Chapter 510 - THE BOSS MAN (2/2)

The drunk man laughed. ”What did not happen?”

”Be clear.”

The person shook his head and ȧssumed a more serious appearance.

”After the rumours of your death, things got a little bit out of control. The Brotherhood became chaotic. I am not a major player, so I do not know the specifics. But there were a few disagreements about who should be in charge. You know, with you dead and all.” He explained with coherence.

”Where was Ayumi?” Kaito asked.

The man laughed a little hoarsely. ”Do you think that she could keep control of the top ȧssassins by herself? No offence meant towards her or you for leaving her in charge, Boss. I mean, I respect women a lot. I am a feminist, you know. I support female empowerment.”

”Continue.” Kaito prompted without care about offence.

”What I mean is, this business is about power. People respect those with real power and ability. Without you around to keep the restless guys under control, she was under a lot of pressure. She did not know how to negotiate with the mercenaries who wanted to take the top position.” He continued.

”You know how predatory most of the ȧssassins here are. They can sense the smallest weakness. Instead of showing absolute power before them, she gave in to some of their demands, like decentralising the decisions about the missions.”

The drunk man picked one of the bottles on the table and shook it, looking for a bit of a drink. The moment gave Kaito a chance to consider the information he had just received about the Shadow Brotherhood he built with his blood and sweat.

Even though he did not want it anymore, he did not think that it would fall so far.

When it came to organised mercenary groups, they were in essence like mafia crime families. There had to be rules and order to ensure peace and prosperity. However, Ayumi did not understand the work he had done to stabilise the group.

She was there during the initial phases, but she did not have the stomach for the unsavoury side of the business. She had only become actively involved after he had organised everything. And her primary work was checking on the mission requests and looking into the background of the cases.

Kaito did not blame himself for her failure to learn how to deal with the mercenary group properly. He tried to bring her in to learn more about the things he did to keep the ȧssassins under control. But she said it was not necessary.

No, she laughed and said that men only knew how to use threats and force.

She had even refused to go into the Ground after the one time Kaito took her there to understand the system more. She felt it was a bit of a pity to keep those prisoners there. In her words, long-term torture was inhumane and unnecessary.

Ayumi had proposed a plan for rehabilitation or outright execution for the mercenaries who rebelled against the rules. It was a good plan in theory and would work in a normal society. However, when dealing with hardened killers, it was useless.

Mercenaries were used to pushing the boundaries of their existence. Moreover, they were not afraid of death. They were constantly facing life and death situations and lived with the knowledge that they would probably die on the job.

As a result, they were never cautious. They did not see the need to play by anyone's rules. Being able to create a mercenary group and maintain control of it was almost impossible. If the mercenaries did not have any fears, they would be wild and careless.

One had to find something worse than death to ensure compliance.

Kaito had discovered that most of the people who lived that lifestyle were afraid of the denial of freedom and prolonged death. Most had seen inhumane torture beyond human comprehension, so they would be afraid of not getting a quick death.

For that reason, Kaito built the Ground to ensure absolute compliance.

He demonstrated the fact that he would not condone unrestrained action.