Resting his head on his hand, Shade looks at the movie-like scene unfolding before his eyes.
Right in front of him was a man crying and moaning on the ground while covered in bruises and a few tall muscular men in suits stood surrounding him like walls.
If this same scenario had happened just a few days ago, he would have safely concluded that this was a dream.
Not a single thing indicated to be real yet everything was.
He would have gladly averted his eyes from this play, regrettably that was the most entertaining thing around him as he was left alone here without any objective or ambition.
Why was he here?
That was because of a sudden request that Irina had made yesterday.
~•~
After an hour passed by while they were engaged in their conversations inside the library.
"Shade, I have a request to make."
"Hmm…"
"I want you to accompany me to some place tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
He was really against that idea.
"Yes, tomorrow."
"You see, my body still hasn't recovered completely after travelling so much yesterday. And yeah, we will be going to visit my relatives that live far away from here. So I don't think we will be returning for a few days."
Hearing his words Irina narrows her eyes in annoyance.
"I know that since mom told me as well but we would have to pass on that visit. It is really important."
Am I the only one who wasn't informed about the visit beforehand? Also don't call my mother "mom" it's creepy!
"Don't stare at me like that, mom only told me that yesterday when you were tired and didn't come for dinner. I even told you about it last evening but it looks like you were half asleep."
"No, I'm not staring for that reason."
"?"
Deciding on such things was futile as whatever he would eventually end up choosing would only depend on his parents' reply which should most likely be negative.
Even if he agreed to it for now it was not like after listening to their request of being left alone his parents would be convinced of it.
And so they were able to successfully convince Shade's parents.
What the fuck?
After returning home, Irina maintained a wide smile for some reason.
Waiting all the way till dinner where she made some small talk with his family before she dropped the bomb that never exploded and got decorated and glorified instead.
"What, you can't come with us?! No, I planned to do so many things with you…"
"Stay at a hotel? Don't even think about it. Shade, you should stay as well. We can't just leave her alone after all."
"Well you wouldn't have liked it either, we were going because of your grandfather's tantrums."
"Yup, we should leave Shade, not like anybody likes it when he visits them."
The reactions were simply way too convenient for Irina.
So much so, that Shade started doubting supernatural phenomenons for the readiness of his family including and abandoning him from a family trip without even asking for his will.
The next day his family left early in the morning leaving Shade and Irina behind.
After sending his family off Shade continued his daily routine of some light exercise, morning skin care, reading and a few more things while Irina was relaxing in his room as well.
Since their relaxing trip to the library together, Shade found Irina invading his privacy more obviously than before.
At first he thought it was just his imagination before he saw her comfortably in his room.
She was currently lying down on his bed and checking on her phone from time to time, when she got bored she started going through his bookshelf.
If you don't have anything to do then just use your phone and don't bother others.
"There is a board and a lot of books for chess, I didn't think you would have time for a hobby along with the unnecessary strict schedule that you fail to follow."
Hearing that Shade turned back and locked eyes with her with a grin formed on his face.
"Interested? You know, I'm a professional player who has participated in local and a few higher tournaments for years now."
"You like the game that much?"
"For money."
"That makes an awful lot of sense."
After a while she started reading a random novel from his bookshelf.
Since she never told about the time of their meeting, he also didn't pester her about it while being fidgety about it on the inside.
And thus after having lunch together.
"It's about time to leave."
The food was pretty good bu- huh?
"…To the place you want me to accompany you?" He was somehow able to ask back.
"Yes, it is a private meeting with an acquaintance."
"Acquaintance?"
"You can think of him as a superior of mine."
"We are meeting your boss? Why?"
I don't wanna go…
"Honestly, because of the Invisible Hunter incident, I also don't want to involve you any further into this. But this person should know something about Chandler." Irina spoke nonchalantly about the whole ordeal.
But in an instant Shade's emotions shifted, he sharply glared at her.
"Are you sure about that or you're just using his name to manipulate me?"
"…"
Irina slightly looked down, her eyes blinked quickly for a few times.
"He was a close friend of Chandler, that person has asked to arrange a meeting with you."
"And how did he know about me?"
"Chandler must have informed him."
"How does he know that both of us are in contact then?"
Hearing his cold tone, Irina lets out a long sigh.
"Yes, I told him-"
"I'm not going." He immediately replied back.
Everything till now felt like an excuse.
"I know what you are thinking now but I did it for a reason."
"And I don't have any reason to trust a stranger."
"…"
For a second, Irina's eyes widened but she quickly regained her composure.
"Freedom, that is the name of the group I'm part of. To describe us simply, we are mercenaries with supernatural abilities. We are dogs that bite when rich people throw bones at us and shake our tails at them when they feed our bellies."
Freedom…
It was a name he was familiar with from the scribble behind the map.
"Chandler had asked me to make you meet with the Executives of our group, without even hinting at the reason. If you want to discover what the next step of Chandler's task is, then you have to accompany me now."
Haah…What should I do now?
Seeing him hesitate, she continues.
"I won't force or trick you but the Leader is not a very mature individual. If you reject his invitation, he'll just make a few people drag you out, then even I won't be able to help you."
The leader of multiple people with supernatural abilities, Shade imagined such a figure in head and shuddered in fear.
"Then if I go now then you can protect me?"
After hearing his question, her tense demeanor and agitation quickly faded, replaced by a confident smile.
"Of course."
"Even when he is your superior?"
Without answering his question, Irina stood up and started taking out the fake fruits from a decoration basket and placed them on the dining table.
"Our group is slightly different than what you may be thinking."
I'm not thinking about anything.
"Think of it like this, all of the mercenaries work alone yet use the name of Freedom to receive a request in exchange of money."
She places a bunch of fake berries and scatters them around and lastly places an apple at the center of them.
"Inside the organisation there are several factions that operate together on requests and other benefits. And each of these factions have an Executive that oversees the running of these factions."
Apple, mango, guava… She starts placing fruits of similar sizes beside each other and at the center she places the orange.
"Each of such Executives are part of a decision making group called 'Board'. Among which one of the Executive is chosen as the leader of the Board and the overall leader of Freedom."
She taps on the orange and lightly ficks it towards Shade.
"They have the highest authority and can pressure anyone into anything."
Then she gently picks up the apple and holds her in front of her face with both of her hands.
"But they shouldn't because the second place would take over their position if they try to flaunt their position's authority too much."
She places the apple at the spot surrounded by the berries where she once placed the orange.
"Then, will you trust this unsatisfied second place once more?"
So you are the unsatisfied second place.