Chapter 238

Chapter 238

Paolo died at the hands of Anguis Regina.  

Since Paolo’s residence was an apartment complex, the gunshot echoed into the neighboring units.  

‘I need to destroy the evidence.’  

Jafa acted the moment she grasped the situation. There was no time to grieve or despair.  

However, it was difficult to cover up a gunshot and a murder that had occurred in the middle of an apartment complex.  

“I, I, killed my dad….”  

Only then did Anguis Regina seem to come to her senses, her hands trembling violently.  

“It’s okay, Elize. It’s okay. This isn’t your fault. It’s Kinuan’s fault. Kinuan….”  

Jafa must have realized it was Kinuan’s doing as well. The only obstacle in Kinuan’s way had been Jafa. Jafa was not someone easily controlled.  

‘A section of the study is empty. There are signs of rummaging.’  

Jafa also noticed that something was off about the study. Since she had no interest in Arcane Civilization or Paolo’s research, she couldn’t tell what was missing.  

‘Kinuan, what exactly are you after?’  

Once again, my head felt like it was going to burn up.  

‘If there was something he needed, he’s had plenty of chances to take it from the study before. What more could he possibly need?’  

Kinuan had claimed he needed Paolo’s legacy and had offered information on Giselle in return.  

‘Liar.’  

I wanted to scream. Kinuan didn’t need Paolo’s legacy at all.  

I had to read Kinuan’s thoughts. But it was difficult. I couldn’t even step on his shadow.  

“Elize, hand me the gun….”  

To Jafa, Anguis Regina’s well-being was more important than Kinuan’s whereabouts. She moved first to handle the situation.  

“J-Jafa, Dad said… he said Mom killed him. So that means… you’ll kill me too….”  

Anguis Regina stepped back as if avoiding Jafa. Her arms twitched.  

“Kinuan said that? That’s a lie—”  

Jafa stopped mid-sentence, realizing her mistake. Anguis Regina’s eyes widened.  

“A lie? A… a lie? Then, I… I killed my innocent dad? Th-then, I… I….”  

Anguis Regina’s face twisted in agony. Her unstable mental state was on full display.  

“No, that’s not what I meant…!”  

Jafa tried to stop her in a panic.  

Anguis Regina pointed the gun at her temple and pulled the trigger.  

Bang!  

Jafa barely managed to touch Anguis Regina’s arm. However, the bullet had already lodged itself in her head.  

“El… lize?”

Despair seeped into Jafa’s voice. If Anguis Regina had died here, even Jafa would have crumbled.  

‘A Jafa who lost Anguis Regina would have become a Tajirun more ruthless and merciless than anyone else.’  

The warmth that still lingered in Jafa came from Anguis Regina.  

Tremble.  

Anguis Regina’s body was shaking. She wasn’t dead yet.  

Jafa no longer had time to hesitate. Without thinking about what came next, she grabbed Anguis Regina and bolted out.  

This was the catastrophe Kinuan had left behind.  

*         *         *  

After the catastrophe, Jafa’s life was in complete shambles, so much so that she didn’t even know where to start picking up the pieces.  

Left alone, Jafa had to push herself to her absolute limits. She must have realized for the first time just how capable she truly was.  

For now, Anguis Regina had survived. However, whether due to the bullet’s impact on her brain or the psychological trauma, her identity and memories were in complete disarray. She was incapable of normal thought.  

And at this point, someone appeared—someone unexpected yet also inevitable.  

‘Doctor Gaya.’  

Jafa reached out to Gaya, the doctor who had treated Gabriel and a Force user from the Holy Corite Alliance.  

Jafa pushed Anguis Regina’s wheelchair to Gaya’s clinic.  

“I heard you’re highly skilled.”  

“…I’ll tell you in advance, even as her guardian, you won’t be allowed to interfere with my treatment.”  

“As long as you can bring this child’s soul back to reality by any means, I will be satisfied.”  

Jafa explained to Gaya everything that had happened to Anguis Regina.  

The treatment began, and Jafa made regular visits to Gaya’s clinic to check on Anguis Regina’s condition.  

“…Elize is reconstructing and distorting her own memories. With the combination of brain damage and trauma, I can’t say for certain what the best course of action is. But at the very least, this seems to be the only way to bring her back to reality.”  

