Chapter 178
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 178
I called Japa to dispose of the body.
Together, we looked down at Ernest Borel's corpse. His head had been smashed beyond recognition.
"This connects back to Kinuan," I told Japa. "Dig up everything you can on Valek, the Borel family's bodyguard. Every single detail, no matter how small. Even that name is probably an alias."
Japa anxiously clicked his long fingernails together.
"Did you kill Ernest Borel? Do you even know who this is? Hoyoooo..."
"He's a politician's son."
"Not just any politician. He's from one of Border City's founding families."
"There are plenty of founders. He's just one of many," I replied dismissively.
"...You have crossed one of the true powers of Border City. Though, of course, I am one of them as well."
Japa subtly flaunted his influence. Flicking his forked tongue in and out, he stepped up to Ernest's corpse.
"Japa, it wasn't a coincidence that your resources woke me up. You might think choosing me was your own decision, but you were used by Kinuan. The board was set so that the moment I woke up, I would seek out Ernest Borel."
Only Kinuan would pull a stunt like this.
"I had a vague inkling that finding and waking you was Kinuan's doing. It wouldn't be the first time I've been dragged around by him," Japa said calmly, showing no surprise.
Japa has known Kinuan for quite a long time. At least a few years.
I filed away the information gleaned from this brief exchange.
"If you want to find Kinuan, stop hiding things and give me everything you have."
"I cannot do that. You may spend as much of my money as you like, hoyot, hoyot. It stings a bit, but I can manage. However, do not pry into private matters I haven't volunteered to share. Consider this a warning."
"It's ridiculous to ask me to find someone while hiding the most crucial intel."
"Which is why I am supporting you in every possible way, both materially and financially. If the Borels find out that the detective I hired killed Ernest, I will be in quite a difficult position myself."
Japa bent at the knees and waist, bringing himself eye-to-eye with Ernest's ruined face.
"By 'difficult,' you mean it's nothing you can't handle."
"According to your information, Ernest was a serial killer. That leaves some room to smooth things over. Though a father's wrath over losing his son will be fierce, to be sure. For now, let us clean up the body."
As soon as Japa gave the word, the cleaning androids sprang into action. They sprayed chemical solvents and scrubbed the floor, systematically erasing all traces of the murder.
"There were no civilian witnesses. But whether Valek tells the Borel family about Ernest's whereabouts is another question."
"What do you think, Mr. Luka? You're the one who saw Valek in person, and your intuition is usually spot on."
"...He won't say anything for now. Valek will likely vanish completely from the Borel family's radar as well."
We silently watched the remnants of the corpse disappear. Japa stood there placidly, looking as though he had done this countless times before.
"For now, I will look into Valek. Conducting a broad, detailed investigation is what capital and manpower are for, after all."
Japa's handling of such matters was always superb. No matter how much I ran wild and gave in to my temper, he somehow managed to clean up the mess. Even though he was an alien, I had to admit I liked him.
"Prolonging the lockdown will only arouse suspicion, so let us depart."
Japa pressed a finger to the communicator on his neck and issued orders to his Equesian mercenaries. Japa Trading was controlling the perimeter of the crime scene, and the mercenaries under his command operated with the precision of a professional police or military unit.
It would be ridiculous enough for a private security firm to blockade an entire street, but for a food service enterprise to abuse its power like this...
Yet, no one seemed to find it strange. In Border City, where public security was nonexistent, this was simply the norm.
Essentially, every corporation here maintained its own armed forces, regardless of their actual industry. It was a natural evolution, given that the lack of public safety here was even more severe than in Akbaran.
How bizarre. It's a miracle a city this chaotic manages to function at all.
The architects who designed and established Border City's foundational systems must have been extraordinary, but even they probably wouldn't understand how the city sustained itself today.
Border City was like a tower built by stacking toys of completely different shapes and sizes. They were so intricately tangled and wedged together that even looking down from the very top, it was impossible to comprehend why the whole thing didn't collapse. They kept recklessly building the tower higher without any structural foresight, discarding whatever fell off and only keeping what managed to stay upright. As a result, the city was filled with countless contradictions that defied common sense.
Which means it wouldn't be surprising if it suddenly collapsed at any moment.
If some incident occurred tomorrow that turned the entire city into a sea of fire, it would make perfect sense.
"Also, Valek wields a Hwagwang Magnetic Sword. It's a rare weapon, so try tracing its acquisition route."
"...To change the subject for a moment, the one who killed Ernest Borel was Mr. Gabriel, not you. Am I correct? If it were you, Mr. Luka, you would have captured him alive first and disposed of him quietly. You may be eccentric, but you are not someone who handles things so amateurishly."
There was no point in denying it, so I nodded.
"And?"
"While you are carrying out my request, I would strongly prefer you not use Mr. Gabriel as your assistant. If you need manpower, I will provide it. As you have seen a few times, En is a very capable fellow."
"Who I use is my business. It's not your place to interfere."
"Mr. Gabriel will ruin things at a crucial moment."
I curled one side of my mouth into a smirk. "I'm that type, too. I screw things up at crucial moments."
"At least you have the ability and the decency to clean up your own mistakes. But people like Mr. Gabriel just act on impulse and leave it at that. Cleaning up the mess becomes someone else's job. Just like right now."
"Then I'll just be the one to clean it up, just like right now," I said, suppressing the irritation boiling inside me.
My fingers twitched. I had the sudden, intense urge to reach out and snap Japa's neck. I idly wondered if snapping a snake-like alien's neck would kill him instantly, just like a human.
"I believe I am the one doing the cleaning up, not you..."
"Using you to do it is also within the scope of my abilities."
"Hoyoooo, what a unique perspective. In any case, since you are so firm regarding Mr. Gabriel, I will not argue further. You have a softer side than I thought."
