Chef (6)

For a moment, Alexei thought that he was being punked or he had been shifted into an alternate reality.

Because that was the only way he could see a person who was supposed to be dead staring at him in a dungeon.

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

The large objects his chains had been dragging dropped to the ground causing minor vibrations, and as the chains rattled aggressively, the faces of the surrounding soldiers paled.

"Didn't you say that no monsters or people could come here? What is that then?" Alexei's voice was completely cold.

The soldiers' visible faces paled at the sound of chains shaking, and all except one took a giant step back.

A young-looking soldier politely bowed his head before turning to glare at Cyril, who was looking between the two groups as if he were watching a TV drama.

"It's most likely not a monster but a human who ran from working, sir."

Alexei glanced between the tunnel lined with bones and the figure dressed in white, noting the familiar pale face that looked slightly flushed, tired eyes with severe bags under them, and white hair covered in yellow dust that shone in the dim light.

This copy was definitely better than the last ones he had seen, but it was definitely an imitation coming from the tunnel filled with death or Ritta here to hound him in person after he repeatedly deferred the job offer. He knew what had happened to the actual person and had even confirmed it himself.

Whether it was Ritta or an imitation that had crawled from that tunnel filled with death, there was a simple way to deal with it.

Crush it thoroughly so that whoever sent them would stop harassing him and shift their target elsewhere.

"ты настоящая?" Alexei absentmindedly asked, not expecting a response.

"Am I real? What kind of question is that? Wait…Are there people running around pretending to be me?"

Twitch.

It was the faintest movement, but Alexei's brow twitched, causing Cyril's eyes to widen.

"Wait, do you think I'm supposed to be dead? And you said 'again' earlier, so more than one person has been running around with my face?" Cyril suddenly asked him, tilting his head, Alexei's brow twitched once more.

Cyril began laughing.

"Really? Who knew I was popular enough that my face would be used to torment you? Still, that's pretty gross, so I hope you ripped them to shreds."

Although he was laughing, the expression on Cyril's face was completely cold.

"When was the last time you slept?" Alexei quickly changed the subject, refusing to fall into the trap of believing the thing in front of him.

Cyril: ಠ_ಠ

"Lexi. It seems you've finally lost it. Do I look like I've slept? I see your eyes are really just for decoration; I've been telling you to get glasses, you damn boomer. That's what you get for reading documents all the time. Either that or those prison visits have finally driven you crazy." Cyril began talking animatedly as he glared at Alexei.

"Watch your tone when speaking to Contractor Vasilos!"

As another soldier interrupted, Cyril blinked before glancing at Alexei with a mocking expression.

"Am I supposed to watch my tone when speaking to you, Respected Military Contractor Vasilos~?"

"No, it's fine. I don't mind at all."

At the snarky question, Alexei’s amber eyes curved in a gentle smile as he replied, and seeing it, Cyril futilely tried to open a door back to the Waystation.

Oi. Hr emoji chatbox? Any help?

There was no response.

Anytime that bastard smiled like that, it was because somebody pissed him off, and he wanted to beat the living daylights out of them.

Calculating how much energy he had remaining and how much effort being chased and fighting Alexei would be, Cyril decided he might as well save himself the effort and be captured.

Measured steps approached him, and as Alexei got closer, he could see the black chains that had been hidden behind him surge forward.

"Not running?"

"I'm tired, so do what you need to do. I'll cooperate as long as it's not too annoying. Just no torture, and if you hit me, avoid the face. It's apparently really popular." Cyril calmly replied, yawning again while staring.

"Really a good imitation. It's almost a shame." Alexei muttered quietly before the black chains surged forward, immediately wrapping the thing, imitating Cyril, and squeezing his body until a slight crack was heard. Then, he began pouring all the mana nullification into the chains.

And still, nothing happened apart from the pale face becoming even redder as the person began shouting.

"Alexei, you damn bastard, ugh!"

A black chain was quickly stuffed into the mouth, and he slammed the figure into the wall, the ground, and his fist, activating the mana nullification ability.

But nothing was happening. His chains weren't reacting to anything.

As he hung the figure upside down while wondering what to do next…

Alexei watched as the oversized white jacket slid down to cover Cyril's face, an ugly raised scar that bisected the torso, and even as his chains spun the person around, he could see that the scar went all the way around as one continual loop.

As if it had been cut in one singular motion.

'Snip Snip'

Remembering the mocking words of the teenager who originally had Cyril's phone and seeing the scar that almost nobody should know about…

He immediately released the figure to the ground in shock.

**************

"Blargh!!!!"

Huff-

Huff

Huff

I immediately threw up everything in my stomach while trying to catch my breath and cursing Alexei directly into the 99th level of hell.

"Cyril. It was my bad." The familiar, smooth voice sounded out in my ear as my weight was supported by someone else.

As cool hands brushed my bangs back, I took a moment to relax and catch my breath while reflecting on my actions.

Was I a bad person?

I didn't think I was worse than anyone else.

Had I done anything to deserve to be dragged on the ground, punched, crushed by chains, and have a chain that had been who knows where stuffed down my throat like I was being intubated at the hospital?

Also no.

