“Ugh…six b-bottles of vodka…and a couple…h-hundred…milligrams of cocaine…almost finished,” Surrounded by glass bottles and stained with snow white powder, Zack muttered as he slurred his words. “I-It’s…a good thing…I g-got some…cash.”
As Zack slouched on the walls of the underpass in his drunken stupor, he reminisced on his recent incidents. The simple occurrences in both the nightclub and the mansion exploded into terrible incidents, and the only thing to blame for those escalations was his addiction influencing his own behaviour.
Rose was right…she always was. These drugs have been the reason I’m in such deep shit. I’m sure that bitch Ada is annoyed with me too. Zack pondered. But…I can’t freaking help it. Drugs are all I know to cope with my stress…it always has been.
“I…I really am screwed…at this rate,” Zack muttered as he lowered his head.
“You finally figured that out?” A familiar rough but feminine voice uttered, garnering Zack’s attention. “I’m pretty sure anyone who takes a bunch of fucking crap like that won’t end up very well.”
“Ugh, Rose?” Zack questioned. “W-What are you…doing here?”
“You barely can talk right now. You’re both drunk and high. I’m surprised you realized it was me in your current state,” Rose deduced. “But I was just interested in what you’re doing after getting kicked out.”
“Ugh…aww, are you…worried about me? Heh,” Zack responded, garnering Rose’s annoyance.
“Tsk, aren’t you supposed to be in a world of your own right now, how can you still talk so well right now?” Rose retorted. “Whatever. Where did you get all this shit?”
“...Nowhere important.”
“You think I’m stupid, huh. I know what you did to get the drugs,” Rose responded. “I really hate to say this, but your irrational actions give credence to why the director cut you off.”
“Heh, so…you’ve been,,,following me, huh?” Zack muttered. “Y-You do care, heh.”
“Would you–”
“Do you think…I’m useless too?” Zack muttered, stunning Rose mid speech. “Just like…everyone else?”
“...There’s no way I would ever think that, Zack. There’s no one more important to me than you,” Rose surprisingly admitted, much to Zack’s surprise as he widened his eyes. “You’re the only reason I’m a part of the Bluebloods anyways.”
“I-I see,” Zack muttered with a slight smile on his face.
“You simply need some help, and I’m willing to help you,” Rose continued. “I won’t be as forceful as I was before…I’m sorry for not realizing how that could have backfired.”
Wow…it’s always strange to hear Rose admitting her genuine feelings randomly, when she’s always so angry. Zack pondered as he continued smiling. It’s cute.
“What are you smiling about?”
“Heh, I just…f-feel so good right now,” Zack responded. “The drugs…really are hitting.”
“Uh huh. Well, I was planning on also leaving the Bluebloods, but I figured you’d probably have an easier time returning, since you’ll get access to a lot of stuff you…normally use,” Rose said. “I’m sure I can persuade that damn director to take you back in–”
“N-No…there’s something…that needs to be done before,” Zack muttered, surprising Rose.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“...I’m not…totally a wreck…not yet at least,”
- * * *
After the rather devastating news of Zack’s second act of violence upon society, Ada had fully made it her mission to put an end to Zack. It was not out of concern for the sheep which are the civilians of her country, but it was motivated by her overwhelming desire to punish this serious act of disrespect.
The first act of disrespect had already got on Ada’s nerves, but his attack on the mansion truly brought Ada’s rage levels to its critical mass. Her rage had garnered the attention of her closest subordinates, as the the constantly tapping steps of Charlotte and Leon were audible as they marched towards Ada’s room.
“Uhm, madam. We’re here,” In front of the closed doors, Charlotte responded with Leon standing beside her. Much to their concern, they never heard a response from beyond the door. “...We’re coming in.”
Pushing the doors open, they were greeted to a…peculiar sight. The luxurious room Ada always occupied, the one in which she received the news of Zack’s attack no more than an hour ago, looked nothing like its current state.
