Chapter 215
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 215
Anguis Regina was a stage name. I didn’t even know her real one.
She herself was probably more accustomed to her stage name; her birth name would likely feel foreign to her by now.
I followed Anguis Regina into a building on a flashy street in a bustling district for the wealthy.
I walked behind her with an air of indifference. As we ascended to the upper floors, we arrived at a luxurious hallway lined with a red carpet, private rooms branching off to the left and right.
Click.
Stepping into the room she had reserved, I saw a bar that could seat about ten people. Beyond it, a floor-to-ceiling glass window offered a sweeping view of Border City’s nightscape.
“Is it really okay for Border City’s biggest idol to be drinking with a man like this?” I asked sarcastically as I sat down.
Anguis Regina lowered the cloth covering her face and pulled back her hood.
“Privacy is absolutely guaranteed here.”
My gaze fell on the bartender walking into the room. He bowed to us before taking his place in the center of the bar.
“Privacy is guaranteed even with an employee present?”
“The bartender can neither see nor hear. He simply moves by memorizing the layout of this room. If you input what you want to drink, he receives the order through tactile signals.”
The bartender’s eyes were narrowed. His pupils were cloudy, his gaze fixed on some distant point. He showed no reaction to our voices whatsoever.
“...Did this man give up his hearing and sight just to work here?” I asked, my brow furrowing slightly.
Anguis Regina laughed and patted my shoulder.
“Spoken like a true Imperial, jumping straight to such a gruesome thought. This establishment employs people with congenital or acquired disabilities as a form of welfare. If they work here for about ten years, they’re provided with new eyes and ears, whether cybernetic or biological. The pay is so good that many choose to forgo the transplants and stay long-term. It’s one of Japa Trading’s welfare programs. Now, is there anything you want to drink?”
She tapped the surface of the bar, and a menu projected onto the glass. She ordered a cocktail with a name so long it was hard to pronounce.
“Just a glass of milk. I assume a place like this sells the real thing, not synthetic.”
Anguis Regina chuckled softly at my remark.
“They don’t just have real milk; they have milk with real strawberries blended into it. It’s delicious. You should try it.”
She finished placing the order.
Tick, tick, ti-tick, tick.
A small rod connected to the bartender’s necklace began to move, tapping the back of his neck to transmit the signals. Interpreting them, the bartender prepared our drinks with a precise, clean motion that was hard to believe came from a blind man.
How extravagant.
If they wanted privacy, they could have just built an automated bar. But no, they insisted on using human labor.
This is how the rich spend their money.
They enjoy luxury by paying for unnecessary costs.
“Since when have you been visiting Gabriel?” I asked before the drinks arrived, having no intention of engaging in idle chit-chat.
“About a month now. Once or twice a week. I was curious what kind of person he was to make you care so much.”
“I never cared. I just stashed him in the hospital because he had information I needed. I won’t be visiting him anymore, anyway,” I said with a sneer.
Anguis Regina maintained a coquettish smile until the drinks arrived. It was an excellent mask.
Clack.
The drinks were served. She brought the glass to her lips and took a sip.
“Khuuu...”
Anguis Regina grimaced and stuck out her tongue, swallowing the alcohol with difficulty before catching her breath.
“...It’s bitter and strong no matter how many times I drink it. Do you know what this is? It’s made with real snake venom. If you’re in poor condition or if there’s a mistake in the mix, it can kill you. Dozens of people have died drinking this. If you survive ten glasses, you get free lifetime access to Japa Trading’s franchise restaurants.”
Just one sip had flushed her cheeks. It seemed to be every bit the poison she described.
“A ridiculous game. Anyone who can afford to drink ten glasses of that stuff in here doesn’t care about free pizza and burgers.”
“When life gets boring, people tend to seek stimulation in bizarre places.”
“Is that why you do such eccentric things? It’s a miracle you’re not dead yet.”
“I know, right? I’m surprised I’m still alive myself.” Anguis Regina caressed the rim of her glass, her empty, sparkling eyes looking up at me.
“If you want to die, I’ll break that window and step aside so you can jump. I won’t stop you this time.”
“Haha, that’s not how I want to die these days. Thanks to you.”
She slid her chair closer. Her perfume mingled with her natural scent, a heady aroma that filled my senses. Anguis Regina was a woman who stimulated raw instinct, at times almost excessively so.
Biologically, I was attracted to her. As a human male, it was an unavoidable desire, a physiological response. But I could just ignore it. There was no reason for me to be swayed by such a shallow urge. If I had been faithful to my instincts, I would have already made a name for myself in Border City as a killer of unprecedented scale.
Not all desires are equal. The lust I felt toward Anguis Regina was a low-level urge, a fleeting impulse that would vanish once satisfied. No different from hunger or the need for sleep.
“You amuse me. You possess a beast’s violence and aggression, yet you’re so detached when it comes to other desires.”
I didn’t reply, staring straight into her face.
Anguis Regina boldly reached out, her hand sliding onto my thigh. Her fingers moved stealthily.
My lips twisted into a smirk. I had far deeper control over my body, both flesh and prosthesis, than any ordinary person.
I pictured cold consciousness descending from my mind, flowing down my spine and through my veins. As the blood that had rushed to fuel my desire receded, my reason became crystal clear.
“...You’re quite skilled,” Anguis Regina said, biting her lower lip as if her pride had been wounded.
Slide.
The bartender slid the strawberry milk in front of me. Chunks of fresh strawberry floated in the glass. Taking a sip, it tasted fresh and expensive.
