Chapter 51
Antonio snorted and threw the gun far away. It would be harder to find someone in the military who didn’t know about Anschel’s ability as Ender’s aide. Calculating many possibilities in his mind, Anschel lowered his hands.
…Commander Antonio’s ability is definitely…
Boom!
Super strength, similar to Angela’s. Anschel stared intently at Commander Antonio’s eyes as he charged forward, and deployed his barrier. The glass-like barrier that rose from below according to his hand gesture properly blocked Antonio’s fist once.
“…Cough.”
But the strength was so powerful and heavy that Anschel coughed from the impact.
Bang-!
Each time he struck the barrier with his fist, cracks began to form in the solid defensive wall protecting Anschel.
‘I won’t be able to hold out much longer.’
Anschel retreated while deploying dozens of barriers behind him.
Bang-!
Anschel urgently spread his hands to the side. After barely blocking the bullet, cold sweat flowed down. The man who had been clinging to Commander Antonio like a rat had surprised him with a gun.
What should I do… It’s already overwhelming to face Commander Antonio alone, and now there’s this rat on the side.
“Contact Colonel Ender.”
“…I’d like to.”
But the hero Ender McGuire was currently very busy holding a telescope and licking his beloved sunbae. Moreover, this wasn’t a good place to use abilities.
It was a secluded alley in the countryside, and civilians were passing by outside. Most of them were elderly people and ordinary citizens without abilities. While repeatedly licking his dry lips and hesitating, Anschel’s phone rang.
In the midst of the tension, Anschel cursed, feeling embarrassed by the loud ringtone. Without dropping the barrier, he checked the damn caller.
It was Ender McGuire.
Right… I guess the pleasant self-pleasure time is over, while his subordinate is in trouble.
Anschel slowly picked up the phone and pressed the call button.
“He…”
– Bring them over.
And then it hung up again. Anschel frowned as if he had a headache.
* * *
Surprisingly, the place where Ender was sitting was a small café where Harriet enjoyed drinking cocoa, reading books, and contemplating. Ender was sitting very docilely in front of Harriet, and Antonio stopped in his tracks when he saw this.
Ender’s outward appearance in casual clothes was dazzling. He had taken off his stiff-looking uniform and was wearing a soft, thin khaki cardigan over a black t-shirt and well-faded jeans. His black hair hung down, covering his white face.
Just because Harriet was in front of him, crimson flowers spread all over Ender’s eyes. The red pupils visible through his black hair seemed to have half-disappeared with pleasure.
Of course, his everything was only for Harriet in front of him. It was natural for Antonio to have trouble adjusting, since he had only ever seen Ender as stiff and cold to the point of being savage.
“Why are you here?”
“I was caught.”
Ender answered lightly. Harriet had somehow noticed Ender on the 9th floor of a distant abandoned building. Since it was amusing to see him sneaking around like a cat, Harriet had left him be from the beginning, but then he wanted to see Ender. Eventually, Harriet gave a small smile towards where his cute junior was and mouthed:
[Come here.]
Then, in less than 5 minutes, Ender arrived. This happened while Anschel was caught in a difficult situation.
“……”
‘This bastard…’
Anschel wanted to use only proper and polite words, but he couldn’t think of any pretty words.
“Pleased to meet you, Colonel McGuire.”
Antonio greeted respectfully.
Though Ender was obviously much younger, in the rank-based society of the military, his rank was Colonel, and Antonio was a Commander. Harriet, either understanding the situation or having no thoughts about it, gave a small troubled smile and brought the cup of cocoa to his lips.
He was drinking hot cocoa even in this hot summer. Judging by the momentary happiness that crossed his face, Harriet seemed to have no interest in this urgent situation.
“What do you want?”
Ender McGuire answered lightly and turned his head. The gaze of the rat-like man watching Ender with bated breath flashed. Antonio kept stroking his unkempt beard.
“The Northern mermen have declared war. Please help us.”
Ender blinked, wearing quite a puzzled expression. Harriet found that face irresistibly cute and again gave a small smile.
“Of course, it’s not official. The mermen attacked and sank 45 warships.”
Antonio quickly added. In short, he was saying that they lacked the strength to suppress the Northern Sea and needed help unofficially.
Ender swept back his bangs without answering. Anschel noticed from the way he was glancing at Harriet that Ender was swallowing his curses now.
Though he was suppressing his temper to maintain appearances in front of his sunbae, Ender was never a person with a refined mouth. Anschel was shocked when he heard the words “Are you a retard?” on his first day of assignment.
“…Why did you think I would help?”
