[86]
Peter felt his heart sink. But hiding his inner feelings, he forced a smile and said:
“You can do it. Just grab what you can carry and let’s go quickly.”
She wiped her tears and stood on her feet. Then without looking back at Peter, she ran in the direction where others were escaping.
He saw merchants and colleagues from the Barrel Society running to rescue people, focusing on areas less affected by the explosion.
“Ah, ugh. Ah…”
“Move them quickly! Damn it!”
Passing by those carrying seemingly hopeless people on makeshift stretchers, Peter went deeper inside.
And he passed by many bodies, so many bodies burned to death in the fire.
“Kugh!”
In a moment of hesitation, a pillar supporting the tent above collapsed.
Peter barely managed to throw himself aside to avoid it.
It was thanks to the Esper’s intuition that had warned him of the impending explosion.
Rising after rolling his body, he looked at what had nearly crushed him. He wanted to flee even now.
‘But I have to go.’
No one else would venture into the more flame-engulfed area to rescue people. There was also concern about the exit being blocked.
So it made sense for Peter, who could open a “door” to escape, to go.
The young man steeled himself and rushed deeper inside.
“Is anyone alive?”
Peter shouted until his throat hurt.
“If you need help, please make a sound!”
While saying this, he carefully scanned the surroundings. Now he could feel the heat from the fire scorching his body. His vision was blurry. Though he roughly tore off part of his clothes when sparks landed on them, his arm was already burned.
Even amid this chaos, he approached what looked like a human figure, but the person was already dead.
‘This seems to be where the explosion started. I should start withdrawing…’
Just as Peter bit his lip, he sensed rustling movement. A presence too clear to be an illusion.
Moving in that direction, Peter confirmed the area was wet. The fire was less severe here.
Judging by the lack of burn marks, it seemed like water had been sprinkled beforehand.
‘Beforehand…?’
Peter’s face hardened. After examining some boxes and markings in the area, his eyes widened. This was the shop he had planned to visit today.
To ask the owner, who dealt in illegal items, about the new guiding drug, ‘Fake Guide’… but.
“Damn it! There’s nothing worth money here.”
Peter identified the source of the movement. Joaquin was rummaging through items while grumbling. He had a pouch attached to his waist and even carried a backpack.
When had Joaquin, who served as the gatekeeper of the flea market, come this far inside? He looked fully prepared for today’s theft.
Peter’s face twisted frighteningly. He hid behind a box and waited silently.
The gatekeeper, unaware of where Peter was approaching from, was busy collecting as many items as possible.
Peter opened a door he had carefully drawn behind the box. And finally, he grabbed the throat of the man who had come within reach.
“Kuk… P-Peter…!”
The struggling man recognized his captor.
The loose-screwed, freckled young man who always walked around with a grin.
An unprecedented intimidation was emanating from someone he had thought to be easy-going.
“Joaquin. You’ll have to come with me.”
His eyes were gleaming with anger.
***
“We’ve received a message from Peter.”
Chris reported to Yuri.
“He says there was a fire at the venue of the Barrel Society event. The investigation into Fake Guide has been temporarily suspended, and they’re currently interrogating suspects about who’s behind this.”
“Things have become complicated.”
Yuri muttered. He looked at Chris and asked:
“Who do you think would target the Barrel Society?”
Yuri’s tone suggested he already knew the answer.
“It would be the work of someone who dislikes the Barrel Society’s actions. For instance…”
Chris took a slight deep breath.
“Someone like Thorns Order.”
“Yes. That would be it.”
Yuri muttered.
“…After quietly coexisting, deliberately creating trouble must indeed be a warning.”
It sounded like he was talking to himself.
“A warning… you say?”
Chris asked.
“Thorns Order must also be somewhat parasitic on the Barrel Society. But the fact that they targeted the Barrel Society instead of White Night or Northern Light means they’re shaking their own foundation.”
The back alleys are inevitably connected.
The Luciano Family and Godrin Family fought fiercely over territory, but they were on trading terms until the all-out war began.
What about Thorns Order? They were staggering after losing their master. Unable to rely on the legitimate world, they would have needed the Barrel Society.
The personnel, distribution network, and logistics the Society possessed would have kept Thorns Order from starving even after becoming a masterless dog.
“I think Thorns Order has swallowed at least one or two executives of the Barrel Society. You couldn’t do this in a simple cooperative relationship.”