“Enough games. More importantly, don’t ever visit Gabriel again. This is a warning.”
“And why should I listen to you?”
“Because if things go south, you’ll die by my hand. I can control whatever manufactured desire I feel for your body. But my urge for violence… I can’t guarantee I can hold that back.”
Anguis Regina smiled brightly. “Do you need to hold it back? Wouldn’t it be fine if you didn’t?”
She grabbed my wrist and pulled it toward the nape of her neck. She tilted her head up slightly, as if inviting me to strangle her. Her white throat touched my fingers. If I applied even a little force, her neck would snap.
A violent impulse surged through me. I wanted to see her neck break. I wondered if she could remain so composed even as she died.
“Ha, haha…”
My shoulders shook as I burst into laughter. Shaking off her hand, I downed the rest of the strawberry milk in one gulp. It was expensive, and I had no intention of leaving any behind. I even scraped the strawberry bits stuck to the glass into my mouth.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’re not looking at me. You’re looking for Kinuan. You must truly hate the man he is now. So… ah, I see. You’re projecting the Kinuan you knew—the one from before you hated him—onto me, aren't you?”
Anguis Regina covered her nose and mouth with both hands, her face flushed and her eyes sparkling.
“Mmm, go on.”
“That’s why you’ve slept with every single Akies Victima detective. To find another Kinuan. You want a Kinuan you have no reason to hate. Do you want a new Kinuan who will kill the one you despise?”
I thought I’d hit the nail on the head. But instead of getting angry, she only grew more excited.
“You really… are just like him.”
She placed a hand on my cheek and tried to bring her sweet lips to mine. She didn't hide her emotions. A pathetic desire mingled with her scent, so potent that even the bartender, who could neither see nor hear, seemed to become aroused by it.
“Kinuan probably only teased you and never actually held you. So every time I reject you, I must seem even more like him.”
“If you know that, then hold me. Then you won’t be like him anymore.”
A contradiction. She wanted to be held by the man who would never hold her. Kinuan had left her with a terrible curse, a confusing, insatiable craving. The moment I held her, I would no longer be him. The empty tryst would end, leaving only the thirst for a new Kinuan.
“You said your father died because of him, right?”
For the first time, she flinched, a stark contrast to her earlier excitement.
“Ah, I forgot I have another appointment…”
I had no intention of backing down. She was a madwoman. Whether her heart was torn to shreds was none of my concern.
“Let me guess. You killed your own father. At Kinuan’s request, I imagine. He must have coaxed you with sweet words, instigating patricide. He probably whispered some nonsense in your ear, like how he’d hold you or how you’d leave together once it was over. Didn’t he?”
Anguis Regina laughed awkwardly. “What an amusing theory. Our game is over. Stop it.”
With her mental walls crumbling, her mind was defenseless. Every jab landed. My deductions chained together.
“Even the most skilled manipulator can’t easily drive someone to kill their own father. You must have harbored a deep resentment for him, something that had built up for years. Something that could fester into a reason for murder. When I think about what that could be…”
Her hand moved, an attempt to slap my cheek.
I caught it. With her other hand, she picked up her glass and threw the drink in my face.
Splash!
I was willing to take that much.
The venom-laced alcohol struck my face. My skin stung, proving it was full of harmful ingredients. I would have preferred the slap.
“Bitter,” I said, licking the alcohol from my lips.
“Just keep doing your job like the hunting dog we hired you to be,” she spat, grimacing. Yet, desire was still evident in her pupils, her flushed cheeks, her trembling legs. My attitude of seeing through everything must have resembled Kinuan’s all too well.
Crash!
I kicked the chair she was sitting on. It tumbled backward through the air.
Thud!
Anguis Regina fell flat on her backside, collapsing out of my line of sight. I crossed my legs and clasped my hands over my knee.
Faced with my sudden, overbearing violence, she was at a loss. Reason and instinct clashed, contorting her expression.
“Japa treasures you. Not because you’re a valuable asset to Japa Trading, but for a much more personal reason. You, on the other hand, rarely talk about Japa. You show little emotion toward him. You find him burdensome, uncomfortable. In all my time in Border City, I’ve never seen you two meet or speak privately.”
I fiercely retraced the past, gathering the disparate pieces of the puzzle. If I played my cards right, I could uncover the relationship between Kinuan and Japa Trading right here and now.
“Are you seeing right through me? Just like Kinuan did?” Anguis Regina asked, looking up at me from the floor.
“Tell me about Japa and Kinuan, Anguis Regina. If you do, I’ll hold you right here, just like you want. Though whether that will be the heaven you desire or another hell, I can’t say.”
I had my suspicions about Japa and her. But I wasn’t certain. The relationship between a parent and child was a difficult subject for me. It always had been.
Slide.
Anguis Regina stood, slotted a credit chip into the bartender’s waist, and poked his side. Taking it as a signal, he quietly left the room.
Rustle.
She took off her outer garment. Her flushed skin possessed the qualities of both an innocent girl and a seductive temptress.
“Guess, Detective. My relationship with Japa. Come on, just like Kinuan would.”
She urged me on, a thin thread of sticky saliva stretching between her parted lips.
“Japa is your stepmother. And you hated your beloved father for dating a Tajirun.”
Anguis Regina’s face crumbled as if it were melting away. She staggered, her head hanging low.
“You really are… the best.”
Soon, she raised her head. On her face was the most exquisite smile she had never once shown, not even on stage.