"Even if it's a kid, don't push him into a corner..."

Arnold Ray broke free from the young officer and slowly turned around. He crouched low to the ground and rapidly collected the dog tags and the aged letters, shoving them and a few tattered clothes back into his bag.

His swift actions were a sight to behold.

It was a behavior honed in the military... a soldier's instinct.

For the first time, he realized that fear could be a source of considerable help.

On the battlefield, a small delay could result in obliteration by fire in the next moment. Even if he had been starved for two days, he seemed unfazed.

Don't be kidding...

During his service, he once survived without food for seven days on a covert assassination mission. He succeeded in eliminating the target and returned safely.

He'd sworn to forget all his military training and habits as soon as he returned to his homeland, striving to adapt to the peaceful world.

But now...

It seemed he needed to pick up the old habits to survive, or he was forced to do so to stay alive.

…

Arnold Ray hefted his bag, grabbed his stick, and prepared to leave the place quickly.

"You can't go!"

Seeing Arnold attempting to leave, the young officer immediately drew his walkie-talkie, intending to call for backup.

"…" Arnold Ray half turned, casting a cold glance at the officer’s walkie-talkie.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me? Hello? Request for backup! Headquarters?"

"Shss~ shss~"

However, the only reply was a raspy static, chaotic wave sounds. Unbelievably,the device had failed. Or rather, it was "made" to fail…

“In two hours, he will wake up and forget everything that just happened. And you, I suggest you do the same, or else…"

Arnold cut himself off and left directly without looking back. He walked away briskly, using his stick to keep his pace, and soon disappeared into the crowds, leaving behind the young officer with his failed walkie-talkie.

…

Arnold Ray navigated quickly through the crowded streets, then instantly ducked into an alley to avoid the people. He'd mastered the city map long ago.

His mother had abandoned him, denying her son, so that wasn't a place for him to rely on anymore. His only place of belonging was lost.

He'd harbored resentment, experienced despair, heartbreak, cries, vented, it was time to recover.

Don't joke... Seven years of war service, what painful killings hadn’t he witnessed? What type of cruelty hadn't he seen? His mother denying him was merely a hiccup. One night was all he needed to recover.

"Ha~ So, I can still feel heartache...”

Rather, he was astonished that his heart, hardened by the fires of war, could still feel heartache. How many comrades had he watched die before his eyes, he’d even become desensitized to death. Yesterday, he'd felt heartbroken for half a day due to his mother's denial, but he didn’t recall shedding a single tear. Perhaps he was like what others had said. A killer made from war, a scapegoat for the country's war crimes. It was impossible for him to return to a normal life.

He hid in a deserted alleyway, leaning against the wall. From his bosom, he pulled out a piece of high-quality sheepskin paper. In it, he had two large wrinkled bills of the country's currency.

However, Arnold Ray didn't glance at the money for long. He turned to the sheepskin paper which held two lines of writing...

The first line was an address [Tang People lake - Absolute Beauty]; the second line was [Schroeder Urkey's words], looked like a name."Schroeder...Erkai?"

A strange name, neither that of his mother nor of his sister, so there's a good chance that this name is...

The name of the maid who gave him this note.