“You mean a master-servant relationship?”
“Yes.”
“What could they possibly gain from this.”
“We know that what illegal immigrants value most is stability.”
Yuri blurted out and added:
“It seems they’ve decided to secure a position alongside Thorns Order when it rises to the legitimate world.”
“Not everyone in the Barrel Society would benefit from this.”
Yuri chuckled at Chris’s solemn voice.
“No matter how tight-knit a community appears, power struggles and fractures always exist. Even with the same ideals, the approaches differ.”
He couldn’t help but agree.
Chris, too, had the same goal of eliminating Rosenhauser, but at that time, his position, emotions, and situation were all different. Wasn’t that why he had crossed to the Summer continent alone, intending to restore Yuri’s complete freedom?
“Of course, I don’t know all the internal affairs of the Barrel Society.”
Not entirely agreeable. Yuri had been collecting information about the Barrel Society.
He was as wary of ambiguous allies as he was of enemies.
“Those with grease in their bellies tend to think alike.”
Yuri smiled coldly.
“Will Peter be alright?”
Yuri stared at Chris in response to his question.
“Even if he’s not, he’ll have to be.”
His tone was indifferent.
“If he doesn’t keep his wits about him, everything he tried to protect will collapse.”
Given the Barrel Society’s nature, they wouldn’t welcome White Night’s intervention. Yuri had no intention of stepping in unless they asked first.
“But if Peter becomes tied down like this, our movement will also become difficult.”
Chris said seriously.
Peter Garrett wasn’t a combat type, but his ability was quite useful.
“…You’ve learned to use your head.”
Yuri clicked his tongue.
“Pardon?”
Chris, who hadn’t understood at all, looked at him.
“Ultimately, you want to help Peter Garrett, don’t you?”
At Yuri’s observation, Chris felt his mouth go dry.
It was true he had defended Peter, but he didn’t want to go against Yuri’s wishes.
“I just thought there was no harm in clearing a debt.”
“That’s the same thing.”
Yuri muttered and then fell silent.
Chris quietly held his breath, not wanting to disturb Yuri, who seemed to be thinking about something.
Yuri’s fine brow furrowed. Was he mad for thinking Yuri was beautiful even when frowning?
Chris bit the inside of his mouth, careful not to show it. His mind cleared somewhat from the aching pain.
“The Spring continent concerns me.”
Yuri muttered just then. Sensing his discomfort, Chris hastily spoke up.
“There’s no need to get involved in difficult matters. I shouldn’t have brought it up…”
“Unnecessary words? You say that to me and then try to struggle alone to solve it?”
Yuri sneered.
“With your character of leaking things here and there, and now bringing back Northern Light’s Guide. Is it Peter Garrett’s turn this time?”
“…That’s.”
Chris was slightly flustered. He thought the matter with Luka had been moderately overlooked, so he hadn’t expected it to be suddenly mentioned.
His throat felt constricted from the guilt of receiving guiding from someone else in Yuri’s absence.
And now Peter Garrett is next?
“I. I like Yuri.”
Chris took a deep breath and added while checking Yuri’s expression:
“I only like Yuri.”
It was a truth he had confessed many times.
“This isn’t about your will.”
Yuri quietly sighed. But his tone had softened somewhat.
He hadn’t doubted Chris.
“What I mean.”
He bit his lip slightly and muttered:
“Is that you’re too strong.”
Chris looked puzzled at those words.
Words like “strongest” or “greatest calamity” always followed Chris like a tag.
But Yuri didn’t seem to mean it that way now.
“If you see a hungry child, you would hand over the food you have. After all, you can just get more. If you see a homeless person, you would tell them the location of a safe house. Even if there’s no roof, you can just make one.”
Chris was the type to readily give when someone around him needed something.
Not because he was kind.
More fundamentally, because he had no doubt about his own strength. Without fear of being taken from, he could afford to be generous.
Thus, the strong have choices others cannot have.
“So it’s not about your will.”
So it’s natural that moths are drawn to Chris.
With something burning so marvelously, wouldn’t one want to throw oneself in at least once?
“To put it simply.”
Yuri selected a few words but soon set them aside.
If he spoke indirectly, would that Esper, dense beyond comparison, understand?
His purple eyes rolled sideways, avoiding eye contact.
“I’ve become jealous.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