After long discussions, Jafa and Gaya reached a decision—the birth of Anguis Regina.  

Countless problems loomed before Jafa. The first priority was suppressing the dangerous rumors. There were also many who, amid the chaos, sought to uncover the secrets behind Jafa Burger.  

Jafa used the wealth and power she had built up. Like any other Tajirun, she fought against her enemies with ruthless efficiency.  

By the time she came to her senses, she had constructed a towering empire, crushing people beneath its weight. Her name had become synonymous with power in Border City.  

‘She even had the stomach to stain her hands as much as necessary.’

The Tajirun who once vomited from moral guilt was long gone. Now, for the sake of her goals, she even kidnapped her own kind and extracted Flavor Oil from them while they were still alive.  

Somewhere beneath Border City, there was a sauce factory.  

‘Jafa's inheritance from Paolo is the secret recipe for the sauce.’  

The legacy Jafa took from Paolo was the method of producing Flavor Oil using the Tajirun.  

‘Paolo never revealed the Flavor Oil recipe to Jafa, no matter what.’  

Jafa had ransacked Paolo’s study and found a notebook detailing the recipe. She memorized it entirely, then burned the notebook to ashes.  

Srrk.  

Jafa absentmindedly rubbed the back of her bare neck. Ironically, the bomb collar had also been a symbol of their bond.  

“Why…?”  

Jafa’s voice was hollow.  

Paolo had set it up so that Jafa’s bomb collar would deactivate upon his death. That meant the collar would also be removed if she traveled far enough out of signal range.  

‘Why would that psycho do that?’  

Who could ever understand the thoughts of a dead man?  

‘Maybe Paolo wasn’t even the one who killed his ex-wife, Zola. I only arrogantly assumed he was capable of it.’  

Paolo had been a complicated man. He had both culinary talent and remarkable achievements, yet his obsession with archaeology remained an enigma.  

‘There’s no way to uncover the thoughts and inner workings of the dead.’  

Jafa moved forward, preparing step by step.  

‘Equessian mercenaries.’  

She hired an exclusive force of Equessian mercenaries. It seemed they were paid based on a percentage of Jafa Trading Company’s revenue. No wonder they dedicated themselves entirely to advancing Jafa’s interests.  

‘I’m slowly seeing the Jafa I once knew take shape.’  

Jafa had built Jafa Trading Company into an unshakable fortress, and Anguis Regina had returned to reality, albeit burdened with warped memories and lingering anxiety.  

For years, Jafa and Anguis Regina barely crossed paths. When they did, they exchanged only brief greetings and a few words. But even those small interactions must have been enough of a comfort for Jafa.  

‘Afterward, Jafa pursued the clues that Kinuan had deliberately left behind.’  

Kinuan had once left Jafa a lead—Akies Victima.  

Because of that, Jafa sought out Akies Victima users to track down Kinuan.  

‘To settle her grudge and to understand the mind of the late Paolo.’  

The problem was that most of the Akies Victima users she hired were either incompetent or downright useless.

‘They even made advances on Anguis Regina. This was partly Anguis Regina’s fault… but Jafa wouldn’t have cared.’  

Exhausted from "disposing" of these leeches, Jafa decided to hire a proper detective.  

‘That would be me.’  

Jafa had spent an unprecedented amount of capital and effort tracking me down. The process had been far more complex and dangerous than I had expected—so much so that she even had to tamper with Jafa Trading Company’s financial records.  

‘Is this all there is?’  

Jafa’s memories were coming to an end.  

‘The only legacy Jafa inherited from Paolo Kwan is the Flavor Oil recipe.’  

I was grinding my teeth.  

It was already clear to me that Kinuan had used Jafa to wake me up. That was nothing new.  

‘Did he toy with me again?’  

While I was busy focusing on Paolo Kwan’s legacy… what had Kinuan been planning?  

‘Did I miss something?’  

Think, Luka.  

There’s a missing piece. But there’s no immediate way to obtain it.  

I have to infer, form a hypothetical piece, and fit it into the current picture.  

‘There must be a perfectly fitting hypothesis that explains Kinuan’s actions. He’s the same kind of person as me. He thinks rationally—without a doubt.’  

