Chapter 30
[LAST ROUND]
It wasn't open yet—it was morning—but the sign hadn't gone completely dark and was still blinking.
Lea looked up at the building.
“Last Round.”
Her tone held a hint of interest.
“It's a good name. It sounds like it means you're right on the verge of going under.”
Two Seraph Industries security guards stood near the building entrance.
As Lea approached, they immediately shifted their posture. They did not point their guns at her right away, but their hands were close to the triggers.
“This building is property owned by Seraph Industries.”
The security guard standing at the front spoke.
“Access by Archeon personnel is not authorized.”
Even so, Lea did not stop.
“I think there's been a misunderstanding.”
Instead, she refuted their claim.
“I'm not here as the representative of Archeon Genetics.”
The security guard looked puzzled.
Lea glanced up at the building once, then.
“I'm here as a guest.”
“…A guest?”
“The fourth floor is registered as a place of business.”
She tilted her head slightly.
“Just because Seraph Industries became the building's owner, that doesn't mean you can stop customers from entering the business, does it?”
The security guard could not answer immediately, and his gaze shifted to the side for the briefest moment.
It was an unexpected thing to say.
Keeping his eyes fixed on Lea, he quietly spoke into his radio.
…
A brief silence followed from the other end of the radio.
Lea waited without showing any particular impatience.
The Archeon agents standing behind her quietly kept watch over their surroundings. The Seraph security team was doing the same.
But Lea alone remained as calm as a guest who had arrived a little early for an appointment.
The security guard received another transmission.
“…Yes. Understood.”
He gave a very slight nod, then looked at Lea.
“Understood.”
After finishing the transmission, the security guard stepped half a pace to the side.
“Only Ms. Lea may pass.”
At that, one of the Archeon agents behind Lea immediately tried to move, but.
“CEO….”
Lea raised a hand slightly to signal him to stay put.
When the Archeon agent stopped, the security guard continued.
“A brief body search is required.”
The Archeon agents' mood turned icy at those words.
The security guards of a rival corporation were going to search their CEO.
It was a situation that could become a dispute submitted to THC if even a single wrong word was spoken.
An agent at the back stepped forward.
“The CEO….”
When Lea crooked a finger, the agent stopped speaking and moving.
“Stay put.”
Without showing any particular displeasure, she slowly raised both arms.
“It's procedure, apparently.”
The security guard hesitated for a moment, then called over a female security officer.
Since the party that had demanded the search looked more uncomfortable, Lea smiled as though she found the situation itself entertaining.
“Why? Aren't you going to do it?”
“We'll proceed.”
The female security officer approached and searched her as carefully as possible.
Lea did not move and continued looking toward the inside of the building.
A moment later, the female security officer stepped back.
“No problems.”
At that, Lea lowered her arms.
“There. Happy?”
“…Please enter.”
When the security guard moved aside from the door, Lea entered the building without even looking back.
The inside was quiet.
…
The first floor was empty,
It looked as though the space had once been used as a shop or office, but now only a few old fixtures and dust remained. Some parts of the walls bore newly installed temporary Seraph security devices.
“Hmm.”
There were signs of recent work, but the renovations had not yet been properly completed.
As she passed through, Lea swept her eyes over each of those small details.
The ownership transfer and interior renovations were recent, and the security equipment had been installed as a temporary measure.
This building was not a base that had been prepared over a long period.
If so, it was highly likely that the place had been secured in a hurry at someone's request.
Her interest in that ‘someone’ deepened slightly.
As she passed the second floor, she looked inside through a gap in the door.
It was an empty space with nothing but a few boxes stacked inside.
She did not stop and went up to the third floor.
As expected, the third-floor door was closed.
The lock attached to it was a readymade product that did not match the building's old exterior—a Seraph-style biometric lock.
It was not a high-end model, but it was excessive for an outer residential district.
Lea stood before the door and tried lowering the handle once, but naturally, it did not open.
