Chapter 006: To Reno

After coming to his decision, Nest immediately acted towards it. Under the urging of an eager little angel, he quickly finished his meal and ran off to find Anya.

It did not take very long.

In the middle of a spacious dining hall, a pajama wearing maid sat at the end of an extra-long dining table. She was all alone. At some point, Hilda had left. Nest did not know where she had gone, but that wasn’t very important right now.

He approached her.

Anya’s expression was gloomy. Her puckering lips gave off the impression that she had just sucked on a lemon, while the furrow in her brow made her even more pensive than usual. She had a bag of opened potato chips splayed out in front of her. Nest had no idea where she had procured such a snack.

He wanted to comment on her poor eating habits, but now wasn’t the time. He had more important things to deal with.

“I want to go to Reno.” He straightforwardly told her.

“Reno?” She looked up at him and raised his brow. “Why?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I want to stretch my limbs. A change in scenery doesn’t sound too bad every now and then.”

Anya narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She did not even attempt to hide her skepticism.

For over a year now, Nest lived a sort of sedentary lifestyle. He never once stepped outside the manor, and there were even days when he simply stayed locked up in his bedroom. He was truly a shut-in. A waste of space. A NEET with money. After living a life like that, he suddenly wants to fly to a whole other state just to ‘stretch his limbs’?

Anya would have to be a total idiot to believe his words.

Nest could clearly see the doubt in her, but he didn’t particularly mind. No matter her thoughts, in the end, he was the master of the household. Even if he were to make an even more outrageous demand, she would have no other choice but to comply. Of course, he did not utilize this privilege very often, but it came in handy for situations like these, where he wanted to do something, but had no real rhyme or reason as to why.

“Book a flight.” He commanded with a firm tone.

Anya hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she eventually nodded her head.

After thinking it through, she decided that the best course of action was to just simply do what Nest wanted. A spontaneous trip to Reno was by no means normal, but for the rich and wealthy, it wasn’t anything particularly too farfetched. Plus, she wasn’t actually opposed to her master’s sudden desire to go outside. If anything, when it came to his situation, she believed that any change was a good change.

The current Nest was the human embodiment of lethargy. He was so entrenched in negativity that if it continued any longer, then it would be near impossible to pull him back out. What made it worse was that Anya saw all this happen right before her eyes. She knew that he was spiraling down a path that he may never recover from, but to her dismay, she could not save him.

After all, Anya could not bring the dead back to life.

This was a tragedy that Nest had to handle by himself. Whether he continues to drown or manages to raise his head above the water, all of it was on him. People like her or Hilda might be able to do a few things every now and then, but in the end, Nest’s own decisions held the greatest impact.

Maybe going out and seeing the sun might help. In either case, she felt inwardly happy that Nest had finally taken what she thought was his ‘first step’ to recovery.

“Do you want to take a commercial plane or one of the family’s private jets?” She mildly asked, hiding her real emotions behind her normal indifferent expression.

Nest thought for a bit. He did not want to experience the tedious and troublesome process that normally came with commercial flying. Since he had the means to do so, he decided to pick the one most convenient for him.

“Let’s take a jet. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a jet.”

“Alright. When exactly do you want to go, Young Master?”

“Now.”

“… Now?” She hesitantly repeated.

“That’s right.” He nodded. “Now.”

“That’s a bit difficult to accomplish.” She carefully explained. “Since we terminated most of the employment contracts, we don’t have any pilots available right now. It will take at least one or two days before we can find someone suitable to fly the jet.”

Hearing her words, Nest’s previous excitement cooled. “So, it’s no good?”

Anya stared at him for a few seconds, before she shook her head. “Well, not necessarily. There is one person, but…”

“Oh, if there’s someone, then let’s just go with that person.”

“No, but Young Master, the someone that I’m talking about is Oldman Roche.”

Nest frowned. “Uncle Roche? Really?”

Uncle Roche or Oldman Roche referred to Anthony Roche, the Coy family manor’s resident steward. He was someone who had worked for the family for over fifty years. Even now, he was still here.

“Um, isn’t he nearing eighty?” Nest worriedly asked. “Does he still have his license? When was the last time he flew? Can he still even fly a plane?”

Nest’s worries were rightfully so. Lately, Uncle Roche had started succumbing to the wiles of aging. His eyesight had gone bad, and his hand-eye coordination wasn’t what it used to be. He was a man with nearly half his foot in the grave.

Anya lowered her head and stayed silent for a moment. After a while, she hesitantly nodded. “It… it should be fine. We can trust him, probably. He is ex-military…”

“Still…”

“If you really want to leave today Young Master, then we don’t have any other options.”

Nest bit his bottom lip, before he decisively nodded. “Alright. We’ll get Uncle Roche to fly us. He is a pretty reliable guy, so I’m sure nothing will happen, right?”