I was going to ignore him, but decided to add one last thing.
"There are plenty of people out there better than Gabriel. But other qualities matter more to me. Gabriel won't stab me in the back."
"Just as you wouldn't betray Mr. Gabriel?"
I really didn't want to answer that, so I kept my mouth shut. Japa let out his signature hissing laugh, his forked tongue darting out of his mouth.
*
The Ernest Borel incident entered a lull.
According to Japa, the Borel family had deployed search parties to find Ernest, but they were making little progress. This was largely because Ernest often went about alone to keep his dark private life a secret.
What matters right now is Valek.
Valek was an expert in Akies Victima. Because he had properly mastered the core of Akies Victima itself, rather than just the general Akies Combat Style, he was not only a formidable fighter but also highly skilled in deception and scheming.
It would be great if Japa could dig up Valek's background, but even if he can't... Valek will come looking for me on his own.
I thought to myself as I poured tea into my cup.
What are Kinuan and Valek trying to get out of me? Why did they manipulate Japa into waking me up?
Naturally, I couldn't figure out their endgame just yet. It was impossible to deduce their intentions with such limited clues.
When Valek comes back, I have to capture him alive.
As long as I took him alive, there were ways to extract information. Provided I was willing to discard a little more of my humanity.
I recalled my fight with Valek, pondering ways to subdue him without killing him. It was a highly tricky proposition.
Valek will also be scheming on how to deal with me before he returns.
While I held the upper hand in terms of raw combat power, a single variable in a real fight could easily flip the tables.
The longer I stayed in Border City, the more complicated my situation became. Giselle's disappearance was undeniably connected to Kinuan. But the clues were minuscule, and the big picture was worse than blurry—its very edges seemed to shift by the minute.
But this kind of environment suits me better.
I had felt a surge of vitality ever since my encounter with Valek.
The more difficult the situation became, and the stronger the pressure grew... the more the energy inside me swelled. It was a sort of counterforce.
The more my surroundings tried to crush me, the stronger and more vibrant I became. Conversely, peaceful and relaxed stability only dragged me down into depression. It was maddening, but it was the truth.
Right now, even when I looked at a pistol, I didn't feel the sudden urge to press the muzzle against my temple and pull the trigger. The impulse to throw myself out of a window had also vanished, leaving my mind perfectly calm even when I opened the curtains to look down at the streets.
The fire inside me was burning away that sticky, clinging depression. It might sound cliché, but passion is important.
That's enough for today.
I sipped my tea, letting my racing thoughts gradually wind down.
Tap, tap.
Someone knocked politely on my door.
I stood up and pulled it open with a creak. Boyan was standing there.
"Ah, I'm sorry for dropping by so suddenly. I just wanted to say hello."
Having just entered his growth spurt, Boyan only came up to my chest. However, since he belonged to the Crawler race—where an average adult stood well over two meters tall—he would easily tower over me in a few years. Even without any special training, Boyan would soon possess the physical strength to effortlessly tear an ordinary human male to shreds.
For a human to match the baseline physical capabilities of a Crawler, they would have to plaster themselves with heavy cybernetic prosthetics. Yet, a Crawler could wield Gabriel-level violence just by breathing.
To think someone born with such violent physical potential just wants to study...
Boyan was far more of an anomaly than I was. In a Crawler society teeming with bastards like Regor, it was only natural that a kid like Boyan found it hard to fit in.
"You don't need to drop by every time you go to school," I said, casting a subtle glance at his attire.
It was a neat, tailored school uniform. A pair of glasses poked out of his breast pocket.
"It's my first day of school. Lord Japa said it's a good one. And I got these glasses to help correct the vision in my left eye. Lord Japa recommended them, saying they make me look a bit softer."
Boyan had nearly gone blind in his left eye due to the frequent beatings he'd suffered under Regor. Because of the severe difference in vision between his eyes, reading books must have been a headache for him.
"Well, work hard."
I leaned my shoulder against the doorframe and scratched my head. It was the only encouragement I could think of.
If Boyan had wanted to learn combat skills, I would have had plenty of advice to offer.
But then again, if Boyan had wanted to be a fighter in the first place, our paths never would have crossed.
He's walking a completely different path from me.
Boyan bowed politely and walked down the hallway. Even to my eyes, the sight of a Crawler wearing a neat school uniform looked incredibly awkward.
After that, I ran into Boyan from time to time. Since we lived in the same building, it was bound to happen.
Sometimes, though, Boyan would vanish down the hallway as if he were avoiding me. It was about a week later when I finally learned the reason why. No matter how hard he tried to make himself scarce, there were times when we inevitably crossed paths.
"H-Hello. I tripped on my way back."
Boyan offered a clumsy excuse. I immediately noticed the cracked glasses tucked into the breast pocket of his dirtied uniform.
On another day, his clothes were torn. Sometimes, a foul stench wafted from his school bag. Every time, Boyan tried to hurry past me, as if trying to hide his state.
Boyan is being bullied at school.
Whoever was doing it, they were incredibly bold to mess with a Crawler. But they probably did it because they were absolutely certain Boyan wouldn't lay a finger on them in retaliation. In short, they saw him as an easy target.
I merely shrugged and acknowledged his greetings each time.
It's his own business to handle.
Compared to what Boyan would face in the future, this level of adversity was nothing. If he couldn't endure it, he could always just learn how to fight.
And then, one day, Japa contacted me regarding the boy.
—The school has summoned Boyan's guardian.
"Can't the foundation sponsoring him handle it?"
—We are his sponsors, not his guardians.
"I'm not his parent, either."
Japa fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a slightly irritated tone.
—Even a stray cat picked up off the street would receive more attention than this. Furthermore, Boyan is a sentient being, not a mere beast.
...He was right. I stood up and grabbed my coat.