"Chief, is this really... okay? No matter what, she's still a girl, even younger than the young miss... If we do this, what's the difference between us and Cocolia?"
In a daze, the girl heard a noisy yet clear sound.
"Where... am I? No, I am... who am I... what?"
The girl's consciousness was like a drowning person on the sea, sometimes rising above the water with the waves, sometimes being beaten under by them. She was sometimes clear-headed, sometimes drowsy. In this back-and-forth, she couldn't even remember what had happened before, and even her own name became blurred.
As soon as she tried to recall her name, a hazy character would appear in her mind—it wasn't that she couldn't remember, but she could only see the general outline of the name. As for what her name was, what it meant... she had no idea.
"Komatsu, have you been a driver for too long? Has your brain gone bad? You pity her? Did Cocolia pity the president when she framed him? When Miss Mei was bullied at school, did she pity her?"
Two completely unfamiliar voices argued fiercely, speaking of things the girl couldn't understand at all. Even though she rarely got angry, she felt a little annoyed at this moment.
At the same time, a fire seemed to be smoldering in her chest. At first, it was just warm, like warm blood dripping and swirling on her chest, but soon the blood began to burn. The intense pain made her want to open her mouth and cry for help, but the command was issued from her mind, and her body gave no response... Had her consciousness woken up, but her body was still in a daze? Seele didn't understand.
So, she could only continue to listen to the two voices arguing:
"Arthur! I know what you mean, but first, I'm talking to the chief. Second, Cocolia's mistakes are her own to bear. Why should we involve an innocent child like this?"
"Heh? Innocent? Did Cocolia consider the president's innocence? Did she consider the young miss's innocence?"
"Don't give me that circular argument! What Cocolia does is her business. Didn't I say that from the beginning? If we do this, what's the difference between us and Cocolia?"
"Hmph! Then think carefully, who took these children's pictures and handed them over to the chief? In your heart, you also agree with this method, don't you?"
"I... I'm not! I didn't!"
"Now you're denying it? Now you've found your conscience? If you didn't agree with this method from the beginning, you could have not taken those pictures, or not given them to the chief."
"How is that the same? Although I don't agree with this method, as a subordinate, I can't hide any useful information from my superior!"
"Hehe! Don't you think you're being pretentious? Of course you can't hide this information from the chief, but from the time you handed over those photos until the operation began, there was a whole half a day. You could have voiced your opinion, but you never said a word!"
"Well... I didn't think the chief would choose this plan..."
"Then after the chief announced the plan, until the operation began, did you object?"
"I..."
"You didn't object before it happened, and now that it's happened, you regret it, you feel guilty? What is this if not pretentious? What is this if not hypocrisy?"
"Ahem! Alright, that's enough."
Finally, a third voice interrupted the meaningless dispute. For some reason, hearing the argument stop, the girl's consciousness let out a long sigh of relief.
"Listen, I don't care what you think. Whether you agree with the current operation or not, I don't care. But since it's already happened, since we've already brought this girl here, there's no way we're just going to let her go."
"But..."
"No buts! Can you be sure she didn't see our faces at all? Besides, even if we weren't exposed, wouldn't Cocolia know who did this? If we let her go, it will only allow Cocolia to retaliate against the young miss without any fear! So, there's only one path before us—to reach an agreement with Cocolia using this girl, and only then can we let her go."
"I understand..."
"No, you don't understand, Komatsu. This girl named Seele alone is not enough. A woman like Cocolia won't compromise with us for just one child. So, we still need..."
The girl couldn't hear the rest of the words clearly. Her whole body felt like it was submerged in water again. Everything she could feel became cold and damp, and she even tasted a strange salty taste.
"Seele... Seele? Is that... my name?"
"Ah... yes, yes, that's right. I'm called Seele." The voice came to Seele's ears through the thick curtain of water, carrying the unique obscurity and oppression of the deep sea.
"Ugh..." So, Seele could confirm that she seemed to have really "sunk" into some kind of ocean.
But if that was the case, why didn't she feel the slightest bit of suffocation? Instead, she felt... like a fish returning to the sea. It wasn't strange, not frightening, because this was her home.
"What happened? Those three men's voices... what happened? Why did Seele become like this..."
In a daze, Seele felt her body curl up against the current, her arms slowly wrapping around her head.
