Chapter 54
“The ocean belongs to humans.”
“……”
Anschel ran through his prepared speech, then took a deep breath while running his hand through his hair. Harriet looked around, holding his cane.
“Mr. Harriet. You can only bring one attendant to the podium. Colonel Ender will likely follow behind me, so I think it would be best if you went somewhere to rest.”
“Hmm, perhaps I should.”
Harriet smiled while polishing the red gemstone on his cane with a handkerchief. Anschel nodded and pressed some money into Harriet’s hand.
“Please buy yourself a drink from the vending machine.”
“How did you know I didn’t bring my wallet?”
“I wouldn’t have survived as the Colonel’s aide for years without this level of intuition.”
Harriet thanked him and disappeared outside the waiting room. Ender was watching Harriet’s retreating figure with a displeased expression.
Well, what can we do if only one attendant is allowed?
Anschel persuaded Ender as they approached the podium. Just then, Dante Maxim approached with a benevolent smile, receiving a water bottle from an attendant.
Seeing him made Anschel’s entire body freeze up again. Though Dante Maxim knew Anschel stiffened at the sight of him, he still patted Anschel’s shoulder.
“Yes… it was quite the blindside, wasn’t it? Let’s see you struggle to the very end.”
Strangely, his voice remained kind. His mind control no longer worked on Anschel, but his voice was terrifyingly gentle.
Anschel rolled his eyes to look at Dante Maxim, but he had already moved past Anschel toward Ender. Dante tapped Ender’s well-fitted suit. The gesture resembled that of an adult brushing dust off a young nephew’s shoulder.
“Did you listen to what I said?”
“……”
“That merman seems to be doing quite well too… I might pay him a visit soon.”
“Today.”
Ender’s mouth opened.
“Today would be the perfect day for you to die.”
Dante Maxim didn’t take the bait. Dante was the master holding the leash, and Ender McGuire was the subordinate who desperately wanted that leash.
“A tamed dog doesn’t bite its master. I still hold that one’s leash.”
‘Is he talking about Harriet? Tamed? What does he mean?’
Anschel tried to listen, but that was the end of their conversation. He had expected Ender to grab the President by the collar at any moment, but surprisingly, Ender maintained an utterly emotionless face. In the end, Anschel couldn’t bring himself to ask what was going on.
With his curiosity unsatisfied, Anschel stepped up to the podium. Countless reporters and live broadcast cameras turned toward him. They seemed eager to see who this fool was who dared challenge Dante Maxim, who had held the presidency for 20 years.
Checking the microphone, Anschel inhaled and exhaled. Then, spreading his prepared speech on the podium and bringing his face close to the microphone, Anschel’s eyes widened when he spotted a familiar figure on the second floor.
“……?”
It was Harriet. He was standing on the second floor, which was completely empty, looking down at the podium. His gaze was naturally fixed on Ender McGuire.
Like a kind senior smiling down at his cute junior. With that cute black hair and visible crown, Harriet’s hand moved quickly.
‘What is that man doing right now?’
Anschel’s pupils shook violently.
“This time I’ll masturbate while watching Ender.”
Is this crazy man masturbating while looking at Ender McGuire with so many people around?!?!
“Uurgh!”
An unintelligible sound, or rather a moan, escaped Anschel’s lips. The journalists who had been typing looked up at this exclamation that echoed throughout the hall through the microphone.
He absolutely couldn’t let people’s attention turn to the second floor. With this mission in mind, Anschel turned his gaze away.
“C-c-candidate number t-two… huuurgh!”
He was shocked once again. Of course, if Anschel had noticed, then Ender, who had a built-in senior-detection sensor, would naturally discover his senior too.
Ender’s member was uncontrollably erect after realizing what Harriet was doing while looking at him from the second floor. Fortunately, it was hidden by Anschel’s body and the podium.
‘These crazy bastards, this is a live broadcast.’
Anschel had a condition where he couldn’t speak properly when extremely nervous, so it was certain that he would ramble incoherently during this speech too. Honestly, this speech was as good as ruined.
Anschel knew this fact all too well before stepping up to the podium. But this time was different. He continued his speech with a calmness and smoothness that would surprise anyone who knew him.
“When the war with the merpeople ends, all that awaits is a sea where nothing lives and a vast, rotting swamp.”
He read the densely written speech incredibly smoothly.
Was Anschel not nervous? That wasn’t the case. Anschel was more tense than anyone right now. The blood in his entire body was alternately freezing solid and boiling passionately, causing complete chaos. But Anschel tried desperately. For the sake of his superior’s social position and status, to the point of shedding tears of blood.
“Merpeople are sentient beings, and because we recognize this, they have ethnicity. We…”
While smoothly delivering his speech, Anschel thought:
‘Please just finish quickly, or put that erection away.’
