Chapter 39
Harriet admired the scene.
“Anschel, your skills are quite good.”
“Not as good as yours, Sunbae.”
“I’m useless without water though.”
“No, I mean your original ability, Sunbae.”
The ability to manipulate water and have the appearance of a merman was, after all, an acquired ability. Harriet could have continued to hold the title of youngest ability user if Ender hadn’t broken the record at age nine. Harriet rolled his pale white eyes to look at Ender.
How did Ender know about that…
Harriet smiled very kindly. But he didn’t particularly want to say anything. Harriet didn’t dwell on the past.
Yes, Harriet didn’t want or wish for anything. That’s why he neither coveted the merman abilities that came to him easily, nor yearned for his original abilities that had disappeared in vain.
Harriet was, true to his appearance, an extremely white, blank-slate kind of person. With his eyes closed and a small smile, Harriet didn’t belong on a battlefield. As Harriet slightly lowered his eyes, his white eyelashes covered his white pupils.
“Why don’t you forgive him now?”
“He insulted you, Sunbae.”
“I don’t really mind…”
“I hate it, Sunbae.”
Ender whispered as if throwing a childish tantrum. He knew Harriet was weak to his whining. Harriet stroked Ender’s hair as he brought his face against Harriet’s shoulder like a cat.
Harriet looked down at Delta with a troubled smile. Delta, who had been caught by Anschel and was curled up, gasped for breath with a face frozen in fear and pain. And with trembling eyes, he met Harriet’s empty pupils.
Frightening, terrifying. That man was truly a monster.
He wore an expression that showed complete indifference whether a person died or a fight broke out and the surroundings were thrown into chaos. As always, he only smiled faintly. His surroundings were filled with emptiness.
‘I must be crazy…!’
He shouldn’t have come into this den of monsters. The continuous fear and pain caused adrenaline to be secreted, temporarily numbing the pain. That’s when Delta could see Ender’s expression clearly.
Delta’s eyes became somewhat dazed as he looked at Ender.
“You… you’re not really going to kill me, are you? If you kill me… my uncle.”
Delta thought this despite having one ear completely torn off. He admitted his words were harsh, but didn’t think they were worth dying over. Many people in this world lived with thorns in their mouths, but not all of them could be killed.
It was established by law. Of course, during the war, the constitution had changed several times, and as society shifted to military rule, soldiers gained the right to shoot subordinates who committed insubordination by disobeying orders. But that was only when there was disobedience.
“That old man probably sent you expecting you might die.”
Ender got up from the sofa, approached Delta, knelt on one knee, and whispered softly.
In fact, Ender needed something from Delta. It was the experimental video of Harriet Alster. That unethical thing was so deeply classified that even Ender couldn’t obtain it.
Harriet had said it was nothing special, but there was a reason it was so confidential. Ender McGuire thought himself to be the person who should rightfully know everything about Harriet Alster.
“By killing you, he’ll be able to somewhat anticipate and respond to my plans. That old bastard is like that.”
So he could sacrifice his son, Alcita Maxim.
And Ender had two reasons to kill Delta Maxim. One was because Delta Maxim had seen the experimental videos being performed on Harriet. Ender had no intention of sparing anyone who had seen that.
The second was that Delta Maxim was more of a worm than expected and had touched Harriet. Those worms dared to recognize the uncut gem and showed great interest in his beautiful sunbae.
Those shit flies who didn’t know their place wanted to use his sunbae. That was a luxury among luxuries for those who couldn’t understand how beautiful he was.
Before Ender could use his ability to burst Delta’s head, Delta’s movement was faster. Delta, exhibiting superhuman strength in the face of death, screamed and pushed his ability to its limit. It was a high-pitched sound close to a shockwave.
Thanks to this, Anschel’s eardrum burst and blood dripped down. His head throbbed with pain, causing Anschel to stagger and release his grip. His head was spinning and stars flickered before his eyes.
Unlike Ender, who was able to spread wind to Harriet and himself with his ability to mitigate the shockwave, Anschel missed the moment to defend himself.
While Ender was briefly distracted taking care of Harriet, Delta Maxim struck Anschel in the solar plexus and fled outside.
“Cough!”
Before they could catch him, Delta was seen running like a rat and getting into a car. It was an amazing speed, even if it was in the face of death.
“Cough, cough!”
As Anschel, who had both a burst eardrum and a blow to his solar plexus, was coughing, Angela approached. She must have had eardrums of steel like her body was said to be made of steel. Angela rubbed her ear canal as if she had just listened to music that was a bit too loud.
“Did he get away?”
They could have caught him if they chased right away, but Harriet slightly blocked and smiled.
