awakened."
Just listening to it, there are no words that can explain how Roger was surprised. It was as if he truly underestimated his father and ended up learning that his father was good at his job.
And there, as he was intrigued, he continued listening to the story. Indeed, the story is how Roger recognized it. And as Donald continued telling him everything, Roger could only shake his head in disbelief.
"So... after that, when the thirty of your people registered themselves as Awaken and hunters, he blocked the information from pointing at you. That is the reason why the Red Bulls weren't able to learn that you were managing 30 Awakens."
"And he also learned your connection with the Red Bulls and Green Falcons. Apparently, you were trying to clean up the extorters in the neighborhood, and when Green Falcons were pointed out, he attacked them, taking their recognition of your presence."
"What a promising kid you really are, Roger. It is a shame that you were moving in a messy manner, but you were still able to clean yourself. You cleaned the neighborhood and trained them, and now you have a connection with the Green Falcons."
Roger was too stunned. How did his father learn all of it? What's his father's specialty? Why did he not know it? And also... how come he and his sister were bullied if their father was this great?
And apparently, Roger has soon come to realize why his father did that. It was to nurture them on their own and bring out their talents on their own. It didn't work well, but still, it produced something different from what he expected.
"So... Dad was a strange kind of father, huh," Roger remarked that it made his father awkward.
"I am sorry that I did that kind of parenting. But it is the way I was raised and it worked on my part. I only assumed that it would work well."
"Well, Dad, you are making everything confusing. Can you continue what you have learned again?"
Donald nodded and continued.
"After you killed the gunman, we restricted further investigation as your father was included in that mess. So it's basically to say that we cleaned things up for you, and even if it was in self-defense, people will be interested in your ability to catch bullets."
"Also, after learning that you assassinated the Red Bulls boss, it is surprising to learn that his son is a high-ranking unregistered Awaken. So, when will you register yourself?"
Roger scoffed at how things were becoming interesting. His father was super-spy? Or was so good at his job that he is humbled by the fact that he is only a small investigator. However, what's more, surprising is that he has some investigators' backing that came from the Information Agency that is connected with the Hunters Association.
If things work well, he will have great backing and his movements will be filtered.
"So, does that mean that you will be working with me?" Roger asked and looked at his father as well.
Robert nodded as well as Donald.
"We had brought a bigger problem, so, knowing your capabilities, we can escape their judgments. Also, you can dream bigger, Roger." Robert said, and Roger couldn't help but smile widely.
He gets it at funny times, but it isn't ignorable... The luxurious and easy life he could provide for his family if things went well with the District Overdrive investigators excites him.
"Well then, Dad agrees to it, so... Can I ask for your sponsorship this time? You said you already know my capabilities." Roger confidently said.
"Well, what I brought is actually a war. They will come here and investigate them, and you will be pulled out as well if you don't have a good position to establish."
"You are right about that, Dad. They will try to take away the Awakens if they learn that they are higher than the average rate. It could possibly be put to a cause that they were only trying to balance the power in the District Wish."
"Well, their network wasn't good when it came to District Wish because they underestimated us. And, they don't even know that there are stronger than S-Rankers here."
Roger raised his eyebrow in confusion. He suddenly stopped there and asked his father a question.
"What do you mean about that, Dad? I thought that District Wish was more peaceful than the other districts."
"Well, I will tell you things in the future.. But not now."