Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: The Anniversary
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“I bought you a dress from that brand you love. You should have worn it on a day like this. How could you?”
Cue flicked the collar of her checkered shirt with a displeased look.
“Ah, it’s too nice… I was saving it.”
The truth was, she had no intention of ever wearing it.
How was she supposed to wear a dress with a back cut down to her waist and a dizzyingly short hem?
Two-Shot sneered, glaring at Cue.
“A gift? Don’t make me laugh. If she showed up in a dress you sent, you'd be dying to rip her off for everything she's worth.”
*Ah.* If that was the case, she definitely couldn't wear it.
As Haon reaffirmed her decision, Cue shot Two-Shot a vicious glare.
The two's deadly staring contest only ended when the second part of the auction began.
Chacha and Bani, who believed that regardless of the past, Haon wasn't the one making Potions now, looked disappointed that their fight didn't escalate.
Haon felt drained just from watching.
“Chacha. What do you think Cue wants from me?”
“Exclusive rights to your Potions, obviously.”
Chacha scoffed and continued.
“Ever since that smuggling ship went down, the Zone 1 gang has been on thin ice. The fact that there's so much infighting shows Cue's lost control. They might fall apart soon.”
“Hm? Then who'll take over Zone 1?”
“A boss from another zone will swallow it up, or a whole new gang will take its place.”
Even Haon, who knew nothing about the power struggles between Villains, could guess that the Old Quarter would be in for a noisy period.
* * *
After the auction was completely over, Chacha and Bani left first.
They had invited Haon to have a meal with them, but she wasn't in the mood.
There were no diamonds large enough to make a Dimension Prism, and she kept feeling nauseous.
Following Blue's directions, she went outside the entrance and saw Juyeol and Nova standing a short distance apart.
Both of them looked extremely displeased.
“Juyeol. Nova.”
As Haon approached and called their names, their expressions subtly softened.
“I didn't expect to see you both here. Did you not buy anything?”
“You didn't buy anything either.”
“There was nothing I liked.”
“What do you want, darling? Should I steal it for you?”
“What?”
Haon was dumbfounded by Nova's casual remark.
“I was already surprised to hear you'd wrecked a few clubs. If you were going to do this, why did you even make that promise?”
“The effect must have worn off. Let's promise again.”
Nova smiled brightly and held out his pinky finger.
“…?”
*Is there some kind of superstition about pinky promises in this dimension?*
*Does that mean we have to make the promise periodically?*
Puzzled, Haon linked her pinky with his and shook it up and down.
“What are you doing?”
Juyeol asked incredulously, and Nova yanked on their linked pinkies.
“Would you mind not interrupting our private conversation?”
“Whoa…!”
It was a faint tug for him, but Haon stumbled.
Nova pointedly pulled Haon to his side and draped an arm over her shoulder.
“There's a lot going on between us, you know.”
“…”
Juyeol suddenly felt a surge of irritation and his hand went to his holster.
But he couldn't just snarl at him to back off when Haon wasn't even trying to get away.
“The rumor is you got dumped. What could possibly be 'going on'?”
In response to the irritated remark, Nova didn't hide his smugness.
“See these gloves and this outfit? My darling made them for me.”
Juyeol flinched and looked at Haon.
“You made those for him?”
“I thought this would be better than a weapon.”
He scanned Nova's white outfit with a dissatisfied gaze.
It suited him so well it was hard to deny, looking like it had been tailored perfectly for Nova.
*If Eun Haon made it, it can't be just an ordinary outfit.*
“Weren't you my engineer? You said you wouldn't take requests from Villains.”
“This wasn't a request. It was a gift. A gift filled with love.”
“There's no love in it.”
Despite Haon's firm denial, Juyeol looked stunned, as if he'd received a great shock.
“…A gift?”
*Are her memories really coming back? Was I not mistaken?*
*Is that why she's so used to combat and getting closer to Nova again?*
The more these thoughts spiraled, the more his stomach churned.
Seeing his inscrutable expression, Haon asked quizzically.
“Juyeol. Do you need some new gear, by any chance?”
“…I do.”
Though he thought it was childish, Juyeol emphasized it once more.
“I'm returning my Hero uniform, so what am I supposed to wear when I'm out and about?”
“Hm? Isn't that a bulletproof vest you're wearing now?”
