Chapter 173

Dustborne Corporation, company break room.
The sound of chatter and the grinding of coffee grinders. There’s even the sound of a game that goes bang, bang, bang. In a space full of life, there was one table that seemed to be the odd one out.
“…….”
“…….”
The silence is heavy. Roscoe moistened his dry throat with saliva. He didn’t back down, even as he broke out in a cold sweat.
“How much will it be?”
“What?”
“I’ll pay you!”
I said, my eyes narrowing.
“Just one game, why not just one event match?”
“He asked me to meet him out of the blue, and I said something, and he said….”
“That’s how serious you are about this!”
His fists balled into fists and his enthusiasm was palpable. Asterique sighed at his overbearing demeanor. Her excitement over her new acquaintance had long since faded.
“I’m going to be really honest with you.”
He unclenched his arms in frustration, then pointed a finger at Roscoe. It wasn’t a scolding, but rather a heartfelt piece of advice.
“First of all, that. It doesn’t really go with the suit.”
“Oh, come on, everyone says it’s perfect.”
“I said the wrong thing. It’s so tight, it’s like the mafia.”
“…Me?”
“Yeah. You look like you’d make me want to pelt you with snow if we ran into each other on the street.”
His rugged appearance reminds me of a bandit or gangster. He’s bulked up from a recent workout, and his black suit gives him an underworld smell.
Roscoe’s head dropped heavily at the weighty fact.
“Huh. I always knew you had an easily misunderstood face, but I can’t believe Miss Asterike would say that about you….”
“Huh? Why would I. Do I look bad?”
“No, no. You’re not as used to it as I am. To the mafia or whatever.”
“Isn’t that what Roscoe did, too? For your information.”
He snorted and threw up his hands.
“When are we talking about enemies? Besides, those gnomes in Ulantz were a bunch of ruffians, acting like kings in their own little corner of the world, which is funny now that I think about it.”
“That too.”
Asterique agrees one hundred percent. “I realize that the men who seemed so terrifying at the time were nothing more than the rural mafia… a bunch of civic thugs. I’ve forgotten their names over the years.
And he’s not wrong when he says he’s more familiar than Roscoe.
“The mafia I know dresses really well, so Roscoe is more mafia than mafia. He’s going to have to start thinking about marriage soon, and he’s going to have to keep it under control.”
“Ehey, I don’t think so. I can’t even make a living on my own, let alone get married.”
“That’s why you have to have more assumptions, it’s a crutch.”
Roscoe was momentarily stunned.
“Gee. Seems like just yesterday you were getting your wallet ripped off for being a jerk….”
“Those were the days.”
A fleeting smile tugged at the corners of Asterique’s mouth, as if wistfully remembering the past. There was almost a kind of grace in the way she bit down on the straw in her tumbler.
Well, that was a fleeting moment.
“…Ew! What is this, why are you doing this?”
“You ordered an espresso.”
“Is this what it’s supposed to taste like? Why am I drinking this?”
“Why did you order something you don’t understand?”
“There’s something about the name, I’ve always wondered about it.”
“Come on, put some sugar in it.”
He sticks out his tongue and makes a pained, “Ugh,” sound. Roscoe smiled wryly. They say people die when they suddenly change, but Asterique was still the same.
It was a huge relief.
“Whatever! Can’t you just make one appearance?”
“Why do you keep doing that to me, it’s just a season’s worth of crap.”
“That one season was so sensational.”
I wasn’t exaggerating or anything.
In just one season, Asterique has become an instant star. She has a legion of fans waiting for her.
The longer he stayed in Kilikia, the more Roscoe realized. how rare a player like Asterique was. Even in a league with all kinds of talent, he was a unique star.
“I’m not saying you should return to the regular league, because this is more important to you, but it’s going to be hard to fill the roster, and the fans will be disappointed if you drop out. ….”
“So you want me to run event matches?”
“Exactly!”
The temperature difference between the two was significant.
The more Roscoe pushed, the harder he pushed, the cooler Asterike became. It was annoying and frustrating in more ways than one.
“Roscoe is only thinking about making money by selling me.”
I said it in a joking tone, but it was also sincere. I thought we were friends, even though there was a big age gap, but every time he showed his greed, it made me feel a little bit uncomfortable.
Now you’re panicking and trying to cover your ass again.
I was trying to draw a repertoire of clichés.
“Yeah, well, I’m not without my ulterior motives.”
Roscoe’s overly sparkling eyes calmed.
“By the way, this may be my own greed, but I’d like you to think differently.”
“Varied? Like what.”
“How I’m going to live my life.”
Roscoe looked around the common room slowly.
“I’ve been here a few times, and it’s always amazing. Why, no, it’s not. Who would have thought that a company that used to share a single office like a third-rate mobster could be so big in a few years.”
The space was an intuitive representation of Dustborn’s growth. The space is larger than the previous office and is used as a welfare facility. We’ve grown from a hole-in-the-wall to a full-fledged office.
“Did I mention Whitefang? I heard you referenced that break room a lot.”
“I’ve only heard about that. I’ve never been there, so I don’t know.”
“Well, that’s not proof that you’ve been running hard, anyway.”
Asterike thought about it for a moment.
Kim has an ambitious goal. He won’t fail. It’s not a blind faith that Hyun can do anything. Asterique will take him to his destination.
