Vicious Darling

Chapter 2. Barrel Society

[6]

After returning to the Winter Continent, Chris followed Yuri around as if nothing had happened.

Although he closely observed Yuri’s changes, Yuri handled Baekyah’s affairs too much like usual. Even though they shared a bed, Chris, who had never been able to read Yuri’s inner thoughts, was discouraged thinking this time would be no different.

He thought Yuri had opened up to him a little. But Yuri was more solid than anyone Chris knew.

Yuri, who must have felt Chris’s obvious gaze, didn’t point it out.

“It seems there’s no news from the Esper Union,” he muttered, putting down the documents he was holding.

“Anong is searching with the name of Thorns Order and its information,” Chris replied.

Anong, who had to turn a blind eye to their not-quite-legal entry, seemed impressed by Yuri’s clean handling of the situation.

While it was hard to say she was overflowing with loyalty, Yuri had never betrayed trust so far. Almost to the point of seeming compulsive.

“It seems nothing significant has been caught yet.”

“Bring it here,” Yuri gestured with his chin, and Chris brought and spread out a world map. Using telekinesis to hold down the four corners of the large map, the twelve divided continents became visible.

The Spring Continents – March, April, and May – were marked in light green.

The Summer Continents – June, July, and August – were in light red.

The Autumn Continents – September and October – were in light yellow.

And below them, the blue-covered November, December, January, and February Continents were situated.

“Not in the Winter Continent,” Yuri mumbled, and white chess pieces from a chessboard in the corner of the study flew over to be placed on the blue continents.

The white king. It represented Yuri.

“Seeing how the Esper Union is completely in the dark, it’s not in the Summer Continent either.”

Without Chris moving a finger, a black piece was placed on the June Continent.

The black queen. This marked Anong.

“Rosenhauer values efficiency, so he’s more likely to have reached out to the Autumn or Spring Continents rather than the Summer Continent he already had in hand.”

Chris agreed with Yuri’s speculation. The Summer Continent had one of the highest floating populations, making it easy to spot if something was hidden there.

Moreover, nurturing a secret organization under the nose of the Esper Union wouldn’t be easy even for Rosenhauer.

Publicly, he was one of the three founders of the Union, a kind and respected old gentleman.

“The Autumn Continent has the second most frequent incidents and accidents after the Winter Continent.”

Simply put, the political situation is unstable.

There was once a debate about whether the November Continent should be included in the Autumn Continent zone or the Winter Continent zone.

Originally, it should have been part of the Autumn Continent, but both geographical location and political situation influenced the November Continent remaining in the Winter Continent.

Rosenhauer wanted to use the November Continent as a bridgehead for advancing into the Winter Continent. In the end, for the sake of media play suggesting that Northern Light’s influence was still strong at least at the edge of the Winter Continent, the November Continent was reluctantly included in the Winter Continent zone.

‘Truly useless armchair theories,’ Chris thought.

After all, the November Continent ended up in Baekyah’s hands anyway.

Yuri placed both white and black knights on the Autumn Continent.

It was a sign that this was the land where Baekyah and the Esper Union clashed most frequently.

“They couldn’t have nurtured something like the Thorns Order headquarters in a place where both Baekyah and Northern Light were watching so closely,” Chris nodded in agreement. Even if they had planted Thorns Order in the November Continent, they would have had to withdraw it as it eventually came under Baekyah’s control.

“Then what’s left is… only the Spring Continent.”

The climate is mild, so it’s the second most populated after the Summer Continent, and being relatively on the outskirts like the Winter Continent, it’s away from the center of power struggles.

The Espers Chris met in the Summer Continent said their dream was to work hard and spend their retirement in the Spring Continent.

A peaceful and beautiful land, they called it.

“It’s just like Rosenhauer,” Chris murmured.

He recalled the beautiful mansion that Rosenhauer had trampled with his dirty feet. And Yuri’s childhood that had been buried there.

“You haven’t experienced Rosenhauer for that long, why did you think that?”

“I know he’s a man who can’t stand to see others’ happiness,” Chris replied.

Yuri fell silent for a moment at Chris’s answer.

Since returning from the mansion where he spent his childhood, Chris had tried hard to pretend to be calm, but his emotions kept leaking out.

Just like now.

For Yuri, it was a past he had already discarded and no longer attached meaning to. He was moving more out of a sense of duty than any great emotion.

The only object on which the incredibly dry Yuri expressed desire was Chris.

His dog was too close to Yuri. Even if he tried to ignore it, it would suddenly approach and rest its head on his knee, transferring warmth.

