Chapter 130

Staggering to her feet, Ekidna checked her watch.
1:39 AM. It’s not breakfast, it’s more like a late lunch. In fact, I’ve been awake for more than three hours, but I’ve been lying in bed the whole time because I don’t have the energy to move.
It wasn’t a matter of conditioning, I was simply unmotivated. Ever since I arrived at the lap, I was drawn to Kim. I still didn’t know what to expect.
Go to sleep when you’re sleepy and wake up when you want.
There was nothing for her to do here. She didn’t feel like wandering around. She didn’t want to meet people. She hated the stares, even if she pretended not to.
But the stomach alarm never took a day off.
Tsk.
“I’m hungry….”
I’ve only changed my clothes. I didn’t bother to wash my face or comb my hair. I glanced at myself in the mirror on my way out the door and thought, “What the heck.” I didn’t know what to say.
No one here expects her to be decent.
It was something that was probably out of this world.
Ziying.
I staggered to the restaurant. Her stomach growled again as she smelled the sweet aroma of the demi-glace sauce. Ekidna took her food from the plate and sat down at a table in the corner.
I cut a small piece of meat and put it in my mouth.
“Delicious.”
I muttered to myself. It was a recent habit. When I locked myself in my room, my thoughts would jumble in my head and I had to talk to myself.
Life in the lab itself was not as bad as I expected. Clean facilities. Objectively good food quality. People who stare but don’t approach you.
I also have a question.
“I wonder if this is a lab.
At least there were no researchers among the patrons of this restaurant. Toned muscles visible through comfortable clothing. The gait and body language. They looked nothing but combatants.
That’s why it’s suspicious.
“What are these troops for?
Too much security is too much. To fight the Legion, as we’ve heard from Kim? Why would an institute fight a terrorist organization? To what end?
I wonder where she is in this world, but I can’t bring myself to ask. Echidna betrayed her, and she was used at the same time.
I’m not organized yet.
“Uh, is it okay if I sit here?”
Gaze up at the popular chuck.
There were two men and a woman holding plates. I checked the man who approached me first. I don’t know if it’s the first time or not. Maybe we’ve met before in passing.
But Ekidna didn’t remember the agents unless they had some sort of distinctive appearance. She hadn’t bothered to look in the first place.
Both were only normal if they were unfamiliar.
In reality, the man was unmemorable.
On the other hand, it was different for women.
“Shh, shh, shh?”
It was a familiar face.
It’s more of an acquaintance than a relationship. The adopted daughter of a major mafia family boss from Ekidna’s hometown. I heard she was missing, but why is she here?
“Who?”
Sheilao shook her head. He didn’t recognize her, even though he’d seen her a few times at parties.
It was not unreasonable. In his memories, Xue Rao always had her head down, and he had even felt a sense of identification with her at the time.
The question is, how do you introduce yourself?
Can you call a mafia a mafia without an organization?
“……No.”
In the end, I had no choice but to play it safe.
The man, Turkam, looked back and forth between Shay and Ekidna. He paused to consider their relationship, then dismissed it. He didn’t really care about their past.
“Excuse me, I thought I had your permission.”
Turkam sat down across from Ekidna. Shay naturally filled the seat next to him. As is always her way, she begins scooping soup without a word.
“…Do you need me to do something, there’s plenty of room.”
Ekidna was clearly uncomfortable. Turkam hesitated for a moment, wondering if he had approached her inappropriately. But backing down now would only lead to more misunderstandings.
I’m not doing this out of spite. I have a real purpose.
“Uh, isn’t that the guy you brought in?”
“Team Leader?”
“Hyun. Named Kim Yi-hyun.”
You get a strange look on your face. I knew it, so of course it was the right answer.
“I heard you were in Banjar, and I’d like to hear about what happened there – what did you do, who did you fight, how did you fight, etc.”
“Why don’t you ask me?”
“You didn’t give us enough details so we’re going to use….”
It’s more a matter of perspective.
Turkam was less interested in what happened in Banjar than in how Kim behaved – how he performed through the eyes of others.
“I’m going to use that for something.”
A blunt question. Shay answered for him.
“Turkam likes you.”
“Is that ……?”
“Don’t be silly, you’re misunderstanding…!”
“Wrong, so you don’t like it?”
“No. Why are people so extreme?”
Turkam sighed at the questioning glances. He glanced around needlessly. As he had checked earlier, there was no sign of Kim in the restaurant.
“Personally, well, um. I think he’s a great guy, yeah. I mean, everybody has something to look up to, and sometimes it’s not one, sometimes it’s two, sometimes it’s three….”
