Codename Vestia

Chapter 40

Where did you learn our language?」

Tora suddenly switched to Satadi language and asked. Jain replied in a fairly natural Satadi dialect.

「I learned it from someone who worked with the Ituhas support unit for a long time.」

「Ah, I see. That’s impressive passion.」

To be honest, even in SAU, a group filled with people with all sorts of extraordinary abilities, Jain must have had significant knowledge of the Satadi Tribe to be assigned as a surveillance officer.

But being able to speak the language was unexpected. After all, it wasn’t a widely spoken language and was only useful when communicating with the Ituhas.

Tora asked,

「What about the Ituhas caught your interest?」

「The fact that they can be so strong while still being human.」

Jain spoke without the slightest hesitation, as if reciting a phrase etched into her mind.

「And their unwavering loyalty once they make a promise.」

Her light brown eyes looked straight at him.

「I wanted to be like them.」

「…….」

Tora stayed silent. Jain, suddenly aware of herself, didn’t understand why she was saying such things.

“By the way, aren’t you going back to your room?”

Tora rested his chin on his hand, moving oddly slowly.

“A vampire who doesn’t drink blood—do you really have to be so wary?”

Not drinking blood didn’t make a vampire any less of a vampire. If anything, it made them more dangerous.

“It’s bedtime, after all.”

Tora pushed himself up from the armrest of the sofa.

“Alright. With how sharp you are, I can’t even tell where the alcohol’s gone in my system.”

He approached the door. Jain followed to lock it after him. But just as he reached the door, Tora suddenly turned around. In a low, sweet voice, he said,

“Good night.”

“Sleep well.”

Jain, eager to send Tora off, simply replied with a polite farewell. Tora exhaled deeply, a laugh lingering on his lips as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.

The door closed as Tora left. Jain stood for a while, pressing her hand against the door, caught in the afterglow of the smile he had left behind. Then, with a sudden jolt, she came to her senses.

‘I can’t. Not me.’

Hadn’t she seen with her own eyes the countless women throwing themselves at Tora? She didn’t want to be one of them, nor did she wish to take on the responsibility of pushing them all aside.

***

“Seems like you’re pretty fond of her, aren’t you?”

An Ituhas asked. Tora shrugged.

“She doesn’t like me anyway.”

“Are there really women who dislike the Captain?”

“I admire her sincerity in disliking me.”

“You’re something else, liking the few women who dislike you while ignoring the many who adore you.”

Another Ituhas jabbed him lightly in the side.

“Hey.”

Tora shook his head in disbelief.

“Do I seem that easy to mess with?”

“Of course not, Captain. You’re a figure of great respect.”

Tora shook his head again, this time with a sigh. Then, he turned to look back at the hotel, its lights illuminating the night.

“Let’s go.”

Tora spoke and turned around. The Ituhas followed behind him.

“Captain.”

Suddenly, one of the Ituhas spoke, looking somewhere.

“If you wanted to put me at ease, you should have sung me a lullaby instead.”

A voice came from the shadows. Everyone froze as if someone had played the song “Freeze Where You Are.”

In the dark alleyway, Jain stood with her arms crossed. She was dressed casually in a jacket and jeans, as if out for the evening. Tora smirked.

“So I didn’t fool you, huh?”

“You’re not much of an actor, are you?”

Tora sighed.

“It wasn’t about underestimating you, Lieutenant. It’s just not a place for humans to go.”

After all, the Ituhas were considered to be almost beyond human—exceptions to the rule.

Jain uncrossed her arms and stepped forward.

“You’re right. I’m human.”

“Exactly, so—”

“Do you know what a human has to be capable of to become an SAU agent?”

Walking past Tora, Jain spoke without giving him a chance to reply.

“No need to answer. I’m sure you understand.”

Tora tilted his head back and swallowed a sigh. People in special forces, no matter where they came from, couldn’t stand being excluded from dangerous missions.

It seemed they considered the idea of being useless—whether or not anyone actually thought that—more horrifying than anything else.

“Then don’t die, Lieutenant.”

Jain stopped in her tracks and looked back. Tora’s face was serious.

“If you die, I won’t be able to forgive myself.”

At some point, Jain realized, Tora had started addressing her by her rank.

This meant that, in his own way, he had been putting on an act to reassure her. Pretending to be close or acting as though he were trying to charm her—it was all part of the performance.

Jain maintained her neutral expression and spoke as she resumed walking ahead.

“Why would my death make you feel responsible? I don’t understand.”

Behind her, the Ituhas murmured amongst themselves.

“She shut him down hard.”

Tora rolled his eyes and shot the Ituhas a sharp glare.

“Knock it off before I really get angry.”

***

Tora pulled something out of his pocket.

“While you were away a few days ago, someone gave me this.”

It was a leather necklace with an ivory-carved charm inside a plastic bag. It was stained with blood.

The blood had dried to a near-black color, resembling mud, but everyone present could tell it was blood. And the necklace was familiar. Jain noticed a similar necklace hanging around Tora’s neck.

“Is that Captain Rato’s?”

Tora nodded.

“Marti carved it for him.”

“Did you catch the person who handed it over?”

“It was just a passerby. Apparently, they got paid to deliver it.”

Jain glanced at the opposite side of the shadowy street.

