Chapter 15 – Bad Boss

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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‘Why are they acting like that?’

As I wondered at the gazes pouring down on me,

I realized too late that my reaction was not normal.

A person had died right in front of me, yet I was too calm.

‘What should I do?’

Meursault told me it was fine to act unexpectedly, but he probably did not mean for me to behave like a psychopath.

‘Should I pretend to be shocked, even if it’s late?’

I am not confident in my acting, though…

“Ah, I was just so surprised. It is really scary.”

“……”

Sure enough, perhaps because my acting was terrible, the executives’ expressions grew even darker.

At this rate, in the eyes of those NPCs, we would look like nothing but a psychopathic father and son.

Looking at their expressions, they had the faces of people who, once they safely made it out of the officers’ meeting, would go around cursing the commander’s son as a crazy psychopath.

In that case, I might as well play my part here.

It was too late to salvage my image, as my acting skills were too lacking,

and I needed to leave a strong first impression so that our executive uncles would behave themselves in the future.

“I have heard a lot about you, uncles, from my mother.”

As I opened my mouth with a bright smile, a few faint-hearted officers rattled in their seats.

It was probably because my face was covered in blood right now.

“Starting from this side… you are Uncle Josef, right? I heard you took great care of my mother. And Uncle Luigi next to you.”

I continued my greetings, making eye contact with each of the pro-Hayden faction officers one by one.

“I heard you were really good at shooting? Is Uncle Franz married by now? She said she was always grateful to Uncle Orlando because he was so good at counseling her. And…”

This time, turning toward the pro-Daphne faction, I met the eyes of the leader of the pro-Daphne faction, who was looking at me with a gaze filled with complex emotions.

“She said Uncle Anton might look cold on the outside, but he is someone who truly loves the district. I heard Uncle Max is on very close terms with the ordinary soldiers. As for Uncle Bartom, who was said to be the most honest person… Ah, he just passed away. And she was curious if Uncle Radu’s child had grown up a lot. I am really happy to meet you in person like this after only hearing about you in stories.”

“When it comes to you, uncles, I know everything from your families, relatives, dogs raised in the yard, and even down to your next-door neighbors! So, please look after me in the future?”

Having finished speaking, I smiled politely at them,

and the fingertips of the pro-Daphne faction officers twitched finely.

Though I did not know why even the pro-Hayden faction officers’ complexions turned pale.

* * *

Inside the ordinary soldiers’ barracks.

“Hey, did you hear?”

“What?”

“They say Major General Meursault shot and killed Lieutenant General Bartom at the officers’ meeting yesterday.”

“What?”

The soldier Talulah, who had responded indifferently while lying down in the barracks, sat up and asked.

“Then what happened to Major General Meursault? Insubordination is a serious crime, isn’t it?”

“They say he was put on probation.”

“Shooting a superior, and only probation?”

“But Lieutenant General Bartom did do something wrong.”

“What on earth did he do to be shot dead by a subordinate and still be blamed? And in the officers’ meeting, no less. His Excellency must have been there too, right?”

Perhaps thinking this was not something to shout about, the voice of the soldier who had first brought it up grew quieter.

“From what I heard, Major General Meursault shot him because he didn’t even say a single word of thanks despite being forgiven for acting rudely.”

“No, shooting a person just because a superior didn’t thank him? Isn’t he a psychopath?”

“Ah, it wasn’t that he didn’t thank Major General Meursault, but he did that to His Excellency’s son.”

“He deserved to be shot.”

The soldier Talulah immediately changed his attitude as soon as it was mentioned that the target was the commander’s son.

“That bastard Bartom couldn’t distinguish between being honest and being rude. Even I wanted to shoot him dead a few times. But His Excellency had a son?”

“It seems so. It’s been over ten years since he married Lady Daphne, so there was no way he wouldn’t have one.”

“There was a rumor that he was keeping him hidden because he’s still young and it’s dangerous, but I guess it was true.”

“Hey, but that son is even more mind-blowing.”

“Why?”

“He’s only about ten years old, but even when a person was shot dead right in front of him, he only cared about the blood splattered on his face.”

“What? Don’t make me laugh. He was probably just too shocked to react.”

“There’s more, so listen, you bastard. Then, with a blood-covered face, he smiled brightly and called out their names one by one. As if telling them not to mess around because he knows everything about them.”

“That’s fucking scary… By the way, where did you hear this?”

“They say Lieutenant General Max told them as soon as he returned from the officers’ meeting?”

“That man’s mouth is still as loose as ever. He’ll end up getting shot by Major General Meursault at this rate.”

“Ah, speaking of which, starting next month, they’re going to call the child soldiers once a month to feed them.”

“All of a sudden?”

“They said the young master wanted to eat with kids his age.”

“Is he already building his own faction? If so, he is truly extraordinary.”

“Exactly. I told you, he’s not normal. Hey! Outsider!”

The senior soldier said mockingly, looking at the junior at the back of the barracks.

“What are you going to do? You have to eat with that psychopathic young master starting next month.”

“……”

At those words, the outsider who was cleaning his rifle at the back of the barracks—

Darling Outsider, CornerHoney, let out a smirk.

‘That guy used his brain to meet me.’

Since he had successfully conquered the bastard child as planned, now he only had to escape this dreadful barracks and climb to the top.

