Vicious Darling

[7]

Barrel Society.

It refers to the community of stowaways. The history of the Barrel Society was quite long.

After the continent split into twelve, the places good and bad for human habitation were divided according to climate and reconstruction priority. The Winter Continent was at the bottom of the list.

While no one wanted to enter the Winter Continent, countless people wanted to escape this harsh land.

Until Yuri established Baekyah and became the ruler of the Winter Continent, it was common for people to die of starvation, and even more common to freeze to death.

People born and raised in the Winter Continent wanted to live even if it meant abandoning their homeland, so they attempted to stow away hidden in barrels to reach other continents.

Those who had successfully settled in other continents after stowing away couldn’t forget their siblings, friends, and neighbors from their homeland and wanted to help them.

That’s how the Barrel Society came to be.

They had their own communication network, information about preparations for stowing away, ship schedules, collaborators, trends in stopover and settlement locations, and identity laundering. The Barrel Society was born as an organization for stowaways and had continued as such.

There was no single leader. Therefore, it was impossible to control.

Baekyah coexisted with this Barrel Society. Those who wanted to stay wished to be under Baekyah’s roof, and even those who wanted to leave were reluctant to fall out of Baekyah’s favor.

“This way.”

Chris guided Yuri deep into the alley, checking the colors of dried clothes hanging by the windows. Red, blue, green, yellow, and red again.

It was an intuitive form of marking that could be understood even by those who couldn’t read. It was known through word of mouth that for those who couldn’t see, the Barrel Society would send a separate guide if contacted.

“You’ve done well to find such a place.”

Chris hesitated at Yuri’s words.

“…I found it before.”

Yuri knew well why Chris would have looked for the Barrel Society.

“Did you use this place to leave back then too?”

“I referred to it to some extent.”

He was asking about the time when Chris had left independently to eliminate Rosenhauser. Of course, Chris had used the Barrel Society’s information network to some extent when heading to the June Continent.

“It’s amusing that I had no idea what you were thinking, even though you were right by my side.”

Yuri’s muttering was close to talking to himself. However, Chris tensed his shoulders as if struck by Chase’s lightning.

“…I wasn’t trying to leave.”

Yuri, walking ahead, responded to Chris’s excuse without looking back.

“You probably had no intention of returning either.”

Well…

Chris closed his mouth.

It wasn’t that he had no intention of returning, but rather that he thought it would be impossible.

‘In a sense, Yuri’s words are correct.’

If he killed Rosenhauser in the Summer Continent, which was essentially his stronghold, he naturally wouldn’t be able to return. No matter how much of a monster Chris was said to be among S-class Espers, he couldn’t guarantee that he could walk out unscathed from the heart of enemy territory.

If such a thing were possible, Yuri wouldn’t have needed to struggle for survival for so long and establish Baekyah.

“I’m sorry.”

“Does it sound like a rebuke?”

Yuri’s pace remained steady. Following his leisurely steps had never felt as burdensome as it did today.

“You may not believe it, but it’s self-reproach.”

Finally reaching an iron door, Yuri knocked before Chris could ask what he meant.

A brick beside the handle slid open with a swoosh, and an eye on the other side checked them and asked,

“Name.”

“Yuri Sobolev.”

Yuri gave his name before Chris could step forward.

There was a palpable silence from the person who had been the gatekeeper of the Barrel Society for a very long time.

Clank.

“…Come in.”

A tense old woman stood beyond the door. She looked like an ordinary elderly woman one might encounter anywhere.

The only unusual thing was that she had an eye patch covering one eye and carried a modified rifle on her back.

‘She doesn’t seem hostile.’

Chris, who had been ready to deflect any bullets that might fly their way, observed the situation carefully and made this judgment.

The fact that the old woman didn’t try to hide her weapon, and despite her obvious tension, didn’t point her gun at them, suggested this.

“I’d like to meet with an executive of the Barrel Society.”

Yuri’s attitude in demanding to meet an executive without an appointment or long-standing acquaintance was not just brazen, but extremely arrogant.

Although they were unexpected visitors who suddenly appeared at the door, no one living in the Winter Continent could turn Yuri away.

This was true for the old woman as well.

“Before that, may I search you?”

Yuri’s eyebrow twitched slightly, but he dropped his arms.

“Gladly.”

