novelraw Chapter 129
Chapter 129
Chapter 129
“Serena Beresford was your friend?”
“Ah, no, it’s just that…”
When Lexus asked in surprise, Iri narrowed her brows slightly and answered.
“It’s a little vague to say we were friends. Back when Polen and I went back and forth between Sector E, there was a time she stayed with us for a while. We were just somewhat close then, that’s all.”
“So she was your friend.”
“I said no.”
“She was.”
“Stop being so stubborn. It’s been more than five years. How can someone who just stayed with us for a short while and then suddenly left without a word, cutting off all contact, be considered a friend?”
“You sound kind of upset.”
“…”
At Lexus’s words, Iri fell silent. Well, if she had to admit it, maybe she was a little upset.
“We honestly thought she had died. Think about it. We took in a complete newbie who we didn’t even know where she came from, but she didn’t know anything about back-alley common sense. She couldn’t do anything. Never told us her background. And then, just like that, she vanished from Sector E without a word. What would you think?”
“That she croaked?”
“Of course.”
Iri furrowed her brows further, displeased.
“The streets are overflowing with drug addicts, there are scumbags who kidnap people for their organs, gang wars break out at the drop of a hat. Men have to join organizations, and women have to enter prostitution clubs run by the Mafia just to survive.”
“I know that well. I’d never lived below Sector D before, but when I suddenly tried to run an office in Sector E without any foundation, it was overwhelming. That place is crawling with nothing but trash.”
Well, not that I had any right to talk, given that I had been one of those mooching to survive there. Lexus shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Iri.
“But I didn’t know you were from Polen. That surprised me.”
“It’s not something I wanted to talk about. It just slipped out. Why?”
“I know a few people from Polen. Some tinheads I get along with, too. But compared to them… you felt completely different.”
“How so?”
“Should I say you seemed to have been raised pretty well? Your looks, your way of speaking. The others, swearing is basically their passive skill, but you don’t even tack on a ‘shit’ at the end of your sentences.”
“My brother hated it.”
“Brother? You had a brother?”
“Not my real brother. There was someone who raised me like one.”
The moment she said it, Iri felt like someone was squeezing her chest tight. But it wasn’t as bad as before, and she continued calmly.
“He didn’t want me to grow up like the other kids from Polen. When others went around scavenging usable scrap, he would keep me locked inside the house.”
“Locked up?”
“Not like that.”
Iri glared at Lexus.
He waved it off, saying it was a joke, and urged her to go on.
“Anyway, in the Sewer District 16 where I lived, once you were past five years old, you had to work. But my brother said he could never make me do that, so he worked twice as much as others every day just to feed me.”
“He really doted on you.”
“On top of that, he never let me curse in front of him, and he’d bring home abandoned catalogs to teach me how to read. Sometimes, he even went to the Maid Androids in town and begged them to teach me. Of course, I tried to run away, but every time, he caught me and dragged me back.”
“He sounds like a good brother.”
“Of course. But back then, I was full of complaints. Why was I the only one stuck inside, forced to study, when the other kids were free to roam around and work?”
Because of that, we fought a lot.
A brother desperate not to let his sister suffer, and a younger sister who couldn’t understand that, trying to get out. She thought her brother wanted to lock her up in a cage.
And with her naturally sharp senses and agile body, the world seemed far too easy for her. The dangers scattered all around only felt like fun challenges that tickled her sense of adventure.
“Then something happened.”
Human traffickers.
One day, she skipped study time and sneaked out, only to be unlucky enough to get caught by them.
Just like her brother said, she realized the world really was dangerous—but far too late.
The city was full of perverted scum who wanted little girls’ bodies, and she was about to be sold off as some faceless man’s plaything.
“After that… well, you can guess.”
Her brother, Peter, led his crew to rescue her.
A fierce battle broke out. Several of his comrades died in the process. In the end, her brother lost an arm and had to replace it with a cyberware prosthetic.
“I cried a lot that day.”
Through that incident, Iri learned her lesson. She grew up listening to her brother’s words, became a good girl, and turned into a fine person. Clap, clap, clap… It would have been nice if that had been the story.
But the world was never that kind.
“And eventually… my brother died too.”
The bad boy who made a name for himself in Sector E caught the eyes of important people and entered the Academy, becoming a Stingray Scholar.
Until then, the siblings believed they could start a new life. But tragically, her brother died in an unknown incident at the Academy, and that dream shattered to pieces.
“I did some bad things too.”
“Like what?”
“Robbing shops, stealing wallets. Or selling illegal modules for wages from Modulars.”
“You never joined a gang?”
“Of course I had some connections there, but because of my brother, I tried to keep my distance. I was mostly alone.”
Because of that, she went through all sorts of hardships, but that was another story.
In the end, Iri scraped together money and bought citizenship, passed the nanomachine compatibility test and the entrance exam, and got into the Academy.
After all those ups and downs…
She was here.
Hearing her whole story, Lexus scratched the back of his head awkwardly, then carefully spoke.
“That’s really…”
“A cliché story.”
Iri cut him off.
“There are plenty worse off than me. The kids I used to play with? They probably joined the Mafia, became bar hostesses, or died. One of those three.”
Compared to that, I’m lucky.
She continued.
“In less than a year since I enrolled, I became a Stingray Scholar, made friends, even became Student Council President.”
“Chairman Aaron likes you a lot too.”
“…Don’t bring that up.”
“So, what was your brother’s name?”
“What are you going to do with it?”
“I’m just curious.”
“…”
Iri glared at Lexus.
