[73]
“What can a dog without a master do?”
Despite saying this, the man smiled brightly.
But his eyes remained chillingly calm, making it impossible to guess his thoughts.
Martha carelessly threw aside the poker and trudged over to the sofa across from him, dropping down heavily.
The torn part of the backrest was annoying, but it was her own doing, so who could she blame?
“So you’ve made some sort of plan, it seems.”
It was a more docile response than expected.
The man’s eyes narrowed, having anticipated the poker might fly toward his head.
‘Even backed into a corner, she’s not the mayor for nothing.’
“Hey, Commander.”
The man called “Commander” placed his hand on his chest with an exaggerated gesture.
“Please, speak.”
“I’m contemplating. Whether to claim we’re victims too… or actively hand you over.”
“…Ah. Have I walked into the tiger’s mouth?”
“No. Sticking my head in the tiger’s jaws by partnering with Thorns Order is a risk I’ve accepted.”
Martha fidgeted with her fingers.
“The result of becoming Thorns Order’s stepping stone while carefully watching the Esper Union’s reactions… has come back to me in the filthiest way possible. So I’m threatening you to provide a solution.”
The Commander smiled broadly at Martha’s kindness in explaining her thought process in such detail.
“There can’t be a solution.”
“…Hey.”
“But. One thing is certain.”
The man’s eyes glowed golden like a beast’s.
“Once we start moving, they’ll be thrown into confusion and completely forget about you and this beautiful city.”
A deep, heavy silence descended on the room.
“Whatever you do, I don’t care as long as there’s no harm to my city and my continent.”
Martha Chafnil smoothed her disheveled hair, straightened her collar, and stood up.
Few humans were as harsh as she was, having been born and raised in the Spring land.
“I know. That’s why I’ve joined hands with you.”
The Commander exhaled deeply.
“We have no interest in anything except the Winter continent and its master, Yuri Sobolev.”
Usually showing no emotion but just smiling, now he was openly displaying his hatred.
Truly, there was no one more cunning.
To achieve his goals, he wouldn’t hesitate to fall to the level of ‘mere human.’
But Martha knew well that nothing awaited the Commander except destruction.
What she wanted was to collect the shrapnel from his rampage and fill her own stomach.
“You’re overflowing with confidence. To touch the master of the white night, you’ll first need to get past his dog.”
The Commander laughed and touched his arm.
“Don’t worry.”
The things Martha had carelessly thrown and broken floated up into the air.
Fire lit in the fireplace, and wind rushed through the closed space. The curtains fluttered, her carefully arranged hair became disheveled, and her collar stood up on its own.
Martha was seized with something close to astonishment.
‘The abilities he just demonstrated are at least three different ones…!’
Wasn’t he completely shattering the common sense that an Esper could only have one ability at a time?
He was nothing short of a monster.
‘I knew when I joined hands with him… but it’s chilling.’
How did Rosenhauser manage to create such a being?
It was also surprising how solid his loyalty to his dead master was.
“Mayor… you don’t even tremble with fear seeing something like this.”
The Commander clicked his tongue at her greedy gaze.
“Fear?”
Martha asked as if incredulous.
“If the Commander decided to kill me, everything would be over before I realized it. So what’s the point of living in terror?”
As she aged, Martha felt more and more that time was insufficient.
Rising from her seat was painful, and her body creaked with every step.
No matter how many doctors she saw or how often, she couldn’t stop her aging body from crumbling. She could only slow it down a little.
There was so much to do. Could she achieve her goals before dying?
Martha thought it completely impossible.
With each passing day, she couldn’t shake the feeling she was rushing toward death.
So she had to use every moment efficiently. Distribute her worries and emotions appropriately.
Worries become the starting point for plans, and emotions become the driving force.
Even if she feared the Commander, there was no way to stop him. So there was no reason for Martha to waste time gripped by meaningless fear.
“That would be a waste.”
It would be better to find a way to become the new master of Thorns Order.
“An interesting statement.”
The Commander surveyed the ruined room with strange eyes.
Calling fear a waste while freely expressing anger.
‘Humans are contradictory, after all.’
Even the mayor, pretending to be cool and seasoned, wasn’t free from her innate framework.
“As long as you do your job well, turning this into a profit isn’t a big problem.”
Martha blew upward at her fallen bangs and spoke in a detached tone.
Her face showed not a trace of shame.
“To the outside, spread that I’ve completely lost my composure after being caught for this incident.”
Martha muttered, thinking of Abigail Chung who had fled earlier.
