[57]
“I do. But…”
Chris let his words trail off without finishing the sentence.
The world he knew tore apart the weakest in the pack.
The oldest, the youngest, and the females.
And on top of that, Dain was even a Guide.
Weren’t these perfect conditions for exploitation?
Yet Dahlia chose to protect the young child from the eyes of others.
‘Dain is the only Guide in this abandoned factory district.’
Most likely, Dahlia would be deficient in guiding.
She uses her power daily to control plants across this range. Yet she doesn’t receive guiding every day.
Whatever her original personality was, guiding deficiency must play a role in making her so violent. When an Esper’s guiding is depleted, their heightened senses begin to scream until eventually they begin to consume themselves.
Despite this, what could be the reason Dahlia doesn’t extort guiding energy from the child?
‘Is she simply drawn to the Guide because she’s an Esper?’
Chris hadn’t told anyone that Dain was a Guide.
Not even Yuri.
He thought that Dahlia’s devotion to Dain resembled his own dedication to Yuri.
At some point, Chris was staring at the screen like looking into a mirror.
Because the Dahlia reflected in Dain’s eyes was completely different from the Dahlia Chris had seen.
‘I want to know.’
He wanted to discover Dahlia’s motivation.
This was the first time he had encountered an Esper behaving so strangely like himself.
Chris still couldn’t distinguish between the possessiveness and affection he felt toward Yuri.
If he hadn’t fallen for Yuri at first sight when he met him while having lost his memories, he wouldn’t have acknowledged that love also breathed within his mixed emotions.
“…No. Forget it. I was being naive.”
“Well. It happens.”
Peter shrugged.
Even to him, Dahlia seemed to show completely different faces to other people versus Dain.
Perhaps there are villains who soften only around children.
“The other Esper, Mihir, seems to just watch… do you know what kind of ability that man uses?”
“No. Generally, Dahlia is the one who moves. He seems to act as a restraint when his colleague goes berserk.”
“Hmm. If that woman Dahlia handles plants and is responsible for concealing the abandoned factory district, that man must have some role as well.”
“I think so too.”
Chris nodded slightly.
Peter randomly speculated that he might have abilities related to storage or something similar.
Just then, a red light appeared on the terminal.
“Ah! A call!”
“A call?”
“Your master is calling? Let’s bring him over.”
It was the return of Yuri, who had been away for the past few days saying he had business to attend to.
“Please ensure his safety.”
Chris made the request seriously.
Peter replied with a casual “Yes,” then swung the door open wide.
Through the rectangular opening, a completely different space was visible.
Beyond it, a man leaning against a black marble sink could be seen.
‘Yuri?’
Chris swallowed internally.
He could see that the terminal used for maintaining illusions was turned off.
Since coming to the Spring Continent, this was the first time he had seen Yuri in such a tailcoat outfit.
His bangs were slightly wet, as if he had just washed his face.
The purple eyes looking this way were a bit more relaxed than usual, unlike his typical self.
A decadent sensuality dripped from his languid atmosphere.
As if he had slipped out from the middle of a party, a champagne glass stem was precariously balanced on his fingers.
The contents that had spilled from the half-tilted glass could be seen wetting his knee.
Chris strode through the doorway and carefully supported Yuri.
The man, who was usually so cautious, leaned his body against Chris without concern.
Feeling like the circuits in his head were burning white, Chris bit his lip hard.
He barely managed to take one big step back into the room.
Yuri, with his arm draped over Chris’s shoulder, turned his head slightly toward Chris’s neck and let out a soft laugh.
There was a scent of grapes mixed with alcohol.
Yuri bared his teeth and bit Chris’s nape firmly.
“Whoa!”
Peter exclaimed strangely and hurriedly closed the door he had created.
Then he quietly slipped out of the room.
Chris, without even glancing in that direction, carefully brought Yuri to the bed.
As he seated him on the mattress, his master’s purple eyes blinked slowly.
“Ah.”
His face, redder than usual, seemed rather more vibrant.
Now that the pale man had regained his color, it was as if a brilliant hue had been layered over his beauty.
Chris groaned.
“Just where have you been and what have you been doing?”
The thought of Yuri wandering around like that in places where he wasn’t present made him dizzy.
When had the illusion maintenance terminal turned off?
The most hopeful theory was that he had accidentally touched it while trying to cool his heat from the alcohol by splashing water at the sink.
Chris tried to gently remove the champagne glass Yuri was holding, but he gripped it tightly and wouldn’t let go.
“Where…”
As if coming to his senses because someone was trying to take away a glass with not a drop of alcohol left in it, Yuri moved his lips.
Having difficulty breathing, he raised his hand and pulled at the tie choking his neck somewhat irritably.
