CAR 16

That was Vittorio’s long assessment of Dennis. Contrary to his words about his expectations being pointless, he was in heat for Dennis.

However, it wasn’t because Dennis was special. Vittorio Bonaparte was simply a madman who enjoyed crushing those who were cornered, either slaughtering or devouring them.

Vittorio, who was about to grab Dennis’s body, suddenly looked down at his own right hand. His fingers, stiffened with the pen nib embedded in them, were twitching uncontrollably. He spat out a curse. The veins on the back of his hand pulsed violently.

Between the partitions. Most of the teachers had realized what was being perpetrated beyond the narrow gap, but none of them could rashly intervene.

Only after a dumbfounded Dennis Kahler left the faculty office did the frozen interior gradually calm down. Thomas, the equipment manager, scratched his long, flowing hair that was tied up, his eyes rolling around.

Soon, the intimidating figure of Vittorio Bonaparte also left the faculty office. Thomas thought of the new clothes Dennis had hastily ordered just a few weeks after his appointment and shook his head.

Thomas sighed, looking at the ‘Incineration Schedule’. He could only faintly hope that the pitiful Dennis Kahler would not end up on this list. A long shadow fell over Thomas’s head.

It was Yan.

Thomas was much older than Yan, but for some reason, he found him very difficult. Nevertheless, he was his only conversation partner here.

“What are you staring at?”

“I was contemplating how to clean up your mess.”

“It’s spring. It’s understandable that our prince is in a foul mood.”

“If you’re planning on adding another corpse, please give me a heads-up. I’m short on sleep from working overtime.”

“Should I put you to sleep?”

“I’ll strongly decline.”

At Thomas’s dry reply, Yan finally burst out laughing. He perched on Thomas’s desk and casually snatched the incineration schedule.

Vittorio was not the only one who used the annex. The basement was entirely managed by Thomas. He notified the bereaved families of students who had suffered ‘unfortunate accidents’, and if a settlement was needed in the process, he readily paid a certain amount. Of course, this was on the condition that the body would not be handed over.

And instead of burying the bodies, they were all incinerated. No one questioned the single plume of smoke that rose into the island’s sky.

More importantly, Yan seemed to have business with Thomas.

Extremely difficult, or messy, or troublesome. It was usually one of the three. Yan pulled out the third card.

“Laurent had a twin brother.”

“Richter… I told you that already.”

“I wasn’t really interested back then.”

“…”

“I’ve become curious if he resembles him below the waist too.”

“Do I have to review such a private matter?”

“You’re sensitive today. Did you have a wet dream?”

“Richter.”

Yan gestured with his chin towards the annex. It was a vague instruction, but Thomas felt he understood his intentions halfway. Perhaps…

“I’m trying to lighten your workload. Haven’t you been saying you need a gardener?”

“I did. A proper one, not some flimsy thing like that.”

“You can use him as you please. Just, make sure he stays here.”

“…”

“You can do it.”

Yan had been intensely obsessed with Laurent when he was alive. It was not at the level of a normal courtship. It was no different from smearing his foul hobby all over the face of the boyish young man named Laurent Remit. And Laurent, as if to meet Yan’s expectations, had held up quite well.

If it hadn’t been for this recent incident, he would have been by Yan’s side for a long, long time…

But what was the use of such what-ifs? He had died with his neck cut, his dick cut, and his limbs cut off.

Thomas suddenly thought of the main culprit who had harmed Laurent.

“Vittorio, have you seen him?”

Yan shrugged. It seemed he had managed to avoid running into Vittorio. While Thomas was feeling relieved, Yan picked up his cup and flicked his tongue.

“Something was fantastically stuck in his hand.”

“Leave it. It’s probably some new torture hobby of a psychopath.”

“No, that’s not it… Dennis Kahler must have been the one who swung it.”

Yan stroked his chin, looking amused. Then, he pulled a pair of women’s underwear from his pocket. Yan, throwing it to Thomas, gave a vile smile.

“When Mr. Kahler comes to pick up supplies, throw this in as a bonus.”

“You’re insane.”

Thomas shook his head. Yan’s interest had quickly shifted from the illegal hiring to Dennis and Vittorio. If he could keep Sami stuck here as well, he probably wouldn’t seek out Thomas for a while.