“So, someone’s watching us.”

“Exactly. And they know I’m looking for Rato.”

Jain looked back at Tora.

“So? Can we get any clues from this?”

“We can figure out who knows something.”

“Captain.”

As Tora spoke, one of the Ituhas called out.

“We’re ready.”

The Ituhas opened the chain-bound door to an old warehouse.

Clank. Creak.

“Come in.”

Tora gestured for Jain to enter first, then followed behind her.

The location was remote, and the moonless night left the interior completely dark.

Though Jain’s night vision training gave her an edge as a human, the overwhelming darkness still presented a challenge.

Suddenly, a hand came into view.

“Can you see?”

It was Tora’s voice.

Jain pressed a button on her wristband, activating a flashlight.

“Now I can.”

Tora let out a small laugh as he watched Jain walk ahead.

She was one of those women who prided themselves on being unapproachable. He couldn’t help but wonder how she’d act in front of someone she genuinely liked.

Jain scanned the interior. The abandoned warehouse was half-empty, with discarded items scattered haphazardly.

In the middle of it all, someone sat tied to a pillar, their hands bound to a chair. When Jain saw who it was, she froze.

It was the woman who claimed to have slept with Rato. Her uncanny resemblance to Gamal was unmistakable.

Jain looked at Tora, her disbelief apparent. Anticipating her question, Tora spoke first.

“When I confronted her, the first thing she did was notice my necklace. The look in her eyes said, ‘Why do you have that?’ It didn’t take long before she remembered the twins and composed herself.”

“For something so trivial?”

“This kind of gut feeling is rarely wrong.”

Tora pointed at the woman.

“And if you think about it, every link in the chain leading to Rato’s disappearance started with her. Doesn’t it make logical sense that she’s the most suspicious?”

“But isn’t that lacking evidence?”

“People tend to cling to the first thing that gets planted in their minds. For example, this woman being ‘just someone who spent a night with Rato by chance’ or ‘someone who knows nothing.’ She probably used that to her advantage.”

Tora pulled out an unfamiliar gun from his pocket and gestured toward the woman with it.

“She started shooting this at us when it seemed like her cover might be blown.”

Jain looked at the woman.

“Why does she look like that?”

The woman already bore significant signs of a beating.

“We softened her up. The Ituhas are gentlemen, but they don’t show mercy to terrorists.”

Jain briefly wondered if the Satadi Tribe lacked the Western custom of chivalry toward women. But recalling how Tora and the Ituhas had treated her and Gamal with professional respect as soldiers, she realized that this woman wasn’t being treated as a woman at all—just as a terrorist.

Tora continued.

“She admitted to drugging Rato that day.”

“And Captain Rato fell for it?”

“She resembles Marti. If anyone cares about Marti more than I do, it’s Rato. That guy wouldn’t even step on a photo of her.”

“Is he Jesus or something?”

Jain’s tone was incredulous, and Tora clasped his hands together as if in prayer.

“Practically.”

Jain frowned and hesitated before asking, “Then… what about the claim that they slept together?”

“They didn’t. She said they did. Rato’s talented, but there’s no way he could ‘perform’ while unconscious like that. Sure, he did have a crush on Marti once, but that was during his reckless youth…”

Tora trailed off, then abruptly closed his mouth.

“Don’t tell Rato I said that. He’d kill me.”

Turning back to the captive woman, Tora sighed.

“But she’s tough. Definitely trained…”

At that moment, Jain walked past Tora. Before anyone could stop her, she slapped the woman across the face.

The sharp sound echoed through the room, loud enough to surprise both Tora and the Ituhas. Jain grabbed the woman’s hair, yanking her head up with enough force to almost pull it out. Bringing her face close enough to feel the woman’s breath, Jain asked in a low voice,

“I’ll ask this just once. Remember, only once. Where is Captain Rato?”

The woman remained silent. Without hesitation, Jain broke one of her fingers. The woman flinched violently, letting out a scream.

Caught off guard by the display, Tora murmured blankly,

“You know this is illegal, right?”

Sure, they’d roughed her up a bit—but Tora refrained from getting too involved. Being a vampire, his punches could easily cause accidental manslaughter, so the Ituhas had handled it. But this… this was outright torture.

Jain turned her head slightly, her tone icy.

“Are you going to report me?”

“Not exactly.”

Tora found himself answering automatically. Jain shrugged off her jacket and said matter-of-factly,

“If you want to find Captain Rato, don’t interfere.”

Behind them, the Ituhas gave her a thumbs-up. Truthfully, they often found the legalities and human rights concerns of the so-called civilized world unnecessarily complicated.

For a while, sounds not suited for the faint of heart filled the warehouse. Even Tora and the Ituhas, mere spectators, eventually found themselves wincing.

Tora muttered to himself,

“Do they teach this kind of thing in the SAU?”

Jain stood upright, her movements unhurried.

“They teach us, but this? I learned it with my own body.”

Before he could ask what she meant, Jain turned her attention back to the woman.

Sweat glistened on her slightly damp hair as she brushed it back. Jain grudgingly admitted to herself that the woman was stubborn.

“If this is about money, you’re unbelievably stupid. You won’t even get to use it anyway.”

“It’s not… about money.”

For the first time, the woman spoke in a hoarse voice.