"What are we even doing here?" The words, seemingly meant to be a whisper, echoed loudly through the heavy sandstorm.
Their source was none other than a boy hiding under a dilapidated bridge, his face peeking out from the small space in front of him.
Right in Ryuk's line of sight was none other than Old Jack, draped in heavy dark coats.
By his side was a large dark bag that seemed to be filled to the brim with something.
Ryuk had no idea what could possibly be inside.
Even though he had known Old Jack since he was big enough to grab a knife. The current situation was freaking him out.
Firstly, they had left the settlement about five hours ago.
It had taken them exactly two hours of walking to get here, but since then, Old Jack had instructed him to get down below the bridge while he himself stood outside.
Ryuk had listened, but after three hours of Old Jack simply staring into the distance, things were starting to feel creepy.
Besides, Old Jack had a habit of smoking on his smoke stick every few minutes, something he even did while they were walking.
It seemed to Ryuk like some kind of addiction.
Three hours since they had arrived here, and Old Jack had not brought out his smoke stick.
His expression was forced and determined, a hint of uncaringness covering his body—something Ryuk knew was definitely fake, as Old Jack never really had to pretend he wasn't caring about something.
There was something wrong, and now Ryuk was starting to get really suspicious.
"They're here..." Old Jack suddenly called out, and his eyes narrowed to look into the distance, where he was met with nothing but the endlessly blowing sandstorm.
"And who are—" Ryuk was about to ask, but in the next instant, he felt a chill down his spine as he unconsciously ducked to the ground from sudden fear.
A strange, beastly sound echoed from the distance, and soon it became clear to Old Jack, whose eyes became even more steely.
It was none other than a truck, large and advanced-looking, with an almost beast-like design that made it intimidating.
The door to the vehicle opened up, and what followed was the sound of heavy stomping that threw rocks up from the ground.
Two men came out from the left and right sides of the vehicle, draped in long lab coats like those of scientists, and walked toward Old Jack.
"Jacky Jack, how you doing..."
One of the men, green-haired, thin, and with a sunken face, said while waving his hand in the air as he walked toward Old Jack.
He had a smile of familiarity on his face that made him seem like an approachable gentleman, but his sunken face and narrow eyes—eyes that looked like those of a con artist—were sure to stir people away.
Eventually, both men came to a stop exactly ten meters away from Old Jack.
"Have the goods been prepared?" the other man—a thick, muscular figure whose arm veins bulged through his white lab coat—asked.
He was dark-skinned, bald-headed, with pitch-black eyes and a sharp, elongated jaw.
His face beheld a serious expression, and he seemed more like a soldier than a scientist.
The sound came from Old Jack dropping the bag right at the feet of the muscular man.
A prolonged silence ensued, a staring contest exchanged between the man and Old Jack.
But it was eventually broken when the green-haired man bent to the ground on one knee and opened up the bag.
Finally, Ryuk knew what was within, from the sudden amount of light that blossomed forth.
"A total of 200 F-grade cores, and 50 E-grade cores..." Old Jack's uninterested voice rang out, receiving a thoughtful hum from the muscular man.
The green-haired man zipped back the bag and carried it up to his feet, while the muscular man dipped his hand into his lab coat before bringing out exactly five bags of coins.
But Ryuk was shocked because the bags of coins weren't small bags at all.
They were very large—almost thrice the size of one Ryuk had received from Old Jack previously.
He guessed each bag should hold around 1,000 star coins, if not more.
As the soldier raised the coins into the air, he suddenly released them, causing the bags to drop back to the ground with a heavy bang.
"There you go, Old Jack," the muscular man said with a taunting smile.
Ryuk instantly understood what was going on.
The man was trying to have revenge.
When Old Jack had dropped the bag of cores, he had not passed it to them but thrown it at their feet.
Now the man was also throwing the bags of coins—Old Jack's payment—right before him.
'A petty man he is...' Ryuk thought in his head.
Surprisingly to both men, Old Jack bent to the ground and picked up three of the bags of coins, leaving the remaining two on the ground.
"Huh?" the green-haired man voiced out, looking at Jack with a weird gaze.
This was something that had never happened before.
Old Jack would normally haggle with them for the price not being enough, but this time he was letting two bags remain on the ground—a sign of not wanting them.
Old Jack wasn't that kind of person, and he never had been.
"Does this have something to do with that kid?" the muscular man suddenly asked, and immediately, Ryuk ducked down, his eyes widening.
"I want you to take him back to the barracks," Old Jack said, and the green-haired man scoffed with a bit of amused laughter, but his mirth stopped when he saw the serious expression on Old Jack's face.
"You… you mean it?" the man asked in shock.
"Fine!" the muscular man said as he bent to the ground and picked up the two bags of coins, throwing them into his coat.
"But if he gets there and gets killed for trespassing or anything, it won't be our fault."
"I agree," Old Jack replied.