Vicious Darling

 [63]

Chris blinked and got up.

He sensed movement beside him. But instead of instinctively grabbing the person’s neck and pinning them to the floor, Chris relaxed his body languidly.

Given that he hadn’t been awakened midway, the person with him must certainly be Yuri.

“You’re awake.”

At the slightly cold voice, Chris slowly opened his eyes.

The purple eyes were familiar, but the face itself was unfamiliar. It was an illusion newly applied when crossing into Ishtar City.

He was holding Chris’s hand silently.

Like a caretaker.

‘Yuri having that appearance means…’

There were outsiders present.

Chris rolled his eyes around to survey his surroundings.

He was lying on a makeshift bed inside a tent. Without even extending his senses to check outside, he could tell the surroundings were quite busy.

“Stay still.”

A rigid voice flowed from Yuri’s mouth.

“You don’t need to be out there, so keep lying down.”

“…My body has fully recovered.”

“Thanks to you collapsing half-naked in the middle of enemy territory, I’m aware of that.”

There was a hint of cynicism typical of someone whose dog runs wild and reckless.

Or perhaps it was resignation.

Chris continued speaking to Yuri, who was making him lie back down after he had half risen.

“I subdued all the Espers. But the other guards…”

He couldn’t clean up that area because he had to maintain distance from Factories 4 and 8 while continuing the battle.

Having just Dain taken hostage meant fighting at a disadvantage. But weighing all those workers on the scale—determining which side was heavier would be a sin in itself.

When entering battle, one needed to minimize objectives and eliminate weaknesses.

“I took care of them.”

Yuri answered flatly.

There was no reason to disbelieve him, so the tension in Chris’s back also relaxed.

All his nerves had been on edge at the thought that his Guide might have been exposed to danger, even briefly.

Chris knew well that this was overprotection.

If he had taken Yuri to the recent battle, those two Espers would have been subdued without any chance to resist.

Yuri always held the high ground when fighting Espers. Because he was an Irregular.

Nevertheless, Chris hated “what ifs.”

A cool hand lightly touched his cheek. When Chris’s blue eyes turned toward him, Yuri wore a cynical smile.

“Seems you still don’t grasp the situation.”

“Pardon?”

Yuri stood up.

“Never mind. You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”

He said while putting on the hat he had taken off earlier.

“But the first thing I saw when I woke up was you dying.”

The purple eyes stared at him steadily. It was just a moment, but that meeting of gazes felt like eternity.

“Yu…!”

Before Chris could utter the word dangling on the tip of his tongue, the man turned and went outside the tent.

‘I wasn’t dying.’

He withdrew his arm that had reached out but failed to grab Yuri. He had unconsciously clenched his fist.

Even if he died, he was confident he would come back to life.

Hadn’t Yuri experienced it? When Chris transformed into a wolf and deceived him, Yuri shot at the beast.

At that time, he faced death not knowing he would revive. But Chris was given a second chance.

What Anastasia had given him wasn’t just an ability but the life force of an Esper.

It would be the same this time too.

‘…But why?’

Until last night, his relationship with Yuri had entered a new phase.

He thought the atmosphere wasn’t bad either.

Chris dropped his head dejectedly.

As always, it seems he had ruined things again.

Just then, Peter, who walked into the tent, saw Chris fidgeting and spoke.

“Wow. You’re really tough.”

“…I didn’t intend to die.”

Chris answered calmly as Peter clicked his tongue. He thought Peter was also criticizing him for rushing at the hostile Esper, risking death.

But unexpectedly, Peter shook his head.

“No, that’s not it. Do you know you’ve been unconscious for two entire days?”

“What?”

“During that time, Mr. Yuri stayed by your side continuously.”

“Yuri did…?”

Chris’s voice became slightly wet.

Peter shook his head again.

“He even declined when they offered to assign separate nursing staff.”

That was probably because of Chris.

If you wake up in the middle of enemy territory after passing out and find a stranger beside you, your hand would move first.

It would be fortunate if you just subdued them, but what if you accidentally broke their neck due to poor control of your strength?

“I wondered if he was sleeping, but his eyes were wide open. It was a bit scary. Then suddenly seeing him come out, I thought maybe… and indeed, you’ve woken up.”

Peter was dumbfounded.

From the moment Chris collapsed, Yuri immediately donned an illusion and began making calls everywhere.

