The Heart To Stand Up To Fate

Chapter 1: The Moonlit World's Informant

"Are you kidding me?! This is absolutely absurd!"

"I assure you, this is no joke. Now lower your voice. You'll disturb the classes happening nearby, as well as give me a migraine."

"I believe I have a right to be angry! How could you possibly charge this amount just for information!?"

"I'll assure you, this information is worth every cent. It's worth its weight in gold and gemstones. I worked quite tirelessly to get my hands on all of it, so a little gratitude would be appreciated before I hand it off to you."

"A 'little' gratitude? This is highway robbery! You're practically charging the worth of an entire estate for this!"

"Don't be so absurd. It's not nearly that much."

"Not that much?! You're charging a fortune!"

"You should see how much I charge for dangerous jobs..."

Quinn Vermillion sighed as he looked at his livid client with a disapproving glance. He shrugged as he pushed up his glasses before responding to the other man's harsh, shrieking tone, brushing his unkempt, dark black hair away from his emerald green eyes as he did.

"You're the one who hired me and agreed upon these conditions. I told you I don't work for cheap and still accepted. I took that to mean you were able to pay out my usual price." Quinn explained casually and coldly, unbothered by the growing rage in the other man's face as he tapped the fingers of his gloved hands against the table in an annoyed, rhythmic manner.

"I didn't think it would be this much!"

"You hired an informant to dig up some dirt for you. What did you expect? This job isn't cupcakes and rainbows. I risked life and limb to get the information I have, especially in this world of ours." Quinn retorted with a scoff. "Sure, I get a lot of info just from keeping an ear to the ground and picking up everything I hear or see, but big jobs like this require focused searching and risking gambles to get it."

Quinn then leaned over the table the two of them were sitting at to get closer to his client as he whispered the next part in a quiet, soft, yet stern voice.

"You were the one who wanted me to find out all the details of those rogue mages' plans. I might be an informant who works both in the sunlit and moonlit worlds, but for dangerous moonlit jobs like this, I charge a rate that matches. This isn't the same as getting information on a gang or drug trade for the cops. These are dangerous magi, which, in this case, had dangerous chimeras that I was forced to sneak around and eavesdrop on. I think this price is justified, all things considered. I'm actually being lenient to you. Others would no doubt charge much more."

"You damn–!"

"If you really want, we can call off our deal. You won't have to pay up, and I'll forget everything I learned about those rogue magi. We can both be on our way." Quinn offered with a huff, making the client freeze up for a moment before he let out a groan of defeat.

"Fine. I'll pay."

"Thank you, good sir," Quinn said cooly as he held out his hand.

The client grumbled under his breath as he dug through his pockets before pulling out a checkbook and writing a check. He then tore it out and shoved it into Quinn's hand. Quinn then brought the check closer to get a good look at it, and then he smiled as he pocketed it in his trench coat pocket.

"Good. Everything is in order. of course, if this check suddenly can't be checked in for any reason, then don't think for a second I won't get what I'm owed. One way...or another." Quinn nodded with a threatening smirk before he pulled a large, thick notebook out of his other coat pocket and pulled out some of the sheets from it before offering them to his client. "I wrote everything down in my report. I'm sure you find everything you're looking for in it."