Chapter 49
Harriet was looking down at the sea. The vast ocean seemed very free. But Harriet couldn’t be free.
He was confined in some test tube, his entire body restrained. His mouth was covered, and the test tube was filled with a transparent liquid.
“Four-four-one.”
“Four-four-one.”
That’s what they called Harriet.
“Show us your power. oooo.”
Confusion entered Harriet’s memory. They issued some command, and Harriet faithfully executed it. There was not a single trace of Harriet’s will in it.
His body moved automatically at their command, and when Harriet, submerged in the sea, finally regained his senses and opened his eyes.
In the eastern sea, that vast place… no living creature remained.
Harriet’s green eyes gazed toward the horizon of the vast eastern sea. The sea he saw was completely dyed red with blood.
* * *
“……”
Harriet swallowed with a slight sound and raised his upper body. Though later than usual, today was a day off, and Harriet tended to sleep in. By the time he finally got out of bed after vaguely considering going back to sleep, another 30 minutes had passed.
Scratching the back of his head, which had developed a cowlick, Harriet got out from under the blanket and looked around. As always, he saw the empty house with nothing in it. Perhaps because he had hurriedly prepared a sofa since Ender came to the house often, it somewhat had the scent of someone living there.
Harriet moved slowly and took out soft tofu from the refrigerator. He put the soft tofu in a bowl and scooped it up with a spoon. Normally, Harriet ate sweet cocoa every morning, sweet enough to make viewers sick, but today there was no cocoa.
After breakfast, Harriet bathed and dressed early in the morning. Not in military uniform, of course, but in a black T-shirt and jeans he picked up. He put on a black cap, the same color as his T-shirt, and took a book from the bookshelf.
Then he picked up a cane with a red jewel embedded in it, which he had left standing by the shoe cabinet, and put on his shoes. Before going out, he sighed, running his hand along his neck.
When he opened the front door, he saw a large tent in the yard. It was a military tent with a black eagle drawn on it, the trademark of Ender’s unit. Harriet smiled slightly at the sight.
The owner of the tent was out today. It had been a long time since he had a weekend without him, so Harriet quietly limped along. A bluish energy rose from the mountain path in the early morning.
Harriet limped and got into the military vehicle. Though his leg was uncomfortable, it didn’t hinder his driving. As soon as he started the engine, the car made a loud “vroom” sound and spewed out acrid black smoke, suggesting its remaining lifespan wasn’t long.
Harriet gently drove the car out of the village and headed to town. Before Ender came, he used to go to town frequently.
There weren’t many people passing through the town because the shops were still closed. Harriet, who had quietly parked his car in the parking lot, opened the window and stared outside.
Then he quietly closed his eyes and felt the morning breeze.
Today seemed like it would be a good day.
* * *
Really, truly.
Fuck, the day was too good.
Anschel sighed and gently turned the steering wheel. The black sedan smoothly made a right turn and glided out of the bumpy road.
Ender, in a good mood for some reason, sat in the back seat with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. An expensive telescope was placed on his knees, and Anschel couldn’t bring himself to ask what he planned to do with it.
Having rarely taken advantage of weekends, days off, or holidays while serving as Ender’s aide, Anschel naturally took the wheel.
‘I thought he would follow Harriet.’
Anschel checked Ender’s appearance in the inside mirror at the front of the car. Yesterday, before leaving the office, Anschel had casually asked Harriet:
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
It wasn’t really out of curiosity, just a casual remark made in passing.
“I’m planning to go downtown tomorrow.”
“We’re going to buy tiger snacks.”
The question was directed at Harriet, but the answers came from unexpected places. Angela and Ryan had answered in turn.
They were each holding fishing rods and nets. From what they said, they added that they were going night fishing at the stream with the village head next door. The two seemed to be planning to go downtown for fun tomorrow.
“Is that so? Sounds fun.”
Anschel responded to make sure the two didn’t feel awkward. Harriet turned his head with his usual blank expression. He smiled with his eyebrows curved into a ã… shape, as if troubled, and said:
“I have something to do tomorrow.”
It didn’t seem like it was a schedule with Ender. Anschel sensed it then.
Ah, I won’t be able to lounge in bed tomorrow, on the weekend.
For that reason, Anschel had rushed to work at dawn and was now driving Ender’s black sedan.