“It's old. And not very good.”
This time, it was Nova who looked at him incredulously.
“If you've quit being a Hero, then don't wander around at night.”
Juyeol paid him no mind and gestured with his head for them to leave.
At that, Haon slipped out from under Nova's arm and went to Juyeol's side.
“Anyway, we made the promise again, so be good, Nova.”
Nova looked thoroughly disappointed and was about to say something, but he couldn't.
“If the effect wears off, we'll just promise again. Okay?”
Because Haon looked so serious as she wiggled her pinky finger that he felt like he would burst out laughing.
On the way to the parking lot, Haon checked the date on her phone several times.
*Tomorrow is almost here…*
For years, her mind had grown restless around this time. So on ‘that day,’ she always made sure to spend time with ‘Juyeol.’ It had been that way even after the war began in earnest.
Haon lifted her head and gazed at Juyeol's back as he walked ahead.
*So if I'm with Juyeol, I'll be okay. I should suggest we go see a movie early tomorrow. Or maybe I should just stick around his safe house starting tonight…*
But as he reached his motorcycle, Juyeol seemed to remember something and said, “Ah.”
“Don't come over tomorrow.”
“Huh? Why?”
“I have somewhere to be.”
Her expression visibly darkened, and he paused before putting on his helmet.
“What's wrong? Is something happening tomorrow?”
“N-no. I was just going to ask if you wanted to see a movie.”
“Sounds good. Let's do it some other time.”
“Okay.”
*I don't know where you're going, but can't you take me with you?*
Haon swallowed the words that rose to her throat.
“You're going to the safe house, right?”
“No. I'll go to the lab. I have things to do…”
If she set foot in his safe house now, she knew she wouldn't want to leave until tomorrow had passed.
Haon left a puzzled Juyeol behind and got into her car.
If she focused solely on building the turbine without looking at the time, she would be fine.
She wanted to grab onto something, anything, and lose herself in it.
So she wouldn't even notice tomorrow's arrival.
* * *
His name was Yeon Parang.
He was a bright child, always wearing a smile as fresh as a wildflower.
The boy, who grew up in the same orphanage, was eight years younger than Haon and had loved birds since before he could even speak.
Whenever sparrows or magpies flew into the orphanage's front yard, his eyes would sparkle.
He would save his share of cookies and wait for the day he could share them with the birds.
It was endearing how he would follow her around, calling for his older sister, and even his hatred for cucumbers was cute.
Only someone who had hugged him could know how much sunshine was packed into that small body.
The child, who would laugh gleefully and declare he would become an ornithologist, was now old enough to be in middle school.
If he were still alive, that is.
Haon stood with her hand on a large turbine part, her head bowed.
She clenched her fists in defeat.
How could she ignore the passage of time in a lab where an Awakening Sphere energy extractor was running, of all places?
An alert had just sounded, signaling that one of the extractors had completed its cycle.
Since Haon knew exactly how many hours it took for an extractor to run a single cycle, it was only natural that she could tell the time just from that sound.
The anniversary of Parang's death had struck like a thunderbolt.
“…Blue.”
[Yes, Haon!]
At the sound of Parang's voice, Haon lifted her head.
Anxiety, sorrow, anger, self-blame…
Her expression was a mix of countless emotions.
Haon stared blankly at the extractor that had finished its work, then mechanically fiddled with a turbine part.
Not looking at the time, just constantly thinking about the turbine.
“…”
But once she acknowledged it was the anniversary of Parang's death, she could no longer pretend she didn't know.
It was impossible.
Her hands, which had been slowing down, began to tremble violently. So much so that she couldn't handle her tools.
Four years ago today, there was a talk concert by a photographer of migratory birds.
Haon had bought Parang the ticket and taken him there herself. She had led him to the place where he would die.
How carefree she had been, sitting in a café waiting for the concert to end.
She'd noticed a slight anomaly in the flow of mana but had dismissed it, thinking it was just because of the Mana Engineering tool shop nearby.
To Haon, Mana Engineering was the ultimate subject of research, a medium to bring her designs to life.
Military contractors used Mana Engineering, of course, but to use it to commit a terrorist attack on a building full of civilians…
She had never imagined such a thing.
That day, Haon lost her little ray of sunshine.
That was the beginning of the terror that would lead to war.