‘But will T-Bastard actually keep his promise to me?’

CornerHoney, who still did not know that T-Bastard was Dopamine Addict, was honestly a bit anxious.

He had clearly said that as long as he wasn’t trash-tier, he would summon him to the mansion and give him a position as a close aide, but…

“Wait, why is this bastard just smirking without even stating his name and rank when his senior calls him?”

“Ah, seriously, this trash-tier bastard. Let’s get beat up a bit.”

“Ack, I’m sorry!!”

Darling Outsider.

Because, as Dopamine Addict expected, he was trash-tier.

* * *

“-These are the rumors about Lord Haydam currently spreading within the district.”

Having heard the rumors about me from Meursault, I was not a little shocked.

“Hearing it like that makes me sound like a real psychopath.”

“It is not incorrect.”

Meursault, who would speak the truth even if it killed him, spoke.

“No matter how you look at it, reciting personal details while smiling after a person died right in front of you is not normal.”

“No, no matter how you look at it, you, who suddenly drew your gun and shot him, are even less normal, okay?”

Despite my retort, Meursault only chuckled.

“But how did you think to react like that in that situation?”

It seemed Meursault had noticed that my behavior at the officers’ meeting was calculated.

“Honestly, I thought the young master would be frightened out of his wits. I kind of wanted to see that, too.”

This bastard?

“Meursault, you were the one who told me not to be looked down upon.”

At my answer, a deep smile spread across Meursault’s lips.

For a moment, he seemed almost proud of me.

“That is correct. You did well. Even if rumors spread that Lord Haydam is a psychopath within the district, His Excellency was very proud of you, so please do not worry.”

“Are you sure I don’t need to worry about that?”

For reference, I had started speaking informally to Meursault.

This was because he said that although I had to speak formally in front of others since I did not have a rank yet, I could speak comfortably when it was just the two of us.

My father, not Meursault, that is.

“By the way… you did that on purpose, right?”

“Did what, sir?”

“Shooting Bartom on the spot. Thanks to your act of insubordination, the sudden reveal of the commander’s son was buried.”

Indeed.

Normally, I would have been talked about by everyone as a ‘bastard child’ for a while.

However, at the same time my existence was announced, a major accident occurred where a major general summarily executed a lieutenant general.

Rather than the commander’s hidden child, which was none of their business, a shooting incident among superiors they saw face-to-face just yesterday would naturally be much more sensational, wouldn’t it?

Neither the commander nor Meursault had said anything to me, but there must have been an agreement between the two.

An agreement that if anyone behaved rudely to me in that place, he could shoot them dead.

Although Meursault’s reputation would suffer because of this, what was important to Meursault was not his reputation, but me becoming the commander’s successor so that Daphne could be free.

Meursault once again had an admiring expression on his face.

“I thought this at the conference hall as well… but you have a good political sense.”

It was only natural, since I hadn’t been the commander of this district just once or twice.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

“You do not need to worry about that either. It was something already discussed with His Excellency.”

“No, Meursault.”

Meursault seemed to think I was saying this because I was worried about him, but that was an overinterpretation.

There was only one reason I was telling Meursault not to do such a thing again.

“They are the people who will become my soldiers one day. I do not want to lose even one of them.”

“…Were you thinking of such a thing?”

Perhaps because it was an incredibly moving sentence to hear, Meursault looked at me with an emotionally shaken face unlike before.

Although to me, labor was just precious.

“Speaking of which, I heard you will be having a dinner with children of your age?”

“That’s right.”

“How can I help you?”

Asking how he could help first, even though I hadn’t requested it and the commander hadn’t ordered it.

He is acting even more favorably toward me than before.

Well, since he was an NPC whose ultimate goal in life was to make a family, it made sense that he would be pleased by me valuing human lives.

At any rate, if Meursault helped, things would become easier.

Taejeong was supposed to help me inside the mansion, but right now he seemed overwhelmed just learning the mansion’s duties, so this worked out well.

“I plan to prepare the dinner dishes myself.”

“Cooking… It is a classic way to win people’s hearts.”

Meursault’s analysis that cooking is a classic way to win people’s hearts was very accurate.

Usually, people interpret someone who gives them food as being favorable to them, and they end up liking that person in return.

But what if they didn’t just give them food, but went as far as to cook and prepare it themselves?

And that, from someone of a much higher rank than themselves?

When that happens, they begin to feel respected.

Just as they came to like the person because they felt goodwill, they would respect the other person because they felt respected.

What I needed most right now was not ‘obedience,’ but ‘respect.’

So that when those children grew up and heard about the ‘Second Apocalypse,’ they would not doubt my orders or feel they were unreasonable.

Although Meursault did not know about the Second Apocalypse, he probably knew that what I needed right now was ‘people,’ so he seemed to like the cooking strategy.

“Then, is my task selecting the menu? Kitchen assistance? What should I start with?”

To Meursault, who asked enthusiastically, I answered with a smile.

“Hunting.”

“……Pardon?”

Looking beyond the wall of the district where alien monsters would be teeming, I said vigorously.

“Let’s start with hunting.”

“…So we are starting with sourcing the ingredients. I un-der-stand.”

For some reason, it felt like Meursault answered through gritted teeth, but I ignored it.

Because there was a reason I had to go to the outskirts and hunt this time.