Feeling the car moving smoothly, Anschel shed tears of blood. His new car had been scrapped and sent to the repair shop before the first installment payment had even gone out. And now he would never see it again.
“Where should I stop the car?”
Ender, who had been fiddling with the telescope, raised his head. Red eyes visible through black hair reflected in the mirror and looked at Anschel.
They were eyes with such a red tint that they were eerie no matter when you saw them. His fans praised them as beautiful jewels, but well. In Anschel’s eyes, all he could recall were the countless drops of blood that had died by his hand.
“Over there.”
Ender turned his head and pointed at a building. The building was old and looked very gloomy. It didn’t seem like it would collapse, but there was hardly any human presence.
Anschel moved the car in that direction because his superior told him to. He didn’t know why Ender had come all the way to town, but anyway, an aide’s duty was to do as told, go where told.
Ender’s body floated up as he got out of the car. Anschel opened his eyes wide and asked Ender:
“Why are you suddenly using your ability?”
“The elevator here is broken.”
With that, Ender lifted his body high into the sky. A gust of wind blew with each of his movements. Ender’s ability to freely control the wind was remarkable enough to elicit admiration at any time.
Although the ability to move the wind wasn’t exclusive to Ender, most citizens thought of Ender when they thought of wind. And it was fair to say that there was no other ability user who could use the wind as powerfully as Ender.
“……”
Anschel suddenly had a thought and looked up. He could see Ender stepping on the window of the top floor and climbing up. It seemed that Anschel and Ender were the only visitors entering the old building, which was similar to an abandoned house. Anschel looked up, flabbergasted.
Damn it, that means I have to walk up!?
Anschel used the stairs to climb up to the 9th floor in one go. This was no problem since he had never neglected his training, but that’s human nature for you.
Anschel took a moment to catch his breath and stood in front of the old door. No sound was heard from inside, so he doubted if this was the right office. But according to his memory, Ender had entered precisely through the window of this old office.
Anschel frowned as he opened the door, which looked like it might fall off with rust at any moment. It was because a wind blew as soon as he opened the door. From Anschel’s hair to his tie, everything fluttered spectacularly.
His hair, which he had barely fixed in a 2:8 ratio, fluttered this way and that, and he entered while adjusting his glasses, which had moved slightly askew. When he stepped on glass fragments scattered all over the floor with a click, black dust rose whitely.
Ender was sitting by the window. There was no chair, he was sitting in mid-air, looking down at something with a telescope. Anschel approached him while adjusting his disheveled uniform.
“What are you doing?”
He wouldn’t have just wanted to admire the downtown scenery with a telescope. When Anschel asked, Ender answered leisurely:
“Sunbae likes to sit in cafes on weekends to enjoy contemplation or read books.”
“……”
That, I didn’t know. In that case…
Anschel narrowed his eyes and relied on his eyesight as much as possible. In the direction Ender was looking, there was a small café, and a man was sitting at a terrace table. Anschel exclaimed in admiration at the white hair that stood out even from a distance. His superior was truly insane.
‘How did he know that, anyway?’
“You seem to know a lot about Harriet.”
‘You stalker,’ Anschel swallowed, unable to say it out loud. Then, for the first time, Ender laughed in front of Anschel.
“Sunbae is a genius whose ability appeared at the age of ten, and he always drinks cocoa at cafés. Sunbae’s weekends are very elegant and beautiful…”
And he spends most of his weekends stalking such a senior, that is.
Anschel turned pale, having never experienced Ender speaking to him so intimately. His boss was not only crazy but also a stalker. It wasn’t surprising anymore, now that he thought about it.
Unable to keep watching his superior’s unsightly appearance as he stalked his senior through a telescope without moving like a statue, Anschel slowly backed away.
“…I’ll go outside for a moment.”
Ender didn’t even bother to respond to Anschel and didn’t take his eyes off the telescope. All his senses were directed toward his senior. Anschel got the creeps, wondering if Ender could even hear Harriet’s faint voice from far away.
“Haah… Sunbae.”
Ender suddenly let out a languid moan.
‘I’m going to see something I shouldn’t.’
Anschel stepped backward, opened the door, and fled. After darting out of the building, Anschel looked up at the 9th-floor window where Ender was stalking and panting.
I hope that even if he’s crazy, he’s crazy in a decent way.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
