novelraw Chapter 69
Chapter 69
Chapter 69
Finding Dokgo Ran and Hino Kanae was not difficult.
No, to be precise, they were discovered while opening what was still a relatively intact container among the facilities of a building that had collapsed in several places.
‘We were lucky.’
The Dokgo family and the Hino family were fundamentally on a completely different level from the family of Chance Marbre.
If the two of them had died here or fallen into the hands of the Red Hand, it would have been a catastrophe beyond comparison.
And if testimony had even come out that an instructor had been on site……. it would have been horrific.
As Jin Crow thought that far, he suddenly furrowed his brow at the pain flowing up his spine.
‘I’m reaching my limit.’
He had exceeded the proper dosage long ago.
That damn old man.
Vitality tonic, my ass.
What kind of vitality tonic in the world caused this kind of pain just for slightly exceeding the proper dosage?
‘Still, compared to Pentacle, I suppose I should be thankful it’s bearable.’
He bit down on his lip, felt cold sweat flowing like water inside his coat, and yet let out a hollow chuckle without realizing it.
How should it be described?
When Pentacle had been administered and the side effects kicked in, his heart had pounded like the engine of a car running madly, and his hands and feet had trembled violently. By contrast, the Hansarang-brand vitality tonic felt like it gently numbed the body.
If asked which was more painful, it was the former without any room for comparison, but if asked which felt more damn miserable, he would once again choose the latter without hesitation.
“Um.”
Perhaps she sensed that subtle discomfort of his.
Hino Kanae, who had been following behind, quietly called out to him in place of Dokgo Ran, who was absentmindedly humming to herself. However, Jin Crow was in no state of mind to respond kindly to her words.
“Follow quietly. Tsk.”
“……Yes.”
“Ugh, so prickly.”
“Ran, be quiet.”
‘At least Hino Kanae has some sense. That’s a relief,’ Jin Crow thought.
If both of them had been carefree to the point of lacking awareness, he might have ended up burying them together with the Creatures without even realizing it.
“Cough!”
“Instructor?”
“It’s nothing. ……There’s a lot of dust.”
At his words, Hino Kanae, having sensed something amiss, had no choice but to close her mouth again.
That was only natural, since the interior of the building had almost all its lights out, with only red emergency lighting flickering intermittently as if it had been improvised.
Securing visibility was out of the question; only Jin Crow’s pale face beneath his black coat and the ruined interior of the building barely entered the dim light.
On top of that, when he mentioned dust, clumps of dust actually fell from the ceiling at that very moment, so it was hard for her to add anything more.
Of course, there was no way he had coughed because of real dust.
‘What timing.’
Jin Crow brushed the dust from his head, which had conveniently become a not-so-bad excuse, and glanced up at the ceiling as if incredulous.
He did not go out of his way to show the unpleasant liquid, heavy with the scent of blood, clutched in his gloved hand.
If anything, what he felt was a kind of hollow realization that came from repeatedly brushing past death every time.
‘Still, thirty Pawns was excessive.’
Even excluding the ones Baek Hui-young had taken down during his rampage, it was roughly in the high twenties.
If he had not gambled on collapsing part of the building midway after realizing there was no end to them, he might not have found those two at all.
Even if he had found them, it might already have been too late.
How long had they walked through the ruined corridor like that?
When he soon spotted a half-collapsed emergency exit, he stared down below with eyes still tense and spoke.
“The path is rough. Don’t lose your footing and follow closely.”
“Yep.”
“Understood.”
As long as they answered.
He muttered that absentmindedly, and they stepped over the debris of the partially collapsed emergency stairs and ran up, reaching the surface without much difficulty.
However, upon reaching the surface, there was a very minor problem: the entrance to the emergency exit was blocked by massive concrete.
“…….”
Jin Crow narrowed his brow at the sight.
It was not that he was irritated or displeased.
To be precise, it was closer to the pain worsening as his body increasingly stopped responding, forcing him to bite down on his lip.
That was when it happened.
His eyes met those of Hino Kanae, who had been watching his mood, and only then did she make an ‘ah’ expression before nodding with resolute eyes, as if she had made up her mind.
“Want help?”
Dokgo Ran asked her, and Hino Kanae shook her head before walking toward the massive concrete debris blocking the entrance.
Then, after a short deep breath, she slowly stared at the concrete and quietly drove her fist into it.
Boom.
A short yet intense reverberation rang out.
Soon after, the concrete slowly cracked and collapsed. Watching that scene, Dokgo Ran admired it with unusually serious eyes.
“……Clean, huh? Quiet too.”
“A warrior should be still, yet intense.”
“What the—.”
Leaving behind Hino Kanae, whose shoulders had lifted slightly, and Dokgo Ran, who looked at her as if exasperated, Jin Crow walked forward and exited the factory. Soon, the two, having come to their senses, followed after him.
Because it had taken longer than expected, he briefly worried that everyone else might have already left, but as if to make that worry meaningless, everyone was waiting outside.
“Ran!”
“Kanae!”
The first to spot them and run over were Miel Amber, who looked almost completely exhausted after finishing treatment for all the injured, and Beatus, who had a bandage wrapped around his head.
However, the two of them soon slowed their pace as they saw the face of the man standing in front, and were forced to come to a complete stop.
“……H-hic.”
