Chapter 3

Hearing Leon rarely call her name, the pale and frail girl on the sickbed couldn’t help but tremble slightly. She knew that her brother, who appeared calm now, was probably already furious inside. With no choice, she lowered her head and confessed quietly, “It was… about two months ago?”

Two months ago…

Upon hearing this, Leon recalled for a moment, then couldn’t help but clench his fists tightly. The nails, still stained with mud, almost dug into the flesh of his palms.

Two months ago, it was right when he had just turned sixteen and come of age. That day, the Kingdom Military Department’s consoling officer visited on schedule to announce that he had reached adulthood. Following the so-called new policy, they forcibly stopped the bereavement allowance that should have been distributed until he was twenty-two.

That bright and sunny afternoon, free from floating waste and dust clouds, was colder than the icy plains of winter in the hearts of his family of four.

When the military department decided to balance their over-budget accounts by invading the bereavement funds and filling the military expenses gap, the abrupt halt of the allowances pushed their barely surviving family to the edge of a cliff…

After recalling that day, Leon silently clenched his back teeth, his hands gripping so tightly that the knuckles turned pale white.

That’s right, with one-fourth less bereavement money, but the household expenses hadn’t decreased much these past two months. The food situation could even be maintained at the same level… Damn! Why did I notice this only now?! “Brother.”

Seeing Leon silently beside her bed, the increasingly frail girl paused for a while, then turned her head slightly, her voice light as if it might dissipate at any moment. She whispered faintly, “Or… why don’t you just ignore me?”

Upon hearing this, Leon’s whole body shook violently. He immediately raised his head, glaring at her with bloodshot eyes, angrily rebuking, “You’re being stupid…”

“Brother!”

Struggling to raise her voice, the frail girl triggered a violent coughing fit. Quickly grabbing Leon’s vein-popping right hand, she tried to stabilize her labored breathing and gently advised, “I’ve carefully calculated these past two months. Even if there will be one less bereavement allowance after I’m gone, as long as we don’t have to buy my medicine, with the remaining two allowances and some extra daily jobs, you can manage to bring them up to adulthood.”

“Also, my registered age is one year younger than my actual age. So after I get sick… or leave, you can avoid the patrol team at night, throw me into the sewage river outside the outer city of the capital, and hang my old clothes on the hanger at home, pretending that I’m still around. This way, we can collect another two years of military bereavement allowances.”

“Brother, listen to me. I’ve already asked the families in Veteran’s Lane in advance. They are willing to help us cover it up. As long as they cooperate with you to deceive the consoling officer from the military department…” “Brother? Brother! Where are you going?”

To kill someone! I must go kill someone! After hearing Anna’s suggestion, Leon trembled all over. He was horrified to discover that for a moment, he subconsciously agreed with her method. After living in this world for three years, he had started getting used to everything! It felt like there was another numb and cold version of himself chasing him relentlessly from behind, trying to swallow up the still somewhat lively version of himself. Without realizing it, Leon began sprinting, his brain instantly flooded with scorching hot blood.

Gripping the bloody scalpel, Leon ran through three streets under the crimson sunset, reaching the square where yesterday he had waited in line like cattle, allowing others to pick and choose.

If it weren’t for those bastards at the Road Administration Department approving the construction of the alchemy factory near residential areas, Anna wouldn’t have gotten sick from the leaked alchemical fumes!

If it weren’t for them colluding with the factory and issuing a certificate stating that the leak didn’t cause pollution, Anna’s illness would have been affordable to treat! If it weren’t for the shameless appropriation by the Kingdom Military Department, the double bereavement allowance left by our parents, who were mechanics, would have been enough to raise my three younger siblings to adulthood! And… if it weren’t for this damn rotten world, I wouldn’t have to struggle so hard like this, barely living as a human being!

…

With his mind clouded by fiery rage, Leon gripped the scalpel and dashed through three streets, arriving at the Road Administration Department under the blood-red sunset. He reached the square where yesterday people lined up like livestock, waiting to be selected.

Although it was still an hour before the official end of work as per the Kingdom’s regulations, employees of the Road Administration Department had already streamed out one by one from the brightly lit building, chatting and laughing as they passed by Leon, dressed in tattered clothes.

“Next week, Master Wilde’s theater troupe will perform at the Central Cross Theater in the Capital City. Are you going?”

“I’m not as highbrow as you; I’m more interested in the circus than operas. By the way, how did you even think of inviting me to see an opera? What about your wife?”

