# Chapter 48
If Boss had died, I would have felt the same as Zenon. Or perhaps even worse.
Zenon voiced his dark feelings, mixed with sorrow and pain, like an abyss.
“Yeah, I thought about dying like this many times.”
His voice was lifeless, like dry, ashen embers. That’s what it’s like when someone precious dies. There’s no reason to live anymore, and the world becomes filled with nothing but sorrow, like living in hell.
When I imagined Boss not being there, the scene automatically formed in my mind.
In Zenon’s case, it would be even more so because of his guilt. Despite such emotions not suiting him at all.
I wished for Zenon to let go of all these feelings. But no matter what I said, his heart wouldn’t change.
I had never experienced losing someone precious. I could imagine it, but reality and imagination are vastly different.
So what Zenon needed now was someone who could empathize with him more than anyone—
“I’m similar to you.”
Kane was needed.
“How so?”
“I recently lost someone precious too.”
He too had lost someone he wanted to protect. It was just a diary, but his emotions were conveyed so vividly.
“But—”
“It was essentially the same as if I killed them.”
Though it wasn’t intentional, it was Kane who injected the drug. So his guilt must be even greater than Zenon’s. It was no different from injecting poison into someone he wanted to protect.
At first, Zenon seemed to think it was just empty consolation, but as I continued speaking, he must have felt a sense of kinship, as his expression subtly changed.
“Then what did you do?”
It was a desperate question, as if seeking an answer he couldn’t find from someone else. I chose my words carefully from Kane’s perspective.
“At first, I thought about dying too, but I realized my sin was too great for that.”
Avoidance isn’t just about running away. Suicide is also a form of avoidance. Nothing changes by dying. That’s why Kane couldn’t die either.
“So I decided to live the rest of my life for him. It’s the only thing I can do for him now.”
“…I see. Yes, dying like this wouldn’t be for his sake either.”
“Right.”
Besides, I didn’t want him to die. Even when I was filled with feelings of betrayal, I never wanted to kill him. Why would that be different now?
“So please live. Even if it’s to atone for your sins to him.”
All I wanted was for Zenon to live. I tried my best to suppress the rising emotions. The tips of my fingers trembled slightly.
“…”
Zenon was mulling over my words with his mouth shut. I added more to my words directed at him.
“Besides, you never know. He might have already forgiven you.”
“That’s impossible…”
It might be hard to believe, but it’s true. There was nothing to forgive in the first place. From the beginning, I was looking for reasons why Zenon had no choice but to do what he did, in order to forgive him.
Even if he really was a spy, I couldn’t have wished for his death. The memories of the past would have held me back.
At my sincere words, Zenon’s lips finally curled upward. It was a very faint smile, but seeing that he was somewhat relieved made me smile as well.
“Thank you, that helped a lot.”
“I’m glad I could help.”
“If you ever need anything, just let me know. I’ll help if I can.”
Need anything… With those final words, Zenon showed a bright smile and turned around. Unlike his time in the organization, his hair was neatly braided into a single plait that swayed gently in the air.
I wondered what Kane would have thought at a time like this. As soon as I heard Zenon’s words, only one thing came to mind.
A meaningless wish that no one could fulfill. I carefully voiced that wish.
“…How do I go back to that time?”
It was my true feelings that I could only express after Zenon had disappeared.
* * *
A researcher dressed in a perfectly fitted suit that matched the solemn atmosphere opened his mouth. His low, grave voice reached the person sitting on the sofa.
“Why did you assign him as her guard?”
He had straightened his bowed back, but he couldn’t bring himself to meet the eyes of the person in front of him. A pressure so intense it made breathing difficult pierced his entire body. The researcher tried to stand straight, forcing strength into his trembling body.
The person who was sitting leisurely in front of the waiting researcher spoke unhurriedly while sipping the tea placed before him.
“When you’ve caught bait, you have to use it.”
At first glance, the voice sounded rough and aged, but the spirit behind it surpassed even that of a young man. Despite his relaxed posture, he did not forget his dignity, and each gesture was authoritative.
The researcher inhaled sharply at the atmosphere that didn’t match the wrinkled face, and spoke with difficulty.
