Trade

"Yellow-skinned monkey—"

Bang!

Saitama punched the thugs in front of him, sending them flying.

Seeing this, Skye gave him a thumbs-up. "Saitama, you're really amazing. They looked so much bigger and stronger than you, but you beat them so easily."

"That's because I went through some really grueling training."

"Training? To become a superhero?"

"Yeah. I wanted to become a hero just for fun, and to be a hero, you need enough strength to defeat monsters and protect humanity. That's why I trained." Saitama nodded.

"..." Hearing him say that, Skye couldn't help rolling her eyes. She still thought there was something wrong with Saitama's head. Monsters? If those things really existed, the world would have descended into chaos long ago. At the very least, everyone would know about them. But the world was at peace—well, all right, it wasn't exactly peaceful, but at least no so-called monsters had appeared.

So, given the facts, if Saitama could talk so vividly about monsters and such a bizarre worldview, there was only one possibility: something was wrong with his head.

"All right, Saitama, let's go! We're almost out of time to meet that sucker, and I don't want to be late. Even if that sucker really wants Tony Stark's business card, being late is still rude. I don't want anything to go wrong now." Skye thought of her client as a sucker. In her eyes, it was only a business card. She knew Tony Stark's card was worth that much, but she still couldn't help thinking the buyer was a sucker. After all, it was only a tiny business card.

"Oh, oh!"

At the entrance to a very high-end hotel, Skye and Saitama were stopped.

"May I help you two?" The man who stopped them wore a well-tailored suit and had a pleasant smile. He seemed quite amiable, and was courteous even to Skye and Saitama, but he had stopped them just as they were about to enter the hotel.

"We're here to meet someone. We have an appointment." Other people had entered the hotel without being stopped, while this man had intercepted them just as they were going in. But he wasn't rude or arrogant, and Skye couldn't sense any contempt in his manner. So, though she frowned slightly, she told him why they were there.

"I see. Could you tell me the name of the person you have an appointment with? That way, I can provide better service and make the proper arrangements."

"Norton. Mr. Norton. We agreed to meet here at this time."

"Mr. Norton? All right, Mr. Norton is indeed at the hotel. Please have a seat over here while I notify him." The man courteously led Saitama and Skye to a comfortable-looking lounge.

"Is that steak?" Saitama spotted the food in the lounge, especially the steak and things like king crab.

"Saitama, sit down. Don't embarrass yourself." Skye grabbed hold of him, worried he might just start eating. That would be embarrassing.

"Huh? They put all this out for us to eat, didn't they? And it looks so fancy. I've never eaten any of this before."

"I haven't either, but—wait, how did you—" Skye hadn't even seen how Saitama had done it, but he was already standing in front of the food.

"Wow! This is delicious. Skye, want some?" Saitama held up a large lobster.

"No—uh, maybe I could have a little." Watching Saitama enjoy all that delicious food while she sat there empty-handed felt unfair. What Saitama was doing was a little embarrassing, but she was with him. If his behavior made them look bad, other people would judge her too, so why bother pretending? Besides, she was poor and hadn't received much formal education.

Thinking that, Skye couldn't hold back either.

After the man contacted Mr. Norton and got his permission, he came back and saw Skye and Saitama stuffing their faces without a shred of decorum. Even with all his refinement, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"Mr. Norton would like to see you."

"Uh, ahem, o-okay." Skye blushed, feeling her face grow hot. Then she looked at Saitama, who was still eating, and gave him a sharp tug. "That's enough, Saitama. Let's go!"

"Oh, oh! But I don't think I'm full yet." Saitama reluctantly put down the half-eaten lobster.

Skye's face burned. She thought she had made a complete fool of herself, especially in front of other people.

"Please follow me." The man led Skye and Saitama in a certain direction.

"Wait, where are we going? To see Mr. Norton?"

"No, the restroom is this way. I think you two need to clean up."

Skye blushed again. Then she turned to look at Saitama. That guy had incredibly thick skin; there wasn't the slightest embarrassment on his face. He was even looking around casually with his vacant eyes.

Though the process had been a little embarrassing, the deal went very smoothly once Skye and Saitama met Mr. Norton.

"Here's your money, lucky young people. I hope your good fortune continues." After carefully putting away Tony Stark's business card, Mr. Norton—the man Skye had called a sucker—had a female secretary beside him hand Skye a case full of cash.

"Thank you. We will. We'll stay lucky forever." Skye held the case, reluctant to let go. A whole case of money—how long would it take her to earn that much? Or could she ever make that much in her entire life?

After Skye and Saitama left, Norton sat on the sofa with a smile, sipping a glass of red wine.

"Sir, are you really going to let them leave just like that?"

"Of course. They brought me Stark's business card. I don't know how they got it, but it could be a great help to me, so that little bit of money is nothing."

"Yes, sir!"

"Perhaps I should prepare properly. Stark likes beautiful women, so maybe I should find one. That might help me even more."