He knew he hadn’t followed him all the way into the pharmacy. However, he couldn’t help feeling regret at not even being able to say goodbye.
‘Did he bring me here even though he was busy?’
Thinking about it, it was still Magnolia Bookshop’s business hours.
Chris tightly clutched the medicine bag along with the books he’d brought from Magnolia. It must have been kindness Yuri showed to a regular customer, but he kept trying to attach meaning to it, which was a problem.
Like a boy drunk on his first immature love, he kept tracing Yuri’s traces remaining in his memory. His thoughts, which had been nothing but cold even before numerous Guides, had lost their function as if paralyzed.
Chris was helplessly drawn to a man he’d only exchanged a few words with.
This situation was bewildering because it was the first time he’d felt attachment to a person since waking up with his memory lost. However, this feeling was as natural as the flow of water—when he closed his eyes, Yuri came to mind.
Chris was confused because he couldn’t know the origin of this sensation that squeezed his heart.
‘I need to get a grip.’
There was no way he could let this ticklish feeling, which even he couldn’t properly sort out, escape his lips. Moreover, he was in a state where he’d even hidden his identity and come all the way to the November Continent to carry out a mission.
Not only could he not neglect his mission by being buried in personal feelings, but an Esper’s interest would only be burdensome to an ordinary person.
Chris turned away from the pharmacy, shaking off his lingering attachment. He’d inadvertently received another gift. He thought he should find something to give Yuri as a return gift before leaving here.
‘Cigars, antique books, and LP records.’
Now that he was actually thinking about a gift, he knew almost nothing about Yuri. Chris’s shadow stretched long behind him as he headed back to the apartment, thinking that perhaps it would be okay to give him leather gloves besides those.
Perhaps it was quitting time, as Chris encountered the neighboring man who was going up ahead on the landing. He looked alternately at the medicine bag and the paper bag with books, then made a strange expression.
“You haven’t been coming in for a while, but these days do you come home on time while going in and out of that shop?”
Chris felt his chest sink coldly at those words. He hadn’t felt any surveillance gaze or anything.
He could only guess that the man had felt his comings and goings because the walls between houses were thin.
“If you’re talking about Magnolia Antiquarian Bookshop, yes. I visit often.”
When he answered while maintaining a calm expression, the neighboring man lowered his voice slightly and asked.
“Is that guy that great?”
“…Pardon?”
Chris frowned and looked at the neighboring man, not understanding his question for a moment.
Even if his desires were dragged out in broad daylight, stripped naked and put on display, it wouldn’t feel more unpleasant than this.
Though he didn’t know what the other person was saying, there was an atmosphere felt in his intonation. And Chris didn’t want to know what implications were contained in that question.
“No, I mean…”
The man fumbled, startled by the sharp gaze. Some people chime in when someone drawls and makes jokes, while others show a serious face.
“Some cop turned into a stalker and clung to him last time. Well, later he even brought an oil can and lighter to cause a disturbance, so I wondered if you were that kind of pervert too.”
Heat surged up from his stomach.
Contempt for that tone disparaging Yuri when he couldn’t have even properly experienced him, anger toward the cop whoever it was who had stalked him, and worry for the man who quietly ran the bookshop despite going through such a big incident—all mixed together.
“…I’m not.”
Suppressed emotion was melted into the low voice. The neighboring man, overwhelmed just by Chris frowning with his larger build and intimidating atmosphere than him, shrank his shoulders then blurted out a greeting with an “oh my” expression.
“Um, I was thoughtless. Well then, have a good night!”
Chris’s gaze followed the tail of the man who disappeared inside his own home, opening the door as if fleeing.
Watching the door close with a thud, Chris hardened his expression.
Having someone pay attention to his every move was never a pleasant feeling. Especially bringing up Yuri’s story as if prying was unbearably unpleasant.
Entering his home, Chris used the bathroom while leaving the sink water running hard, then washed his hands and came out. It was to block out surrounding sounds as much as possible since learning about the listening device.