Gibberish. It was disorganized, but the message was simple.
Turkam looks up to Kim. The man who fought in Bastitera, his hands shaking with blood, and didn’t run away. He fought until he was exhausted.
As someone who’s been watching since Operation Ashbelt, it’s hard not to admire.
“I’m sure you already know this, but… he’s an easy man to hate, because he’s willing to do terrible things, but he’s not exactly a psychopath.”
“…….”
“If you look at the way he treats people in the lab, he’s just a normal guy. He does whatever he thinks is necessary, and that’s not easy.”
People with normal sensibilities and morals often make cruel choices. Turkam, who was initially repulsed by the idea, now realizes. It takes an absurd amount of willpower.
Ekidna listened in silence. A question grew in her heart.
“What does he want to do in the end?
If Kim had a big, clear goal that he could call a vision, and he was working toward it, what would that vision look like?
I wonder if it will crumble as badly as mine did. If not, then…….
Ekidna wondered about that.
* * *
“Well, that’s a problem.”
Within 10 minutes of entering Kilikia, I realized the gravity of the situation. I didn’t even have time to feel the nostalgia of returning after a long absence.
Kim stopped and looked up at the board.
On May 15, another allegation arose against Chief of Police Allen Iver, who was quickly arrested on suspicion of illegal drug trafficking.
According to a statement released by Rep. Johanna Feltner, the suspect paid the congressional clerk for help with an unauthorized investigation…….
Allen Iver.
He’s the deputy chief of police who cleaned up the No Face case, and he’s the chief of police. The promotion was surprising enough, but it seemed to have led to a downward spiral.
“Mr. Boss, I think this is more serious than I thought.”
“Oh, yeah. What the hell happened.”
It wasn’t just the riot police.
The lawmaker pointed out the connection between the parliament and the security forces. It’s illegal drugs, it’s Nabal, it’s political infighting. Illegal investigation? You can label it anything.
The Council and the Guard have always been closely linked, and the relationship between Kilikia Council, Dustborne, and the Guard is not an independent organization.
So.
The fact that they attacked the rangers was a sign that the councils were biting each other, and by the looks of it, it was Dustborne’s clients who were being torn to shreds.
“I’m going to get in trouble if I leave it alone.
There is a strong possibility that Dustborn’s one and only home will be blown to smithereens. And that’s not all. I wouldn’t be surprised if they all got arrested under the bastardized “illegal investigation” frame.
“You deserve an SOS.
The source of the information was Dustborn, not Kushan’s spies. To be precise, Kushan picked up the helpline call from Dustborn and transferred it to Kushan. The pre-established contacts had worked.
I didn’t take any chances and went straight to the office.
“It’s been a year since I’ve been here, and I haven’t stopped by in a while.
Kilikia was always a bustling city. Not so much that Edwin, a peasant, would complain of a slight stomach ache as he made his way through the forest of buildings.
Judging from Asterike’s past reactions to him, I don’t know if it’s a Pecatum quirk or something, but it’s more like he’s excited to have Ainoa around.
You drive through the busy streets and arrive at the office. The familiar faces greeted the traveling boss, who had skipped his regular report and moved offices.
“Welcome, Hyun…!”
“How long has it been, I almost forgot your face.”
Bryce and Jenna.
They didn’t look much different than they did a year ago. They were just a little more grizzled, and more than that, they looked tired. With their client, Congress, in the shitter, it must have been hard enough.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s been a while. How’s Pep?”
“They’re out there, circling the streets, gathering information.”
Jenna nodded in response.
Next, I scanned the office. There were four faces I hadn’t seen before, besides the original members. When our gazes met, each of them stiffened and bent at the waist.
“New.
I’ve heard from regular reports through the lab that they’ve expanded their staff a few months ago. They expanded their staff a few months ago, and they’ve been doing a good job of fulfilling orders, so they’ve been able to keep up.
Money that was legitimately earned from the lab agreement went into the company coffers. I took money from various sources, but I didn’t outright embezzle it.
‘I don’t know who they are, but….’
I gave him a quick wave. Now was not the time for newcomers.
“Let’s start with the explanation. How did you get that little shit in your pants?”
* * *
It’s human nature to form groups and oppose each other. Even a classroom of teenagers is divided into cliques if you look closely enough, and how much more so are the political institutions that govern a city.
Not surprisingly, there are many factions in the Kilikia Council.
However, during his previous stint in Kilikia, Kim had treated the parliament as a single body. He hadn’t bothered with the thorny issue of institutional factions and conflicts.
