John Wick - Chapter 100: Service at the Rome Continental Hotel. Time to Spend! (Patreon)

The group chatted on the sofas for a while longer until Julius received a call. He excused himself and went off to take care of business.

An attendant approached them.

“Ms. Elena, the doctor is waiting outside your room.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Elena hurried to her feet, only to wince in pain when she put weight on her injured ankle.

Seeing that she was having trouble walking, the attendant immediately said, “Please wait here. I’ll get you a wheelchair.”

Before he had even finished speaking, he hurried off to the hotel’s storage room, unfolded a wheelchair, and pushed it back over with astonishing speed. His movements were so practiced that it was obvious he had done this countless times before.

“Uh...”

Elena stared at him, baffled.

Nate, however, immediately understood what the attendant was after. He took out a gold coin and handed it to him.

“Here. Consider this a tip. It doesn’t count toward what the manager offered earlier.”

“Thank you for your generosity, sir.”

“Do you guys have KPIs here?” Nate asked.

The attendant hesitated for a moment.

“Yes, sir. Our performance is calculated based on how many gold coins we receive from guests each month.”

“Do you get a base salary?”

“Yes, sir, but it’s quite low.”

“Oh...”

That explained a lot.

Nate leaned in curiously.

“Can you tell me how much?”

The attendant looked uncomfortable.

“My apologies, sir. There are rules about discussing that, and we...”

“I get it, I get it. Then please take good care of her.”

“Thank you for understanding. It’s my duty.”

The attendant wheeled Elena away and took her upstairs.

No wonder Nate had gotten such a strong corporate vibe from this place the moment he walked in. Every attendant wore the same polished smile and went out of their way to be helpful, but there was something almost mechanical about it.

It felt much less personal than New York.

“John, is New York like this too?” Nate asked.

John rubbed his chin.

“The system is pretty similar, but the base salary in New York is much higher. Performance bonuses matter a lot less.”

“Oh...”

Now it made sense.

“So what do we do next?” John asked.

“Shop.”

The two headed through an underground passage toward the tailor.

For some reason, the place reminded Nate of a garment factory from his previous life.

John handed a gold coin to a woman working at a sewing machine. She led them through several more corridors before they finally reached the tailor.

An exceptionally elegant bald man in a suit stepped forward with a smile and shook John’s hand.

“Welcome back to Rome, Mr. Wick.”

His voice carried a slightly languid quality without losing any of its refinement.

“Ciao, Angelo.”

“Julius told me about you. So this must be your partner?”

Angelo smiled and extended his hand toward Nate.

“Nate Lin. Pleasure to meet you.”

They shook hands.

“So, gentlemen, are you looking for new suits?”

“Of course.”

After taking their measurements, John ordered two black suits in different styles. Both had flexible material around the joints and tactical linings built into the interior.

As for Nate...

He ordered forty.

There were eight colors he liked, and he picked five different styles in each color.

Forty suits, just like that.

John stood off to the side with one hand covering his face.

He couldn’t bear to watch.

Angelo, on the other hand, was practically glowing.

“It’s been a very long time since I’ve had such a generous customer.”

“How many gold coins per suit?” Nate asked.

“Sixteen.”

Angelo couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

“Wait. Didn’t Julius say he was covering everything we spend here? Do you still get credit for the sale if we don’t pay in gold coins ourselves?”

“Of course, Mr. Lin. The gold coins will simply be charged to the manager’s account. We only need to issue an invoice.”

“Oh... Got it.”

“How long will all these suits take?” John asked.

“Mr. Wick, even with all the staff I have here, this many suits will still take about a week.”

“Then make John’s first. For mine, just finish the white ones for now.”

Nate thought for a moment before adding, “A woman named Elena might come by tomorrow or the day after to order a suit. If she does, prioritize hers too.”

“Certainly, sir. The suits you need first will be delivered to your room tomorrow.”

Angelo smiled warmly.

“You’ve been exceptionally generous. As a token of our appreciation, the shop will also provide matching top hats, ties, and belts free of charge.”

“Thanks.”

The two left the tailor and strolled leisurely through the underground passage.

“Nate, why did you buy so many?” John asked, completely baffled.

“John, you’re thinking too small. I’m getting everything taken care of at once. Now I won’t have to worry about buying suits for the next ten years.”

Nate spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“How often do you find a tailor this good when someone else is paying the bill? Of course I’m going to stock up.”

John thought about it for a moment.

“I suppose that does make some sense...”

The two passed through the hotel lobby and headed to the Sommelier.

Unlike in New York, the Sommelier here actually sold wine, while also dealing equipment on the side.

Miss Jennifer in New York only sold guns.

Apparently everyone here was working hard for those performance bonuses.

The Sommelier wore a finely tailored dark suit in a distinctly old-fashioned European style, with clean, sharp lines.

He had his back to John and Nate, examining a handgun.

Hearing them approach, he set the pistol down, turned around, and loosely folded his hands in front of his abdomen before giving them a slight nod.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Wick.”

“Long time no see.”

“What may I offer you today?”

Every word came out in a flawless, measured British accent.

Damn, that was elegant.

How did someone even train themselves to speak like that?

Nate wanted to learn.

Even back in his previous life, when he watched the movies, he had always thought the Rome Sommelier was easily the most elegant speaker in the entire series.

“I’d like a tasting,” John said with a nod.

“I know you’ve always been fond of German varieties, but I strongly recommend these newer Austrian offerings. The Glock 34 and Glock 26.”

As he spoke, the Sommelier removed two heavily modified pistols from the display.

Hmm...

Nate glanced across the shelves.

Most of the weapons were TTI products with competition-grade modifications.

They suited John perfectly.

John also ordered a fully kitted-out TTI-modified AR-15, equipped with an offset sight and an adjustable 6x scope, along with enough ammunition to fill ten magazines.

He skipped the shotgun this time. Nate already had an identical one.

He didn’t need a knife either.

John still had Nate’s Polaris. Nate had gotten a little tired of it and tossed it to John to use, and John seemed to like it quite a bit.

Once he was satisfied, John nodded to indicate that he didn’t need anything else.

The Sommelier turned toward Nate.

“And what might I offer you, sir?”

Finally.

My turn.

Nate stepped forward.

“Something powerful. Something that can keep going for a long time. Got anything like that?”

Dim yellow light fell across the dark walnut display cases.

The Sommelier considered the request for a moment, then nodded.

“Yes.”

“How much do you have? And what exactly have you got?”

Nate pressed him, already getting ideas.

“Anything you could want,” the Sommelier replied confidently.

John immediately sensed trouble.

This was bad.

Nate smiled.

“Then... do you have a Gatling gun?”

“...”

The Sommelier lowered his head and fell silent.

After a moment, he looked up at Nate.

The young man smiled right back at him.

The Sommelier lowered his gaze again.

Silence.