Rose leaned in, her sharp eyes scanning Ren as if she were peeling back the layers of his skin to find his secrets.
"I'd heard whispers that the infamous Shiroi Hitsuji was just a child," she said, her voice a low purr. "It seems the underworld rumors were true. Though…" She glanced at his jet-black hair. "...it appears this particular lamb has changed his coat."
Ren didn't move. His expression was a fortress—utterly impenetrable.
"But I'll save that topic for another time," Rose continued.
"I'm not convinced there will be another time, General."
Rose let out a soft, melodic laugh that carried a hint of poison. "You're interesting. This next part should be even better."
She slid a brown folder across the desk. Inside was Rena's personal file. "This girl. She seems rather important to you, doesn't she? My men found her wearing a custom-made ballistic vest. You gave it to her, rather than the aging former minister who actually needed it."
"I don't know anything about a former minister," Ren replied, his voice like a winter gale. "The girl followed me. I gave her the vest so she wouldn't get in the way."
Rose offered a thin, knowing smile. "That former minister is an old friend of mine. That's why I'm handling this personally. My gut tells me that if I scrub this girl's name from the official records, there will be a significant reward waiting for me down the line. So… I've cleared her."
Ren felt a flicker of relief, though he didn't show it. He had already been prepared to burn bridges to get that result.
"What do you want?" Ren cut straight to the bone.
"My friend says you're remarkably skilled. He saw everything."
Ren's eyes narrowed slightly. He remembered ordering Rena and the old man to face the wall. It seemed a politician's curiosity was stronger than his fear of death. He sighed internally at the old man's stubbornness.
"I was just taking out the trash, General."
"By decapitating it?" Rose arched an eyebrow.
"My hand slipped. He was making too much noise," Ren lied, his tone dead and devoid of remorse.
Instead of being repulsed, Rose chuckled. She looked at him as if she had just found the sharpest blade in existence. "In that case, your 'slippery' hands will be quite useful. My friend wants you to be his shadow. His bodyguard."
Ren went still. "General, you know damn well I'm not a bodyguard." His entire life had been spent taking lives, not preserving them.
"You only need to get him to Scientia. He wants to live out his retirement abroad, and after seeing you work, he's convinced you're the only one who can keep his head attached to his shoulders."
Ren weighed the offer. Protecting someone was a far more exhausting chore than taking out a hundred targets. Rose watched his hesitation with the eyes of a predator.
"I've heard Higanbana never leaves witnesses alive. My friend saw everything last night. Does that make him a witness you need to... erase?"
Technically, yes. But Ren simply met her gaze with his cold, amber eyes. "No, General. Once I return from Scientia, I'll consider the slate clean. As if last night never happened."
Rose leaned back into her mahogany chair, satisfied. "Good. Then I won't have to use your Platinum-Tier wanted status as leverage. You're smart enough to know what your life is worth. You understand the mission?"
To keep Rena's name out of the police's black hole, Ren had no choice. He was trading his freedom for her safety.
"Fine. I'll do it."
HOSPITAL ROOM 402
The atmosphere in Room 402 was stagnant, thick with the lingering tension of the previous night. Rena sat bolt upright in bed, her knuckles white as she gripped the sheets. Her eyes were glued to the door. Every time it creaked, her heart hammered against her ribs, bracing herself for the boy with the crimson eyes.
The door hissed open.
But the expectation shattered. It wasn't him.
The woman who stepped inside was young, poised, and radiated a quiet, dangerous authority. Her red hair caught the neon light of the hospital, contrasting with her sharp black suit. A hint of a bandage peeked from beneath her sleeve—a scar from last night's chaos.
"Good morning, Miss," the woman said with a formal nod.
Rena's shoulders slumped. A cold disappointment pierced her chest. Beside her, Nadia reacted faster, her eyes narrowing. "Oh… you're the one who untied me at the restaurant!"
