Ch.98Welcome Home! (5)

#098

“It’s hot as expected.”

Stretching as he exited McCarran Airport’s Terminal 1, Dexter felt the dry air of Las Vegas, completely devoid of humidity.

It wasn’t exactly nostalgic, but there was a sense of mental relief.

If Boston was the hometown of Dexter the Earthling, Las Vegas was the hometown of Dexter the prodigal son.

Since it was a flight from one end of America to the other, even though he had departed early in the morning, it would be dinnertime in just a few hours.

-Have you arrived?

As soon as he opened his phone, Dexter saw a message from Himena, timed perfectly with his arrival.

>Just now. I’ll be taking a car from Terminal 1.

After sending his reply and putting his phone back in his pocket, a red pickup truck pulled up right in front of him.

“…?”

The heavily tinted driver’s window slowly rolled down.

“Good work!”

Inside was Himena, smiling broadly.

Surprised to see Himena, whom he had assumed would be working, right in front of him, Dexter looked at her with a startled smile.

“Didn’t you say you were going to work today?”

“Heh, I only worked the morning shift and left early. I’ve been working late all week, so I deserve at least a half day off, don’t I?”

Saying this, Himena pointed to the passenger seat with her thumb, signaling him to get in quickly.

“It feels a bit strange getting into the passenger seat of my own car.”

“You must be tired from traveling all the way to Boston and back. It’s fine.”

Even as she said this, the dark circles under Himena’s eyes were clearly visible.

Dexter was about to offer to drive instead, but predicting that she would stubbornly insist on driving anyway, he headed straight for the passenger seat.

“Then I won’t refuse…”

Sitting in the passenger seat, Dexter was enjoying the unfamiliar feeling of being driven by someone else when he noticed that Himena wasn’t wearing her usual formal attire but casual clothes.

The sight of Himena in a white off-shoulder blouse and tight-fitting skinny jeans, rather than her usual formal wear, gave Dexter a fresh perspective.

“…What is it?”

Feeling Dexter’s gaze, Himena smiled softly with a hint of embarrassment.

“Nothing, the casual clothes suit you well.”

“How can anyone live wearing formal clothes every day? Sometimes you need to wear something like this to feel refreshed.”

“That’s true.”

When Himena mentioned feeling unburdened without her formal attire, Dexter nodded in agreement.

“It’s a nice, fresh look. The white color especially makes you stand out.”

“Right? I bought it on my last day off, and it kept catching my eye. I don’t usually buy clothes often, and honestly, I’m used to having others pick them out for me…”

Dexter paused momentarily at Himena’s casual remark.

“What? Someone else picks out your clothes?”

“Ah, well… when I was at my family home, our housekeeper…”

Family home.

Hearing that a housekeeper picked out her clothes at her family home, not in pre-modern Europe but in the present day, Dexter was astounded.

“The rich really are different.”

“No! It’s just, just that I have terrible fashion sense…”

Having found something to tease her about, Dexter spoke with a playful expression, causing Himena to respond in flustered denial.

“Let’s just say that’s the reason.”

“I’m telling you it’s not!”

The two were having a friendly conversation unrelated to aliens for the first time in a while as they drove through the Strip.

At that moment, Dexter’s phone rang.

Since it was a holiday and Himena, the person he communicated with most, was right beside him, Dexter checked his phone.

As expected, it was an unfamiliar number, and he could only tell from the area code that it was from Las Vegas.

“…Hughes speaking.”

When Dexter answered, an unexpected voice came through the speaker.

-It’s me! The research draft is finally complete!

It was William’s voice, filled with excitement.

“…Mr. Pilgrim?”

-Come quickly! You must come before someone else takes it!

“Wait, my current location is… Mr. Pilgrim? Mr. Pilgrim?”

Absurdly, Pilgrim hung up after saying what he needed to say.

“What kind of person…”

About to unleash a torrent of curses, Dexter remembered that William had always been somewhat self-centered, so he decided to swallow the rest of his words.

Himena, who was driving beside him, had heard the entire conversation.

“Who was that? Pilgrim? William Pilgrim?”

“Yes, that Mr. Pilgrim.”

Not understanding why William had called, Himena asked with confusion.

“What did he call about?”

“He said his research draft is complete.”

“Research? What research?”

“Something about determining if there’s really a group infiltrating Earth. I don’t know the details myself.”

Himena pondered Dexter’s words.

She was torn between spending a rare day off with Dexter and having to meet William for something half-related to work.

Whether they should go to William’s place for the sake of OSA.

Her expression grew increasingly complex.

Dexter, noticing Himena’s dilemma, casually suggested:

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. After all, viewing the research draft was a promise between him and me.”

Himena was momentarily tempted by Dexter’s words, but she still didn’t want to waste a single minute away from him.

“…Won’t the research explanation be over quickly?”

“Hmm, I can’t guarantee that.”

Dexter shrugged and continued.

“If you were Himena, and someone was the only person who appreciated your achievements, wouldn’t you want to explain those achievements thoroughly?”

“…Well, yes… I suppose. But still.”

“That’s why I said you can go ahead without me.”

As Dexter tried to send her away, not noticing Himena’s true feelings, her lips and nose twitched.

Even that went unnoticed by Dexter, whose concentration was affected by the long flight.

“You’ve been tired lately. Wouldn’t it be better to just relax with an oil massage at a hotel spa, sipping cocktails in between?”

Of course, Himena knew Dexter was saying this out of concern for her.

