"The latest report delivered by the emissaries of the 7 families does not have good news for us. It seems that the death of the last prisoner sent by one of the young men of the Andreev family was received as a sign of weakness on our part. Because of that, the 7 families have decided to send a special commission to check the internal control of the Graznov archipelago, especially of the island of Vargo".
The words of the old man leading the meeting echoed in Rou's head, who stood behind Captain Holland. In the meeting room there were 31 men seated at the main table, where most of them were over 40 years old, being Drei Holland, the only woman present.
"That brat is always looking for trouble with us, it's not enough for him to send us his trash every week, now he's trying to threaten us using the power of the 7 families," said one of the men pounding the table.
Those present remained silent, they were in the service of the Andreev family, but they were not dogs who would accept to be treated like trash just because of a child's game. Still, they could not go against the decisions of the 7 families openly and lowered their heads.
"Cof-Cof, fellow Falco, I understand your annoyance, but keep your words, now is the time for us to make a decision, the future will decide that brat's punishment for his actions."
Everyone nodded in approval of the old man's words, with more confidence, those present began to deliver a list of reports of the island that were projected on a large screen.
Rou scanned the map that appeared behind the old man without crediting what his eyes were seeing.
"Impossible...this can't be happening," he thought clenching his fists.
Rou was not a good student in the past, during geography classes he used a lot of maps learning about the world around him, which he could only see from the television. Still, Rou knew the most basic shape of the continents and oceans, but what was in front of him was totally different.
On the projected map, the continents had fragmented into small tracts of land, surrounded by new seas, rivers, and streams that were more than 100 kilometers wide. Central America and the coastal countries had mostly disappeared under water, only the higher elevations seemed to have survived the rising sea level.
This led Rou to take a closer look at a group of 7 islands marked with a red cross, "Graznov Archipelago, then I'm not wrong", Rou thought.
The Graznov Archipelago was located about 50 kilometers off the coast of the remains of the American continent. The names on the map did not match his memories, and it seemed that the larger islands he could see were independent countries.
When one of the people present changed the projected image, Rou instinctively tried to stop him, he had obtained only a small fraction of the information he needed and did not want to part with it.
"There's something going on with your personal guard Captain Holland, I wouldn't mind teaching you some manners due to your lack of respect," said one of those present.
Drei Holland could sense Rou's strange behavior, even so, she rested one of her hands on the table and replied, "I think you're taking me too lightly Falco." Rising from her seat, Drei walked towards Falco without anyone stopping her advance, "Remember this in your tiny head child, I have orders to protect each of you from the danger hidden in the waters. Therefore, I will make sure that everything on the island continues to function as usual, but if you question my decisions or that of my subordinates again, I will slice you to pieces and feed you to the pigs."
Falco felt his life was hanging by a thread, he could not see at what point Captain Holland cut his neck which began to bleed. The captain returned to her seat seeing Falco nodded as she checked the blood on his neck using one of the napkins.
"Dangerous, she's really dangerous...", Rou kept still as Drei passed by his side.
"Come on, we don't need to stay longer in this meeting, we still have things to do," no one stopped Drei, who followed Rou through the exit. It was crazy for them to try to contradict her, they didn't want to die yet.
Walking towards the elevator, Drei stopped for a moment without looking at Rou and asked, "Do you seem to have seen a ghost at the meeting, tell me, Dmitry, is there something bothering you?".
Rou didn't want to give trouble to the woman who was his only way to get off the island alive, besides, there were things he couldn't understand from the words she had said during the meeting, but that could wait for the moment.
"That's impossible my lady, next to you there is no way I would feel uncomfortable," Rou pressed the button to call the elevator as he saw Drei started to move forward.
"No matter what others say, I don't care if you kill someone by mistake, hate me or love me, as long as you follow my orders everything is allowed, as long as you move under my shadow you must keep fighting even if victory is not visible, I have seen something in your eyes that others don't have, don't make me regret my choice," Drei said taking Rou's right shoulder.
Rou looked into the eyes of the captain after she pronounced those words, left behind was the fragile and delicate woman he saw during the morning, now she was another person, one capable of killing without succumbing to anger or revenge if those were the orders, one who was willing to protect him if he made a mistake.
"Yes my lady, as your shadow I will be an extension of your body, willing to know hell itself if you wish," Rou replied as a fire grew within him.
Rou could experience for the first time something he never thought he could feel, the desire to fight, the desire to fight for Captain Drei, there was no room for doubt, the woman in front of him seemed to see something that no one in all his past life could find.
Driving the vehicle through the dirt roads, Rou for the first time could breathe calmly, he felt that everything began to make sense, what did it matter if he had returned to a distant past or to a world different from what he remembered, now he was alive, following the damn decisions of a being hidden in the shadows that was playing with his destiny, but so what, in his hands he had the power to move forward, it would be stupid to stay still without doing anything, the only thing that mattered was to survive and not to be treated like a dog by others.
During the day, Captain Holland was in charge of monitoring the functioning of the guard patrols on the island. Rou discovered that the next day, the commission sent by the 7 families would arrive in the morning, and the captain and Rou were to be present to receive them.
According to the captain's words, the members of the commission had a higher level of authority than her own, so Rou had to control his actions if he did not want to lose his life. Another important point was that in the subway of the supply area, the research center stored the disused books, so Rou could get information there the moment he was free.
Listening to the conversations of the guards, Rou understood that no one remembered his death, for them the death of a prisoner was not important, only the superiors knew the information of those who were sent to the prison, so disappearances inside the prison were common, unless one of the family members said something about it.
When lunchtime arrived, Rou followed the captain through a five-story building, where the aroma of food greeted him.
"Don't worry, you'll get all you want...But you'll have to get rid of that helmet if you want to eat," Drei laughed as Rou shook his head quickly. "Well, then you can wait until 8 o'clock at night, you know, a captain's schedule is strict, we can't leave our position at any time".
"It's impossible to hold out until that time, but if I'm discovered it's much worse...", Rou thought. "Wait a minute, the prisoners' information is classified, so only some of them might recognize me," Rou looked around as Captain Drei took a seat at one of the tables, making sure there were only a few people present, Rou pulled the helmet over his head and revealed his face.
"That's better, now order something, we have little time."
Rou noticed that everyone looked at them only once before looking away, it seemed that no one knew their origin leaving him more at ease.
"Yes my lady, your personal guard is someone who can't waste a meal with a companion like you," Rou looked at the menu in front of him and was surprised by the amount of dishes they could prepare, even in the fanciest restaurant he visited in the past the list of dishes couldn't compare.
"Captain Holland, this day I will be the one in charge to attend you and your guest, if you need anything just ring the bell next to you and I will be here when you need me", the waiter bowed with his body and moved away from the table after saying his words.
While Rou was choosing the most exotic dishes he saw on the menu, a group of 5 men entered the dining room sitting about 20 meters away. Every so often, one of the men seemed to glance in their direction, but each time he looked at Captain Holland, he returned his attention to his companions and feigned ignorance of Rou's suspicion.
"Keep eating Dmitry, let them be those kids, even though they appear to be strong being in a group, you only need to give a firm and accurate blow to one of them for them to respect you", Drei Holland would protect Rou, but in this situation, only Rou could prove his worth if he wanted to stand by her side.
"I'll keep that in mind captain," Rou said. "If you get hit, hit harder, that's the kind of world I'm in, it doesn't matter if I'm weak, as long as I survive I'll be the one with the last laugh," Rou thought looking defiantly at the men in the distance.