Once the train of thought went astray, it couldn't be brought back completely, so Aiden simply stopped trying to sort it out. Anyway, the plot had changed too drastically. 'Thinking about it now is basically useless, might as well take things one step at a time.'
Thinking of this, Aiden simply focused on watching TV.
About half an hour later, the door to the room opened.
Aiden turned his head to glance over, and sure enough, it was Roberta who had returned. She was holding a big bag of food in her left hand, and in her right hand, she carried a plastic bag filled with stuff.
"He still hasn't gotten up?" After putting the bag on the coffee table, Roberta asked.
Aiden shook his head, "No."
Then he added with a smile, "He was probably scared by you last night. Maybe he's still having nightmares now."
Roberta knew Aiden was mocking her, but because of her personality, she didn't want to argue with him. She just coldly snorted and rushed into the kitchen.
Watching Roberta enter the kitchen, the smile on Aiden's face disappeared. A bad feeling suddenly welled up in his heart.
Sure enough, the next second, he heard a crashing sound come from the kitchen.
"Well, now my kitchen is getting wrecked too," Aiden muttered helplessly.
Facts proved that Roberta was only a qualified warrior, she wasn't a qualified maid at all.
After bustling around in the kitchen for a while, she brought out a few plates of black, unidentifiable things.
"You're really planning to feed your young master this?" Aiden looked at what seemed to be bread on the plate and asked.
"Though the appearance is a bit bad, it should be edible." Roberta replied expressionlessly.
"That's only for you, Miss Soldier." Aiden shook his head in distaste.
Then he counted the plates on the table and found there were three. He asked, "There's one for me too?"
"Of course." Roberta nodded. "Although I'm not very willing either, since the young master is staying at your place, it includes you as well."
"Well, what an honor." Aiden pinched the bridge of his nose, he had a bit of a headache.
"But I don't want to eat this. I'm afraid of being poisoned." He stood up, gathered the plates, and walked toward the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" Roberta blocked his way.
"Cooking," Aiden said, and then walked around her.
———
Facts once again proved that Aiden had a talent for cooking.
When Aiden brought out fried eggs that were golden on both sides with runny yolks, Roberta suddenly felt a strong sense of defeat.
'Even those chefs probably couldn't do better than him!' Roberta thought, clenching her fists.
"All right, go wake Garcia up. It's time for breakfast." After placing the dishes on the table, Aiden said this to Roberta, who had been staring at the food.
However, just as he finished speaking, Garcia came out of the room.
"Good morning, young master." Seeing Garcia, Roberta greeted him.
But Garcia ignored her and only shouted to Aiden, "Good morning, Aiden."
"Mm, morning," Aiden casually waved his hand in response.
This made Roberta feel even worse. She clenched her fists again, and if she could, she really wanted to punch Aiden's face right now…
Soon, Garcia also finished washing up. The toiletries were bought by Roberta.
At the dining table, Garcia looked at the delicate breakfast, and with disbelief, glanced at Roberta.
Although he still minded what Roberta did last night, he still couldn't help asking, "Roberta, did you make this?"
Roberta expressionlessly shook her head, "It was…"
Suddenly, she realized something, she hadn't even asked Aiden's name all morning. But her reaction still made Garcia realize something.
"Aiden, you're way better than Roberta."
And so, Miss Maid clenched her fists for the third time.
Breakfast was not very pleasant. At least not for Aiden.
Probably because of what Garcia said, Roberta had been staring at him the whole time. If her eyes could shoot bullets, he would probably already be riddled with holes.
"Garcia, after breakfast, come with me to Black Lagoon's office." Aiden quickly finished his breakfast, wiped his mouth casually, and said to Garcia.
Although Garcia still disliked that tattooed woman a little, the caring words from Revy yesterday had changed his attitude a lot. He nodded, "Okay."
But the maid beside them opposed it. She finished her breakfast just as quickly and said, "No, they're not good people, and they charged a fee to send the young master here."
"Not good people?" Hearing that, a strange smile appeared on Aiden's face. "I remember the Lovelace family used to be one of South America's thirteen mafia groups. Although they've declined, past matters aren't erased just by time."
"And you, Miss Maid," Aiden rudely pointed at Roberta. "The way you looked like a killer yesterday, probably killed quite a few innocent people, huh? Of course, maybe you'll say you were tricked and did it unknowingly, but that still doesn't change your past."
Aiden knew Roberta's past, so his words pierced right through her heart like a sharp blade.
