Bad Born Blood

Chapter 225

I left the Sonsu Industries site and returned to Jafa Trading Company’s headquarters.  

The Equessian mercenaries I occasionally encountered in the building had a different look in their eyes. They were observing me as if I were an enemy.  

‘A potential enemy.’  

They saw me that way, too. There was no reason to blame them for their attitude.  

‘Because I’ve always considered them potential enemies as well.’  

I had approached En and the Equessian mercenaries with the thought that I might have to fight them someday.  

Viiiiiing.  

The elevator shot up quickly. I arrived at Jafa’s office.  

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in person, Jafa.”  

Jafa had her back turned to me. She was gazing out at Border City through the window before slowly turning around.  

“Ohhh, the troublemaking detective has returned. Please, have a seat.”  

Jafa clapped the tips of her hands together. Her long nails clicked against each other, producing a sharp sound.  

“If you say so.”  

I sat down and propped my feet up on her office desk.  

Jafa didn’t even blink at my rudeness. With her back still to the window, she opened her mouth.  

“I’ll say just one thing. This time, you’ve crossed the line.”  

“You say that as if I haven’t always crossed the line.”  

“I wanted nothing to do with Sonsu Industries. But because of Luka, I had no choice but to get involved.”  

Jafa’s anger stemmed from Sonsu Industries. She found them to be a massive nuisance.  

“Why do you guys avoid Sonsu Industries? Lapis and you aren’t exactly the type to be easily intimidated.”  

“Sonsu Industries has significant firepower. They abduct alien species as test subjects for weapons research… and under the guise of ‘live combat testing,’ they’ve attacked settlements of other species. You could practically call them a militant terrorist organization.”  

I tilted my head slightly and rested my chin on my hand.  

“If that’s true, isn’t it strange that they’re still standing so openly? Even in Border City, would the federal government really just leave them alone?”  

“There’s no evidence. More than that, Sonsu Industries is far more insane than you might think. They’re full of malice and poison, and if pushed, there’s no telling what kind of atrocities they might commit.”  

But that alone wasn’t enough to make them a group that everyone feared and avoided.  

If they were merely a gang of armed lunatics, they’d be no different from any other criminal syndicate. If things got out of hand, crushing them would be the obvious solution.  

There had to be something more.  

‘That something more is exactly what I want from Son Seok-jae.’  

I wanted to draw out an objective confirmation of Sonsu Industries from Jafa’s mouth.  

“…And?”

“Hohoh, Son Sa-jang’s capabilities and connections are truly exceptional. He’s an outstanding engineer, but what’s even more frightening is how deeply he’s entangled with high-ranking officials in the federal government.”  

“I had a rough idea. Son Seok-jae must be scratching an itch for the Bellato Federation in just the right way.”  

“The Bellato Federation promotes coexistence among multiple species under the principle of diversity. But the more species are involved, the more conflicts and hatred inevitably arise. Sonsu Industries thrives on that hatred. Those who can’t openly spew anti-alien rhetoric in the public eye are secretly backing them. They are protected by the shadows.”  

I let out a small chuckle. So this was why Jafa avoided Sonsu Industries.  

“If Jafa Trading Company and Sonsu Industries were to have a conflict… the Bellato government would almost always side with them. This isn’t something you can overcome with your connections and bribes. As they say, ‘the arm bends inward.’”  

“That’s exactly why I don’t want to get involved with them. Even if they pick a fight with me, I have to endure it.”  

I kept my smile. I already understood the darker side of Sonsu Industries well enough.  

‘But their hatred is strictly directed at alien species.’  

It had nothing to do with me.  

“In other words, for a human like me, Sonsu Industries could be a rather solid backing, couldn’t it? Son Seok-jae seems to like me quite a bit. It’s probably hard to find another ‘human combatant’ like me among the civilians of Border City.”  

Son Seok-jae was eager to form a close relationship with me. I could feel that clearly in his words and actions.  

“Hohohh, Luka. Was that statement just now sincere?”  

