CEO in a Fantasy World 3

by Tristan H Brown

  Musashi lit the cigarette in Caesar's mouth as he continued talking, while Joe was looking at Caesar dumbfoundedly, 'I didn't know Caesar had a daughter with such a tragic past,' he thought as a few tears formed in his eyes.

  "Ever since then, I have never lost hope for someone to gain their life back. This possibility isn't closed off to you. It doesn't matter how hard they trained you or how loyal you are. Human life should never be contained. One of our best traits is the strife for freedom," Caesar said while taking a puff of the cigarette.

  The girl on the ground finally had a slight reaction as she raised her head, although her face was still stone-cold, he could see a glimmer of doubt in her eyes.

  "T-there is no place for me to go…" she said hesitantly.

  Caesar stood up from his chair, and before she could even react, she was held in his arms, "don't look down on yourself so much, I am here for you to lean on, if no one else wants you, I will take you…" he said comfortingly, his voice like a devils whisper.

  The lass had confliction written on her face. She was an assassin, yet, this man in front of her was hugging her tightly. Wasn't he afraid of her killing him? Why does he trust her? All of the thoughts made the girl's mind feel tangled. She had never been shown warmth. It was a foreign feeling to her.

  Caesar gently rubbed her back and showed her more warmth, feeling this, the assassin girl couldn't help but ask… "why do you want to help me? Why do you trust me?" she asked a handful of questions at the same time. Even she didn't realize that she broke her cold facade.

  Caesar separated from the girl and looked her straight in the eye, "you remind me of my daughter… I don't want you to continue down this path. I want to help you…" he said soothingly to which the assassin choked on her words.

  He broke the shackles off the girl's hands and walked away, "you may do what you want, however, know that I am always here… whether you want a new identity, or just leave this place entirely, it's up to you. I am not going to restrict you." he said while walking out of the jail cell, leaving the door open.

  As he exited the jail cell, he turned back one last time, "remember, as long as there is life, there is hope," he said before leaving her line of sight with both Musashi and Joe in tow. They left a very, very, confused, and conflicted girl in the jail cell.

  If it were before, she would have frantically left and made it back to her master. But, a failed mission would mean death, especially if her identity had been compromised. And when thinking back to the strange man's words.

  'If there is life, there is hope,' she gripped her hands tightly as she looked at the ceiling with resolution.

  Ronny, who was at the side of the girl, just shook his head with a wry smile, 'the poor little rabbit took the evil man's bait,' he thought to himself before drifting to sleep.

  ***

  Caesar, Musashi, and Joe were walking in silence. Caesar's previous gentle expression was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he carried a calculating and sly smile.

  "Humans are controlled by three things: fear, hope, and self-interest. The girl feared her inevitable death if she went back to her master, I gave her hope of a new life, and she will be benefited greatly by working with me" Caesar calmly explained to the two shocked figures.

  "Y-you mean you lied about that daughter?" Joe asked with wide eyes.

  "Why yes, of course, I did. Don't worry. I won't mistreat her. That is, if she aligns with us," Caesar said through muffled laughter.

  "Things such as a high pain tolerance can be easily obtained, resulting in torture being useless. However, you can never erase human nature. This has been proven thousands of times in history," Caesar whispered with a strange glint in his eyes.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  "Hmph, what are you going to do once the poor girl realizes you lied to her?" Joe asked after harrumphing.

  Caesar's footsteps momentarily halted as he turned around with curled lips, "even if she somehow figures out it was a ruse, what would that change? I let her free, I helped her escape death, and most importantly, I gave her a life," he explained.

  Joe's brows furrowed, "you gave her a temporary life, if she one-day figures out that the light you gave her was merely faked, how would she react?" Joe retorted. It was clear that he did not share the same viewpoint as Caesar.

  "You seem to be misunderstanding. I told the story about my fake daughter so that she wouldn't question the reason why I was helping her, without telling such a lie, she wouldn't even think about joining us. You see, assassins don't understand human emotion, as they were never treated as such," Caesar said coldly.

  In Caesar's past life on earth, as a weapons manufacturer and as a CEO, he had seen cruelty beyond human comprehension. Human trafficking, drug cartels, gangs, and even the government, however, in his past life, ordinary people lived without a care for anyone but themselves, they didn't care about such things. They only cared about going to work and sleeping, rinse, and repeat. If there was anything that he had learned, it was that ignorance, was, in fact, bliss.

  "You said yourself, she was abused and trained as a child, knowing nothing of morals and common knowledge, yet you don't have any qualms about taking advantage of her ignorance?" Joe replied while stomping his feet.

  Caesar clicked his tongue and looked at Joe dead in the eyes, "do you feel pity for her? She, an assassin that killed many people, innocent people, even if she was ignorant, she still followed orders. How many families did she ruin? How many people wish to acquire revenge on her? She was merely a tool for murder, yet I am willing to change her, give her something to live for, yet you condemn me for lying? Lying for a good cause?" Caesar asked without a hint of emotion apparent in his tone.

