Amadeus sighed loudly when he suddenly stopped in mid-stride, his right hand moving up to his forehead when he saw the scene in front of him. A glance at his watch indicated that it was merely nine in the morning but the queue in front of the docks were already long enough that the restaurant owner knew he would definitely be standing in line for one or two hours. It was all that damned bandit’s faulted, having tried to rob him on the way from Crocus to Hargeon. When he had been stopped, Amadeus had given the bandit a deadpan stare before clocking him out with a right punch, sending him to the ground immediately before Amadeus continued on his way.
While it was just a ten-minute holdup, the Hidden Blades agent still decided to pin the blame on the robber. Resigning himself to his fate, Amadeus walked to the end of the line and began his queue. Looking down the line in front of him, the agent could see that some of the people in line were chatting with each other, no doubt having agreed to come with a friend or relative so that they wouldn’t be bored by the long wait. Amadeus had only been in Hargeon for a few times so he hadn’t really paid much attention to the town.
With nothing to do, he allowed his eyes to roam. The deep sea fishing trawlers had arrived at the port a few hours earlier, and the crew who hadn’t seen land for a few months at a time were slowly moving down the haul from the ships after dealing with the dock officers. Originally he had just watched to fill his boredom, but when he managed to sneak a glance at what they were offloading, he began watching them with a renewed interest. Grilled squid and octopus was one of the more well-received dishes at his restaurant and when he saw the slightly more exotic species being hauled in, it got the young man thinking if he could add them to his menu.
The line moved along rather smoothly, Amadeus absent-mindedly moving his legs accordingly as well while he continued observing the unloading from the trawlers. He looked down the line again in front of him and realized that it was almost his turn. With a satisfied grin, he turned back his attention to the lower docks again. However, this time, just as the line moved, another person quickly snuck into place between Amadeus and the person originally in front of him. Amadeus bumped into the person as he moved forward without looking and in return, got a hostile stare from the queue-cutter.
He immediately realized what had just happened, when he stared back at the grizzly man. He stood taller than Amadeus, who was already considered tall, no doubt using his large physique to intimidate others. There were others murmuring behind Amadeus, complaining about how that man had cut the line but there was no one who dared to speak out loudly enough.
“Sir, if you want to get your passport done, please move to the back of the line like the rest of us,” Amadeus spoke up as he stared back at the tall man.
“Brat,” was all the large man said as he grabbed Amadeus by his jacket collar with both hands. That was all he managed to do, before crying out in pain. Before being raised up into the air, Amadeus had swung his left leg as hard as he could, kicking the toes of his shoe into the man’s knee. It wasn’t strong enough to crack his knee cap, but it did bring the man lower as well as lowering him. Sneering, Amadeus pushed the man’s head and his entire body to the right with his right hand and sent his left fist into the man’s chest, throwing him out of the line and into the ground with a dazed look on his face.
With the tall man out of the way, Amadeus was pleased to discover that the line in front of him had cleared and it was his turn now. Throwing another glare at the man sprawled on the ground, Amadeus quickly moved to the counter and went through the process of getting his passport prepared.
[716 words]