“He’s just a kid, let’s leave him be. He seems quite frightened…”
Harriet said, holding up Delta’s severed ear. Ender hesitated for a moment, then unable to refuse his sunbae’s words, sighed and sat down beside him. He closed his eyes and, as if whining, slightly rested his face on Harriet’s shoulder, inhaling and savoring Harriet’s scent.
Anschel, catching his breath, was relieved that the situation had been resolved and tried to drag away the bodyguard’s corpse. Then he suddenly realized something very important.
“Umm… Colonel.”
“??”
Ender, leaning on Harriet, didn’t even glance at Anschel. But Anschel felt too uneasy and peculiar to stop speaking.
“…You told Delta Maxim that I would become president, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then that information will be relayed to President Dante, right?”
“I suppose so.”
“…Then what happens to me?”
Anschel briefly went blank before coming back to himself.
To explain in more detail, Delta Maxim heard that Anschel would be a presidential candidate. And he escaped from here alive. The president will learn that Anschel, whom he planted as a spy, is running as a presidential candidate. Then Anschel Lee would not be safe even if he turned to dust.
“You’ll die. Before you can even run.”
Ender spoke with a nonchalant face, and Anschel saw a black hole behind him. Anschel’s soul, escaping into the black hole, cursed at Ender, ‘You’re fucking, you cause trouble and then, fuck, ah, fuck!’ but it didn’t reach him.
Anschel, whose soul had left and returned, shook his head several times to regain his senses. If he didn’t pull himself together, he wouldn’t be able to survive in this harsh world.
Despite appearing so nonchalant, Ender McGuire was a person who had never failed at anything he set his mind to. He always achieved victory even in battles that seemed impossible. Anschel was attracted to that aspect of him and stayed by his side. The reason he could keep the aide position he had considered quitting several times was because of a certain trust.
Ender McGuire surely wouldn’t have taken the risk of letting Delta Maxim live just because of his sunbae’s request.
…No, he might have.
Anschel raised his hand and scratched off the blood stuck to his ear. Crackle, the dried blood fell down. When he tilted his head, blood flowed out again, suggesting it was seriously damaged. There had been a ringing in his ears and a muffled feeling like a barrier had formed.
He could hear Angela’s voice approaching, but not clearly. It was his own fault for underestimating Delta Maxim’s ability.
“Are you okay? Shouldn’t we go to the hospital?”
Angela asked worriedly, holding a first aid kit she had found somewhere. She looked at the corpse lying on the floor and swallowed a groan.
She was a soldier, and now in wartime, even civilians wouldn’t make a fuss about seeing blood. Angela knew that well. Nevertheless, Anschel stood on Angela’s left to block the corpse from view as much as possible.
“No. The hospital is dangerous.”
By now, Delta Maxim might be shouting on the phone to his uncle, the president. But he still wouldn’t be able to tell some important facts. Because there was a trap that Colonel Ender had mentioned.
Distrust.
Yes, Ender had planted distrust of Dante in Delta. It was difficult for Anschel to guess what effect this would have in the future, but seeing that the direction had changed from killing, he thought Ender must have had something in mind. Anschel, with Angela’s help, put gauze on his ear.
Anschel wore his broken glasses from the shockwave and shook his head. His hair was completely disheveled.
“How about visiting Ann?”
Harriet asked, looking concerned. Angela, with her hardened body, hadn’t received much shock, and Harriet looked fine because Ender had desperately defended him.
Anschel suddenly felt sad. I’m the only one with a burst eardrum here…! And I got hit in the solar plexus too.
“……”
Anschel frowned as if he had unappetizing food in front of him. Then he sighed and scratched his head. He couldn’t go to the hospital, but with an injured eardrum, it could be serious if left untreated.
A torn eardrum alone wouldn’t cause hearing loss, but if left alone, the inner wound could fester and worsen. Finally, Anschel heaved another long sigh and placed his hand on his waist.
“Alright.”
The saliva of Prince Ann of the Northern Sea, who currently resided in the lake on the mountain, was an excellent remedy. There were a few humans on land with healing abilities, but the effects were minimal and the price was exorbitant, so there was no other choice.
As Anschel nodded with a reluctant expression, Ender whispered to Harriet.
“Sunbae, I’m going to smoke a cigarette.”
“A cigarette?”
Harriet’s gaze turned to Ender. Ender, his thoughts unreadable, subdued his red eyes and met Harriet’s gaze. Harriet, learning for the first time that Ender smoked, said with a slightly excited face.
“May I come along?”
“Of course.”
The dutiful junior who wanted to be by his sunbae’s side even for a minute or a second answered immediately.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
