"This is the work you need to handle this afternoon. Read all of it, then tell me what you think."
"Glasc, you're smart—extremely smart. So I won't hide this from you. You may be my secretary, but the authority you hold—especially over the projects you're responsible for in Zaun—puts you only beneath Logan, me, and Vander. That makes you, in every sense, Zaun's fourth-in-command."
"But right now, I need to evaluate you. Remember this—my eyes are always on you."
"Thank you, Mr. Silco."
"Just call me 'Silco.' Zaun doesn't have gangs anymore." Silco looked at Renata seriously as she sat at the small desk, hands placed on the tabletop.
Renata smiled, shrugged, and didn't answer.
Of course she understood.
She was doing it to disgust him on purpose.
She was telling him: you've done even more rotten things than I ever have—how do you have the nerve to put on this act now?
Silco understood exactly what she meant. He gave a cold laugh, grabbed his coat, and left. He still had things to discuss with Logan.
Renata watched him go, snorted, and stood up from the small desk. Then she walked straight over to the large desk that belonged to Silco.
She dropped into the soft, comfortable chair and rubbed her chin, thinking about how to pull Silco off his seat and take it for herself—no… if she could, she wanted a different office entirely.
But just then, the door suddenly pushed open.
Renata reacted instantly and sprang to her feet—while Silco stood there, looking at her with a half-smile.
"What, already settling into the secretary job? Planning to tidy my desk for me?"
"Uh… yes," Renata said immediately. "I saw it was a bit messy."
"Mhm. Wonderful." Silco's smile deepened. "Then I'll have to trouble you, my secretary. When I come back, I expect this room spotless, everything on the desk neatly arranged. And of course, don't neglect the work I assigned you."
"Yes."
Silco held Renata's gaze for a beat, then closed the door again.
Renata let out a long breath.
"Fuck you."
A woman who always tried to be elegant—who practiced posture and poise—finally couldn't help herself and spat the words out into the empty room.
Between smart people, you didn't need to spell everything out.
Renata knew what Silco meant. Silco knew exactly what Renata was doing.
But so what?
——————
"How did she end up as your secretary?"
"Logan, Renata really is talented. But she's too much like me—far too much. People like that aren't easy to control." In the pastry shop outside the Council building, Silco and Logan were having afternoon tea.
Two drinks mixed with lemon juice, a plate of baked biscuits, and a pile of fragrant grilled meat.
Don't ask why a pastry shop had grilled meat and booze—just accept it as Zaun style. It was extremely Zaun, and that was that.
"We're the same kind of people," Silco said, sipping his drink. The sour bite of lemon made him frown before he continued. "For our goals, we'll use any method. And we happen to be capable, too. In your words: no morals whatsoever. Human life means nothing in front of us. Me and her—we're both bombs."
"But I have restraints. My restraint is Zaun. Everything I do is to make Zaun better, so no matter how explosive I am, I can't blow up what Zaun has become now. But Logan… she has no restraints. Everything she does is for herself. If we don't keep her under control, Renata will bring Zaun a massive problem."
"That makes sense. So how do you control her?" Logan nodded along.
Experience like this—learn it while you can.
"Like what you tried today—handing her a position right away—that won't work. It won't make her grateful or feel valued. It'll make her look down on you. She'll think you're easy to manipulate. So first, you press her down. Make her understand who's actually in charge of Zaun."
"When a dog does a good job, you reward it with a bone. When it doesn't, you kick it. That's my experience training dogs. People are more complicated, but the theory's the same." Silco's voice stayed calm. "Carrot and stick—both matter."
"Forget it. Even if you explain it, I won't learn it." Logan sighed and kept eating.
He really couldn't. In his last life, he'd been an ordinary office worker—played League, watched streams, read web novels. He'd never had contact with this kind of "elite mindset."
Silco smiled faintly. "You don't need to learn anything. Just stay exactly like you are."
"You're already the true leader of Zaun in everyone's eyes. That kind of thinking isn't good for you. I like you better the way you are."
"Oh? Complimenting me, Silco?" Logan grinned.
Silco rarely complimented anyone. It was like his mouth had a contract—praise would shave years off his life. No matter how well someone did, he'd toss out a few perfunctory lines, give the reward they'd earned, and move on in silence.
Even with Jinx, he almost never praised her.
"If you say so," Silco replied without denying it and without looking embarrassed, then kept eating with Logan.
But inside, he was laughing.
Logan didn't need to change. He was already a perfect leader.
Delegation was something every leader had to do. It had taken Silco decades to manage it—handing real authority to Sevika while still keeping the chem-barons suppressed, because power was intoxicating. Almost no one could truly share their status and control.
But Logan did.
And Logan was strong—strong enough that even if he delegated authority, the people beneath him would still fear him as they gained power and were changed by it.
After seeing what he could do, no one would dare harbor betrayal. No one believed their skull was tougher than steel, right?
In Runeterra, in the end, personal power was the real foundation.
"I'm going back later to review Renata's work. What about you?"
"I'm going back to Jinx. Where else would I go?" Logan said, his food already finished.
"And your own work? You should have a lot of documents that need your signature."
"If it's already passed through your hands, I'll just sign it," Logan said casually.
Silco paused, then lowered his head and chuckled.
"Fine."
A moment later, Silco looked up again, as if something had just occurred to him. "It's almost New Year's, Logan."
"Yeah. This year's Progress Day, Zaun is going to do things differently," Logan replied.
Every year around New Year's, Zaun turned lifeless—especially compared to Piltover. It was like the entire Undercity had vanished.
But not this year.
Silco smiled again. "It's not just New Year's. Jinx's birthday is coming up too."
"Her birthday?" Logan froze, then immediately looked at Silco. "When?"
Logan and Jinx talked about everything—but she really hadn't told him about her birthday.
So the moment Silco said it, Logan lit up.
Jinx's birthday? Of course they had to celebrate.
"A few days after Progress Day," Silco said evenly.
"I get it. Don't tell anyone. I'm going to plan it properly," Logan said loudly.
Silco nodded. Seeing how excited Logan was, he lowered his head and took a huge bite of meat.
When you were in a good mood, your appetite improved.
In the past, Jinx's birthday had been handled by him and Sevika. Usually it ended with Sevika getting chased off, and Silco spending the birthday with Jinx alone.
A cream cake. A few candles. A cloth doll and small toys as gifts.
But this time… would be different.
Silco believed that.
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