“…So you plan to use him to catch the organization.”
If Zenon had betrayed Peace, he might be in communication with the organization. By using this to learn the organization’s plans in advance and making the first move, they could capture them quickly.
“When they have our weakness, we must have theirs as well.”
However, his answer was different from what the researcher had in mind. The weakness must be related to the experiment. But since Peace already controlled all the media, there was nothing they could do.
Yet, he seemed unsatisfied with just that and spoke of exploiting the organization’s weakness.
“You mean… A-11 is the weakness?”
“Based on the circumstances, yes, but something seems off.”
He put down the teacup he was holding and began speaking calmly.
“For him, this place was just a game… A weakness, you say.”
The desire that everyone has didn’t exist in him. So there was no way a weakness existed either. No one would have commissioned the extraction of the test subject, which means it must have been done by the organization itself.
Even if they were valuable, if they couldn’t be a weakness, there was no meaning.
“A game?”
Looking at the researcher who stupidly repeated the question, he put down his teacup. Not only was he a coward, but he was also oblivious. He had ordered for intelligent people to be recruited, but there was a flaw.
I’ll have to deal with him later. It’s convenient to cut off useless people in advance.
He shifted his gaze to the table. A wooden chessboard was placed there like a decoration.
“Yes, like chess, for example.”
A game where all that matters is winning against the opponent. There’s no room for personal emotions there.
Beyond treating people as mere pieces, he even considered his own life as just another piece. A game ends when the king dies, so there was a certain limit, but the fact that he considered himself a piece showed how little interest he had in life.
He was someone completely different from himself, who would do anything for his goal, and thus deemed suitable for maintaining balance.
“That means he’s that ruthless of a person.”
The researcher, who couldn’t understand his words, tried his best to think and not offend him.
He smiled mockingly at the face that clearly showed what he was thinking.
“We’ll know that if the bait does its job properly.”
With these slowly uttered words, he raised his hand. That hand moved the white king on the table.
“Whether he’s a monster wearing a human disguise, or a human wearing a monster’s disguise.”
The king arrived right in front of the black king. He took the white king and gently knocked down the black king. The black king wobbled and then fell over ingloriously. Seeing this, he smiled with satisfaction.
It was a smile suggesting that whether a monster or a human, they couldn’t be his match.
* * *
Alex spoke while looking at Boss, who was filled with worries. Even at a glance, his complexion had worsened, but in the current situation with mountains of work, it couldn’t be helped.
“Currently, the barrier that Zenon maintained has been lifted, but our location hasn’t been discovered.”
It was natural for Zenon, who had been exposed as a spy, to lift the barrier, so Alex didn’t have any particular doubts, but he found what followed a bit strange. It would be normal for a spy to pass on the information they know to Peace. And among that information, there must be details about the headquarters’ location.
But so far, there were no signs of being discovered. Fenil even said that no other information had leaked out. Then why did Zenon infiltrate the organization?
Boss nodded at Alex’s words, as if he roughly understood the situation.
“We should have A-rank barrier ability users on our side as well.”
They might not be as good as S-rank, but it was obvious that no one would dare to attack “Alice” anyway. An A-rank should be sufficient.
Alex, who had been planning to suggest relocating the headquarters, spoke in confusion.
“But now that we’ve confirmed Zenon is a spy, there’s a risk of being discovered…”
“It’s fine. Peace won’t attack us anyway.”
“But wasn’t it Peace that placed the bounty?”
It might be calm now, but they couldn’t be at ease. Yet he was so nonchalant. What did Boss know? The questions that kept tangling like unraveled threads could finally be resolved with Boss’s following words.
“Unlike other organizations, ‘Alice’ is the most powerful domestic organization currently.”
“You mean they won’t capture us to maintain balance?”
“Exactly. If ‘Alice’ falls, other villains will cause massive riots.”
As Alex finally seemed to understand and exclaimed, Boss gave an affirmative answer. When a major force collapses and similar forces line up, chaos naturally ensues.
Those who were suppressed by the major force would run rampant. To prevent such incidents, there needed to be a single force holding power on the villain side as well.
And that was “Alice.”