“I’m sorry. P-please, just spare our lives.”
At their sudden reaction, Dokgo Ran and Hino Kanae, who had been following him a step behind, tilted their heads and glanced at Jin Crow’s expression.
Soon, they too had no choice but to stiffen and bow their heads.
“…….”
The expression on his face as he walked out of the factory was neither twisted nor that of someone writhing in pain.
Then why were the cadets so intimidated?
The reason was simple.
Setting aside the blood dripping steadily from his coat, the emotion settled in his utterly expressionless eyes made it abundantly clear what he wanted to say, even without him voicing it aloud.
-There’s a lot I want to say. But I can’t even gauge where to begin, you damn troublemakers.
What on earth was it?
The feeling of understanding it even though he had not opened his mouth.
‘Famille, you sly…….’
Beatus, with a bandage wrapped around his head, broke out in a cold sweat as he recalled why Famille and Baek Hui-young were not present here right now, then let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.
So, what was it again.
He had said that Baek Hui-young’s condition was not good, so they had taken him to the safety house of that noona who was either a mafia godfather or a boss, and that he had gone along as a guard.
Well, was that really the purpose?
‘If it was just to avoid the instructor for a short while, that would make more sense.’
That was when it happened.
“You made it out alive? Stop making the cadets stand as punishment and get treatment yourself first.”
With a weary face, unable even to wipe away the black dust smudges on her cheek, Tita Genorua walked toward him as she spoke.
However, the look in her eyes as she watched him was strange.
That was only natural.
She had said everything she should and should not have said, thinking he was a mercenary—how could she even begin to imagine how it would feel upon hearing that he was an instructor at the Central Special Service Academy.
Still, the problem right now was not her feelings.
Thud-.
Jin Crow moved his feet.
With every step he took, a liquid that might have been human blood or Creature blood, filling his combat boots, seeped into the ground, but he did not care.
Then, as he drew close to her, he took a short breath and spoke in a low, whisper-like voice.
“……I want to rest.”
“Yeah, you should rest.”
Had she grasped the true meaning behind his words?
Or had she simply thought so genuinely?
With a rather unbothered expression, she nodded and wrapped her arm around his.
“……?”
Blood seeped into Tita Genorua’s fine suit, and the hem of her shirt as well.
At her sudden, impulsive action, the cadets exchanged glances among themselves with expressions like they were watching a morning drama, and Jin Crow too slightly narrowed his brow as if about to ask something.
But then.
A voice so small that only the two of them could hear brushed past his ear.
“You can barely even walk right now. I’m not trying anything funny, so follow me. Unless you want to collapse in front of the cadets.”
Surprisingly, it was true.
Because of that, Jin Crow looked down at her, who was a head shorter than himself, for a moment, then silently boarded the black sedan that had been parked in advance together with her, and soon departed for the safety house.
“……Wow.”
“……Oh my.”
Watching their retreating figures, Dokgo Ran and Hino Kanae met each other’s eyes.
And that was not all.
“Waaah……. Hic!”
Miel’s eyes sparkled as if she had just seen a love story from a fairy tale, hiccupping repeatedly, while Beatus muttered in admiration under his breath.
“So that’s why I wondered why he was helping with mafia business—his lover is a mafia lady boss. I knew he wasn’t ordinary, but this is a bit…….”
Still, if there was a strange hint of envy and masculine awe beneath the calm tone with which he was organizing the situation, would that be an illusion?
Meanwhile, at that same time.
Satra, who had been resting while being half-monitored from one side due to the sudden proliferation of factions, had also watched the entire scene. Pulling the purple hair stuck to her cheek away, she took a sip of the liquor in her hip flask and muttered quietly.
“The Madman of the colony, and next, the mafia’s man.”
If her voice too was mixed with a strange delight, would that be an illusion?
“…….”
Jin Crow passed out the moment he got into the car.
No, could that really be called sleeping?
After ordering the subordinate at the wheel to drive as slowly as possible, Tita Genorua slowly examined Jin Crow, who was sleeping right beside her.
“…….”
Jet-black hair reminiscent of a raven, black eyelashes.
Facial features that objectively fell into the category of handsome despite slightly sunken cheeks, and dark circles deeply cast beneath his eyes.
And even hair with a subtle hint of curl.
‘He’s handsome, but no matter how you look at it, he’s our type.’
It was not just his face or his actions.
Perhaps it should be called the intuition felt only by those who live in the shadows.
It meant that mistaking him for a mercenary at first, without even room for suspicion, had not been without basis.
But once the cards were laid on the table, what a surprise.
She had thought he would not be ordinary in some way or another, but she had never imagined, not even once, that his identity would be an instructor at the Central Special Service Academy.
“……Hmm.”
She briefly considered poking his cheek once, then soon gave up, pulled a cigarette from her bosom, placed it in her mouth, and spoke toward the driver’s seat.
“Drive even slower. Don’t let Jin wake up.”
“Yes, Consigliere.”
The subordinate holding the steering wheel drove slowly, yet steered the car into a district where she still projected influence, in preparation for any possible attack.
In that quiet stillness, Tita Genorua gazed at the rain once again slowly falling beyond the window, stared at the smoke she exhaled softly, and muttered in a low voice.
“Jin Crow.”
Indeed, he was a dangerous man in many ways.