Even if my temper was a bit shorter than usual, did the person who did the above things to me deserve to be beaten to death even after they said it was 'their bad'?

Absolutely.

As my brain confirmed that my actions would be very reasonable, I stood up and wiped my chin while taking a deep breath and clenching my fist, momentarily wishing for a brick.

And with no hesitation.

SLAM!

I turned, putting all my weight into my foot as I pivoted, and socked Alexei straight in the eye.

Seeing as he didn't bother to dodge the hit, he knew he was in the wrong, so I punched him in the other eye to make it even.

Truthfully, it hurt my hands more, but anger was surging through my body.

Rather than punching him, let's kick him in the balls and, while he's down, stomp on his face. It was only fair, right?

"Let me stop you right there. I don't particularly want to be hit in the nuts."

Before I could even get a third hit in, black chains wrapped around my body, restraining me even as I struggled while screaming.

"Alexei Damien Vasilios you damn bastard! Let me go! No, in fact, give me those chains, let me shove it down your fucking throat! Do you know how disgusting that was? How much it hurt! I'm going to castrate you, then kill you!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's my bad."

As the nonchalant voice came out while Alexei smoked another cigarette, I made a mental note to poison him with the plants I collected at a later date before slumping completely out of energy.

My head hurt, and I was truly tired. Besides, I couldn't continue to make a scene while soldiers were pointing their guns at me.

"Put me down."

"Sure. Sure."

As I was set gently on the ground by the chains, I sat and glared at him.

"Angry Cyril? You should calm down."

Calm down? Calm down after being randomly assaulted by this bastard?

Cyril: ಠ_ಠ

Cyril: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

Hearing those words completely set me off again.

"You tell me if you wouldn't be angry in my position! Alexei, listen to me, just drop dead and die for a second! No, let me strangle you to death! I promise I'll build a beautiful grave for you afterward!"

"No."

As I dashed toward him, the black chains restrained me once more until I calmed down.

"Alexei, just once more. Let me hit you one more time."

"No. Have you tried counting to 10? While taking deep breaths? You're going to die of high blood pressure at this rate."

"I've counted to 100, you bastard, and I still want to kill you, so just shut up for now!"

"Temper temper. You should really calm down."

As he mocked Cyril, Alexei took out a fresh pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He lit one up and took a deep puff before exhaling.

He was surprisingly in a very good mood, and the soldiers who had been around him the past couple of days couldn't help but flinch in shock at the caring tone they heard him use.

"Don't smoke near me. I don't like the smell of that one. Why'd you change it?"

"I've been smoking this whole time. And you sure have a lot of complaints for somebody I could tie up and hang upside down again."

Cyril: ಠ_ಠ

Cyril: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

As the vein on his forehead began throbbing, a clear sign he was contemplating murder despite his tiredness, Alexei chuckled lightly, a much more genuine smile on his face.

"Sasha. It was really my bad this time, but since I'm in a good mood and I owe you, list the terms so you can stop trying to hit me."

As Alexei called him his childhood family nickname, Sasha (Short for Alexander in Russian), Cyril immediately began weighing the benefits.

"Bodyguard duty for at least three no six months." Cyril immediately listed out his primary concern. 

His combat ability was nonexistent outside of the Waystation, but clearly, Alexei was someone that the soldiers depended on. which meant he was strong.

He would chain Alexei to his side for 6 months and bribe him for the remaining 6 months in one way or another.

"Fine."

Seeing that Alexei was so agreeable, he decided to push a little more.

"Add in 10 reasonable favors or one major favor."

"Acceptable."

"Really?"

"I'm in a good mood, and I owe you. Is that all you want?" At Alexei's tone that seemed unbothered, Cyril moved on to the matter that concerned him most, glancing at the soldiers before beckoning Alexei closer and whispering in his ear.

"Hmmm, how many life energy coins do you have?"

"2." Alexei held up two fingers.

"Thousand? You're doing better than I thought."

"Hundred."

At Cyrils' expression of disbelief, Alexei clarified. "Two Hundred thousand. More or less."

As he heard the ridiculous number, Cyril blinked for a moment, his brain doing the math of 100 coins = 1 life.

That…was a lot of people killed and absorbed.

He glanced at Alexei, noting the total lack of remorse on his face before nodding.

It wasn't like he was in a position to judge having killed people himself, and knowing where Alexei was the day things changed along with Alexei's personality, he could guess what happened.

Mentally shrugging, he calculated how he could use those coins before nodding.

Standing up, he dusted his now filthy pants and responded simply.

"Okay."

"You don't have any questions?"

Meeting Alexei's blank stare, he shrugged before turning away.

"Not really. Did you cross the line?" It was a question asking if he had harmed children.

"No. Well…Maybe? It was deserved, though."

"Okay. Let's try not to do that again."

"Sure."

"Then that's fine. Bodyguard duty stars now. Let's go."

The cryptic conversation between the two ended, and Cyril approached the soldiers who had been watching the proceedings without knowing how to interrupt.

"Officer…Kramer? What's your protocol for rescuing people? I think the people in that direction are in trouble."

Cyril pointed toward the area he had come from.

He wanted to rescue people, but more importantly, he needed to get his bag back.