Ch.58Chapter 7. Ice Burns Just as Much as Fire (End)

Hampton is not the largest city in Elza. However, if asked to name the city with the most severe wealth gap, it would always claim the top spot.

Hampton was a transportation hub, nestled alongside vast plains and a wide river. It offered optimal conditions for establishing factories. When Kybele Corporation’s buildings moved in, poor farmers and dairy workers headed to the factories.

As a result, wealthy factory owners settled in the city center, while poor employees took up residence in the outskirts. Yet even among them, there were those who didn’t fit in.

The drifters.

“Those people couldn’t find homes in Hampton. So they built shanty towns on the outskirts. They laid foundations, erected pillars, and put on roofs. This wasn’t unique to Hampton. Every city was like that. Then the cities of Elza got crafty.”

“How?”

“They incorporated the shanty towns into the city, imposed heavy taxes on the residents to drive them out, demolished the shacks, built cheap houses, and sold them at high prices.”

That’s how the city gradually expanded. But the drifters didn’t sit idle. They took up arms and rose up.

“I’m not saying the shanty town people were right. It was illegal occupation, after all. But by the same logic, Hampton City was just as guilty.”

It was essentially an overreach, like Seoul City driving away homeless people from Gyeonggi Province. Because of this, the issue escalated from an armed uprising of drifters to a dispute between Hampton and local government officials.

“Nasty lawsuits were exchanged, and eventually Hampton surrendered. That’s how this apartment complex was built. It had a pretty name: ‘Pruitt-Igoe’ Apartment Complex. Only the builder knows what it means. From the outside, it looks quite sophisticated. The problem is…”

Camilla tapped the wall. All kinds of sounds from the front, back, above, and below continued to filter through unimpeded. Even the sound of a toilet flushing could be heard from the bathroom downstairs.

“That it was built like this.”

“Good Lord.”

“Some say it was built this way intentionally. Eventually, people left for other places, and this became a slum. But after the Syndicate occupied it, the situation changed completely.”

The lack of soundproofing actually became an advantage. If zombies appeared anywhere, anyone could easily call for help.

The CCTVs installed by the Syndicate in each room also helped with security. In a situation where the government wasn’t functioning properly and market order had collapsed, the overwhelming violence here became an “equitable order” that everyone could accept.

“Isn’t it funny? A massive hideout created for crime became the safest market in this city. Other buildings are also occupied by organizations of various sizes, but they’re much worse than here. Even the Goddess of Hunger wouldn’t know what’s happening inside those places. She must be covering her eyes and blocking her ears.”

The sun was setting beyond Hampton’s cityscape. The bare face of Hampton revealed in the evening glow was messy. Suddenly, a siren wailed.

– “Zombie outbreak in District 16. Zombie outbreak in District 16. Please evacuate into buildings immediately. Please evacuate into buildings immediately.”

Gunshots could be heard from here. No screams, though. That’s how it always is. Violence has a greater impact than screams. Camilla yawned softly. I suddenly became curious.

“How do you know all this?”

“I’ve received education multiple times. That’s how they recruit volunteers. I’ve also come here often to get supplies. Anyway, this isn’t my first time here. I had a different name and appearance then. But anyway, you must be really exhausted today, right?”

It’s true. The day had been long. I woke up at dawn, moved around busily, almost had my identity exposed, and was dragged around trying to get a temporary ID. But the most tedious part was getting that temporary ID.

Obtaining a new identity in the city was similar to “marrying Bill Gates’ daughter.”

First, you go to Bill Gates and say, “My son is the CEO of the World Bank, let’s have him marry your daughter,” and get his approval.

Then you go to the World Bank chairman and say, “My son is Bill Gates’ son-in-law, so give him the CEO position at the World Bank,” and get approval.

It’s an incredibly crude method, but by simply switching the subject and object, it can be applied in various places. What Camilla did was essentially similar, just repeated multiple times.

Because of this, I was utterly exhausted by the time we arrived at the “Beehive.”

It was comparable to verifying your identity more than 20 times in a day, going through “select all images containing buses” about 10 times, installing and uninstalling “security” programs (which had changed from ActiveX to .exe) more than five times, rebooting about three times, and then seeing the “Insufficient available memory” tooltip.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t thanked you yet.”

Camilla swung her legs while sitting in the chair.

“For what?”

“Thanks to you, we got past the brokers without being discovered. And you followed my instructions the whole time we were getting the ID. If you had made even one mistake there, I would have died. You too, probably, but still, thank you for trusting me.”

That was true. The questions had been sharp and detailed. It was only because Camilla had taught me the expected questions and answers that we managed.

If I had harbored ill intentions and said, “This woman tricked me,” Camilla would have died immediately.

“Thank you, Camilla. You worked hard too.”

Camilla smiled, then quietly stood up. She turned on her phone’s flashlight and scanned around, finding a shiny lens.

I thought she might cover it with tape, but she didn’t. Instead, she flung the door open and cleverly angled it to block the lens.

“Johan. Want to come over here?”

Camilla called me to the bathroom entrance. There was a camera in the bathroom too, but Camilla had covered it with the shower curtain.

“Sure.”

“How do I look?”

“Honestly, terrible. Like the Frog Prince.”

Due to tension, relaxation, and the smell of mackerel canned food, plus wearing too many layers, Camilla emitted a terrible odor. Of course, I was in the same situation, so I couldn’t really talk.

“In that case…”

Camilla placed her finger on my chest.

“Break the curse on me. Cast a spell so I can return to being a woman.”

– Ah! Ahh! Ah, more, more!

We both burst into laughter at the sudden moans coming through the walls. The mood was broken before it could even build.

So, I cupped her face and kissed her. While kissing, I undressed her one by one. Her outer clothes fell with a thud. The back of Camilla’s hand tapped my thigh.

