The Way to Love in the Place of Dead Chapter 23

Even considering that, it was undeniable that the numbers had been increasing recently.

While Aran reported the completion of the battle through his bracelet, Kay was lost in thought for a moment. And then…

“Aran. You said you got the invitation to the auction we talked about last time, right?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“There’s something I want to ask.”

It might be a ridiculous idea. But if it was connected, if that were the case…

∞ ∞ ∞

For Jin, as always, work was overflowing today.

With less than three weeks remaining until the opening of the fortress in Sector H, there were matters to review. He also needed to assess the number of Aberrants, which had been strangely increasing over the past year, and he had to respond to news of the allied human forces’ defeat in some guerrilla battles.

“Haah…”

Supposedly for environmental protection, androids were created with a recycling rate of up to 95 percent. Unlike humans, they were produced near infinitely. Unlike machines that could fight the moment they were activated, humans weren’t born overnight, and even if they were, they couldn’t be forced into becoming soldiers who grabbed guns and swords, let alone being made into Espers or Guides.

Jin, who had been massaging his tightly tied hair by forcing his fingers into it, had to listen to a playful voice through the silently opened door crack.

“There’s still no cure for hair loss, you know.”

Matching his ability, he glittered with a halo from the morning and entered the office without permission.

“If you’ve come because you’re bored, I’ll give you a mission.”

“No way. If I were bored, I’d just sleep more. Why would I come see your face?”

He was a man who was a master of grating on people’s nerves.

“Then what’s your business?”

“Shouldn’t you ask the person who has business?”

Having started boiling water in the pot, he pointed to his companion. The person who subsequently appeared was the figure responsible for 80 percent of the center’s recent issues.

“Kay. What brings you here?”

“I have something I want to discuss.”

Though he didn’t show it, Jin felt a bit troubled. His position was that of ‘Deputy to the Center Director,’ a rank that was exceptionally high for his age, so much so it could be called unprecedented. In terms of official rank, he was an officer belonging to the captains, just below the corps commander.

This meant that no matter how S-class he was, Kay, who was utilized as a mere soldier, wasn’t someone who could meet him without an appointment.

‘It’s obviously your doing.’

There was exactly one person in this center for whom rank meant nothing, and that was Aran Rapperd. Now, with Kay accompanying him everywhere, they were two.

“Speak.”

Jin took his hands off his work and assumed a posture of listening. Kay then approached and pulled out a piece of paper from his chest.

“What is this?”

“A list of missing persons.”

“Missing persons?”

Subsequently, pages were added, one by one.

“This is a list of those from Willamere among them. A list of those whose bracelet’s last recorded location was Sector F.”

“How did you…”

Jin furrowed his brow, but noticed Aran, who had started humming, and realized that was the answer.

“And lastly, a list of those missing persons’ abilities as Espers.”

The last remaining sheet of paper was placed next to the others.

“A list of abilities of the Aberrants found on the battlefield over the last three months.”

Jin had been listening to the other items without much concern, but the last two caught his ear. In the end, he organized the spread-out papers, checked them one by one, and found what Kay was trying to say.

“Wait a moment. So, right now…”

He checked the papers. He scanned the last two pages on the scanner on his desk, displayed them, and overlaid them.

The abilities of those missing persons as Espers matched significantly with the abilities of the Aberrants discovered on the battlefield.

“So, right now… you’re asserting that Aberrants with the same abilities as the missing Espers are appearing?”

Kay nodded.

Although it was an extremely small number from the perspective of the entire center, it was clearly hard to see it as a coincidence that 50 percent of the ‘missing persons from Willamere’ were appearing as ‘Aberrants.’

“The conclusion I’ve drawn is this. Espers sold at the full moon auction held in Sector F are reappearing as android Aberrants through some route.”

Kay then placed a small notebook on the desk. On the very last page of the small, worn, hand-stained notebook, several names were written. They were the names of the missing people from Willamere.

“Simon was trying to find the missing Espers from Willamere. He was trying to investigate the full moon auction by following that lead.”

It was a reasonable suspicion, but not certain.

“Do you have evidence that these missing persons are being sold at the full moon auction?”

At those words, Kay answered as if he had been waiting.

“No.”

However, he clearly had something to say to the person looking at him with a dumbfounded expression.

“So I want to make a proposal. Can you sell something at the full moon auction?”

“What?”

“Me.”

∞ ∞ ∞

A century is a truly ambiguous amount of time.

It’s long enough for someone to die and disappear, but short enough not to forget that someone, so there are still too many words we haven’t been able to let die.

It was the same for the full moon visible outside the window.

‘The full moon auction.’

Kay, who had lifted himself from the window frame, stood in front of the full-length mirror installed in the room and brushed the suit hanging next to it with his hand. The fabric that slipped through his fingers was a luxurious tailored suit. As he was facing the clothes with a wholly unwilling feeling.

“You’re going to bore a hole through it.”

Aran, who was leaning against the doorway before he knew it, tossed out the words.

Because he had swept back his recently trimmed hair, his already bright face was revealed even more clearly. Facing him in attire that was neither a uniform nor casual clothes, he seemed like a different person for a moment, seizing his gaze.

“What? Too handsome?”

His figure showcased what a suit was meant to be.

The shoulder line fit perfectly, and the sleeves were neatly tailored, sharpening his overall impression. Perhaps because of that, even his usual upturned lips were hard to notice.

But thanks to the lighter and smoother material compared to his uniform, he looked more like a young master from a wealthy family than a soldier.

“It looks good on you.”

Even at the frank compliment, his expression was subtle.

“Are you seducing me?”

“Eat shit.”

Kay frowned as he gauged the distance between himself and Aran.

At that act full of distrust, Aran shrugged his shoulders and stood at the door.

“I’ll stay here.”

Kay, who had been glaring at him for a while, began to undress, leaving Aran, who showed no intention of moving, standing at the door.

He took off his white T-shirt and threw it on the bed, pulled out the shirt and slipped his arms in. Perhaps because it was new, the row of buttons was stiff. He took off his elastic-waist pants and put on the slacks, fastening the double buttons so they hung loosely on his waist. What remained were the jacket and the tie.

‘What’s this?’

The black object placed next to the tie wasn’t a belt. When he picked it up, it stretched long with its rubber material, and the silver clip attached to the end dangled.

He scanned Aran, still leaning against the doorway, but it wasn’t an item visible on him.

“Curious about what it’s for?”

Before he knew it, Aran was holding out his hand.

“Give it here. I’ll show you.”

“Tell me with words.”

“It’s hard to explain.”

Aran wore a deflated expression along with a sigh.

“Are you still sulking?”

“Sulk…”

A surge of emotion welled up in Kay, but he forced himself to control his breathing.

“Forget it. I don’t want to talk to you.”

At those words, for some reason, Aran laughed, his shoulders shaking.

“It’s cute, but I have no intention of apologizing. You know it too. This is the most rational choice.”

He held out his hand and gestured to Kay again. When Kay reluctantly handed over the rubber item and approached, Aran took the object and grazed the bracelet on Kay’s wrist with his fingers. Because the flashy leopard-print bracelet couldn’t be removed, Kay’s plan to sell himself had gone up in smoke. Despite believing there was no better plan than that.

Jin was one of the operational planners within the center. Kay believed without a doubt that if he could persuade him, who was the Deputy to the Center Director but effectively also served as an operations staff officer, he would be able to find out about Simon’s disappearance.

“You want to sell yourself, an Esper from Willamere… to find out the truth of this incident?”