A Few Days Later…
In a quiet, dimly lit but large enclosed room, Milo stood blindfolded, holding a staff that was exactly his size.
He was calm, but his posture clearly showed he was prepared for a fight.
Suddenly, balls began coming toward him from every direction. Each ball made a faint sound, and all those sounds blended together.
Milo remained steady like water. Then, like lightning, he disappeared from his spot.
He struck every single ball forcefully with his staff, and within seconds, all the balls were lying on the ground — split open from the middle.
Milo removed the blindfold from his eyes.
Koyo approached him while clapping and said, “Very good! That was quite impressive!”
“Thank you,” Milo replied with a slight smile.
Koyo smiled and started to leave when Milo spoke, “By the way, why didn’t we go to get your mask fixed? You said the old man could repair it. But that day, we turned back halfway through the journey. And after that, we never went again.”
Without turning back, Koyo replied, “There’s no hurry to get it fixed right now.”
After saying that, he left.
Milo looked at him suspiciously and thought, “He’s definitely hiding something.”
With that thought, he left the room, hid in the washroom, rolled up his sleeves, and sent today’s updates to Aniket through his watch.
At the Hospital
Aniket was in Saniya’s room at the hospital. He was changing the flowers in the vase near her bed.
Suddenly, he felt a slight vibration from his watch.
He listened to the message that had come on his watch.
His face did not show any emotion.
Looking at Saniya’s lifeless face, he said, “What should I do… I don’t understand anything. Koyo’s actions as an assassin are becoming strange day by day. He is behaving like a normal citizen, as if he knows he is being watched. But how could he possibly know? And if he really does… then what? What should I do? Should I tell Milo to leave that place? Or should I ask him to keep sending information until he gets caught?”
Running his hand over his head, he said, “I can’t tell Aditya about this. If I do, he’ll definitely get angry.”
His gaze shifted toward Saniya again. He gently touched her face and said, “Aditya sent Milo to me to give him a new and respectable identity… and I… Am I doing the right thing?”
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Looking at Saniya’s motionless body and the machines around her that were helping to keep her alive, he said to himself, “I am absolutely right. Absolutely… right?”
Silence filled the entire room.
In Aditya’s Cabin
There was a knock on the door.
Aditya was busy with his work, so without lifting his head, he said, “Come in.”
Ruhi entered and said, “Sir… someone is here to meet you.”
“Did he have an appointment today?” Aditya asked while reading the files in his hand.
“No, sir. But he said that you would want to meet him. He seemed very confident about it. He said that you went to meet him at his house a few days ago.”
Hearing this, Aditya became alert and stopped moving his hand.
“Send him in.”
“Yes, sir.”
She opened the door and said, “Please come in, sir.”
Mr. Lucifer entered the room. Aditya gestured toward the chair in front of him.
Mr. Lucifer’s expression was blank as he sat down.
Ruhi stood in the corner until Aditya said, “Ruhi, bring me the production unit details for today.”
“But sir, I already—”
“Please.”
“...Yes, sir.”
She left, confused. *This is the first time he’s sent me out during a meeting. I gave him those details yesterday… and he checked them.”
Looking at the door from the corner of her eyes, she wondered, “Who is this man, and what does he want?”
Inside
“Killing Mr. Grin Reaper’s men so brutally and throwing their bodies where everyone would notice… it was quite a clever move. You were trying to provoke him. To force him to appear before you.”
Aditya smirked sarcastically.
“So what? Does he want revenge? Even for his men’s deaths, he won’t show up? And he calls himself a leader? Or… perhaps you are a Grin Reaper, creating confusion to hide your identity?”
Lucifer chuckled faintly.
“You are truly clever, child. But what you are thinking is wrong. I am loyal to the assassin family. Whoever becomes the head of that family, I serve them. I have worked under the previous two leaders. Yes, this time’s head, Mr. Grin Reaper, is not directly from the family bloodline. But since no heir of that family is alive, he has taken the position. He is younger than me, but his way of killing people is the most dangerous.”
Aditya leaned forward.
“If you’re here to scare me, it won’t work. I’ll keep killing your men until Grin Reaper himself stands before me.”
“You’re stubborn,” Lucifer said, taking out a file and placing it on the table.
“It’s unfortunate. A capable man like you wants to join us so desperately, yet we cannot accept you. Mr. Grin Reaper believes your ideologies are different. An alliance is impossible. But he also believes the underworld does not deserve to lose someone like you.”
“If there’s no alliance, then I have nothing more to discuss,” Aditya said coldly.
Lucifer replied, “Mr. Grin Reaper will never meet you. Your attempt to provoke him by killing his men is useless because he is retiring. He has already found his successor. The problem is that the successor is a boy who worked within our own gang in the past. All of our men know him, which is why we were about to eliminate them all. Mr. Grin Reaper is pleased that you are doing that work for us. Therefore, he has prepared an agreement. According to it, Grin Reaper will never take a contract to kill you. Moreover, if any assassin tries to harm or kill you, Grin Reaper himself will punish them.”
Aditya was extremely angry at this moment. His fists were clenched.
“Everything is going wrong. I wanted to make the Grin Reaper angry… to force him to appear… to find out where Anamika was and where he had kept her.” he thought.
Lucifer left the file behind and said while leaving, “Please review the agreement once. Everything in it is in your favor. You’re just not getting what you truly want… because that this is special to Mr. Grin Reaper as well.”
After Lucifer Left
Aditya picked up the file angrily and threw it. As it opened in the air, several photographs fell out.
The moment they came before his eyes, it felt as if time had stopped.
They were pictures of Anamika — from her childhood to almost every stage of her life — like preserved memories.
Aditya gathered the photographs and found a folded letter among them.
He opened it and began reading:
“These photographs were taken by Grin Reaper himself. Anamika’s mother — his master — had left her family and built a new life in this world with her husband and daughter, Anamika. For the assassin family, she was now a traitor. Therefore, even if Mr. Grin Reaper wanted to, he could never meet her again, because he had been entrusted with carrying forward the family’s legacy.
He was extremely lonely, but he would often secretly go to see his master and her daughter. Anamika is the last memory of his master, and he will never return her to people like you.
He knows what is right and what is wrong, yet he is still doing wrong. But this is the only way for him to repay the debt he owes to his master.
Forget Anamika. You do not need to worry about her. Grin Reaper may hurt himself, but he will never let Anamika feel pain. He will take complete care of her.”
Aditya threw the letter to the ground and turned his gaze away. Looking at all of Anamika’s photographs, he said, “Do you like this?”
Elsewhere…
In a dark room, Anamika was sitting in front of the painting of Aditya that she had made.
Just like every time, she had left it half-finished.
Looking at the painting lovingly, she said, “Turning someone into a memory… is the worst thing. After all, I am a human being. I am a human…!”
A tear fell from her eye and landed on her hand.
