Chapter 278: Friend
"Don't even think about leaving Dark City. Live here quietly like a dead rat. They say you start to love a place once you get attached to it, right? Think of this as your hometown."
"...Coming here alone means you're prepared to die, doesn't it?"
Peter glared at Nain, his eyes brimming with killing intent. He remembered Poe's death at her hands. But Nain didn't flinch at his murderous aura. Instead, she flashed a sinister smile.
"Oh? You think that'll scare me? If the boss hadn't stopped me back then, you'd be dead by my hand too, just like that brainless fuck."
"You fucking bitch!"
"If you're gonna curse me, at least call me a cat? I really hate dogs."
Provoked by Nain, Peter lunged at her. He hadn't forgotten Poe and Five dying by her hand. Poe and Five—they'd fought nonstop for three days and nights when they first met, but after that, they became inseparable friends.
"I'll kill you!"
"Ahh... So this is how I go. The boss told you not to touch me. But if I die, your wife dies too. You okay with that?"
Pause—!
Peter's fist halted right in front of her nose at Nain's words.
"...What the hell does that mean?"
"What else? It means we've got your wife—the one you resurrected as a monster."
"Bullshit!"
"I'm a cat, asshole, I don't spew dogshit. Oh, right. Your wife was wearing this. You give it to her, didn't you?"
"....!"
Peter's eyes widened at the worn, ancient ring in Nain's hand. It was the very ring he'd slipped onto her finger when he proposed.
"H-How the hell did you..."
"Dumbass. Forgot who tracked your wife?"
"....."
Won had agreed to help find Peter's wife and assigned the task to his most trusted blood kin, Tu.
"Truth is, I found her in a week on Won's orders. She was surprisingly close by—caught me off guard."
"N-No way..."
"You thought you escaped prison because we got careless? Wrong. We let you go."
"What? Why the..."
"If you knew your wife was in the village, you'd plot something eventually. The boss needs your abilities, not your ass. It was obvious you'd cause trouble someday, so he kicked you out of the village altogether. And you ran off without even noticing I was tailing you?"
"....."
How far did Tu's schemes reach? Realizing even his escape was part of the plot sent chills down Peter's spine.
"...She's safe, right?"
"Kek! You wanted to kill me that bad, but now you're worried?"
"Tell me!"
"Of course she's fine. That woman—no, that monster—is your leash."
"...What?"
Nain rummaged in the cat pelt draped over her shoulder and pulled out a heap of monster byproducts, tossing them at Peter's feet.
"Make weapons and armor like always. Or next time I come, I'll bring her corpse too."
"...Kill me if you want."
"Huh? What'd you say?"
Peter glared at Nain and spat it out.
"I was gonna kill her myself anyway. No matter how she dies, it's over. You think threatening me with her life would work? Dream on. Tell Tu this: I'll come for him soon and avenge Won!"
"Pft! Puhahaha!"
Nain burst into laughter at Peter's words. When she stopped, she looked at him with amused, cruel smile.
"For real? You really want us to kill her?"
"Yeah."
"Puhahaha! Oh man... Poor girl. Dumped not once or twice, but three times by the man she loves! How tragic!"
Once when he resurrected her as a monster, twice when he tried to kill his monstrous wife. But what did three times mean?
"...What do you mean?"
"Listen up, dumbass. That monster's been circling you the whole time. Worried about you. Last time, when I told her you were safe, she even cried. A monster crying! You should've seen how shocked I was."
"....."
Peter's face went pale.
"Just because the body's warped doesn't mean the soul is. Oh, you humans think souls are superstition, huh? Always gotta see it to believe. The body might be a monster's, but the soul's still that woman you loved. Love's some powerful shit. Still loving the guy who turned her into a horrific monster!"
"Ah, aaah..."
Peter collapsed to the floor, too weak to stand.
It's a lie!
Peter denied Nain's words inwardly. It had to be a trick to mess with him. But deep down, he wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe his wife remembered him, still loved him.
"...How long do I have to make them?"
In the end, Peter decided to obey Nain—or rather, Tu.
Love was beautiful, but cruel.
"I'll come back soon. Work hard till then. And you're not Three anymore—you're Seven. Guess he can't fully ditch you or something. Tch. Why the hell does a worthless fuck like you outrank me? See ya, Seven."
With that, Nain turned and left.
*****
"...That's what happened."
"....."
I shot Peter Elder a displeased look. Well, my masked face made it obvious.
"Peter."
"Yes."
"Let me sum this up. The guy who succeeded in the rebellion is this Tu bastard, and he's the leader of the ones who killed Gumiho's family, right?"
"Yes."
