Ch.30Succubus! (5)

#030

“Is this… a chase?”

“Ms. Himena. It was never a chase but surveillance.”

“Tch.”

Himena’s face was full of disappointment.

And for good reason—the two women were leaving Las Vegas at a speed not even reaching 30 miles per hour (about 50 km/h).

The situation was actually boring since all they needed to do was maintain an appropriate speed and distance.

“We should be zooming through North Las Vegas, crashing into innocent vegetable vendors’ stalls and stuff…”

Himena pouted in disappointment as she recalled scenes commonly found in action blockbuster movies.

“You’ve watched too many movies.”

“But those are fun, you know.”

While they were chatting, Gomer’s car continued toward Nellis Air Force Base without stopping once.

The buildings were becoming increasingly sparse, inversely proportional to the expanding area of desert wasteland filled with sand and dirt.

As the bright, glittering lights disappeared and the dark surroundings greeted them, Himena was starting to feel a bit anxious.

“Where is he trying to go?”

After passing Nellis Air Force Base and heading a bit more northeast, the car began to slow down near a racing track.

“Huh? Racing at this hour?”

“We’re probably just passing by.”

Just as Dexter said, instead of Himena’s confusion, they were passing the racing track and heading toward the highway.

Not long after, the car stopped at a small motel next to a gas station.

In the motel parking lot, two women were forcibly lifting the profusely sweating Gomer and taking him inside the motel.

“Looks like he’s being dragged to a slaughterhouse.”

It also looked like he was being escorted by two female police officers straight out of an old porn film.

Himena rolled her eyes around as she contemplated what to do, then said to Dexter:

“Should we follow them?”

“I didn’t see any weapons or threatening elements. Even if there were threats, Gomer could probably end it with a single headbutt.”

Dexter said with a laugh.

No matter how much of a “lung-class” Gomer might be, he still had the physical advantage.

“He must weigh at least 250 pounds (about 110kg), so we don’t need to worry about threats. Besides, Ms. Himena, you don’t have any equipment right now.”

Dexter made a practical point.

Residence Management agents are only issued equipment like firearms during missions.

In Himena’s case, since she was off duty, she would have had to bring her own equipment, but naturally, she hadn’t anticipated this situation and had nothing with her.

Even the tracker launcher was equipment she was supposed to have returned but hadn’t yet.

“I… guess so?”

“Let’s wait. Surely nothing serious will happen.”

Himena parked their vehicle in the gas station parking lot near the entrance to the motel.

After going to all this trouble, there was no way they wouldn’t notice if the hot pink car moved.

‘If we don’t see it, either my eyes are crossed, or Himena is actually blind.’

A brief silence.

No words flowed except for the occasional rustling of clothes or the sound of adjusting positions.

Though unintentional, they couldn’t just sit silently indefinitely while waiting.

Himena wanted to say something but was fidgeting, rubbing her palms against her thighs.

Finally, Dexter broke the silence.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. Well, I can manage. Sometimes when work piles up, I leave even later than this. Sometimes I even sleep in the duty room.”

“Oh my.”

Dexter was the type to maintain a decent work-life balance, but it seemed OSA, being a secret department, couldn’t offer the same.

“Have you ever thought about transferring to another department?”

“Hmm, well… not yet. I’ve been with the agency for less than a year.”

Dexter had heard she was new, but didn’t realize she was this new.

“…Less than a year?”

“Yes. Why?”

‘So that’s why she makes these rookie mistakes.’

There were reasons for her behavior—misplaced pride causing extra work, or excessive enthusiasm.

‘Usually after working for more than a year, people become less eager and don’t create unnecessary work.’

It’s a skill most office workers develop—generously called “composure,” or less generously, “apathy.”

Dexter also flexibly avoids doing unnecessary work when possible.

“You might want to dial back your energy a bit when working.”

“What? Why would I do that? I should be more passionate…”

“That just makes things harder for everyone around you.”

Himena pondered Dexter’s words.

She recalled the expressions of her seniors when she had enthusiastically declared her commitment and ran around trying to help with everything.

“…Was I being a nuisance?”

“Maybe not a nuisance, but they probably just saw it as rookie enthusiasm.”

“So just working hard isn’t enough?”

“Sometimes you need to know when to ease up. A reed that bends with the wind might outlast a rigid tree that stands tall every day.”

‘That was a pretty cool metaphor, if I do say so myself.’

While Dexter was feeling satisfied with his analogy, Himena, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

“But, if you were an extremely thick tungsten pillar, you could stand straight even during a hurricane, right? Can’t I be like that?”

Proud of her statement, Himena looked at Dexter with sparkling eyes. Dexter turned his head away from her and said:

“Your boss is Steve, right?”

“Yes. But why bring up Senior Steve…”

“I feel sorry for him.”

Unable to grasp Dexter’s meaning, Himena tilted her head in confusion.

Seeing that Dexter maintained a relaxed expression that wouldn’t provide a proper answer even if she stared him down, Himena asked a question.

