Nick woke up.
...
He just stared at the ceiling.
…
He didn't think.
After several minutes, his eyes moved to the side, to the clock in his room.
Five a.m.
Considering that he went to bed at something like six p.m., he slept for something like eleven hours.
Nick wasn't sure if he had ever slept for this long.
'I don't want to work,' Nick thought.
'I just want to keep lying here.'
'I just want to…'
'…'
'I don't know.'
'I don't know what I want.'
The past day shot through Nick's mind.
As soon as Nick remembered what happened the last two days, his jaw clenched, and he felt a dark hole opening up in his chest.
Nick turned over and tried to distract his mind from yesterday's memories.
Suddenly, Nick shot up from his bed, his eyes wide.
"Horua!" he shouted.
Nick stood up and quickly changed his clothing.
After cleaning himself rapidly, Nick rushed out of his room and entered Horua's room.
When Nick saw Horua, his insides shook again.
Horua's muscles were tense, and the entire room was stinking of piss and shit.
Flies had already come into the room and were flying around Horua's shit-covered pants.
Guilt immediately overwhelmed Nick.
Horua was his responsibility, and once again, he had messed up.
Nick just silently started to clean Horua before feeding him breakfast.
"Good Morning, sir!"
Nick turned around and saw Marie entering Horua's room.
"Hi," Nick said.
Marie's nose moved a bit as she smelled the foul odor in the room, but her smile never vanished from her face.
"I'll take over for today," Marie said with a warm voice.
Nick turned away and gritted his teeth.
He could tell that the room was still stinking to the high heavens, and he knew that Marie smelled it.
'She probably thinks that I neglected Horua and that I am a horrible person,' Nick thought.
'And she would be right.'
"Of course," Nick said in a quiet voice before standing up. "I'll leave things to you."
"Is everything alright, sir?" Marie asked as Nick walked towards the door.
Instead of slowing down, Nick sped up a bit.
"No, everything's fine. Thanks for asking."
And the door closed behind him.
Inside Horua's room, Marie looked at the door with a worried expression.
After stepping out of the room, Nick took a deep breath and slowed down.
'Right, I need to work,' Nick thought slowly.
Nick stopped walking and just stood in the middle of the hallway, not doing anything.
He just was looking at the ground with an absentminded expression.
He really, really didn't want to work.
Nick never had any issues with going to work before.
In fact, he had always been looking forward to it.
He was earning money, becoming stronger, meeting his colleagues, and advancing in life.
But now, it just felt like a hassle.
It felt like a waste of time.
What was the point?
But then, Nick remembered something and took a deep breath.
'If I don't go, nobody will wake up Trevor.'
Eventually, Nick left the hotel.
When the clerk greeted him, Nick just wordlessly waved, not even turning to look at him.
After entering the warehouse, Nick walked towards the Dreamer's Containment Unit.
"We were supposed to talk this morning."
Nick stopped and turned to his side.
Wyntor was looking at Nick from his office, the door open.
That was when Nick remembered that he was supposed to talk with Wyntor about hiring a second assistant for Horua and his weapons.
This memory triggered another memory, which was the existence of Nick's weapons.
He was probably supposed to wear them to work.
Once more, Nick felt like a loser since he had disappointed yet another person.
When Nick thought about Horua, he specifically remembered his appearance from when he had found him this morning.
He had been in a horrible shape.
A moment later, Nick remembered what he had to do for Horua every day.
It was so much work.
But it was his responsibility.
Horua was like this because of him.
Offloading his responsibility onto someone else felt like running away.
But it was just so much work.
Nick couldn't even get a good night's rest without risking Horua's health.
But it was his responsibility.
But it was so much work.
But he was at fault.
But he was also failing at taking care of Horua.
But…
But…
When Wyntor saw Nick just standing in front of the Dreamer's Containment Unit, not paying attention to anything, he raised an eyebrow.
Something was going on with Nick.
Nick wasn't usually this quiet and absentminded.
"Nick?" Wyntor asked, standing up from his chair and leaving his office.
Nick slowly turned to look at Wyntor.
He still didn't have an answer to the issue.
When Wyntor saw that Nick still didn't answer, he frowned.
"Go home for today."
"Huh?" Nick uttered as his eyes regained focus.
"You're obviously overwhelmed with the current situation," Wyntor said with a neutral voice. "I'll wake Trevor. You go home for today and relax."
"Marie is going to take care of Horua for today, and I will also get someone to take care of him for the night."
"You need a day to relax and calm down," Wyntor said.
Suddenly, Nick felt lost again.
A day of relaxation?
What was he supposed to do with that?
'Now, I can't even work with the Dreamer anymore.'
'I can't take care of Horua.'
'I can't remember the things I have to do.'
'I can't work with the Dreamer.'
'Other people have to do my work.'
'Other people have to take care of Horua.'
'I'm a failure.'
Nick felt like the black hole in his chest was growing in size.
'I have a useless ability, don't know how to lead my employees, and cause problems for everyone else.'
'I'm a failure.'
"Sure," Nick said absentmindedly as he turned to exit the warehouse.
Wyntor watched Nick leave with furrowed brows.
The next moment, he started to scratch his chin as his eyes narrowed.