Alex wanted to rush in and blast the dude's head open, but he didn't know his strength yet—or whether the bastard had security.
After all, Bren's reputation was vile enough to justify having a personal guard or two at all times.
So Alex chose the same method he used when hunting monsters stronger than himself.
He would stalk Bren relentlessly, learning everything—from the drink he liked most to the kind of girl he preferred to molest.
And once he understood Bren's patterns, habits, strength, and how much protection he had, Alex would strike.
So he blended into the crowd immediately, trying not to look out of place.
Fortunately, he had changed his attire before pub-hopping; otherwise, he would have stood out like a torch in the dark.
He bought a mild alcoholic drink and sat in a corner, appearing relaxed while keeping Bren in his peripheral vision.
He spent a while drinking alone when suddenly two girls approached.
They were fit and elegant, makeup enhancing their beauty, but their sudden approach put Alex on high alert. Normally, no one approaches a lone guy sitting in a shadowed corner—especially not two well-groomed girls.
"Hello, are you drinking alone?" one girl asked.
"Yes. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Alex replied politely, wearing a small smile.
"Well, my friend and I saw you drinking by yourself, and since you look cute, we decided to approach," the other girl said honestly.
'Cute? Me?' Alex thought doubtfully — he always believed himself to be pretty normal in the looks department, and it had been a long time since he last looked at himself in the mirror.
Are they drunk? He doubted people simply approached strangers without reason.
"Thank you for the compliment. You're both quite pretty yourselves," Alex replied, returning the compliment.
"Thank you. May we take a seat?" the first girl asked.
Alex almost declined, but reconsidered.
'What better way to blend in than being surrounded by people?'
"Sure," he said after a bit of thought, gesturing to the chairs across from him.
The second girl spoke up again. "I know it's late, but let me introduce us. I'm Miri, and this is my friend Kaia. Pleased to meet you."
Kaia nodded shyly, clearly the quieter of the two. Their dynamic reminded him painfully of how he and Marc used to be.
"I'm Marc. Pleased to meet you both," Alex said.
"What are you doing drinking alone?" Miri asked.
"You could say I'm drowning my sorrows," he replied with a faint grin.
He'd suffered more than he wished to admit these past six months—losing both his best friend and his first love.
"Oh? And what could happen to someone like you to be like that?" she pressed, voice dripping with curiosity.
But beneath that curiosity, Alex detected a subtle tremor.
Nervousness, Maia's voice had a faint shaking to it.
Kaia, on the other side, kept glancing somewhere over Miri's shoulder. And when he followed her gaze, it became obvious—she was watching Bren.
'So that's it. They approached me to escape that douchebag.'
Bren liked targeting isolated girls. Girls seated with men, even strangers, became less appealing prey. Alex remembered that pattern clearly from Lyssan.
He leaned forward slightly.
"If you approached me to dodge Bren, you can say so. No need to pretend," he said casually.
Both girls froze, staring at him.
"How did you figure that out?" Kaia asked.
"Observing the environment. Your sneaky glances at him gave you away, and Miri's nervous voice sealed it," Alex explained.
"How about we make a deal? Tell me everything you know about him. If you do that, you can stick close as long as you want."
"And why do you need that information?" Miri asked.
"Let's just say Bren and someone who hired me aren't on good terms," he lied smoothly.
Hours of watching had yielded nothing but the sight of Bren creeping on women, and his time was really limited. He needed intel, fast.
"Well, we know a lot about him. What exactly do you want?" Kaia asked, her shyness fading now that the truth was out.
"Anything—places he frequents, habits, quirks, shady dealings, who he hangs around with," Alex said.
"Is anything of what you told us even true at all?" Miri asked, narrowing her eyes. She started to see Alex in a new light — she couldn't believe someone could be so good at blending in, thinking he must be a professional liar.
"Is your name even Marc at all?" she followed before Alex could even answer the first question.
"No, it isn't," Alex said bluntly. "And yes, some things I told you are real—like why I'm drinking alone."
"What's your real name then?" she asked, now that a mysterious figure was stalking Bren, and since this was the first time something like this had happened in her life, she couldn't help but ask, her curiosity overflowing.
"If I wanted to give you my real name, I wouldn't have used a fake one to begin with. So stop digging. Too much curiosity puts people face down in rivers. We have a deal—hold up your end."
Miri raised her hands. "Okay, okay, don't get angry."
"I'm not," Alex said immediately.
"Hehe," Kaia chuckled, amused.
He realized then they were teasing him.
"There's a lot we could tell you about Bren. He's kind of famous in the capital—just for all the wrong reasons," Miri said.
And so they talked. The girls hid from danger, and Alex collected information.
Both parties got what they wanted.
Eventually, Bren stood up, a girl clinging to his arm. He seemed to have coerced her to sleep with him tonight, but there was nothing he could do about it — he couldn't risk blowing his cover up to help the girl.
Alex clenched his fists at the sight,' I hope you find peace when I kill him,' he then thought.
When Bren left the pub, Alex stood as well.
"I'll be going now. Thank you for the company. Here's a token of gratitude," he said, placing two gold coins—one for each girl—on the table.
"Bye! If you want to meet again, we're here most weekends," Miri said.
She seemed drawn to him now; mysterious yet gentlemanly men were rare.
Alex said nothing. He simply winked and left.
He tailed Bren at a distance until the man reached an inn. Bren booked a room with the girl; Alex booked one on the same floor, close to the stairs for easy movement.
Inside his room, Alex finally rested. Based on Bren's habits, he wouldn't leave the inn until midday.
With Alex rising early,
He would have some free hours, which he intended to use to get to know the capital's streets—to prepare for what would come next.