Not Chelsea, not Edwin, not Ekidna, not anyone but himself.
Kim believes in him and those who believe in him are supporting him.
“But I’m not going to run forever.”
Your journey will eventually come to an end.
“Maybe I’ll take a couple years off, maybe my brother will say he can’t do it anymore and kick me out. This is not the end of the world.”
Just as Rothko, who lived in information, got a new life. Just as Asterike’s wandering life changed when she met Kim Yi Hyun. In the future, we will encounter another inflection point.
“I don’t want you to get too stuck in, I want you to do something different every once in a while, to get a taste of life, so that when you’re done with everything you’ve ever done, you don’t feel empty.”
A perspective I’d never considered. It was something I had to think about deeply, and I was curious at the same time. What kind of life would she live after fulfilling her purpose?
“I’m like, ‘Well, the world is going to end, so what are you talking about?”
“I don’t think so.”
Unexpectedly.
Asterike was unimpressed by the changes the Cataclysm had wrought on the continent; to her, the world was a harsh place to begin with.
Direct threats were easier to deal with than social issues like poverty or racism. You can’t get away from the Pekatum, but burning paracite will kill you.
Asterique was another one who was worn out.
Roscoe laughed bitterly at the stoic expression.
“The world sucks, so I’m going to make the most of it until the end, and that’s my goal in life right now, to be able to close my eyes one day and say, ‘I had a good time.
“It’s called a yolo.”
“That’s something my dad used to say….”
He nervously pulls out his business card and hands it over.
“Think about it at your leisure.”
Asterique took the business card and studied it.
Roscoe Drucker, Manager, Paruparu Management.
Woohoo!
Just then, the device on the table vibrated.
“Oh no. Excuse me for a second.”
Roscoe puts his phone to his ear and walks away. It’s not even a video call, and he’s fidgeting. Asterique blinked, watching the typical salaryman’s behavior.
What a long tongue…….
* * *
Gemma Putty’s personal request took a more official twist. A search for a missing septic tank. Connecting with the council made for a pretty picture.
But it doesn’t have any unnecessary bumps.
Normally, this would have required the presence of law enforcement, but Dustborn is authorized to act autonomously. There’s nothing wrong with having only Dustborn personnel in the area.
In other words, you’re just doing regular operations.
The vehicle slipped outside the outer walls of Kilikia. The city was definitely messier than it used to be. There were signs of people coming and going regularly.
“At least the bodies aren’t rolling around.”
“Of course they cleaned it up.”
“How many people do you think died during the cleanup?”
“I don’t know. I could give you stats if I wanted to, but….”
Kim snorted as he got behind the wheel for some reason.
“I don’t like it.”
Few cities are as strong as Kilikia, but it’s not without its problems. But it’s better that way. If a catastrophe had struck the city, it would have been a living hell.
“I want this because it’s a lot of luck.
You never know when or where disaster will strike. The continent is big. There are small and medium-sized catastrophes happening somewhere right now that aren’t mentioned in the game.
‘Even if it was in the game, it would be warped.’
The end goal is to end the scourge, but there’s nothing we can do about it right now. The only thing you can do of direct significance is to send a sample of the parasite to the lab. The scope of the individual’s hand is very limited.
But it will get better. It will get better.
Lest your best-built fences come crashing down in disastrous absurdity.
“Until then, I can’t die of injustice.
Right or wrong, it’s time to take care of the people around you.
Just as Congress tries to protect the city in its own way.
“Hmm.
Kim glanced over at Chelsea in the passenger seat. She rested her arms on the window sill, her jaw clenched. Her eyes gazed out at the view, and her frustration was evident.
Chelsea felt the stares and spoke up.
“How do you think I should treat him?”
“Your brother?”
“There’s him, and there’s the other one.”
He didn’t seem to want to call me father, even in death.
“I get it.”
I’m sorry, but this is the only advice I can give. It’s not a matter of sticking my nose into other people’s business, and my own family relationships are far too dysfunctional to have a dog.
“Just do what you want to do.”
“Should I help you?”
“If you want to help, you help.”
“What if he gets Chapter and kicks your ass?”
“Then I’ll take care of it so you don’t have to talk about it.”
The same bland tone as always. Chelsea didn’t realize it was a clumsy pep talk.
“Heh. Thanks.”
A laugh like a deflated balloon. Chelsea suddenly realized something: When she thought about it, she hadn’t really gone to Kim for help with anything personal.
Of course, working at Dustborne improved my quality of life, but it wasn’t by grace. Chelsea was naturally polished, and she knew how to take charge of my life.
There was no reason to be as blind to Kim as Asterike was. He didn’t owe her anything. Maybe he was treating her like a friend because he subconsciously saw her as an equal.
It would be a shame if this changed the relationship.
And.
There was a figure in the conversation who kept her mouth shut. It was trainee Leone. Sandwiched between the president and the founding members, she felt like she was sitting on a thorny seat.
“Why am I here?
When I first met him, he insisted that I take him with me, but that was before I realized the scale of Dustborn. Now he knows the gap between them and himself.
I was in the position of having to choose,
So I kind of followed along.
“Ma, I can’t talk.
It didn’t seem like the kind of position a trainee would want to take…….
Leone fidgeted in the strange air currents.
“Almost there.”
Base camp at the septic tank was just around the corner.