<<XGC>>

The paperwork at the hospital was quickly handled by Julia within the next 10-15 minutes, after which she immediately dialed up a taxi for Damien to go and fetch all the necessary things from his house. 

It didn't take long for the taxi to arrive. Standing beside the car window, Julia hesitantly nodded at the young man comfortably seated inside.

"...I'll see you later, then."

"Yeah, it won't take too long. I'll be there before it gets dark, so don't keep worrying about me."

Seeing her hesitation, Damien gave her a reassuring smile, as the taxi driver slowly took off in the direction of the exit gate. 

"Haa..."

Looking at the departing vehicle, she sighed in a dejected manner, grimly pondering upon the problems her family now faced with a dark expression. 

The future ahead of her just looked so bleak and hopeless now. She even had the urge to pack up their bags and leave the country altogether for a moment.

Of course, there was one part of her that wanted to believe that everything that Damien told her earlier was a bunch of lies. 

But she knew better than to place her bets on some hopeful delusion and ruin whatever chance she might've had at deflecting this unannounced calamity.

'Xavier Group Corporation...'

The unshakable tyrants of the worldwide pharmaceuticals business... Never in her dreams would she have thought that one day, she would get tangled up in a mess so huge! 

After all, even if someone didn't know who this country's President was, as long as they ever went to see a doctor in their lives, even if it was for a single day—

<<(XGC) >>

—They would definitely recognize their iconic logo plastered on every piece of medical product allowed to be on the market these days. 

It didn't matter whether it was an X-ray machine or a simple aspirin pill, everything was under their control, marked by that grey and lifeless logo of their overwhelming dominion over anything related to the medical field.

A competition didn't exist for them. Because no matter which company tried to take a single step into their territory, they either ended up being forcefully acquired by them, or else they inevitably went bankrupt within mere months for some inexplicable reason.

...With them, there were simply no negotiations, nor were there any middle grounds for you to reach. You either submitted to them, or got strangled to a slow, excruciating death. 

Not to mention, according to some wild rumors, they had long since invented a cure for almost every major life-threatening disease plaguing mankind, and potentially even had a method of achieving full body rejuvenation!

But unfortunately, to be able to access them, you either had to be among one of the high-profile political leaders, or a top-ranking government official willing to bend the knee to them.

Looking at how all the old and decrepit political big-wigs seemed to be glowing in recent years, it was hardly a surprise that whenever some scandal came to light regarding this XGC, it didn't even get the chance to go to court before the entire thing gets dismissed for unknown reasons.

"...Hah, and here I thought just going to the police and reporting that creep would solve everything."

This was the reason why, despite being a law-abiding citizen and the widowed wife of a martyr who gave up his life for the country, she could neither go to the police nor the government to ask for their help. 

Instead, it was a lawless young man who was forcefully turned to the side of law that came to offer her help. 

"...I can only leave it up to him now."

The irony of her situation almost made her crack a self-deprecating laugh. 

Bitterly chuckling at her own fate, Julia turned around and started walking toward the parking lot with her hands tightly clenched.

...It hadn't even been a full day since she met that young man, and she was already relying on him so heavily.

But from what she had inferred from all the clues, his crazy and criminal plan was the only way for her to ensure her daughter's safety. 

It just wasn't the time to ponder upon the legality and morality in all of this. Since the law and order of this country had betrayed her first, she had no obligation to remain so lawful anymore either.

...Both ways, her dead husband had already done enough service to this country for her entire family.

****

"Hey, can you take a left turn from the next junction?"

Inside the yellow taxi car whizzing past the downtown road, Damien called out to the driver, telling him to change routes all of a sudden.

"Huh? That's not what I was told earli—"

The driver obviously wanted to sharply refuse at first. But then his voice quickly lost the edge it started with, noticing the forceful light shining in the significantly bigger guy's eyes through his rear-view mirror.

"—uhh... I mean, the lady earlier told me to—"

"I'll pay an extra twenty for the trouble. That sound good to you?"

Seeing his hesitation, Damien decided to sweeten the deal for the poor guy a little, to which the driver easily agreed, laughing a bit awkwardly as he did so.

