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Former Security Branch Head, Dominik Fürstenberg, Russiva Imperial Year 782 Month 4, Day 22, Blohm Main Residence, Deutsche Empery

Dominik walked down the streets of Berilian, near the outskirts of the city and heading for his own home, after insisting that he took a rest back in his home abode despite his whole body just aching in pain.

A few of his ribs and fingers were broken, some of his teeth fell off, and he was badly bruised all over, however his desire to just go home just took over all of these concerns he labelled menial.

‘!?’ Even though his sense of sight was impeded since one of them were swelling, he could notice a figure just in front of him walking, leaning against a tree by the side.

His already slow steps went down to a halt, as he made out what the figure was, immediately recognizing who it was.

“You ...” Dominik slowly identified the stature, the fedora being the main factor which gave it all away.

“Yo.” Adrian greeted him, raising his hand to acknowledge Dominik’s presence.

Dominik raised his guard, or, whatever feeble thing resembling one he could bring at the moment, clearly weary of Adrian.

He thought about why Adrian would have been there, when they had just made contact earlier at Theodor von Blohm’s residence, meaning whatever urgent thing that Adrian could have talked with Dominik about could have been discussed there, even if it was something private, they could have done it somewhere else near.

Plainly put, it was very suspicious.

“You’re here to kill me ...” Dominik deduced.

It wouldn’t be at all weird to see this happening, since he had just personally seen to it that he had put his employer’s daughter in deep danger, in fact it would be even weirder if nobody was sent to kill him.

Even though Dominik wasn’t really all that known for being smart, he could at least see where this was going.

“Pfft!” Adrian laughed upon hearing this, making Dominik feel embarrassed on the spot.

“You know, if I wanted to kill you, do you not think that I would have sent someone else?” Adrian said, his laughs seeping in between words, just emphasizing how ridiculous the idea was, making Dominik drop his guard.

It was true, there was no need for Adrian to come to Dominik directly, even if he sent someone weaker than Dominik, they would struggle at most, but they would succeed in the end considering his condition.

“On the contrary, I came here to warn you.”

“To warn me ...?” Dominik asked, using his bruised arm to hold his damaged ribs more closely instead of keeping up a futile fighting stance.

“Don’t bother going home, you should know better by now that that would be impossible by now.” Adrian spoke out, assuming that Dominik already knew what he was talking about.

“I see ...”

‘So my use really has expired then ...’ He sighed as he thought about it, the aching of his body seeming to synchronize with the anxiety spiking ever so slightly.

“Reichel must have reached Anny by now, and should be rushing to come find you and rip you to shreds, which I imagine wouldn’t be too hard looking at you right now, and Lord Blohm has already made arrangements for cleaners to operate on your estate, I even think they’ve already burned it down by now ...” He said, feigning the feelings of empathy, but the sound of amusement leaking out betrayed his acting attempts as always.

‘Damn ... even my stuff too ...’ It really was unfortunate, for Dominik at least, since he had saved up his assets all over the years, and all of them were lying inside his house, and he had not even managed to spend a tenth of it on anything.

‘To think it’ll end like this ...’ He could feel his heart dropping, but it’s not like he could do anything about it.

‘I’d rather it be like this than spend another second with that damnable oriental ...’ He thought, trying to console himself in such a serious situation.

“I confess, I didn’t at all think that you would lose out to what was basically a nameless nobody, but it seemed like this nameless nobody was quite a big deal, Wirz seems to have snatched a really big fish out of nowhere ... he must have been really tough right?” He thinks for a bit, but then snaps back to attention, snapping his fingers as if he remembered something.

“Ah right, you should take this.” Adrian handed him what seemed to be a small pouch, his hand gripping loosely and bringing it up a bit, clearly signalling for Dominik to take it.

“You ...” Dominik became somewhat wary of this, hearing the clear jingling of the coins inside and started to question all of what was happening.

“Hmm?”

“Why are you helping me ...?” He finally asked Adrian, the new thing that had just been bugging his mind.

