Chapter 99

Chapter 99

“You’ve been waiting a long time. Your test results are in.”
Kushan, dressed in a robe, approached with Arya’s checkup sheet. He sighed as soon as he came face to face with Kim. The look of exhaustion on his face was a bonus.
“There’s a lot to say, yes, a lot, but I’ll just say that you’re welcome.”
“What’s the status?”
“Malnourished, food poisoning, roundworms in his stomach, and judging by his development, he hasn’t eaten in a long time. In a normal person, he’d be dead.”
I wasn’t exaggerating or anything.
He’s been eating questionable mushrooms for years. For years, if not days. It makes you wonder what’s going on in his stomach.
“I’m glad to say that I don’t have any symptoms of the disease, but I’ll have to slowly modify my diet while I’m on medication.”
“Is that it?”
“Surprise, surprise.”
It was an unusual case, even for Kushan.
The forest where Arya lives has been contaminated by a catastrophe. It’s a place where wildlife, let alone humans, can’t survive.
And yet, no serious problems were found. No, I would say that my body is coping with the problem, but it’s coping well. I have a natural healing and immune system.
“Feed him well, and he’ll get better.”
“Then it’s more of a head problem.”
“……I can definitely see some underdeveloped emotional areas.”
He made a valid point, even if his tone was a bit off.
“Reading and writing are impossible. I don’t know if she learned it from her parents or someone else, but she can’t speak… but simple communication seems to be her limit.”
“I’m sorry for the headache.”
“Here we go again, I thought.”
Kushan, who said it half jokingly, half seriously, chuckled.
“That doesn’t mean we owe them an apology, because even if we’re not philanthropists, we know that those affected by the disaster need help.”
It’s a burden I can handle. Besides, I’ve heard that the Lab’s agents have also benefited from Arya’s help. It’s the least I can do to repay them.
“You’re in the same boat as Leila, after all.”
“That’s just the lab’s policy. I can’t break it.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Kushan swallowed hard at the all-knowing response. Part of her wanted to bombard him with rationalizations for why it was okay to accept Arya, but she knew it would only make him cry.
“How else are you going to educate them?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll leave that to Asterique.”
“Asterike?”
He muttered the words as if he were struggling to write them.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
A tone of open distrust. And rightly so. Since the lab’s agreement with Dustborn was signed, Kim and Chelsea have been actively involved in the lab’s activities.
Asterique has had her moments. But she doesn’t move unless Kim tells her to. The temperature difference between when she’s around and when she’s not is clear.
This attitude was well known in the lab. Asterique was more of a subordinate to Kim than a collaborator. That was the common perception among the agents.
I haven’t had any issues with it.
Kim’s rising up the ranks, and Asterique does a good enough job as long as she’s given the right direction. Drawing lines based on affiliation is something everyone does.
If anything, Kim was more sensitive than the agents.
“He needs to be able to see his surroundings a little bit.”
“I see. It must be hard for you, too.”
Kushan understood Kim’s meaning at a glance. Arya had been chosen as a springboard or something to grow Asterique. The timing was perfect, too.
People grow up when they have someone to be accountable to besides themselves.
Because so did Kim.
* * *
“I heard the news, but that…….”
Chelsea shifted her gaze, her tail between her legs. Across from her was Asterique, and to her left, some animal-eared girl clinging to her a little tighter than necessary.
“We get along great.”
“Not good at all…!”
Asterique pushes Arya’s head away in annoyance. She struggles to get one side of her head in and one side out. At this point, it almost looks like a game.
“What did you say your name was?”
“Arya is Arya.”
“Oh, I get it.”
“It’s because they’re smart.”
Your grammar sucks. He doesn’t speak much and his pronunciation is slurred. However, the meaning of the words was still conveyed well, so it was much more normal than I expected.
“I see, but why do you follow Mr. Asterike so closely?”
When I asked the question, I was met with a blank stare.
Chelsea revised in her head and asked again.
“So, what do you like about him?”
My ears perked up at something so elemental. This time, I understood. It was hard to know where to draw the line at understanding.
“God.”
“……, huh?”
“God.”
