719 Chapter 719: Edward Gray


    "Whatever happens inside, I want you to calm down and ignore them. Okay?"


    "Hm."


    Riley, and the one leading the cleaners of Aerith''s statue, ire, were now in one of thergest buildings in the settlement; made from wood, shings, and whatever bleachers were left in therge stadium. It was also the most lit establishment, perhaps a testament to how much the people value the ce.


    As to why it seemed so important, well, it was obvious—it''s a bar.


    "I don''t think I need to exin this to you again, but everyone here is a firm supporter of Megawoman," ire was in front of Riley; her hand, already on the door as she had been orienting Riley about the trades and ways of the settlement… which is aptly named Megawoman City for obvious reasons,


    "Some are even hardcore fans and part of a cult. So, if I were you, I would avoid talking smack about the Girl Above, okay?"


    "Hm."


    "I am serious, Mr. Ross—Wait, Ross… You don''t happen to be rted to the Ross family, are you?"


    "Not in this world, no."


    "...Huh. Well, you do look different," ire squinted her eyes as she looked at Riley from head to toe. But as she was lost in thought, however, Riley took the chance to just go ahead and enter the fine establishment.


    And as soon as he did so, he was met with unweed eyes of curiosity and suspicion. All of them, looking at Riley as if he was some sort of ghost—which in all honesty, he does look like one.


    Some of them started clicking their tongues; their hands which were gripping their drinks, tightening as their stares were soon followed by lowering eyebrows. Before anything could really happen, however, ire entered the bar.


    "Oh, who''s this!?"


    And like a switch being flipped, the knitted faces of the patrons all light up as soon as they saw ire''s face.


    "ire! We''ve been waiting for you here!"


    "Isn''t today the day you''re going to buy all of us drinks!?"


    "Mr. Ross. I told you to wait for me," ire whispered loudly right beside Riley''s ears, "You—"


    "Wait, wait… What''s this!? You''re the one who brought the handsome albino here!?"


    "Is that your new boyfriend? Wait, of course not. How many times have we told you not to solicit young men!?"


    But s, ire could not really even talk to Riley for another second as all the people in the bar started hollering and heckling her.


    "I knew you were into white people, I just didn''t know how white until now!"


    "You guys should shut the fuck up!" ire quickly raised both of her middle fingers and started pointing them at everyone like guns, "Fuck you, you, and you too, bitch!"


    ire had told Riley to stay as calm as possible, and yet here she was, not even another step inside the bar and she was already cursing everyone. Riley waited for her to be done, but even after an entire minute had passed, she and the other patrons were stillughing and cursing at each other.


    And so, Riley just decided to leave her and head to the bar. And as he did so, ire finally lowered her arms as she watched as Riley approached the person behind the counter, and it wasn''t only her. The other patrons all paused whatever it was they were doing, even spilling their drinks as a certain excitement grew in their eyes.


    "Are you Edward Gray?" Riley then asked the bartender, who could be none other than Gary''s father judging from how he looked.


    Gary was already tall enough, standing at 6''7". His father, however, was probably taller than him by half a foot. ire had told him to find the tall guy, but Riley wasn''t really expecting this.


    And he wasn''t just tall; his loose and oversized shirt could not hide how muscr he truly was. The ss he was cleaning almost seemed miniature from howrge his hands and arms were, not to mention how hairy they were.


    He also carried a thick beard; his eyebrows, lush and thick—even then, however, there was no hiding how chiseled and manly his face truly is.


    If one were to look at him outside in the dark, they would probably think he was some sort of bear.


    ''Is this Aerith''s type?'' Riley thought with his head tilted to the side. Edward also seemed to be the quiet and brooding type, which Riley was not. Whenever he was with Aerith, he talked without pause.


    Is this why Aerith did not like him at all? Because he was theplete opposite of the father of her child?


    "Hm…" And finally, after what seemed like an entire minute, Edward finished cleaning the ss he was wiping and walked toward Riley. He ced both his palms on the counter, looking Riley in the eyes,


    "What do you need?"


    "..." All the patrons of the bar started chugging their bears and sipping their whiskeys as they continued to watch the scenario unfold. Their eyes, still filled with expectation from what was about to happen.