All the staff working at the mayor’s residence were personally selected by Martha.
They all tend to be tight-lipped, so if she wanted to spread rumors, it would be good to bring in external contractors to remodel the mayor’s office.
Martha’s expression softened a bit.
To show frugality, she had been using some furniture from the previous mayor, but it might not be bad to change it to her taste now.
“Did you calculate all that before doing this?”
The Commander asked, pretending to be impressed.
It was half flattery, but half sincere.
“No.”
The mayor gave him a pathetic look.
“I wrecked this place because I was still furious at your pathetic handling of things.”
“…”
It seemed she wasn’t completely over her anger.
Well, she was about to lose her honor because of the gold accumulated by exploiting illegal immigrants, so it made sense she’d be seeing red.
“Since things have come to this, we must use everything we can. Don’t you agree?”
“Indeed.”
The Commander of Thorns Order laughed softly.
“I’m very fortunate to be in the same boat as Mayor Chafnil.”
“Show me results. Otherwise…”
The elderly mayor’s eyes moved toward the poker she had thrown.
At her age, she couldn’t get angry often. Her body, sinking deeply into the sofa right after her anger subsided, made this clear.
After the storm of emotions swept through, only fatigue remained.
Martha raised her upper body, refusing to yield to this, and looked at the Commander.
Some threats were better left incomplete.
“I understand perfectly.”
The Commander answered in a clean tone.
“I too don’t want to lose such a capable collaborator.”
What existed between them wasn’t something like trust. It was a sense of shared purpose, of looking in the same direction.
Having confirmed that the situation would be resolved, there was no need to check further.
Martha waved her hand dismissively.
“On your way out, tell Inspector Abigail Chung to come in.”
***
In Sector 6 of Orum City, where snow had settled gently.
A tall man stood there, so tall that everyone passing by had to look up at him.
The man with short black hair emanated such intimidation that just by standing there, he made passersby avoid him.
As if the biting cold didn’t affect him at all, he wore only a coat without even a scarf.
“Logan. What brings you here?”
One of the passersby approached him.
A young person with gray hair and a gentle impression was Gwen Dalton, the head of the White Night’s guiding team.
“I felt I should come out.”
Logan briefly answered, looking down at the soft yellow eyes filled with delight.
Gwen was shaken by Logan’s statement.
“You’d better not look back.”
The words that flowed out in a flat tone along with white breath were by no means light in content.
“Because another Guide’s location might be exposed.”
Gwen, who had unconsciously tried to check the surroundings, stiffened and then shrugged.
“I’ve been with White Night for quite some time, but I still can’t get used to it.”
“It’s okay.”
Logan answered indifferently.
Unlike Gwen’s brother, who was as light as a spring dandelion seed, Logan was like a heavy stone mountain.
“Should I call my brother?”
Chase was a frivolous but talented Esper.
“It’s fine.”
Logan, repeating what he had said before like a recorder, opened his mouth.
“He’s coming.”
A man approached the two who appeared to be chatting like acquaintances.
Though he wore his hat pulled down slightly, he didn’t look particularly suspicious.
It happened in an instant—the man unfolded the newspaper he had been rolling up and pulled out a gun, aiming it at Gwen. However, before the man’s finger could even reach the trigger, Logan had blown off his jaw.
Bang!
The attacker quickly pulled the trigger. He must have released the safety catch in advance, as a gunshot rang out.
However, Logan had already struck his face and pushed his arm outward.
“Kyaaak!”
“What? What’s happening!”
Panicked people were running away. The staggering man tried to move.
But he let out a hoarse scream from the pain in his thigh.
“Ugh… ah…”
“Was that a kidnapper?”
Gwen, who had calmly stabbed first as her brother had taught her, asked.
Logan quietly affirmed.
“I don’t think he was working alone.”
Right now, Gwen was on her way to provide guiding to mentally disabled Espers. Though she appeared to be alone, she was moving as part of a team and had guards.
The schedule itself was highly confidential, and the destination was doubly and triply concealed. Anyone who discovered this wouldn’t have acted alone.
“Yes.”
Logan, who gave a short answer, seemed to think his explanation was insufficient and added:
“We’re catching the rest as well.”
Thud—
As if answering Logan’s words, two bodies fell from the rooftop of a building.
Chase, who landed lightly after them, dusted off his hands as if they had been soiled.
“I came because I heard someone was messing with my little sister.”
The yellow eyes of the man turning toward them were half-crazed.
“Did I accidentally push them off?”