Bad Born Blood - Chapter 178



Only Noblemtl

178

I called Jafar to dispose of the body.

Jafar and I looked down at the body of Ernest Borel. Ernest’s head was smashed to the point where it was difficult to identify him.

“It’s about Kinuan. Investigate thoroughly the bodyguard of the Borel family, ‘Valek’. Every little thing. Even his name must be an alias.”

I said to Jafar. Jafar clicked his long nails anxiously.

“Did you kill Ernest Borel? Do you know who this is? Hoyooo… … .”

“You come from a political family.”

“They’re not just a family of politicians. They’re the family of the founders of Border City.”

“There were more than one or two founders, and you’re one of them.”

I responded as if it was no big deal.

“… … You’ve messed with one of the real powers in Border City. Of course, I’m one of the real powers.”

Jafar revealed his confidence indirectly. He flicked his tongue and walked towards the body of Ernest Borel.

“Jafar, it was not by chance that I awoke through your tricks. You may think that you chose me, but you were used by Kinuan. When I awoke, I was designed to go find Ernest Borel.”

The only person who would do something like this is Kinuan.

“I vaguely know that it was Kinuan’s intention that I woke you up to find you. It’s not the first time I’ve been manipulated by him.”

Jafar said calmly, without being surprised.

‘Jafar has known Kinuan for quite some time. Years at least.’

It was information that just came out in conversation.

“If you want to find Kinuan, don’t hide any information from me and give it all to me.”

“That can’t be. You can spend as much money as you want, ho-yot, ho-yot. It’s a little painful, but I can handle it. But don’t dig up any private information that I haven’t revealed. This is a warning.”

“It’s funny how you ask me to find someone while hiding the most important information.”

“That’s why I’m supporting you in both material and spiritual ways. If Borel finds out that the detective I hired killed Ernest, I’ll be in a very difficult position.”

Jafar bent his legs and waist to be eye level with Ernest’s body.

“Just because something is difficult doesn’t mean it can’t be solved.”

“According to your information, Ernest is a serial killer. There’s a chance that we can get away with it. The anger of a father who lost his child must be fierce. Let’s just clean up the body first.”

As soon as Jafar spoke, the cleaning androids moved. They sprayed chemicals and cleaned up, erasing any traces of the murder scene.

“There are no civilian witnesses. However, it is questionable whether Valek will tell the Borel family about Ernest’s whereabouts.”

“What do you think, Mr. Luca? You saw Valek in person, so your intuition should be quite accurate.”

“… … I won’t tell you right now. And Valek will disappear completely from the Borel family.”

We watched quietly as the traces of the corpse disappeared. Jafar also stood calmly as if he had done this countless times.

“First, I will investigate Valek. Investigating in detail and in a broad manner is something that capital and manpower can do.”

Jafar’s work has always been excellent. Even when I’m acting like I’m being a bit too irritable, things are somehow managed. I honestly like him even though he’s an alien.

“If you control me any more, I’ll arouse suspicion, so please leave now.”

Jafar placed his finger on the communicator on the back of his neck and gave orders to the Equusian mercenaries. The area around the scene of the incident was controlled by Sergeant Jafar. The mercenaries under Jafar’s command acted like a police or military organization.

‘It’s ridiculous that a food service company is abusing its authority like this when security companies are controlling the streets… ‘

But no one thought it was strange. It seemed natural in Border City, where public security did not work.

Basically, Border City’s corporations had their own armed forces, even if they weren’t security companies. It was only natural, since the lack of security was even worse than in Akbaran.

‘It’s strange. It’s a wonder that such a chaotic city can somehow run.’

Those who designed and established the Border City system were no ordinary people, but even they would not know how the current Border City was maintained.

Border City was like a tower made up of toys of all different sizes and shapes. They were so intricately intertwined and interlocked that even when you looked at them from the top, you couldn’t understand why they didn’t collapse. They were just haphazardly raising the height of the tower without any calculations, leaving behind what fell and only leaving what went up. As a result, there were more than a few parts that were different from common sense and expectations.

‘It’s a city where it wouldn’t be strange if it suddenly collapsed at any time.’

I could understand if an incident were to occur tomorrow and the city itself would be engulfed in flames.

“And Balek has a fire-light sword. It’s a rare weapon, so investigate how to acquire it.”

“… … Let’s change the subject for a moment. It wasn’t Mr. Luca who killed Ernest Borel, but Mr. Gabriel, right? If it were Mr. Luca, he would have definitely captured him alive and dealt with him quietly. Even though you are eccentric, you wouldn’t be the type to handle things like an amateur.”

There’s no point in denying it. I nodded.

“so?”

“I would like you not to use Mr. Gabriel as an assistant while I carry out my request. If you need someone, I will provide one. As you have seen several times, Endo is a very capable friend.”

“It’s my business whether someone is hired or not. It’s none of your business.”

“Mr. Gabriel will mess things up at a crucial moment.”

I twisted one lip.

“I’m one of those people. I mess things up at the crucial moment.”

“At least you have the ability to correct your mistakes and try to do so. But people like Gabriel just do it in the heat of the moment. It’s up to others to correct it. Just like the current situation.”

“Then I should take care of that training, just like the current situation.”

I said, holding back my seething anger.

My fingers were tingling. I wanted to stretch out my arm and twist Jafar’s neck right away. Would snake-like people die instantly if they twisted their necks like humans? I suddenly wondered.

“It’s not you who is doing the training, it’s me… … .”

“It is within my power to order you around.”

