I Feel Safer With You

A faint glow still lingered in the alley where several people had died.

Traces of ability users fighting in the Lower Tier were nothing unusual in themselves. Illegal weapons and illegal procedures were so common among the powered that most residual readings were buried under the surrounding mana within a few hours and written off as junk data.

Last night's traces had been filed under the same category at first. The problem was that the residual values refused to decay, no matter how much time passed.

The same kind of spatial distortion was detected again and again around the railings, the signage boards, the parked vehicles. The signature of a single ability used far too many times in far too short a span.

The search range reached all the way down to research materials that had been discontinued ages ago. Only after broadening the parameters that far did an old record finally catch.

Too high to ignore, too low to confirm. Not enough to raise a human-level alert — but plenty enough to justify sending a single piece of reconnaissance equipment to take a look.

The flight path of one small drone making its rounds nearby quietly changed.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

I spent a while just staring at the newly issued ID card. The face on it, and the name printed beneath it, were both complete fakes.

Lucian Ashborn.

No matter how many times I read it in my head, it felt awkward. I'd lived thirty-six years as Seo Jaeha, and now some stranger's name had been slapped onto me overnight — of course it felt strange.

It's going to take a while to get used to this.

Still, it beat having no card at all. For the time being, this would be the name I lived under.

I slipped the ID into my wallet and looked up. Narin was perched half-seated on the windowsill, and she hadn't moved in a while. Normally, this was the hour she spent watching me. Even from clear across the room, she'd keep track of me through my reflection in the glass, and the moment a pillar slid between us, she'd relocate without missing a beat.

"What is it?"

"There's a little one. It's been circling this area since a few minutes ago."

At her words I went to the window, but all I saw was a shuttered rail line and rows of weathered buildings. Coolant leaked from somewhere in the overhead structure, running down rusted girders in thin threads, and a few of the Lower Tier's holographic advertisements flickered in the distance, stubbornly lit even in broad daylight.

"A drone or something?"

"Yes, that's right. Except I can barely hear any propeller noise, and its shell keeps blending in with the surroundings."

Silent propellers, and a hull that shifted color to match the wall. Not the kind of thing that typically rolled around the Lower Tier. And there was nothing worth filming around here anyway — no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dense population, no facilities worth money.

The figure that had watched us from a distance and then vanished crossed my mind.

Is this her doing?

It made sense if she'd decided sending a person was too crude and dispatched a drone instead. She'd claimed we were free to go, but I had no illusions of loyalty deep enough to take that at face value.

"Can you catch it?"

"Intact?"

"If possible. I want to see who sent it."

Narin headed for the door, then stopped after barely a few steps. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠If she went out through that corridor, the wall would block her from my sight.

...Don't tell me.

Even if I was right, now wasn't the time to litigate it.

"Go around the way that keeps you visible from the window."

Narin reversed direction without hesitation. The moment she came into view, the drone's outer shell split open and several small lenses emerged. Red light swept over her body from head to toe.

I pressed close to the window myself — partly to observe — but the lens never once turned this way. It doggedly tracked only the direction Narin was moving.

So it came for Narin.

"Narin. Don't use mana."

"Understood."

I had no idea what that red light was reading, but the fact that it was singling Narin out for scrutiny bothered me. Using mana would let her snatch it instantly, but there was no reason to show the other side exactly what they were hoping to see.

"Just cut off its escape route. Intact, if you can."

Narin wove between the rails and the buildings without using a single drop of mana, sealing off the drone's retreat. A machine that changed direction a dozen times still couldn't hold out forever.

Before long, a drone with one crumpled antenna was sitting on the table.

"Good work."

"I didn't even use mana."

"I saw."

What pleased me wasn't just the clean capture — it was that she'd done it on nothing more than the single instruction don't use mana. The old Narin would have asked why first. These days she seemed to grasp what I was wary of on her own and act accordingly. It was a welcome change, proof that it wasn't just her combat ability that had grown.

The red tail that had appeared at some point was wagging noticeably harder than before. What she wanted was obvious.

