?Nick walked back into Dark Dream.
He didn't seem different from usual at first glance, but if one looked a bit closer, one might notice a slight difference.
Nick was still friendly, but there was a certain coldness to his gaze now.
However, no one took notice of that difference.
As soon as he returned, he went back to work.
He was hiring new people, evaluating Specters, collecting Zephyx, and so on.
It was almost like nothing strange had happened today.
Everything had returned to normal.
For the next couple of days, Nick avoided Wyntor.
Whenever they accidentally saw each other, Nick looked and walked away.
Wyntor could only sigh.
If he had known that Nick would have been so hung up about Horua, he wouldn't have asked the Dreamer to kill him.
At the same time, Wyntor also regretted telling Nick.
'Did I do the right thing?' Wyntor asked himself.
'Should I have told him?'
'In due time, he might have recovered.'
'But he also deserves to know the truth.'
At this moment, several different facets of Wyntor's personality clashed.
Wyntor had been taught to put profits and power first, and he had always acted according to these principles.
But when he had seen how much Nick had suffered from everything, he just felt guilty.
Nick was his first real friend, and Wyntor felt horrible about putting him through so much pain.
Wyntor felt like telling him was the right thing to do, but that might have also compromised his profits.
'I just didn't expect that he would be so hung up about this. I thought he would have gotten over it already,' Wyntor thought.
Wyntor remembered when Nick had choked him until he was unconscious a couple of days ago.
At that moment, Wyntor had believed that he would die.
That had probably been the most terrifying moment of his life.
Of course, facing the Blinding Light when he was a child was also terrifying, but he knew that he wouldn't die from that.
Yes, jumping into the sewers and fighting the Dreamer was also scary, but Wyntor knew that he could get away thanks to his ability.
But when Nick squeezed Wyntor's neck, he felt like there was nothing he could do.
Since his Barrier had been broken, he couldn't even activate his ability.
Nick's extreme reaction had taken Wyntor by surprise.
Sure, Nick would probably get angry and shout at him.
Maybe he would avoid him for a couple of days.
But then, everything should return to normal.
That was how Wyntor had envisioned things would go down.
But instead, Nick nearly killed him.
That was not what Wyntor had expected.
Wyntor generally viewed Nick as a friendly but melancholic person.
Sure, Nick also had the capability to kill many people, but these people were all his enemies.
And Wyntor wasn't his enemy.
Right?
Yes, Wyntor had made a mistake when he was younger by essentially forcing Nick to grow up quicker, but he had just been 17 years old back then.
Nick couldn't fault him too much for that.
He had also been just a child.
'Just leave him a couple more days to calm down,' Wyntor thought. 'The worst part is behind us. Eventually, things will return to normal.'
An entire month passed, and it was time for the yearly meeting of Manufacturers again.
This year, it was Kugelblitz's turn to host it again.
Wyntor wanted to use the trip to the Inner City as an opportunity to talk to Nick.
After all, they hadn't talked even once in over a month, and things needed to return to normal at some point.
There were several job-related matters that Wyntor needed to tell Nick.
Wyntor had worked more than usual to compensate for the lack of communication, but this couldn't continue indefinitely.
Sadly, when he arrived in Dark Dream, he heard from the receptionist that Nick had already gone to Kugelblitz over 30 minutes ago.
Wyntor could only sigh and walk to Kugelblitz alone.
Meanwhile, Nick was in Vernon's office, drinking some coffee.
"Alright," Vernon said after sitting down on his chair again. "What did you want to talk about, and why are you saying that you don't want Wyntor to know of it?"
Nick sighed and looked at Vernon.
"Some things have happened," Nick said.
Vernon looked at Nick with a raised eyebrow, but he didn't say anything.
Then, Nick told Vernon everything about what had happened with Horua.
Vernon's expression didn't change much as he listened.
Eventually, Nick was done retelling his story.
"And why are you telling me this?" Vernon asked.
Nick looked to the side and sighed.
"I can't work with Wyntor anymore," Nick said.
"I realize that, when all of this happened, Wyntor was only 17 years old. While I probably won't be able to forgive him, I can't ignore the fact that he was just a kid who made a mistake."
"For a month, I tried to get over this fact."
"But whenever I see him, this unending rage comes out, and the only thing I can do is to walk away."
"Otherwise, I might do something I will regret."
Vernon nodded as he kept listening.
"And after thinking about all of this for a long time, I've come to a decision," Nick said.
"Wyntor owns 70% of Dark Dream, which means that he might as well own all of it."
"Additionally, Dark Dream will eventually be sold to Kugelblitz."
Nick took a deep breath.
"I've decided to quit Dark Dream."
Vernon had already expected something like this.
"What are you planning to do?" he asked.
Of course, Vernon already had an inkling.
"I'm selling my 30% of Dark Dream to Wyntor," Nick said.
Vernon's eyes shone.
"And at the same time, I am applying for a job at Kugelblitz as Zephyx Extractor."
Vernon looked at Nick with an interested expression.
That was an interesting proposition.
BANG!
Suddenly, the door shot open, and Vernon immediately frowned.
People were supposed to knock before coming in!
Vernon looked over and saw one of their receptionists.
He wanted to admonish her, but her face was white, and she seemed like she had something urgent to say.
"Yes?" Vernon asked, keeping his annoyance at her intrusion secret.
"Sir!" the receptionist said urgently.
Vernon looked at her as he started to get worried.
Nick just looked forward.
His eyes were cold.