CHAPTER 8 ◇ Monkeys

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Location:

Old monastery complex, somewhere in the mountains near Tokyo

Acting persons:

Suguru Geto (curse mage of special rank)

Manami Suda (curse mage)

Mr Nakamura (head of a sweets company)

Time:

11 October 2017, evening

"Master Geto?" A female voice snapped him out of memories of happier times. "I'm coming in now.". The door to his sparsely furnished room opened. A woman with reddish-blonde hair sat in front of it. His assistant Manami. She was also a curse mage, just like everyone in his inner circle. His new family. As usual, she was dressed in a lilac-coloured blouse that was cut a little too tight for her ample bust. And tight, black trousers flattered her long, slender legs. Satoru would certainly have made a few lewd remarks with a grin. Suguru knew that she wanted to impress him with this outfit. However, her endeavours were fruitless with him. Firstly, because she wasn't his type at all. She had far too much make-up on for that and had too much on some parts of her body where he preferred less. Secondly, he had given himself the appearance of a Buddhist monk for a reason. Women no longer had a place in his current life. Sure, he made eyes at them when recruiting new members, but it was all for the purpose of collecting new money or curses for his plans. Manami clutched a clipboard to her chest, where she kept track of all his appointments. "Master Geto. Mr Nakamura, your eighteen o'clock appointment would be here now.". He smiled encouragingly at her. But it was no longer anything like the smile he used to give his fellow human beings so easily. "What's so late already?". Confused, he looked out of the window. The sun was already sinking behind the hilltop. With one last glance at his documents, he stood up and patted his clothes smooth. They were quite crumpled from sitting for so long. Then he bent down once more and picked up the hair arrow, which he tucked into the depths of his robe. "How time flies when you're busy," he said with a cheerful expression. She rose to her feet and he followed her down the grand, stately corridor of the former monastery complex. His organisation had really done a great job of sprucing up the old building. Of course, it had also cost a lot of money. "Master Geto. May I ask what you're busy with at the moment? Is it to do with our plans for 24 December?". He pushed his hands into the wide sleeves of his top. "Only indirectly, my dear Manami. I'm writing my memoirs.". She looked up at him, startled. "But Master Geto! Surely you're not afraid that you...". He laughed. "Don't worry, my dear. I'm only doing this for formality's sake. Because I want to remember.". She turned her head away, but he could see the look she was giving the interior. Yes...soon that day was approaching again. That cruel day that he feared like the devil fears holy water. Everyone in his organisation knew that he was not to be disturbed by anyone on that day. Under no circumstances. It was an open secret, but nobody dared to speak to him about it. There was even a rumour going around that he had killed the last person who dared to ask him about it. But of course there was nothing to it. He was not heartless. Anyone who asked would get an answer. They would learn that it was the only day he allowed himself to grieve. Only on this one day. Nevertheless, he didn't feel like changing anything about the current situation.

With a wave of his hand, he chased away the gloomy thoughts. They turned a corner and were soon standing in front of the door to their reception room. This was where Suguru received all the members who were not part of his immediate family and therefore had no idea what his plans were. They therefore referred to this room internally as 'the monkey cage'. It was deeply repugnant to him to deal with these lowly creatures, but what had to be done, had to be done. Like a regular visit to the dentist. After all, all this had to be financed. Those monkeys. His lips curled in contempt. Strictly speaking, this scum was only good for two things. Firstly, to accumulate curses so that he had enough for their plans and secondly, to accumulate money. The richest and most powerful men in Japan were members of his organisation. But only for the sake of form. Manami opened the door to the cage and bowed slightly to her master. Suguru nodded approvingly at her and would have liked to walk straight back out of the room. There was a fat, sweating man lying on a cushion. Heavens! Did these creatures know no shame? Suguru could smell the stench of this monkey all the way to his place by the door. Nausea rose in him, but he forced himself to put on a fake jovial smile and walked slowly and loftily into the room. The right demeanour was important. The balance of power in this room had to be immediately apparent. He, the generous and kind-hearted patron and the other was just an unworthy supplicant. After this unpleasant conversation, he would probably have to disinfect himself thoroughly and take a bath. "Mr Nakamura, how nice to see you," Suguru greeted the crawling animal in front of him and crossed the sparsely furnished reception room. The less furnishings there were, the less had to be cleaned after these monkeys had left the room. Nakamura was not the monkey's real name, of course. Nevertheless, he called him that. Another way of belittling these creatures. And why should he remember the real name of such an unclean creature? They also let him do it without much resistance. As is usual in the animal world, they subordinated themselves to those who were above them in evolution. For Suguru, this was just further proof of the worthless weakness of their characters. There was hardly anything he detested more than weakness. The weak should be denied the right to exist. This was also proclaimed by several calligraphy banners that he had written himself and draped on the walls. (...). But these subordinate beings didn't even understand that. - Death to fools - Punishment to the weak - Love to the strong -. And so it was good that one day he would eradicate them all from this world. His gaze briefly glanced over the words "Punishment to the weak". Yes, he too had been weak once. Too weak at the wrong moment to... but that would never, never, never happen again!

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