Seeing Roberta silent and Garcia falling into deep thought, Aiden continued, "Garcia won't be staying here long. He has to go home eventually. After all, his father is still waiting at home."
"My time here is short, and some things can't be solved by violence alone. If you want to return safely, someone has to help."
"As it happens, Black Lagoon has that capability. They know a lot of people, including that bar you blew up yesterday. Hmm, that poor guy was backed by an organization called Hotel Moscow. That we can still have breakfast peacefully today likely means they stepped in and resolved a lot of trouble."
Hotel Moscow, being one of the two giants of Roanapur, treated this place as their base, but they also acted as its protector. Any external force trying to cause trouble here had to report to them first. Black Lagoon's relationship with them had always been good, and Balalaika had a good impression of Aiden. So a large part of why recent incidents didn't escalate further was likely thanks to Hotel Moscow intervening.
This was also why Aiden could still live relatively peacefully. Besides rarely going out, it was also because outsiders feared Hotel Moscow. After all, not just anyone could face off against a group of ex-Spetsnaz soldiers' wrath.
"You're right."
After a moment of silence, Roberta spoke. She admitted Aiden had convinced her.
"Good." Aiden nodded, then took out a cigarette, but seeing Garcia still nibbling on his food, he shook his head.
———
After breakfast, Aiden refused Roberta's offer to wash the dishes. He didn't trust this self-proclaimed family maid at all.
"If anything breaks, I'll compensate, and I already bought new cups," Miss Maid muttered.
Aiden ignored her, tidied the table, and went into the kitchen. Then took them out and headed for the Black Lagoon office.
The Black Lagoon office wasn't far from where Aiden lived. A few minutes by car and they were there. After getting out, Aiden knocked hard on the office door.
"Revy, Dutch, Benny, and Rock, whoever's awake, come open the door!" Aiden shouted loudly. He knew this bunch usually slept in if there was nothing urgent, including Rock. That poor office worker had built good habits over the years, but only took a month with them to break them.
Sure enough, after knocking for several minutes, the door finally opened.
It was Rock, rubbing his sleepy eyes. When he saw it was Aiden, he forced himself awake and said, "Oh, Aiden. Dutch said you guys would come this morning. Didn't expect you'd come this early. Mm, come on in. I'll go make some tea."
After seating the three of them, Rock went to make tea, and then started knocking on the others' doors to wake them.
Garcia curiously looked around the Black Lagoon office's living room. This kid had been too well protected, his mindset hadn't completely shifted yet. As the heir of a mafia family, he still carried an innocence that didn't match his identity.
"Aiden, this place looks messier than your house," Garcia said after observing for a while.
"You can't expect a bunch of people who solve problems with fists to have good habits. Honestly, the place looks much better than when I came here a few days ago," Aiden said.
"Of course. We cleaned a bit last night since we had guests coming," Dutch said as he came out of the bedroom.
"As expected of you, Dutch. Looks like you already guessed why we came."
"Mm, after all, the Lovelace family still has some name and reputation. Though they've declined, they have resources. If used well, maybe they can rise again. With that kind of potential, I definitely take it seriously."
For the Black Lagoon company, gaining another friend was far better than gaining another enemy, especially when it also brought profit.
"In that case, it'll be easier to talk." Aiden sipped the tea Rock handed him and continued, "Did you talk to Balalaika?"
The Black Lagoon's ship was a torpedo boat and could only operate in coastal waters, so they mostly handled transport jobs. If they wanted to send Garcia and Roberta back to South America, they'd either have to fly or take a ship.
But Roanapur had no airport, so they could only take a ship. To avoid trouble, they needed someone reliable to send them, and only Balalaika could handle that.
"I did," Dutch nodded, being extremely sharp-minded. "But Balalaika can't arrange it just yet. They'll have to stay at your place a few more days."
"No problem." Aiden nodded, then asked, "Is Balalaika in some trouble lately?"
"Yeah, and it's related to you." Dutch looked at Aiden. "She said a bunch of strangers have entered Roanapur lately, all highly trained. From what she said, they're probably professional soldiers. Anyway, it's making her uneasy, so she's sent a lot of people to watch, even hired quite a few folks from the Triad."
"It seems my good days are coming to an end." After hearing Dutch's words, Aiden let out a silent sigh and said.
[T/N: If you're liking this story, I just started a new one: "Pokémon: Gardevoir Harem with Tag System." As evident from the name, a Pokemon fanfic, OP MC and OP system, check and throw some Powerstones while you are at it. Have a great read 🥳]
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