Free Web NovelChapter 87: Recruits [Part 9]
While Richard was busy doing whatever he wanted, Hana was in the capital city of the country.
A crowded place that was a combination of both poverty and wealth.
"Looks like a smaller version of LA"
Her comment would have made any self respecting American to flare out in rage. After all, comparing a third world country to a famous city in a developed nation was a direct insult to the developed country.
Unfortunately, Hana didn’t have an ounce of nationalistic blood in her veins. The cry of an eagle, which is actually that of a hawk, doesn’t echo in her mind whenever America is mentioned.
Hana is a woman who takes things for what they were.
The capital city of the Philippines, Manila, is just as clean and dirty as LA.
Some places looked like heaven, it looked absolutely amazing to live in and walk through but other areas were basically dumps.
Some places had the cool and pleasant air of air conditioning exhaust and other pollutants from high rises.
Yet there are places that stink like a dump, especially near the water.
If there was anything that made Manila different from LA, it would be the leve of "wetness".
While LA was dry and hot, Manila was hot and humid.
This small difference in climate creates the key differences in both areas.
LA’s dry and arid climate made it less prone to rot, on the other hand, the hot and humid climate in Manila made things a lot more "stinky".
The last time it rained was a week ago, it was the peak of the dry season and the weather was unbearably hot and yet- underneath the land bridges, overpasses and other shaded areas, one could see puddles of dirty water. frёeωebɳovel.com
In an arid environment, the hot and dry air would evaporate anything that the air touches but in a humid climate, unless water was directly under the sun, the chances of it drying was slim.
The puddle that Hana saw in the alley was not a simple water logged area, she could see that the water was hiding back mud.
Such a picture could only be seen in sewers but here, if an area is not dried or taken care of, especially under shade, dirt and debris would quickly accumulate and the water creates a pseudo sewer waste on the spot.
Stagnant water was not a rare sight in the alleys and dark corners of the city.
Few people would care enough to clean up the stagnant water, after all, cleaning it up was worthless when a sudden thunderstorm could just fill it up once more.
Nature could take care of it-
That was the mindset people in the country had- not a rare mindset as even the streets of LA were littered with various types of dirt and trash,
The difference was the climate that makes any dirt exist without disturbing anyone and one that made it landmark.
Arid environments like that in LA could make a dead body exist in an alley without anyone noticing it. The smell would not be strong as the arid winds would dry up the corpse making its stench lower.
On the other hand, humid locations would make any dead body start to let out a powerful foul odor within hours.
That said, Hana was not here to hunt for dead bodies, her task was to get some.
Jon, the asshole leader of that punitive resistance force, had an interesting background. While he was the son of a powerful and influential politician, he was not really loved by his father or anyone from his family.
All the promises he made to his group were empty. He used his fathers name to his own benefit despite the fact that he was long cut off from his family.
This didn’t stop him from building connections with his fathers enemies though.
While his companions believed that they got support from Jon’s father, the reality was that the support they got was from his fathers enemy within their party.
Simply put, the dude larped his way to becoming a real life military dictator. He turned a student union into a private military and did whatever he wanted within.
Going against the government allowed him to do unethical things without needing to deal with laws, media and other bullshit.
Of course the military was not as clean as one would expect, there were still some rather unethical acts being done but those were hidden in the chain of command or were controlled by political will.
Jon was aware of these facts and so he chose to take a bunch of idiots out for a spin, turn them into his own private military and control them however he wanted.
At first, Jon enjoyed the power and authority.
But the longer they stayed away from the conveniences of city life and modern society, the more he realized that his control was slipping.
At first, Jon maintained a rather peaceful and charismatic air but over time, he became a tyrant. He controlled the stronger members by promising them various benefits.
Everything went well until they decided to target Richard and his group.
Now, Jon had spilled the beans, Hana did not know how Richard and Cindy planned to reveal the truth to the companions of Jon that were locked up.
