Episode 64
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 64
After a struggle that involved kicking the door violently, Adrian finally succeeded in locking it and came running over.
Evan, who had just returned the letter he’d received from Elysia, was lost in thought.
“Well…”
“Who knows where the hell he is or what he’s doing.”
Elysia examined the letter once more. Adrian spotted her holding the paper to her nose and sniffing it, and he shrieked in horror.
“Hey, are you a dog, sis? You should live like a human, what are you doing!”
Ignoring him, Elysia kept her nose buried in the paper before abruptly lifting her head. Her gray eyes, hazy with a moment of intense focus, spoke.
“Smells like oil?”
“Oil?”
“There’s a faint smell of sweat, too. And… smoke. That’s the strongest scent.”
Evan leaned down to smell the letter in her hand but wore a look of complete confusion.
He shot Elysia a bewildered glance, as if to ask, ‘How on earth can you smell that?’, before giving her a push on the back, urging her to eat first.
Elysia neatly folded the letter, placed it back in its envelope, and served herself a piece of lasagna. Evan, naturally adding a helping of fresh green salad to her plate, asked.
“Are you planning to go tomorrow?”
“Why put it off? Let’s go right after we eat.”
Perhaps because it was late, they were the only ones in the dining hall. Adrian watched Elysia as she scowled at the stringy cheese, winding it around her fork, and began to tease her.
“Wow, sis is mad again.”
“Shut up, will you?”
“Do you have a grudge against your food? Why are you tearing it to shreds like that? At least you won’t get indigestion.”
Snapping back to her senses, Elysia’s eyes widened. She saw the miserably mashed lasagna on her plate and shuddered with a gasp. Did I do this? How barbaric…
It seemed she had gotten worked up without realizing it, her thoughts naturally drifting to Alma. The last time Elysia had seen Hertz, he was being brutally struck in the head with a rifle by that woman before being forced to his knees in humiliation.
Immediately after, Elysia herself had been shot by that same rifle and had hovered on the brink of death.
The moment she heard Hertz was missing, it was impossible to stop her thoughts from heading in that direction. Elysia ground her teeth, recalling how she had nearly died from a mere graze.
If she had her way, she would storm their base right now, but the time wasn't right.
Elysia Hemming (LV.7): HP 4,800 | Defense 875 | Attack 6,000
Her level had risen significantly after catching and expelling several students who were secretly doing drugs, but it still wasn't enough. Still, an attack power of 6,000. She clenched and unclenched her fist with a blank expression, lost in thought.
I know I chose to focus on attack power, but isn't this stat distribution a little too merciless? She desperately wanted to cut her attack power in half and put it all into her HP.
“HP is close to 5,000, and defense is around 900…”
At this rate, if I equip every defensive item I have, I think I could tank up to three bullets with sheer guts, right? Elysia’s eyes gleamed.
Blair had only asked her to confirm whether Hertz was truly in danger, but she was willing to see this through to the end. The reason was simple.
Think of all the experience points I’ll get for pulling this off! We’re talking about a drug dealer. Even catching one of his cronies means there’s a high chance they’re a violent criminal.
“You’re thinking something dangerous, aren’t you?”
Evan’s eyes narrowed as if he’d sensed something, and he stared intently at her. Feeling a pang of guilt, Elysia avoided his gaze, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she swallowed her food.
Well, he’s such a scumbag, he might just be passed out high in some alley somewhere.
Elysia unfolded the letter again, turning it over to meticulously inspect the back. Her eyes sharpened as she fiddled with the edge of the paper.
It’s thin and smooth. Almost translucent. Elysia mentally sifted through the types of paper she had long since organized into a chart in her head.
She had classified the paper used for letters hundreds of times. Narrowing her eyes, she gently tugged on the paper to test its durability and muttered.
“Greaseproof paper…”
It was similar to parchment paper but much more durable. People didn't normally use this for writing. This type of paper was mainly used for…
“Wrapping food, or packaging medicine…”
Judging by its processed form, it wasn't paper made for food packaging. Which meant that wherever this paper came from, they handled drugs.
She leaned back slightly in her chair, searching her memory. The packets containing the drug samples Hertz had been handing out were also made of greaseproof paper. No matter how she thought about it, this had to be connected to them.
“Well, I’ll have to check to be sure.”
After muttering to herself, Elysia chewed and swallowed her food, then rose from her seat, leaving behind a clean plate.
Evan naturally stood up and followed her. She was no longer surprised by him following her around. This time, however, she was surprised for a different reason.
“Me too! Take me with you!”
Adrian tagged along with a beaming smile. Elysia exchanged a briefly flustered look with Evan and fell into thought.
Well, it doesn't seem like anything particularly dangerous will happen, so maybe it's okay? We’re just going to ask a few people some questions, so it should be fine…
Elysia carefully assessed Adrian’s physical condition as he urged her to lead the way.
Seeing how he doesn't stop running his mouth even after I beat him up a few times, he must be pretty tough… Elysia crossed her arms and asked.
“Are you a fast runner?”
“Huh? Why do you ask? Of course I am!”
“Good, let’s go.”
As long as he can run away, it should be fine. With that thought, Elysia was about to take a step but froze in place. The faces of the two men staring at her, wondering what was wrong… were just too eye-catching.
She saw them every day, so she’d almost forgotten, but they were both handsome enough to make any passerby do a double-take.
To make matters worse, they were wearing school uniforms, which made them instantly identifiable. Showing up at a scene with these two handsome men in tow was tantamount to screaming, ‘Please remember me!’ at the top of her lungs.
