Even under this relentless, driving rain from the darkened sky lit up with threads of lightning, the private soldiers were still restlessly moving about, diligently doing their various jobs around the temporary camp.
The strong, gusting wind continuously tilted the very trajectory of the falling rain as it fell, making it slant in wildly different directions, like the downpour itself was running mad.
Shitsubo was forced to raise his hand over his eyes from time to time, just in order to see where the hell he was going as he trudged wearily through the muddy, bustling camp.
It was then that his shoulder unintentionally bumped hard into someone, mostly because his head was slightly bowed against the rain and he wasn't paying full attention.
Shitsubo quickly raised his head up to see the person that he'd bumped into.
He saw two men, both wearing heavy raincoats, and he immediately recognized one of them – it was the contractor, the one that had saved his life earlier.
The other man, however, just stared with open, unconcealed disdain directly at Shitsubo.
And Shitsubo, never one to back down, immediately repaid his hostile stare with his own equally disapproving, hard glare.
The guy clearly wasn't an Evolved, so naturally, his cautious mind didn't immediately remind him of the practical fact that this unknown man could potentially hold back his meager wage, or that he might even have D-Grade colleagues who could easily come over and fuck him up badly for any perceived slight.
The two of them just stared intensely at each other for a long moment, with neither one showing any immediate sign of apologizing or even just letting the accidental shoulder bump simply slide.
"You are going then?" the contractor finally asked Shitsubo, his voice calm yet loud voice.
As the wind and rain relentless performed a loud and thunderous song, making it hard for anything else to be heard, besides that.
He had quickly chipped in, obviously trying to stop the sudden, tense stare-down after just standing there for several short, yet incredibly uncomfortable, seconds, watching the two people silently glaring daggers at each other.
"Yeah, I am. But it seems I've just been fuckin' walking around in goddamn circles in this mud pit," Shitsubo replied, finally withdrawing his challenging gaze from the other man who stood rigidly beside the contractor.
"Ah. This is my boss – Tanji-dono…" the contractor quickly, perhaps a little nervously, introduced his boss to Shitsubo.
He then turned his head slightly to address his boss and said, "Tanji-dono, this is the young lad that saved all our lives down there in the subway," while simultaneously giving Tanji-dono a subtle look that clearly pleaded for him to pardon Shitsubo's obvious, ongoing rudeness.
The boss, Tanji-dono, after a moment's consideration, decided not to take any immediate issue on the 'shoulder-bump' matter, even when Shitsubo still failed to offer any kind of apology, even after clearly hearing that this man was the contractor's actual boss.
"It's probably best you get going now, young man. Your time here in this camp is already long overdue," Tanji-dono then said, his voice loud but firm.
He then threw a quick, pointed look at the contractor, a look that clearly said he wanted Shitsubo to leave immediately, and that this particular matter was now final.
He might have overlooked Shitsubo's blatant rudeness for the contractor's sake just now, but he clearly wasn't interested in giving the contractor his ear on this subject any further.
"Just go straight down that way, and when you eventually reach the perimeter fence, turn to your left and then walk just a few steps forward from there.
You will see a large supply tent, and a guard will be standing in front of that tent. The main exit from the camp is just by the right side of that particular tent," the contractor then said loudly, after letting out a small, almost imperceptible sigh of defeat, especially as his boss continued to give him that serious, unwavering look of not wanting to indulge in his subordinate's foolish idea of possibly hiring this rude, unkempt slum rat.
Shitsubo simply started walking forward, passing right between Tanji-dono and the contractor, without bothering to thank the contractor for the directions, or even bidding either of them a cursory goodbye.
"Hey, wait up. Take this… you probably need it a hell of a lot more than I do right now," the contractor suddenly said, stopping Shitsubo in his tracks.
He then quickly took off his own heavy, waterproof raincoat and started handing it over to him.
Shitsubo just stood there for a moment, giving the contractor a very suspicious and deeply puzzled glare, while Tanji-dono, standing beside them, just looked utterly, completely puzzled and thoroughly confused by what his subordinate was now doing.
"Come on now… just take it, kid," the contractor said again, patiently urging him to take the offered raincoat from him.
Shitsubo finally gave up on his internal trail of suspicious thoughts and reluctantly took the raincoat from the contractor.
He then immediately turned around to go on his way again, still without saying a single word of 'thank you' or even a simple 'bye.'
