"Waiter!" A young man in a uniform called out with a frown on his face.
Isei, who held a silver, round tray, swiftly walked to them. He put on a smile and asked what was wrong.
"Where is our food? We have been waiting for half an hour already. What are you going to do about this?" The student stood up and confronted Isei.
His clothes indicated that he was a student from Triage Magic Academy. Isei knew that this was the type of person who liked to flaunt his status everywhere. The two seemingly underaged girls on his table spoke volumes of his personality.
He looked like the average, rich second generation that protagonists in novels use as stepping stones. As such, Isei dubbed him GYM in his mind. Generic Young Master.
GYM furrowed his brows at Isei, who didn't seem to cower before him like every other 'lowly commoners' would. He took a step towards Isei and pressured him with his Mana. Isei staggered back. When GYM why saw this, he sneered—looking as if he enjoyed it quite a bit.
"You know what? We'll just go back to my place and have our dinner there. Girls, let's go." GYM prepared to go out when Isei, who has already gathered himself, stopped him.
"But sir, your food is almost ready. Wouldn't it be quite unethical for you to leave now." Isei spoke in a calm manner.
"Hoh. What do you suppose I do then? Pay you for something that isn't even here yet?" He laughed at Isei's words. "Fine, here you go! Here is my payment." GYM took the gum he was chewing on out of his mouth and stuck it unto the table.
Isei frowned at the sight. He stood rooted to the ground as he watched the three go out of the restaurant. He sighed deeply while shaking his head.
"You will have to change the table cloth." A woman's voice rang beside his ears while he tried to clean the table. "You go and take the other's orders. I'll take care of this."
"Manager—" Isei was about to refuse when she cut him off.
"Go. Also, come to talk to me later before you get off." The woman smiled at him before she chased him away.
***
Isei approached the manager of the restaurant and asked, "You wanted to talk to me, Ma'am?"
The manager didn't look at Isei and continued writing in a notebook when she said. "You said you wanted to take more shifts?"
"Ah, yes, I did, Ma'am." Isei looked at her in anticipation. He already had two other jobs, but they didn't pay as much as this one did.
"I've have been planning on making another restaurant near the city's center for quite a while now." She pointed at a girl who was carefully arranging the furniture. "I was going to train her myself directly, but I'll have to be away on some days. My cousin can be a bit of an airhead at times, so I want you to look after her when I'm not around. James and the others will be here, but since you have been with me since the start, I wanted it to be official."
Isei didn't expect where this was going. He merely asked for a few more shifts, but he way more than he bargained for.
"Would you like to become a full-time worker and become my assistant manager?"
Isei was overwhelmed. He would have definitely accepted if it offered a week ago...
How could Isei not accept? I was just leading you... *Ehem*.
It is true, however, that something has been bothering Isei these last couple of weeks.
'You should have ripped that dick' s head off. Tsk!
'Indeed.'
'I really like that manager of yours. You should lend... '
He kept hearing various voices. There wasn't anyone around him, though.
This place led to the lower levels of East Triage. Some even call it the slums. It was a path that rarely trod by. It was mainly because of how the second level of East Triage was laid out. Unlike most other sections of Triage, this part of the city was slightly isolated. Due to the areas that surrounded it, that being the military and industrial sectors, you can only go up or down. The level that was below it is a slightly worse version, and the upper leading to the place where the rich still clung to the olden days and mimicked the lifestyle of people from before the invasion, the Middle Level of East Triage was tied for the worst economies in the whole city.
If this path should've been empty, then where did the voices that Isei kept hearing come from despite being in these empty corridors?
Simple, he did 'hear' them. Instead, the voices seemed to just pop inside his brain like thoughts.
At first, Isei thought he had gone crazy. At some point, it became unbearable as he had a hard time listening to what people said. He tried to pay it no mind, but the more he ignored them, the more that the voices kept on talking to him. His emotions seemed to also influence how much they talked.
From Isei's observation, since they first appeared, there seemed to be seven different voices.
One who kept on asking how the food he ate, tasted.
One who seemed to look down on everything.
One who hated everything he did and kept talking about how it could do things better.
One who liked to remark on every attractive woman he sees.
One who urged him to buy everything non-stop.
One kept complaining at the others' noise.
And one who never talked, but everyone else seemed to mention.
They each had their distinctive quirks that made it easy for Isei to identify which one was talking. Sometimes, he could feel them influence his actions slightly, but it was never enough to force him into doing something he had no interest in doing.
