Chapter 7

“Hey, Commander?”

Debbie Gibson, who runs the tavern ‘Red Carnelian’ in the alley, was actually the vice-guild master of the information guild and a capable elite fixer. This tavern was only outwardly a tavern; it served as a passage and window for clients seeking the information guild or fixers.

Actually, he wanted to make it a restaurant, but for some reason, the commander’s approval didn’t come through, so it became a tavern. And one with a strange name at that.

The person who gave it this strange name, the real owner of the tavern, the guild master of the information guild, and in fact a big shot in the back alleys, the commander, had been working all day without saying a word.

The problem was that while he was looking at documents, there was no progress at all.

So unlike before, even though the commander came to work every day, they were experiencing the new phenomenon of work constantly piling up.

Despite this, he handled field work exceptionally well, leaving nothing to complain about. Of course, the constantly piling paperwork wasn’t a welcome situation.

‘The employees and subordinates are starting to build up complaints.’

The problem was that even Debbie didn’t have the confidence to properly approach Commander Maverick.

Instead of trying to speak to the commander who had already ignored him dozens of times, Debbie pondered deeply. When exactly did the commander become such a soulless person?

‘Was it when he returned after divorcing three months ago?’

Actually, among the executives, they quietly called it ‘the day the commander went crazy.’ Clearly, there was a special reason why Maverick, who had infiltrated the Clematis ducal family, suddenly divorced and returned. He had endured well for two years and seemed to be doing well recently, so it was inexplicable.

‘Using someone else’s hideout like a hotel!’

How surprised they were when Rose Clematis appeared. When she was coming and going, no employees or customers could even use this place. So there were many customer complaints, and who had to deal with them? None other than Debbie!

Anyway, why did he suddenly divorce and return? They couldn’t even know who had proposed it. Because that commander wouldn’t say anything about it.

Then was the plan to destroy Clematis from the inside also abandoned? Nothing could be known. Unable to bear the frustration, Debbie couldn’t hold back and spoke.

“Commander, what about the Clematis confidential information? Should we keep trying?”

“……”

Maverick finally raised his head. His appearance was completely different from when he was at Clematis. Before, his precisely styled hair and buttoned-up appearance, with his hair covering his forehead and slightly loosened buttons, he looked like a wealthy noble family’s neglected youngest son.

It was quite a talent to still look noble even in such a disheveled state.

What’s more surprising is that he’s not actually from noble birth. Not only is he not noble, but he’s from the back alleys like them.

“Stop it.”

Hearing that slow tone, Debbie’s eyes widened. What, so he’s giving up on revenge against Clematis too? Debbie quickly calmed his surprised heart and nodded. If they were going to withdraw the employees, they needed to start moving now.

“Well, understood. If you say so, Commander, there must be a reason. Then I’ll start withdrawing our people.”

“……”

There was no answer, but this silence meant yes. Most of those who followed Maverick were people who had received help from him or were revived with his money. Therefore, they were prepared to follow even somewhat unreasonable orders, and this level wasn’t even considered unreasonable.

“Then I’ll be going.”

After Debbie disappeared, for a while, only the sound of rustling papers could be heard in Maverick’s office. Soon Maverick roughly threw the documents to the floor.

Why…

He mouthed silently.

“…It won’t disappear.”

I’ll give up everything, you say.

In his vision, there stood a girl that neither Debbie, who was just there, nor anyone else could see.

Like autumn leaves, like a ruby, the girl with bright red hair smiled prettily.

‘Rick.’

And–

At such times, Maverick was helplessly pulled back into the past once again.

It was an irresistible force.

* * *

In the capital’s back alleys.

‘Maggot’, who came from a beggar gang, had to do everything possible to survive under the organization.

From minor tasks like running alcohol errands for organization members and local thugs, to dangerous jobs like finding and retrieving valuable items from corpses killed by organization members.

It was particularly troublesome and risky work because sometimes people thought to be dead weren’t actually dead, and there was a risk of being killed by their counterattack. In fact, ‘Mute’, who came from the same beggar gang as him, died after being stabbed by a sword wielded with the last strength of someone who wasn’t yet dead.

The sight of his fellow child dying was vivid in his mind. But he soon forgot it. Because here, the number of dying children was actually as numerous as dying insects.

‘Maggot’, who joined the organization as an errand boy at age nine, got his nickname when someone said the boy’s curled-up posture when being beaten looked like a maggot, and it soon became his name.

Anyway, when he was in the beggar gang, he was called without a name, just ‘hey’, ‘bastard’, ‘son of a b*tch’, so either way didn’t matter. Despite his eyes being covered by thick, unwashed mop-like hair, he was so quick that none of the organization members had ever seen ‘Maggot’s’ eye color.

He was born with quick wit and intelligence. Thus, early on, he learned how a weak and useless child like himself could survive. It was by parasitizing the strong.

So when the boy turned thirteen, with his growth faster than others making him look about fifteen, and his useful mind earning the trust of organization members, he reached a position roughly equivalent to the youngest trusted employee. It was a position that children from beggar gangs or other errand boys couldn’t reach.

“Really? Such a big job?”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

He didn’t feel much sense of achievement when he accomplished something, nor the joy or sadness that others felt. That was also characteristic of those from the back alleys. It was a harsh environment where one couldn’t survive without castrating their emotions.

Instead, this place writhed with desire, greed, avarice, and pleasure in place of emotions. Of course, it was also a place where betrayal, murder, gambling, and robbery were common because of this.

But unlike usual, even though there wasn’t a gambling event, the organization members were unusually excited and making a loud fuss. From what he heard, their upper organization had caught a big job, and ‘Maggot’s’ organization would participate as support.

“Hey, Maggot. You get ready too.”

“Ah. We’re taking him along?”

“He’s good at handling corpses, isn’t he?”

“That’s true.”

As the boy grew up, he proved his usefulness so the organization couldn’t throw him away. He became particularly skilled at making murder scenes look like accidents. That’s why he was included in this operation despite not being a combat personnel.

As always in bloody work, surprisingly, unlike other times, there was a special ‘harvest’.

It was a very small, white girl.

“…sob, sob.”

In the organization’s warehouse, along with rotting grain, the girl was also imprisoned. The organization members assigned ‘Maggot’ the role of feeding the girl just because they were similar in age.

“Wow, she’s damn pretty.”

“We got lucky. We could bring her in because all our superiors died.”

“They’re handling the negotiations?”

“Yeah. That high-up lord would never guess his daughter is here, would he? Hehehe.”

“Hey, Maggot. Go give her food.”

The organization members mocked the girl but consistently provided meals. That’s how they could tell she wasn’t an ordinary person. Indeed, the carriage she had been riding in was an extremely luxurious one.

However, for some reason, there were very few guards, and it overturned in an unexpected accident. The organization members were lucky enough to target that moment.

The problem was that every time he entered, the girl would glare at him like she wanted to kill him. Moreover, when they untied just one hand for her to eat, she would kick away the bowl and repeatedly punch ‘Maggot’. It didn’t hurt, but he had the natural thought that at this rate, the girl would tire first.

The girl was white and pretty. ‘Maggot’ had learned the word pretty from the brothel women who were friendly with the organization members. But unlike those women who were somehow tired and worn out by life, the girl had vitality. Moreover, she was delicate and sparkled like an abandoned luxury doll he had seen just once before.

He thought only stars could sparkle in the world, but for the first time, he learned that people could sparkle too.

So whenever ‘Maggot’ had time, he would squat in front of the girl and stare at her for a long while. The girl would glare at him, and sometimes cry while glaring. As time passed, perhaps having adapted, instead of crying, she looked at him with crooked curiosity.