Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City

I stopped and turned to face Corey. "I thought we were friends?" I asked.

"I thought that too, until you sent me on a suicide mission. You didn’t even give me a chance. If Anna failed to kill me, Jill would’ve finished the job. You fucking prick!"

I wanted to argue, but Corey wasn’t done yet.

"You don’t pay me enough for this shit."

From her outburst, it was obvious that if she could, she would beat the lights out of me in retaliation.

"Don’t be like that. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, you know you can count on me, right?"

"Don’t compare me to a pervert like you. I would never date three people at the same time, let alone make my friend cover for me and then stand there watching them get their ass handed to them by my fiancée."

"Fiancée? I didn’t know you swung that way." I tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but it only made things worse.

"You know what? I don’t want to be your enforcer anymore. People treat me like I’m the villain when all I’m doing is what you asked me to do. Fuck them, and fuck you."

"Quitting already? It hasn’t even been a full day yet," the Field Marshal commented as he arrived behind us.

"I’m not quitting. I just don’t want to be the bad guy. You were there. They were acting like I was guilty of something serious when all I did was take a prank a little too far."

Hearing Corey’s reason for wanting to quit, the Field Marshal could only shake her head. She understood that Corey had loved the job while enjoying its authority and perks, but now that it was time to bear its responsibility and burdens, she no longer wanted it.

"Well, not wanting to be an enforcer basically means you’re quitting. Not to mention, the problem you’re complaining about comes with the job. You can’t be the enforcer and still expect to be buddies with everyone.

"Just so you know, I can already think of a few people who’d love to replace you as enforcer, and they definitely wouldn’t make things easy for you afterward. Why am I even telling you this? This isn’t your first job. You should know all of that by now."

It wasn’t hard for Corey to understand what the Field Marshal was trying not to say: that she was a deserter, someone who only wanted the prestige and perks, not the duty that came with them. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Corey’s expression darkened as those unspoken words stirred memories of Earth Corey, dragging old traumas to the surface.

Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but wonder how things had ended up like this. It had all been fun and games until the Field Marshal came in guns blazing.

"Field Marshal, she quit being enforcer not because she dislikes working, but because she doesn’t like the job itself—"

"No, Wyatt, I’m not quitting anymore," Corey suddenly cut in, having resolved to see the job through even if it killed her.

"No, you don’t have to force yourself."

"Wyatt, you’re coddling her too much—"

I cut her off midway. "Field Marshal, go check on the demigods. I’ll meet you there."

"Yes, my lord." The Field Marshal nodded and left without further argument.

The atmosphere was awkward, but it had been necessary. Corey looked at me in astonishment. Even someone as dense as her could sense it.

This was the first time I had ever ordered the Field Marshal. I had always seen her as an elder and usually asked rather than commanded. But today, I did. Like always she didn’t need to be asked twice.

"What’s wrong with you? Why would you say that to her?" Corey shot back, blaming me instead of showing any appreciation for what I’d done. This was exactly why I hated thankless jobs.

But I guess that was what being friends meant.

"I had my reasons, also effective immediately you are no longer my enforcer."

"What the fuck? First you make me feel bad about quitting, and then when I decide not to quit, you fire me? What kind of sick joke are you playing? I said I will continue to be your enforcer, I will be your enforcer. You don’t get to fire me. I dare you to fire me."

"Geez, fine. You’re my enforcer," I said, throwing my hands in the air. "Now go check on the Field Marshal."

"That’s not in my job description."

"I’m your boss. Everything I tell you to do is part of your job description."

"Fuck you. You’re the one who was rude to her. You do it. I’m an enforcer, not your HR."

"If you won’t then you’re fired."

"You can’t fire me."

"If I can hire you, I can fire you too."

"I dare you to say ’fired’ again."

"Fired. Fired. Fired. Fired... What the fuck? Have you gone crazy?"

While I let my inner child out, Corey let her inner psycho loose and summoned two supernova bolas before hurling them at me. However, because of the endlessly stretching space between us, they burned out before they could reach me.

Seeing this, Corey began creating more bolas supernova and sending them drifting into the endlessly stretching space, like setting paper boats loose along a creek. She planned to keep making bolas supernova until the domain or she reached their limit. It was as if she had forgotten the dread of the double celestial realm.

Seeing that she no longer looked haunted by her past, I was just relieved that she was doing well enough to challenge me again. But if she thought she could actually beat me, she had another thing coming.

With a flash I appeared behind her and whispered in her ears, "Silence!"

Her body immediately went stiff from the scare, and when she tried to react, neither her soul energy nor her rule power responded to her. Then a pair of hands appeared by her ribs from behind and began tickling her.