1955, Month of Lucen, 20th
"You guys aren't eating?" I asked as I sat down on my seat at the chow box with my plate filled with the same stuff as yesterday: potato, tea, and bread.
"You going to eat that shit?" Denis asked, his gloomy face in disgust.
"Yeah, what's wrong? Got bored of it already?"
"You seriously have no shame," Nikita said, letting out a yawn.
I looked around the chow box, it was empty except for us five and a random man eating.
"It's just food. What's in there to be ashamed about?" I said, taking a bite of the hard bread.
"A hearth that is shameless, first time seeing one," Maksim said, adjusting his sleeves.
"Don't push your views down someone's throat," Roman replied to Maksim.
Am I doing something wrong? The chow hall was less packed today, and the food at the counter looked as if only a little had been eaten today, didn't it?
"It doesn't hurt to warn someone," Maksim added.
"Saveliy, do you really want to eat the food cooked by damn Blight?" Denis said, looking at the food with disgust.
That's the problem here? Can't blame him; even I was once like that.
"This is a prison. Deciding who will cook our food is a luxury we can't afford"
"Are you really that hungry? "Wait till dinner, some grime will be cooked," Nikita said, clicking his teeth.
"If this was in government school, I bet the public would kill the cook or evenassault the blight...the bastard who cooked must be lucky that they are in prison; all of the asses here don't want their sentence to be lengthened," Nikita continued, scratching his beard.
"Let him eat in peace," Roman cut off Nikita's words.
"Oh, is that so? Then why don't you fu*king eat it, you damm grime?"
"I would rather die than eat foods cooked by those sc*m."
"Oh, is that so? When did trash start to differentiate itself from shit?
"You damn fagg*t!" Roman growled, raising his fist against him only to be stopped by Maksim.
"Cut it off, you both. Just because one among us is shameless doesn't mean it's a sign to fight."
"What did I even do?" I asked, finishing the tea.
"Eating that," Maksim said, pointing at the half-eaten food.
"To each his own. Don't push your views down my throat, just like Roman said."
"He is beyond saving, a heads up, Saveliy. Just because you ate the food cooked by those sh*ts doesn't mean they're going to build a statue for you," Denis mocked, leaning back on the chair.
"Don't need it."
"Alright, alright, enough of this bullsh*t; let's get down to business. Surely you don't know about MacCrae and Morven, right?" Maksim asked, pushing the conversation to a different side.
Finally, they finished arguing about food cooked by Blights. I wonder if I would have lived a life like Alyss will I look down upon them?
"Never heard of it."
"Well, to put it simply, they are partners in crime running a big syndicate, and were a major contributor to both Barter and Eclipse."
"Were?"
"Well, a dispute occurred between them over who would run a monopoly, and It turned into open shootouts, hits, bombings, and more, and the penitence had to step in, preventing the government from seizing the opportunity."
Penitence, Barter, and Eclipse? Are these organizations like the House of Sybils?
"You mean houses?"
"Exactly. MacCrae and Morven were the reason the entire underworld did not collapse after Graham's family lost its grip on Everheat. That was their greatest feat. Within two years of Graham's fall, they took complete control and stabilized it across the Ocean of Ever. And they did all of that while sitting here at Everdawn."
"Must have a lot of influence."
"How did they take down the Graham family? Is this Graham's family really a big head?"
I was once in the Graham family in my previous life and a henchman for MacCrae or Morven in Velmora, who was the reason why Graham fell. Now I am here to get Viktor's out of prison, who destroyed MacCrae and Morven. If I can connect the dots, maybe I could end my transmigration.
"They had power spread out through Everheat, but they had full authority in Silverpark, even law and order were twisted to their ways. Their influence hit the sky in the 1820s."
"They started to decline through the 1850s, and Willy's Graham died in the 1870s, if I remember right, and the caporegimes dragged the legacy through dirt by each going on their way," Maksim said.
"And where did MacCrae and Morven show up?"
"When all the caporegimes died, the gang started to wreak havoc."
"No...killed," Maksim added.
"I don't remember it well, but from what I heard, they all got killed in the 1910s by henchmen. Then the once Graham's family was run by henchmen, and they disregarded almost all the rules of the underworld. The situation got so bad that the government had to step in, knowing if the government extinguished the situation, resources and trade from Everheat would almost stop, and CAGR was sure to hit negatives, essentially making them lose power and dance to the king's tune."
"MacCrae and Morven were merely henchmen to a wealthy businessman, but that man was a major patron of Eclipse and Eden. His addiction had overtaken his rational mind. He panicked, fearing what would happen if the government took control of the underworld. He wondered what would happen to the stuff he snorts or the women he sleeps with and what would remain of his indulgences if his world collapsed. Without waiting for notice or orders from the higher powers, he decided he had to maintain balance himself and extinguish the bastards who had caused the unrest. MacCrae and Morven gave him the idea, a precise and ruthless plan on how to wipe them out. It worked. And soon after, they slit his throat," Maksim concluded.
"I feel bad for the guy," Nikita said as he got up from the chair.
"But if that bastard wasn't a substance addict, we wouldn't have jobs right now," Denis said.
"But how did Viktor's make a dispute among them? That too when he was nineteen? Both of them aren't daft, you know. Either someone pulled the strings or Viktor's must be cunning...very cunning. We should be wary of him," Roman said, leaving the chow box with a wave.
"Right, our shifts are starting, let's meet at leisure time then." Denis left, followed by Nikita.
"Maksim" I said
"What is it, Saveliy?"
"How did you know all about it?"
"I did a job for them and heard about it from others."
"Well, I got to go. Let's meet at leisure, and Saveliy, you should wear a slipper as a slipper, not dance around by placing it on your head," Maksim said, leaving me alone with the random guy.
"Saveliy, that's your name?" the apple-haired guy said.
"Do you know me, Saveliy?"
"No, I don't," I said, getting up from my seat as unease washed over me.
Something bad's going to happen, isn't it? I could feel it; that guy isn't good news.
"Do you ever believe in coincidence?" the guy asked before throwing his chair at my face.