Wolf was quietly waiting in front of a door. His silence wasn't so remarkable since other sounds were overshadowing everything else. These sounds came right from within the door Wolf was in front of.

It was a mixture of punching sounds accompanied by a man's shouts of pain. Wolf's expression didn't even change once hearing all that.

It didn't take long for the door to open. Two black snake members dragged out a bloody fat man out of the room. He looked quite in a bad state, but he looked like he'll still live. Most of his injuries were external after all.

-"Come in." A deep voice invited Wolf in.

Wolf slowly entered and immediately kneeled in front of the person's desk.

-"Boss." He greeted him.

The famous boss, leader of the Black snakes stood right in front of him.

The wasn't facing Wolf. He was staring right outside the window as if he was lost in his thoughts.

-"Did it go well?" Wolf inquired.

-"It did... the 14 Ecstasies explosion really scared them shitless. He didn't even try to negotiate, immediately accepted our terms."

Wolf took a glance at the boss. From what he heard and saw, it looked like it didn't go well at all. The man's beard was stained with blood. His fists were so bloody it was obvious that there a one-sided beating has occurred. A brutal one even.

Wolf decided to remain silent on the matter. His boss was a peculiar man after all. Everything he does is mostly unexpected. Wolf himself who's been with him for decades can't even assure that he truly knows what's going on in the boss's head.

-"Boss, something is posing a hindrance to your plans."

Wolf finally caught the boss's attention. He finally turned around and sat on his chair.

-"The alchemist, he was seen at the explosion site."

-"... Witnesses?"

-"Only one."

Wolf has already done his own investigations. He found no other people that have witnessed Walt being at the 14 Ecstasies' explosion. Only Alex the waiter knew of it.

The boss poured himself a drink and gulped it all down in one go.

-"Do what you have to do..."

-"And the alchemist?" Wolf asked.

-"Just assign some men near his house to scare him."

He filled another glass and turned his chair so he could gaze outside the window again.

-"You got the potions?" He asked.

-"Yes boss."

-"The Fire Boar Inn is next..."

-"As you wish, Boss."

After a small bow, Wolf left the room. Before he reached the door, he slightly looked back. The only thing he could see was the boss's lonely back. He wanted to say something but he decided not to. He just went on to do the various tasks he still had to take care of.

First things first, he went to old man Dorian, the gang's runemaster. Dorian was responsible for enhancing the black snake members' weapons and armor. But this time, he wouldn't be doing any of these.

The old man didn't even notice Wolf entering. He was completely immersed in a sword he was inscribing some runes on.

Wolf awoke him from his small moment by placing a bag on Dorian's desk. Dorian slightly lifted his pen off the sword and adjusted his glasses.

-"New batch." Wolf said.

Dorian opened the bag wide open and revealed the contents of the bag. The bag was filled with grey colored potions.

-"How's the boss doing sir Wolf?" Dorian asked while taking out a sealed bowl from his shelf.

He opened the bowl and dipped his finger inside it. The tip of his finger then slightly turned golden.

-"I really did wish I knew..." Wolf sighed as he took a seat.

Wolf and Dorian looked like two old mates meeting each other just after a long day. Wolf was resting on the chair while Dorian was inscribing a vortex-like rune on the potions.

-"I've seen the strongest of warriors crumble upon meeting despair. I hope the boss won't meet such a fate."

Wolf was particularly quite talkative now. Maybe was it because he was talking with a friend. Or maybe it was because the boss was the main topic. The only thing that was really evident was that Wolf was worried.

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-"Sir Wolf, you yourself should know that the boss is way above the strongest of strongest. Don't overthink it too much." Dorian tried to reassure him.

Wolf didn't know what to say. After all, the runemaster was partially correct. The boss's way of leadership hasn't changed at all since the incident. He still stood strong and his underlings still respect him. The only thing that changed was the amount of alcohol he drank.

-"Here, all done." Dorian returned the potion bag.

Now that he has finished with the potions he continued what he's been doing with the sword.

-"That sword..."

The sword slightly piqued Wolf's attention. It somehow felt familiar.

-"Recognise this? It's little Arthur's."

Dorian raised the sword high so Wolf could clearly see it. It was a one-handed sword. It was clean and very sharp. The silver-colored blade was attached to a handle with snake patterns.

-"Viper, truly worthy of its name. The shield is next but it's still being repaired."

-"Boss ordered this?"

-"Who else would?"

Wolf frowned upon hearing that.

-"This proves he's trying to move on. What about you sir Wolf? " Dorian was starting to get fed up with his exaggerated worries.

"..."

Wolf grew silent. He chose not to go on with the conversation anymore. So he left to continue his tasks without saying any goodbyes at all. Behind him, Dorian just shrugged his shoulders and went on with his inscriptions.

The Black Snake base was actually hidden in plain sight. The base was none other than a slaughterhouse. It had quite a lot of unoccupied rooms that were a lot useful for the gang.

