The stange man

"How are you? I am out on some tasks. "

Mark tried to make it look like he was speaking to someone else since Truck-kun told him to act naturally. Fortunately, the voice of Truck- kun this time wasn't loud enough for everyone to hear him unless they had the speaker next to their ears.

"Just get to the place we need to go. Call the first number in the contracts when you get to the truck. "

"Talk to you later, then. Good to hear from you. "

After closing the phone, Mark put it back in his pocket and tried to make it look like nothing had happened. It wasn't that difficult, as he had acted like nothing had happened around people all those years, especially when they considered themselves tricked after learning about himself. Most people, though, learned that he was never part of his family and had the same surname, which he couldn't change.

His surname was Ranac, and they were famous for many things, but primarily for their major business and the one that started it all. They were a factory of technological miracles and were the reason for many of the breakthroughs in the last two centuries.

But Mark had nothing to do with his family business, even if he was supposed to be working on it as an adult. But before reaching that point, his family understood that he had no talent for leading their company, so he reached his current situation.

It didn't take him long to find the place mentioned in his assignment, and it looked like it was a junkyard. But, of course, he didn't expect this and double-checked if he was in the right place, which was the case no matter how many times he did.

As he went inside to ask questions, he saw a person who immediately drew his attention. It was a male one, and he drew Mark's attention because of how he was dressed. He wore a suit that was very similar to the one who gave him the assignment just a few moments ago but, of course, a version more suited to a man.

Mark made his way towards that person, as he was sure that this should be the one the 'assignment woman' had mentioned about letting them know he would go there. And it didn't take long for the man to notice Mark, and to Mark's surprise, he didn't have the neutral face as the Landlady and the 'assignment woman. '

He smiled when he saw Mark, which crept Mark a bit, but he tried not to show it to his face.

"How can I help you, young man? "the man said when Mark was close enough.

Mark found the way the person referred to him strange, as they were close to age, if not the person in front of him being younger.

'Do I look that old? It is true, though, that I haven't taken care of myself well in those past years.'

Mark tried to put those thoughts aside as he gave the piece of paper with his assignment to the man.

"I came here for this. They should have called you about it already. "

The man read what was on the paper, or in reality, just gave it a quick glance and then gave it back to Mark. It seemed like he just wanted to see if the paper was something specific on it, most likely the stamp that there was at the bottom. Mark found it weird that was one there, but it may have been for instances like that.

"Right this way. Miss Erinne already told us to prepare one of our vehicles. We are still loading it, but it should be ready soon. I presume you know how to drive one of those. "

The man pointed towards one truck much larger than his, but Mark was confident there would be no problem driving it. So he nodded, which made the man throw another smile at him.

"Good. By the way, my name is Rube. It is nice to meet an ex-young master like you. "

'Does anyone keep the information about my past to themselves, or is that good of a gossip? '

Before Mark could say anything, Rube continued speaking.

"You don't need to worry. Few people in our company know about you, and your secret is safe. But I have to admit, I didn't expect you to look like that. "

Mark didn't need to ask him what he expected, as he had heard the same thing from many others. Even if most people didn't know that he was actually a Ranac, when they found he wasn't part of that family, they expressed that, in their opinion, he really didn't look like one either.

The appearances varied per person, but all had a common point—- he had to not look ordinary. The only thing that was somewhat not ordinary about Mark was his green eyes. It wasn't like there wasn't anyone else with green eyes, but the number of people had been very few compared to the general population.

"How long until my truck is ready to go?" asked Mark, as he wanted to get on it as soon as possible.

He was still getting this strange feeling of coldness and electricity passing through his body, and he wanted to speak with Truck-kun about it as soon as possible.

"We need less than half an hour. If you want, we can get something to drink or a snack, as there is a canteen nearby."

Mark followed the man named Rube, as there was nothing else he could do. Also, he needed to get something to eat, as it would be a big trip.

'Now that I am thinking about it, I have had nothing to eat for quite some time. '

He felt tired now and then, especially after the fights in the <Dungeon>, but he had felt no hunger. He had drank that orange juice that Lylah, the nurse, had brought him, and he had no trouble drinking it. As for food, he hadn't tried eating anything yet, as he hadn't had the time or craved anything.

They reached the place Rube mentioned, and Mark saw some benches and people on some of them, apparently on a break to eat and drink. He noticed their attire was like the men that helped Miss Erinne, who was confident that she was the 'assignment lady', to move stuff back to the place he stayed.

'Who is that Bellot family? It doesn't seem like they have a small company. '

Mark had never heard of either a company or a family called Bellot. He was aware of some families that the public didn't know from his time before getting exiled but had never heard the Bellot name. But it wasn't rare for a new family to appear, but it wasn't unusual for them to disappear as fast as they appeared. After all, the 1% never liked competition.

Even if he hadn't seen a lot, he realized the Bellot wasn't an average client, and they had quite a few people working for them. Since he had received another delivery from them, from another place in another town, that showed that they had their business spread. That could work against them, though, as they would make more enemies that way, but since they had lasted for more than a couple months, they weren't that simple.

Robe led them to an empty bench where Mark sat.

"I will take us something simple. No need to worry, by the way. It is my treat. "

Rube winked at Mark, with the latter not being to keep his body from reacting, moving further away from Rube. In response, Rube laughed as he walked towards the canteen.

Mark wasn't sure what the deal was with Rube, as he had had nobody act like that with him. Well, that really wasn't entirely true. He had had no 'man' act like that.

'Could he be…? '

Mark stopped thinking anymore; he was sure it would lead to a dark place. But, for now, he just wanted to ignore it since nothing had happened. Nobody turned after Rube started laughing, which wasn't too loud or too silent, meaning it wasn't unusual.

But the reason for it not being unusual could be because it was nothing strange or because people were familiar with how Rube acted. Either way, Mark decided to let it be for now, as nothing had happened, and if something would, he would deal with it when it happened.

It didn't take long for Rube to return with a small plastic tray, two sandwiches, and plastic cups with some soft drinks. Mark ate his share, and even if nothing was strange about the way they tasted, Mark felt like something was lacking in them.

It wasn't about the way they tasted, but it felt like consuming them did nothing to him. It wasn't like eating when you were already full, but almost like the moment they entered his stomach, they disappeared instead of slowly being dissolved.

'What is wrong with me? 'was the only thought in Mark's mind.