"Who's going to do it?" Wyntor asked, just looking at the Screaming Coffin.
It was almost like he was looking at an actual coffin.
"I can do it."
Everyone turned to look at Trevor.
"You hired me for these kinds of missions anyway," Trevor said with a sigh.
Naturally, as someone from the Dregs, Trevor had gone through a lot of shit in his life, but killing someone was still something he had never done before.
But now, he was willing to actually go through with it.
Even more, his target was a 14-year-old.
Jenny looked at Trevor and felt quite bad.
Jenny already felt guilty since she had suspected Trevor of being a traitor earlier, and Trevor volunteering to kill a kid definitely didn't help.
"That's not your job," Nick said with a sigh.
"Dealing with employees is my job," he added.
Then, Nick looked at the ground with an almost apathetic expression.
"Additionally, Pator isn't the first person I killed," he whispered.
Jenny took a deep breath.
She had heard that Nick might have already killed someone, but it was still difficult to combine the concept of a murderer with her image of Nick in her mind.
Nick was such a happy-go-lucky guy, and he was willing to go through a lot of effort for his employees.
He was honest, friendly, nice, and almost playful.
Yet, he had also killed several people before.
The contrast was just too stark.
"Are you sure?" Trevor asked with a concerned expression as he came closer to Nick.
Nick wordlessly nodded as he raised his head to look at Trevor.
Or, more accurately, look through him.
"Of course," Nick said with a neutral tone as his unfocused eyes stared through Trevor.
It was almost like Nick was looking at nothing and talking to no one.
Trevor felt a cold shudder run down his back as he saw Nick's expression.
When Jenny saw Nick's expression, she could finally combine the concepts of a murderer with Nick in her mind.
She couldn't imagine Nick killing anyone earlier, but she could imagine Nick lifelessly strangling the life out of someone while wearing that expression.
It was so apathetic, disjointed, and distant.
It was almost like Nick had been replaced with a puppet.
"Okay," Trevor said, managing to keep his voice stable. "Then, I'll leave it up to you."
Nick just nodded.
Near the coffin, Wyntor took a deep breath.
He had turned to look at Nick just now, and he had also seen his expression.
'He doesn't deserve this,' Wyntor thought. 'He's completely dissociating.'
'Is that really someone I want to trust my employees with?'
Wyntor just turned away again, a thoughtful expression on his face.
'I don't really have a choice. Additionally, he's trustworthy.'
'Maybe dissociating like this won't ruin his positive outlook on life.'
Wyntor sighed again, and his head lowered.
'I'm pathetic,' Wyntor thought with a bitter smile.
'I just wanted to test their loyalty and deal with Pator myself. After all, I was the one that brought Pator.'
Wyntor's fists clenched.
'But I can't do it.'
'I just can't do it.'
Wyntor turned around and looked at Nick.
Nick just mindlessly nodded towards Wyntor.
When he saw Nick's dissociated expression again, Wyntor felt like he was the most despicable scum on Earth.
He saw what effect killing people had on Nick.
And yet, he also knew that Nick could handle it.
Nick had already killed so many people.
What was one more?
What difference did it make?
Did Wyntor really need to worry so much about whether it was bad or not to send Nick to kill Pator?
Wyntor tried to reason with his emotions, but it didn't help.
'In the end, I'm running from my own weakness,' Wyntor thought.
Wyntor nodded toward Nick with a neutral expression, his inner conflict not visible on his face.
'I can't solve this issue, which is why I send Nick to deal with it for me.'
Nick turned around and opened the employee door of the Screaming Coffin's Containment Unit.
At that moment, Wyntor remembered the conversation he had with Nick after Horua had declined to work with the Dreamer.
'This is his responsibility, huh?' Wyntor thought, feeling disgusted with his own hypocrisy.
'I told him to deal with his problems and his responsibilities.'
'But here I am, putting my responsibilities on his shoulders.'
'I'm sorry, Nick,' Wyntor thought as he turned back to look at the coffin.
'I'll repay you in the future.'
Jenny and Trevor watched Nick leave with sympathetic expressions.
Trevor wanted to do it himself, but he just couldn't bring himself to speak up.
Nick looked so young.
He was just 16 years old.
Meanwhile, Trevor was over 20.
In Trevor's mind, it was like one kid killing another kid.
If something like this had to be done, then it should be done by an adult.
And yet…
Trevor sighed.
He just couldn't do it.
He just couldn't.
Meanwhile, Jenny just felt bad for Nick.
Nick was her boss, and things like these were his responsibility.
She knew all of that, but she still felt sorry for him.
After Nick left, no one said a word for a long time.
Jenny and Trevor also didn't want to leave.
They felt like they should wait here for Nick's return.
While they couldn't take care of Nick's troubles, they could, at least, show that they were standing with him.
Meanwhile, Nick left Dark Dream with a blank expression on his face.
Like a machine, Nick crossed the road and walked into the hotel.
"Welcome back, Nick!" a receptionist shouted.
Nick just nodded as he entered the staircase.
After climbing the stairs, Nick walked up to Horua's room.
Right now, Pator should be dealing with Horua.
Based on the time, Horua's clothes and the bedding needed to be changed since breakfast had happened just an hour or so ago.
For just a moment, Nick stopped in front of the door.
Then, he put his hand on it, opened it, and walked inside.