Chapter 51

The three of them, including Kim, left the hideout. Chelsea and Asterique left the ruins and watched the car drive through the wasteland.
The car quickly became invisible.
“Gone.”
Chelsea opened her mouth and yawned. Two days in a helicopter had taken its toll on her body and mind. Her body was sore all over.
‘Don’t get burned again.
It was torture for her. For Chelsea, who is afraid of heights and flying, it’s a round trip after all, so she’ll have to get back on the plane on the way home…. I try not to think about it now.
She blinked away a tear that had escaped from a yawn and glanced to the side. The look on Asterike’s face made her think.
“He’s so easy to get to know.
He doesn’t pout his lips, but his expression is visibly stiffened. You can tell that he’s offended.
“Loosen up your expression, Mr. Asterike.”
“…Chelsea doesn’t care?”
“What, you fly us in on a helicopter, and then you come out and leave us behind?”
Asterike was silent. She didn’t need any explanation, for he had pinpointed the reason for her displeasure.
“Well, it pisses me off, but I’m doing it, so I guess I’m getting used to it.”
“How is that possible?”
“Why not, he’s always been like that, he’s got all these ideas and plans in his head, he just doesn’t tell anyone else.”
A shallow snort escaped.
“Oh, he’s a secretive guy.”
How much I know and how far I’m willing to go. Where and how Kim has spent his life…….
We don’t know anything. And yet, Chelsea is following Kim. She’s being dragged along half by force each time, but the other half is of her own volition.
On acting with Kim Yi Hyun. Whenever I’m given an instruction, I feel a strange sensation: ‘I have to do it’, ‘I can do it’.
Feeling like you’re a cog in a huge machine. A premonition that if I don’t function, something will break.
I didn’t hate it.
“I wonder if this is some kind of charisma.
It was a much-needed sensation for Chelsea, who had been without a goal for so long. She’s not the only one. There are plenty of people out there waiting for someone to show them the way.
It was a good match for Asterique. The problem is that it’s a bit overdone.
“I’m not cursing, so don’t take this the wrong way.”
The golden eyes stared at her, urging her to say something. Chelsea chose the words in her head and opened her mouth.
“Mr. Asterike, he’s too blind, look at him now, his face is full of frustration because he fell for a second.”
You’re relying on them beyond trust. You may not have said it out loud, but you didn’t say it out loud. The nuance was enough to convey it.
“I don’t know how you guys got to know each other or… I don’t know the history of it, but I don’t think it’s a pretty relationship, to say the least.”
Asterique understood Chelsea’s point. He even agreed.
After I understood everything, I replied.
“I’m just saying that because I don’t know.”
The tone was quiet. His usual bubbly demeanor was nowhere to be seen. Despite his obvious physical appearance, Chelsea suddenly felt that Asterique had matured beyond recognition.
“I’ve been away from home for maybe three years now, and I’ve only known Hyun for half a year. In the other two and a half years, how do you think I’ve been living?”
“That’s…….”
Pecatum has no one to turn to. The struggles of a mutant out of the pack were predictable. Chelsea’s life hasn’t been easy either, but not nearly as much as Asterique’s.
“I’ve done everything from construction work, to mining, to cleaning sewage plants. I’ve never been paid a decent wage. If I made 10,000 or 20,000 a day, I was happy all day, and if I didn’t, I’d starve… and sleep in an empty warehouse or in a trunk.”
Back then, lodging was the cheapest thing in the world. Uncontaminated food was scarce, but a place to lie down was plentiful.
Food was always an issue. Even as I was solving one meal, I was worried about the next.
Once, he even roasted a monster’s carcass before giving up out of hunger. The story of the man who went mad after eating the beast was famous among the vagabonds.
“I don’t often think, ‘Why me?’ I’ve seen people on construction sites, in mines, in sewage treatment plants, and I’ve seen my own people a few times. They all have similar struggles.”
No one is different. Catastrophe or poverty. There is no one in this world who can live without a single worry or anxiety. Asterique had always believed that.
Chelsea or Kim would have been the same.
She knew nothing of their past. But she could tell by the way they acted and talked that they hadn’t had an easy life.
“It was hard for me, too.”
Asterike looked out over the wasteland in the distance. Tire tracks crunched in the snow.
“I was crying because it was so hard, and then something even harder happened, and then Hyun came along.”
I can picture it clearly.
At first, I actually thought she was even more condescending than Pavoni. She’d come to me while I was in a dizzying state of mind and told me that she was going to use me… Mani… that kind of thing.
I never thought this would happen.
“Not having to be homeless. To have clean clothes to wear. Eating real food every day, not dried meat or dog food. I owe it all to the strings that saved me.”
His exhale was a small shudder.
“So… I need to be useful to Hyun.”
Chelsea paused for a moment and thought about it.
“I know what you’re thinking, and I’m sorry I said that.”
“It’s okay, I didn’t know.”
Now that I know, I should be careful what I say. I muttered to myself, “Indeed. Asterike was not as innocent as she seemed.
