The Bloodhound Agency

"Mr. Jack, this is Adrian, my assistant. If you have any questions or things you needed help with, you can approach him." Mr. Alec introduced me to the young man who welcomed me yesterday. He has brown eyes and auburn hair that reaches past the nape of his neck. His bangs are gathered at the center of his forehead and he has freckles across his cheeks.

"Hello, Mr. Jack! It's nice getting to know you!" he said in a singsong voice. He's rather lively.

"And that one over there is Dominick." Mr. Alec then pointed to the person who was seated on the divan who seemed to be busy on some documents. "Unfortunately, the others aren't here as they're taking some requests. You can do whatever you want. I'll have you called once there are some requests already." And with that, Mr. Alec left.

"Ahem! Mr. Jack, would you like me to give you a tour to the agency?" Adrian offered.

Having no idea of what I should do, I agreed. "I'll have to trouble you."

"No! It's nothing. I have nothing else to do anyway and besides, it's my job. Say, Mr. Jack. Why did you choose to work here? Oh! I don't mean anything to offend you! It's just that, you see… I saw your record and it says that you're a university graduate. You could have chosen a much better job. It's unstable here, you're aware of that, right?" Eh? I couldn't just tell you that I'm not actually Jack, you know? And that I don't even know a thing about this world's know-how.

"Some things happened. Other than that, I kind of got curious and got interested in this kind of job." Yes, renting yourself out to people is indeed very interesting, Sean.

"I see. There are indeed some people like you from time to time, Mr. Jack. Well, it could be fun here sometimes, though you just have to learn how to manage your finances because we can't actually know when we'll get another request. By the way, this is the mini kitchen. You can cook here if you like though I admit it was rarely used." he then chuckled before we moved on to the next room.

"Oh! This one here is my favorite room. The napping room. If there are no requests then you can sleep here. Though it is usually first come first serve." as he pushed the door open, a medium-size room greeted us. There are foldable mattresses stacked neatly on the floor.

Wait! Isn't this agency kinda laid back? Do they even have any rules aside from confidentiality and not entering the underground room with the vintage camera?

"Lounge, mini kitchen, napping room… We can basically live here!"

"Haha! You can actually say that."

"Adrian, a request came." Suddenly, we heard a manly voice coming from our back. I jerked my head to see who it was only to see Dominick who looked like he has just woken up because of his droopy hooded eyes.

"Hello there, Dominick!" Adrian greeted him before turning to me. "Mr. Jack, I'll have to excuse myself then. Good luck!" With that, he left but before he could even take his fourth step, he halted and turned to Dominick, "You better guide Mr. Jack!"

The slight shift in his tone didn't go unnoticed by me though I didn't dwell on it for much longer.

"Dominick," he suddenly said in a rather uninterested voice as he extended his hand to me.

"Jack," after we shook hands, he just nodded and started walking. Though he didn't say anything, his body language is telling me to follow him.

He didn't speak a single word as we walk. He's not showing any interest either. A total opposite of Adrian. I don't know, I can even imagine that there was a very thick wall surrounding him and a poster that says, "Don't talk to me" pasted all over it.

Not long, we reached a certain wooden door which was slightly larger than the rest of the doors in the agency. He knocked on it three times.

"Come in." As we entered, the very first thing that caught my attention was a bone of an animal I don't recognize. Though I admit I'm not that well-versed in animal species much less in their bone anatomy, but this animal bone is weird. It looked like a combination of many animals. Was that an animal which can only be found in this world? Or something similar to shapeshifters?

"Isn't she gorgeous, Mr. Jack?" I was awoken from my reverie when I suddenly heard Mr. Alec's voice. "She's one of my collections! I have many more at the underground. She's beautiful, right?" I see. He's one of those guys who give their cars a female name and get very attached to them.

This bone is definitely not beautiful! If anything, it's creepy. If I disagree here, he'll probably give me at least a five-page long explanation of why I should appreciate its beauty and how it deserves the utmost adoration.

"Yes, it is. By the way, Mr. Alec. Aren't there some requests?"

"Oh! Right!"

As though he had just realized how he had acted, he immediately went back to his usual image which was, "the straight-laced boss".

"Ahem! Mr. Jack, Mr. Dominick. You decide on who will take it. It's a babysitting job, four years old."

"Count me out. I hate kids," said Dominick. The two of them then turned to me.

"Tell me the details."

"A babysitting request from Count Norman. You just have to babysit his 4-year-old son for a day, 50 demi."

50 demi? From what Ethan said, the minimum wage here per week is 70 demi. And I can earn 50 demi in just a day? Isn't that way too high? I mean, I'm not complaining here or anything. It's just suspicious why would the Count spend 50 demi just to have someone babysit his son when he could have had his trusted maids do it. To flaunt his wealth?

Maybe seeing the suspicion on my face, Mr. Alec laughed and said, "Indeed, there's a catch. Count Norman said that none of the maids could handle his son anymore. I don't know the details but that's pretty much it. A babysitting job for 50 demi. You wanna take it?"

Can't handle his son anymore? Babysitting is not what his son needs. That kid needs disciplining! Well, if it's only one day it couldn't be that bad, right? It's not that I hate kids.

"Sure! I'll take it. What do I need to do?"

"The details are in here. Don't be late." he then handed me a brown small envelope. Inside were the details and the address of Count Norman's manor. Also the time I needed to go there.