Chelsea’s brow wrinkled. What the hell is this bullshit? She glanced at Arya, but there was nothing more to say, so she turned to Asterique and demanded an explanation.
But even I shook my head.
“I don’t know, I think they just don’t know what they mean.”
“God’s a bitch.”
“That’s great, I guess you get it.”
“Well, I guess you’re a god to him as long as you feed him.”
Asterique blatantly showed her displeasure. Of course, the only reason she didn’t kick Arya’s ass was because Kim asked her to.
He’s a kid with nowhere to go, so just fit in.
Those two words were it. There were no specific instructions. Kim didn’t expect Asterique to babysit Arya’s every need.
“I can see why they put it there.
Of the three, Chelsea was the only one to notice Kim’s intentions. She’s looking forward to seeing them grow mentally as they positively influence each other.
It’s a decision that makes sense. Arya is compliant from the start, and Asterique is annoying but not pushy. Maybe they’ll warm up to each other over time.
You’ll also reflect on your own behavior.
“It’s a weird prefecture, too, with all the weird people.”
“I can really relate to that.”
Pekatum’s dependency is getting worse. An isolated princess whose only friend turns on her. This time, it’s an animal-eared woman whose mental age is estimated to be less than 10 years old.
“They say if you want to know a person, look at the people around them.
I started to wonder if there was something wrong with Kim. When I think about it, I was a troublemaker myself, doing crazy things whenever I had a chance.
“I must be the only one who’s sane.
Chelsea’s self-proclaimed “only sane person” sighed.
There was never a quiet day. Ever since Kim Yi-hyun had arrived at the house, her peace had been shattered without a trace.
“I’m ten times busier than everyone else.
A workaholic like a painting. I’ve heard that the lab’s operatives are usually pretty laid-back, but Kim tends to bring in her own work. She seems to get a little sore when she’s still.
My mind raced and I suddenly became anxious.
“Mr. Asterike. Did you hear anything from him?”
“What story?”
“I have somewhere to go, or I’m researching something.”
“No, nothing.”
It wasn’t a reassuring answer. It was more of a nuanced “I don’t know” than a “no”. Asterique’s face soon turned somber.
“I know we haven’t talked much lately, and I’ve been avoiding you a bit…….”
“Ah, well.”
“I think I’ve done something to Chapter the strings.”
“I know what’s going on, but I’m not Chapter.”
It comes down to this.
Every chapter seems to center around Kim. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. It’s a common denominator between the two of them, and Chelsea was the first to bring it up.
But we’ve been talking about it so much that it’s hard not to notice.
Asterique’s mindset is getting more and more out of whack. I’ve been agreeing with him up until now, but I thought it was worth pointing out.
“If I may be so presumptuous, Mr. Asterike, I think you should consider your boss’s position.”
“I don’t know what you mean, of course I’m thinking about it.”
“I mean, it’s not like, ‘I gotta be good so I don’t get hated,’ I’m talking about how you treat people in rap and how you get treated in return.”
He still looks confused.
Chelsea let out an audible sigh.
“You don’t feel anything for the people here, do you, Mr. Asterique, because the boss says it’s an agreement or something?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“You can’t make a big deal out of it, or people will perceive it as: ‘He’s reliable, but he’s not Asterike’. And naturally, Dustborn’s reputation would suffer.”
Just do what the strings tell you to do. It’s none of anyone else’s business…. It’s like blaming everyone else. To Chelsea, this was the ultimate in egotism.
“Right now, we’re eating every meal, we’re getting paid well, we’re getting electricity, and it’s all a fair reward for our labor, and it’s not something that’s given to us because the boss is an amazing person.”
It was so obvious. Even a child could figure it out with a little thought.
“I don’t think Mr. Asterike would know.
I’m not that stupid.
It’s just that the wandering life was too hard for her. She could barely make a meal on her own, but when Kim showed up, her life changed forever.
It’s not surprising that she values his opinion more than her own: she’s subconsciously afraid of going back to her old life.
But that’s a burden for Kim.
“It’s not like, ‘If the boss doesn’t take care of me, I can’t live, so I have to follow him,’ so if I go wrong, it’s all on him?”