There was a brief search, but Yuri had no firearms or even common items like pepper spray. The old woman’s eyes widened in disbelief at his light appearance, as if he had just come to a bookstore in front of his house.

Next was Chris’s turn. After thoroughly checking his body, the old woman confirmed that Chris also had no weapons and stepped back.

“Even though we’re not enemies, it’s quite bold of you to walk so calmly into the depths of an organization specializing in smuggling and illegal immigration.”

The old woman added a subtle threat, as if worried.

“Is that so? Is this what you call boldness?”

Yuri gestured to Chris. As if he had been waiting for this, Chris leaned in, and Yuri’s fingers grazed Chris’s chin teasingly. Chris unconsciously clenched his jaw.

“I have no need to arm myself anywhere.”

The one-eyed old woman swallowed hard.

The platinum-haired handsome man, whom she had to look up at despite her small stature, had caught her attention from the start. She had only pretended not to notice due to the human survival instinct that makes one want to avoid a great calamity instinctively.

There was only one platinum-haired man known to accompany Yuri Sobolev in the entire Winter Continent.

Chris Danil.

‘To think he’d be such a young man…’

The old woman’s eyes trembled.

The master of Baekyah and his dog were now in the cell headquarters of the Barrel Society.

In her seventy years of life filled with all sorts of hardships, she felt this might be the greatest crisis of her life.

“…We don’t have anything like executives. But I’ll immediately contact one of the people in charge who are staying here.”

Saying this, the old woman gave a hand signal. One of the people gathered behind her knocked on the wall, and the presence behind a screen disappeared.

“They’ll be here soon.”

Whoever was in charge here would have no choice but to come running barefoot now that Yuri had arrived.

Yuri sat down in a chair as if he were the owner of the Barrel Society. His attitude was more like that of an owner than the actual owner.

Chris stood calmly behind him. There was a resolute aspect to his demeanor that prevented anyone from offering him a seat.

Besides the old woman, several other people were visible inside the Barrel Society branch. Only the old woman carried a gun, but judging by their sturdy builds and alert postures, they all seemed capable.

Chris habitually surveyed the structure.

There seemed to be no exit other than the door they had entered. There was a staircase, but considering that the person behind the screen had disappeared without using it, that staircase wasn’t “real.”

‘There must be a passage somewhere else.’

Chris meticulously checked for potential dangers.

While Yuri waited elegantly with his legs crossed, the old woman, who had been slowly backing away, kicked a man’s backside.

The man, who had been on edge seeing the two unexpected visitors, bowed his head repeatedly to her and then went to a corner to bring a tray with cups, plates, a kettle, and cans.

The old woman, seemingly troubled, rubbed her eyes and poured hot water into a tin cup on the tray the man had brought. She then took out a small can and tapped some black powder from it into the cup. Chris immediately recognized the brand on the can as a cocoa brand not distributed within the Winter Continent.

‘No wonder they’re a stowaway community.’

A sharp hissing sound came from the kettle as the water boiled. She stirred it, opened a cabinet to take out a glass jar, and placed the cookies from inside onto the tray.

The old woman brought the tray with cocoa and cookies to Yuri.

A sweet and fragrant smell that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else wafted through the air.

“…Please, have some.”

Cocoa and chocolate chip cookies offered by an old woman with a rifle on her back.

“What a heartwarming welcome.”

It was quite different from the image one typically associates with a secret organization.

Besides the dissonance, such everyday acts can feel even more unfamiliar to those living extraordinary lives.

Yuri nonchalantly picked up the cup and drank its contents. The old woman’s eyes widened, not expecting Yuri to drink so readily despite having offered it first, but then her gaze softened.

Chris inwardly stuck out his tongue.

Considering Yuri’s obsession with cleanliness, he wouldn’t want to eat anything served here.

No matter how well-cleaned, fingerprints would inevitably be left on the tin cup’s handle. Not to mention the cookies haphazardly placed on the tray, whose last washing time was unknown.

“Did you bake these yourself?”

Yuri asked casually, taking a bite of a cookie, regardless of whether crumbs stuck to his leather gloves. The old woman answered with a slightly more relaxed face.

“These were cookies my grandchild used to enjoy.”

A gentle smile spread across her wrinkled face.

“Used to… It seems you’re not living together now.”