Ch.195Counting Stars! (3)

After taking a sip of the “Liquid Gold,” Eliya rested her hands on the desk, propped her chin, and said:

“They say Hayward was the first Earthling to visit the Frost Giant Archives.”

The story from several decades ago went like this.

Though the details were unclear, Hayward had visited a branch of the Frost Giant Archives.

The Frost Giant in charge of the branch asked Hayward, “What brings you to this distant place?” and Hayward replied:

“Soon, all information related to this paper will be erased. Everyone involved is being threatened and will live under surveillance until death.”

Hayward warned that if the Frost Giants knew the contents of the paper, their planet would also be harmed, and requested that the sealed paper be temporarily stored in the archives.

The reason the inadequate storage request simply said “paper” was because of this, and only the branch manager at that time and Avery, the head of the archives, knew about it.

“How many years ago was this?”

“Long before you were born—probably sometime in the 1970s by Earth’s calendar.”

“That overlaps with the time of his disappearance.”

Eliya nodded at Dexter’s comment and continued.

Not long after, the planet Keoria invaded the Frost Giants’ planet, and tens of thousands of books and records from the archives were looted and taken to Keoria.

A paper written in the language of Earthlings—residents of a remote planet that hadn’t even ventured into space—would naturally have been overlooked.

Ironically, that’s how the paper related to Negative energy—one of the most powerful energy sources—remained stored on Keoria until then.

“They never dreamed something like that would be in their warehouse of worthless loot. Lucky for us, unlucky for them.”

“I agree.”

Dexter already knew about Negative energy, which is why he recognized its value. Otherwise, it might have remained dormant in Keoria’s warehouse forever.

“Did George Hayward leave for space permanently?”

“I don’t think so. Avery personally saw him off on a spacecraft bound for Earth afterward.”

“That makes even less sense. If he took a spacecraft to Earth, there should be records at the OSA.”

Any American traveling to space would have to go through the OSA, so there should at least be entry and exit records.

“Who says spacecraft to Earth only go through the OSA? He could have gone through another country.”

“Another country.”

The 1970s were a time when paperwork was inadequate in any country.

It wasn’t impossible to stow away or enter illegally using forged passports or documents, which was much easier then than now.

“I hadn’t thought of that. Anyway, this is beyond my authority, so I’ll have to talk to the director.”

“Well, you did good work today.”

With those words, Eliya clinked glasses with Dexter.

“You too.”

“This is what having a good friend is all about.”

As Eliya clinked glasses with Dexter and smiled contentedly, Dexter exhaled and said:

“I never thought you’d bring Frost Giant refugees all the way here for your revenge.”

“It’s killing two birds with one stone—gathering information and getting revenge.”

“But how do you plan to get revenge?”

“Keoria has made many enemies. First, we’ll gather people like we’re doing now to collect information. Then, I’m thinking we could merge our company with Keoria and make it our colony.”

“A company absorbing a planet—no matter how many times I hear it, you really think big.”

Eliya laughed lightly at Dexter’s half-joking remark.

“That’s all thanks to you solving our problems. So, any thoughts about returning to space?”

“I need to settle down now.”

Eliya nodded with a disappointed expression at Dexter’s polite refusal.

For Dexter, a life of putting holes in the heads of those who threatened Earth while enjoying dinners with people who cared about him was quite satisfying.

And he had other reasons to decline as well.

“Hanging out with you is too exhausting.”

“That’s most unfortunate.”

“I had something else to ask—ah, right. When will the nanobot doctor be ready? I haven’t heard anything about that.”

“Hmm, I believe the examination will start in about an hour.”

Dexter’s expression hardened at Eliya’s words.

“What?”

“No one was willing to go down to Earth to examine your wives. So a doctor specializing in nanobot manufacturing has been on standby here since last week.”

The nanobots circulating in Dexter’s body were specially made for his constitution, and such customization could only be done by a doctor who specialized in nanobots.

Eliya, who had previously said there were no nanobot specialists willing to come to Earth, had actually prepared everything in advance before Dexter’s arrival.

“No matter how much I try to think well of you, things like this always make it impossible not to curse at you.”

“Isn’t it better this way?”

Hahaha.

What the hell is so “hahaha” about this?

Dexter almost threw his glass at Eliya but restrained himself.

“Would you like to watch the examination?”

“No, why would I want to watch the examination?”

“Just for fun?”

“Are my girlfriends something to watch for fun?”

“No, if you put it that way…”

“You’re a bad person. I should go tell them.”

When Dexter actually got up and ran toward where the four women were, Eliya, who hated his image being tarnished, desperately tried to catch Dexter while saying:

“It’s a joke, just a joke!”

“Look at this guy making jokes about his friend’s wives!”

“It’s a misunderstanding!”

Dexter, who glanced at the panicked Eliya while running, giggled.

* * *

Jessie, wearing a loose white short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts, looked at the two men disapprovingly and said:

“They say men are just big children.”

“Miss Jessie, what you see isn’t everything. Actually…”

“I thought a corporate CEO would be different, but I guess being Dexter’s friend makes you just the same.”

Judy, dressed identically to Jessie, held a mug and said with an amused smile:

“Isn’t it fun watching grown men running around like that?”

“Fun? What’s fun about it? They’re both over thirty—they should act their age. How can they be so immature?”

