Ch.59Two Face’s Guests – Officer Yehoel

“Yehoel, it’s morning. Morning. Don’t you need to go to work?”

Ah, bless the gracious God-President… Couldn’t he be bothered to make the sun rise a little later in the morning? Yehoel barely managed to lift himself from the bed. He was already well past his reporting time.

It was clear that when the God-President created angels, he hadn’t put much thought into it. Why did he decide to attach wings large enough for flight on their backs and make their bodies so massive?

A single bed would be enough for most people, and even with two or three women, a double bed would suffice. But for fallen angels like Yehoel, a custom-made bed twice the size of a normal one was necessary.

The white flames that had briefly extinguished in his eyes began to burn again, though today the flame in his left eye was slightly weaker than his right. He wondered if this was a side effect of becoming a fallen angel, but he was the only one with this condition.

He slowly looked around. He was inside a row house provided exclusively for angels. The furniture was a bit small for him since they’d cut costs by using items meant for orcs, but it was still usable enough.

And most importantly, the soundproofing was excellent. Normally this would be for undisturbed prayer and hymns, but for fallen angels like Yehoel, it meant no one would care if he brought brothel women into his home. Today again, it was the women from Iris who had woken him.

As soon as he got up and tied back his beautiful golden curls, a hostess from Iris brought him a cigar with the end cut off. He gathered mana at his fingertips, slowly rotating it to light the end before placing it between his lips.

Most angels supposedly didn’t smoke, drink, or even feel carnal desire… Unfortunately, Yehoel was an angel who knew how to enjoy life. He drew the strong alkaline smoke deep into his lungs.

It might not be proper etiquette, but what did it matter? An angel’s body was sturdy enough that he wouldn’t cough even once from inhaling hot smoke directly. If it was a grace given by the God-President, it would be right to use it.

“I took a day off today, so I don’t have to go in. After what happened yesterday, I need at least a day of rest before getting back to work. The smuggler case is over, so the Archangel will be leaving soon… Don’t we still have some time left?”

Yehoel had spent over 100 dollars to hire the two women for half a day, so he could have used them briefly in the morning too… But after partying hard until dawn, he craved alcohol more than women.

One of the women from Iris briefly turned her head to check the clock. After counting on her fingers for a moment, she answered.

“We do have some time left. Half a day starting from 2 AM yesterday means… about three hours. If you’re planning to spend the morning drinking, take us with you. I know an angel’s invitation can get us into places.”

Were these women hoping to go to Eden? Unfortunately, today wasn’t a day when Eden appealed to him. He was planning to go to Two Face, a place he’d learned about through a civilian collaborator friend, but it wouldn’t be a bar until six.

“Next time when they ask for ID, I should show an Eden invitation first. No, never mind. I don’t feel like Eden today. I’m going to Two Face. I’ll have to sip coffee until six, but… that’s not so bad.”

The bartender at Two Face was quite a good person. Though her personality was slick, she was quick-witted and quite pretty during the day. At night, she acted like a large puppy despite being a wolf, which was cute.

Honestly, if she hadn’t been Michael’s ex-girlfriend, he would have flirted with her… But he wasn’t that shameless of an angel.

No, was it even about shame? His collaborative relationship with Michael had brought Yehoel many sweet benefits, so he had no desire to ruin it over mere carnal desire.

“Two Face, Two Face… I don’t know that place. We usually only move around near Iris. Outside of that, there aren’t many places where we can communicate well, and honestly… New York has too many people.”

This is why he liked the women from Iris. Yehoel easily fell for their demeanor—modest yet with just the right amount of flirtation. He smiled in an angelic way.

“Do not doubt the words of the God-President’s representative. You won’t dislike it. What can’t you try in this city of freedom, New York?”

“You really have no filter when talking to people who were sold into prostitution in this ‘city of freedom.’ Fine, let’s go then.”

Yehoel knew this was a purchased fantasy. But if it was a fantasy worth paying for, he might as well pay and enjoy it. Not like that Michael guy who would sneer at him.

We all look foolish to someone. Even Yehoel would laugh at angels who hadn’t fallen yet and acted like mechanical devices, so he couldn’t deny it.

That guy had his own story, and Yehoel had his. He didn’t really care. If everyone has a story, then nothing is more worthless than that.

“I’m going to fly there, is that okay? Angels with bodies like mine don’t usually make others suffer.”

