Chapter 3: The Second Visit
Chapter 3: The Second Visit
In the dead of night, Leon was startled awake by his sister's panicked cries. He rushed out of bed, his face turning purple with rage, and carried his sister, whose face was as pale as paper, to the hospital. After a grueling ten hours, Leon sat by her bedside, his eyes bloodshot, staring at his sister who was no longer coughing violently. With a complex expression, he asked in a low voice, "Anna, tell me, when did you stop taking your medication?"
Hearing her brother call her name, a rare occurrence, the frail girl on the bed trembled slightly, her head bowed. She knew that despite Leon's apparent calm, he was seething with anger. She quietly confessed, "About... two months ago?"
Two months ago...
Leon's memory flashed back to that day, and he couldn't help but clench his fists tightly, his dirty fingernails digging into the flesh of his palms.
Two months ago, he had just turned sixteen, the age of adulthood.
On that day, the Comfort Officer from the Kingdom Military Department arrived for a follow-up visit, announcing his coming of age and, according to the so-called new policy, forcibly discontinuing the war orphan pension that was supposed to be distributed until the age of twenty-two.
On that unusually clear and sunny afternoon, free of the usual smog and dust clouds, their family of four felt a chill deeper than the harshest winter.
To cover up the military's overspending, they had chosen to fill the military budget by seizing the pension funds, forcing the discontinuation of the pension. This decision had pushed their already struggling family to the brink of collapse.
Recalling the events of that day, Leon silently clenched his teeth, his fists tightening until the knuckles turned white.
Indeed, with a quarter of the pension gone, the family's expenses hadn't decreased much. They had even managed to maintain their meager meals... Damn! Why had he only realized this now?
Sitting beside him, Leon, with his head bowed in silence, appeared even thinner. The girl on the bed paused for a moment, then turned her head slightly, her voice as light as if it might dissipate at any moment. "Why don't you just... forget about me?"
Leon's body trembled at her words, and he abruptly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes glaring as he shouted, "You're crazy..."
"Brother!"
She raised her voice, but it triggered a violent fit of coughing. The thin girl grabbed Leon's right hand, which was bulging with veins, as she struggled to steady her breathing and spoke softly, "I've carefully calculated it all. Even if I die and there's one less pension, as long as you don't have to buy my medication, with the remaining two pensions, you can take on some more odd jobs, and that should be enough to support them until they come of age.
Also, my registered age is one year younger than my actual age, so after I... after I'm gone, as long as you avoid the patrol teams and secretly throw my body into the sewage river outside the capital during the night, then hang my old clothes on the rack at home, pretending I'm still there, we can receive the military pension for another two years.
Brother, listen to me. I've already asked the people in Veteran Alley for help, and they're willing to cover for us. As long as they help you deceive the Comfort Officer... Brother? Brother! Where are you going?"
I'm going to kill! I'm going to kill!
Hearing Anna's proposal, a trembling Leon was horrified to realize that for a fleeting moment, he had unconsciously agreed with her plan. After three years in this world, he had started to become accustomed to it all.
It was as if there was another numb, icy version of himself chasing after him, determined to swallow the barely alive Leon. His blood boiled, and he began to run with all his might.
As he rushed out, he violently knocked over a medical cart, grabbed a bloody surgical knife, and staggered out of the hospital. He sprinted towards the Road Management Department, located three streets away.
If it weren't for those dogs from the Road Management Department, who had approved the construction of the alchemy factory near the residential area, Anna wouldn't have fallen ill from the exposure to alchemical fumes!
If they hadn't colluded with the factory to forge a certificate stating that the leak hadn't caused pollution, her illness could have been treated!
If it weren't for the shameless seizure of funds by the Kingdom Military Department, the double pension left by his parents, who were both mechanics, would have been enough to support his two younger siblings until adulthood!
And if this damn world hadn't turned into such a mess, he wouldn't have to struggle so hard just to survive, and he could have lived a decent life!
...
With his blood boiling, Leon clutched the surgical knife and ran through the three streets. As the blood-red sun set, he reached the Road Management Department and arrived at the square where people had lined up the day before, like cattle waiting to be selected.
Although it was an hour before the official end of the workday according to the Kingdom's regulations, the employees of the Road Management Department were already streaming out of the brightly lit building, chatting and laughing as they passed by Leon, who stood out in his tattered clothes.
