Chapter 157
[I never knew things would get this tangled. I didn’t know Mili-Tech would mobilize, and I certainly never imagined that bastard Regan Hares would show up as the Commander. No, should I consider that a relief instead? If it hadn’t been for him, it wouldn’t have ended this simply. It does feel uncomfortable being indebted to him, though…]
When Lieutenant Colonel Hares was right in front of him, he was overflowing with composure, but now that Hares is gone, he’s rambling.
I asked a safe question to calm Dragon President down.
“What kind of relationship do you have with that Lieutenant Colonel Hares? It’s too cutthroat to call him a friend, but too lukewarm to call him an enemy.”
Beggar, it’s too uncomfortable for that. But keeping him as an enemy is annoying. Right in the middle would be perfect. I thought I’d never see him again.]
“What’s with that scar on his eye? Are you sure you aren’t enemies?”
[As for that scar… it happened during the second war. I’ll just say it was a massive mess where enemies and allies flipped every time someone woke up from a night’s sleep. One day we met as enemies and I ruined his eyes, and another day we met as allies and I saved the blind Hares from a desperate crisis.
Plus and minus combined make zero. So doesn’t that mean there’s no debt of gratitude or grudge? At least that’s what I thought. That bastard Hares might think differently.]
Saying plus and minus combined makes zero; in the end, he’s still blind, so isn’t it a minus?
But actually, if you think about it, he isn’t crippled either.
In Dusk City, human eyes are nothing more than consumables that can be swapped out for much higher-performance optic lenses at any time, so maybe I’m just thinking with too much of a 21st-century mindset about repairs.
[Anyway, he’s a kimochi warui (unpleasant) guy. He definitely has ice-cold blood flowing through his veins. You’d better not even think about getting close to him. Not getting involved at all is for the best.]
That’s unexpected. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dragon President openly slander someone as unpleasant as this before.
Even if they weren’t enemies, it seemed clear that they had an awkward relationship.
“I think the best option is already ruined. He even knew my name.”
[Yeah. That gave me the creeps too. Phew… Like I said earlier, I’m sorry.]
“Why are you so sorry? It’s so different from your usual self that I’m flustered.”
When I asked playfully on purpose, the Dragon President narrowed his amber eyes and said.
[Hmm, it’s probably because it’s tied to a corporation. I am a person who is recklessly confident when it comes to problems I can handle, and in reality, most of the problems that arise while running the bar were the kind I could solve… but Mili-Tech and those 'Godfathers' are on a different level.]
If the opponent is a Megacorp, does that mean even Dragon President has no choice but to lose confidence? Then again, that is only natural.
Would it even make sense for an individual to stand against a massive group that lightly wields hundreds of billions in capital, in reality, not a game?
What did he read in my gaze? Dragon President looked down the empty street and said.
[No matter how hard you try, in the end, a single person has limits. As an unregistered person, just taking care of my people that I can hold in my arms is overwhelming enough.]
In the voice mentioning his own limits, I could feel heavily suppressed emotions.
A depressed Dragon President. It was something I couldn’t even imagine normally, but everyone has a side they don’t show to others - a bare face beneath the mask.
It goes without saying for the master craftsman, who always hides his true form in the Dragon Suit.
“An unregistered person…”
A person without a registry. A person without an affiliation.
Is that how Dragon President sees himself?
“Master craftsman. You aren’t an unregistered person.”
[Why? Because I have Dragon’s Lair?]
“And because your people who care for you are here. It’s only three people, but don’t they often say a group is formed starting from three?”
There were three people: Sey, Tony, and I.
It was quite awkward to count myself among them, but it was the truth.
I genuinely cared for this eccentric in a Dragon Suit who was suspicious in every matter and enjoyed cracking jokes.
Since when did it become like this? It was probably around the time the unique Artist of Dragon’s Lair, calling him “Master craftsman” no longer felt awkward.
Come to think of it, we had spent a very short time together. In my life, and even just counting the time I spent in Dusk City, it was a considerably brief period.
Even so, he found his way into my heart surprisingly fast. In a cold neon city where only you and I exist, he was one of the few people who accepted me as “one of us”.
Even if what he spat out in every situation was silly jokes, there was sincerity in them. He was a person who revealed himself through actions rather than words.
Because they knew that fact, many people probably liked that secretive Mr. Dragon.
[That’s true. Yeah… there’s nothing you can’t do with three people. I said something foolish.]