“Her? She does like operas, but she prefers fancy handbags and shoes, as well as the department store that will have a discount sale that day.”

“No wonder, haha. Best of luck with your wallet then.”

Opera, circus, handbags, department stores… If I hadn’t heard them talking about these things, I might have forgotten that this isn’t a barren and impoverished world, and not everyone is suffering like us.

Listening to the cheerful chatter of the well-dressed employees of the Road Administration Department, Leon couldn’t help but slowly lift his head. His eyes, filled with thick blood vessels, stared fixedly at the brightly lit building before him.

Anna was right. Instead of letting her illness drag down the entire family, the most correct thing to do would be to abandon treatment and let her die, then secretly toss her body into that sewage river filled with feces and foul water, find a way to “cheat” for two more years of military bereavement allowances, and raise the remaining younger siblings. But…

Working tirelessly for three years, coming and going early and late every day, Leon discovered that life hadn’t improved; instead, it was sliding towards the abyss. First, he forcefully pressed his lips, which were cracked and bleeding, then, with a mouth full of the iron taste of blood, he quickly walked toward the building of the Road Administration Department.

It was the quitting time of the Road Administration Department, also the easiest time to sneak in. Next, he needed to go to the second floor, find that fat bastard who approved the construction of the alchemy reagent factory, and slice open his greasy belly with a knife.

Then, amidst the chaos, run to the fourth floor, find that scoundrel who provided false certification for the reagent factory, causing the family to receive no compensation and unable to afford Anna’s treatment, and die together with him! Let these damn…

“Boom!”

“Are you blind? Don’t you look where you’re going?”

Glancing at the thin youth who had fallen to the ground, the stout man who came out from the corner frowned, brushing off the ash on the front of his coat in disgust. Then, taking a bite of the cheese-covered burger in his hand, he bypassed the fallen Leon and walked away arrogantly.

After getting up in a daze, seeing that familiar back, Leon couldn’t help but pause for a moment.

It was that dead fat guy from yesterday who “picked livestock”! Staring at the back of that arrogant man, looking at that greasy and detestable face that was greedily tearing apart a double-layered meat burger, Leon felt his brain buzz with confusion.

As if being controlled by something incomprehensible, the anger in his mind found the perfect outlet, turning his already bloodshot eyes crimson red. It drove him to grip the cold scalpel tightly and staggeringly follow behind.

If he had let me pass yesterday, maybe I wouldn’t be so desperate now! If he had let me pass yesterday, maybe I could have saved Anna’s life! If he had let me pass yesterday…

“Dad~”

Just as Leon caught up to the man and was about to do something, a crisp child’s voice suddenly came from the side.

Accompanied by the bell-like clear call, the face full of arrogance and coldness in front of him suddenly softened. All the weariness on the tall and stout man’s face disappeared instantly.

First, he sucked in his protruding belly, then struggled to squat down, smiling broadly as he opened his arms to the little girl running towards him happily.

“…”

Watching the little girl joyfully dash past him and cuddle into the man’s arms like a fledgling bird, Leon gradually slowed his steps. He turned around blankly and saw not far behind, a middle-aged woman with a plump figure, smiling tenderly as she looked this way.

Even though she lived in such a trashy and screwed-up world, the look in the woman’s eyes towards that father-daughter pair was still brimming with enviable happiness… Exactly the same smile Anna gave him during last night’s dinner.

“…”

“F**k!”

Muttering incomprehensibly, Leon loosened his right hand slightly. The blood-stained scalpel clanged onto the ground, immediately drawing suspicious glances from the obese official.

Ignoring this overly happy trio that made him hate, Leon spat again onto the shiny cobblestones beneath his feet. Calming down, he silently turned around and walked heavily towards the shadowy Clearing Bureau.

Though killing enemies and dying afterward would be extremely satisfying, sometimes, no matter how much one wants to die, one must live on… At least die in a more valuable way.

Standing in front of the dark and heavy door of the Clearing Bureau, Leon fell silent for a moment, raising his hand to grab the brass handle polished to a shine, and pushed it hard.

Remembering what the red-haired interviewer said yesterday, the Clearing Bureau is considered an external department of the Public Security Bureau. According to the rules of such field departments, if one dies in the line of duty, there should still be a large amount of bereavement allowance left behind.

So, if among the four members of my family, one is destined to die first so the other three can cry and continue living… then let it be me!

(End of Chapter)