The contractor watched him for a few more seconds, watching as Shitsubo quickly put on the surprisingly warm raincoat as he walked away towards the indicated exit.
He looked at Shitsubo's retreating figure and clearly had many conflicting thoughts about the strange kid.
After another second or two, his mind then quickly, uncomfortably, reminded him that his own boss was still standing right beside him, probably observing his actions.
"Sorr…" the contractor quickly turned his head, intending to apologize to his boss for the delay and his unorthodox behavior.
But he was surprised to see that Tanji-dono was already several paces ahead of him, walking away.
He quickly raced to catch up to his side and then apologized formally, "I am very sorry for that delay, Tanji-dono."
"Ohh, it is not like you just reported a critical security issue to me that immediately needed my full attention, is it? And it's certainly not like I have any other important things to be doing right now, of course," Tanji-dono said, his voice dripping with sarcasm and a clear hint of barely suppressed annoyance.
"I sincerely apologize, sir," the contractor quickly lowered his head and apologized again, more humbly this time, as they both continued walking towards their original destination within the camp.
"He is really no different at all from any of the other ungrateful dog-skins that crawl out of those slums. I honestly don't know why you continue to show so much inexplicable interest in that particular brat" Tanji-dono then commented, his voice dismissive.
He clearly couldn't just wrap his head around why his usually dependable subordinate was suddenly so incredibly interested in a mere Mercenary-Guard he had barely even met just a few short hours ago.
"Sir, I managed to get his basic info after Shuki-san had managed to stabilize him. He is currently registered as only an E-Grade Evolve, but the raw power and combat effectiveness he showed down there in that subway tunnel was not at all typical for any normal E-Grade, especially one with his apparently frail physique. I'm not trying to say he is some kind of very extraordinary talent, or even nearly strong enough to be considered a D-Grade yet…" the contractor started saying, trying to explain his reasoning.
But Tanji-dono then cut him short.
"That is indeed a great relief to hear, because I really do not want to have to officially bench you from active duty, and then tell you to go get your psych profile thoroughly checked out, before eventually getting you cleared for field action again," Tanji-dono said, his tone now serious.
The contractor, undeterred, continued, "All I'm really saying is, sir, that I haven't personally seen an E-Grade quite like him in a very, very long time. And now that most of the truly capable E-Grade Guards are slowly, but surely, getting swept under the rug by the bigger Guilds and PMCs, to have someone with his apparent potential join our specific unit really isn't such a bad strategic move, in my opinion."
"Aside from the undeniable fact that he is incredibly rude, probably completely uneducated, clearly daft as a brush, thoroughly ungrateful, and almost certainly has absolutely no basic military training whatsoever? And also, I personally can't just stand the very sight of him, if I'm being honest. He is from the fuckin' slums, for crying out loud. Even if, in some bizarre alternate reality where I was somehow simultaneously blind, deaf, and incredibly fuckin' daft, but still somehow the Director of Operations here, and I then accidentally, mistakenly, employed that particular dog-skin into our ranks, it probably wouldn't be very long at all before vital equipment starts to mysteriously go missing, or we are suddenly ambushed and robbed clean when we are out on the road somewhere. I'm quite sure you can now clearly understand why employing him, specifically, is such a monumentally bad fuckin' idea, can't you?" Tanji-dono commented at length, then rhetorically asked, his expression hard.
"Yes, I understand completely, sir," the contractor replied, finally sighing internally in defeat, after hearing his boss's lengthy, prejudiced statement and seeing the unyielding, dismissive look on his face as he'd said it.
After they had walked a little while longer in silence, and were just about to walk down the concrete stairs that led back into the recently cleared subway station, the contractor couldn't quite help himself but ask one last, probing question.
"So, hypothetically speaking, sir, you would have to be both physically and mentally challenged, perhaps severely, before you would ever even consider giving anyone from the slums a genuine shot in my unit, or indeed, in any other combat unit currently under your direct command?"
"Did I also perhaps forget to mention that it will also most certainly be over my cold, dead body before that particular scenario ever happens?" Tanji-dono responded dryly, with another rhetorical question of his own, which actually made the contractor crack a small, weary smile despite himself.
While they both then walked down into the dark, damp subway, Shitsubo, now some distance away, found himself unconsciously walking much more slowly than before, his mind preoccupied, thinking deeply about the contractor's recent, strange and unexpected behavior towards him.