Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: His and Her Hidden Identities
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By the time Anna's chirping voice, like a newly hatched chick, was starting to make my ears bleed...
Michael, who had been waiting at the entrance to the grocery store, greeted us.
"Hotdog Man, you're back safe and sound!"
That weird nickname was starting to sound familiar, which meant I must have become a fan of this cyberpunk-fusionpunk mashup style without realizing it.
Michael checked Anna's condition and seemed relieved, then tilted his head at the car we'd arrived in.
"But... this car?"
"It just kinda happened."
"...Ah, I see."
He didn't seem too puzzled.
Well, we'd acquired the Bogers Gang's truck in pretty much the same way.
At this rate, one side of the place might turn into a full parking lot.
I asked first about Walter's condition.
"Walter?"
"Fortunately, his life isn't in danger."
"Phew, that's a real relief."
Anna, who had been perking up her ears next to me, suddenly dashed over to Michael.
"Where is he right now...?"
"Ah, it's good to see you safe too, Miss Anna. Mr. Walter is at the hospital now."
"...The hospital?"
"Area 49 is still a place where people live, after all. I didn't know at first, but Liberra knew where the doctor was. The facilities and skills are pretty decent, so there shouldn't be any major issues."
Michael carefully added to his words, noting Anna's trembling voice.
"Of course, it's close to a serious injury if we judge by severity. But he'll be fine. He'll have to stay in bed for a while, though. How about we go visit him together later?"
"Thank you, thank you so much...."
"You should thank Hotdog Man instead of me."
I shook my head at Michael's gaze turning toward me.
"Nah, I've gotten plenty of thanks on the way back already."
"That's what he says."
Then he scanned me up and down.
As if checking if I was hurt anywhere.
"But... your clothes look a bit torn."
"Ran into some wrestler there."
"...Wrestler?"
Ah, he doesn't know.
Korea's traditional grappling sport...
"Anyway, something like that."
Truth be told, I didn't know much about it either.
Michael nodded matter-of-factly.
"Well, less than an hour has passed, so it's no surprise. Your clothes are just a bit torn, and you don't seem injured anywhere. Looks like things went well for you."
I couldn't answer easily.
What I'd done wasn't so much solving the problem cleanly as slashing through a tangled knot with a single stroke.
As I kept a cautious silence, Michael's eyes began to quiver faintly.
"Hotdog Man...."
"......"
"You didn't just catch up to the car, did you."
Not intentionally, but yeah.
I'd actually arrived before the kidnappers' car.
"...Did you, like with the Bogers Gang last time, smash the whole building?"
"Not that."
At my response, Michael let out a big sigh of relief.
"Phew, that's good. Then why the long face?"
I told him straight.
"Did everything except that."
"...Pardon?"
Michael's mouth gaped open.
The building was fine.
At least the building was.
No one would be walking on two legs for a while, though.
"So, you mean... like..."
"Yeah."
"...Got it."
Michael was one of the people who'd watched me from a safe distance, out of bullet range, when I rammed the truck into the Bogers Gang.
So he could roughly imagine the carnage at Hall Paradise.
Michael bowed his head slightly and muttered something incomprehensible to himself.
"Hall Paradise... backed by some group... and the boss there is definitely... hmm...."
Leaving the thoughtful Michael behind, I turned to Anna, who was fidgeting with her hands and glancing at me nervously from behind.
"I've got something to take care of quick, so head to the hospital with Michael. Or... should I take you there?"
Michael quickly replied to my words.
"No, that's fine. The other members—er, the homeless folks—can go with her. The way there shouldn't be dangerous."
"Then I'll leave Anna in your hands. You'll come back here after?"
"That's the plan."
"Then I'll go to the hospital then."
I needed to check on Walter's condition anyway.
Michael stepped closer and asked.
"That errand..."
"There were a bunch of kidnapped androids in that building."
I scratched my head as I answered.
"I'm not some super saint or anything, but I couldn't just leave 'em after seeing that."
I planned to drive back to the Hall Paradise building.
This was when the lack of proper authorities really hit home.
21st-century South Korea, I miss you....
Michael chuckled at my words.
"...Well, that's just how you are, Hotdog Man. Some things are starting to make sense now."
"What things?"
"Oh, nothing."
So cryptic.
But Michael continued nonchalantly.
"Kidnapped androids... that's a bit complicated. Especially since our group hasn't stabilized yet."
"...How many times do I have to say we're not a group."
"Ah, my mistake. Gathering, yes, gathering. When homeless folks band together like this, a simple social club forms inevitably."
He shot me a knowing look, eyes sparkling.
I almost poked his eyes out with two fingers.
Managed to hold back just barely.
"Anyway, that's what I've been pondering."
I could use the truck from the Bogers Gang to bring them all safely, but what after that was the issue.
And I couldn't just leave them at Hall Paradise forever.
Honestly, the aftermath was harder than the mindless fighting.
'Gotta bring 'em at least.'
Or maybe there's a better way.
As I pondered seriously,
"Ah, excuse me a sec. Got a call from an unknown number. Hmm, not many people have my direct line..."
Voice phishing maybe.
I quietly waited for Michael's call.
Even in the South Korea I lived in, homeless folks without smartphones were rare.
Seemed the same in this cyberpunk world.
"Yes, I've got the phone. ...Yes?? Yes, uh... Understood. No, yes, yes. Got it. I'll pass it on..."
Suddenly, beads of sweat popped on Michael's forehead.
Area 49's weather wasn't hot at all.
Actually chilly.
Who the hell called to make him like that.
Soon after ending the call, Michael dismissed the interface.
"Who was it."
