Chapter 65: Go Back.

It said with disdain, “I told you he was a hack. But you didn’t listen to me.”

“See where it has gotten you. Who is the smart one now?” Its voice dripped with derision.

Alexander didn’t respond. He was too hungry to bother with the worm right now. All he wanted to do was stuff his mouth with food and not think about anything else.

Just then, he noticed someone following him. When he turned back, he saw the one thing he didn’t want to see right now. He saw a living prey.

“Don’t follow me right now,” he ordered in a stern voice.

Then he resumed his trip to the mess hall.

He thought he was clear enough, but the girl behind him kept following. Her disobedience immediately ignited his fury and sharpened his eyes.

He wanted to turn back and rip her apart. He wanted to feel the taste of her flesh across his tongue. He was sure that he would find the feeling of her hot blood washing over him pleasurable.

But instead of doing all of that, he growled and said, “I’m very serious. Stop following me.”

Then he resumed walking.

His feet slammed into the ground heavily, kicking up dust as the wind swept past his face and ruffled his hair. His footsteps were loud, but they couldn’t drown out the frenzied beat of his heart as adrenaline pumped through his blood in preparation for the hunt.

Together with his increasing heartbeat, his senses sharpened, and the world grew clearer. The darkness became lighter, and visibility increased as his eyes sharpened.

Subtle smells in the wind also became obvious, and sounds as low as stones rolling across the ground became clear to him.

One subtle sound he heard was a set of small feet walking behind him. He couldn’t believe his ears when he heard this sound.

Turning his head to confirm, he saw Jessy still following him. When she caught him looking, she dropped her head and looked at her feet.

The hands that held the hem of her dress began to shake, and her grip tightened as she stopped walking. Then she flinched when he barked at her.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said stop following me,” he said, raising his voice at her.

In response, tears leaked from her eyes. At first, the tears were scanty. But they turned into a mighty flood as more flowed down from her eyes.

She began crying as her tears flowed. In no time, she was sobbing even as she was trembling.

Alexander found it so irritating. He ground his molars, trying to keep his temper in check.

“Why are you crying now?” he asked, annoyed.

“You’re always crying. Every time I see you, you’re crying for one reason or another.”

No matter how he questioned her, she didn’t stop crying. In fact, she did the opposite. For some reason, she cried louder.

It annoyed him so much that he marched towards her as he shouted, “Enough! Stop that immediately.”

Instead of stopping, she stepped away from him while crying. When she saw the menacing look in his face, she broke down completely.

She sat down, wrapped her arms around her body, and wailed in sorrow, saying, “Mummy! Daddy!”

Seeing this, most of his anger drained away. He deflated, unsure of what to do. Then he sighed and walked over to her. This time, he walked slowly, taking his time so as not to startle her anymore.

When he reached her, he crouched in front of her and said, “There, there. I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“But you don’t want me anymore,” she said through sobs. “I am a bad maid.”

As she spoke, mucus trailed down her face.

“No, you’re not a bad maid. Why would you think that?”

“You told me to stop following you. My job is to follow you,” she struggled to say.

Hearing this, Alexander sighed and said, “I’m not getting rid of you. I just don’t want a human around me right now.”

“Really?” she asked skeptically.

He nodded and said, “Really.”

“You promise never to get rid of me? I’ll do my best,” she asked with eyes full of hope.

He tried to smile as he said, “I promise not to get rid of you as long as you do your best.”

“Are you satisfied now?”

She nodded and stopped sobbing.

“Alright. Go and wash your face. You should have your bath too. I’ll go to eat,” he said, rising up.

“But they told me to always follow you,” she said, protesting.

Shaking his head, he said, “You can’t follow me all day. You need to eat, sleep, and take care of yourself. So you can only follow me around for half a day.”

“You’ve done more than enough so far. Go and tell one of the other two to take over from you.”

Before she could protest again, he said, “If anyone asks, tell them I told you to. And if you get into trouble for this, I’ll take the punishment for you. How about that?”

She finally relented and nodded her head in agreement. Seeing this, he said, “Go on now.”

She didn’t want to leave, but facing his stare, she walked away reluctantly. She dragged her steps, walking as if she was a snail. Alexander found it amusing and chuckled a little bit.

Then he sighed and thought, ‘The world is full of struggles and suffering.’

He had his struggles and problems he was dealing with, ranging from the constant, mind-gnawing hunger to the sneaky Tyrant going around raping people’s minds. Of course, he believed that his problems were the most important, but that didn’t mean he should disregard the problems of little people like Jessy.

He had been a Drone for over two years, so he knew just how bad things could get for them, especially if they didn’t have parents to look out for them.

Drones were essentially the factory workers of the Industrial Revolution in England. They toiled day and night in abject poverty and squalor with barely enough to eat.

The way Jessy became his maid showed just how difficult the life of a Drone could be. She was literally employed as bait in the final test and still is as his maid.

She could die at any moment here, but as bad as this was, it could be much worse. He was willing to bet that if she were fired from her job, she could die in a day, or worse, be forced to endure unspeakable horrors if she lived longer than that.

It seemed she knew what awaited her, which is why she didn’t want to lose her job. And he couldn’t blame her for this.

‘If I have problems and Jess has problems, I wonder what the problems of Lord Bane are,’ he thought as he resumed his journey to the mess hall.

As far as he could tell, life in the Obsidian Maw and back on Earth was full of competition for survival and problems. He believed everyone could be sorted into a pyramid based on where they stood in the food chain.

From his position in the pyramid, Drones were beneath him, and Tyrants were above him. Apostles were also in his position, competing with him and beating him up from time to time.

This made him wonder who was competing with Lord Bane and sat above the Tyrant as his predator. He wanted to know for educational and nefarious purposes.

He thought about this as he walked to the mess hall, and the worm ranted in his head about how hungry it was. As he walked, his face remained blank, and his mind was as clear as the surface of a still pond.

Lord Bane, the person he was thinking about, was right behind him, following him.

“Yes, I am sure he is the descendant of a Tyrant,” the Tyrant said with certainty.

“No ordinary person can maintain a mental trance for so long. Only the descendants of Tyrants can have this level of psychic ability as mortals.”

“His bloodline would also explain his extraordinary physique. With this level of potential, even if I sell him, I will get a lot in return.”

“Mauberi can use this as my backup plan. If using force doesn’t work, I can sell him to Lord Byron in exchange for their assistance,” he thought, running his hand through his large beard.

Lord Bane didn’t follow him into the mess hall, though. They were fascinated by Alexander, but they didn’t have all day to follow him. He was a busy man and had something urgent to do. So after indulging himself for so long, he left to do something more important.

The light of the flame above his head swept through the area, looking for his target. When he found her, he nodded in satisfaction. Then he strode over to her.

He found Tessa standing guard in front of the jail. She stood there with two other bosses, making sure nothing went wrong.