Chapter 172 - What The...?

When the door flung open, the first thing that hit Hecathe was the smell. 

The strong smell of something dying. 

Hecathe immediately covered his nose and walked inside cautiously as he tried to spot Marvin. 

The boy was not really hard to spot as Hecathe stepped on something lumpy with his first step alone and realized that this was no special carpet but was Marvin himself. 

"Oh..." Hecathe muttered as he crouched down near the boy's head and tried to understand whether the dying smell was coming from him or not. 

It was a bit hard to distinguish but in a few minutes, Hecathe was able to confidently conclude that the cause of the horrendous smell was not this man who was lying unconscious on the floor. 

"Yo," Hecathe nudged Marvin as he tried to wake the boy, "Get up. Are you planning on dying here or something?" 

Marvin groaned but didn't move an inch nor did it look like he could comprehend anything that Hecathe had said at the moment. 

Hecathe sighed as he put the first-aid kit aside and decided to move the boy first.

"Come on It's time to get your wounds treated," Hecathe spoke as he pulled the boy up and supported him to sit up. 

"Eh....?" Marvin muttered in his groggy voice and it could be clearly seen that the boy was still not completely awake. 

Hecathe's face cringed up a little as he saw the boy's wounds. 

LeiLei had certainly understated it... 

Hecathe could finally understand why Marvin had passed out with a single punch alone. 

"That's why you shouldn't go mess with her like this," Hecathe commented with a sigh.

LeiLei had punched the man flat on the nose and it almost looked like the punch had broken his nose. 

Marvin opened his eyes slightly as he tried to see the person that was trying to help him. 

"Alphius...?" Marvin muttered in a half-asleep manner and Hecathe pursed his lips into a thin line as he heard the boy calling him this name. 

Hecathe slapped the boy's face lightly as he spoke, "Open your eyes widely and look carefully at me. I am Hecathe and I don't like it when people mistake me for someone else and especially not when I'm being helpful." 

Marvin opened his eyes a bit more and just as Hecathe had instructed, he took a closer look at Hecathe's face. 

"Hecathe...?" Marvin asked innocently as he tilted his head and Hecathe nodded his head in satisfaction as he heard this. 

"That's right. I am Hecathe." 

Marvin chuckled softly as he heard this and slowly came to his senses as he asked, "What are you doing here?" 

Hecathe rolled his eyes and smacked the back of the boy's head as he spoke, "Why else would I be here? Of course, it is to treat your wounds. Why would you get yourself this beaten up when you could've just avoided it?!" 

Marvin shook his head with a sigh as he heard this, "My father had always told me that when a woman beats you, you should not avoid it." 

"I see," Hecathe nodded his head as he responded, "Your father was full of trash." 

"..." 

"No offense, by the way," Hecathe added casually and Marvin didn't know if he was supposed to laugh or cry as he heard this. 

Hecathe took out the disinfectant and started treating the wound on Marvin's face. 

"You know how to do this?" Marvin asked with surprise. 

"This is not rocket science. Of course, I know," Hecathe clicked his tongue as he responded, "Now stay quiet and let me do my thing. Stop distracting me." 

Marvin pursed his lips into a thin line and listened to Hecathe. 

He was quiet as he calmly let Hecathe treat the wounds and only when it stung did he flinch a little.

Treating and wrapping the wound took about ten minutes, but when Hecathe was done, Marvin suddenly grabbed his wrist with a frown. 

"What happened to you?" Marvin's eyes narrowed down on Hecathe as he asked, gesturing towards the wound on Hecathe's palm that had been wrapped. 

Hecathe didn't really want to tell the boy that he had purposefully cut his palm to collect a bit of blood so he simply lied. 

"It's nothing," Hecathe retreated his hand and unwrapped the tape and gauze as he confidently revealed the skin underneath that had already been healed. 

However, this was not enough to fool Marvin. 

"It healed," Marvin pointed out and the blood on the gauze was enough to prove his guess to be true. 

Hecathe chuckled awkwardly as he scratched the back of his neck and defended himself, "It healed quite fast because it was not a big injury. Just a small unfortunate cut." 

Marvin still looked to be suspicious as he heard this, but he didn't bother asking any more questions and Hecathe decided to change the topic immediately. 

"By the way, why does your room smell so much?" Hecathe's face cringed up in disgust as he asked, "Don't you clean your room?" 

Marvin suddenly coughed as he heard this and although Hecathe had only asked it casually, he suddenly felt a little suspicious. 

"You really don't clean your room?" Hecathe repeated the question as he raised his eyebrows. 

Marvin immediately shook his head as he denied this accusation, "That's not it!" 

"Then why does your room smell like death?" Hecathe asked as he folded his arms in front of his chest. 

Marvin sighed as he stood up from the floor and spoke, "Follow me." 

The boy didn't wait for anything more and went on ahead as he headed deeper into the room. 

Hecathe, on the other hand, frowned as he followed behind the boy. 

The more they went inside the room, the stronger the smell got and since the lights of the place weren't really turned on, it was pretty dark, and the dark shadows were the only thing that the eyes could make out. 

"Do not get surprised," Marvin warned beforehand and didn't wait for Hecathe's response as he switched the lights on. 

At first, Hecathe almost didn't manage to see it, but when he eventually did, his eyes widened in shock and confusion. 

"Marvin..." Hecathe muttered in disbelief as he kept his eyes on the man that was tied to Marvin's bed, "Why do you have a kidnapped man sleeping on your bed?" 

"Hecathe, don't make me sound like a pervert," Marvin sighed as he walked closer to the bed and spoke, "Look closer. Don't you recognize him?" 

Hecathe indeed listened to the boy and took a closer look at the man's face as he heard this. 

Since his face was covered with blood, it was a bit hard to make out whether Hecathe recognized him or not, but the realization eventually hit Hecathe. 

"That's... Isn't that the bastard who kicked me?!" Hecathe clicked his tongue as he shouted. 

Marvin nodded his head as he confirmed that, "That's right. He works for me. Or at least, he used to." 

This was the same man that Hecathe had met when he first came to Ocasia. This troublesome man had a huge body and would go around intimidating and bullying people which was the reason why Hecathe had somehow ended up picking a fight with this man. 

"I caught him spying on me," Marvin explained with a sigh, "He decided to work for the three willows of spring and then I decided to make sure that he wasn't able to."

Hecathe's eyebrows creased together as he heard this and he looked to be clearly worried as he asked, "Isn't that dangerous? What if they find out?"

Marvin shook his head in disbelief as he spoke, "It doesn't matter. If I let him do his job, he might reveal our plan to the three willows of spring and if I decide to call him out for being a spy, the three willows of spring might be alerted. Compared to those two options, this one is clearly the more secure one." 

"..." Hecathe was a bit speechless as he heard this. On one hand, he felt as if Marvin's words made sense while on the other hand, he felt as if the boy's approach was a bit too impulsive. 

"If he goes missing, aren't they still going to be alerted?" Hecathe asked after thinking about it for a bit. 

Marvin shook his head as he replied, "No. Because according to them, he has still not gone missing." 

Hecathe's frown deepened as he heard this and he felt even more confused. 

"What do you mean?" Hecathe tilted his head as he asked. 

"The three willows of spring were dependent on the weekly report that he sends them and according to them, he had been sending the weekly report every week without fail," Marvin smirked as he spoke, "The only difference now is that he's not the one writing the weekly report anymore. It's me."

Hecathe's eyes widened ever so slightly as he heard this and for the first time, he felt as if Marvin was a bit sharp. He had not acted on impulse. Rather, he had actually planned it all beforehand.