A mirror, with its reflection tainted by the cracks of a spiderweb in it, had leaned against the wall. Indentations and deep depressions exposing wood underneath their polished finish were visible in her closets and cabinets, and drawers spewing out them like vomit. Entire bookshelves were resting on each other on the ground like dominoes, books littering the marble floor.
Sunlight had lit up the room as shredded curtains which rested on the floor like banners were too damaged to fulfil its purpose. It was like a natural disaster struck her room, and in the midst of it all was a seething Ada who sat silently on her bed.
“...Uhm, madam. I can’t imagine how you must be feeling right now,” Charlotte remarked as both hers and Leon’s eyes wandered around the room. “You don’t need to worry though, we’ll fix your room right up!”
“...Has the incident been taken care of?” Without even so much as glancing at her subordinates, Ada questioned.
“Yes, madam. Our men are doing their best to provide relief aid to the mansion attacked, while ensuring any information of the attack isn’t leaked to the outside,” Leon responded. “There was quite a lot of casualties it seems–”
“I don’t give a damn about those dead, crack addicts,” Ada aggressively spewed. “My reputation is at stake here.”
“Don’t worry, madam. We promised we will do everything to ensure you get to the top, where you belong,” Charlotte assured. “You’ve gotten through it all, madam. There is no one tougher than you.”
“...Hmph, I know that, Charlotte,” Mellowing out a bit, Ada replied. “But this is still rather annoying. I can’t believe I gave a speech to my dolls, faking accountability when it clearly wasn’t my problem, just for the insect, Zack, to make that a waste.”
“Well, this may be good news. Hopefully enough to make you feel better,” Leon continued. “But we may finally have located Zack’s whereabouts, because of that attack.”
“...Is that so?”
- * * *
Just as Ada had constantly made plots, the developer was doing the same in this game of theirs. He may have been far more…mysterious and secretive with his plans, but he still made moves of his own. One of these moves had involved the blacksmith.
“What’s up, blacksmith?” Appearing in the blacksmith’s forging room, the developer greeted. “I see you’re hard at work.”
“Oh, hello, developer. You actually came at the right time!” The blacksmith responded as she ceased her current operations. “I finished the blade you wanted me to make for Lilith!”
“Heh, you should know that I’m already aware of that, which is why I came here in the first place,” The developer replied as the blacksmith had approached a counter fixed on the wall. On it was a pristine sword, its large size and design was that of a claymore’s.
“It would have been nice for you to act surprised, you know,” The blacksmith said. “It’s better when you’re surprised and impressed by my inventions.”
“Hey, I never said I wasn’t impressed. I am impressed by the things you can create,” The developer replied. “That’s why you’re one of my NPCs, you know.”
“Hmph, Nathan gives better reactions than that,” The blacksmith replied. “I wonder when he’s going to–”
“The sword, please,” Interrupting her words, the developer coldly demanded. “I can’t stay here for long.”
“...Oh, my bad. The sword…is a bit…ugh, heavy,” The blacksmith collected herself as she picked up the sword. The audible grunts and the effort to pick the sword up even with both hands made it clear that the blacksmith had trouble with holding the bladed weapon. “I really…ugh, compressed the…hell out of it.”
“Wow, I’ll take it off your hands,” The developer said as he approached and took the heavy instrument off her hands in a gentlemanly manner. Despite holding it with one arm, there wasn’t even the slightest bit of struggle from the developer. “Heh, it’s not that heavy.”
“You’re just too strong,” The blacksmith responded. “And it’s not like I couldn’t lift it, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah. Well, anyways, this sword will be very useful for Lilith,” The developer remarked. “I’ll hand it over to the NPC to give her.”
“Alright.”
“Goodbye, then,” With his parting words, the developer disappeared before the blacksmith’s eyes.
“That really is the only reason you came here, huh? You used to spend some time talking with your ‘NPCs,’ The blacksmith muttered as she went back to her original work. “But now you won’t even entertain a conversation about poor ol’ Nathan.”