Ender, who had barely suppressed his temper, raised his head while covering his mouth. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Antonio. When Antonio met his red eyes, he quickly looked away. Then Tammy, the rat-like man next to him, approached Ender.
“His Excellency the President has this…”
“You fucking bastard, what time period is this to be talking about His Excellency’s secret missions.”
Ender muttered quietly so Harriet wouldn’t hear, but it was clear to Tammy’s ears. His red pupils were blazing as he looked at Antonio and Tammy.
Harriet put down his cocoa and alternately looked at Ender and Anschel with his white eyes. What Tammy handed to Ender was a letter. Anschel guessed it was a letter from Dante Maxim.
As if that was correct, Ender’s fine brow gradually narrowed. He frowned as he read the entire letter and covered his mouth with his hand.
“…Ha.”
Ender seemed stunned for a moment, then burst into hollow laughter several times as if finding it absurdly funny. But Anschel already knew it wasn’t a laugh of pleasure.
He was about to explode. Anschel trembled while watching cautiously, and Antonio looked at Tammy. It was a gaze curious about what the letter contained. It seemed that the actual errand boy of the President was that rat-like man.
While Anschel was off guard, Ender suddenly stood up, choked Tammy’s neck, and swung his fist at his face. He thought Ender was holding back quite well, probably because he couldn’t use his abilities in a place with many civilians.
But Antonio was a solid man who wouldn’t stand by while his aide was being assaulted, so he got up and charged at Ender. Anschel, remembering that his ability was super strength, waved his hand to deploy a barrier in front of Ender.
But before that, Harriet was faster, raising his cane with a troubled smile. While still sitting, Harriet weakly waved the cane and lightly hit Antonio’s thigh. As the charging Antonio weakly sat on the floor, Harriet forcefully struck his chin with his elbow.
Blood droplets sprayed from Antonio’s mouth, and Harriet pressed his impaired left knee down on the back of Antonio, who couldn’t regain his senses. He groaned and remained stuck to the floor, unable to move.
“Since Ender is a good boy who doesn’t use violence, could you please just watch for a while?”
Harriet said with a troubled expression, lowering his eyebrows and maintaining a small smile.
Crazy… Tammy is getting his jaw smashed right now, what are you talking about?
Anschel pulled out his gun and looked around. The situation was serious. Though Harriet was holding him down, Antonio was an ability user with super strength that could explode at any moment.
Currently, his brain seemed to be malfunctioning from the counterforce of getting his chin struck, Harriet’s skill was impressively sharp. It seemed like he wouldn’t regain consciousness for a while.
Since Antonio was also a super strength ability user, it ended with just that, but if he had been an ordinary person, his jaw might have not only twisted but fallen off. Feeling as if he himself was in pain, Anschel trembled and touched his chin.
Just as he was admiring Harriet’s ability, he noticed that Harriet was looking at Ender with his pale white eyes. Inside those eyes, Ender McGuire really seemed like a good boy who didn’t use violence, and despite the serious situation with people gathering, Anschel questioned Harriet.
“Who’s good?”
“Ender.”
Anschel knew Harriet was somewhat insensitive, but he was quite dumbfounded. In those white eyes with blurred boundaries, only pure doubt remained.
“Ender is a very delicate child, so he must be in a lot of pain right now.”
When Antonio stirred a little, Harriet exerted force on his knee and spoke with a pitiful expression.
‘Crazy…’
Anschel swallowed the curse that was about to emerge. Harriet’s white eyelashes went down once and then up. Each slow movement seemed artificial, like a scene from a painting.
Anschel lamented how he ended up among such people and swallowed his tears. It was far too late to back out.
Questioning his own life, Anschel picked up his gun. And fired a shot at Antonio’s head. Honestly, this was venting.
The ability barrier isn’t omnipotent. When a strong impact was applied, sometimes the shock went to the user, and just now while fighting with Antonio, Anschel had felt a numbing sensation in his internal organs. Antonio’s face, who couldn’t regain his senses, bent sharply and then returned to normal.
By the time Ender McGuire finally calmed down and released Tammy’s collar, he was already in a state no different from a corpse. As Tammy finally lost consciousness while bleeding profusely up to his chin, Ender raised his upper body with a face devoid of even a shred of compassion.
Foam rose from Tammy’s mouth. Fortunately, he wasn’t dead, as his body convulsed each time bubbles rose. Watching this, Anschel thought while twitching his facial muscles.
If that’s delicate, then this world is full of soft tofu, damn it.
Anschel reloaded his gun and approached Tammy. He placed his finger under his nose. Though he was convulsing, fortunately he was still breathing.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
