Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: Flu (2)
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I ultimately gave up on the plan to call Theodore and quietly followed behind Dillon instead.
Holster and I were practically one and the same by now, so at least I could avoid the worst-case scenario of pursuing this shady activity barehanded without my gun.
‘This way leads to the civilian houses.’
Far from slowing down, Dillon was picking up speed, as if this wasn’t his first or second time sneaking out like this.
‘Damn, I’m gonna lose him.’
Where the hell was he rushing off to?
I’d already vaguely suspected that Dillon was doing personal training in places he didn’t usually show off.
Even so, as someone in the athletics track myself, I couldn’t just let him slip away so pathetically.
‘Fine, let’s see this through to the end.’
Now half-driven by stubborn pride, I chased after him and didn’t stop until about ten minutes later.
Dillon had arrived at a cluster of civilian homes at the northern tip of the island.
“Dillon—!”
Two redheaded kids who looked like locals’ children burst out from a shack made of wooden poles and stacked bricks.
“Dillon— *cough*.”
“It’s cold out. Get back inside, both of you.”
Dillon scooped up the child clinging to him and tucked them under his arm, then headed for the house door with the other wrapped around his leg.
A pale hand shot out through the open door crack, soon yanking Dillon by the waist.
“Uh…?”
Wait… what the hell did I just see?
It felt like I’d walked in on something I shouldn’t have.
“Two redheaded kids… and that slender woman’s hand, even though I only saw the arm…”
In an instant, a cliché novel scene played out in my head.
‘A cadet ignoring his studies to fool around with locals? Is he insane?’
What did he plan to do after commissioning upon graduation?
Was that why he kept delaying it?
On top of that, judging by the skinny, sickly kids and the state of the shack, he wasn’t even taking good care of them.
The thought pushed me to unconsciously chamber a round in my gun.
‘If he spouts any bullshit, I’ll shoot him.’
I’d come this far; going back empty-handed wasn’t an option.
Not only had I tailed him, but pretending I hadn’t seen this didn’t sit right with me either.
This shack had crap insulation, and with walls wide open everywhere, no shady secrets seemed likely to happen inside.
*Knock knock knock.*
In the end, I knocked on the shack’s door.
A brief commotion stirred from inside.
The clinking of medicine bottles and Dillon’s pained grunt—like he’d been trampled by the kids—came as a bonus.
“Who is it…?”
A cautious woman’s voice came from inside the door.
I deliberately cleared my throat loudly, then knocked on the curtained window beside the wooden door.
“This is Arma Cruise from Aegis Academy.”
“Arma—!?”
The curtain over the window snapped shut, and Dillon peered out at me with wide eyes and disheveled hair.
‘No need to hear more? Should I just shoot?’
If he’d set up house here spouting lies he couldn’t back up, I was fully prepared to gun him down.
Maybe my expression wasn’t great, because Dillon—who’d been wearing a baffled look—glanced at the two kids poking their heads over the windowsill one after another, then went pale.
“N-No, it’s not!”
*Crash!*
With his legs grabbed by the two little ones, Dillon tumbled to the floor.
Another short bout of chaos followed.
“Come in first! It’s not what you think at all!”
The door flew open, and Dillon yanked me inside.
It slammed shut behind me in a flash.
The house felt utterly desolate. Plus, there was a familiar, stuffy, heavy smell wafting around.
The shack had barely any furniture left, and the first things that caught my eye were the walls clumsily finished with plaster and the ceiling patched together haphazardly.
And then—
“Who are you? *Cough cough*.”
“Are you Dillon’s friend?”
There sat two faded-redheaded toddlers and a pale, gaunt-cheeked redheaded woman.
Early thirties, maybe?
She was so emaciated it was hard to tell, but she didn’t seem much older than me or Dillon anyway.
“Care to explain?”
“It has nothing to do with what you’re thinking.”
“Then explain what I’m thinking.”
No matter what excuse Dillon came up with, I was willing to hear it.
If he ended up on trial for something like marriage fraud, the judge would probably do the same.
“I’m not involved with these kids at all.”
“Yes… not involved at all?”
“Huh? No, that’s not what I—”
*Click.*
“Go on. I’ve only loaded one round, so there’s a 1/2 chance it doesn’t fire this time, but the second shot’s guaranteed.”
“Please calm down.”
“Dillon— we’re really not a thing, are we?!”
“Oh, no, that’s not—”
“Cadet Dillon and I aren’t involved at all.”
As our standoff dragged on, the woman—who’d been silently watching us take turns—finally spoke up.