Sometimes, no, often, it sucks to be on a helicopter, but that’s not something I’m going to bring up now.
“I’ll just do it because you asked me to. Imagine working together, not like this.”
“Chelsea thought they were being forced.”
“I was semi-forced into it at first, and if I didn’t like it now, I would have left a long time ago. I’m confident I could make it on my own, but I’m staying as my own doctor because I think there’s meaning in what I’m doing.”
“…….”
“Well, that’s a different story now that you mention it.”
Chelsea’s eyes softened. She gave me a concerned look, then cleared her throat.
“Asterique, you’re worth a lot on your own merits. You’re beautiful, you’re capable, you could use a little more self-esteem. If you think about it, and you decide that you want to continue to follow you, then you’ll see behaviors that need to be fixed, and I’m in the process of fixing them.”
Asterike was silent. There would be plenty to think about. She must have felt the need to change, even if it was against her will.
There was an uncomfortable silence.
Kukuk.
Arya tugged at Asterike’s sleeve. When their gazes met, she spoke up.
“Arya is hungry.”
“…… hasn’t been eaten in less than an hour.”
“I’m hungry anyway.”
“Mr. Ai, who taught you to speak like this?”
Chelsea smirked as she got up from her seat like it was no big deal. She may have been grumbling, but it didn’t seem to bother her. I wish her the best of luck.
And as an aside.
‘By the way, there’s no way he’s going to stay quiet…….’
Chelsea prayed to a god she didn’t believe in. If I get dragged into a big operation like the last one, at least the helicopter. I’ll never have to ride in a helicopter again.
* * *
Chelsea’s prediction was spot on.
“Maybe it’s time to make a move.
Kim was already planning his next move. But he was only half right. Luckily for Chelsea, she wasn’t part of the plan he had in his head.
The same goes for Asterique, who has to take care of Arya. Two, no, three of them have no or very little screen time in the main episode. It doesn’t hurt that they’re stuck in a rap.
He hadn’t intended to interfere in the scenario for a while.
The civil war in Bastitera is a challenge that the Labs would not have been able to handle on their own, so we had to get involved. There would be a series of small episodes in the future.
“Let the professor take it from here.
There’s nothing urgent to deal with right now. My surroundings are somewhat organized. It would have been nice to take a vacation, but Kim wasn’t in the mood for that.
The problem is still there.
“I’ve overhauled it, tweaked it, and it should be easier to use than before.”
“I don’t know what changed or how… but thanks.”
“Thanks, asshole, I’ll stop by often, and yes, I’ll bring you some valuable material.”
“I was going to bring something anyway.”
“Huh?”
Tamtam returned the blade and made a goofy face.
“What the heck, when did you come back to work, and you’re out of town again? Kushan’s too much.”
“Not really. I just thought I’d take a personal trip somewhere.”
“Aha, yeah. Where?”
A question I asked out of the blue, hoping there might be a solution nearby.
Kim didn’t seem to mind.
“Banjar.”
“Oh, there. I know. I’ve been on social……?”
It’s not about knowing, it’s about reacting.
“Did I hear you wrong?”
“Listen to me.”
“You’re really going?”
Kim shot him a look like he was crazy.
“This is a strange one. I guess he has four lives?”
“Same old, same old, no fuss.”
“Oh, well, it’s your choice, so what can I say?” ….”
Tsk, tsk, and click your tongue.
“I’m pretty sure I talked you out of it, so don’t blame me if you do.”
“Sure. I’ll have it serviced when I get back anyway.”
“If I can get back.”
It wasn’t for nothing. Banzar lies to the west of the continent. A place that was infamous even before the catastrophe. In some ways, it is even more infamous than Bastitera.
It is the most mercenary region on the continent.
Kim was aware of the risks, but he couldn’t afford to be idle in the lab. Of course, she won’t skip training, but there are limits.
“I can’t use helixivir every time I’m in a hurry.
Eventually, you have to raise your game. This has always been a challenge. We realized that simply increasing the number of stars would not solve the problem.
It’s time to focus on the growth of Agent Kim.