"...Um, I mean, sure man. As long as I'm actually getting paid. Hehe..."

*Screech–!*

Soon, the taxi stopped in front of a posh-looking restaurant. There was a fancy signboard hanging outside of it, where the name was written using a bunch of pretty, cursive letters.

– [Martha's Delicious Treats] – 

*Thunk–!*

The car door opened, and Damien slowly stepped out of the vehicle. Inwardly cursing the outrageous hospital bill, he then pulled out an extra $20 bill from his almost empty wallet, before reluctantly handing it to the driver.

"...Thank you, sir. Please give us a call anytime you need me again!"

Leaving those words behind, the relatively young driver swiftly made himself scarce, as Damien slowly walked towards the back door of the restaurant with a pensive look on his face.

It had only been a day since he joined Uncle Harold's restaurant, and he already took a day off without notifying anyone. Now, he had to straighten things out with that man as soon as possible, lest this old geezer misunderstood something.

After all, Harold Pecker wasn't your regular business owner in any sense. If he really ghosted him after coming to work for just a single day, who knew what specific type of grave disrespect he would take it as?

...It was simply better to not take the chance.

Standing outside the back entrance, Damien took a deep breath, mentally going over his freshly woven story once more. 

Fortunately, this time, he was here to quit the job for good, so he wouldn't have to continue dealing with that troublesome geezer.

But the moment he steeled himself and reached out for the door handle, it automatically spun around and unlocked itself—

*Bang–!*

—before somebody violently threw it open and emerged outside while cursing, holding onto a plastic sack full of trash in both of her hands. 

Damien immediately recognized the girl. 

It was the forever depressed master chef of the kitchen, Ellen, softly mumbling something under her breath as she struggled to drag the heavy bag through the door.

"–irresponsible son of a bitch. If I don't get a raise after this—"

At first, she continued with her irritated cursing, being too lost in her own world to notice Damien standing in front of her with his hands outstretched towards her. 

"—What the fu–?!"

But it didn't take her long to finally do, before jolting back in frightened surprise when she saw his unfamiliar bandage-covered visage trying to grab her like a ghost.

"Uh... Hey, it's me, Damien. Sorry for not being able to come to work for the last two days."

Damien quickly raised his hands in a peaceful gesture, while also apologizing for his absence, since it was clear that she was now having to do his part of the job because of that.

Ellen stared at him with her eyes opened wide and her jaws slacking a little. Her gaze then wandered slightly above, inevitably attracted to the white bundle of gauze wrapped around his head.

"N-New guy...? Wait, what happened to you? A-Are those on your head real?"

"...No, it's fake. I recently got a role in a zombie apocalypse movie, and this is the makeup prop for that. I hear it's supposed to keep my brain from falling out."

"W-What...?"

The surprised look in her eyes slowly turned incredulous as Damien kept speaking.

"You really ask some weird questions, don't you? Of course, it's real. I got in an accident yesterday."

Only now did she understand that he was making fun of her. The look on her face soon turned red in anger and shame as she forcefully shoved the trash bag at him.

"You jerk! Can't you answer a simple question without messing around first?!"

"Nope... Also, you shouldn't look so depressed all the time. See, now it's much better!"

He gave her a small wink, accompanied by a thumbs-up as he easily hoisted up the bag of trash she was struggling with so much, before throwing it in the dumpster 20 feet away. 

When Damien returned after taking care of the chore, he saw a stunned Ellen waiting for him by the door while glancing at him weirdly.

"...Hm? What are you looking at? I thought you guys were busy. Let's go inside, I've got to meet the old man and resign from the job too."

"Huh...? Wait, resign? Why do you want to resign?"

Stepping inside, Damien closed the door first, before directing a playful grin towards her.

"Take a 'wild' guess. Why do you think?"

Ellen went silent for a moment, before speaking in a small voice while avoiding her eyes.

"...But, you can come back later too, right? When you get better, I mean."

"Huh, maybe...? I'll think about it when that time comes."

Saying that, Damien shrugged as he went ahead, leaving the girl alone with a slight tinge of disappointment flashing in her eyes.

"...Didn't he seem a little different from before?"