To prevent people from looking at those two, Anschel uncharacteristically banged the podium, bang! bang! and shouted loudly. To anyone watching, he would appear to be giving a very passionate speech.
In any case… the speech went better than expected. Much better.
* * *
“??”
Coming down from the second floor, Harriet was clapping and praising Anschel when he tilted his head slightly. This was because Anschel’s complexion had turned very pale.
Why does he look so unwell? The speech must have been difficult. Having reached this conclusion in his mind, Harriet approached the two with an awkward smile. Limping as he walked, he addressed Anschel.
“You gave a good speech.”
“…Thank you.”
Though he was sincere, Anschel didn’t particularly believe it.
He had given a truly passionate speech for 30 minutes. Thanks to that, Harriet was able to focus better on Ender. Dressed sharply in a black suit with an earpiece in one ear, he looked impressive and handsome.
Looking down from the second floor, Harriet could clearly see the crown of Ender’s head. It was the same crown he used to see every day during their academy days. But the Ender down there was no longer the small, cute boy who attended the academy.
While preparing for his speech, Ender glanced around behind Anschel and then looked up. When he discovered Harriet on the second floor, his eyes widened, and then he smiled in a way that could melt his surroundings.
Harriet might be slow, but he knew well enough that this cute junior wasn’t someone who was friendly to others.
My cute little kitten.
Harriet’s eyes always looked at Ender that way. Ender’s cute red eyes focused on Harriet’s busy moving hand.
Eventually, Ender looked up with an ecstatic, admiring expression. His red eyes shone beautifully as if they would melt. Some of the journalists who had been listening to Anschel’s speech exclaimed when they looked at Ender.
Each time this happened, Anschel would either exaggeratedly bang the podium or wave his hands widely like a doll flapping in the wind to block the attention directed at Ender. This was because the front of Ender’s pants was visibly bulging.
From the moment Ender’s gaze turned to Harriet, Harriet had been flinching at the waist and panting. And a blue mist began to form in his white eyes with indistinct boundaries. Ender wanted to immediately reach out and fly to Harriet.
“But that is not acceptable!!!”
At that moment, with perfect timing, Anschel shouted as if bellowing and blocked Ender’s knees with his hand. While his mouth moved passionately, his eyes were continuously shedding invisible tears.
‘Please don’t cause any trouble!!’
In any case, thanks to Anschel’s tear-shedding efforts, the speech ended reasonably well.
Harriet reached out and stroked Ender’s hair. Ender, dressed in a suit, had slicked back his black hair with gel, but when a few strands fell and covered his forehead, Harriet smiled slightly as he brushed them back.
“Good job.”
“Yes, sunbae.”
“……”
Anschel’s expression changed noticeably. He was wearing the most wronged and foolish expression in the world.
‘Excuse me, I’m the one who did the most work.’
But he couldn’t bring himself to say those words out loud. If he could have, he would have done so long ago. Anschel maintained his foolish expression for a while, then cleared his throat with a “ahem, ahem.”
There were still reporters spread throughout the place, and pro-presidential congressmen were snickering and glaring at Anschel. The council members were observing Anschel with curious expressions, but this was still the middle of enemy territory.
“When do we move?”
“When the car departs.”
Anschel cleared his throat again.
“Will the President move in person?”
“No, probably the dogs he keeps will move directly for their master.”
Ender spoke lightly, but it wasn’t light for Anschel.
‘Tamed dog…’
Anschel unknowingly glanced at Harriet. Dante had taunted Ender about a “tamed dog,” almost like a threat.
Anschel instinctively realized that the subject they were discussing was Harriet. But the person in question was simply taking out a handkerchief from his well-fitted suit pocket.
Despite there being curious points in the two men’s conversation, Harriet was just smiling and polishing the red gemstone with his handkerchief again. Anschel’s expression became slightly confused at this extreme self-centeredness, but he quickly composed himself.
“Mr. Harriet, since we’re already out, I was thinking of eating out… do you have any food preferences?”
Anschel said this and hastily added:
“Except cocoa. And no snacks either.”
He was about to say to exclude tofu pudding as well. This was because he knew Harriet’s breakfast and lunch diet consisted of tofu pudding with soy sauce poured on it.
Harriet really couldn’t handle spicy food. But that didn’t mean he ate vegetables well either. It wasn’t that he couldn’t eat them, it seemed more like he just didn’t eat them much.
He did eat a few pieces of fruit without any problem as dessert. But Harriet had such a weakness for sweet foods that Angela was constantly worried.
“If you could tell me something we can eat at a restaurant, I’ll make a reservation.”
Anschel said this while taking out his mobile phone from his chest pocket. He memorized the route while checking the map, preparing for a possible attack. Just as he was confirming that there was a dock at the edge of the city, Harriet smiled slightly and said:
“…Sashimi?”
“……”
‘Shouldn’t you, as a fish, not like that?’
Anschel was so surprised that he had a narrow-minded thought.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
