"Follow !" the voice replied. A series of footsteps was heard clearly afterwards.
"Y-yes!" the butler replied. His voice was trembling. Despite this, he obediently followed the invisible figure.
Relying solely on his acute hearing, the butler trailed closely from behind. The butler can't really see the person he's talking to. It was too dark and the other party deliberately hid in the cloak of night.
The butler pressed on.
He strained his old body to keep up with the swift movents of his guide.
His senses constantly alert him to every sound and movent since the other party barely make any noise. The butler wouldn't have heard anything if it were not for the rocky surface beneath his feet.
As they continued, the pace set by his guide gradually increased. The butler found himself reaching his limit and struggling to keep up.
"Huff, huff...w-wait!" the butler called out.
But his plea fell on deaf ears. The guide ahead showed no signs of slowing down. After all, it was the butler who sought them out, not the other way around.
They won't suffer any losses if the deal breaks down.
Seeing that his plea was useless, frustration began to grow within the butler. In his heart, he grumbled at the arrogance of these outcasts.
'They are pretty arrogant for re failed products,' he thought bitterly.
His annoyance grew with each passing mont.
If it not for Demin's desperate situation and lack of options, he would never have had to spend so much gold to contact these people.
In the butler's eyes, they were nothing more than discarded tools. An inferior product deed unworthy by the Blackout organization's standards.
A group of people who escape in panic and run away to avoid death.
That's what the 'Outcasts' is.
For a long-established group like Blackout, they had a streamlined procedure with a high success rate for producing their agents. From selecting the candidates to training thod to evaluation and all the way to the job assignnt.
Each process was refined and perfected over ti.
Unfortunately, there is still a chance for defects to appear occasionally. Usually, the so-called defects with sub-standard quality would be disposed of imdiately.
However, so manage to escape from the Blackout's grasp and avoid death.
Their number is not large but they had to live in hiding and constantly moving.
Since they had no particular skills, these people did what they knew best to survive- doing all kinds of dirty jobs which they learned during their ti in Blackout
Due to their involvent in this line of jobs, it was easy for Blackout to detect and hunt them who were scattered and unorganized.
Over ti, the loosely connected outcasts begin to rearrange themselves and beco a significant force in the underworld.
They are still far weaker than the Blackout. Nevertheless, the Outcasts are no longer prey waiting to be slaughtered. At least, the Outcasts now can bite the hand of Blackout and cause them substantial pain.
"Seriously, how long do we have to walk?" the butler asked again. There's no way he can go on like this.
"It's a bit further ahead," ca the vague reply from his guide.
"You said the sa thing just like the last ti," the butler retorted.
"..."
With every passing minute, the butler regretted not opting to ride a horse to reach his destination. Despite the risk of being too conspicuous, the discomfort of walking in the chilly night was far more unbearable.
Since he was their client, the butler expected that the other side would have an accommodating attitude toward him.
Contrary to his expectations, these people simply don't care.
Do they not want money? Aside from the lots of gold Demin sent as a sign of his sincerity, the amount of paynt his master offered for this job is not inferior.
"You can return to wherever you're from if you make another complaint."
The butler's heart sank at the stern warning. He knew he couldn't risk annoying this guide anymore. They are important pieces to Demin's plan and any misstep on his part could jeopardize it.
....
"Huff...Huff..." The butler panting like an old horse that is about to die. Currently, the poor old man is lying on the ground, sweating profusely. His chest heaving with exertion.
He doesn't know how far he has walked. He doesn't even know where he's at.
The butler couldn't rember the last ti he had felt so utterly exhausted.
One thing certain is he couldn't feel his legs. He tried to move them, to push himself up from the ground, but they refused to obey his commands.
It was as if they had beco disconnected from his body.
anwhile, his guide is looking down at the butler's pathetic state with contempt. Such a short distance already made the butler tired. What a weakling.
"Hurry up and stand up. We're already here," the guide said briskly. He was impatience. If not for the boss's order, the guide does not want to go all the way to Klover and pick soone up.
The butler struggled to push himself up from the ground with trembling arms. His legs felt like jelly. After a few attempts, he managed to pull himself up.
The guide displayed little concern for the butler's condition. He began to walk towards the rundown building in the middle of the snowy terrain. It blends in with its surroundings, making anyone who doesn't know a certain route unable to find it either during the day or at night ti.
'There is this kind of place hiding in the north!'
Seeing his guide slowly disappear into the building, the butler quickened his pace to catch up. He soon entered a long tunnel that appeared to be beautifully dug out from the mountain.
Out of curiosity, the butler continues to scrutinise the tunnel. There's not much to look at. It was plain with no decoration whatsoever.
"The boss is waiting for you." said the guide, pulling the butler's attention from the wall.
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