Yehoel said with a wink of his flame-flickering eyes, but the hostesses from Iris continued to speak in gentle voices. They were well-behaved but didn’t match his mood.

“What about last night?”

“I didn’t just make you suffer, did I? That’s why I’m a regular.”

But they didn’t refuse when he took them in his arms. After opening the large living room window unique to angel row houses, he embraced the two women and lightly leaped out the window.

After enjoying a brief free fall, he spread his beautifully crafted golden wings and soared upward. Yehoel didn’t know how he could fly with such a heavy body. Well, it must be the God-President’s mighty power.

While massive species like dragons couldn’t reveal their true forms in the city, angels were different. They were created to fly freely in urban areas.

Sometimes he wondered if it was right for a creature directly created by the God-President to fly around with women in his arms, but people below couldn’t see clearly anyway.

Besides, those who complained always forgot that they too were the God-President’s creations. They were in similar situations, so why criticize only the angels?

Flying along the road, he gently turned his body to change direction toward Two Face. Despite it being almost noon, newspaper boys on the ground were distributing extras.

“Ah, were you two okay yesterday? I mean, they say smugglers from Germany killed about five hundred people with death magic…”

One of the Iris hostesses in his arms, who had somehow managed to keep her eyes open while looking around, briefly glanced down and took a deep breath. It wasn’t a frightening height, though.

“Unless it’s a regular like you, Angel, we only receive customers at the establishment. Fortunately, nothing happened to us. Though, one regular customer didn’t show up yesterday… something might have happened to him.”

That was the weight of it. As Two Face came into view, he lightly raised his waist to ascend, using wind resistance to slow down, then slowly flapped his heavily crafted golden wings to land.

The women stared intently at Two Face’s unique sign—a face on the front and a wolf on the back. It was said to be a cafe and bar only for those with two faces, and as both an angel and a fallen angel, he certainly qualified.

In the morning, no invitation was needed and there was no doorman, so he gestured that it was okay to open the door, and the door opened. This seemed to be the virtue.

And so he entered Two Face with the two women. Since it was daytime, the bartender had her dark brown hair tied back in a single ponytail that swayed like a tail. She growled while hiding her sharp teeth.

“Yehoel! You usually only come after six, but today you’re here in the morning? I thought you didn’t like coffee much.”

How could anyone dislike someone who remembered each of their preferences? He stood at the bar with the women, leaning his elbows on it. Stools weren’t really necessary for beings of angel size.

“I brought these girls from Iris here to your cafe to impress them. You’re quite pretty during the day. Flowers blooming, lots of potted plants…”

Since he didn’t really care about potted plants and was just fumbling for words, the bartender seized the opportunity and bared her wolf-like sharp teeth with a sneer.

“Your pretending-to-know strategy seems to have failed already. The Iris girls are already your regulars. What, trying to get a discount?”

“No discount needed. I’m just getting tired of seeing them always behave so properly. If I approach them with some human charm, I might get a different reaction… Give me that, that one. Something with a feel to it.”

Of course, he knew he was showing nothing but sloppiness rather than human charm. Still, angels were fundamentally rigid beings, so showing this kind of sloppiness was often better.

The bartender briefly walked into the kitchen and returned with a cup of coffee loaded with milk and sugar. Was this my taste? I wasn’t particularly fond of coffee.

Still, I took the cup and downed it. An angel’s body wouldn’t be damaged by hot liquid… and the taste was quite good. It wasn’t bitter for coffee.

The bartender served coffee to the Iris hostesses as well, saying she’d put it on my tab, then leaned lightly against the bar as usual and smiled.

She stared at me as if she had something to say, then shrugged and finally asked directly.

“Hey, Yehoel. That incident yesterday… Mickey was in charge, right? There’s no way he wouldn’t come here for this long. Hmm? Nothing happened to him, right?”

When the summons came in the early morning and I went to the dwarf residential area, all that remained was a towering War Spirit and smugglers riddled with submachine gun bullets, and there was definitely one empty car in the parking lot.

I wasn’t sure if it was Michael who finished the job, but the style was definitely his. He probably quietly followed them to the end, shot them dead, and returned.

After confirming once again that the bartender had no interest in me whatsoever, I sighed deeply and nodded.

“I wasn’t going to tell you because I was worried you’d be concerned…”

“Liar.”

