I took the last bite of my sandwich and sighed heavily before muting the TV altogether. Honestly... I was getting used to this. Not working. Sleeping whenever I wanted. Sitting around all day.

And that was the scary part. I could already feel laziness digging its claws into me.

After another minute of staring blankly at the muted TV, I finally pushed myself up. Since Minne still hadn’t appeared, I figured I should go check on her.

"Honey?" I called while walking toward the hallway. "Minne?"

There was no answer.

I stopped in front of her bedroom door and knocked lightly. "You there?"

Silence.

I waited a few seconds before knocking again, a little louder this time.

"Minne?"

Still nothing.

Frowning, I carefully opened the door and peeked inside.

Empty. The bed was neatly made, the curtains partly open, sunlight spilling across the floor. Her cleaning supplies were gone too.

"Huh..."

Before I could think much more about it, I heard the penthouse door unlocking behind me. I stepped back into the hallway and looked toward the entrance.

Minne walked in first, slightly out of breath. Eleanor followed right behind her and... well, she looked bad. Her eyes were red and swollen, her breathing uneven like she’d just finished running a marathon. Her hands trembled faintly at her sides, and even from here I could see faint tear marks dried onto her cheeks.

The second she looked up and saw me, embarrassment flashed across her face.

"Eleanor?" I asked immediately, walking closer. "Are you okay?"

"Master," Minne said softly, nodding toward me. "Um... Mrs. Eleanor was..."

"I had another panic attack," Eleanor interrupted quietly, covering part of her face with one hand. "I... banged on the door earlier but I think you were asleep. Minne helped calm me down."

"Fuck..." I rubbed the back of my neck, guilt immediately hitting me. "I’m sorry."

"It’s okay," she said quickly, though her voice still sounded shaky.

"No, seriously. Come in." I stepped aside for them. "Sit down. I’ll get you some water."

Both of them walked into the living room slowly. Eleanor looked exhausted more than anything now, like the panic attack had drained every bit of energy out of her body.

Minne stayed close beside her the entire time.

I headed straight for the kitchen, grabbed a glass from the cabinet, filled it with cold water, then returned to the living room where Eleanor had carefully lowered herself onto the couch.

I handed the glass to her.

"Here."

She accepted it with slightly shaking hands. "Thank you..."

Minne remained standing nearby, worried eyes fixed on Eleanor while I quietly sat down across from them, watching the poor girl try to steady her breathing again.

"What happened?" I asked quietly.

Eleanor shook her head and rubbed under her eyes with her thumb. "Just... my brother called. Asked for money again. I told him no but... I don’t know. God..."

"Mark, right?" I asked. "That was his name?"

She nodded tiredly before taking another small sip from the water. Even the way she held the glass looked exhausted, like her body still hadn’t recovered from the panic attack.

The living room stayed quiet for a few seconds after that. The muted TV reflected soft colors across the walls while sunlight poured through the windows behind us. It should’ve felt peaceful. Instead, the entire room felt heavy.

"Someone’s gotta talk to him," I finally said. "Guess that someone’s me."

"Don’t." Eleanor immediately shook her head. "He’s beyond reason."

She leaned forward and carefully put the glass onto the coffee table before exhaling slowly.

"I’ll just... try to pay the debt somehow," she continued. "Maybe Charlotte can give me extra shifts or a raise or something. I’ll figure it out."

Even if Charlotte accepted that... Brok wouldn’t.

I already met the bastard. The guy wasn’t some regular debt collector that accepted little monthly payments and politely waited around. He wanted everything immediately. And with the interest stacked onto it now, the amount had already climbed into insanity. Millions.

The kind of money normal people never even saw together in one place. And the worst part was that Eleanor genuinely thought she could somehow work her way out of it.

I leaned back slightly against the couch and rubbed my jaw while thinking. Brok had men. Real men. Not random street idiots trying to act tough. The kind that stayed quiet, watched everything, and probably wouldn’t hesitate to break bones if he asked them to.

So how the hell was I supposed to bring him down? The system? That was the only real advantage I had.

Maybe Time Stop could help me find something. Documents. Phone records. Weaknesses. Maybe Brok was hiding something bigger behind that pawnshop of his. Drugs, weapons, money laundering... who knew?

Though honestly, a guy like that probably wasn’t dumb enough to keep evidence sitting openly on his phone.

Still, I had to try something. And I already knew where to start, which was the pawnshop.

I exhaled through my nose and pushed myself up from the couch. "You stay here with Eleanor, Minne," I said. "I gotta take care of something."

"M-Master..." Minne looked up immediately, worry appearing on her face. "W-where are you going?"

"Just some business."

"Sophia told me you visited Brok," Eleanor said, lifting her eyes toward me again. Her expression had turned serious now. "Don’t do that again, Evan. He’s dangerous."

I shrugged lightly.

"I am the danger, Eleanor."

The moment the words left my mouth, Eleanor stared at me for a second before letting out an exhausted laugh despite herself.

"Don’t give me pop culture references right after I had a panic attack, you idiot," she muttered, shaking her head. "God... what am I even supposed to do with you?"

I stepped closer and leaned down, pressing a soft kiss onto the crown of her head. She sighed quietly but didn’t pull away.

This whole thing with Brok needed to end. Not later. Not eventually. Now.

And honestly? The system itself clearly wanted me involved too. The quest reward alone was insane. Twenty thousand credits. That was massive compared to most things I’d gotten so far. Two birds with one stone.

"I’ll be back before dinner," I said, straightening up. "Try to relax until then."

Minne nodded quickly. "Please be careful, Master."

"I will."

Eleanor looked less convinced.

I grabbed my jacket from the rack near the entrance and slipped it on while checking my phone one last time. No updates from the hidden camera yet. Jack and Robert still hadn’t shown up.

Fine.

One problem at a time.

I opened the penthouse door and glanced back once before stepping out. Eleanor sat curled slightly into the couch now while Minne stayed close beside her, quietly rubbing her shoulder.

The door clicked shut behind me.

And just like that, my focus shifted completely toward Brok.

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