No one knew what kind of magic he performed, but vehicles loaded with various materials and personnel sent from Ishtar City arrived one after another.

These included scientists for investigation, architects, city officials from Ishtar, and medical personnel for the workers imprisoned in the factory.

While watching what the rest of the people were doing, they efficiently set up tents, creating a makeshift investigation headquarters.

Tents bearing the emblem of Ishtar City and the logo of the company under Yuri’s name appeared, and even tents marked with the symbol of the Esper alliance, Northern Light.

It was increasingly astonishing.

How could Yuri Sobolev exercise such influence in the Spring Continent, not even the Winter Continent?

Even Peter, who had been in charge of his transportation for the past few days, couldn’t believe it.

As soon as the tents were set up, Yuri took care of Chris and moved him inside.

No one else saw Chris, nor laid a hand on him.

Those from Northern Light, who arrived somewhat later than others, tried to meet Chris, but they too were blocked by Yuri.

Yuri, with his stern face yet gentle tone, made everyone return to the scene—there was something chilling about him just by looking.

With one hand holding Chris and the other operating a terminal device, Yuri didn’t leave for even a moment during those two days.

“Look at this.”

After manipulating the screen a few times, Peter displayed a reporter’s face.

-The mayor of Babel City strongly denied involvement with the criminal terrorist organization, Thorns Order. Meanwhile, controversy has arisen regarding the qualification of Mayor Chafnil’s recent commendation from Northern Light.

-The issue of improving treatment for workers from other continents, known as “stowaways,” has emerged as a new topic in the city council.

-A fact-finding committee organized by Northern Light has just landed at the port of the Spring Continent. We’ll meet with them now.

-Regarding the human rights abuses of workers in the abandoned factory area, we conducted an in-depth investigation to determine whether the Ishtar City mayor truly knew nothing about this situation.

As he switched between screens showing different news, the voices reporting became a chaotic mix.

“In just two days, this news has spread throughout the Spring Continent.”

Information began to circulate that this abandoned factory area was operational and that stowaways were mobilized there.

Also spreading were testimonies that these stowaways suffered from grueling labor, unable to escape due to surveillance by the criminal organization called Thorns Order.

Peter had heard that Babel City was moving to suppress the story. But no matter how much they tried to hush it up, rumors spread faster than news.

Peter could easily guess who was behind making all this possible.

It was because of the photo used in today’s morning newspaper headline.

‘It was a shot taken with the button that Chris attached to the child.’

It showed an Esper from Thorns Order using violence against a worker.

“I think Mr. Yuri did it… What do you think?”

“…It must be Yuri’s work.”

“I thought the mayor issue would be kept under wraps longer before exploding. But now everything’s been completely overturned. And in my opinion…”

Peter, eyes gleaming, wrinkled his nose.

“It seems the fuse was lit when Chris dramatically collapsed.”

“But.”

Chris closed his mouth after trying to refute.

Would it really be beneficial that Yuri changed his plans because of him?

“…How is the child?”

“Dain is staying somewhere safe now. Honestly, I was a bit surprised.”

“Why is that?”

“A young Guide imprisoned in a place like this—it’s such provocative material. It could attract even more public attention than now, but that child’s story is completely missing from the news.”

Chris thought this was very typical of Yuri.

Northern Light’s duties included rescuing Guides.

It wasn’t simply a charity. Even Chase Dalton, an S-class Esper who couldn’t be bought with money, joined Northern Light because of his sister who was a Guide.

Logan, Yuri’s close associate, was also talent rescued from the black market.

“…I’m glad to hear she’s being well protected.”

“Speaking of the child, the female Esper is still alive.”

Dahlia?

He had shown some mercy at the end.

Since Yuri arrived immediately, she must have been perfectly subdued without any chance to do anything.

But he thought by now she would have spilled all information about Thorns Order and been dealt with.

“She’s under interrogation, but they’re facing some difficulties.”

Peter continued his explanation.

“Why is that?”

“She pretends not to know when spoken to. And because the situation at the abandoned factory area was immediately exposed to the media, they can’t easily use forceful methods, so everyone is just watching.”

Having quickly made the issue public, it was natural that the choice of methods would be limited.

“What did Yuri say?”

“He said to leave her alone.”

Chris narrowed his brows. This wasn’t like the Yuri he knew.

The reason was immediately revealed.

“That woman said she wants to meet you.”