[47]
Chris opened his eyes.
Perhaps because of the conversation they’d had before falling asleep, he recalled an old memory of wrapping a bandage around Yuri’s ankle.
It was from a time before White Night was established, when there were just the two of them.
Before he could fully immerse himself in nostalgia, Chris blinked at the presence settled on the opposite side of the bed.
Surprisingly, Yuri was still lying in the same bed.
As he burrowed into the blanket, another person’s warmth enveloped him.
Chris stole glances at the sleeping figure with the nervousness of a thief.
At the neatly settled eyelashes and completely closed eyelids.
At the bridge of his nose where faint breathing escaped and his cheeks that felt soft rather than cool.
His handsome lips were closed neatly.
Yuri, when asleep, was always quiet.
As if knowing this was the only time of day he could rest.
Chris held his breath, wishing that this peace would last as long as possible.
“You’ll bore holes in my face.”
Chris was slightly startled by the rebuke that flowed from between the lips of the person he thought was asleep.
Yuri, still lying in the same position, had opened his eyes and was looking at Chris.
“Why are you staring like that if you’re not going to touch?”
“I’m sorry.”
As Chris flinched and tried to get up, Yuri spoke in an uncharacteristically gentle voice.
“I meant that it’s okay to touch.”
The man who said this closed his eyes again.
Chris hesitated for a long time.
Even though Yuri had given permission, was it really okay for him to move his hands freely?
The steady, gentle breathing made Chris pause.
Yuri seemed to have fallen asleep again, with a languid and peaceful atmosphere settling over his face.
Chris slowly extended his hand and traced over those handsome eyebrows.
The dark eyebrows beneath that straight forehead would draw closer whenever Yuri was displeased.
And below them were closed eyelids with long eyelashes.
Chris’s fingers, not daring to touch the skin, gently tapped the tips of the eyelashes.
At that sensation, barely describable as ticklish, Chris startled and bit his hand.
His touch felt too rough compared to that delicate sensation.
He wanted to cup that cheek. He wanted to tickle the earlobe of the sleeping person.
How would it feel to press his lips against that straight forehead?
All sorts of bad thoughts flashed through his mind.
But Chris couldn’t bring himself to act on any of them and just stared blankly at Yuri.
This situation—lying in the same bed without mixing bodies or engaging in guiding—felt utterly surreal.
“Even when given an opportunity…”
Yuri grumbled with his eyes closed, as if for Chris to hear.
Chris asked about the mumbling from the person he thought had fallen asleep again.
“What did you think I would do when you gave such permission?”
Yuri opened his eyes briefly and stared at him.
“You?”
He didn’t actually snort, but the implication was clear: drop that nonsense.
“As if you have it in you.”
Chris couldn’t deny it and smiled bitterly.
Yuri must have completely forgotten.
“I thought I shouldn’t be greedy.”
The old Chris couldn’t control his strength at all.
When he reached out to grab Yuri, Yuri’s wrists would bruise.
There was even a time when he accidentally fractured a bone while trying to embrace Yuri to prevent him from leaving.
There had been countless instances of drawing blood.
So Chris’s restraint was built entirely on Yuri’s pain.
“Because you got hurt every time.”
It was only after learning that his savior was a normal human who felt pain that he came to his senses.
By normal standards, it was far too late for such a realization.
Thanks to that, Chris’s growing pains passed instantaneously.
“Do you still think I’ll break?”
At this probing question, Chris instinctively started to answer but then firmly closed his mouth.
“Rather than that…”
“Tell me.”
Yuri encouraged the hesitant Chris.
“I think I want to break you.”
Yuri’s gaze thoroughly examined Chris’s face.
Even for Yuri, this must be disgusting.
“That desire never disappears no matter what I do. So I don’t attempt it at all.”
Chris, confessing his dark inner thoughts, seemed almost like a priest.
“Because I want Yuri to be whole and happy.”
“Alright, then.”
Yuri murmured in a lowered voice.
“Do as you please.”
Contrary to his words, his extended hands embraced Chris’s back and pulled him closer.
Suddenly held in his arms, Chris closed his eyes tightly and inhaled Yuri’s scent.
The touch that delved into his hair was gentle.
Only then did Chris slowly open his eyes.
It was hard to believe that this moment was reality and not a dream.
“Somehow you learned to imitate a human.”
At the warmth in that chiding voice, Chris laughed as if he might cry.
‘Because you were human.’
The monster pulled out its teeth and claws, stood on two legs, and began speaking in human language.
‘Because I wanted to look into your eyes and talk with you.’
There were trials and errors, but Yuri waited for Chris.
Fortunate for him, but probably unfortunate for Yuri.
Chris burrowed deeper into Yuri’s embrace.
He had graduated from childish whims long ago, but today it seemed even Yuri would allow it.
This wasn’t a misconception as Yuri accommodated Chris for quite a long time.
***
Around noon, Peter returned.
With the most smiling face they’d seen so far, Peter said:
“Oh. Looks like you two slept well together. Both your faces are glowing.”
“Cut the nonsense.”