“Interesting.”
If the person inside were an ordinary resident, there would be no need for a device like this.
No, Seraph would have no reason to put an ordinary resident in a place like this to begin with.
Lea did not press her ear against the door.
There was no need to resort to such a tacky tactic.
She glanced at her wrist terminal.
The external analysis module was turned off because of the search.
“…Let's stop here for now.”
She went up one more floor.
The fourth floor.
A bar called Last Round.
From the outside, it still did not look as though it had opened for business,
But the door was unlocked, so Lea grasped the handle without hesitation.
Jingle.
When the bell rang, the bar owner, who had been arranging glasses behind the counter, raised her head.
The moment she confirmed who had entered, she narrowed her eyes.
“We're not open yet.”
“I know.”
Lea smiled lightly.
“But couldn't you make an exception?”
The bar owner looked at Lea for a while.
The atmosphere conveyed by her clothes and bearing.
And the forces of Archeon and Seraph spread out beyond the window.
There was no way a customer who entered in this situation could be ordinary,
But the bar owner seemed to instinctively understand that this was not someone she could simply turn away and expect things to end neatly.
She merely let out a short sigh.
“Do whatever you want.”
“Thanks.”
Lea naturally sat down in front of the counter.
The bar owner set down a glass and wiped the counter out of habit.
“What will you have?”
“Didn't you say you weren't open yet?”
“You said to do whatever I want.”
“Then I'll have whatever you recommend.”
“I don't give first-time customers anything cheap. I don't know if you'll come back.”
At that, Lea looked behind the counter. A more varied selection of liquor bottles than she had expected sat on the old shelves.
She had thought there would be nothing but cheap synthetic liquor, but after looking them over, that was not the case.
Old whiskey bottles and imported liqueurs.
There were bottles that looked like illegally distilled liquor, as well as bottles with their labels removed.
There were quite a few varieties, and they had not been stored poorly, either.
Lea spoke as though she found it a little unexpected.
“This place is better than I expected.”
At that, the bar owner's expression relaxed very slightly.
“A customer who knows a thing or two finally came in.”
“I like liquor because it makes people honest.”
“I like that.”
“I guess you don't like people very much.”
“If you like people in this neighborhood, you won't live long.”
Lea grinned at her words.
“That's true.”
It was then.
Lea's gaze turned toward the side of the counter.
A corner seat in the bar, where the lighting did not reach properly.
A man was sitting there.
He had black hair and a tired-looking face, and was eating steaming hot food.
Inside a building where Seraph and Archeon had been facing off since morning.
Even though Archeon's CEO had entered the bar,
He acted as though none of it had anything to do with him.
Completely unconcerned.
Lea tilted her head slightly as she looked at him.
“What's with that guy?”
At her question, the bar owner's hand paused for a moment.
“Is this bar also a restaurant?”
However, even at Lea's words, the man did not raise his head and continued eating in silence.
The bar owner answered a beat late.
“…Hmm. He's just a regular. Ignore him.”
“A regular.”
Lea slowly repeated the word.
“A regular who eats at a bar before it opens….”
“He pays well.”
“Good customer.”
“That's why I keep him alive.”
At her quick retort, the corner of Lea's mouth lifted slightly.
The man was not looking at her, but he knew where she was standing.
He was the same type as her—someone who calculated everything but sometimes relied on instinct.
She felt that he was a kindred spirit with that sort of intuition.
However, Lea held her interest in check a little longer.
If she revealed her fangs too quickly in her excitement, her prey might flee.
“Hmm.”
Lea looked back at the bar owner.
“Then can I ask you one thing?”
“You already came in and sat down. Why ask now?”
“It's just a matter of courtesy.”
“Huh.”
Lea smiled lightly and asked the bar owner directly.
“Do you know anything about the person who lives on the third floor?”
The bar owner's expression did not change.
She could say she had hidden it quite well this time, but Lea had already seen the small opening moments earlier.