“The similar hair color is just coincidence. Dillon’s been bringing medicine he got prescribed in his name from Aegis Academy because my children’s flu wouldn’t go away. Sorry for the late introduction. I’m Mary Jane Hanson.”
It was a perfectly tidy explanation.
Looking at the kids’ faces after hearing her out, they really didn’t resemble Dillon much.
Dillon’s red hair had a fiery blue-tinged blaze, while the kids’ was a subdued crimson.
“Almost shot you by mistake.”
“By mistake? Arma, your eyes were fucking crazy. My legs are still jelly; standing’s a chore right now.”
Feeling bad, I quickly unloaded as Dillon ruffled his neatly combed hair and collapsed into a dining chair like a sack.
Sure, as a mage, Dillon fearing my gun was probably exaggerated, but he was definitely shaken.
Watching the kids naturally hanging off his back, I guessed this double life had started quite a while ago.
“Yeah, well… no idea how you tracked me here. But everything Mary Jane said is true.”
“Yeah…”
“It’s all cleared up, right? Please say it is. What’s with that uneasy agreement?”
“Oh, no. Sorry if it came off that way. All suspicions cleared.”
If those kids playing footsie on Dillon’s back weren’t his, and he wasn’t irresponsibly neglecting a family, then there was no issue.
The only question was whether to pry about what these two were still hiding from me or let it slide.
“Arma?”
Not sure how he read my reaction, but Dillon tensed, jaw clenched.
Truth be told, I knew Dillon wasn’t the type to lie to me or exploit others easily.
The circumstances had just made him look suspicious.
So I decided to be straightforward and voice my doubts to him.
“There’s another sick kid, right?”
“—How did you…”
“Patients with severe illnesses give off a distinct smell.”
Having spent my childhood in a sanatorium, there was no way I’d forget that scent of death.
The sour, heavy body odor from viscous fluids lingered strongly.
“Pretending I didn’t notice now would be tough, huh.”
“Yeah…”
“…Haa.”
Dillon raked his hand through his messy hair again, looking troubled.
Then, incredibly, he exchanged a glance with Mary Jane.
I quietly waited for them to make a move.
“Since things have come to this, I’ll be honest…”
Mary Jane said wearily, beckoning me over.
“Come this way.”
“…Okay.”
Even the most oblivious person would guess by now that they were hiding something.
Mary Jane approached the cupboard straight ahead and strained to push it aside.
“I’ll do it.”
Dillon gripped her shoulder and gently redirected her.
With that, the half-moved cupboard was shoved fully aside.
There was an arched opening in the wall and a space about two pyeong in size.
‘They hid the entrance with a cupboard?’
As I moved toward the newly revealed area, Dillon pressed a hand to my chest to stop me.
“Look from there. It’s contagious.”
“Contagious?”
Dillon nodded and snapped his fingers.
That’s when a sound I hadn’t heard before rang out.
“—*Cough cough. Hack hack!*”
Beyond the cupboard-blocked dark room, a child was coughing nonstop—far worse than the kids roaming outside.
Skin covered in overall red sores, emaciated like Mary Jane.
“Alex…”
Mary Jane peered into the dark room with a heartbroken voice.
Dillon watched the scene with a pained expression for a moment, then pushed the cupboard back to conceal the entrance.
“Don’t know if it’s endemic or something else, but flu started spreading among locals. Alex in there was the first infected kid… as you can see, he’s not doing well.”
“You can’t keep him locked in that dark room. He needs a space with good airflow and proper humidity—”
“Of course I know. But look at this shack. No room to isolate a contagious kid.”
“…”
“I suck at spatial separation magic… Ha, what’s the point of saying that.”
Yeah.
Truthfully, what I was saying was just the naive gripe of some pampered young master.
A dark, damp space with poor ventilation wouldn’t heal sickness—it’d make it worse.
But knowing that, how much could really change?
“So you really came here with medicine for that kid? Then why all the secrecy?”
“Because exporting medicine from Aegis Academy is strictly controlled.”
Dillon leaned against the cupboard, arms crossed.
Behind him, the sick kid I couldn’t even see clearly was fighting the illness with gasps that sounded like death rattles.
“Well, Arma Cruise. As you see, I broke the rules and smuggled out meds prescribed in my name. No choice.”
“Looks that way. If the locals lack containment resources, have you notified the mainland?”
“Of course I reported the outbreak starting among locals. But requests for nurses and meds get stonewalled. And that’s not all.”
Dillon added with deep, shadowed eyes.
“There’s a rumor the epidemic’s source is Aegis Academy.”