“Well. There are plenty of things we can’t do.”
At the firm denial, Dragon President was dumbfounded. A look that asked if I was building him up only to tear him down.
I shrugged.
“Well, strictly speaking, three is a small number. There aren’t that many things three people can do. Even an idol group gathers at least four people before starting.”
[B-but virtual idols these days have duos and trios too…]
“Excluding virtual ones.”
When I coldly cut off his damn virtual idol rambling, he looked sullen. I spoke leisurely.
“Honestly, what can we do with three people? Standing against a corporation or Mili-Tech is completely absurd. It’s impossible.”
[That’s true, but.]
“That’s why.”
Numbers aren’t important.
“That’s why rather than the number three, what’s important is who those three people are individually. Shall we weigh it out?”
The Valedictorian is a top-tier reclusive Beautiful Woman Master hiding Neural Acceleration Speedware.
The deputy is a Former Net Diver. That says it all.
And the apprentice and On-site Manager is…
“The hand butcher who cut off Man Hunter’s Hand and stopped the Luddite Gang was a Pure Asian with terrifying skills who claimed the Barback position in less than a month.”
That’s me.
It’s embarrassing to forcefully praise myself so brightly, but compared to the other two, my career is lacking, so what else can I do but package it with words like this?
I suppressed the cringe and spoke confidently.
“If three people like this are together, there really might be nothing we can’t do. Don’t you think?”
[…]
Dragon President was somehow speechless.
I couldn’t see his expression, so I had no way of knowing if it got through to him or not, but since I started, I should comfort him properly.
“You said it’s overwhelming just taking care of your own people, so that’s your limit. I don’t think so. The people the master craftsman saved today probably feel the same way.”
It was a ridiculous hero imitation, but thanks to that hero imitation, many people lived.
What would have happened if we had just left the infected people alone after the Crazy Scientist sprayed that gas? Several of them would have definitely been shot and consumed as tools of terrorism.
The fact that all of them didn’t die and got a chance to be treated while neutralized was entirely Dragon President’s merit.
If I had been alone, I wouldn’t have encountered such an incident in the first place, or even if I had, I would have avoided it and run away like a common citizen.
Those called leaders know how to stand and fight instead of running away. That must be the reason Dragon President is the master craftsman.
“I think the master craftsman’s limits are much broader. As expected, the master craftsman isn’t an unregistered person. I can guarantee it.”
If anything, the real unregistered person more suited to that title was me.
An illegal immigrant without even a common Bio-ID, a drifter in the cold-blooded future society without a single family member or friend to care for me.
It was Dragon President who gave a real affiliation to me, who was barely holding onto the rope the Iron Blood Chairman of the Black Company had thrown out of charity.
He, who helped me escape from my status as an unregistered person, couldn’t call himself an unregistered person.
“Don’t you think?”
My last words were rushed.
Maybe it was because the things I had said so far would be quite embarrassing to recall later, borrowing the dawn air and my sleepiness.
In just a few weeks, they might chew, tear, taste, and enjoy these lines of mine - this dark history - and tease me mercilessly at a company dinner.
But that was a matter for the future, and right now, Dragon President was smiling. I could be sure of it just from the subtle change in expression on his helmet.
He ruffled my hair with his large, gloved titanium hand.
[Aaron, you punk, you’ve grown a lot. You even know how to comfort others. I’m a little surprised. Somehow, it feels like our positions have been reversed.]
Just like those words, whenever I was lost in depressing and lonely worries, it was always Dragon President or the other bartenders who approached me first to talk.
It might be safe to say that this was definitely the first time I had stepped up and approached him first.
[You looked like you had a lot on your mind, so I dragged you out to give you a change of pace, but to think I’d be the one getting help instead. As expected, you really have to live a long life to see it all.]
“A change of pace?”
My voice sank coldly.
No, a change of pace?
Was the reason I couldn’t even go home at the crack of dawn and ran around sweating bullets doing Hero cosplay just for that?
Seeing my cutthroat eyes that were 180 degrees different from a moment ago, Dragon President hastily added.
[Take tomorrow off instead! Ah, it’s past midnight, so is it today? Anyway, you have the day off today. I’ll give you a bonus too, so don’t come to work and get some good rest at home.]
“Off?”
And a bonus on top of that?
My Displeased Mood, which looked ready to kill someone, softened up again.
Now we’re talking.