  Joe wanted to rebuke Caesar. However, his mouth wouldn't open, and he just shook his head. He knew that everything Caesar said was indeed, the truth, alas, he couldn't bring himself to accept such a cold world.

  Caesar shifted his attention from the quiet Joe to Musashi who was just observing with a smile playing on his lips, "We should begin our nightly training session," he spoke curtly before turning back and walking toward Musashi's personal training grounds.

  Once Caesar left both Joe's and Musashi's line of sight, Musashi couldn't help but pat Joe on the shoulder and smile soothingly.

  "You must understand that it is not as though Caesar wanted to lie to the girl. He did what was necessary, what no one else was willing to do. He fully understands that he might ruin the girl's life; however, how many fox-kin men and women will he save with the intel she brings? In his world, numbers mean more than trifling morals. Besides, what life does she currently? What is there to ruin?" Musashi explained with a calm smile.

  Joe nodded his head in understanding, "it's not as though I don't understand some of his reasoning, I just can't comprehend how he can keep a smile on his face while doing something so unethical" he said with a low tone.

  Musashi shook his head with a wry smile, "A good commander, no, a good leader, always keeps a smile on his face no matter the dire circumstances, it comes with the job and is something I was never able to master" Musashi said

  "I want to hear about his past. I want to know how he became the man he is today" Joe suddenly looked up at the ceiling and said with strong vigor.

  Musashi didn't reply and continued walking, his destination was, of course, to his training grounds, he didn't want to make Caesar wait too long/

  "I'll talk to you another day, Joe. It was an interesting conversation. It had been a long time since I had spoken to a dwarf, truly as upright as ever," he said with a chuckle and quickly moved out of Joe's vision.

  Joe stood there with a stupid look on his face, "I was abandoned again!!!" he roared to the sky; unfortunately, no one was here to hear his indignant shout.

  ***

  Caesar made it in front of the large door with intricate designs, he put his hands on the thick gate and attempted to pour his mana inside, much like Musashi usually did.

  Caesar let out a f
orceful breath and pressed his hands tightly on the door. Suddenly, his cold and bluish mana started to seep within the gate. He used the same method he had learned when fighting with Musashi.

  After a few seconds, the gate finally had a reaction and split in the middle, soon, the entire door opened, and Caesar's field of view was flooded by the bright moonlight.

  A smile abruptly blossomed on Caesar's face as he admired the large moon illuminating the skies and ground alike, 'I will go back to that girl's jail cell tomorrow, we'll see what her decision is then' he thought to himself while admiring the beauty of the moon.

  "It's a beautiful sight, ain't it" Musashi's voice suddenly entered into Caesar's ears causing him to look back with a slight smile.

  "Indeed, it looks vastly different from the moon I saw in Rahvin kingdom, why is that?" Caesar asked curiously.

  "Haha, who knows, many mysteries shroud the dark continent, it is, after all, the only place where the church's influence doesn't reach," Musashi said with a cackle.

  Caesar nodded his head. He knew that if he wanted more information on the unknown, he would have to figure it out himself. He tossed those useless thoughts to the back of his head and took out the large death scythe from his storage ring.

  He walked up the steps and approached the middle of the stone arena, a bluish mist coiled around Caesar's scythe. Although not as vibrant as Musashi's, it was a massive improvement from yesterday.

  Seeing this, Musashi's smile froze, 'what a monster,' he thought to himself. However, his words betrayed his thoughts.

  "Haha, is that all you've learned in the past few days? Pathetic," Musashi said smugly, which made Caesar frown.

  Caesar twirled the scythe in his hands as his eyes flashed a piercing crimson, he had gone through many different attack patterns while in his sleep, the red dot that appeared in his line of sight as he looked at Musashi became more abundant and apparent.

  'As my knowledge of combat improves, the different options my eyes see become more effective?' he silently thought to himself while twirling his large scythe around his palms.

  Musashi didn't waste any more time and immediately grabbed his chains from the compartment in the pillar, they twirled around his wrists, and a deep, violet mist escaped from them.

  "Come on, boy," Musashi said while curling his index finger at Caesar.

  Caesar kicked off the ground and slashed from below at a quick speed, alas, Musashi's bracers quickly blocked him and knocked him to the air, however, Caesar brought the scythe down at an even faster speed and used the ground to once again blast toward Musashi.

  The Scythe in Caesar's hands moved like a shadow as he continuously struck toward Musashi, the sound of clashing echoed throughout the night nearly every second.

  Caesar's eyes were compelling. However, they weren't omnipotent. Going for the most significant weakness was sometimes predictable. To counter this, Caesar made his attacks strike toward areas where Musashi didn't expect.

  "Too wide!"

  "Too Slow!"

  "Too Predictable!"

  "More Power!"