I bumped Tu to the top of my kill list. Killing him finishes Raonjena's revenge.
"So you've been making weapons and armor from monster parts for them this whole time?"
"...Yes."
Peter Elder hung his head like a guilty man.
"Then do you know where they are? That's the key part."
"If they haven't moved the village, I know exactly. I'll draw you a map."
"Thanks. But Peter."
"....."
"I wanted to let it slide, but I gotta call this out. Why didn't you tell me back then?"
"That's..."
"I said I'd help you, right? If I'd gone out looking for your monster wife to help, I'd have run into those monster hunters. Were you aiming for that? Using me to get revenge on them?"
"No, that's not..."
"Then what?"
"....."
He kept staring at the floor.
"Answer me, Peter. Why didn't you say anything then?"
"...Because I didn't want to take it."
"What?"
Peter Elder looked up at me, his face full of sorrow.
"I didn't want your help. Even if you said you'd go out to find my wife, I planned to stop you."
Didn't want my help?
"Why?"
"...You were the second one."
"Huh?"
"The second person to reach out to a sinner defying heaven's will."
"....."
"I'm like a plague. Everyone who gets close to me suffers horribly. My wife, Won, my friends—all of them. If not for me, they wouldn't have met such miserable ends."
"....."
"Sometimes you remind me of Won. When you offered your hand, you overlapped with that friend. So I thought I'd do for you what I couldn't for Won as a friend."
"I'd grant all your requests and leave Dark City. Leaving takes prep, so I'd go before you finished yours. That way, my sins wouldn't spread to you."
"Thank you. For offering your hand. For saying you'd help. So that's enough. I'll make the clothes you asked for soon. Give me the address—I'll send them. And... don't come back."
"....."
Peter Elder tried to brush past me into the workshop.
"You..."
Under the mask, my face twisted in rage.
Peter Ellaine.
"You fucking dumbass!"
"....."
He was a dumbass. I hurled the insult at his retreating back, and his steps halted.
"Listen up, you dumb fuck! I was gonna head out anyway, even without you. I planned to crush that Tu fuck or whatever. Hell, kill him outright! You say I remind you of your friend? Then just think of me as him! Since I was gonna kill the bastard anyway, ask me to grab your wife while I'm at it! Can't ask a friend that, you tiny-dicked dumbass?!"
"....."
Peter Elder—no, Peter—turned to me.
"Fuck, I thought you were a real adult, but you're just a dumbass kid? You ain't grown yet! Huh? Still a fucking baby! Who taught you to decide shit alone and cut ties alone, you idiot?!"
"Just ask straight up! Ask me! What's so hard about asking a friend? Crushing some monster hunter nobodies ain't shit!"
"And fuck, you're my only friend! You cut me off, and I'm friendless!"
"...Steel Armor."
Seeing his conflicted face, rage boiled up from deep inside.
"Look at this dumbass? Still 'Mr. Steel Armor' bullshit? Hey, idiot, just say it. Steel Armor! Drop the 'mister,' fuck! Friend! I'm struggling—help me out! I'll help you when you're in a bind! Say it like that, you dumb Peter fuck!"
"Steel... Armor."
"Fuck, sounds good."
I nodded in satisfaction at the new title, crossing my arms.
"I'll drag those number-using fuckers here soon, so make the costume I asked for by then."
"Wai—"
Peter tried to say something, but I bolted out of the tailor shop before he finished.
"Heh heh. Age is sweet honey."
The age gap between me and Peter? A whopping 335 years! I bridged it and snagged a friend.
"Where you going, retiring already? You got so many costumes left to make."
I already had 16 women. Add the Green Forest tribe and future additions, and he'd be making costumes for life. But no problem. If he really wanted, Peter could live forever!
He'd craft for my pleasure till the day he died.
*****
After Steel Armor left—
"Hah, hahaha!"
—Peter, alone now, burst out laughing.
He'd been cussed out by the much younger Steel Armor, but it didn't feel bad at all. If anything, his blocked chest felt wide open, refreshed.
"That young punk's so damn cocky."
Peter cursed the ill-mannered Steel Armor, but a smile played on his lips.
"Uhahaha!"
Laughing heartily, tears streamed from his eyes.
*****
—Why?
Raonjena's first words when she picked up were "Why?" Her tone was so curt, I wanted to pin her down with my dick, but I held back.
"You ready?"
—...Yeah.
"Then tonight, on schedule, we head out from the lair for the hunt. Rally at District 61."
—Got it. See you then.
I could hear the tension in Raonjena's voice. No wonder—this was the moment she'd longed for.
Tonight, we'd leave Dark City.