Dobbin looked at the kid in front of him with complicated emotions brewing inside his heart. When he first met the kid, he had already felt a twinge of pity for this street rat.
Of course, his pity was nothing but a small pinch of sand, a drop in the ocean. Even if he felt pity, he wouldn't actually do something to help the kid.
At that time, it was raining heavily. He and his Boss opened the door to their warehouse and found the kid lying on the ground, shivering from the cold. Dobbin's first instinct wasn't to check if the child was hurt, his first thoughts were, "Did people find their warehouse? What about their goods? Was there a spy amongst them?"
But after surveying the entire warehouse (which was more like a shed), he found no traces of spies or thieves. So, he concluded that the only one who had entered the warehouse was the kid.
The Boss took one look at the kid and frowned. Dobbin understood his meaning and walked over to the child, ready to throw him away.
Based on the child's clothing and the fact that he was barefoot, he was probably a street urchin who, trying to escape the heavy rain, stumbled into the warehouse and slept inside.
Dobbin put one hand on the kid's forehead and realized that it was burning. He wanted to speak to the Boss, but then the kid started mumbling in his sleep.
At first, he couldn't hear what the child was saying at all, but after straining his ears, he was finally able to catch some words.
"...You... mouse..." the kid began saying.
And then, the kid lifted up one hand and pointed at a random direction while cursing, "Stinky mouse, it's all your fault..."
Dobbin looked at the direction that the kid was pointing and froze in horror. That was... the Boss!
"I want to eat macaroons..." Unaware of his actions, the ignorant kid began mumbling even more nonsense.
"Why are you just standing there? Hurry up and serve the wine~"
Dobbin: "..."
At that moment, the little bit of pity that he had for the child dissipated and was replaced by annoyance. This kid... broke into their warehouse, slept in their warehouse, and now, he wanted them to serve him wine!
He was even calling the Boss a mouse!
Dobbin did not hesitate this time. He picked up the kid roughly and threw him out of the shed. When the kid fell unto the wet pavement, he grunted in pain.
"Boss, I've thrown him out," Dobbin said.
"Hm," the Boss grunted.
There was a moment of silence and Dobbin did not know what to say.
"Do I look like a mouse?" the Boss suddenly asked.
Dobbin almost flew out of the room in fright. Who would dare call the Guild Leader a mouse?!
"Of course not, Boss," Dobbin quickly reassured his Boss.
"Don't worry, Boss. Those who dare call you a mouse are definitely blind. There's no way someone as handsome and suave and amazing and handsome as you would look like a mouse," he rambled.
Uh, he seemed to have said 'handsome' two times. Never mind.
"Take him in," the Boss said.
Dobbin nodded his head quickly. "Of course, Boss. I'll make it so he never shows his head in front of you ever again. Wait, what?"
"Take him in and get a doctor for him," the Boss said once more without a hint of annoyance.
Dobbin: ???
But then, he recovered very quickly and did as he was told. Dobbin had been following the Boss for so many years, so he knew that this man was prone to do things as he liked.
Dobbin brought the kid inside the warehouse first and rummaged through the warehouse, looking for the item that they needed. When he finally got the item and confirmed it with the Boss, the two of them left the warehouse and Dobbin arranged for the kid to live in one of their smaller properties.
At that time, Dobbin asked the Boss, "What do you want to do with this kid?"
And the Boss simply shrugged, "Isn't he interesting? I thought it would be fun."
The Boss paused for a minute and seemed to feel like his explanation was not enough, so he added, "I want to hear him calling me a mouse, but this time, I want him to say it to my face."
Dobbin: "..."
Alright, whatever his Boss says, goes.
***
Back to the present, Dobbin looked at the kid in front of him -- Lucky -- and didn't know what to feel. Based on the kid's "performance" in front of the Boss, it seemed like the Boss was pleased with the kid and wanted to take him in as a potential "successor".