"...Uh, Hotdog Man."
Michael's gaze shifted to me,
then to behind me this time.
I reflexively turned around.
A black car had pulled up next to Anna, who had stepped back a pace.
It looked familiar from my memories.
Gulp.
With the swallow, Michael chose his words carefully.
"...That call just now was a message from the Sparo Rapido Family."
"Did we do something wrong?"
"No one knows yet.... Anyway, they confirmed the terminal you were using is broken. Said they can't reach you by call, so could you spare some time."
"......"
"What power do I have? So I just said I'd pass it on as is."
...This is hot potato.
And the rear door of the car slid open smoothly.
Last time just the window opened, but this time they sent a ride outright.
Busy as I am, what conversation now...
Then a possibility struck me.
'...They already knew my terminal was broken.'
Which meant they'd fully checked what rampage I caused at Hall Paradise.
I intuited that the mafia family's polite invitation was deeply tied to what happened at Hall Paradise.
Either way, I couldn't refuse their invitation.
The Sparo Rapido Family was on a different scale from the Bogers Gang or Hall Paradise.
Whew.
Sighing, I got into the car.
"...I'll be back soon."
"Yes, I'll take Miss Anna to the hospital. ...They probably won't say anything bad."
"They'll blame you...."
"Yes, take care."
Soon the door closed,
and the car began moving at a leisurely pace.
"Hello."
The final boss appeared as if it were the most natural thing.
No second-in-command or advisor here, huh.
But I couldn't voice such arrogant thoughts.
"...Yes, hello."
"Call me by name, casually."
"......Sure, Luciana."
Through her faded blonde hair, red eyes gleamed deeply.
I hadn't noticed last time amid the chaos, but she didn't look as old as I'd thought.
Her relaxed attitude just made her seem mature.
Generously, late 20s—saying 30s might get me shot.
"Hehe, still Abel Anderson over there?"
"...Yeah. Probably will be from now on."
Still what? Still.
Luciana's charming smile turned my way.
"Aha, got it."
Faint freckles visible on her snow-white skin amplified her innocent vibe.
Like she'd covered them with concealer but not perfectly, enhancing the fresh feel.
Even I, who knows little about makeup, could tell she'd groomed her appearance neatly.
Unlike last time in the office, this was a luxurious reception room where we sat facing each other.
Which ramped up the pressure several times.
"Here, cappuccino? You like it?"
"...Yes, I like any coffee basically."
"We have good taste in common."
What terrifying rapport.
I took the cup Luciana offered as naturally as possible.
White foam bubbled atop it.
For the record, I set it down without a sip.
"Well, you seem in a hurry, so let's get to the point first."
I adopted an even more polite posture, ready to listen.
And frowned for a moment.
"We took all the androids from that shop."
"......"
I almost blurted 'What?'
As expected, tied to Hall Paradise.
"If we left them there, they'd just get sold off somewhere else."
"...What do you plan to do with them."
Even to my potentially cheeky question, Luciana showed no discomfort.
If anything, she seemed pleased.
"Repair the ones we can, or grant whatever they wish otherwise."
Thankfully, no 'scrap metal' response.
Though I couldn't fully trust it.
"You were planning to take the androids anyway, right?"
"...Yeah."
"If not, you'd have blown the whole building like with the Bogers Gang last time."
Not quite.
After my 'art is explosion' remark, I could guess how my image was built.
Luciana sipped her cappuccino from the top foam down.
"Anyway, after today's events, I called you because now I know for sure."
"Know what."
"That you're completely on our side."
Almost answered like a doll that squeaks when pressed.
Before I could ask why, Luciana added.
"You must have known, but those damn bastards—Hakuga-gumi backed that place, so no room for doubt now."
No, I didn't know?
First time hearing the name.
"Plus the boss there was tied to a radical Luddite group."
That was news to me too.
I'd just gone because Walter's daughter was kidnapped—
Beep.
With a small sound, a large hologram display appeared on the wall.
There... was me.
Like hacked building cams, footage from various angles of me (myself).
Finally, close-up of me shoving the terminal into the android's mouth and exploding it.
That guy fights well...
"I told you last time. The mafia started as a simple vigilante group. Not much different now. Making money's nice, killing people isn't a big deal from my view, but..."
She spoke as if drawing a minimal line.
"The overly brutal ones make me frown. That's my reason. In that sense, your group has a pretty good rep inside ours."
In other words, a roundabout alliance offer.
Or maybe become subordinates.
But one key fact...
We weren't any group.
For real.
"Of course, our sizes differ, so we can't walk side by side."
"No, we're not a group..."
"But that's fine. With that skill and initiative, you'll rise fast."
"Like I said, we're not..."
"To start, about 500,000 dollars in support—"
"Just hand it over."
I answered without thinking.
Hard to refuse anyway. Yeah.
......
Anyway.
After Abel Anderson left.
Luciana, now alone, replayed the paused hologram footage.
Scenes switched rapidly.
Finally, Hall Paradise's top floor.
Two people facing each other played.
The building's tight security meant the audio was choppy.
But the final moment.
- ...Lord.
Bang!!
Watching this, intense curiosity welled in Luciana's mind.
What conversation made that happen.
'Yeah, I'm curious.'
An extreme Luddite activist android calling on God in its last moment.
Luciana was very curious.
About what he was hiding, his identity.
All of it.
Truth be told, she'd taken charge of the androids for that reason.
'...If I get a bit closer, maybe?'
Luciana, harboring a thought that might make Abel Anderson shriek like a girl, sipped her cappuccino again.
Like a hunter awaiting prey.
Very leisurely.