“This is a temporary residence, Yuri. Do you recognize who I am?”
“…”
Yuri silently stared at Chris with slightly bloodshot eyes.
Somehow feeling that he didn’t recognize him, Chris felt his heart sink.
“Yuri.”
“…I know.”
Chris stubbornly waited for Yuri’s next words.
“…My dog.”
Yuri’s fingers moved slowly over Chris’s lips.
Was it his imagination, or did he seem to be deliberately dragging it out?
Even while suspecting this, his heart leaped high like a ball that had just been kicked, very high indeed.
“Chris.”
The fragrant scent of champagne flowed out with his call.
“Just where have you been and what have you been doing?”
“Party.”
The most beautiful drunk Chris knew kicked off his shoes and threw them aside.
“I was playing the role of a naive businessman.”
The shoes that had tumbled haphazardly on the floor regained their neat appearance as if moved by invisible feet.
Finding this amusing, Yuri giggled.
It was a clear sound like silver paper colliding.
“Party? Businessman?”
“Ah yes. The mayor of Ishtar City attended.”
Chris blinked.
He went to meet the mayor of Ishtar City when he didn’t even like parties?
While pretending to be some businessman?
He knew Yuri was preparing something even while he was undercover.
After all, he wasn’t the type to set up a game relying solely on Northern Light.
But whether due to his own inadequacy, keeping up with the game his master was playing was always challenging.
“I had Peter, the locksmith of the immigrants, bring cases of functional factory complexes from other continents and shoved them in his face.”
Perhaps due to being drunk, he was rambling incoherently.
Chris skillfully selected the information he needed from Yuri’s words.
He didn’t need stories about well-maintained places with good vibration-proof facilities, or which factory with a particular brand logo operated more.
“What does that have to do with the mayor of Ishtar?”
“Of course it’s related. Today, I was a businessman.”
Yuri added, turning the empty champagne glass this way and that under the light, like a child playing with sand:
“I whispered that I wanted to invest in Ishtar City’s factory complex. That there was enough potential here.”
“…Ah.”
Chris quietly exclaimed in admiration.
Since the mayor of Babel City once conducted a safety diagnosis at the abandoned factory district in Ishtar City, this seemed like groundwork to confront that issue.
At the very least, he had given that mayor an incentive to investigate the abandoned factory district, if only out of greed.
“He seemed intrigued… but being a coward, he’ll be mindful of the Babel mayor’s reaction. But that’s enough. For now.”
Yuri murmured, resting his chin on his hand.
“He seemed like someone who was quite reasonable. Hmm. I wonder if it will be alright.”
Chris quickly understood the hidden meaning of those musings.
“Perhaps… are you really thinking of investing money in Ishtar City?”
“It wouldn’t be bad to expand to another continent.”
The man with drowsy, flickering eyes murmured.
“The Winter Continent is a stagnant place.”
But people live in that cold and lonely land.
Yuri knew this well.
“If it doesn’t flow, it only stagnates and rots.”
Feeling anxious at the voice that was fading as if about to fall asleep at any moment, Chris hastily formulated a question.
“Perhaps… the workers you would employ there…”
But Yuri exhaled evenly without answering.
It seemed he had finally fallen asleep from the intoxication.
Chris firmly set his lips.
Yuri’s plan, his inner thoughts, seemed vividly within reach.
If the abandoned factory district in the Spring Continent, not even the Winter Continent, were reactivated, who would be employed immediately?
Seeing that he had gone to negotiate directly with the mayor of Ishtar, he might have demanded the citizenship deal proposed by the mayor of Babel City.
Probably under much more relaxed conditions.
‘…That would also ease the burden on Barrel Society.’
Those wanting to leave the Winter Continent for other continents would have options besides illegal immigration.
It would be creating a new flow.
At that moment, the champagne glass precariously hanging from Yuri’s bent hand fell.
But before the loud shattering sound could disturb Yuri’s deep sleep, Chris caught the glass.
After placing the glass on the table, having levitated it with telekinesis, Chris carefully approached Yuri.
He draped the fallen blanket over the sleeping man’s body.
He would like to change his clothes too, but unlike his own dullness, Yuri would wake up if anyone merely touched him.
‘Especially if an Esper took liberties…’
He would be startled awake.
Chris brushed back the hair that had fallen onto Yuri’s forehead.
Very carefully, to ensure his fingers wouldn’t touch the skin.
He remembered the conversation he had with Peter earlier.
About how some people are evil while pretending to be good, and some are good while pretending to be bad.
Chris, who had slowly pulled his head back, murmured:
“I don’t understand why you go to such lengths to play the villain.”
When you’re this kind.
Chris’s shadow slowly retreated.
There wasn’t even a slight movement on the peacefully sleeping face.
It was truly a quiet night.
