The Alchemists

It all happened so fast ... that even the best assassins of the world who were present in the room did not have the chance to stop him, because nobody expected Kurt to take such a bold move.

Alaric was shocked by what had happened. For a few seconds, no one spoke.

Minutes passed and the atmosphere in the room remained tense. They were all accustomed to killing, but based on the orders they received from Alaric last night, all the assassins in the room knew that Alaric had no intention of hurting Kurt. The order was clear: 'Don't be rude to him'.

They just wanted to threaten the man to obey their boss' request, namely to give access to the sick woman so that Alaric could have her moved to a better facility.

Why was it so difficult for Kurt to fulfill that simple request? Didn't Alaric say he meant no harm to Aleksis?

Alaric even had to threaten Kurt using his wife and children. Alaric thought his request was quite simple and should not be hard to fulfill if Kurt were a little pressured. He didn't really mean it when he said that he would kill Kurt's wife and child. He really didn't expect Kurt to choose death rather than follow his request.

Alaric couldn't understand why anyone would be willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of information about a girl...

Who was Kurt actually protecting?

All these thoughts made his head hurt. He grimly signaled his men to take out Kurt's son. Jan's screams could still be heard for several minutes, and soon faded away.

"It's not our fault, Sir, he took his own life ..." Pavel said as he followed Alaric into the library. Alaric took out a bottle of brandy but Pavel tried to prevent Alaric from drinking by removing the glass from the table, "It is still very early, Sir. You cannot lose control. It will be bad for the morale of our people."

"How can I face Aleksis? Her father died because of me ..." Alaric complained in a deep voice. "I should have asked humbly ... but ..."

He fell silent.

He did not know how to ask humbly. He had long lost touch with humans. He hated people and never wanted to hang out with them. He only surrounded himself with the few he trusted and were loyal to him.

Whatever he wanted he could easily get, whether that person gave it himself, or was forced by means of intimidation. He never had to humble himself to ask for something.

Maybe... if he had been nice to Kurt, that man would be willing to help him.

Alaric took a deep breath and a realization entered his heart: he was indeed a bad person. He no longer knew how to behave like an ordinary human.

He thought about what he told Aleksis when they first met again in Singapore, "I'm a bad person. If you know me well, you will definitely hate me."

But the girl did not hate him, even more - she loved him, and that touched the core of Alaric's heart.

But now, there was no turning back. Aleksis would definitely hate him now. Alaric had caused her father's death.

"What do you want to do now?" Pavel asked him. He placed Kurt's cell phone on the table. The screen still showed Aleksis' diagnosis.

Alaric glanced over and nodded slowly, "Try contact the hospital and search for information about Aleksis. I will think of a way to get her out."

Alaric knew that there was actually no hope for Aleksis to recover, given the severity of her injury. He was just entertaining himself, acting as though Aleksis could still be saved.

Pavel took his own phone and called the Stamford hospital. As a senior official at Rhionen Industries, he had access to the management of various hospitals because many of them use the cancer drugs made by Rhionen Industries' subsidiary.

"Good morning, Director Chen. I need information about the patient who was admitted yesterday to your hospital. We are very interested in helping her recovery, because our scientists are now developing the latest type of treatment for brain stem injuries, and the results are quite promising."

Alaric could not clearly hear the voice on the other end of the phone, but he frowned when he saw Pavel's usually flat face turn pale.

"What happened?" Alaric asked impatiently.

"Very well, Director. I understand. Thank you for your help. Good evening." Pavel hung up and turned to his boss with a concerned look. "I am sorry, Sir. My condolences."

It took ten seconds for Alaric to understand the meaning of Pavel's words. For a moment his mind went blank. As his consciousness recovered, a teardrop fell down his cheek and he nodded slowly. "Thank you Pavel. Please leave me alone."

Pavel bowed slightly and then left the grieving Alaric.

Really, he did not expect things would go south this fast. Aleksis came and went as fast as the storm. She touched his life as she passed and stirred it beyond repair.

His storm girl was gone. The only woman who sincerely loved him unconditionally ... had also left him.

Alaric again felt as if he was the loneliest man in the world.

He shut himself up in the library the whole day and only came out when it was getting dark.

"Pavel ... please gather everyone. I will give my last message before I disband Rhionen Assassins," Alaric said later. His words shocked Pavel.

"What's the matter, Sir? Why disband our group?" Pavel asked in surprise.

Alaric didn't answer and Pavel understood that he shouldn't ask too many questions. He excused himself and contacted his friends who were still outside. For years they had never gathered together like this.

Everything happened so quickly. Takeshi and Mischa finally arrived in Germany, which meant that there were now 10 assassins present. The other five people were far away in Australia and America, but he would ask them to join virtually.

***