They were able to do so because the people behind Kavack – the Dustborne-connected staffer – were a mainstream faction in Congress. They didn’t bring politics to the table.
“That’s in the past.”
Bryce spat out in a bitter tone. It was awkward to see him sipping coffee instead of alcohol. The Bryce she remembered was a hard-boiled man who carried a bottle of rum on his arm.
‘Well. I’ve never been one to drink on the job.’
He’s one of the best, most sane people I’ve ever met. I felt comfortable leaving the Kilikia chapter in Bryce’s hands, and he did a great job for a year.
“It’s a bit too much, so to speak.”
“Dustborn?”
“No. Congress.”
He gave a brief overview of the past year.
“It was the Year of the Purge, and Parliament wielded the hilt of the no-face case to its fullest extent. Every day, officials and businessmen were arrested and put on trial, and we all know what the verdicts were.”
“That would have been Outlaw.”
Bryce nodded in affirmation.
“It wasn’t even a problem per se. The moment you’re labeled an outlaw, whatever connections or financial resources you may have had are gone, and no one can defend you unless you appeal.”
That’s the law of Kilikia. Strict laws keep the city in order. To keep the city from turning into a lawless zone with so many outsiders pouring in.
But too much control breeds backlash.
“The Paneros partisans connected to us were running amok, and the council’s power was strengthened. We’ve certainly gotten a lot more publicity, but the problem is that we’ve gone too far.”
A heavy sigh escaped me.
“No politician is clean,” he says, “and Congress felt threatened by the collapse of the companies they’d unwittingly supported. The Paneros partisans were thoroughly isolated.”
“And what have you accomplished so far?”
“That’s politics.”
“Funny.”
While the Paneros faction was gaining influence in the outside world, there were secret meetings inside the parliament, and together they began to push out the old mainstream faction….
It can be summarized in one word: lost in politics.
The person who made the statement was probably a member of Congress. The fact that someone of that stature is speaking out is a pretty good indication of how unfavorable the situation is.
“What’s going on with Kavek?”
“There’s a lot of stirring in the Council, and he’s a middle manager after all, so he’s probably getting hit here and there. We’ve been told to be careful with each other, not to reveal any connections to the Council or the Guard, but that’s not easy.”
“Are you in touch?”
“Yeah. Well, if we pretend to be crazy and rush in, it won’t be without consequences for them, so it’s kind of like a community of destiny.”
A mercenary company that accepts direct commissions independent of law enforcement. On a scale between legal and illegal, they’re on the edge of illegal. With a little manipulation, they can appear as vicious as any underworld force.
It’s no exaggeration to call it a community of destiny.
“Is this a serious situation?”
“As you can see. Even the captain of the guard is in the cell.”
“I’ll have to use my hands.”
At this rate, the Kilikia chapter is really going to fly. While this won’t interfere with our agreement with Celbrox Labs, it will make it harder for us to identify as “Dustborn’s Yi Hyun Kim”.
‘Actually, it’s been kind of vague all along.
A company unknown even in Kilikia due to the nature of its work. There’s no way they’d have any name recognition in a foreign country. Even in Banzar, he was mistaken for an agent of the Cellbrossix Labs until the end.
But.
“Maybe it’s an opportunity.
A chance for the dustbones to come out on the sunny side.
Already, the name “Hyun” has begun to spread through his work in Bastitera. There’s no reason to keep Dustborn as a hole-in-the-wall when you’re making an impact as an individual.
“Hyun, any breakthroughs?”
Bryce asked, hanging on for dear life. He was a mercenary. He’d been a cop all his life, but he’d never known how to interfere in a political faction’s confrontation.
“Well….”
It was the same for Kim. His only past experience with politics was at school and work. It was on a different scale, and he didn’t actively socialize with others.
But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a way.
“Anything goes.”
“Hmm?”
Bryce’s eyes widened in confusion. Kim turned her head to look behind her. Chelsea, Asterique, Arya, and Edwin were sprawled out on the couch.
And a woman standing apart from the four of you like a remote island. When their eyes meet, she immediately looks away. No matter how chic I tried to look, I couldn’t get through to her.
“Ekidna. Did you hear everything?”
“De, you hear? What?”
“No bullshit.”
Kim giggled as she twisted her hair into a bun.
“I’m not sure why you insisted on following me.”
Ekidna joined Kilikia of her own accord. Whether it was a trigger or the passage of time. We don’t know, but it was clear that she had a change of heart.
In other words, as of today, Mentally Broken Woman has been replaced by Worker A.
“If you’re here, you should be working, right?”
It’s time to see the former mafia boss in action.