"Next week, Master Wilde's troupe will be performing his famous opera at the Central Cross Theatre. Are you going?"
"I'm not as refined as you. I'd be interested in a circus, but an opera? I'll pass. By the way, why are you asking me this?"
"Where's your wife?"
"She loves opera, but she's more into fancy handbags, shoes, and discounted department stores."
Opera, circus, handbags, department stores... If I didn't hear them talk about these, I might have forgotten that this isn't a barren and impoverished world, and not everyone is suffering like this.
Leon couldn't help but slowly raise his head, his eyes filled with thick bloodshot veins, as he listened to the well-dressed and lively conversations of the Road Management Department staff. He stared fixedly at the brightly lit building in front of him.
Anna was right. Instead of letting her illness drag down the whole family, the most sensible thing to do was to give up treatment and let her die. Then, secretly dump her body into that sewage river filled with feces and foul water. Figure out a way to 'trick' the Military Department for two years of orphan pension, and raise the remaining younger siblings. But...
I'm sorry, I really can't hold on anymore...
After working hard, leaving early and returning late for three years, Leon realized that not only had his life not improved, but it was also starting to slide into the abyss. He first tightly pursed his lips, which were cracked and bleeding, then, with a mouth full of salty rust taste, he quickly walked towards the Road Management Department building.
It was now the end of the work day at the Road Management Department, the easiest time to sneak in. Next, he had to go up to the second floor, find that fat bastard who approved the construction of the alchemy potion factory, and slice open his greasy belly.
Then, in the chaos, run up to the fourth floor, find that bastard who falsified evidence for the potion factory, causing his family to not receive compensation, leaving them without money to treat Anna's illness. Then, he'd finish them both off! Let these damn...
"Huff!"
"Are you blind? Watch where you're going!"
The fat man, who had just turned the corner, frowned at the skinny young man he had knocked down. He scowled, wiping the dirt off his coat's lapel, then took a bite of his cheese-covered burger, and walked away, ignoring the fallen Leon.
Leon, feeling a bit dazed, got up and looked at the somewhat familiar figure. It was that dead fatso from yesterday who was 'picking sacrifices'! Leon stared at the arrogant man's back, at his greasy and detestable face, as he greedily devoured a double-layered meat burger. Leon felt his mind buzzing with rage.
As if dominated by some inexplicable force, the flames of anger in his mind almost exploded, finding the most suitable outlet for his rage. His already bloodshot eyes turned crimson, and he clenched his cold, hard fists, staggering as he chased after the man.
If he had let me pass yesterday, maybe I wouldn't feel so desperate now! If he had let me pass, maybe I could have saved Anna! If he had let me pass...
"Daddy~"
Just as Leon was about to do something, a clear child's voice suddenly rang out from his side.
Along with the bell-like call, the arrogant and cold face in front of him suddenly softened. The tiredness on the fat man's face disappeared as he smiled and crouched down, opening his arms to the little girl who ran towards him.
"..."
Watching the little girl, laughing as she ran past Leon and threw herself into the man's arms. Leon couldn't help but slow down, then turned around, feeling a bit lost. He saw a middle-aged woman with a slightly plump figure, not far behind him, smiling gently as she looked at the father and daughter.
Even in such a harsh and messed-up world, the woman's gaze towards the father and daughter was filled with a happiness that made Leon envious. It was exactly the same as Anna's smile during dinner last night.
"..."
"Damn it!"
Leon muttered something unintelligible, his right hand loosening its grip on the bloody scalpel, which clattered to the ground, attracting suspicious glances from the fat official.
Ignoring the nauseatingly happy family, Leon spat on the gleaming green stone tiles under his feet, then turned around, calmly walking towards the shadowed building of the Cleanup Bureau.
Killing his enemies and then dying himself would be extremely satisfying, but sometimes, no matter how much one wants to die, they have to keep living... at least until they can die with more value.
Standing in front of the Cleanup Bureau's heavy, dark door, Leon paused for a moment, then grabbed the well-polished brass handle and pushed it open.
He remembered that yesterday, the red-haired interviewer had said that the Cleanup Bureau was an external department of the Police Department. According to the rules of such external departments, if he died in the line of duty, he should also leave behind a substantial pension.
So, if one of his family of four had to die, leaving the other three to live on in tears... then let it be me!
(End of Chapter)
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