However, Isei felt that they have begun to gradually gain more influence. As such, Isei finally decided to stop ignoring them. He stopped walking when he was sure that no one was around. He looked like he was talking to the air, but of course, he was not.
"What are you guys?" Isei said while his eyes looked at the ground.
The voices in his head stopped immediately. It was the first time he enjoyed such silence, and it felt almost refreshing for Isei. But of course, it didn't last.
'D-did he just talk?'
'Finally, I thought this kid would keep on pretending forever.'
'If only he did it earlier...'
'Ugh... could you have at least kept the silence for a little while longer?'
The voices quickly returned to their discussions. Despite the amount of they didn't answer his question, though. They just kept on rambling about random things. He felt suspicious of how they reacted to him talking to them but still chose to ignore his question.
He looked at his watch and saw that it was already very late. Isei sighed before deciding to go home. He made a mental note to himself to find time to hold an actual conversation. He knew it would be hard based on how chaotic they were.
Isei got home late to witness the lights still on. He slowly entered the door to the dilapidated looking house. Inside was a middle-aged woman knitting what seemed to be a sweater. A girl, the same age as Isei, watched beside the woman with all her attention.
Contrary to the outside appearance of the place, the insides were very neat. The small house's many decorations that were neither expensive nor cluttered gave it a very cozy feeling.
The woman smiled the moment she saw Isei open the door.
"You're here." She said as she placed the unfinished sweater down.
"You guys are still up? Where's the other three?" Isei said as he plopped down on the couch and leaned on the girl.
"They're asleep. They tried to wait for you too when you called that you had good news." The woman resumed what she was doing as she said, "You should eat something first. Mizuki was the one who cooked."
"Really?"
Isei was pleasantly surprised. He looked at the blushing girl beside him and smiled at the sight. He stood up and walked towards the table.
"Did Maki do well?" Isei asked.
"Yes, she said she wanted to be as good as her big brother. She rarely talked to us these past few days as she worked hard studying for her exam." Mizuki said happily.
Isei was very glad that his little sister was motivated.
"Mom, have you guess what the good news was?"
He kept talking as he curiously opened the covered dishes.
Despite the heavy debts they incurred from trying to treat his mother, he didn't let any of them starve one bit. If he had to work five jobs a day, he did. He used the body that was trained to exhaustion for fighting to soldier through all the fatigue and suffering.
Now that he officially had a job and was no longer only working on part-time jobs that paid coins, he would definitely be able to give them more now. Isei wasn't sure, but his boss must have known that his 18th birthday was coming soon to offer him a job as her assistant.
"I got promoted to assistant manager by my boss. Well, it's not official till next week, but still."
"Congrats!" Mizuki said happily. Her bright smile was ear to ear while her eyes were shining brightly.
"You deserved it. You should thank your boss." Isei's mother congratulated him too.
"How is it?" She asked
"Better than me." Isei laughed.
"Really? I don't believe you." Mizuki laughed as well. She was evidently pleased with his assessment.
The three kept talking till it was half-past midnight. Laughter would occasionally escape the three, but they would immediately try to stop, afraid they might wake up the younger ones.
"I'll make you walk again, mom. I promise. I won't stop till I do. I won't stop..." Isei muttered as his fatigue finally crept in. s. His head dropped on the table. His mother smiled, but her eyes showed a hint of sadness. Her son was forced to give up his future for them due to her and her husband's incompetence. Now she was cared for by him when it was the other way around.
Mizuki didn't try to wake him up and just covered Isei with a blanket. She bent down and sneakily gave Isei a peck on the cheeks.
As she helped Isei's mom to sleep, Mizuki suddenly heard her say, "I could see you through the mirror."
Mizuki's ears were completely red. She wanted to hide somewhere so much, but the small house with only one bedroom didn't let her.
"You don't have to hide it from me. It would be impossible for you not to fall for him with our situations." Mizuki looked surprised at those words, but she could not deny it.
"I want you to promise that you'll take care of him once I'm gone."
Mizuki flinched at those words and was about to say something when Isei's mom asserted herself.
"Promise me."
Mizuki nodded her head hard. She also promised herself to share at least half his burden. She wanted to protect this home at all costs.
A few days later, Isei's mother suddenly collapsed. Both Mizuki and Isei's dreams were shattered when she breathed her last. The house was completely filled with a depressing air as they griefed. Isei was affected the most.
Slowly, things began to get worse.