To obey Yan Richter. To humor him. To reply, but not to defy. It was Thomas’s own strategy for survival among the abnormal ones.

He folded the woman’s underwear Yan had left in half and tossed it aside. He also threw the cup Yan had licked like a dog into the sink. Thomas, having thrown away all the documents as well, buried his head in his desk. Finally, peace.

After that, Sami was formally employed at Volle.

Dennis only found out about this much later. After leaving a significant wound on Vittorio’s body, Dennis was intoxicated with a faint sense of victory. If he had been more composed, he would have stuck it in his neck, not his hand, but it was a remarkable achievement under the circumstances.

An elated Dennis recklessly wrote a letter to Quachi. It said that although you have dropped me in a madhouse surrounded by the sea on all sides, I am faithfully carrying out my duties as an excellent servant. Therefore, do not forget the reward you promised to provide me…

The things he had scribbled at dawn were all chewed and swallowed the next morning.

When Dennis was preparing for his next class in the faculty office, students who were diligent, handsome, and seemed to be around his own age would occasionally visit him. They asked for Dennis’s esteemed opinion on the song selection and interpretation for the spring regular performance.

Dennis guided them with all his heart, as if he were a born teacher. It was also quite amusing to see the scions of families nobler than Dennis fawning over him, a nobody. Dennis suppressed his twisted nature as much as possible and cooperated with them.

At the end of the conversation, one student asked in a tone devoid of malice.

“How is someone like you, Sir… giving your ass to Vittorio?”

“…What?”

“You’re not very well-versed in academics, and the Kahler family is from the very outskirts.”

“Hey, let’s just go.”

“You said you were curious too.”

The students’ gazes as they looked down at Dennis were strange. The air instantly grew heavy. The ones who had been expressing their gratitude to Dennis suddenly changed their attitude, threw down his song selection sheet as well, and left the faculty office.

Rage, along with bewilderment, rushed in. This bastard, that bastard…

“Sir?”

Dennis turned at the call. Laurent Remit’s twin was standing there. He was like a chronic migraine that had suddenly struck. If things had gone as planned, Sami should have left Volle a few days ago.

“Your attire is quite…”

Instead of a trite greeting, he looked Sami up and down. His attire was simple, like a boy who did odd jobs at the school. Sami, hastily taking off and hiding his dirt-stained gloves, bowed his head.

“I guess the boat couldn’t leave?”

“Excuse me? A boat?”

Ah… Dennis shut his mouth. According to the information Vittorio had generously bestowed, only a few people knew this place was an island. Dennis, scratching his bangs, shook his head as if it was nothing.

However, the young man before him didn’t seem entirely foolish. He explained the reason for his existence, albeit clumsily.

“I told them I had nowhere to go… so they exceptionally hired me through a faculty meeting.”

A faculty meeting. Dennis had no idea such a thing existed. He tilted his chin up defiantly.

Dennis, who had been drumming on the desk, squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them.

Laurent’s corpse seemed to overlap with Sami’s face. He did not know about the brutal death his one and only brother had met. How had Dennis felt, watching his father being beaten to death? Just recalling the scene from that time made his stomach churn.

Sami, who had been watching Dennis press a hand to his forehead, spoke cautiously.

“Mr. Kahler…”

“…”

“You always look so pale.”

“It’s my constitution.”

“My brother, Laurent, was like that too…”

His high voice lingered near the floor. In any case, Dennis did not want to talk with him anymore. If he was doing odd jobs, he would mostly stay on the lower floors, so he would rarely run into Dennis. Dennis indifferently asked about his ‘work’. Sami began to ramble as if he had been waiting for the question.

“They asked me to stay in the annex and tend to the garden.”

The annex, and the garden.

“I’m confident in my landscaping skills. It worked out well.”

Dennis stared at Sami, momentarily stunned. Sami seemed to have interpreted Dennis’s gaze as ‘so why is someone who’s staying in the annex frequenting the main building’. He gestured into the air, pointing to a corner of the faculty office.

“Ah, they told me to order the necessary tools through the equipment manager. I happened to need a shovel. I also want to plant new seedlings, and I’m planning to dig up the uneven ground completely.”

Sami smiled. He looked at the silent Dennis with concern, and then he left. Only Dennis remained, steadfastly watching the spot where Sami had been.

Of all things, to be taking care of the garden in the annex.