The 100 Year Old Debt #Wattys2023

Chapter X: Thoughts Amidst the Rain

3rd Moon

27th Phase

2018

11:49 am

As I continued my walk, I was greeted by some fellow investigators on the second floor.

"Why hello there!" A red-haired, freckled man spoke.

"You must be the new blood that's been making sound throughout the building."

"Y-yes, I am. I was actually on my way to continue said investigation with Mr. him."

"Is that so? I'm surprised you haven't exactly quitted."

"Quitted?" I asked, perplexed.

"Yeah," his friend responded. Rumors have it that Allegro has never lasted with a partner because of his controversial personality. He can be tough on rookies, putting enormous amounts of pressure on them. I even heard that one of his old partners ended up being his lover. But because they got too close, work became a problem. Mix that with his more dominant personality and you got a recipe for disaster. She went and left fed up with him, taking her Guardian with her and not giving another word to him or the Agency."

"I see..."

"Yeah, mate. Not to mention he sometimes goes rogue, going above the rules by doing procedures that are not sanctioned or allowed by the Agency. Honestly, I'm not sure how the Director lets him get away with it."

"That's the golden boy for you," the lad in red shrugged. "When you're at the top, you can get away with anything."

This conversation was going foul, and I was not a fan of it. While I do understand that from what I have seen, Mr. Allegro can be a bit hard to work with. He still did not deserve this talk behind his back. I was beginning to grow visibly annoyed at this idle chatter."

"Not that it matters, but I would prefer if you would stop speaking rudely to Mr. Allegro. I was never one to enjoy speaking behind the back of someone. It shows a lack of etiquette and a lack of respect."

They both were left ill at my comments.

"Ay? I didn't know we had a teacher's pet with us. Can't even take a joke now, can you, eh?"

"Oi, be careful. Considering she's working with him; she might rat us out."

"She's not gonna rat us out. I'm sure she shares the same sentiments as us, besides you know how Allegro is. You think he's going to care?"

"Not particularly unless I catch said people speaking behind my back."

"Mr. Allegro!" we exclaimed unanimously.

"I-it's not what it looks like, mate!"

"Y-yeah! We were just speaking with the rookie to get to know her!"

"Oh? So besides speaking behind your co-workers, you were also slowing her down in doing her job, something you lot clearly have no idea how to do. Nothing to say? No? Then how about you turn in your reports on that assignment the Director gave you last week? Or else I'll make sure to note down how you two have been skipping on your duties and for the past week."

They left swiftly without a word, embarrassed by the sudden confrontation of their superior. Like a whimpering dog wagging their tails between their legs, they scurried. My companion here gave a deep sigh and tried his best to return to his usual composure.

"Slacking lot," he mentioned between his teeth. "Sorry about that, Hawkins. But even among our ranks, we have people would rather gossip than do their work."