Chapter 65
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 65
Three days had passed since the Ken Noma incident.
"You... you bastard, Luka...!"
I sat there, listening to Gabriel's drunken rambling. I wasn't exactly the warm, affectionate type, but this was something I had to endure.
"Do you have any idea... what Martina did to me? What I had to go through over there? Do you?!"
Gabriel grabbed my collar and shook me. For a split second, my temper flared, but I let it slide—just this once.
He released my collar and slumped back, letting out a sigh heavy enough to crush his shoulders.
I glanced at him before taking a sip of my synthetic juice. Hmm, apple flavor. Not that I'd ever eaten a real apple, so I couldn't actually say whether this was what they tasted like.
Last night, Gabriel had been dragged off by Grace like a pig to the slaughterhouse. He'd spent the night with the boss of La Vie en Rose—meaning he'd rolled around in bed with Martina Diva.
"You went through... a lot."
Unsure what else to say, I offered the mechanical response. Gabriel chugged straight from the bottle, his voice cracking as if he were on the verge of tears.
"You should be grateful to me! You think I'm doing all this for you just because of money? Damn it!"
"I'm grateful to you in many ways," I replied coldly, already tired of his whining.
"Is that how a grateful bastard acts?! You're cold! So cold! Oh, god! I'm going to freeze to death! Damn it!"
I wanted to snap back at him, but I barely managed to swallow the words. By my standards, an hour of this was more than enough.
It was embarrassing to admit, but... Gabriel wanted friendship from me.
But that's something I can't give him.
I was someone who had to be prepared to 'expend' Gabriel. I had no intention of growing any closer to him. If we became any more intimate, I wouldn't be able to use him as a tool.
Kinuan thoroughly used and expended both Tora and Ken Noma.
I had to become that kind of person too.
Gabriel kept guzzling until he was completely wasted. He was loyal, sure—but he was also short-sighted and had no self-control.
Creak.
The door to our gang's office creaked open. I'd planned to sleep here tonight, so I'd dismissed the guards. Which meant no one should be coming.
I stared at the out-of-place visitor.
The person stepping through the door was a woman with a hood pulled low over her face. The texture of her clothes was remarkably high-quality. She definitely wasn't from the Lower District.
The lower half of her face beneath the hood was hidden behind a mask fitted with an air filter. Nobles often wore masks like that when visiting the Lower District—the air here was foul.
"Giselle?"
Even from a distance, I recognized her. An unexpected visitor.
Giselle Custoria.
She pulled back her hood and adjusted her mask. Hydraulic cylinders hissed along her jaw and ears as the mask slid down beneath her chin.
She glanced around the room, her delicate brow furrowing.
"Ugh, it smells awful in here."
"Ah, that's just this guy's fart," I said, nudging Gabriel with my elbow. Giselle grimaced and covered her mouth the moment she caught sight of Gabriel's rugged, intimidating face.
"Lu-Luka. Wh-who is she? Th-this young lady?"
Startled by her appearance, Gabriel stammered.
While I was still trying to figure out how to introduce her, Giselle spoke up first.
"I'm Luka's younger sister."
Her tone was polite, but dry.
"His sister? Sister?! Luka, you bastard! Why didn't you tell me you had a sister?!"
Gabriel's eyes went wide as he shot up, planting himself in front of me.
"Why would I have told you?"
"Y-you could've at least told me that much! Between us!"
Gabriel was clearly out of his mind drunk.
I looked past his shoulder at Giselle. She gave me a subtle look, signaling for me to send him away.
"Give us some space. She came all this way to find me—it must be important."
I stood and nudged Gabriel aside. Grumbling, he snatched up his bottle and shuffled up to the second floor.
"Won't he eavesdrop on us?" Giselle asked, sitting down beside me.
"He's not that kind of guy. Besides, his hearing isn't that sharp."
"You seem to trust him quite a bit."
Trust. In a way, I suppose I did. Gabriel never strayed from my expectations. In that sense, he was a reliable subordinate.
Click.
Giselle slid a data chip across to me.
"Father sent this to you. I don't know what's on it."
I could guess.
The final destination of the funds funneled through the ghost companies.
Nikolaos had died while investigating the flow of that money. No matter how sophisticated a network was, there were always security loopholes. When high-ranking imperial officials were involved, one had to be even more careful about using the network.
Physical delivery like this was the most secure method. And he'd sent his most trustworthy daughter as the messenger.
Heilas is being extremely cautious, too.
No one knew who was involved in my mission, or how deeply. Even Heilas only had a vague grasp of the outline.
"I won't ask why you're staying in the Lower District," Giselle said.
She was quick-witted. She didn't pry into the situation.
"How's the atmosphere at the main house?" I asked, changing the subject. I was genuinely curious about how things stood there. As an adopted son, no one was going to kindly keep me updated.
"Since you've been away so long, Jupe is having the time of his life."
Giselle reached for a bottle of alcohol on the shelf. Her movement was so casual that I stared blankly for a second before grabbing her wrist.
"That's alcohol."
"I know. I'm not going to sip juice while we talk about this. I'm not a kid."