Her expression hardened as she spoke.
“Why the hell do you two look like that?”
“Excuse me?”
Evan and Adrian, oblivious to the situation in her head, blinked in confusion. Pressing her temples in thought, she said.
“First, let’s cover your faces.”
*
An hour later, three men appeared at the fountain in the Central Plaza.
Seeing Elysia dressed as a man for the first time, Adrian stared at her profile in fascination for a long while. Just as she was about to snap at him, feeling burdened by his gaze, he asked with a genuinely curious expression.
“Sis, why did you say we had to cover our faces again?”
“Because you’d stand out.”
“Um… right.”
Adrian fell silent after noticing several women deliberately walking past them, sneaking glances at their faces.
Of the three, the face that held people’s gazes the longest was Elysia’s.
They were aware that their own faces were rather conspicuous. But there was one thing only Elysia didn't know.
Your face is practically piercing through that hat right now, sis.
Her well-defined features shone even brighter when she was dressed as a man. Wearing beige overalls and a comfortably loose shirt, Elysia stood with her arms crossed, stretching as she surveyed the bustling surroundings.
The evening light was slowly fading from the sky, but because a market was open, there were many people coming and going. It was the perfect time to hide in a crowd.
The three of them made their way through the throng of people, dodging collisions as they walked toward a newspaper stand. A middle-aged woman was closing up for the evening.
Elysia cleared her throat to announce their presence to the woman, who was so busy moving about that she hadn't even noticed them approach.
“We’re closed for the day— Oh my!”
The woman, who had been about to give a business-like reply, was first startled by the refreshing charm of the red-haired young man with a friendly smile, then doubly surprised by the good looks of the expressionless man standing next to him, and finally, completely captivated by the face of the brown-haired man standing at the very front.
I guess the good-looking ones all stick together. For a moment, she forgot all about the husband waiting for her at home.
As the woman stood there, too stunned to speak, Elysia tilted her head slightly and asked.
“Madam?”
“Oh, oh, my! Look at me. What can I do for you?”
Elysia smoothed her furrowed brow into a smile and pulled an envelope from her pants pocket. The woman took the envelope, checked the back, and tilted her head.
“Ah, this… It’s a letter a customer left with me last week. What about it?”
“Who was it? The person who left this.”
At Elysia’s words, the woman took a wary step back. As if this was a familiar routine, Elysia coolly tossed off the hat that had been partially hiding her face.
She casually handed it to Adrian and took a step closer with a sly smile.
“Ah, it’s nothing serious. I didn’t want to bring it up since it’s such a personal and embarrassing story, but it’s more important that you feel at ease, so I suppose I should tell you.”
Elysia naturally took the woman’s hand and smiled sweetly, glancing at the system window that appeared before her and continuing.
`SYSTEM: The passive skill ‘Truthful Gaze,’ which was weakened due to ‘face not being visible,’ has been reactivated. A civilian’s honesty towards you increases by 5%.`
“My friend is traveling all over the place, you see, and his family has finally given up on his hooligan ways. They’re threatening to cut him off, furious as can be. So I’ve chased him all the way here to persuade him to go home before things get out of hand. In other words, I need to find out where that rascal is.”
“A friend, you say?”
“That’s right. Ah, and I see I haven’t been very polite.”
With a roguish grin, she bowed and placed a light kiss on the back of the woman’s hand. The woman burst out laughing and playfully pushed Elysia away.
“How childish of you!”
“They say a man is a boy, no matter how old he gets, don’t they?”
Elysia was suddenly pulled back a step by Evan.
His face was expressionless, but an unidentifiable emotion flickered in his eyes. It was a strange feeling, one that looked like a mix of annoyance and perhaps envy. What is that?
♥ `SYSTEM: ‘Evan Sylvester’ feels ‘a subtle jealousy’ at your words.` ♥
“…Huh.”
She tilted her head as if to ask, ‘Are you serious?’, but Evan just stared back at her with a brazen look that said, ‘What’s the problem?’ Elysia felt a pang of guilt, like someone caught cheating, and gave an awkward laugh.
Even if he had declared his intent to court her, a person’s fundamental nature doesn't change. He was naturally gentle and never overbearing. It seemed the conversation they’d had last time gave him some sort of confidence, and he was now content to wait, patiently matching her pace.
But that didn't mean he did nothing. Occasionally, he would shake her up like this. He would express his affection directly, and he didn't hesitate to show his jealousy.
Her face flushed with belated embarrassment when she noticed Adrian watching her with an expression that said he’d seen it all.
“Wow… Sis, you’ve got talent. You’re a real playe—”
“Shut up, will you?”
“Why, are you embarrassed?”
“Just shut up…”
To get information easily, it was best to show, to put it nicely, a human side, or to put it badly, the air of a thoughtless idiot.
It was an immutable truth she had learned in <Panic in the City>, and now it was second nature to her. She felt mortified at being caught grinning like a fool.
Dammit, this is why I wanted to come alone. How did I end up dragging Adrian along like a string of candies…! She wiped the flustered look from her face and asked with a smile.
“Anyway, could you tell me what time he came by? Ah, he’s a rather plain-looking fellow, so you might not remember him.”
“Oh my? No! I remember him vividly. He made quite a strong impression, you see.”
The woman’s reply was completely different from the impression Elysia had of Hertz. A spark ignited in her eyes. Smoothly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Elysia took out a notebook and asked nonchalantly.
“Aha, so a servant must have come in his place. Could you tell me in more detail?”
As she spoke, she wrote in her notebook.
「A servant, my ass. This guy must be seriously fucked.」