It really was weird, it wasn’t like Adrian and him were ever close, all he had ever done for Adrian was help him during the early days of his employment under Theodor,

“Look, does it even matter that much? You were a small-time benefactor who was in danger of death, and it would have just weighed down on my conscience to see you die like a dog.”

“I suppose it doesn’t when you put it like that ... but I’m still not convinced ...” Dominik’s words were interrupted when Adrian walked up to him and lightly put his hand on Dominik’s shoulder.

“Look, just think of it as a courtesy, and as a whim, for all you’ve done so far.” Adrian replied, showing a weak smile as he did so, thereafter continuing.

“The costs of the trip aside, I think that would be enough to last you a month or two, depending on how much you spend on food everyday, just three days if you’re Reichel though.” Adrian told him, lightly joking at the end of his sentence.

‘...’ Dominik didn’t really know what to think about all of this, as he was never one to receive things like this, at least not from people he wasn’t at all close with.

But there was one thing he could say.

“Thank you.” He said with a breath of resigned relief plaguing the tone of his voice.

Upon hearing this, Adrian smiled, thereafter coughing to get back on track.

“Anyways, enough dawdling around for the night don’t you think? You’re on a time limit after all, and it just so happens there’s a passenger carriage over there heading for the Polskian Confederacy.” He used his thumb to point to the object of interest he was talking about.

A lone carriage underneath a street lamp, the materials it was made out of looking poor in quality, looking to be made for transporting cargo rather than actual people, it’s coachman plagued with age, but still working.

It wasn’t much, but it was all that Dominik needed.

Saying his final goodbyes to his benefactor, Dominik walked up to the carriage, ignoring the aching pain in his legs and ... well, his entire body, just as how he’s always done, he spoke to the old coachman.

“Hey, old man.” Dominik spoke as he gave the old man a few Yuleas, gaining his attention.

Though to be specific, it was several Yuleas more than the commission fee, which made the old man’s face distort in confusion.

“To the Confederacy.” He continued, with the old man nodding in understanding as he understood the situation and then accepted the money.

“You’ll find an open seat in the back, fear not since I won’t ask any further.”

Dominik did exactly as the old man said, and went inside the back, wherein it was packed to the brim with goods, and even what seemed to be the old man’s own possessions, a sign that the old man even lived here.

But he really didn’t care about that, instead trying to make himself comfortable with the little space there was as the carriage started moving.

A few minutes had passed, the hooves of the horses knocking against the ground being the only background noise that he could vibe to, leaving him in deep thought about what he had achieved so far.

‘Who ever thought it would have ended like this ...?’ Dominik thought to himself, silently laughing at the absurd situation he was left in.

Body battered, effectively penniless, and without any plan for the future, it was really all up to luck at this point.

Vrom!

His thoughts were interrupted when the carriage suddenly stopped however, prompting him to speak out.

“Old man, why’d we stop? Is something the matter?” He asked.

“Ah yes, just a little problem up front, nothing to worry about, I just need to drop for a bit and check on it.” The old man reply, a near-quiet sound of his boots making contact with the ground shortly following.

“Alright ...” Dominik decided to leave this matter to the coachman, just deciding that it was probably a minor carriage issue or some animals in front of the road.

Eventually, footsteps were heard inching closer to the carriage, which eventually plopped down onto the driver’s seat.

“All good now, we can continue.” The old man said, however unlike what Dominik had been used to in the short time the old man’s voice felt a bit different.

It almost felt ... fake.

Dominik decided to sit straight up, and make his way to see the driver, diverting the curtain which blocked his vision to satiate his curiousity.

“So what was the issu—“

And instead of the feeble old man, what met his gaze were red eyes, eyes filled with malice and anger that peered deep into his soul.

“... You really are a simpleton aren’t you?” Rei continued her words, reverting her voice to that of her normal one within the span of a microsecond.

"You're--!?” Dominik realized who it was, however it was too late.

Slash! Another knife had already slashed across his own throat, blood spilling straight through the large cut, making his hands change course as he tried to stop the flow.