The woman offered a professional, hollow smile. "Indeed. My name is Clarissa. I am here on behalf of the Young Master."
"On behalf of?" Nadia spat, her voice rising with a cynicism she didn't bother to hide. "Where the hell is he? Why hasn't he shown his face? Don't tell me he's planning to vanish after dragging Rena into that mess!"
Clarissa didn't flinch. Her face remained as still as a frozen lake. "I apologize for the inconvenience. He is attending to an urgent matter. He asked me to relay that he will see Miss Rena another time."
Rena frowned, her disappointment turning into a dull ache of anxiety. "Urgent matter? But he was hurt. I saw it—he took a bullet to the arm."
"A flesh wound is of little concern to the Young Master," Clarissa replied flatly, as if being shot were no more than a nuisance.
Giovanni stepped forward from the corner, looking awkward. "Excuse me, Miss Clarissa. But Rena doesn't have an 'another time.' By tomorrow afternoon, she has to be back in the CLOVER quarantine. Total lockdown."
Clarissa went quiet. This was a variable she couldn't decide on her own. "One moment."
She stepped into a private corner and dialed an encrypted line. It didn't take long for Ren to pick up; he had just stepped out of the police headquarters.
"Status?" Ren's voice was static-laced, but the authority was unmistakable.
"We have a problem, Young Master," Clarissa whispered. "Miss Rena has to return to the dorms by tomorrow afternoon. You need to come now."
"I can't," Ren snapped. The background noise on his end was the roar of traffic. "I'm heading to the Steam District to prep the ship for Scientia. The client refuses to fly, and Rose won't tolerate a delay."
Clarissa looked at the clock. 9:15 AM. A round trip to Scientia by sea was no short journey. "But Young Master, there's no time left. She'll be back in lockdown."
There was a heavy silence on the other end. Amidst the drone of an engine, Ren was doing the math—calculating the friction between a job that risked his life and a promise he'd made to a girl.
"I'll be back at the docks by 6 AM tomorrow," Ren decided. "Tell her to wait. I'll meet her at the hospital right before she goes back to the agency."
The line went dead. Clarissa took a breath, straightened her suit, and turned back to Rena.
"The Young Master cannot come today," she said, her voice steady. "He is on an assignment that requires a long journey."
Nadia lost it. She stood up, arms crossed. "Why all the riddles? Just say he's backing out! It's completely irresponsible!"
"No, Miss. Our Young Master never breaks a promise," Clarissa replied, her tone hardening. "This task cannot be delegated."
"It's okay, Nad. We'll wait," Rena interrupted softly, trying to cool the air. She looked at Clarissa with an earnest, searching gaze. "I'll wait for him."
"Thank you for your understanding, Miss Rena." Clarissa bowed, then took her post by the door—her new role as a guardian in the shadows.
EN ROUTE TO THE STEAM DISTRICT
The vintage sedan driven by Erebos roared over the hot asphalt. Ren sat in the back, staring blankly at the blur of the city.
"If you head straight to the hospital tomorrow morning, you won't have slept for forty-eight hours, Young Master," Erebos said, the concern evident in his gravelly voice.
"It doesn't matter. I gave my word," Ren replied, his eyes never leaving the window. He adjusted his sleeve, hiding the bandage that was beginning to seep red.
"Cluster is your priority. Send a team to the Venezuela Warehouse to monitor the situation. Clarissa stays at the hospital until I'm back."
"Understood." Erebos accepted the orders, though he couldn't help but wonder why his Young Master was so fixated on a pink-haired girl he'd met only yesterday.
Ren's mind shifted. "By the way, where's Santino?"
"He mentioned attending an auction tonight."
"An auction?" Ren's eyebrow twitched. "I thought he only cared about bribes and cheap liquor."
The world felt like it was spinning faster today. Ren looked ahead. The scent of sea salt was beginning to fill the air. A job worth his life was waiting at the pier, and he didn't have the luxury of making a mistake.