Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: A Choice to Make
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“Ah, Father.”
The old man’s cold eyes flashed as he spoke.
“This is an order from the Iron Mask. Bring the sword.”
The old man was not Lento’s father at this moment.
He was the Iron Mask, flawless, reigning supreme over his subordinates. And Lento was not his son, but an incompetent manager.
Realizing this, Lento’s world went dark.
He was a son who had only ever wanted his father’s approval.
But now, he was just another subordinate who had to be punished.
Trembling more from despair than fear, Lento watched as one of the men drew a longsword from the waist of a standing suit of armor and cautiously approached him.
Then, he spoke to Lento in a quivering voice.
“I’m sorry.”
*CRACK!*
The old man slammed his fist on the armrest of his chair, and the subordinate flinched, startled, before grabbing Lento’s ear.
As the sword moved toward his ear, Lento looked at the old man.
A son who had failed to earn his father’s approval.
An abandoned son.
With his eyes growing moist, Lento stared at the old man who wouldn’t even look at him. Soon, the blade of the longsword touched his ear.
And it began to cut it off.
*Slice, slice.*
Lento flinched but didn’t let out a groan.
He grit his teeth, enduring the pain and the sense of loss as a part of his body was severed.
When his ear was finally laid before him, the old man spoke without so much as a glance.
“This is your last chance. The bastards who snuck into the warehouse will surely interfere when the merchandise is being transferred.”
“…Yes.”
Lento answered in a hoarse voice.
“Eliminate them. Finish this job and redeem your failure.”
*Do not forget that this is your last chance.*
With those final words, the old man rose from his chair.
As he was helped out the door by his other men, people rushed to Lento’s side to support him as well.
“Get the medical team, quickly! Now!”
“He’s bleeding heavily. Hurry.”
As Lento was helped toward the door, he turned his head.
He looked at the ear lying on the floor.
It was clearly just one ear, yet Lento felt that something else was lying there beside it.
Something huddled up, just like that ear.
His reverence for his father?
His desire for approval?
Unable to find an answer, Lento couldn't take his eyes off the ear until the moment he left the room.
***
*Tap, tap.*
Kanghyeok was walking toward his lodging when he stopped at a crosswalk.
Something felt off about his phone.
He took it out and saw the LED blinking, indicating a call. The caller’s name was displayed on the screen.
‘William?’
Kanghyeok held the phone and scanned his surroundings.
The call had come at such a peculiar moment.
But there were no suspicious individuals or noteworthy vehicles in sight. Kanghyeok stood there, holding his phone, debating whether to answer.
*Click.*
The signal changed, and he began to cross the street. About halfway across, he pressed the call button.
(You took your time answering. Were you asleep?)
“Were you watching me?”
(It seems I called at a misleading time, but I’m not that free.)
“Why did you call?”
(How far has the situation progressed?)
“There’s no reason for me to tell you that. I’m not on a mission.”
(We're both doing difficult work. So, what are your thoughts?)
“My thoughts?”
(Are they the same as before? Or have they changed?)
Before coming to Mexico, Kanghyeok had told William something.
That he would find out for himself whether he was a man he could trust.
If he couldn’t be trusted, Kanghyeok would have to harm him someday. But if he could be trusted, he also thought William could become his greatest ally.
“I haven’t found a definitive answer yet.”
(So you have found something. And?)
“I don’t completely trust you.”
It was probably the early morning air.
Or maybe it was because he was tired.
His voice came out more strained than usual, as if it were an effort to speak.
(Hmm.)
William sighed, then immediately continued.
(Come back. You can't stay there forever.)
“I still have work to do.”
(What kind of work?)
Kanghyeok couldn’t answer right away.
The thought of whether it was okay to tell him sealed his lips.
However, William’s name wasn’t on the client list in the USB drive.
Believing that he was, at the very least, not deeply involved in this matter, he answered in a cautious tone.
“Something that needs to be stopped.”
(What’s your current armament?)
“A pistol and a knife.”
(That’s meager.)
Kanghyeok couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
His enemies were no fools.
No matter how much he prepared, a clash with them was inevitable in one way or another.
His instincts kept telling him that the fight would be grueling.
And yet, the weapons in his hands were so poor.
(Is that enough?)
His lodging was slowly coming into view.
Kanghyeok stopped, took out a cigarette, and lit it. He spoke as he exhaled a cloud of smoke.
“I can’t be sure.”
A silence so long it felt like the call had been disconnected flowed from the phone’s speaker.
Kanghyeok held the cigarette, waiting for William to speak. The moment the ember reached the filter, he heard his voice.
(If you trust me, even a little…)
Kanghyeok took the cigarette from his lips and waited for the next words.
(Just come back for now. Get what you need, then move out again.)
Though William didn't say it outright, his voice conveyed his intention to have everything prepared for him.
After a moment of silence, Kanghyeok spoke.
“What would you have me do?”
(The choice is yours.)
*Don’t think about anything else.*
*Just move as you wish.*
It was as if William was saying just that.
*Click.*
The call ended, and only the chilly dawn air of the quiet city remained.
Kanghyeok put his phone in his pocket and looked up at his lodging.
The road was on his right, the moon was setting in the west, and in the east, the sun was preparing to rise.
A time that was neither night nor day.
Standing between the lodging and the road, Kanghyeok was lost in deep thought.
‘A choice.’
To trust William.
Or not to trust him.
After long deliberation, Kanghyeok turned toward the road. He hailed an approaching taxi, got into the back seat, and the taxi sped off toward the US border.