The awkward atmosphere when she had called the man a regular.
And the brief hesitation in her gaze when the words ‘third floor’ came up.
“I don't know much.”
The bar owner answered immediately.
“You know that Seraph Industries is the building owner, right?”
“I know the landlord changed. The rent notice changed, too.”
“The third floor is registered for temporary residential use.”
“I suppose it is.”
“But you don't know who lives there?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Then what about that regular?”
Lea's gaze turned toward the man.
“Do you know the person on the third floor?”
The bar owner narrowed her eyes.
“Why are you so interested in another customer?”
“Because I like people.”
“In this neighborhood, that's the same as picking a fight.”
“Heh heh… It's similar in other districts, too.”
Only then did the man slowly set down his spoon.
Tap.
He picked up his glass of water, took a sip, and said indifferently,
“You seem awfully interested in people who are eating.”
***
“You seem awfully interested in people who are eating.”
Kael looked at the woman with his spoon still set down.
A strange woman.
At least, she was not a face he recognized.
Kael could not say so with absolute confidence, but his memory was not poor.
No, remembering itself was a mage's aptitude to begin with.
…
A white coat, a composed posture, and smiling lips.
But her eyes were not smiling.
‘She seems like the type who doesn't reveal her true thoughts easily.’
Someone who could make it past the Seraph security guards at the first-floor entrance and come up here was clearly not an ordinary customer.
The woman smiled at Kael.
“Oh my, did I interrupt your meal?”
“You seem to know what interruption is.”
“Knowing something and showing consideration are different things.”
“So you're that kind of person.”
“Yep.”
Her answer was quick and without hesitation.
Someone who either had no intention of hiding what kind of person she was, or was accustomed to pretending that way.
Perhaps sensing Kael's gaze, the woman narrowed her eyes slightly.
“You must come here often.”
“The food is good.”
At that, Mira immediately cut in.
“This is a bar.”
“I'm eating right now.”
“How many times have I told you? It's a bar.”
“How about transforming it into a restaurant while we're at it?”
“Unbelievable.”
The woman quietly watched the exchange between Mira and Kael.
Then she lightly tapped the counter with one finger.
Tap.
“What's your name?”
Kael saw no reason to tell her, so he did not answer her question.
Instead, Mira spoke.
“Why have you been conducting such a thorough background check since you got here?”
“I was just curious.”
“At that level, it's a serious condition.”
“I wish it were an illness that could be treated…. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be.”
The woman merely smiled and ordered a drink from Mira.
Mira glared at her for a moment, then took a bottle from the shelf behind her.
“This one's expensive.”
“That's fine.”
“Very expensive.”
“Even better.”
When the drink was poured into the glass, the woman smelled it and gave a short nod.
“Not bad. An import that came through the Arnel Route…. I didn't expect to see it in Grave Rock.”
“You can tell what it is.”
“I'm someone who needs to know a lot of things.”
“Does that include ways to bother people?”
“That's a field I'm quite confident in.”
Kael picked up his spoon again.
He continued eating, but all his attention was focused on the woman.
She was watching Kael as well.
Naturally, without making it obvious.
“I heard something big happened around here last night.”
Kael did not answer the woman's words.
Instead, Mira said while polishing a glass,
“It's harder to find a day when nothing big happens in Grave Rock.”
“Are fireworks exploding in the sky common, too?”
“Someone probably got drunk and set off some fireworks.”
“Then it must have been quite a pretty sight.”
Kael took a sip of water, intending to kill some time, but.
The woman leaned slightly forward as though telling him to forget about that idea.
The smile remained around her lips, while her voice grew a little more serious.
“Then, Mr. Regular.”
Kael met her gaze.
“I'll ask you one thing directly.”
The woman, who had been observing each and every one of Kael's actions,
“By any chance….”
Finally revealed the fangs she had been hiding.
“Are you the person living on the third floor?”