Then, many fragmented memories began to flash through her mind:
"Aaargh! Why is it mashed potatoes for dinner again! Boohoo... Rozaliya doesn't want mashed potatoes. If I eat any more mashed potatoes, Rozaliya will turn into a potato!"
"Alright, Rozaliya, they say the children who were left in Siberia are arriving in the Far East tomorrow, so the kitchen is planning to save all the good food for tomorrow night."
"I don't care, I don't care! Auntie Natasha! I'd rather starve to death today than eat another bite of mashed potatoes!" The red-haired girl protested by banging her spoon on her plate. Beside her, a girl with bandaged hands and feet looked helpless.
"Uh... first, please call me 'big sis,' not 'auntie.' Second... alright, I can give you money, but I'm not fully recovered yet. You can go out and eat by yourselves, or choose someone to go out and buy something back to eat... Sin Mal, how about you..."
"Why me? I'm not the one crying and making a fuss. Why should I run errands? If anyone's going, let her go herself!"
"Boohoo! Auntie Natasha! Sin Mal yelled at me, boohoo!"
"First of all! Call me big sis!"
"Alright! Everyone stop arguing. Whatever Rozaliya wants to eat, Seele will go buy it for you."
It was probably something like that. In the memories that followed, there was only a half-setting sun, a dark alley, and a darkness that quickly engulfed her.
"I've... been kidnapped? What do they want... ah! They just said... they want to use Seele to make a deal with Mama Cocolia... ah... Mama Cocolia..."
Recalling so many names at once, Seele felt her brain swell, so much so that it pressed on her eyeballs, and her eyes opened unconsciously... greeting her was an endless expanse of clear blue.
"This is..."
Gentle light fell from the surface of the sea, and the undulating water cast a grid-like shadow on Seele's cheeks. Although this ocean was so mesmerizing, although she really wanted to be enveloped by the seawater and sink to the bottom, Seele still reached for the light—she was still a little dazed, but her instincts told her she couldn't stay here. She had to go back. She had an unfinished promise in that world... yes! That's right! It was Bronya-oneechan! She couldn't stay in this dark sea, because above the surface, someone was waiting for her.
"Ugh—"
A sharp pain came from her abdomen, as if she had been punched hard. She had just managed to float up a little, but it felt like this punch was going to send her straight back to the bottom of the sea.
"No... I can't..."
Although the pain was unbearable, it also made her instantly clear-headed. Those names that had been hazy before, whose true meaning she couldn't understand, now returned to her mind along with a large number of memories.
"No! I have to go back. I can't drag down Mama Cocolia... I can't implicate everyone..."
She struggled with all her might, but like most drowning people, struggling couldn't save her. The more she struggled, the deeper she would sink... but for her, even if she drowned in this ocean, she wouldn't "die," right? So why bother struggling?
"No! I have to go back! I have an unfinished promise with Bronya-oneechan..."
"Oh? An unfinished promise? For me, it seems to be the same."
"Mmm..." Hearing the voice, Seele replied habitually, then her eyes widened in fury.
Only then did she realize that she hadn't said a word from the beginning. The voice came from behind her...
She struggled to turn around in the dark current, but what she saw was a bottomless darkness.
Then, in that darkness, a pair of scarlet eyes lit up.
"Who... who are you!"
"Hehehehehe! You're asking me: who am I? Hehehe! Didn't I tell you the answer at the very beginning?"
The light from behind her dispelled some of the darkness, and the silhouette of the person in front of her gradually took shape...
"Who—am—I? Hehe!" The girl lifted her hand, and with blood-red nails, she lifted the hair that fell on the side of her cheek, revealing a face identical to Seele's.
"Isn't the answer obvious? Seele."
---||---
"So, we still need to use this girl to lure out more children from that orphanage. Only when we have all, or at least half, of those children in our hands will we have the confidence to negotiate with Cocolia. Of course, even then, it's just confidence. In reality, with Cocolia's personality, heh... but there's no other way. This is the most hopeful counterattack we, a bunch of stray dogs, can launch against Cocolia."
Gregory pressed the cigarette butt into the coffee table and forcefully extinguished it, then immediately lit another one without a pause.
"Still... still have to continue..."
Komatsu, standing on the side, shifted his body unnaturally, his hands aimlessly touching his thighs. His appearance, in Arthur's eyes, naturally earned him a cold snort.
"Don't be so naive, Komatsu! You're really annoying, I..."