Yuri, sitting cross-legged in an armchair, gestured with his chin.
“Information.”
“…Both your dog and you, Yuri, seem to think I’m like a vending machine that spits out information when you press a button!”
Yuri’s eyebrows rose.
Chris almost laughed as he inadvertently recalled what happened early this morning, but he managed to hold it back.
“Since I received something, of course I prepared. Accounts must be settled properly. Certainly.”
Yuri gave him a “what’s that about?” look before gesturing to Peter with his chin.
The implication was for him to start talking.
“Here in Ishtar City, there’s a fairly old abandoned factory district.”
“Hmm.”
Yuri nodded slightly.
“At first, I didn’t think to look there. It was officially deemed unsuitable for operation.”
The surrounding ground was unstable, and there was no suitable place to bring in fuel.
“And?”
“We know well what was being extracted from the ‘site’.”
Blue Tier.
An alternative fuel said to have been used in the advanced civilization of the old era.
“Moreover, according to Hogan’s testimony… the mayor was more deeply involved in all this than we thought.”
“Could it be that the one who made that unsuitability judgment was…?”
“It was when the current mayor, Martha Chafnil, was still an engineer.”
“Even if she didn’t foresee the future when making that judgment… she could have remembered such a place when the means became available.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Peter nodded seriously.
“It’s worth checking. Chris and I will investigate this. As for the Barrel Society…”
“We’ll look for anyone who’s worked as a factory worker in Ishtar City.”
“I like how quick you are to understand.”
It was quite close to a compliment.
Peter inadvertently grinned broadly but then composed his expression after seeing Chris’s stoic face.
“Ah, and one more thing.”
Yuri added, as if he’d just remembered:
“I’d like you to transfer the confession file extracted from Hogan to us.”
“What?”
Peter feigned ignorance, opening his eyes wide.
“You would have recorded it separately before disposing of him. I know everything.”
“No, I didn’t record it directly…”
“Because it would be troublesome if my voice were on it.”
That would be ‘contaminated’ evidence.
Many people in this era recognized Yuri Sobolev as a villain.
Even if Hogan testified of his own will, not in a state of diminished capacity, if the questioner was Yuri, someone would claim it was a conspiracy.
“Well… Yes. I do have something recorded for later use.”
Peter grumbled as he brought over the recording device.
Saying he needed to prepare for the investigation of the abandoned factory district, he left.
“Chris.”
Yuri beckoned with his finger.
“Contact Anong.”
“You mean Anong, sir?”
He wasn’t someone who would call the acting head of Northern Light without good reason.
They hadn’t even caught the tail of Thorns Order yet.
Yuri, who was neither a superior nor one to make interim reports to Anong, why was he looking for her?
Chris was puzzled but operated the terminal.
It was around the third attempt at connection.
Finally, the terminal displayed Anong’s image.
-Hey there, Chris.
Anong greeted him.
-Wait, wait. Before you speak, let me guess. Yuri Sobolev is next to you, right?
“Yes.”
Anong took a deep breath.
-Okay. I’m ready. Turn the screen.
Yuri, who had been watching Anong indifferently as if she was making a fuss, met her eyes and spoke directly:
“I want to give you a gift. What do you think?”
-A gift? Should I be excited?
“Yes. Because it’s a gift.”
-Did you catch those terrorists?
Anong leaned toward the screen as if about to jump out of her seat.
“Precisely, it’s more of a means to divide the Thorns Order and their collaborators.”
-Hmm…
Anong’s expression became serious.
-I’ll hear the proposal for now.
“At the next inter-continental regular presentation, I’d like to have a session praising the achievements of Martha Chafnil, the mayor of Babel City in the April Continent. It would be even better if an award of merit could be presented.”
-On what grounds?
“For her diligent reconstruction work? Anything would do, as long as it promotes the mayor.”
Chris’s eyes glinted as he listened carefully.
On the day they arrived at the Spring Continent, they had moved based on the hypothesis that Thorns Order had a high-profile sponsor.
Yuri had personally participated in the city’s program exploiting immigrants.
The mayor, who even mobilized criminals, was illegally diverting alternative energy and ancient civilization technology.
‘And in that process… they even used addictive painkillers.’
Thorns Order’s guiding drug. And Mayor Chafnil’s narcotic painkillers.
Although they hadn’t found a perfect connection yet, they could at least speculate that there might be some link between Thorns Order and Mayor Chafnil.
Yuri was trying to emphasize the mayor’s large-scale reconstruction projects externally.
-At most, she’ll just gain some honor, but I don’t see how that helps with the operation to root out Thorns Order.
“We don’t know the scale of the enemy. We don’t know how they’re connected.”
-I’m listening. Continue.
“We need to stir up their foundation.”
Fish don’t jump out if the water is too calm.
-Hmm.
Anong seemed persuaded.
“Do you know when a collaboration relationship that was working smoothly starts to break down?”
Chris somehow felt he knew the answer.
“When a person who thought he was on my level realizes he’s getting greater benefits with much less effort.”
Yuri’s lips curled up crookedly.
“That’s when humans go crazy.”
