Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: The Black Crow and the White Ghost (4)
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Work is work, and private life is private life.
The two must be kept strictly separate, never influencing each other.
If his work self and his private self were to mix, he knew a day would come when he could no longer tell which to prioritize.
-You're not an amateur. If you're a pro, you act like one. Got it, kid?
Before he became an enhanced soldier, Raven had spent his childhood under a prickly mentor who had drilled that ironclad rule into him.
He believed it was the proper conduct for an adult, let alone a Fixer.
In other words, no matter how close he was to someone or how much he cherished them in his private life.
Once he accepted a job, he had to set those feelings aside and focus on the work.
When it came to his work, Raven was more serious than anyone—that was the kind of man he was.
‘I feel like a piece of human garbage…’
But in this moment, for the first time, Raven felt that self-imposed rule begin to waver.
Even if he'd had the serious purpose of testing Yuria's true feelings.
Watching the scene before him, he simply couldn't endure it without hiding his face.
“…!”
The girl shifted excitedly.
The girl, clutching the ID card in her hand as if it were a treasure, bounced in her seat.
She seemed unable to keep still, her shoulders naturally bobbing in a little dance.
She had such a gentle air about her that if someone were to pull her ear right now, she would likely laugh it off rather than frown.
This slender, doll-like, fair-skinned girl was, of course, Yuria.
Was having an identity really such a joyous, happy thing?
Swaying from side to side in her cat pajamas, she looked just like an innocent child.
And yet, her face was a mask of seriousness, as if trying to hide her emotions.
But her adoring gaze toward the ID card betrayed her sheer happiness.
-Brother, as long as I have you…
Watching her, Raven was suddenly reminded of the past.
Of when he and his sister were the only survivors after losing their parents in a war-torn village.
The pitiful eyes that had looked up at him, smiling brightly like a duckling following its mother…
“…Is your arm okay?”
“…?”
“Tsk. Let me see it. I'll put a patch on it.”
Raven knelt on one knee, lowering himself to meet Yuria's gaze.
He pushed up the sleeve of her pajamas to check the injury, and his expression soured at the sight of the red, swollen forearm.
Even though it was a situation where he shouldn't have been letting personal feelings get involved.
He could only imagine what Alice or David would do if they saw Yuria like this.
Raven applied a cool patch with a cold-compress effect to Yuria's arm.
Then, suppressing a sigh that threatened to escape, he continued.
“Are you going to wash up before bed?”
“…”
“The effect lasts about half a day. I'll change it for you in the morning when you wake up. Don't touch it until then. Got it?”
“…!”
“And… you should take off those pajamas. It'd be better to put them in the washing machine.”
Yuria gave a bashful smile, as if the patch tickled, and nodded vigorously to show she understood.
Was it because she usually wore a mask that covered her face?
The unguarded expression of the girl who had become his sworn sister only deepened Raven's complicated feelings.
Yuria took off the cat pajamas, whose stains wouldn't come out by wiping, and, now dressed much more lightly, put them straight into the washing machine.
Fortunately, there was nothing else in the machine.
If she ran it with just this one item, no other clothes would get caught up in it.
Yuria pressed the quick wash button and returned to her seat.
Raven gently guided her to a chair and began to speak with a serious expression.
“So, we'll go take a picture for your ID this weekend…. Now, shall we have a more proper talk?”
“…?”
“You're smart, so you'll understand. As you know, this isn't a simple act of goodwill. The Association isn't so kind as to leave a powerful psychic like you alone. Well, only a very few people, including old man Tempest, know about this.”
So, I need you to answer the following questions as honestly as you can. This is for your own good.
His tone was considerate, quite different from when he had pressured her earlier, though his expression remained firm.
The situation was different in many ways from the test before.
He seemed to feel no need to push her mentally.
However, Yuria, understanding Raven's words, pressed her lips together and darted her eyes around.
It was a reaction of such helplessness that even an uninformed observer would have noticed.
Of all things, she knew a great deal that she shouldn't, thanks to her knowledge of the original story.
What if he thinks I'm suspicious? That was more or less what she was thinking.
