It was a long time ago.

"Hey, William," a bald man in military uniform said as he opened the tall doors to a large office where the head Numen was working.

The one sitting behind a desk raised his head, a frown in his lips, and his brown hair just long enough to cover his eyes. He didn't seem bothered by the hair, however. It was more like he had grown and styled it that way for the sole purpose of concealing his gaze.

He wore loose, pristine white clothes coupled with golden earrings, necklaces, and rings

"Why are you here, Franz?" William asked.

Franz bowed upon entering. "I have something you may be interested in."

"Oh," William said, leaning his cheek on his fist, "what is it?"

The military man stood tall and put his hands behind his back before saying, "I have caught the one responsible for the collapse of the Verdua branch."

William's expression turned into one of deep displeasure as he stared right at Franz. "The ones responsible were executed months ago."

Franz closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes, the ones who committed the act. But there was a third party involved."

"I urge you to get to the point. Did you come here just to waste my time? I hope you do not intend to simply infuriate me with this visit. For your sake, that is."

Franz shook his head. "No, of course not."

William stayed quiet and waited. Franz could feel it as the patience in the room drained out and was replaced by palpable frustration. It was all according to that man's instructions, though.

"I have brought the one responsible here," Franz said hurriedly. "He turned himself in and even provided evidence. Then he said you would want to meet him. He seemed completely willing to sacrifice his life for the opportunity to see you."

"What do you know about him?"

"Nothing... He's a ghost. The spies tried finding any background information on him, but they came up with nothing," Franz answered. "Though, on the way here, I discovered something. He's completely intolerant of gore. He gags at the mere sight of blood. Still, he seems fiercely intelligent. That's why I thought you might be interested."

"Oh, I'm interested. Do not disappoint me," William said before making a brief gesture. "Bring him in."

Franz nodded and exited, wiping the sweat off his forehead. It had all gone, like the young man had said. Once he got outside the room, he called out to the young man, who casually tilted his head in response. The young man then waltzed to him and thanked him before entering the office, Franz following right behind him.

The young man stopped a few steps in and bowed deeply. "It is an honor to be in the presence of a man as great as you, Ruler of Mircrest."

William waved a hand. "Raise your head." The young man obeyed. "Now, Franz here tells me I would want to meet you. Why is that?"

The young man meekly held his hands at his crotch, one hand grabbing the wrist of the other. "I—"

"Oh, a couple more things," William interrupted. "Your explanation is to be exactly 74 words long. You have one minute. Should you fail to impress me within that minute, I will kill Franz for wasting my time. And you will watch as I rip him apart. Ah, and after that, I'll also kill you. But that was to be expected, no?"

Franz shivered and had the urge to run, but then he looked at the young man.

He was calm as ever. "When does my time start?" he asked.

William leaned back in his chair with an amused smile. "14 seconds ago."

The young man nodded and took the time to inhale before beginning. "I'm a man with a single purpose. And what I want is to become your assistant. I believe that would be to your benefit as well. Currently, I have no allegiances. I would serve you and you alone. You would probably agree that a man, who is able to collapse one of the largest Numen branches alone without being close to getting caught, would be fitting to assist even an individual such as you."

Silence followed. Then William burst into laughter. "Good, very good. You shall both keep your heads," he said as he applauded.

The young man bowed. "Thank you, Ruler of Mircrest."

William stood up and walked around his table before coming to face the young man. "Call me William," he said as he looked down at the young man, who stood significantly shorter than him. "From this day on, you are my assistant. Your duty will not be easy. I will not care for you. I will not trust you. You may die a sudden death for no reason. You will likely see things that would make the hardest of soldiers vomit. I expect you to be ready for this."

"I am," the young man said with a nod. "I will serve you as best as I can."

William smiled and extended a hand. The young man grasped his hand without hesitation and smiled. But Franz saw that it wasn't a smile of enthusiasm. It was the kind of irresistible smile that came after a perfect strategy. The thing that made Franz want to shrink himself into something unnoticeable in the pair's presence was that they had the exact same smile.

"Well, then," William said, letting go of the young man's hand. "What shall I call you?"

"You can call me whatever you wish," the young man said. "I have no name."

"Hmm." William tilted his head. "That won't do. A child needs a name. No matter if the child has been raised by the world." William raised a hand and laid it on the young man's cheek. "No need to fret. I'll give you a name." He moved his hand from the young man's shoulder and touched his hair. His expression changed when he saw the young man's eyes clearly. "You have peculiar features. A unique nature calls for a unique name... How about..."