Jessie frowned as she looked at Dexter and Eliya standing there blankly.

When the two men suddenly came running toward them, Jessie was startled and asked what was happening. After hearing that Dexter was playing a prank and Eliya was trying to stop him, she immediately started scolding them.

“I just finished the examination, and I thought something serious had happened.”

As Jessie glared at him, Dexter pointed to a closed door to change the subject.

“There wasn’t any examination that required taking clothes off, was there?”

“…They said if you enter that scanner thing, they can measure your body without removing clothes, so I just wore this outfit for the examination.”

Hearing Jessie’s explanation, Dexter scratched his chin and asked Eliya:

“If that’s all it takes, couldn’t you just send a scanner to Earth and receive the data remotely?”

“The body scanners used for nanobot production can only be installed and operated by the manufacturing doctor. Didn’t I tell you that when you received your nanobots?”

“That was years ago—how am I supposed to remember everything?”

Soon the door opened, and Emily, wearing the same clothes as Jessie and Judy, came out.

“The scanner wasn’t much.”

“I thought it was fun when I floated a little.”

“Didn’t it feel like wind blowing from below? You know, like Marilyn Monroe’s air vent scene.”

“Yes, exactly! I didn’t expect my clothes to float up too.”

Shortly after, Himena came out last after receiving her body scan and joined the conversation.

“Mr. Eliya, does a doctor need to be present for nanobot injection too?”

“Not necessarily. It’s simple enough that Dexter could do it, so you can receive the injection on Earth.”

The four women chatted happily at Eliya’s response, saying that was good news.

If the four women received nanobots, their daily lives would improve significantly in terms of fatigue recovery and physical strength. Even if they encountered an emergency while Dexter was away, it would reduce major problems to minor ones.

‘And at night too.’

They would no longer run out of stamina and collapse before Dexter.

At that thought, a lecherous smile involuntarily appeared on Dexter’s face.

* * *

After returning to Earth without incident, Dexter’s group immediately went back to their respective duties.

“What kind of prison guard takes almost a week of vacation? And just the two of you.”

When Dexter and Judy visited Carranza’s visitation room after hearing she wanted to see them, Carranza greeted them with a blunt remark that left them blinking in surprise before Dexter spoke first.

“I heard you were on vacation, so I had my people look for you, but they couldn’t find you two anywhere in Las Vegas. Where exactly did you go?”

“Oh? So you’ve been investigating me?”

Nobody would be happy to hear they were being investigated.

Although Dexter was smiling, his eyes were serious as he looked at Carranza, who turned her head away slightly, intimidated by his gaze.

“I found a lead, but there was no one to report it to.”

“How did you find out?”

Carranza glanced sideways at Dexter while still looking away and said:

“Your work is too perfect, so I thought if you couldn’t find him, he might not be in the US. I asked around in the country right next to America.”

“Canada?”

“No? Mexico, obviously. Have you forgotten where I’m from?”

Carranza stared at Dexter in disbelief but flinched when she saw his unwavering gaze.

“…Anyway, while looking for George Hayward, I also came across Howard Hughes—he’s quite famous, right?”

“Obviously the most famous person with the Hughes surname.”

Carranza handed Dexter a note with a sullen expression.

“It’s not much of a lead. Apparently, there was a villa belonging to someone named Hayward near Hughes’ resort. Hayward isn’t that common a surname.”

“What’s this?”

“The address of that villa.”

“You want me to go all the way to Mexico?”

At Dexter’s words, Carranza looked at him with a dissatisfied expression.

“I ordered an investigation of the villa too. But from cartel members to the villagers, they all believe in some superstition.”

“What superstition?”

“…That the villa is haunted.”

Even though it was Carranza who said it, she continued with an expression that showed she found it ridiculous herself.

“I know, so don’t look at me like that. What ghost could exist in this world? But people who went near that villa claim they saw ghosts.”

Dexter hadn’t expected ghost stories from Carranza’s mouth and gave her a dismissive look, which she returned with a glare.

“What kind of ghost?”

“It varies depending on who you ask. Some say they see an elderly white man who speaks English, others say it’s a Spanish-speaking child, and some claim it’s an incredibly tall monster.”

‘A tall monster?’

“Does this monster look human?”

Dexter asked with an interested expression, but Carranza shook her head.

“I don’t know that much. My people just collected stories from the area and reported to me.”

Carranza raised both hands slightly as she spoke.

“So, what did this person do that you’re so zealously looking for him?”

“Do I have an obligation to tell you?”

“…Obviously not.”

Carranza’s voice was quite sulky.

Feeling a bit bad about not telling her anything, Dexter said as he left her visitation room:

“I’m just looking for a ghost from the past.”

“A ghost from the past?”

“People are suffering because of it.”

Although Carranza heard Dexter’s words, they made even less sense to her, and she frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

“Knowing would hurt you.”

As Dexter and Judy left the visitation room, an inmate who had been waiting in another visitation room entered Carranza’s room and said:

“Should we follow them?”

“We already know their destination, so there’s no need to follow.”

Carranza brushed back her glossy brown hair and said:

“Tell our people in Acapulco to contact us if that C.O. shows up at the haunted villa.”

Carranza stared at the door Dexter had just exited through and muttered:

“Why is he so determined to find that missing old man?”