Damn, caught immediately. Her intuition was wickedly sharp.

“I thought you wouldn’t notice…”

“Right.”

“I don’t know exactly. We were investigating together until around lunch, but when the death magic went off, I escaped with the civilians. Michael stayed behind to investigate further.”

The bartender bared her teeth and started to growl but slowly steadied her breath. She didn’t seem angry with me. She was probably angry at the detective who remained there with only one life… but she wouldn’t interrogate me, right?

“Anyway, I haven’t heard from him since… but it seems like he finished the job. When I got there after being summoned at dawn, the way it was handled was exactly his style. Though there’s more than one problem solver in New York.”

“He’s the only one who can withstand death magic. Still, if he’s okay, he’ll come by in a few days, right?”

The bartender’s expression was deeply worried. Aren’t bartenders usually the ones who listen to others’ troubles? Then today, I’ll be the angel bartender Yehoel.

Thinking I should get a free meal from the detective later for this conversation, I lowered myself over the bar to meet the bartender’s eyes. With flames constantly flickering in my eyes, it wasn’t easy to make eye contact.

“Why don’t you just call him? I know you have both his office number and personal number.”

“Hey, hey. Even if I know them, it’s not that easy.”

Ah, for the first time, I saw the bartender with a flustered expression. Whatever the detective did, he had put a woman in a difficult position… so I had benefited in my own way.

The bartender paced in circles a couple of times before going into the back room of the bar and coming out again. She came out too quickly to have made a call, so it seemed he wasn’t answering.

“He’s not answering?”

“He’s not answering…”

The bartender looked around with a sigh. Perhaps because it was the day after such an incident, we were the only customers just before lunch time at Two Face, which usually did good business.

She approached the window and lowered the blinds. The thick wooden blinds blocked the sunlight, and when she turned on the indoor lighting, it finally had the atmosphere of an illegal bar. Today Bar Two Face would start early.

“Yehoel, the Prohibition enforcement team doesn’t have this place on their schedule today, right?”

“I haven’t seen the enforcement schedule, but if they come, I can turn them away. Want a drink?”

The Iris hostesses were watching our conversation as if it was somewhat interesting, yet without showing too much interest, maintaining a comfortable gaze.

I’d prefer if they were more curious about my smoothness than what kind of person this detective was… but generally, that guy was the type to take all the attention.

The bartender, falling for my words and seeming more worried, sighed deeply and first poured whiskey into small glasses for the Iris hostesses sitting on either side of me.

“Yeah, thanks to you I’m craving a drink, so I’ll have to charge you. But I’ll give it free to the ladies. You won’t get upset about that, will you, Yehoel?”

Ah, damn. God-President’s protection. If only I’d worn my Prohibition enforcement armband from home, this wouldn’t have happened. I ran my golden hand—modeled after the God-President’s mighty right hand—through my hair.

“Hey, hey. You should be glad I didn’t come wearing my Prohibition enforcement armband.”

Sighing, I took out a $5 bill from my wallet and pushed it toward her. Angels’ bodies were so sturdy that it was difficult to get drunk without cocktails as strong and alcoholic as Dragon Slayer, which smelled intensely of alcohol. And such strong cocktails were usually expensive.

“One Dragon Slayer. With hot sauce, two turns.”

We all maintain as much kindness as the money we receive. The bartender was no exception.

The irritated tone she had used with me just moments ago was gone as she mixed the drink and topped it with hot sauce. The glass slid smoothly across the bar, stopping without a wobble in front of me.

The name Dragon Slayer wasn’t given for nothing. The hot sauce sprinkled on top spread through the liquid like blood diffusing in water, creating a bloody texture. I picked up the glass and brought it to the Iris hostess.

“Can you light this for me? And yes, this is an extension request. Since I haven’t gotten anything out of this visit… I’ll have to pay properly and keep you until night.”

In this vile street, the only people you can trust are those you’ve paid properly and made contracts with. As an angel, I didn’t worry about such things, but after becoming a fallen angel, I began to distinguish between those I could trust and those I couldn’t.

The hostess sitting beside me gathered mana at her fingertips and lit the alcohol on fire. It was an implicit sign of agreement, and my paid extension of trust had been approved.

I’m glad I came to Two Face. Yehoel downed the flaming drink, and his angelic holiday—smelling of cheap perfume and sticky, tongue-numbingly sweet enamel wine—continued.