Anya did not dare to respond. Instead, she stood up and started walking towards the stairs. Nest shakily laughed, as he followed after her.

They went off in search of their future pilot. It only took them a few minutes, before they arrived at a room resembling a cluttered office. Surrounded by piles of paper, there was a withered old man with thinning hair. He sat in a leather swivel chair. In front of him was a wooden office table.

He was staring intently at a computer screen, the reading glasses precariously balancing on the tip of his nose reflected rows of impossible large numbers. He was currently reviewing the fiscal policy that the government had granted for one of the family’s subsidiary companies.

Anthony Roche. He worked as the family’s steward for over fifty years. In his time of employment, he also took up several other positions, such as bodyguard, secretary, and at one point, even CEO for a small subsidiary. He was a man of many talents, someone that the entire family respected.

He started off as the previous grandfather’s assistant. Back in the day, when the Coys were just starting to enter the international market, he was an integral part of their operations, playing a similar role that Hilda had once played.

Now, his glories of the past had faded. He had come of age, and his health was deteriorating. Still, he worked not because the family forced him, but because he wanted to. He was a strange man with workaholic tendencies. Although right now, he was technically a butler, he wasn’t able to do much housework. Mainly, he dealt with the financial aspects of the manor, but even then, most of his work was handled by young assistants that came from the main company.

He was in a weird state of pseudo-retirement, where the family still gave him money, but he did minimal to no work.

Nest knocked on the door. The old man looked up and widened his eyes. He immediately stood up, and attempted to bow. Due to his back problems, it came off as more of a lurch.

“Hello there, Young Master, Miss Anya. What can I do for you today?” He spoke with a gravelly voice. If someone were to hear him speak, then they’d immediately assume that he was once a heavy smoker, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Anthony Roche had once been diagnosed with throat cancer. Luckily, he managed to survive the ordeal, but it left a permanent impact on his voice.

“Hello Uncle Roche. I want to go to Reno.” Nest straightforwardly told him.

“Oh, may I ask what for?” As far as he could recall, the family had no outstanding businesses within Reno.

Nest shrugged his shoulders. “Just sightseeing.”

The old man happily nodded his head. Unlike Anya, he wasn’t so probing. “That’s good, that’s good. Ever since the accident, you’ve been cooped up in here all day long. A change in scenery is good. Maybe afterward, you can start considering the matter with the conglomerate. The family business isn’t doing very well without a unified leader.”

Hearing his words, Nest’s bitterly smiled. In the face of Uncle Roche’s expectant eyes, Nest subconsciously shifted his gaze.

The business not doing well was an understatement.

Compared to just last year, the Conglomerate’s stocks had plummeted. It suffered from an almost forty percent dip. Many of the subsidiaries that were once attached to the main business had taken the opportunity to branch out on their own and sever ties with them. While they were still making money, it was only half of its output from last year. That number was steadily declining.

“Ah, don’t mention that…” He muttered out.

Seeing the young man’s expression, Uncle Roche nodded in understanding. “Well, money isn’t all that important. If the Young master wants to continue or if you want to do something else with your life, I’m fine either way. I think its fine to just let the past be the past.”

Nest wordlessly nodded. Silence, before he asked, “Can you fly us there?”

Uncle Roche nodded. A knowing glint flashed through his eyes. “Since you came to me, I’m guessing you want to leave today?”

“Yes. As early as possible.”

“Then...” He lowered his head and thought for a moment, before he looked back up at Nest and explained. “Flying won’t be a problem. In fact, I’d be glad to do it if it means I can finally take old Bertha out for a spin.” In this case, Old Bertha referred to the family jet. They had three planes in total, and all of them were named Old Bertha. Nest did not actually know which plane he was referring to.

“I’ll need about an hour to get everything sorted out with the airport and air traffic control guys. Is that fine with you, Young Master?”

Nest nodded. “Sure. Also, I don’t plan to stay very long. I expect to come back sometime tonight.”

“That won’t be an issue. Then, let’s head down to the airport now. I can sort out everything else when we get there.”

With that, everything was decided. Nest, Anya and Uncle Roche would go down to Reno, while Hilda would remain here to watch over the manor.

They quickly piled into a car and with Anya at the helm, they peeled out of the driveway and drove towards the airport. As the scenery before him shifted, Nest discreetly glanced down at the angel beneath him. Niphilili rested her head on his lap, while the rest of her was splayed out onto the leather seat.

He recalled back to Uncle Roche’s words. For the first time in a long time, the weight of obligation breathed down his neck. The guilt, the sinking feeling that he was tarnishing his family’s reputation… all the emotions that he had once buried, some of it came trickling back out.

For a moment, he wanted to believe in the little delusion next to him. If the world were to truly end within the next three months, he couldn’t help but think that that might not be such a bad thing.