Loyalty

The phone still on the table chimed with another text message. Charlotte picked it up and saw that the bounty on John Wick had risen to fifteen million dollars.

"That's quite a sum."

"Where are you going, John Wick?"

Meanwhile, John Wick had fought his way from the streets to a stable, killing every assassin who came after him. He mounted a horse and charged out.

The moment he reached the highway, two Assassins on motorcycles began pursuing him.

Under an overpass, John Wick urged his horse into a mad sprint. One of the motorcyclists caught up and reached out, trying to drag John Wick off the horse, but failed several times.

John seized the moment and slapped the man's helmet, forcing the rider to pitch forward and exposing the pistol tucked into the small of his back.

John Wick bent low from the saddle, snatched the pistol from the man's waist, and fired three shots into his neck.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The motorcyclist died on the spot. With no one controlling it, the motorcycle crashed straight into a truck beside it.

Seeing that another assassin on a motorcycle was still behind him, John Wick waited for him to close in, then slid down the side of his horse, hiding his entire body behind it. He stretched out one hand and fired several shots at the motorcycle.

In an instant, the rider lost control and crashed into a parked car ahead.

After taking care of both motorcycle-riding Assassins, John Wick looked back. Once he confirmed that no one was following him for the moment, he spurred his horse toward the Charlotte Agency on 71st Avenue, Forest Hills, Queens.

Charlotte Agency.

At that moment, all five of them were waiting in the lobby.

Ginny looked at Charlotte Doyle and asked, "Boss, are you sure you didn't guess wrong? Can John still make it here at this hour?"

Charlotte was not completely certain either, but thinking of John's predicament, he said, "As long as he isn't dead, he'll come."

Just as Charlotte finished speaking, a knocking sound came from the Agency's front door.

Iruka stood and went to open it.

"Mr. John Wick, please come in."

When the Agency's door opened, John Wick looked at Umino Iruka, who had answered it. Rather than entering, he asked, "I'm here to see Charlotte Doyle."

Iruka looked at John standing outside and said, "Lord Charlotte is in the lobby. He has been waiting for you for quite some time."

Only after hearing that Charlotte Doyle was inside the Agency did John Wick follow Iruka through the door.

Across the street from the Agency, an assassin saw John enter Charlotte's Agency. With regret in his eyes, he left.

John Wick followed Iruka through the lobby until he arrived before Charlotte.

Charlotte looked at John Wick, whose white shirt was stained red with blood and whose entire body was drenched by rain, and asked, "John, why have you come here?"

Although Charlotte knew he intended to help John, he could not offer first. A deal offered too eagerly was no deal at all; even if the result was the same, the favor gained would be different.

John Wick dropped to one knee and said pleadingly, "Mr. Charlotte, I request your protection."

Looking at the half-kneeling John Wick, Charlotte pondered for a moment before saying, "John, you have been excommunicated by The Continental Hotel and publicly put under a fifteen-million-dollar bounty."

"Even meeting you, let alone helping you, would offend the High Table. Protecting you would be even worse."

"However, since I was willing to see you, that means I may be willing to help."

"So, John Wick, what will I gain by saving you?"

As he spoke, Charlotte Doyle pulled John Wick's Blood Pact Badge from his pocket and held it in his hand.

Charlotte's meaning was obvious. John knew that Charlotte was telling him, I already have your Blood Pact Badge. If you want my help, the price cannot be small.

John Wick looked around at Ginny, Iruka, Sasuke Uchiha, Rock Lee, and the others seated in the lobby. It seemed as though he had made a decision. Then he slowly said to Charlotte, "I am willing to offer my loyalty and become your subordinate, like them."

Looking down at John Wick, Charlotte knew that the man had reached the end of the road. He then asked, "John, why do you want to live?"

John had not expected Charlotte to ask that. After a brief pause, he still answered, "Because of my beloved. I want to live on. I want to remember her."

Charlotte looked deeply at John Wick before speaking again. "You left the world of Assassins for five years, for your beloved."

"Now, because of your beloved, you have returned to this world. John, are you prepared to return?"

"To return to this world of slaughter while carrying your longing for her."

John Wick knelt on one knee and pledged his loyalty to Charlotte. "Mr. Charlotte, I am willing!"

"For Helen, I once laid down my weapons and returned to a peaceful world."

"Today, for Helen, I am willing to take up my weapons and protect her within my memories."

Hearing John Wick's words, Charlotte recalled something he had seen in his previous life: how was a person's death defined?

The first death was the death of the body.

The second death was the death of social connections.

The third death was the disappearance of the final trace.

Clearly, John Wick wanted Helen to live forever in his memories.

"John Wick, I accept your loyalty!"

Hearing Charlotte accept his loyalty, John finally let out the breath he had been holding. However, Charlotte continued, "You must understand that protecting you means going to war with the High Table, because the High Table wants you dead."

"And if you want to be truly safe, The Continental Hotel must accept you again, and the High Table must cancel the bounty on you!"

"The only person who can truly accomplish all this is a High Table Elder, one who controls one of the Thirteen Seats."

Charlotte said nothing more and simply watched John quietly.

John Wick's mind raced, and he tentatively asked, "I'll go to Casablanca and ask the High Table Elder to lift my excommunication?"

Charlotte raised his index finger, shook it, and smiled. "No. You are not going to find an Elder. You are going to become an Elder, to become one of those who hold the Thirteen Seats of the High Table."

John Wick was utterly shaken. He had never imagined that Charlotte Doyle's target was the High Table above the rules—not to become a member of the High Table, but to become one of its rulers.

Looking at the stunned John Wick, Charlotte smiled. "Iruka, take John Wick to the recovery room. He can't stay in this condition."

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