And then, she finally answered.
“Peter Jones.”
“...What?”
“Why do you look like that?”
At that name, Lexus’s face stiffened. Iri asked curiously, but Lexus brushed it off lightly.
“No, it’s nothing.”
“What is it then?”
“It just reminded me of the past. I’ll tell you once I’m sure.”
“So what on earth…?”
“Forget that—Serena!”
Lexus blatantly changed the subject.
“You said she was your friend! Come on, tell me more!”
“I told you, she wasn’t my friend. More importantly, why are you so interested in Serena, Mr. Bane? And how did you even find out she was the Chairman’s marriage partner?”
“Ah, right. Should I start from there?”
Bane didn’t really want to drag Iri into this, but if he wanted to get information from her, he had to share at least a bit of his own.
So reluctantly, he let slip part of the request Aaron had given him.
But contrary to his hopes, Iri really didn’t seem to know much about Serena, only spitting out a few fragments of information.
“I really don’t know her well. We just lived together for a short while years ago. How could I know her that well? I barely even remember.”
“Well, I guess that can’t be helped… but in your opinion, do you think she’s completely fitting as your Chairman’s marriage partner?”
“Well, I don’t know. I’m not even sure if I should be part of this conversation in the first place…”
While Iri hesitated, Lexus’s smartphone buzzed again.
He told Iri to wait a moment, checked his phone, then looked up with a sly grin.
“You’d better hurry up and say it.”
“Why?”
“Because I just got some fresh news.”
Aaron’s arranged date was set for tomorrow.
The moment I returned from the Violet Hunting Ground, I was greeted with a rather shocking story.
The other side of the engagement wanted to see my face as soon as possible, and the Stingray Chairman had arbitrarily decided the date would be tomorrow.
Today I barely made it back from the Hunting Ground and had just seen my fiancée’s photo for the first time, and now they told me to go to a blind date tomorrow.
‘That old man’s lost his damn mind!’
What kind of lunatic decides on a daughter-in-law like roasting beans on lightning fire?
Or am I the one who doesn’t get it?
Is this how conglomerate marriages are usually arranged? From what I know, they usually investigate everything about the other side first, and if it all checks out, then they arrange a meeting.
I was so baffled I demanded Maria explain what the hell happened while I was gone.
“I-I’m sorry. I tried to delay the schedule somehow, but the Chairman was far too insistent…”
In short, the damn old man had decided on his own the moment he heard I was on leave.
—Ah, my son? I hear he’s on break and just hanging around his room, so let’s make it tomorrow.
He probably didn’t say it that casually, but the gist was the same.
And that wasn’t the only problem.
“The Chairman is asking for Evangeline.”
On the very day of my blind date, the Stingray Chairman also wanted Evangeline brought before him.
“Damn it.”
Right now, I should be diving into the Blue Hunting Ground to search for a new essence, but instead, I was about to waste time on a blind date.
At least I got lucky—there hadn’t been much to farm in the Violet Hunting Ground, so I returned earlier than planned.
‘Otherwise, I would’ve ended up as the guy who ran away from a blind date without even knowing it.’
At least I had some time to prepare now. I’d never gone on a blind date in my previous life, but I’d heard things here and there. I could manage.
With that in mind, I started putting my tasks in order.
‘First, the modules.’
I decided to send the loot from the Transmigrator’s remains in the Violet Hunting Ground to Miyu and Ciel for analysis.
If they dug into the modules and cyberware inside, they could probably figure out what kind of bastard the owner had been in life.
‘Next, the key.’
The analog key—an important item for the Omega Investment episode. Unlike the Liberator, it was too big to carry around, so I’d stashed it in the safe at home.
‘And then, the blind date prep.’
I summoned the secretaries, told them to gather all information on tomorrow’s partner, and to prepare thoroughly.
I immediately called in a stylist to coordinate a suit, shoes, and accessories. While that was happening, some information came in.
‘She’s a politician’s daughter?’
Serena Beresford.
Her father was a heavyweight politician supported by Stingray’s lobbying, and her mother seemed to be a CEO running a food corporation.
Both had fairly good public images, and they’d even attended the recent G20 Summit, mingling with various figures.
‘No, the more important thing is…’
If I remembered correctly, in the original story, she was just a passing character, Iri’s childhood friend.
She had lent a helping hand to the protagonist’s group when they ran into Iri by chance and got in trouble.
‘I remember her character being quite likable. But why did the Stingray Chairman pick such a girl as my partner…?’
I didn’t know.
In terms of rank, there were plenty of other options besides Serena. Did their family recently form some kind of connection?
I had my suspicions, but with only a day to dig, there was a limit to what I could find. On top of that, I had to worry about Evangeline too, making it twice as exhausting.
Sorry as I was to Maria on her break, I had no choice but to leave the Evangeline matter to her.
‘What’s the Chairman aiming for?’
Why pick that match?
Why set the date so suddenly?
Why insist on seeing Evangeline on the very day I couldn’t be there?
With unanswered questions still weighing on me, I headed to the promised hotel restaurant.
Because of the rushed preparations, I ended up a bit late. Nervous from head to toe for my very first blind date in both lives, I still tried to carry myself naturally and confidently as I faced my waiting partner.
“Sorry for being late. I’m Aaron Stingray.”
“Oh no, you’re only five minutes late. I’m Serena Beresford.”
With a relaxed smile, Serena lifted her eyes from the magazine she had been reading to meet mine—and in that moment, I was struck dumb.
There sat…
A poison dart frog.