Jafa narrowed her eyes. I scoffed.  

“Jafa, you’re still keeping things from me. I appreciate the material support, but that alone isn’t enough for me to trust you blindly.”  

I sharpened my senses. My finely tuned perception spread out like an extension of my instincts, scanning Jafa.  

‘By now, I can read the Tajirun to some extent.’  

I had become familiar with the Tajirun species. Their biology was more reptilian than mammalian, which meant their emotional signals manifested differently from humans or other mammalian-based species.  

‘But even those differences can be learned and adapted to.’  

At the end of the day, the Tajirun were still an intelligent species that coexisted with humans. Their emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure—along with their sense of values and morality, were not so fundamentally alien that mutual understanding was impossible.  

…And that meant, with enough familiarity, I could read them.

“I’ll make an effort to earn your trust from now on, Luka. Let’s move on to the next topic. I didn’t expect you to take down Mushir al-Kashura. Your abilities are truly immeasurable.”  

Jafa was trying to shift the subject. She must have realized I was trying to read her true intentions.  

“Like Kinuan, you mean?”  

At my words, Jafa let out a sigh.  

“…Yes, like Kinuan. The more you got to know Kinuan, the less you could see the limits of his depth. In any case, I also received Lapis’ report on Mushir al-Kashura’s prosthetics. The fact that he was a full-body cyborg alone was shocking.”  

“In the Empire, heavily armed combat prosthetics of that level are called ‘full-frame prosthetics.’ They aren’t designed to mimic humans—they diverge from human form. Kashura was no exception. His sensory organs were different from standard prosthetics, and his facial features weren’t modeled after humans at all.”  

That was as much as I was willing to explain. I swallowed the next thought.  

‘Kashura’s full-frame prosthetic obviously couldn’t be used as an everyday body. His prosthetic was built purely for combat, stripping away all human functions… The erosion of his humanity must have been extreme.’  

The Imperial Shadow Guard came to mind—beings whose brains had lost all human functions, leaving only combat instincts maximized.  

‘But Kashura still had his humanity. His words and actions were filled with emotion.’  

There were many mysteries surrounding Kashura. I was curious about how many brains were inside that metal shell. If it was just one, that alone would be remarkable.  

“We failed to secure the most important brain.”  

“Are you blaming me? I faced him in the worst possible circumstances. The fact that I not only survived but forced him to retreat is already a miracle.”  

“I know. I’m simply stating the objective facts. We lost a crucial lead on Kinuan. Remember, there’s only one reason I’m pouring such massive support into you.”  

“If you hadn’t kept information from me, things would have been much easier.”  

“The things I’m withholding from you are unrelated to tracking Kinuan.”  

“I’ll decide what’s relevant or not once I hear it. Don’t make that judgment for me, Jafa. Paolo Quan wasn’t just a simple chef. There were several blank notebooks in his house. Did you take them?”  

I stretched the moment just slightly. I could sense Jafa’s slight disturbance.  

‘Jafa took Paolo’s notebooks.’  

I had to press her before she could deny it. Without hesitation, I spoke.

“I know everything, so drop the pointless excuses. Let me make this clear—if you want to take my acquaintances hostage, go ahead. Whether Ragnata lives or dies, it’s none of my concern. Boyan? If that stray cat I picked up dies, I might feel a little sting, but that’s it. Gabriel? He’s an old acquaintance. If he dies, I’ll be pretty pissed. Pissed enough to blow up Jafa Trading Company’s headquarters.”  

“…Luka.”  

Jafa looked at me with an expression of sorrow. Don’t be fooled by that emotional display—Tajirun are cunning.  

“Go ahead and try. I’m not the naked, clueless monkey who just woke up in Border City anymore. Now that I can drag you down with me, we’re truly on equal footing.”  

Jafa’s fingertips trembled slightly. Soon, she steadied the shaking and locked eyes with me.  

“You’re cornering me. But I welcome it. Only with this level of pressure can we hope to catch Kinuan. A man under my control would never be able to hunt that monster.”  