‘What happens if I say I don't want to answer? Will his trust in me drop, even a little…?’
Nothing ever goes smoothly, does it?
Yuria clutched the ID card she had been holding tightly to her chest.
Hoping desperately that nothing would go wrong, she slowly nodded with a sense of trepidation.
‘Was it because I scared her earlier? Or maybe she has some bad memories from her past.’
However, from Raven's perspective, her reaction was perfectly understandable.
He had already dug into Yuria's past several times and observed her for months.
He knew well that she wasn't the kind of girl to hide her intentions and do something suspicious.
From the start, Raven saw Yuria as a victim of unjust experiments.
And given her lack of common sense, she was a child who hadn't been out in the world for long.
So, how much information could she possibly have?
Therefore, he could only assume she was nervous because she didn't want her past to be revealed.
“I'll choose questions you should be able to answer. Just do what you always do—nod or shake your head. Understand?”
“…!”
“First question… you knew your power was psychic power, right? Did someone tell you that? Some kind of collaborator?”
Ugh, he's getting straight to the point with the first question.
Yuria hesitated for a moment, finding Raven's question difficult to answer rashly.
The answer she needed to give here was no.
Because she had figured out what her power was on her own, through her knowledge of the original story.
But to do that, she would have to bring up the concept of ‘knowledge of the original story’…
She doubted Raven would understand or accept such a thing.
But she couldn't lie, either.
This was a man who could see right through her, even when she wore a mask to hide her expression.
If she feigned ignorance and shook her head to lie… there was no way he wouldn't see through it.
“…”
“Hmm? No one told you? You really don't have a collaborator?”
So, after a long moment of deliberation, Yuria painstakingly shook her head. Raven immediately frowned, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.
Unaware of the existence of ‘knowledge of the original story,’ he found it hard to understand how she could have no collaborator.
Using psychic powers discreetly without getting caught meant she understood how they were treated by the world.
And she figured that out on her own, without any collaborator or advisor?
No matter how much wiser she seemed than she appeared, there were limits.
However, seeing Yuria's anxious expression, he knew her answer was the truth, not a lie.
In that case, there must be a reason for it…
Lost in thought, Raven quietly crossed his arms and looked at her before asking another question.
“Then let's try a different question. This might be unpleasant to recall, but…. Yuria, do you happen to remember where the laboratory you were experimented on is located? It doesn't have to be exact.”
“…!”
Yuria, who had been clutching her pounding chest, widened her eyes in surprise.
The laboratory… he must mean the white room where she first opened her eyes.
And then, Yuria suddenly recalled the dream she had momentarily forgotten.
The place where the old man had been watching the girl with black hair—wasn't that the same place where she had woken up?
She could roughly guess the intention behind Raven's question.
Was he guessing that the laboratory where she was experimented on was the source of her information?
If so… the answer she had to give was extremely simple.
Since she remembered its exact location, she gave a confident nod.
Was Yuria's answer that unexpected?
Raven shot up from his seat, his reaction one of disbelief.
“You remember? Don't tell me it's close to Nighthaven.”
“…!”
It's not just close, it's right inside Nighthaven…
Yuria made a slightly awkward face, as if unsure how to convey this.
Then, having made up her mind, she stood up abruptly.
She asked Echo to open a map of Nighthaven.
Yuria's faithful servant, Echo, immediately displayed the map on the screen.
After a few taps of her finger to navigate to the desired location, she presented the map to Raven, pointing to an unpopular ecological park near the outskirts of Nighthaven.
The laboratory I escaped from is here.
At Yuria's confident gesture, which seemed to say just that, Raven's eyebrow twitched.
To think there was a psychic research laboratory inside Nighthaven.
His face was that of a man who had just discovered a nuclear bomb hidden at the bottom of the lake where he always took his walks.
“…This won't do. I'm sorry, but let's save the rest of the questions for later.”
“…?”
“I need to go check this place out right now. Yuria, I'll need you to guide me.”
Raven handed the lightly dressed Yuria her mask and coat, gesturing for her to get ready to leave immediately.
It was already approaching midnight—a completely unplanned outing.