“Still, useless, you wouldn’t think so.”
Kim wasn’t a cold-blooded man who saw himself as a long-term employee. He had common sense, humanity, and was generous to his teammates. At least as far as Chelsea was concerned.
Let’s just say the difference between on and off is extreme.
While he’s comfortable with mischief and mischief-making, he’s a man of rationality when it comes to operations. It’s a trait he needs to lead others.
“Yeah. I know that.”
Agreeing, Asterike continued.
“It’s just my greed. I want to be more important to Hyun.”
“……Kolok! Oh, um. Right.”
She chuckled at Chelsea’s shaky response.
“Why? Is that weird?”
“No, I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t embarrassed to say it….”
“Should I be ashamed?”
He looked genuinely confused. Chelsea fidgeted with her hands, avoiding eye contact. My face burned unnecessarily.
“Whatever! I meant it’s nothing to get too worked up about.”
Chelsea calmed down and let out a big breath.
“I’m sorry for Mr. Asterique, but as you say, there’s a great risk of being found out, and the work we do is important. Besides, I’d rather be here.”
You shifted your thinking. We did what we always do.
“It’s a honey-do – this is it.”
* * *
The sound of a breakaway exhaust. The freight car pulled from the hideout approached the Atlanta border. Through the windshield, I could see the border checkpoint.
“Wake up and get ready.”
Kim took one last look at her attire. A ragged cloak covered her body. She sniffed her nose and smelled a foul odor.
The other two did the same. Turkam fiddled with his cloak awkwardly, then cast his gaze to the empty seats. Between the seats was a pistol with a safety on.
“I guess guns are dangerous after all….”
“No, we’re going this way. It feels more unnatural to be unarmed.”
Being a merchant doesn’t mean you have to be neat and tidy. Rather, the rough edges had to stand out.
A peddler, fearlessly traversing a wasteland where monsters roam, buying and selling goods. That’s the setup Kim had in mind.
As you crossed the straight road, a barrier blocked your entry. We stopped and waited. Two men emerged from the guard posts on the left and right.
“Where are you from?”
“Oh no. They’re coming from the next country over there, the Vedas.”
Turkham rolled down the window and stuck his head out of the driver’s seat. He’s a good actor. It was another talent that didn’t show up in his stats.
“Through the wasteland? For what reason?”
A searching glance shoots out. Kim answered for me.
“Even in a world like this, you have to interact, especially with alcohol and cigarettes, because they all have different flavors. Life is short, and you have to enjoy it.”
“Exchange.”
“Yeah. We’re traveling around with that in mind. Well, with a little margin along the way, because we’re not exactly philanthropists.”
The man nodded, as if that made sense. He exchanged a glance with his coworker, then spoke.
“Please exit the vehicle. We’ll check your vehicle.”
The forceful demeanor of not taking no for an answer, especially the two-handed rifle. His uniform is emblazoned with the symbol of the Atlanta Border Patrol.
“Get out of the car, please.”
The second instruction. It sounded like a final warning.
“You’re being mean.”
Kim dismounted, seemingly unconcerned. Turkam and Westcreek followed.
“Do as you please. I’ve got your passport, too.”
A passport. Even as she said it to herself, she felt awkward. Kilikia was a place where you could walk in naked and still not be allowed to enter, so I didn’t need a passport.
But it’s usually different. They’re naturally wary of outsiders. Especially when it’s a country like Atlanta, where things have been running smoothly.
“It’s definitely more comfortable.
The agreement with the lab solved a number of problems.
Of course, I could have gotten a passport with my Kilikia identity, but my name was not “Kim Yi Hyun from Kilikia.
A prefecture in the neighboring country of Vedas. An identity forged for you by Kushan.
“Take a look.”
The man jerked, and the other started rummaging through the car. Not just the trunk, but the seats. Sure enough, a gun was found in plain view.
“Is this the ‘exchange’ you were talking about?”
“Self-defense, self-defense. The road is dangerous.”
“……Hmm.”
The man looked troubled. Aside from a pistol, there’s nothing wrong with him. The trunk was piled high with trinkets of all sorts.
A commodity that’s not essential to life. That’s what makes it money.
“Okay, I’ll give you permission to enter, but the situation in the country has been pretty chaotic lately, which is why I’m armed like this.”
“Is it terrorism or something?”
“Yeah. What.”
The man with the pale smile added.
“I think we should accompany you, we can’t risk endangering our valuable guests.”
He was speaking in a friendly tone, but he still hadn’t put down his gun. There was a blatant sense of pressure as he took a step closer.
‘You’re no ordinary soldier, no matter how you look at it.
There was no sign of fighting at the border checkpoint. This is not to say that the information was false. The Legion had simply breached somewhere along the border, rather than going straight through.
‘And we’re sending people to control the border….’
Information was also largely blocked. The information that did reach Kushan was sparse, which explains the delay.
Kim was certain. Atlanta was now completely in Legion’s hands.