If my brain was a tangled thread, it was now unraveling one strand at a time. I carefully rewove the loose ends, reconstructing my thoughts.  

‘Don’t overlook anything.’  

Jafa’s memories might not hold significant meaning, but they did provide a few more clues.  

Yeah, it wasn’t completely useless. This would help me understand and track Kinuan.  

I was pulling out of the virtual simulation. Jafa’s memories were fading.  

Wooong.  

The hum of the simulation device buzzed through my head. I blinked groggily as I opened my eyes.  

“Hoyot, was it helpful?”  

Jafa spoke before I even had a chance to remove my helmet.  

“At the very least, I’ve definitely figured out your weaknesses.”  

“I’ve shown you everything, including the unnecessary parts of my past. I trust… you understand what that means, Luka.”  

Jafa was asking me to trust her.  

‘She’s different from someone who discards relationships like useless scraps.’  

Yeah, she was right. Jafa valued her connections.  

I should have realized that sooner. Well, in the end, it’s my fault. My warped thinking had narrowed my perspective.  

Anguis Regina, En, Lapis…  

No matter what kind of relationship they had, they all trusted and followed Jafa. Beyond mere financial contracts, there was a genuine bond between them.

‘A relationship built on nothing but lies and hypocrisy could never be this strong.’  

Jafa’s past was proof of that. She valued those around her—even a psychopath like Paolo.  

‘Jafa is by no means a good person. She’s not kind.’  

But how many relationships in this world can be defined purely by good and evil?  

What mattered was her attitude and thoughts toward me.  

‘This Tajirun won’t betray me easily. Even if it means taking a loss, she’ll try to uphold duty and loyalty.’  

This was what Jafa wanted to show me.  

No amount of words—whether a hundred or a thousand—would convince me. The only way was to show me directly.  

I removed my helmet and stepped out of the simulation device. The heat from the machine and the helmet left my head burning. My scalp was sticky with sweat.  

Srrk.  

I ran my fingers through my hair, pushing it back.  

“I just want to find Kinuan and hold him accountable for the catastrophe. That’s really all there is to it. Hoyot, though, I do have one more thing. I want to understand the side of Paolo that I never knew.”  

Jafa dismissed the Equessian mercenaries and stepped closer to me.  

“It won’t be easy, Jafa. Let me be honest. Kinuan knows our movements in remarkable detail. I don’t know how, but he does.”  

“You think there’s a leak from me?”  

“I doubt it. You manage your organization too meticulously. Kinuan is getting his information in a way we haven’t accounted for.”  

Jafa folded her hands behind her back and paced, deep in thought.  

‘I’ve already met Kinuan before.’  

I wanted to say it. I should say it. I didn’t want any misunderstandings in the future.  

“Jafa, I need to tell you some—”  

I stopped mid-sentence and looked up.  

Srrk.  

I wasn’t the only one reacting. Some of the Equessians had noticed, too. En was among them.  

Craaaaaack!  

The ceiling was splitting apart. From the widening fissure, crimson flames and blue firestorms twisted and surged like liquid.  

A chill ran down my spine.  

Anyone familiar with battle would know exactly what was coming next.  

‘Explosion.’  

Everything slowed.  

My overheated body moved on instinct.  

Whoosh!

I reached out and yanked Jafa toward me in one swift motion. But she was bigger than me—I couldn’t shield her completely. All I could do was try to pull her out of harm’s way.  

Kwa-aaaang!  

An explosion erupted, and the ceiling of the office came crashing down. Every piece of furniture and object in the room was lifted into the air, caught in the shockwave, and sent flying.  

Even the pressure of the blast felt overwhelming. My consciousness flickered for a moment.  

Kuuuuung.  

The lingering impact of the explosion made the air tremble ominously. I was thrown around, slamming into things in every direction.  

Throb. Throb.  

Everything hurt. I couldn’t even pinpoint exactly where.  

This situation had to be bad. I didn’t want to see it. I felt an instinctive reluctance to open my eyes.  

But we always have to face reality head-on.  

Just because we don’t want to see it, just because we refuse to accept it—reality doesn’t change.  

If reality is cruel, then we have no choice but to endure that cruelty. That’s the unchangeable truth.  

…Alright. Open your eyes and get up, Luka.

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