Dobbin was just like Milton -- the two of them had followed the Boss for a long time now, so they could more or less understand what the Boss was thinking. Dobbin didn't know, though, whether this would be a good or bad thing for Lucky.
After all, how many children were trained to become a successor and was eventually "thrown away"?
Of course, Feng Yongrui had no idea about what Dobbin was thinking. He had been fiddling with the dagger while thinking about his mission. This BUG prince in this world was troublesome, and he had no way of knowing what the prince would do to disrupt the correct world flow.
The first thing that he had to make sure was for Cinderella to go to the ball. Strictly speaking, there could be many ways for the BUG prince to disrupt this stage. He could have the soldiers forcefully block Cinderella at the entrance.
He could create an order that no one without an invitation could come. He could even order the guards to arrest anyone suspicious. There was no way of knowing what he would do.
Feng Yongrui pondered about this matter for a while. If he was the prince's study companion, he could forge a closer bond with the prince, and when it was the time of the ball and Cinderella was blocked at the entrance, he could use his connections to force the guards to let her into the ball...
But now, he was just an assassin! Wrong, he wasn't even an assassin yet!
Feng Yongrui began to feel regret inside his heart. Why did he have to choose the assassin route? He was obviously making things difficult for himself...
Feng Yongrui's thoughts were broken when Dobbin talked to him.
"You're pretty much healed already, so tomorrow, I'll bring you to the Boss," Dobbin told him.
"When you meet the Boss, you have to be respectful, got it?" Dobbin couldn't help himself from reminding the young boy.
"Otherwise, you won't even know how you died," he muttered.
Feng Yongrui just nodded and told Dobbin not to worry. At night, the two of them had dinner together, and Feng Yongrui returned to his room to sleep. He didn't know where Dobbin would stay, but the latter just shrugged and told him not to keep asking questions.
The next day, Feng Yongrui woke up early, washed his face, and went out with Dobbin. This was Feng Yongrui's first time walking in the streets in broad daylight, so he took his time and looked left and right in curiosity.
This was the fourth world he was assigned to, and this world reminded him of medieval Europe, but it was slightly different. Feng Yongrui was no historical expert so he couldn't really pinpoint the differences, but he knew that this world wasn't 100% Earth.
As Feng Yongrui walked on the cobblestones, he heard people bustling about, selling and buying items. From time to time he heard the rattling of wheels as a carriage passed through the streets, the delicate curtains closed and the horses pulling the carriage steadily.
Dobbin finally stopped in front of a pottery shop and led Feng Yongrui inside. The two of them walked to the second floor and Feng Yongrui felt his heart drumming against his chest.
When the two of them entered a room, Feng Yongrui saw the Guild Leader reviewing a stack of documents while a red-haired man sat beside him, grumbling. Sensing their presence, Milton looked away from the documents that had terrorized him all day long and greeted Dobbin with an enthusiastic grin.
"You're finally here," he said cheerily.
Dobbin wanted to curse inside his heart. It was obvious what that sly fox was thinking. Milton wasn't happy to see Dobbin, he was just happy to have someone to accompany him do his torturous work!
Feng Yongrui's eyes moved from the red-haired man to the Guild Leader. He wanted to say hello "sir", but then he realized that he couldn't call him that.
"Hello, my wonderfully omnipotent legendary father," Feng Yongrui greeted rather awkwardly.
Dobbin: "..."
Milton: ???
Milton raised an eyebrow and shifted his eyes to look at his Boss. The kid... the kid just called the Boss... like that?
Igino's face was nonchalant and he flipped through his papers casually.
"Take a seat and wait," he said, "I have some matters I need to attend to before I can explain the situation to you."
"Alright, I understand," Feng Yongrui replied and sat on a chair on the side. Dobbin, who did not want to be pulled to work by Milton, quickly took his seat next to Feng Yongrui and pretended to look busy.
***
Milton: You're here~~ *sweet smile*
Dobbin: Heh, don't think I don't know what you want.