PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

This was a huge embarrassment for both Garden and Sara; they felt that they had failed Desmond significantly. For Yulei, Kira, Natalie, and Tania, the shock wasn’t as strong, but Revna and Sara were incredibly upset and disappointed in themselves.

Revna was the sharpest and quietest blade in Desmond’s hands; for every name she was given, a life was taken. She didn’t miss a single time; however, she still felt that her abilities were insufficient. On the other hand, Sara was the mastermind behind the whole plan, every operation was under her supervision, and she felt immensely guilty about the lack of results.

Ironically, the only reason Desmond was upset with them was that they kept getting depressed about it. The reality of things was that even with only seventy percent of the operations being successful, the results were exceptional.

The more time Desmond spent reading the files provided by Sara, the more amazed he became. Desmond wasn’t a genius in every field, nor was he close to it; he was just godly talented in specific things and looking at the files, Desmond was sure he could never have done better.

Sara was a damn genius in the most traditional sense of the word. Her mind operated with a rhythm and complexity that just a few could understand. To put things in perspective, Sara had only been using her abilities for a little over half a year; however, she had just managed and executed a series of operations worthy of the intelligence agencies of the old world.

The problem was, of course, that Sara was like many other geniuses; she was a perfectionist. As for Revna? She was undoubtedly talented, but she wasn’t the perfectionist type; her annoyance was because she was the fanatic type.

As Desmond made his way through the documents, the self-proclaimed personal servant on duty, Revna, came over with a cup of coffee, knowing that Desmond liked to change his habits from time to time.

“Are you disappointed, Master?”

.....

Desmond almost spits out his coffee at that question. From Desmond’s perspective, he could very well own a small team of army special forces, and they still wouldn’t do as good a job as Garden nor be as attractive as the girls around him, not that that was important.

“Revna, I don’t like repeating myself. I am neither upset nor disappointed by your performance. On the contrary, the truth is that you greatly exceeded my expectations.”

Revna didn’t like to contradict Desmond; in her twisted mind, her Master was the closest thing to god, but she still wasn’t quite satisfied. “Master’s compliments fill my heart, but that doesn’t change that we weren’t able to finish all the operations as planned.”

Desmond knew Revna well; despite her obsession with him, she wasn’t the type to be convinced by nice words alone. Revna was still quite a logical person, quite ironic for a woman who had basically deified the person who put a necklace around her neck.

“No one is to blame for that. We had no way of knowing how good Sofia was at her job. Sure, she has a reputation and several cases to her name, but none of them do that woman justice. The truth is that we underestimated her just because her esper ability is combat type. As it turns out, she’s a pretty terrifying investigator even without relying on esper powers.”

Revna nodded; no one anticipated that Sofia and her team would be so terrifying. Strictly speaking, Desmond alone was enough to kill Sofia and everyone on her team, but that was never the goal.

The goal was to wipe out Commander Rundert’s influence in the city while using the army’s authority to contain him; they didn’t expect to have to fight fiercely just to stay under Sofia’s radar.

Despite everything, the results were still quite encouraging. Desmond was reading a folder with files on all the people who now indirectly worked for him. The list was long, but most names were flagged as possible links or people who could be bought; the list of trusted people was much shorter.

This had its own reasons, one of the main ones being the need to keep Garden’s existence a secret. Placing people who would succumb to money in strategic positions would provide both access and a scapegoat if necessary. By maintaining a low level of contact, there was also little risk of exposure.

Trusted people were different; to put it in simple terms, they were spies working for Garden. The list was short, only eight or ten names, an almost insignificant number compared to the previous list. Nevertheless, Natalie had put immense work into these eight people.

Weeks of contact, support, and psychological manipulation, bolstered by Natalie’s esper ability, had turned these eight people into a small, close-knit group loyal to Garden.

For obvious reasons, Desmond paid particular attention to this shortlist. All kinds of tragedies and injustices plagued the history of each person; hunger and poverty were not even the beginning. Desmond wasn’t surprised by this; he understood that these vulnerable individuals were easier to indoctrinate.

In the document, there was also a detailed description of how the approach to these individuals occurred. Desmond was almost shocked. He almost felt that he had scammed these people; the conditions under which they were recruited were cheap, to say the least.

While reading it, two things didn’t escape Desmond’s attention. Number one was that all the people on the list were relatively attractive women. Number two was the name and photograph of one of the last people on the list.

“I didn’t expect to find her on the list.”

Revna leaned in, showing off her ample cleavage apropos as she glanced at the file. “Oh, I remember her; her case was a bit special.”

Desmond enjoyed the sight for a moment, bringing a smirk to Revna’s face, but distraction aside, Desmond still wanted to know why this woman was such a particular case.

Revna, of course, was more than happy to answer her dear Master’s queries. “Unlike the rest, we don’t actively seek her out. Obviously, we’ve been aware of her existence for a long time given her position in the military, but she didn’t fit her profile, so she never came on our radar.”

Desmond added. “I can understand it. A happily married, young, and still beautiful woman with a great job and considerable income. She has everything to lose but nothing to gain.”

Revna nodded. “Indeed, she was the complete opposite of what we were looking for.”

Clearly, Desmond understood the reasoning; he didn’t understand how this document still ended up on his desk. It would take Desmond only a few minutes to read those details in the file, but this was a rare chance to talk to Revna, who was usually much quieter.

“Then why does she work for us now?”

A tinge of reminiscence passed over Revna’s face; Desmond noticed it and found it odd but waited for her to explain.

“From what we learned about her before it was corroborated by us, her life is one big lie. In addition to being unfaithful, her husband is an abusive alcoholic, and every minute she spends at home is hell. Unfortunately, her time at work isn’t much better. The abuses she is subjected to are... similar to what we suffered before you rescued us. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she’s only in that position because her husband basically sold her out for a promotion. When we found her, she was making her way out of Rundert’s personal residence in a deplorable state. To tell the truth, it was a complete coincidence; as soon as I saw her, I knew what had happened to her, and when I saw her try to commit suicide, I stopped her. From then on, her grief and her desire for revenge combined quite nicely with the offers we had for her, and with Natalie’s help, we think she can be a major asset.”

A cruel and miserly story, somewhat similar to the rest of the stories in the files, Desmond couldn’t help but let out a laugh filled with murderous intent. Revna watched her Master from the side, the adoration in her eyes as intense as ever; she loved seeing Desmond’s wilder, more aggressive side.

Soon the wild laughter subsided and was filled with a sense of irony. “And to think that just a couple of hours ago, someone asked me if I felt any guilt or remorse.”

Revna didn’t quite understand what Desmond meant, but she didn’t interrupt and instead just started gathering the files that Desmond no longer needed and the empty coffee cup.

With barely a trace of gratitude towards Revna, Desmond’s eyes brimmed with a sense of madness and aggression. “My answer has not changed. But if it’s scum like this, I believed I could sleep without guilt or remorse, even if I killed them in the most brutal way possible.”

The next instant, his phone ringing snapped Desmond out of his current state. It was a simple message: Emergency situation, meeting at headquarters in fifteen minutes.

Desmond narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything for a moment. After some thought, Desmond pulled a small chest full of items from the space in the hunter’s book and placed it on the table.

“Revna, the content is the reward for all of you for your work so far. Most of the content is some unique resources that include the method of consumption, but there are also some things for you to enjoy. I’ll leave everything in your hands for the rest of the day; something came up.”