"Alright!" Seeing that the two were about to argue again, Gregory exhaled a puff of white smoke, coughing as he knocked his bent knuckles heavily on the coffee table. "We're all on the same side, there's no need to argue. Whoever starts another argument, don't blame me for being impolite, understand?"
"Hmph!" Arthur glared at Komatsu. Perhaps he had been standing for too long, he walked to the sofa and was about to sit down, but after looking at Gregory, who was sitting there leisurely, puffing out clouds of smoke, his bent knees instantly straightened.
"Hehe..." Komatsu sneered, but said no more.
"Mmm?" Noticing the strange atmosphere, Gregory glanced at Komatsu, then at Arthur, and couldn't help but smile and exhale a puff of smoke. He raised his hand and pressed it down: "Arthur, sit."
"Ahem! Chief, I'm fine standing..."
"Don't be polite, sit down." Gregory said, throwing a whole pack of cigarettes from his pocket onto the coffee table. "Arthur, get yourself one."
This time, Arthur didn't put on any extra drama. He directly took a cigarette and put it in his mouth. Gregory then left the lighter on the table, finished his cigarette in one go, and stood up.
"Komatsu, come with me for a moment. Arthur, please stay here and take care of this little girl."
"No problem." Arthur glanced at Komatsu smugly, causing the latter to grind his teeth. But there was no other way. Since it was Gregory's order, he could only obey.
The two quickly left the overly dark room and came to the somewhat desolate courtyard. As they bathed in the last faint twilight, Gregory and Komatsu both took a deep breath.
"Want one?" Unexpectedly, Gregory took out another pack of cigarettes and another lighter from his pocket.
"Chief, didn't you just..." Seeing Komatsu's foolish expression, Gregory showed a faint smile. "What? Did I ever say I only had one pack of cigarettes and one lighter on me?"
"Uh... that's true. But, I don't smoke."
"Mmm? My apologies." Gregory put the cigarettes back in his hand. "I forgot, you used to be the young miss's driver, and you even quit smoking for her..."
"It's not all because of the young miss. Smoking is bad for your health anyway."
"Hehe." Gregory grinned and said no more, just silently lit his third cigarette in five minutes.
"Komatsu, what year did you become the young miss's driver?"
"Mmm? I don't really remember exactly, but it was probably after '05, right?"
"Mmm, about that time." Gregory's words left Komatsu a little speechless. He thought Gregory had forgotten the time, but it turned out he was asking a question he already knew the answer to.
"Anyway, Arthur joined my department after you came to the young miss's side. He's just like that, hot-tempered, a one-track mind, and always does things impulsively. Alright, he actually has some mental problems, he's always getting angry for no reason... but he's loyal enough to the president, and his strength is enough to handle most situations. The two of us together couldn't last ten seconds against him... the old brothers are either missing or have switched sides, I have no choice."
"Oh." Komatsu understood. It turned out Gregory had pulled him out to smooth things over. That's right, at a time like this, it was more important to maintain stability within the team. "Actually, he's not wrong. My hindsight thinking is indeed unadulterated hypocrisy."
Gregory shook his head noncommittally and irritably threw the half-smoked cigarette away. "Komatsu, you have that Michael's phone number, right?"
"Ah? I have it, but..."
"Call Michael and tell him about this."
"Huh?"
"What 'huh'? When Cocolia finds out her adopted child has been kidnapped, she'll definitely find another way to retaliate. We need to let the young miss's side be prepared."
"I see." As soon as he heard it was for the young miss's safety, Komatsu had no objections. He took out his phone, quickly dialed a number he knew by heart, and put it to his ear.
But he quickly took the phone down and hung up.
"What's wrong?"
"The line is busy." Komatsu shook his head helplessly.
"No matter, just call back later." Gregory lit his fourth cigarette, and Komatsu nodded noncommittally.
Thud!
A suppressed sound suddenly came from inside the room. Although it was weakened by the walls, the two of them still heard it clearly.
Gregory and Komatsu exchanged a look and quickly ran towards the room. As they got closer to the room where Seele was being held, the vibrations and curses became clearer.
"It's all Cocolia's fault!"
"Hehe... hahaha... I don't care what your relationship with Cocolia is, just die!"
"Stop! Arthur!" Komatsu banged on the door in panic. In his haste, his body blocked the doorknob. Gregory arrived a moment later, panting and anxious.
But the next thing they heard was Arthur's scream.