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***

"Gadreel."

A head of auburn hair rose up at Sherridan's call.

"I wish you wouldn't wake me when I'm having nice dreams."

"Too bad. We're here," Sherridan said and opened the carriage door.

Gadreel groaned as he stood up and dusted off his clothes before stepping out into the night in the city of Hample, which contained the 11th largest Numen branch. He put his hands behind his back and walked through the uneven street, assembled from polished stones that shone with bluish-white moonlight.

"By the way, I get why you did what you did to Felix, but I'll be honest. I think you're slipping. You're getting consumed by your desire," Sherridan said. A hurtful and sudden statement that left Gadreel shocked. Sherridan noticed his reaction, but only went further. "We're here because you suspect an overtaking, so why is it that you're watering the seeds?"

"Me killing Felix won't affect my rule," Gadreel stated.

Sherridan scoffed. "What do you mean? Of course, it does. You can't just kill your allies without reason and expect your other allies to turn a blind eye. If they feel threatened, they'll take you out before long. No matter how cunning you are, you won't be able to save yourself if the whole of Numen turns against you."

Gadreel scratched his head. "Well, I suppose so. The thing is that Felix was a drug addict. His branch was also getting into worse shape."

"But that goes for half the branch leaders and their branches."

"So what you're saying is that I'll be the targets of a bunch of losers if I keep doing what I'm doing?" Gadreel laughed as Sherridan's face dropped. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. What happened to Felix might very well cause me trouble in the future, but I find it more likely that it will motivate other branch leaders to better their businesses and hide their drug addictions. I see this as an absolute win."

Sherridan snorted. "Yeah, whatever. But if you get overtaken, don't expect me to care."

"Care?" Gadreel asked, his tone a mix of amusement and surprise. "I don't expect you to care no matter what happens to me. I would never expect anyone to care about anything. The curse of indifference is too familiar to me for me to do something like that."

Sherridan looked at Gadreel with dead eyes. "The curse of... What are you talking about?"

"I haven't told you?" Gadreel said with his brows raised before turning his gaze to his feet. "Well, maybe I have, but I've just used a different name. The names don't really stick with such concepts. Oh, but my point is that I don't expect anyone to care about something, since I don't care about much myself. I would say that it's a curse, but some may call it a gift." Gadreel's light eyes turned dark as he gazed at the dark alleys all around. "But those people don't understand what it's like. They don't know what it feels like to watch somebody you thought you cared about die and feel so distant, as if that person, who you thought to be the light at the end of your tunnel, was just an illusion."

Gadreel could feel Sherridan's gaze on the side of his head. She was unable to see his face. It was best that way.

"You're not talking about William, right?" Sherridan asked. Her words inferred that Gadreel hadn't wanted to lose William. What she really was asking was whether Gadreel hadn't gone all out. It was a mocking sound that rang in Gadreel's ears.

Gadreel turned to Sherridan, moonlight illuminating half of his face as he held a hint of rage in his eyes. "William was like a father to me. He showed me a glimpse of what I live for. We went to war with all we had. I will not hear another word from you that soils the glory of our clashing. Do not suggest that I went easy on him ever again."

Sherridan backed away, her eyes flickering behind her mask. "Huh? I didn't—"

Gadreel turned with a grunt. One that expressed an anger that was ultimately void, with no target. "I lack some inherent human facilities. I am the way I am because I was born this way. Truly, I have never had a choice about how I live. I want you to know when the end comes that I am not the way I am because I willed it. It is simply who I was meant to be despite my never-ending rebellion."

"And what does that mean?" Sherridan asked with an abstract disgust in her voice.

"It means I'm never truly free, no matter how much I indulge in impulsivity. I'm a defined creature. One with no home. I was born that way, and I will die that way. So please do not resent me when everything crumbles because it inevitably will," Gadreel answered and stopped to gaze at the moon. "No, maybe I want you to resent me. I'm not sure. All I know are my instincts, which lead me to fulfillment. I'm unable to feel outside myself. In a sense, I'm pathetic because of this incapability of mine. If I didn't possess my finesse, I would be fated for misery. And even with my finesse, I am never complete. That is, except for my final moment. I will be complete then, for sure." He then turned to Sherridan with her narrow eyes and smiled a sad smile. "I wonder if I'll cry."