*Vroooom!*
As if promised a hefty tip, it went at full throttle.
*Creeak.*
The border gate opened with a heavy sound, kicking up dust.
Both the border guard who opened the gate and the taxi driver who had rushed here stared at Kanghyeok, who stood before the border, their faces slack.
*Who in the world is this person?* their expressions said.
As their confusion spread like a wildfire in autumn, Kanghyeok, with a thoughtful look in his eyes, began to cross the border.
No ordinary person crosses the border like this.
The guard who had opened the gate sent a questioning look to his superior on the other side.
*Is this okay?*
The superior almost said, *Of course not.*
But there had been an order from on high.
A Northeast Asian man would be passing through, and they were not to stop him.
He had even been instructed to open the border gate when he arrived and, if necessary, give him a ride.
*Who in the world is he?*
He had asked out of a sense of honor and responsibility as a border guard, but the only answer he received was not to seek to know.
That's why the border guards could only stare at Kanghyeok as if he were a ghost, an alien, or some other transcendent being.
*Creeak, clank!*
The gate closed again. As one of the guards was about to tell the taxi driver to back away, the superior turned to Kanghyeok, arching an eyebrow.
“Do you require any assistance?”
“Could you give me a ride to my car?”
“Your car?”
Kanghyeok nodded, and the guard gestured to a subordinate watching from the guard post window to bring the car keys.
*Thump!*
Kanghyeok and two guards got into the car.
*Vroom!*
The guard who started the engine looked back at Kanghyeok in the back seat and asked a question.
“Where to, sir?”
“I’ll guide you. It’s not far.”
“Not far?”
Kanghyeok confirmed it, and the guard turned back, let out a sigh with his mouth agape, and drove.
It was maddening.
After giving the initial direction, Kanghyeok said no more. Sure enough, they found his car, hidden by bushes, not far away.
‘This makes it look like…’
This Northeast Asian man appeared to have crossed the border illegally.
The border guards, who even helped clear away the bushes, grew even more confused when they saw that the car had very little dust on it.
That meant he had crossed the border recently, but not so much as an ant had been able to get through in the meantime.
“I’ll see you again on my way back.”
Kanghyeok said formally and got into his car.
*Grrrrumble!*
With a heavy roar of the engine, his car sped off toward the United States.
Watching the receding car, one of the guards looked at his superior, his brow furrowed.
“Who in the world was that man?”
His superior sighed, his lips twisting.
“How should I know?”
To them, Kanghyeok was a being beyond the law, a being beyond common sense.
Therefore, he was someone they shouldn’t know and shouldn’t try to know.
*Pat, pat.*
As he patted his subordinate’s shoulder and walked back to their vehicle, he shook his head vigorously, as if trying to forget everything he had just experienced.
His reaction was like that of someone who had just witnessed an alien returning home in a UFO.
*Vroooooom!*
Driving the SUV, Kanghyeok glanced at his wristwatch.
There wasn’t much time.
If he reached his destination as quickly as possible, finished his business there, and returned, he might just barely make the appointment.
*Vroooom.*
Fortunately, the road was clear.
Kanghyeok took out a cigarette and entered a quiet country road. As he lit it, he searched his memory.
He had been on this road before.
And relatively recently at that.
“Hoo.”
Exhaling a long stream of smoke, Kanghyeok continued to drive on.
The place he finally arrived at was a gun shop.
He parked in front of it and jumped out of the car. People in front of the shop who recognized him gave him strange smiles.
They were the ones who had to leave because of Kanghyeok during his last visit, and in return, had been treated to a round by the gun shop owner.
“That… that chink!”
A man who got up from his chair with a limp pointed a finger at Kanghyeok.
One of his feet was shod, while the other was thickly wrapped in a bandage.
The man, whose big toe had been pierced by a pistol round, spat as he looked at Kanghyeok.
“What do you think you’re doing here! You dog-eating bastard!”
With his friends by his side, the man thought Kanghyeok would be helpless this time and immediately drew his pistol.
“I’ll kill you! Fuck!”
“What the, what’s with this guy?”
“Stop him! Somebody stop him!”
While Kanghyeok stood still, the other men panicked and grabbed the man’s arm.
And then it happened.
*BANG!*
“Kyaaaaaaack!”
The man let out a bizarre scream and collapsed.
Walking past the man who would now need a bandage on his other big toe, Kanghyeok casually threw a word at the frozen onlookers.
“You’d better get him to a hospital quickly.”
“Gah, gyaaaaa!”
“Uh, uhh.”
Kanghyeok, whom they had thought a pushover, had instantly drawn his gun and shot off a big toe with perfect accuracy.
“Aaaargh! My, my toe!”
Amid the spreading blood and screams, the other men who had mocked Kanghyeok hastily hoisted their friend and hurried away from the gun shop.
Even as they did, the man with the shot toe shrieked and wailed.
Once all the unnecessary people had cleared out of the gun shop, Kanghyeok opened the door and went inside. The hairy gun shop owner gave a bitter smile and opened a hidden door for him.
“Welcome, Mr. Kanghyeok.”
Kanghyeok met his gaze, gave a short nod, and reached into his coat to take out his wallet.
“That friend’s medical bills…”
“No need. He drew his gun first. I just hope he’s learned a lot from this.”
Kanghyeok put his wallet back in his coat, and the gun shop owner stepped aside from the door.
“Please, go in. The Master is waiting for you.”
Kanghyeok stepped forward, toward the dark staircase.