But right now, it was my turn first.

"Let's see here."

There was no corporate logo on the shell, and even the spot where a serial ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠number should have been had been ground down perfectly smooth. If this had come from her side, why bother hiding the origin so thoroughly? Probably it hadn't.

Besides, that thing had been chasing Narin from the very start. It wasn't surveying the area — it latched on whenever she moved, bathing her in red light two, three times each time. That was not the behavior of something that had stumbled onto a target by chance.

The comms were already dead, and I cut the power too, just in case. Equipment like this sometimes fires off a separate emergency beacon even when its primary communication line is fried. I ran my fingers along every edge of the body out of caution, but nothing turned up.

This much should do.

Reading the internal logs would require a maintenance terminal.

Whether she caught me glancing toward the corner or not, Narin brought the terminal over. Between that and the way she read my gaze alone and fetched whatever I needed — even though we'd only lived together a few days, the moments where she anticipated what I was looking for had multiplied sharply.

It's convenient, I'll admit that much.

The moment I connected the maintenance port, static crawled up the screen.

Good. At least I didn't have to worry about it transmitting anything new from here.

Most of the storage was encrypted, but the last few commands it had executed were still there.

I scrolled down with a finger.

Recovery.

That was not the word people used when they were hunting a person. In the corporations, I'd mostly seen that pherasure applied to retrieving lost equipment or assets.

Which meant—

They've been treating her as their property from the very beginning.

So no, they hadn't just happened to spot Narin and given chase.

"Young Master."

Narin spoke up, eyes still fixed on the screen. "This is because of me, isn't it?"

"Probably."

The red tail that had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been swaying lazily a second ago went still.

"...Then I can't be left behind again."

"What?"

Golden eyes turned straight to me. Her expression was anything but ordinary.

"Young Master, let's run away. The two of us together."

The words came faster than usual.

"We can go deeper down. I know places with no people, and places where we can get water. We have more than enough money, so anything we need, I'll go get it."

By the time she finished, something struck me as off. The plan was far too specific. This didn't feel like something she'd thought up after spotting the drone — it felt like a scenario she'd mapped out long ago.

Don't tell me she's scouted out a hiding place in advance. One sized for two, me included.

...If I asked, she'd absolutely say yes. I chose not to verify.

"You don't have to do anything, Young Master. I'll handle everything."

Narin took a step closer.

"This time, I'll protect you."

I never expected to hear the word run away out of Narin's mouth. If it were her own life on the line, she wouldn't be wearing that face at all.

So in the end, what terrified her wasn't the enemy out there — it was the possibility of being separated from me again.

"Narin. Calm down first."

"I am calm."

...That's not what it looks like.

"There's no need to run."

"But because of me—"

"Listen."

I cut her off and ran the numbers for a moment.

There was no reason to flee. If they truly saw Narin as a confirmed target, they wouldn't have started with a single recon drone. If they were still in the verification stage, then bolting first and abandoning a familiar base would be the losing move.

And above all — right now, Narin was beside me.

"If they're weak, you stop them. If they're strong, this is still the better setup, because you're here."

Narin still stared at me with an anxious face.

"So there's nothing to run from. You're more than capable of holding the line."

Her expression didn't budge. Apparently, that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

Come to think of it, even as a kid, whenever she made that face, the words she was waiting for were something else entirely.

"I trust you."

Narin's golden eyes went wide. The red tail that had been drooping a moment ago gave one great sweep and immediately picked up speed. Even her face — which no amount of it's fine had managed to soften until now — visibly eased.

"...Yes. Young Master."

Finally she's settling down.

Explanations about how strong the enemy was, how this location was tactically better — apparently a single declaration of trust landed harder than all of that combined.

Now that I thought about it, she'd been the same way as a child. She loved being praised for a job well done, but being entrusted with something important sent her buzzing around even harder.

Clearly, not much had changed.

I was thinking exactly that, when—

A strange light kindled in those golden eyes that had only just relaxed.

"I'll kill them all. Every single thing that dares to come between you and me."

...Perhaps she's calmed down a little too much?