The problem was that his suggestion sounded quite appealing.

‘He’s really making me think about it. This blockhead, sometimes he’s perceptive like a ghost, but he can’t understand a person’s heart at all.’

Himena’s internal conflict began.

“……”

Her nose and lips continued to twitch.

Then she made her decision.

“…I’m fine, let’s just go to Mr. Pilgrim’s place.”

“You’re choosing the path of hardship.”

“Don’t I know it?”

Himena had given up momentary comfort to choose Dexter, but the very person she chose was now teasing her.

“Haah….”

* * *

When they arrived at the location Dexter had entered into the navigation, Himena made a comment upon seeing it was a camping trailer park rather than a house or condo.

“You’re not joking, are you?”

“I might joke about other things, but not about this.”

Having heard that senior OSA agents had suffered from traps set up when they visited William, Himena had expected him to live in at least an open space. She looked around nervously.

“People really live in places like this?”

“There are people in Las Vegas who live in sewer entrances. And don’t say things like that in front of Mr. Pilgrim.”

“…I have enough tact for that.”

Himena pursed her lips at Dexter.

As they approached William’s trailer, Dexter lightly knocked on the door and said:

“Mr. Pilgrim, it’s Dexter.”

“……”

The curtain on the window next to the trailer door opened slightly, and William’s eyes peered through the gap.

-Clunk.

William, whose face appeared somewhat calmer than before—perhaps because he was taking his medication regularly—though still a bit anxious, opened the door and asked:

“Who’s that woman?”

“She’s my girlfriend. Since I was on vacation today and visited my hometown, I left my car with her.”

While not denying the girlfriend part, Himena’s ears turned slightly red at how casually Dexter introduced her to someone else.

“When you called, I had just gotten off the plane and was heading home.”

“Plane? Is your hometown that far?”

“Yes, my hometown is Boston.”

“Wow, that’s incredibly far. Ah, never mind that. Come in, come in.”

As William was about to enter the trailer, he poked his head back out and asked Himena:

“It’s a bit messy inside, is that okay?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, that’s fine.”

The two entered the trailer.

Dexter nodded approvingly at the trailer interior, which was more organized than before, while Himena was amazed that someone could live in such a cramped space.

“I only have orange soda, is that okay?”

When both of them nodded, William poured orange soda into mugs for them and slowly began to speak.

“It might need some more polishing, but…”

Dexter expected William to hand him a neatly printed document, but instead…

“…Is this handwritten?”

“It’s a draft, after all.”

It appeared to be well over 200 pages with rather small handwriting, making it hard to believe it was all written by hand.

“That’s impressive.”

“Hehehe.”

William, who hadn’t received much praise in his older years, was momentarily embarrassed by Dexter’s compliment.

Dexter soon began to slowly read through the research material William had given him, while Himena, sitting beside him with nothing particular to say or do, simply looked around the trailer.

“So you live here.”

“I used to live in a normal house… but government agents kept coming around, so I moved here.”

Himena’s eyes darted back and forth as William spoke with genuine malice, clearly distrustful of government agents.

“Ah, yes, what terrible people…”

“Indeed! Ignorant and foolish people! How dare they restrict an individual’s freedom of expression! No matter what happens, absolute values…”

Himena, who couldn’t tell William about Earth’s membership in the Neutrality Treaty since he was completely unaware of it, could only nod along and pretend to agree with his rant.

“Just look at MK Ultra! Conspiracy theories becoming reality! Any person who loves America should not tolerate such injustice and…”

As William continued his tirade against the government, Himena’s smiling face gradually contorted.

Having read enough of the material, Dexter nodded and handed it back to William.

“I’ve read it well. Judging by the inclusion of the Valley of Fire State Park incident, you must have written this draft quite recently?”

“I told you. I contacted you as soon as it was completed.”

The Valley of Fire State Park incident had been publicly reported as an accident during the transport of discarded toxic materials by the federal government.

Naturally, William believed that story wasn’t the truth.

“Recent incidents don’t appear to be initiated by the government. As I said before, it’s more like someone cleaning up after events caused by others.”

“So you’re certain there’s a group operating covertly on Earth.”

As the conversation turned serious, Dexter commented, and William nodded.

“These incidents. At first glance, they might seem unrelated. But they’re clearly the work of a single organization.”

This was also written in the draft William had prepared.

“So the government hasn’t properly identified them? But if Mr. Pilgrim knows about it, wouldn’t the government know too?”

William frowned at Himena’s question.

“Are you defending the government?”

“What? No, that’s not it… The federal government must employ tens of thousands of people, so surely some specialists more knowledgeable than Mr. Pilgrim would…”

Himena was about to continue, but Dexter, who had his hand on her shoulder, squeezed it firmly.

It was a signal to stop talking.

“Your girlfriend… she’s dangerous.”

William was someone who had suffered greatly at the hands of the federal government.

Naturally, saying anything that seemed to defend the federal government in front of him would draw his ire.

“She’s just been raised seeing only the good things. Her parents spoiled her, you know. Haha.”

“…Is that so?”

Before William could become more suspicious of Himena, Dexter changed the subject.

“Even if this group exists, what do you think they want?”

“Hmm…”

The draft didn’t specify what this group William spoke of wanted.

William hesitated at Dexter’s question, then nodded gravely and said:

“Chaos.”

“Chaos?”

“I believe they’re trying to cause chaos in Las Vegas, America, and ultimately the entire Earth.”

William looked at Dexter with a stern expression as he spoke.