“Oh, wow, that’s a different perspective. Anyway, since you’re being so tough on Mr. Gabriel, I won’t argue with you any further. You seem to have a more docile side than I thought.”

I was about to say nothing, but then I added something.

“There are many who are better than Gabriel. But to me, another aspect is more important. Gabriel doesn’t hit me in the back of the head.”

“Just as you wouldn’t betray Mr. Gabriel?”

I really didn’t want to answer, so I kept my mouth shut. Jafar let out his signature laugh along with his forked tongue.

* * *

The Ernest Borel affair has come to a halt.

According to Jafar, the Borel family has been sending out people to search for Ernest, but they haven’t been able to make much of a profit. This is because Ernest often travels alone to lead a secretive life.

‘What’s important to us now is Valek.’

Balek is an expert in Archies Victima. He has mastered Archies Victima itself, not just Archies combat techniques, so he is not only good at fighting, but also at strategizing.

‘I wish Jafar could find Balek, but even if he can’t… … Balek will find me on his own.’

I thought as I poured tea into the cup.

‘What do Kinuan and Balek want to gain from me? Why did they induce Jafar to awaken me?’

Obviously, I can’t figure out their purpose right now. It’s impossible to deduce their purpose with the limited information and clues.

‘If Valek comes again, we must capture him.’

If we capture them alive, there is a way to extract information. If we discard our humanity to some extent.

I thought back to the battle with Balek. I tried to figure out how to capture Balek, but it was quite tricky.

‘Balek will come and figure out how to deal with me.’

Although I have the upper hand in objective fighting power, in real combat, it is common for the situation to turn around due to a single variable.

The longer I stayed in Border City, the more complicated my situation became. Giselle’s disappearance was related to Kinuan.

The clues given were minimal, and the outlines of the situation were so vague that even their outlines were changing from moment to moment.

‘But this kind of environment is better for me.’

I felt energized after meeting Valek.

As the situation became more difficult and the pressure increased… … my inner energy also grew. It was a kind of repulsion.

The more my surroundings try to crush me, the stronger and more energetic I become. On the contrary, the calm and relaxed stability makes me depressed. It’s crazy, but it’s true.

Now, even when I saw a gun, I didn’t feel like putting the gun to my temple and pulling the trigger. The urge to jump out the window had disappeared, so even when I opened the curtains and looked outside, my mind was calm.

The fire inside me was burning away the sticky gloom. It’s old-fashioned, but passion is important.

‘That’s it for today.’

I slowed down my thoughts as I drank my tea.

Knock, knock.

Someone was knocking politely on the door.

I stood up and creaked the door open. Boyan was standing there.

“Oh, I’m sorry for coming all of a sudden. I just wanted to say hello.”

Boyan, who is in the early stages of growth, is still only as tall as my chest. However, since the average height of the crawler race is over 2 meters, he will easily surpass my height in 2 or 3 years, and even without any special training, Boyan will have the physical ability to easily tear apart an average human male.

A human being would have to be equipped with a cybernetic body to achieve the average physical ability of a Crawler. However, a Crawler can achieve Gabriel-level violence just by breathing.

‘The best that a guy born with such violent physical abilities can do is study… … .’

Boyan was much more of an irregular than I was. It was only natural that Boyan would be hard to accept in a crawler society where people like Legor were prevalent.

“There’s no need to come every day just to go to school.”

I said, casually examining Boyan’s attire. It was a neatly tailored uniform. And there were glasses in the breast pocket.

“It’s my first day of school. According to Japa, it’s a good school. And I also prepared glasses to correct my left eye’s vision. Japa recommended them because they make my impression a little softer.”

Boyan had lost the sight in his left eye due to being hit by Legor so often. It must have been difficult for him to read books because of the large difference in vision between his two eyes.

“Well, do your best.”

I leaned my shoulder against the doorframe and scratched my head. That was all I could say.

‘If Boyan wanted to learn fighting skills, there would have been many things and words to help him.’

But if Boyan had wanted to be a fighter in the first place, he would never have met me.

‘You’re walking a completely different path than me.’

Boyan nodded and walked down the hallway. Even I thought it was strange to see Crawler in his school uniform.

After that, I often ran into Boyan. It was natural for us to meet since we lived in the same building.

Sometimes Boyan would disappear across the hallway as if he was avoiding me. It was about a week later that I figured out why he was avoiding me. No matter how hard he tried to avoid me, there were times when we would inevitably run into each other.

“Oh, no, hello. I fell down on my way here.”

Boyan told an awkward lie. I saw his broken glasses on the chest of his dirty uniform.

There were times when his clothes would get torn. There was also a strange smell coming from the bag he was carrying. Whenever that happened, Boyan would try to avoid me as if he was hiding.

‘Boyan is being bullied at school.’

Whoever they are, they are bold enough to harass the crawlers. However, they must be doing so because they are sure that Boyan cannot touch them. In short, it looks funny.

I just shrugged my shoulders and received Boyan’s greeting every time.

‘It’s something you have to figure out yourself.’

Compared to what Boyan will face in the future, this level of adversity is nothing. If you can’t bear it, then just learn how to fight.

And then one day, Jafar received a call about Boyan.

-The school called Boyan’s guardian.

“The sponsoring foundation can take care of it.”

-We are sponsors, not guardians.

“I’m not a parent either.”

Jafar was silent for a moment, then spoke with a slightly angry tone.

-I would pay more attention to a cat picked up on the street than this. Moreover, Boyan is not a small creature, he is an intelligent being.

… … That’s right. I got up and grabbed my coat.