Judge was always a mastermind behind the curtain in his previous life, which partially contributed to his trust being given only to Seo Jun. But that fragile trust was now broken because of a bottle of warm and tasty wine, and his trust was now solely being carried by his mother and father.
As for Hawthorne? "What on earth do I do with this guy?" He still did not know enough of Hawthorn to determine a surefire way to make him his underling. But he knew enough to form a solid plan. His current hypothesis about Hawthorn was that he was a mercenary, and a good one at that—just one with a bit too much self-esteem for his own good.
Hawthorne, meanwhile, was grilling his brain like a poorly supervised barbecue. "What is 'the recorders'?" he asked, obliviously walking right into Judge's trap.
Bingo. The exact question Judge had been waiting for.
"We are a group of beings that record stories of the world," Judge explained dramatically, and proceeded to summon a scriptwriter contract in front of Hawthorne, because that was the most appropriate time to send a contract.
Hawthorne, for his part, was busy melting his mental circuits trying to figure out how Judge kept summoning stuff like chairs and papers out of thin air. Was it teleportation? Magic? Really elaborate sleight of hand?
"I will give you an offer." Judge declared, starting to descend the absurdly long staircase. why did I make them stairs so long, "If you work as a recorder, I shall provide you with power." Judge knew Hawthorne's type—a guy with an inferiority complex so large it could have its own postal code. Naturally, he was hungry for strength.
Hawthorne was still uncertain, the guy had an ego the size of a small continent. He never wished to serve under someone, but the intimidating presence of The cameraman, who was now near him, was pressing him to sign the contract. He never felt the will of Cameraman's servant, that was only his current relief.
If he was honest, he was a little convinced by the 'I shall provide you with power' part. He had his unending pride, but working under someone's command wasn't his style. If anything, he was more the "make others work for me" kind of guy.
Judge knew really well about people with pride, so he quickly needed to crush his pride before he started overthinking. "Of course, it is entirely up to you, I will not be forcing anyone, but do note that I don't have the time for weaklings like you a second time."
Cue an internal evil laugh.
Judge was clear on what he intended, he would not give any second chances. Now all that was left was for Hawthorn to agree.
Hawthorn took the stack of papers on the table, hoping to have some kind of answers. But as soon as he touched the stack, all but one appeared. It was a blank paper, confusing Hawthorne on the paper's purpose. But before he could start panicking, black ink began to materialize on the paper, as if someone were writing with an invisible pen.
Wasting no time, Hawthorne began to read it. Surprisingly, he could read the words even though they were really small.
Soon, his face went from curious all the way to terrified. The contents written in the paper were his own information in detail.
Hawthorne, 34, Gold-ranked mercenary, single.
Currently lives in the capital city of Redera, street...
Previously resided places were...
The scare he got from the paper was not enough to convince him. "What kind of life will I have after I work under you, is there something like a contract?" He was used to having a more clear contract.
Judge, now back on his overly dramatic throne, pointed silently at the paper, as if to say "Uh, duh, it's right there."
Meanwhile, inside Judge's mind: Wait, did I even write a contract? No, right? Oh crap, what was he reading?
Judge was thinking hard, his EC enabled, on what to do, he thought of many plans on what to do with his oversight, he had put his hopes on a skill he had never used before. He decided to do plan B— act as if he knew everything and deal with whatever came next. Making mistakes is a part of the process. But it was still embarrassing to call himself a professional at manipulation, it made him wonder just how he had sat on the corporate throne in his previous life.
Hawthorne proceeded curiously to check if he had missed something in the contract. And surprise, the contents have changed (Judge, in fact, did not know of this). It displayed something else—
Party 1 - The Cameraman
Party 2 - Viktor Ravensworth, (Alias - Hawthorne)
Judge was (genuinely) surprised to see Hawthorne reading the paper again as if he had missed some points. And was even more surprised to find Hawthorne's pale face, it was as if he had seen a terrifying ghost.
The man looked like he'd just seen the ghost of every bad decision he'd ever made. The paper had clearly spooked him, but Judge? Judge was even more spooked because he had no idea what was going on either.
Still, like any good manipulator, he kept quiet and let Hawthorne's imagination do the heavy lifting, acting as if he had anticipated the outcome.
———
In a dark prison corridor, there are no spaces to let natural light in, it seems to be underground. A red-haired figure was descending a flight of stairs, slowly, but elegantly. He put down his hood, which was doing a bad job covering his head.
The face of the figure became clear, it was Judge's Father. He stopped in front of a wooden ornate door. He motioned the knight near him to keep watch as he entered the room.
There was another red-haired man inside it. But he was tied up in a chain that exuded deep blue color. His hands and feet were tied together, while there was a collar on his neck that was attached to two deep blue, crystal pillars on the side. On the ground, there was a big circular marking with many runes and patterns, it looked like a ritualistic mark for imprisonment. The person who was in chains in the middle of the circle, he was also Judge's Father.
"How's the stay Master Alex Drakonis." The person who just entered the room put his hands on his face, gripped it, and pulled. A mask came off, a white, slimy, and disgusting substance was clinging on the mask and his face like an unhardened glue on two sheets of paper.
His red hair turned black and his golden eyes turned into a brown one, he had a scar across one of his eyes. He had a creepy smile which, unlike Judge, actually screamed "Villain".