Inside the luxurious magic vehicle where four humanoid figures sat on comfortable seats, an orc had a gobsmacked expression on his face.
The driver started the vehicle and their entourage continued the journey towards the battle arena which was still dozens of miles away.
“What?! I.. I don’t understand.” spoke Sirius with a serious face.
“Well, first tell me if you’re married & do you have any children?” asked Kahn out of the blue.
Sirius was already losing his mind over the events of the past 20 minutes and now this sudden question caught him off guard again. But he quickly calmed himself and replied softly..
“I.. Don’t. I never had a chance to date anyone so far. So I don’t have anyone else than my parents.”
“Oh, may I ask why?” asked Kahn.
“Well, to be honest.. My family was very poor. My father and mother worked as laborers throughout their lives and mine was the same since childhood. Having one meal a day was already hard for us.
Even so, they sacrificed a lot for me and sent me to school when I was young. Because unlike others of my race, I’m very weak and can’t do much physical work.
And after I finally managed to get a job, I had to spend a lot of time working hard so I could give money to my parents and make their lives better.
It has been only a couple of years since I was promoted as the senior accountant after years of painstaking work and sleepless nights.
But all of it is gone now.. My life was destroyed today..” explained Sirius as a teardrop formed in his left eye.
Just in 10 seconds, Sirius covered his face and started sobbing suddenly, completely unfitting his image of a grown-up individual.
He was holding it in for some time already but with Kahn inquiring about this small personal topic, the sadness and shock that was welled up inside him finally burst out.
After a few minutes, Sirius finally regained his composure and apologized for causing an uncomfortable situation.
But instead of showing any form of annoyance, Kahn consoled Sirius and had an empathic conversation with him.
“To be honest, not so long ago; I too was in a similar situation as yours. I also spent 4 years working for a company that worked me to the bone but said that we’re a team and family.
I was never paid for the extra working hours and had to suck it up when my superiors berated me psychologically. One mistake and all of my hard work of years was thrown out of the window.
Because of it, I basically had no life outside my work and didn’t have people who cared for me either.” sighed Kahn.
To someone like him who had been in the same situation as Sirius, he understood the mental state of the person in front of him.
During Kahn’s old life as Elric when he worked as an accountant in a multinational company for four years, he was a total workaholic man.
And he had no life outside of work because he had to work even when he got back home given the tasks and workload.
He had suffered from that corporate slave life so he decided to help and hire Sirius who was a victim of the crime called being weak & powerless.
The chat continued for the next few hours and Sirius finally felt like a huge burden on himself finally lifted after the talk, no longer dwelling in the happenings of the day.
He didn’t even care to find out why he was framed or how things happened the way they did. To him, it seemed like a good idea to move on. Or else, it would drag him down emotionally for too long.
[Master.. You’re so cruel. I like it!] spoke Ronin in Kahn’s head.
[Just smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave.]
Replied Kahn after he put Sirius in an emotional state.
[So effective. At this rate, he will become very grateful to you my lord. Not only did you become his savior, but also someone who shared personal feelings with.] said Omega telepathically through Hive Mind skill.
Kahn quickly replied back to the subordinates in his head in a coy tone.
[That’s how you brainwash people into becoming dependent on you.
He will remember this conversation for some time. And later, I will hit the final nail in the coffin.] replied Kahn.
He didn’t bother telling the subordinates that he was talking about his previous life in reality.
“I’m not going to lie. I don’t expect you to be loyal to me just because we saved you from today’s incident. I hope that I become someone worth following in your eyes. Till then.. All you have to do is follow my orders.
For now, I will give a million gold coins as your monthly salary and a 1% share of the annual profits my company makes. So what do you say?” said Kahn as he placed the terms of employment with an exorbitant salary from the get-go.
“W.. W.. What?!” exclaimed Sirius in disbelief.
[Even the salary I was previously getting was only one thousand gold coins! This sir is offering me thousand times more salary!
I’m not dreaming right?!] thought Sirius.
“I accept! I will serve you for the rest of my life!” pledged Sirius vehemently.
This was a godsend opportunity for someone like him who was dealt with a bad hand since birth, let it being born in poverty or having a weak body since childhood.
Sirius, who feared for his future at the moment because of what happened today, felt like all the misfortunes he suffered through till now were finally going away.
As for why Kahn wanted to hire him? It was only because of the empathy for him but he had to set up backup plans for the future.
Whether Kahn liked it or not, his participation in this tournament would definitely create plenty of new enemies and then, Kahn couldn’t afford to get the Bloodborne company getting implicated.
And in case he or the subordinates were not present, he needed someone to be his replacement.
And Sirius who was in turmoil was the best choice. Kahn had already planned to brainwash him into becoming completely loyal to him in the future.
He was willing to invest in this new ally to create a trustworthy substitute for himself as a backup plan.
“I hope you prove your worth during the competition.” spoke Kahn as he folded his arms.
“Sir, you’re participating in the competition? You don’t look like a warrior, rather an heir of a conglomerate.” said Sirius as he stared at Kahn with a gaze of surprise.
“Yes, I am. And I’m not some heir. But a businessman myself. I don’t mean to brag but I can be counted in the top one thousand richest people in this empire.” said Kahn with a coy tone.
“Then why?” asked Sirius curiously.
To his query.. Kahn replied with a benign smile.
“Because I’m a very greedy man.”