All the workers weren't black snake members but they all had deep ties with them. Most of them were indebted to the boss. So none of them could rat on the slaughter house's true nature.

Wolf passed by all kinds of corpses. There were from oversized wolves to gigantic monsters. The workers were butchering these monsters into smaller parts. These would sell for quite the price for restaurants and magic researchers.

Wolf stopped by a room where there were neither giant corpses nor any of the workers. It was a spacious room full of black snake members. They were either sparring or learning from their seniors.

The moment Wolf appeared in their line of sight, they would immediately stop what they were doing and stared at Wolf.

It was no normal stare. It was a stare filled with hate and animosity. It was so obvious that their faces literally spoke "you're not welcome here".

-"Continue your training..."

Once a certain person spoke out, the gang members continued their training without any questions. The same person then approached the old man.

-"Wolf..." He lazily called out.

His voice sounded like he was forcing himself to speak. But within such a monotone voice, the animosity from the members from earlier was there too.

The person in question was Skall. A thin middle-aged man with dark lines under his eyes. He stood slightly hunched as if he was too lazy to stand straight. His messy curly hair and unkempt beard made his appearance look worse.

If he weren't a member of the gang, people might mistake him for a depressed beggar. But he wasn't one. His position even was higher than all the members inside the room. His name, Skall, one of the boss's lieutenants.

Skall was the lieutenant leading the non-mage units. He was supervising the training of his men when Wolf appeared out of nowhere.

-"So what does the wolf need from little me?"

-"I need some of your men to be stationed at the alchemist's house for a few days." Wolf immediately went to the point.

Skall slightly raised an eyebrow in response. Just raising that eyebrow was a hassle for him but he still did it. He wouldn't trust a person he didn't favor.

-"Boss's orders." Wolf added.

"So the boss needs me to clean up your shit again..." Skall yawned as he took out a cigarette from a small rectangular metal case.

He ignored Wolf's cold stare and lazily lit the cigarette using low-level fire magic. He inhaled a mouthful and slowly let it out.

-"Get out of here."

Wolf didn't refute him in any way. He obediently got out of the room. And as for the task he's entrusted Skall, he wasn't worried about it at all. No one would ever dare disobey direct orders from the boss.

Next, Wolf descended downstairs, going way down to the ground floor. The 3rd floor was where the boss was. 2nd floor, Skall's unit. He didn't need to stop by the 1st floor where the Mage unit resided since he had no business with them. So he went straight down to the ground floor.

Unlike the floors above, the rooms were clean and tidy. Instead of the smell of all kinds of corpses, it was replaced with the smell of fresh flowers. After all, this was the reception floor, where all transactions were being held. You wouldn't want to make the clients uncomfortable.

Wolf walked through the hallway and went straight to the receptionist. Just like on Skall's floor, he could feel as if he was being observed. But this time, he didn't know where the gazes came from. All he could tell was that they were from all directions as if the entire floor was looking at him.

*clap*

The receptionist in front of Wolf slightly clapped. With just that, the gazes quickly disappeared as if they weren't even there.

She was a pretty looking middle-aged woman. She wore glasses and was dressed in pink working clothes. Her entire person was the definition of gentleness and tenderness itself.

-"What would you like sir?" She asked with a slight bow.

-"Came to pick up my bill."

-"Your name sir?"

The old sighed, calming himself down. Today has been quite the emotional rollercoaster.

-"Wolf."

-"Mr. Wolf..."

The woman hummed as she searched through a bunch of papers.

-"Ah, found it!"

She immediately gave the paper to Wolf.

-"Don't worry, the bill's very cheap. Getting money will be easy."

Wolf read its content and what the receptionist said was right. The bill was truly very "cheap". Despite all that, Wolf still frowned after reading everything.

The paper contained information much more than he asked for. Information that might get in the way of his job.

"Thank you, Isabella, your service is as detailed as ever."

"Anything to satisfy the client."

The old wolf and Isabella exchanged smiles for a moment before Wolf stepped away.

"Take care, Wolf." Isabella finally broke her small act from earlier.

Wolf only waved his hand in response, without even looking back.

Wolf got out of the small building and went to where he lived to prepare for his next task. It wasn't far from the slaughterhouse.

-Name: Arthur

-Occupation: Waiter at the Adventurer's guild

-Age: 18

-Parents: deceased (orphan by 4)

Wolf gathered the weapons he needed and sharpened them.

-Physical strength level: Level 0 (Human Physique)

-Non-magical title: None

-Magical aptitude: Tier 0

-Magical title: None

He opened a shelf to reveal countless items. He took a magic stone and a pair of metal bracers.

The bracers shone when he put the stone on top of it. The stone grew smaller and smaller until it completely disappeared in thin air as if the bracers absorbed it.

-Achievements: orphanage donator

-Hobbies: Eating, Sleeping, Entertaining orphanage's children

The night was already dark. The perfect time to finish all his tasks in one go. He put on his dark hood and got out of his house.

-Threat level: Low