She brushed my hand away, glanced at the juice in front of me, and smirked. For some reason, I felt a flicker of embarrassment.
"...Alcohol is a banned substance for Imperial Guard Cadets."
"Yes, yes, of course it is. Wow, this tastes absolutely dreadful. Do people down here actually drink this and call it alcohol?"
Giselle grimaced deeply after pouring herself a glass and taking a sip. Yet, despite all her complaining, she poured herself another.
We talked about Jupe and the main house.
"Jupe practically lives at the main house these days. With you and Father gone so long, everyone's clinging to him."
"Can't be helped. Unlike Jupe, who's basically unemployed, I have an ongoing mission. If you hate seeing him like that, you should keep him in check."
"I want to, but I don't have the power right now. I need to officially come of age before I can do anything. Only then can I take on retainers and start a business."
I slowly closed my eyes, then opened them again.
"To me, that just sounds like an excuse, Giselle."
Her eyes narrowed sharply at that.
"I know you're brilliant, but don't talk like that when you don't know what I'm dealing with. What I'm trying to do can't be done half-heartedly. I need the legal authority of an adult."
Irritated, Giselle launched into an explanation without me even asking. Her plan was to graduate from Cracia Academy, come of age, and then start a business with the talented people she'd scouted at school.
"...It's about operating cybernetic prosthetics wirelessly. No physical connection."
"Isn't that already possible?"
"It's different. With current tech, without a direct nervous system connection, response times are slow and only simple actions are possible. Complex movements or combat are out of the question. You can't mimic nervous system signals using brainwaves alone."
I quietly watched her profile as she chattered on. Whether it was the alcohol or the fact that she was talking about her passion, her face was flushed with excitement.
"You compress the nervous system signal patterns, transmit them, then reconstruct those signals at the receiver. Even if it's not quite as good as a physical connection, it'd still be leagues better than what we have now..."
I didn't really follow the principles, even after listening. I only vaguely grasped that it was some groundbreaking technology capable of drawing massive investment.
Having finished her explanation, Giselle moved to stand.
She swayed.
I caught her by the shoulders to steady her. It seemed she'd accidentally had one glass too many.
Slap!
Startled, Giselle knocked my hands away and pushed herself up.
"I-I can stand on my own."
She wobbled like a toddler taking her very first steps. Watching her, a sigh slipped out of me.
"...I'll walk you to where the patrol drones are. Security gets worse at night."
"I'm fine. I brought a gun. My marksmanship grades are actually pretty good. If anyone suspicious shows up... I'll just—bam!"
Giselle mimed drawing a pistol and aiming it forward.
Slick!
I swept my hand past hers and smoothly slid the magazine out of her gun. It took her a beat to register what had happened—then her face went bright red.
"See? Don't be reckless. A gun alone doesn't guarantee your safety. If something happens to you, it'll be a headache for me too."
I took the gun, reinserted the magazine, and handed it back.
We stepped out of the office. Lukewarm air, like half-cooled food, drifted through the alleys. I pulled Giselle's hood down further over her head as we walked.
Step, step.
Maybe the walking was helping her sober up, because Giselle hesitated a moment before speaking.
"Sorry, Luka. I've been a nuisance. I meant to just drop off the chip and leave right away, but I guess I got a bit carried away. Ah—I mean, I was excited because it's been a while since I went out. And it's my first time coming down to the Lower District alone."
"No need to ramble. As long as you know you're sorry, that's enough," I said flatly. Giselle, who'd been trailing behind, quickened her steps to fall in beside me, walking at my pace.
Now and then, screams and the wet sound of fists on flesh echoed from the dark alleys. Cold, predatory eyes tracked us from the shadows, their intentions impossible to read.
Giselle flinched and grabbed the hem of my coat.
"Did you grow up in a place like this too?"
"I rarely went out after dark. There were kids who went out at night and never came back."
Every time I looked into the darkness of the Lower District, I hardened my resolve. If I fell, the place I'd plunge into was an abyss. I was different from the nobles.
As we walked on, the road widened and the streets grew brighter. Patrol drones drifted back and forth overhead. This was where the Lower District's middle class lived.
"You should go now," I said, stopping. The boundary between light and darkness cut right across where I stood.
"Luka..."
Giselle, already a few steps ahead, turned back. I watched her in silence.
"...Next time, can I come visit, even if I don't have any business?"
Her eyes sparkled. I kept my expression flat and stared back at her calmly. Startled by my heavy silence, she shrank back a little.
"Get a grip. This isn't a place you visit for fun."
I answered coldly. Giselle's pupils wavered, and she bit her lower lip.
"I-I was just joking. I have no intention of coming to a filthy place like this for fun anyway."
She pulled her hood forward, hiding her face, and turned her back on me.
I watched her retreating figure.
...I wasn't a dense fool. I couldn't afford to get tangled up with her. I was a member of the Custoria family. And I'd seen how even the brilliant Ilay had made his misjudgments because of a woman.
Right now, I stood on a razor's edge. Even the smallest mistake would put me in jeopardy. Relationships and emotions that clouded my judgment and reason were things I didn't need.
Only after confirming that Giselle had vanished from sight did I turn and leave.