Camilla’s face was flushed.

“By the way…”

“Yes?”

“How far did you go with that woman?”

– Bang! Bang!

Gunshots could be heard from somewhere.

* * * * *

Hampton, District 4. Leticia’s apartment.

Evening.

Leticia returned home. Before even taking off her uniform, she opened the refrigerator and drank a can of beer. It was the last drink she had been saving. Since she planned to get alcohol from the “Beehive” tomorrow, she gulped down the last remaining beer without restraint.

“Ah.”

Ring ring. Ring ring. The phone rang. Leticia answered reluctantly.

– Hey, Leticia? You’re home.

“Oh, brother.”

It was her older brother Hamelin calling. ‘At least it’s better than a work call,’ Leticia consoled herself.

– I looked into what you asked about before. About Commander Virginia Helford. There are so many rumors that it’s hard to tell what’s true. So I just looked into the famous stories.

“Okay, just a moment… Alright, I’m ready to take notes.”

– You know how Roemer nobility works, right? They throw their children into power struggles from childhood. They just postpone the killing until adulthood. Well, Virginia was apparently bitten by a venomous snake as a child. The venom turned her skin and hair white, and her eyes purple.

“I’ve heard that story.”

– But there’s one more thing. That woman always leaves one bullet, doesn’t she?

Leticia was surprised. It was true. During the Lambert chase, Virginia’s revolver had one bullet left. Yet Virginia had said, “I’m out of bullets,” and put the gun away.

“Yes, that’s right. Why?”

– That story is famous here too. She’s a sharpshooter who never misses, but she absolutely never fires the last bullet. Even at the risk of facing disadvantages.

“Why is that?”

– It’s just a rumor, but it’s so absurd that I’ll tell you anyway. Just understand it as ‘this is the kind of story that circulates.’ They say when she was bitten by the snake, she made a wish to a demon in the Helford family basement. That family is so wicked that there are rumors they keep a demon locked in their basement.

Leticia had heard about the Helford family’s wickedness. Well, in the Roemer political scene full of all kinds of scheming, one would naturally have to be that way to hold onto the Senate Speaker position.

“And then?”

– So she saved her life but received a curse. If she fires the last bullet, it will definitely hit the one she loves most.

“…What is this, an opera?”

– Funny, right? But apparently all the Helford family members are like that. None of them use their last bullet. As if they made a promise. They call it the family curse. Well, since everyone who knows about it already knows, I thought it would be okay to tell you this much.

Thinking it strange, Leticia waited for more. But the next words were disappointing.

– That’s all. Besides the snake bite story from her childhood, no one seems to know anything about Virginia Helford’s past. She hasn’t appeared in public much. Then the Senate Speaker sent Virginia to Elza. I don’t know why. For military promotion or exile… Well, that’s about it?

“Thanks, brother.”

– No problem. Things seem to be getting worse in Elza…

“They’ll get better.”

* * * * *

30km from Hampton, Chimaera State Government Disease Control Branch Laboratory.

Late night.

The office was empty. Yet Cassandra volunteered for the night shift, analyzing blood samples.

She was determining whether suspected infected individuals had contracted the Crow virus by analyzing their blood.

If she worked through today and tomorrow, she could take a day off. She was happy at the thought of taking that day to meet him.

Drinking strong coffee and rubbing her sleepy eyes, she tested and retested blood samples. Detection. Non-detection. Tracking needed. Detection.

If another researcher were present, they would have noticed Cassandra doing something strange. She was performing the same experiment twice.

And if they were more attentive, they would have seen Cassandra adding a drop of “inactive Crow virus” with a pipette to the blood she was using as a control.

“…Ugh. This isn’t it either. This isn’t it either.”

But soon, it was carefully discarded. Cassandra tore up her notes and fed them into the shredder. The machine made a rattling sound before going quiet.

Deep fatigue returned. Cassandra gulped down the cold coffee.

‘Am I doing this in vain?’

She looked down at the pile of twisted springs under the desk. These were the remnants of the spiral notebooks she had discarded.

Cassandra had written numerous formulas and proofs, and when she failed, she shredded them. She kept the torn-out springs in a box under her desk. And now, it was time to empty the fifth box.

‘Will I find the answer before filling the next box? Will the world last that long?’

Cassandra hung her head. But she stood up again. She bit her lower lip until it bled.

“Cassandra must atone to the world.”

She looked at the ceiling with moist eyes. She applied artificial tears to let them flow. When real and fake mix, it just becomes fake. So Cassandra didn’t cry.

“I can’t rest.”

But her mood had already sunk. Cassandra weakly picked up the next sample. And, she smiled faintly.

It was ‘his’ sample.

“…Indeed. We… cannot be separated.”

He had a good smell. A characteristic not found in ordinary people. Perhaps he could be the key.

She put the samples of his three companions into the analyzer as well. After a moment, the analyzer spat out the results.

“…?”

Cassandra tilted her head.

Something about the figures was strange. The machine couldn’t be wrong. She discarded the sample and ran the test again. This time without adding the “inactive Crow virus.” The same figures came up.

“There was clearly only one woman, wasn’t there?”

The screen showing him displayed three people. One ugly man who looked like a frog, one fat man, and one woman who was fatter than the two men combined.

But the gender analysis results showed two women and two men. And he was definitely a “man.” She still remembered the sensation when their bodies touched, the feeling when she rubbed against him in the driver’s seat.

“…You.”

That frog-looking guy was…

“A woman.”

A frog-looking woman.

“…What are you doing? Why do the analysis results of two people overlap? Why? How? What’s your relationship? What did you two do?”

Cassandra chewed her thumb. It seemed she needed to expedite their meeting.