“…I suppose it could be seen that way.”

While it’s unlikely that Rosenhauer placed Thorns Order in the Spring Continent purely for emotional reasons, Chris’s words weren’t entirely wrong.

The Rosenhauer that Yuri knew was ostentatious. He wanted everyone’s respect and at the same time thought he was superior to any human or Esper. How frustrated must he have been that he couldn’t express this openly?

“Just looking at the name ‘Thorns Order’, you can see how desperate he was to show off his tendencies in some way.”

Chris’s words came purely from malice, but Yuri responded by adding Rosenhauer’s tendencies next to the memo about Thorns Order.

It was a good clue.

Considering that Rosenhauer, who dealt with rose vines, included thorns implying his ability in the name of this secret organization, there must be other elements that could give him away somewhere else.

It will surely show somewhere.

Chris closed his mouth as Yuri seemed lost in thought. Expressing his emotions at times like this would be foolish.

Standing beside Yuri, who was looking down at the map like a well-trained dog, Chris suddenly turned his head. He heard someone approaching this room from outside.

Sure enough.

Knock knock.

At the sound of knocking on the door, Chris threw a glance at Yuri. It was a question asking if it was okay to open. When he nodded, the tightly closed door slowly opened.

“Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a door open by itself. It was convenient when I had a lot to carry and couldn’t put things down, but it’s been inconvenient having to open doors myself for a while.”

The gray-haired man who was chattering was carrying a lot of things. He had so much that he was even tucking things under his arms.

“Dalton.”

Chris frowned at the noisy man’s appearance. It was Chase Dalton, one of Yuri’s subordinates and an ability user who handled electricity.

“Long time no see. Did you have a good date alone with the boss?”

Chris tightened his lips at the man’s frivolous attitude that didn’t hide even in front of Yuri.

“And my sister is also Dalton. It’s confusing, so call me by my name.”

“Dalton,” Chris stubbornly insisted on using the surname. It was to annoy Chase.

The only weak point for this ruffian was his guide, his twin sister, Gwen Dalton.

Chase, thinking he was also an Esper, had his eyes subtly rolling towards guides. As a result, he reacted quite sensitively to anyone approaching Gwen.

Even towards Chris, who had no interest in any guide other than Yuri, he was busy building walls, so this level of provocation was enough to make him feel unpleasant.

“We’re in front of the boss. Control yourself.”

Chase’s yellow eyes flickered and then calmed down.

Although he looked and acted that way, Chase’s loyalty was strong. He was a man who joined Baekyah saying he would repay the debt until his dying day for Yuri rescuing his twin sister when she was being sold.

“I came because I have something to report,” Chase said, placing the sack he had been carrying on the desk.

It was an ordinary sack used for storing things like potatoes in the Winter Continent, nothing special.

Chase took out a pocket knife from his pocket, skillfully flipped it open, and cleanly sliced open the side. With a rustle, the contents spilled out onto the desk.

Inside were pills divided into small plastic bags. Chase cut open the rest of the sacks and revealed their contents as well.

Yuri stepped forward. Under his shoes, where there was no more room left, the contents crushed and spilled onto the floor.

“It’s all Guiding Delight,” Chase reported.

It was one of the guiding drugs that had started to spread in the Winter Continent through the November Continent.

Guiding drugs are Rosenhauer’s creation.

Created by sacrificing numerous Espers and guides, guiding drugs have effects surpassing ordinary anesthetics and sleeping pills. They give Espers the illusion that these drugs can completely replace guiding. Moreover, they have a stronger addiction than most drugs, leading to high dependence.

In the end, Espers who try these once become completely hooked and dependent on the supplier of guiding drugs.

Among them, Guiding Delight is more common than Heaven’s Kiss, which is inhaled as smoke, and Gentle Poison, which circulates as an injectable liquid.

“No matter how much we clean up, they keep crawling back in,” Yuri clicked his tongue. It’s always like that with drugs. Those who want them often show stronger determination and desire than those trying to prevent them.

“This quantity was headed for the ‘farm’. I think it will soon spread to ‘schools’ and ‘hospitals’ as well,” Chase reported, becoming serious as he often does in these situations.

“Based on the circumstances, I think there must be routes we don’t know about.”

Chase, who spends more time in the field compared to Chris who usually stays by Yuri’s side, seemed concerned in various ways that he hadn’t properly blocked the routes of guiding drugs.

“If you want to know about smuggled goods, you need to find the stowaways,” Yuri replied calmly.

“We’re going to the Barrel Society.”