“Why did you want to come to Earth, Mr. Hughes?”

“Hmm, that’s sudden?”

“When I talk with you, it feels like you’ve lived on Earth your whole life despite spending a long time in space. You even seem familiar with quite recent culture.”

“Oh ho.”

Himena was making deductions about Dexter like a detective movie protagonist, squinting one eye and holding her chin.

Dexter listened quietly, playing along with Himena’s deductions.

“That means there must be ways to enjoy Earth culture even in space, right?”

It was a fairly accurate deduction.

“You’re sharp.”

“If you can enjoy Earth culture in space, I don’t see why you’d leave better technology and a better lifestyle in space.”

After finishing her thought, Himena looked back at Dexter.

“Really, why did you come to Earth?”

Instead of answering, Dexter posed a question to Himena.

“Do you need a specific reason to visit your parents’ home?”

“Oh, no. Sometimes I just go because I miss my parents.”

Dexter nodded at Himena’s straightforward response and said:

“It wasn’t a place where anyone would welcome me, but it was somewhere I had to visit eventually. Because it’s home.”

“Even with all that debt?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“From Senior Jake.”

He was the young agent who had escorted Dexter on his first day on Earth.

Dexter was about to ask how Jake was doing, but became uncomfortable upon realizing his personal information had been casually shared with others. He cleared his throat and said:

“That guy has a looser tongue than I thought.”

Himena responded with an expression like someone caught doing something they shouldn’t:

“Heh, I asked him to tell me. Senior Jake didn’t want to say anything.”

“And you forced it out of him? Must have been quite the intimidation.”

Left speechless by Dexter’s comment, Himena fidgeted and said:

“It wasn’t intimidation… I just asked normally…”

“I’m sure you did. I’m starting to feel sorry for OSA having a rookie like you.”

“I’m not that pushy! I do my job well, and my performance evaluations are good.”

“Oh my, is that so? Well done.”

“Hey, I feel like you’re mocking me. And you still haven’t properly answered my question.”

“What question?”

“Why you came to Earth.”

When Dexter made a displeased expression, Himena mirrored it and said:

“You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

“Do you really want to know?”

Just as Himena was about to nod cheerfully.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

Dexter’s face remained almost the same, but it revealed a weariness and boredom.

It was similar to the feeling Himena had when she first joined OSA and met a veteran field agent who was about to retire, but more intense.

“Uh, um…”

And a deep fear rose within her, telling her not to ask any further.

Until now, Dexter had been giving off a comfortable and stable feeling.

But suddenly, it felt as if the temperature in the car had dropped below freezing, and a fierce, cold energy emanated from Dexter.

Trembling with fear but mustering her courage, Himena said:

“B-but I’m still curious…”

Seeing Himena still asking despite this, Dexter was speechless.

“…Wow, this is the first time I’ve met someone it doesn’t work on.”

With those words, the atmosphere returned to normal.

Surprised, Himena looked at Dexter, who once again had his usual relaxed, playful expression.

Completely confused by the sudden change, Himena said:

“What was that? Really? Can you control the surrounding atmosphere based on your emotions, or do you use some kind of device that creates that effect?”

“Where in the world would such a device exist? Well, I’m sure you could find one if you looked hard enough, but I’ve never had anything like that.”

Dexter shook his head and continued:

“But I did learn a unique martial art when I was living long-term on a certain planet. The master had a rather peculiar name.”

Dexter thought for a moment, then nodded and said:

“He called himself ‘The Devil Who Rules the Sky.’ Some people followed him like a cult leader.”

“That sounds like… something a teenage boy would come up with. Who names themselves that…?”

Himena said with a hint of pity.

“Hey, he was actually a rather impressive-looking old man. Have you seen Bruce Lee movies?”

“Ah… those old kung fu movies where they swing around like this and make strange battle cries?”

Himena waved her hands around, crudely imitating Chinese martial arts.

“He looked like someone who might appear in those. Anyway, I was lucky enough to learn martial arts from him, and that’s when I became able to do that.”

Though the memory was hazy after nearly ten years, it was a martial art and survival skill that had taught Dexter how to survive in the lawless frontier of space.

“Can I learn it too?”

Himena pointed to herself, and after a brief consideration, Dexter tapped the armrest on the passenger side and said:

“Well, I’m not confident about that. The old man said that if an unskilled person tried to imitate it carelessly, they could die.”

While Dexter could somehow learn through physical practice, he had no confidence in teaching it.

“Fine, then I don’t want to learn.”

As Himena lost interest at the mention of possible death and looked outside, that’s when:

“It’s those women from earlier!”

They saw the two women coming out of the motel.

They were walking vigorously toward the hot pink car, similar to before.

The problem was that Gomer, who had gone in with them, was nowhere to be seen.

“Gomer’s not with them. Is he still inside?”

“We should go check, shouldn’t we?”

After the two women got in their car and drove away, Dexter and Himena headed toward the motel.