Jafa let out a low chuckle, as if she had never been saddened in the first place.  

“Don’t keep secrets from me, Jafa. Spit out all the poison you’ve been hiding.”  

“Vomiting poison takes time. Come back in four days. By then, I’ll have Paolo’s legacy ready for you.”  

For the first time, I felt a sense of menace in Jafa’s eyes. The backlight from the window cast a shadow over her face, and her slit-shaped pupils, tinged with red and gold, gleamed ominously.  

I stood up.  

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”  

---  

My conversation with Jafa was over. I had finally gotten some rest in the comfortable headquarters after a long while.  

‘After staying here for so long, I guess I do feel a bit like this is home.’  

If nothing urgent came up, I wanted to meet with Ragnata. There was something I needed to ask her.  

Before that, I checked my schedule by playing back the messages piled up on my terminal.  

—Everything you desire.  

—A beast-like Crawler and Fredo, a silent Equessian, a green-skinned Begabunders, an adorable Tarfa, and a Saura whose hardness matches their rigid skin…  

—If hell exists in this world, then so does heaven.  

—Pleasure Heaven awaits you.  

A voice, melting like honey, whispered through my earpiece. A typical random advertisement.  

I checked the next one—this time, it was about drugs. The one after that would probably be about loan sharks.  

I confirmed that the sequence of ads was lining up exactly as expected.  

‘This is Ilay’s contact signal.’  

It was a prearranged sign from Ilay.

I could wander around outside and head to the rendezvous point in the evening.  

‘Ilay must already know that Mushir al-Kashura appeared in front of me.’  

Before going out, I visited Ragnata’s room.  

Creak.  

The door opened.  

Ragnata was sitting in a wheelchair, reading a book with glasses perched on her nose.  

“Glasses?”  

“Presbyopia.”  

“That’s ridiculous.”  

At my remark, Ragnata laughed. She took off her glasses and tucked them into her shirt.  

“You look uncomfortable in a few places. Seems like you went through a pretty intense battle.”  

Ragnata had noticed my subtle condition. My prosthetics had been repaired, but biological damage and nervous system fatigue remained. The injury to my abdominal muscles also threw off my usual sense of balance.  

“Well, more or less. The training I did with you actually helped quite a bit. I fought someone who mainly used firearms.”  

“Good to hear. By the way, the past few days, Equessian mercenaries have been standing guard near my door quite often. Did you have a conflict with Jafa?”  

Ragnata had sharp instincts.  

I neither confirmed nor denied it and got straight to the point.  

“I’ll prepare exoskeletal prosthetic legs so you can move freely. After that, I’ll let you go.”  

“And the reason?”  

“There’s a man named Gabriel. He used to be a Nomad. Take him and get out of Border City. His condition isn’t great—he needs rehabilitation. Until he can stand on his own, I want you to protect him or leave him somewhere trustworthy.”  

Ragnata held a meaningful smile for a moment before replying, slightly delayed.  

“Is this a request?”  

“…It’s a deal. Did you forget? You owe me your life.”  

I answered briefly.  

Ragnata stared at me intently, carrying a strange sense of dignity.  

“Luka, think carefully. If this is a ‘deal,’ then the moment I decide I’ve repaid my debt, I won’t care about that man named Gabriel. You say I owe you my life? If I had risked my life to protect him while I was dying, then my debt would already be settled. But if it’s a ‘request,’ that changes things.”  

I frowned slightly.  

Tap, tap.  

Ragnata tapped her fingers against her temple, then her chest, alternating between the two as she continued.  

“…You know as well as I do—our own lives don’t hold much value to us. But if this is a request, then to maintain my bond with you, I’ll do my best. I’ll pour in even more than the worth of my own life.”  

Ragnata waited for my answer. Even under the wrinkles, her eyes shone beautifully.  

I knew the right answer. I had learned it from past experience.  

“I’m asking you, Ragnata Anima. Please take care of Gabriel.”  

I gave her a slight nod as I spoke.