But that was not her problem.
Right now, Hana had other things she had to deal with.
She just left a funeral for a high school girl who died of leukemia, they weren’t in a good situation economically and the choice of their eldest son to join the rebels marked them.
The father of the deceased girl was unable to find proper employment as few would dare take in an employee who had connections to rebels and the mother could not really leave their dying daughter to her own devices.
From what Hana heard, the girl was cursing her brother in her last breath of life, not out of anger at her situation but at the fact that her brother left their parents.
The girl cursed herself for being worthless and her brother for being a useless bloke.
Hana did not know of the story that the right hand man of Jon had but she was aware that Jon had promised many of his companions and close aides support for their family.
In exchange for supporting him on the field, he would have his family send money to the relatives of his close aides.
Given that the brother of the deceased girl was the one who joined Jon, the worthless man was likely a part of that "close aide group".
After all, during the funeral, there were people who cursed at the brother who disappeared but also asked how he reached such a point? They talked about how the kid had sacrificed everything that should have been his for his sister.
He got into a good school, got a scholarship and even a monthly allowance to study but he used the allowance for his sister’s medicine. He worked part time to help out with the hospital bills and even through all that got a scholarship to enter a prestigious university.
Some of the people theorized that the brother had gone mad, that college had made him realize that suffering for his family when there was nothing to get in return was not "worthwhile".
But Hana knew the man they were cursing was likely just a fool, a fool who believed the lies of Jon.
Yet, as sad as it all was, Hana didn’t even bother to leave a few notes or anything.
Instead, she was there to collect a few things.
For example, the soul of the dead girl.
While it was not of magical origin, the strong resentment she bore was something that any mystic would fight for.
Spirits rarely became ghosts but those that do have a reason why they can’t let go of their former lives.
Whether it was resentment of love, the strong emotion and will to remain was something that allowed them to exist albeit as nothing more than an observer.
The forces of nature that enforce order won’t affect them as they’d lose their grip sooner or later. It was just a matter of time. Of course, that premise changes once mystics are involved and Hana was going around looking for resentful ghosts connected to the members of the insurgent forces they had just decimated.
Maria’s family was going to be handled later on, Hana had already tracked them down but action would only be taken with Richard and Maria in tow.
Still, the number of souls Hana collected were pitifully few.
Outside of the "Leukemia Girl, there were only two other spirits that she found".
But that was something she could do nothing about.
Some of the potential spirits to be recruited had long vanished. They all passed months before and some did not have much resent or strong emotions tying them down to the world.
Fortunately, Hana was nearly done with her rounds.
The last place she had to go to was Jon’s family.
While they had no connection to Jon, Richard still wanted to make them suffer.
After all, while Jon had lied to his companions about the source of their support, it did not change the fact that his family was involved in dirty dealings.
Even if they had money, where would an insurgent force purchase weapons?
Where would they get the intelligence to fight against a proper military when they stayed cooped up in the jungles?
Richard was no saint but he disliked people who manipulates others for their own benefit.
Despite being a manipulator himself, Richard does not hide the fact that he’s a bastard. He wears the asshole mark with pride, what he dislikes are those that show an image of kindness and "virtue" while making deals with the devil behind the scenes.
Hana?
She doesn’t care about any of that.
But she was tasked with capturing the Calipso family and so she has to do it.
It wasn’t all that hard of a task, for Hana, it was just inconvenient. Like waking up in the middle of the night for water.
While getting up for water was not hard, it was still inconvenient especially when you’re still lethargic.
That was how Hana felt about the task she was given.
Yet the task was still a lot better and easier than dealing with the mundane stuff that Richard refuses to finish.
For Hana, this small excursion also subbed in as a breather, but the toxic city made her regret her choices a bit.
Fortunately, the end of her task was near as she reached the small manor in the city that belonged to her targets.
"Okay... now then- how do I capture them all?"
