The Earth After Rebirth

All eyes were on Wilfred after his last statement of fact about the whereabouts of the slave mine. They'd worked their whole lives to bring these people down to no avail, now and then a Waynworth was leading the way.

"Where is it?" Dean Whitmore couldn't help himself.

Wilfred shook his head, "hear us out first."

Careful not to reveal the exact location Wilfred tried to walk them through what he found out. Even with Kiro vouching for them, Sekani and his butler both agreed that they couldn't be fully trusted.

They didn't seem like people who would potentially betray them. But most betrayals came from unexpected places, that's why they were betrayals.

"I know I've called you here but you'll have to make due for our lack of trust. This has been going on for far too long for you two not to know anything about it... I mean how does that even work when you're so high up in society?"

Jesús wanted to burst out laughing because this reminded him of when Kiro scolded them, the words may not have been identical but the message was pretty much the same — they were useless.

It stung having to be called useless by father and son, if it wasn't far from the truth maybe he would be on his feet right now, ready to leave. But he knew it from the bottom of his own heart, it was true, they couldn't have found out about the underground ring or the slave mine without the Waynworths.

This made it even worse because they have been at it for decades and they had all the resources. While Sekani's father, Kiro's grandfather had very limited resources but was able to get what they couldn't.

"It's understandable that you won't divulge the location, we won't push. I'm just glad you've called us here, to help." Grey Whitmore said. "I know I've taught some of you, but I think you're old enough to call me Grey."

Jesús and Sekani looked at each other with uncomfortable looks the man was their senior and it felt weird just thinking about calling by his first name, they cleared their throats.

"Uh, sure dean— I mean, Grey." Sekani said first.

"Yep, yeah, okay, we will." Jesús said after.

James Hale just sat there, confident that this wasn't directed to him. He was still very young, early twenties. There was no way the dean would let him call him by his first name.

"This mission we're going to will be very dangerous. I expect everyone here to call me Grey, I don't want anything to go back to my wife and kids." He said almost embarrassed.

"That's understandable uhm, Grey. What are you going to do with your face? They don't have cameras up there for complete privacy yes but they do have it guarded up pretty tightly."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Much like the underground ring, they didn't have cameras up there. Paranoia was their friend, they knew technology, no matter how encrypted, given enough time it could be hacked. None of them wanted what they were doing to come back to bite them.

This was also perfect for the people in the dining hall, they required that kind of anonymity going after fat cats of the country.

"Then I'll make sure I leave no survivors. If they see my face, they'll have to die." He answered sourly and his resolve strengthening by the second.

Sekani nodded at his words, he had a family too that he needed to protect. He couldn't risk putting them in danger because his father, as strict as he was with him, told him he only needed to take a life when his was threatened.

And then went on to train him to the point where his life would be barely threatened by anything. Sekani had dropped everything when Eldric and himself drifted apart.

For some weeks now, he'd been retraining himself being harder on himself than his father ever was. It felt good, he didn't lie to himself about that. It wasn't hard for his body to get used to the new routine and eventually, through muscle memory alone, he was closer to what Eldric had trained him to be.

But Sekani could feel it, he wasn't there yet, he was close but he was really far from reaching that pinnacle. He decided it was because he was old compared to his young body then.

Wilfred had told him that wasn't true. A young man's body, a child couldn't be the pinnacle of the human male body. He just needed to find whatever drove him back then, he was a man that wasn't even in his forties yet, this right here should be his pinnacle.

"Then, if we can't be told about the location, why are we here today?" Jesús could only hope he didn't sound too disrespectful.

Wilfred looked to his master, hoping he could take over the meeting. He understood his lax personality but there was just something unnerving acting like this in front of people like them.

Being told to sit was already a big enough deal. Sekani sighed, he was hoping to break these stupid rules, but he guessed he couldn't rush it.

"The mine is surrounded by thick forestry, it can't be reached by car. But Wilfred here found tracks and made it easier for us by clearing them out, so a train can definitely go up there."

"And you need me to hire a train?" Jesús thought a train was too conspicuous, he wasn't sure about this plan.

"That's right. While I can do it too, I haven't been around enough to ensure the people down there keep this quiet, you on the other hand, you have the influence we are looking for."

Both Grey and Jesús were impressed by his meticulous planning. It was clear that he was the kind of person who didn't jump head first at things, he preferred to act when he knew he would succeed.

"Quite clever Sekani, I suppose I could help you with that."

"How long until we have to wait?"

"Just a couple of hours." Jesús said taking out his phone and his eyes unwittingly fell on Nikolai. "Wait, what the hell is that kid still doing here?"