    As for the one that brought Riley there, she just had her arms crossed. After all, she was really the only one that knew that Riley is a super… and not an ordinary one at that.


    "Beer, whiskey, rum and coke?" Edward''s voice almost reflected his looks; raspy, husky, and just deep overall, "If not…


    …then we also serve milk."


    "Pft…" The patrons that were chugging their beers almost spilled everything as they tried their best to stopughing. And right when they couldn''t stop themselves anymore, Riley gave an unexpected reply.


    "Then I suppose I would take the milk, Mr. Gray," Riley said as he also ced his hand on the table. Not, of course, before cleaning it first with the very same towel Edward used to clean the ss,


    "With ice, please."


    "..." Edward red at Riley for a few seconds, before letting out a grunt and violently snatching the towel from him. And there and then, the other patrons started looking at each other.


    All of them thought this would just be themon scenario—where someone would just try and size up Bernard and back down, but no. This pale white-haired young man that just appeared out of nowhere didn''t even seem to care.


    "...He looks kinda familiar."


    "Shh, shut up."


    The sound of Edward drawing milk from a carton whispered in the air without any intrusion; the patrons, even holding their breaths in fear that they would miss something.


    "Here you go, kid," Edward ced the ss right in front of Riley, before cing his arm on the counter and once again looking Riley in the eyes. Riley, on the other hand, just grabbed the ss and casually took a sip of his milk.


    "..."


    "..."


    "So…" And as soon as Riley ced the milk back on the counter, Edward quickly moved it away as he leaned closer to Riley; the smell of boozeing out of his mouth, enough to make Riley increase his telekic shield,


    "...Who are you? Are you from the government again?"


    "My name is Riley Ross," Riley nced at the ss of milk, before just letting out a small sigh and introducing himself, "And I am not part of the government."


    "...Ross?" Edward''s thick eyebrows lowered as he looked at ire, who quickly shook her head in response, "You''re not rted to the royal family, are you?"


    "No."


    "You''re not from the government. You''re not a Ross. You''re definitely not a superhero…" Edward scratched his beard, "...I don''t know what someone like you would want from me except for a ss of milk."


    "Gary Gray."


    "...Who?" Edward''s eyes slightly squinted as he leaned away from Riley.


    "Gary Gray. Perhaps you know where he is?"


    "I don''t even know who that is, kid," Edward grunted as he shook his head. And now with him standing straight, hepletely towered over Riley,


    "Now if you''re not going to order anything else anytime soon, I have other assholes to serve."


    "It''s the house painted orange on Aisle V, you won''t miss it. As for me…


    10:08


    "Hm…" Riley ced his hand on his chin as Edward walked away. And after a few seconds, he just shrugged and walked back toward ire,


    "Can I borrow money, Ms. ire? I do not have anything on me to pay for the milk."


    "Don''t bother," Edward slightly raised his voice, "Milk''s on the house."


    "...You got what you came here for?" ire only nodded at Edward, before gesturing to Riley to step out of the bar with her.


    "I don''t know yet, Ms. ire," Riley shook his head as he followed ire out.


    "Well, tough luck," ire sighed, before suddenly giving Riley a set of keys, "Since you did us one when you cleaned Megawoman''s statue, you''re free to stay at my house for the night."


    "..." Riley could really only blink a couple of times as he held the key in his hand. This world… did they have the habit of giving strangers the key to their homes?


    "It''s the house painted orange on Aisle V, you won''t miss it. As for me…


    …I''m gonna spend the night in the bar!"


    And with those words, ire barged into the bar once more, causing all the people inside to scream and roar.


    "..." Riley did not really know what to do now, since he was already staying at Hannah''s ce back in New York. Should he just leave a clone here so as to not be rude to ire?


    "Hm, I''ll do that," Riley nodded to himself as he started walking away. But as soon as he reached a dark park of the stadium, however…


    …he noticed arge shadow crawling up from behind him.


    "You…" It was Edward, holding arge steel bat as he literally looked down on Riley,


    "...You will tell me where you heard that name."


    Edward kinda looks like the guy from FMA, if you still haven''t gotten a mental image of him.


    Romeru