He carefully stacked the books he’d newly received from Yuri beside the existing books. Chris, who had turned to go prepare dinner, stopped and turned his head sharply.
As if possessed by something, Chris picked up Dracula, which had been the only one lying separately, from the bed.
He placed Dracula at the far left of the books stacked in order of purchase.
Chris’s gaze moved along the first letter of each book title.
<Dracula>, <A Farewell To Arms>, <Northanger Abbey>, <I know why the caged bird sings>, <In cold blood>, <Little Women>
Dracula, A Farewell to Arms, Northanger Abbey, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, In Cold Blood, Little Women
D-A-N-I-I-L
“Danil…?”
***
3) GSR (Gun Shot Residue): Gunshot residue
4) Cannabis
5) Poppy
6) Cocaine
Chapter 5. Come, Sweet Death (Komm, süßer Tod)
It was a quiet morning. Despite his restless mood, calm air enveloped Chris. He got up feeling slightly dazed and headed to the bathroom, passing the scattered pile of books.
Standing under the shower, he turned the lever and cold water poured down toward his head, washing away sleep.
Though he deliberately didn’t turn on the hot water, Chris’s body reacted numbly to the cold. His physical condition had been unusual since last night.
While forcibly suppressing the energy imbalance that creaked from not being stabilized, Chris checked his terminal.
A message from Andrea had arrived.
<I found where Heaven’s Kiss is being distributed.>
It seemed to be information she’d learned through someone she’d befriended during the longer time she spent at the re-education center compared to Chris.
The message saying she’d found Heaven’s Kiss had a brief explanation attached.
The content explained that the reason Guiding drugs were called by different names—Heaven’s Kiss, Guiding Delight, and Gentle Poison—was because their supply methods, administration forms, and concentrations differed.
Heaven’s Kiss was in powder form inhaled through the nose, Gentle Poison used arterial injection. Guiding Delight was a version processed into pills that could be swallowed.
She added that she couldn’t understand why they’d made different processing forms if they all served the same purpose—to substitute for Guiding.
Chris agreed. Guiding drugs weren’t like luxury goods. They were closer to oxygen or water that you’d die without. So rather than creating new processing lines for marketing and wasting money, it would be wiser to invest in stable supply and distribution.
‘For something treated as taboo among taboos and an urban legend, why can it be found so easily?’
Chris had been able to access Gentle Poison and Guiding Delight without difficulty. And now Andrea had also found the whereabouts of Heaven’s Kiss in succession.
‘Is it because the November Continent is lawless territory?’
For now, that guess was the best he could do.
Putting aside his doubts and checking the summary Andrea sent, among the Guiding drugs, there were two places selling Heaven’s Kiss in total. One was a place called Black Pit, and the other was a building in Aurum City’s 4th Ward.
<Where exactly is Black Pit?>
<That’s what I need to find out now. If I pressed for details, it seemed like it would raise suspicion. I was hoping Chris-ssi could go to Aurum 4th Ward.>
The 4th Ward was where the Northern Light branch was located. He had to go receive Guiding anyway. Though he hadn’t used his ability much, perhaps due to exposure to Guiding drugs, Chris’s energy was in an unstable state. Though it hadn’t been noticeable until last night, when he woke up this morning his shoulders felt heavy.
After meeting Luca, he could appropriately complicate his route and head to Heaven’s Kiss’s distribution location.
<Understood.>
Chris wrote his reply and sent it, then chewed and swallowed cold bread before standing up. Right now there was something more urgent than eating.
Boarding the tram, Chris rubbed his temples. He hadn’t been in his right mind since yesterday evening.
It was unrelated to the incident where Yuri had stirred up his heart and passed by, or the stalker problem his neighbor had mentioned.
D-A-N-I-I-L
Since last night, those six letters had been stirring up Chris’s head.
‘It must be a coincidence.’
While thinking it was an unpleasant coincidence, his hands were deliberately scattering the six books randomly.
‘It must be a coincidence.’