  "Faster!"

  "Too crude, become more fluid!"

  "Insert more mana into the weapon, treat it as a limb!"

  Musashi's roar entered into Caesar's ears every now and then, causing him to fix his attacks or stance accordingly, this training session lasted a few more hours until finally, both him and Musashi were too tired to continue.

  Caesar gasped for breath as a large amount of sweat flowed down from his streamlined body, midway through the training session, Caesar had already taken off his shirt.

  Musashi wasn't in a much better state. However, the only difference was that Musashi had a broad smile on his lips while Caesar furrowed his brows greatly.

  "Haha, you didn't hit me once," Musashi spoke in a gloating way.

  Caesar clicked his tongue in annoyance and walked away, he put his scythe back into his storage ring and put his hand up, showing his slender middle finger while the rest of his fingers were curled.

  Seeing this, Musashi chuckled dryly and fell to his buttocks, once Caesar left the training grounds, his smile disappeared, and in contrast, his face turned serious.

  He uncurled his fists, and a relatively shallow cut appeared in this palm of his hands. If one looked closely, you would be able to see tiny ice crystals inside the wound.

  "His adaptability is truly astonishing, perhaps that's to be expected?" Musashi muttered to himself with a wry smile.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Once Caesar left Musashi's training grounds, he headed towards Renee's room with a calm expression, he wasn't in the least bit frustrated from once again, not being able to touch Musashi. In fact, Caesar was pleased. He knew the rate at which he progressed better than anyone.

  Unlike the sword, he felt much freer with the scythe. Unfortunately, there were no manuals or schools that taught the more advanced techniques. However, with Musashi's help, alongside his already superior intelligence, creating effective techniques shouldn't pose to be too much difficulty.

  Caesar lifted his right hand while walking and unleashed a tad bit of his mana, soon, a small stream of blue coiled around his index finger. Although his physique hadn't upgraded in the slightest since his last bout with the rampaging Joe, his power had still increased, albeit, it wasn't a dramatic increase. Nonetheless, it was an appreciable amount.

  A smile suddenly blossomed on Caesar's lips as he controlled the small strand of mana to twirl around the palms of his hands. 'if my theory is correct, the reason behind why my vampiric body has not evolved is mainly because of my insufficient knowledge, with power comes responsibility, as I evolve, my mana becomes richer and more abundant. If I don't learn to control it now, when I become stronger, it will be harder to learn and control' Caesar mused to himself and looked to the sky.

  'I have no idea who gave me this vampiric body, nor the ice affinity, alas, those things are far from my current grasp… their power is still incomprehensible to the current me, however, one day. I will figure out why I, in particular, transmigrated to this world.'

  While still in deep thought, he soon reached the front of Renee's room, well, at this point, it could be considered their place. He gently turned the doorknob and walked inside the pitch-black room. He, who was already shirtless, walked into the bathroom to wash the sweat off of his body.

  He lazily scrubbed his body for a few minutes before drying himself and stepping back into the room, he took out a robe from his storage ring and wore just a simple pair of cloth undergarments.

  Caesar crawled into the right side of the bed, making sure he didn't wake the loudly snoring Renee, who was on the left, who somehow was still sleeping. He smiled wryly and got in a comfortable position before drifting off to sleep.

  ***

  In a distant place, far away from the current Caesar, a woman with wavy black hair was currently writing on a few parchments. The dimly lit candles to the side barely illuminated her grave expression as she wrote each word.

  "Damn that devilish looking duke's son, no, he's the crown prince now, isn't he?" Veronica whispered to herself.

  In front of her were essential documents for the Evernight business that Caesar had planned to create. Underground weapons manufacturers were highly sought after by illegal activities or rebels, hell, even kingdoms and the church purchased weapons from them. That is, if the price was right.

  As per request, Veronica had sent a few samples to the rebel army that she had informed Caesar of. And, as expected, they were a great success. Not only did they buy more weapons, they even overthrew the kingdom with them, creating large waves in that particular kingdom and those around it.

  "Who made these weapons?"

  "We need to recruit this masterful engineer!"

  And like wildfire, many different forms of gossip spread throughout the continent; however, with veronica's skills, she made Caesar's identity, and location relatively hidden. Alas, with popularity, comes more reve
nue alongside trouble.

  The weapons were undoubtedly revolutionary, but that wasn't the leading cause of the ruckus. Once a few capable engineers got their hands on the weapons, they would certainly be recreated within the next few months or years. However, what the influential people were raving about was the engineer's genius. If he did it once, he would do it again. What would happen if he was their personal engineer? The mere thought of this made the search for Caesar even more widespread.

  The business offers and requests filled up Veronica's entire schedule. Without Caesar's permission, as he was the chairman of the company, or rather, the owner, she couldn't accept any offers. She could just merely accept some small orders while also directing the employees to continue mass-producing the crossbow, ballistae, and trebuchet.