Blessed by Night Chapter 23: Contract

Malachi shook the man's hand politely and he hurriedly introduced himself.

"I-I was worried you wouldn't co! I'm Rowan Ivers."

"Good to et you.." Mal warily took a seat opposite the old man and stared at him as if he was trying to get a read on his intentions.

All things considered the man opposite him seed harmless.

He was an older man around 65 with wiry gray hair and a pair of crooked glasses.

There were deep black bags under his eyes indicating it had been several nights since he'd gotten proper rest.

His clothing was wrinkled and disheveled and Mal could sll liquor on the man's breath.

'You seem harmless enough but..'

Mal took off his glasses and Rowan flinched when he saw those predatory yellow eyes.

"Tell old man.. why are you taking up space in my girlfriend's restaurant looking for ? You don't seem like a fan."

"I-I have co with a proposition." Roland stamred.

Ever since Mal had taken his glasses off it was hard to et his gaze.

He felt as if he was standing in front of a giant beast that was ready to tear his throat out should he tell the slightest lie.

"A proposition? You're not about to do sothing silly like ask to leave Immortal Moon are you?"

"N-no that's not it."

Mal could hear the old man's heartbeat rapidly increasing and beca increasingly curious as to what sort of proposition could be causing this sort of reaction.

"Y-you see I've been waiting for soone with your particular blessing to co along. Or one of them I suppose."

"My blessing?"

"Only soone with a blessing like yours could pull off what I'm about to ask you without being caught. " Rowan confird.

Mal's gaze intensified but Rowan had co too far to back down now.

"I-I'm an expert on mythology and occult studies and I have the necessary knowledge to help you learn how to use your powers in ways that you never thought possible."

"Bold claim for you to make as soone who's not even blessed." Malachi pointed out.

"I don't need to be, I've studied your kind ever since the first blessed appeared and I can say with the utmost confidence that I can help you."

"I can simply learn to master my powers from the guild or in the gates."

"True but much of what any of the blessed could teach you would only be feelings based and it would lack much of the technicality. And it's not practical to attempt to learn sothing like that on the fly you know? You should study as much as you can beforehand to decrease the chances of putting your life at risk."

The old man's words made sense to Malachi but the uneasy feeling bubbling up in his heart kept him on his guard.

"In addition to helping you…" Rowan placed his briefcase on the table and slid it towards Malachi. "I am also prepared to offer you my life savings provided you listen to my request."

Malachi could tell from the old man's struggle lifting the briefcase that it contained no small amount of money.

"This is shady as hell, old man. You're acting like you're about to ask to kill soone."

"…"

Seeing the man's deadpan expression, Malachi's heart dropped.

"You… you're fucking crazy. I know I wear sunglasses a lot but do I really look like a fucking hitman?"

The dreaded young man stood up and began to walk away only to be stopped when he felt the man grab his sleeve.

"Please.. he.. he took my daughter from ."

Malachi looked over his shoulder to see the man looking down and tears falling onto the table.

As soone who'd cried their fair share of tears in life, Mal was naturally weak to the tears of others.

Especially ones that co from loss.

This old man begging him so sincerely was bringing up old mories and tugging at his heart strings.

He was not a person with a hard heart, his sense of empathy was well above most.

'I'm too easily manipulated…'

He gradually sat back down and had the old man wipe his face before he explained to him why he couldn't do it.

"Look old man.. I'm no killer. You're better off looking for soone on the dark web for this kind of thing."

Rowan was unconvinced and spoke through muffled sobs. "You.. you are a blessed so that ans you kill monsters right?"

"That's what they tell ." Malachi hadn't even been inside of a gate yet.

"I can promise you.. this man is more of a monster than anything you might find in the gates." The man began rustling through his jacket pocket and pulled out a photo of a man.

"Look old man be that as it may I think maybe you should call the police or…" Malachi's words trailed off as he stared at the photo of a man he wouldn't forget for even a single second.

"T-this is Arthur Roland. H-He-"

"Fuck everything I just said in its entirety." Malachi interrupted.

The man was confused for a brief second before he saw Malachi's eyes shift from an illustrious yellow to an intense orange.

"I'll do it."

-

It had been a few hours since Malachi's eting with Rowan and he hadn't moved from the table where it took place.

Sei of course noticed his downtrodden air and brought him a drink after the shop closed.

"You kind of looked like you needed sothing stronger than tea." Sei sat two glasses on the table and poured them both a shot of whiskey.

Malachi knew he couldn't get drunk from this with his new body so he did not stand on ceremony and gulped it down.

He thanked her for the drink and afterwards the two simply sat in silence, with her simply holding his hand as they stared out the window.

She knew sothing was wrong with Mal but she did not want to push him and ultimately decided to wait for him to speak about what was bothering him.

She was also enjoying just spending ti together like this.

"Sei?"

"Yes Mala- I an honey?" She blushed profusely and regretted not dimming the lights before they sat down.

Malachi chuckled at Sei's cute sides before he asked the question that had been plaguing his mind.

"If I beca a murderer, would you look at differently?"

Sei's eyes widened in shock when she heard Malachi ask a question she never expected.