Chapter 251

Chapter 251

I stared at the traces left by Boyan.  

‘A third-floor terrace garden meant for temple staff’s welfare and relaxation.’  

The spot where Boyan had presumably landed had crushed and broken bushes and branches.  

‘Boyan must have gone out in the middle of the night. So, it was last night.’  

If it had been during the day, someone would have spotted Boyan and reported it.  

‘Jafa sure has it rough.’  

I looked up. At this point, I was starting to grow attached to Jafa’s corporate building.  

Repair drones, androids, and heavy equipment were scattered across the exterior walls of Jafa’s building, moving here and there.  

Due to the consecutive attacks, Jafa’s corporate building was in a constant cycle of repairs and maintenance. As a result, the security system wasn’t functioning properly.  

“Haa, haa…”  

Yanaka, who had lagged behind, was panting heavily. She must have taken the stairs in leaps instead of using the elevator.  

“You’ve got the nerve to run your mouth without fearing a tiger, but I guess you don’t have the guts to jump?”  

“I-I don’t have cybernetic implants like you do!”  

“You can still do it with a bit of technique. The wall has plenty of spots to grab onto.”  

I tapped the exterior wall with the back of my hand as I spoke. Yanaka followed the motion of my hand with her gaze before raising an eyebrow.  

“Did Boyan really jump all the way down from there? That quiet kid?”  

“Boyan’s father was an exceptional warrior among the Crawlers. Boyan inherited those genes well. Even without effort or training, he possesses superhuman strength and agility by human standards.”  

Yanaka tilted her head back and stared up for a long while. She wore a doubtful expression.  

“Then why are you making him study? If he underwent combat training, he’d become strong in no time…”  

“That’s what he wants. Besides, Boyan is remarkably patient for a Crawler, and he has a broad perspective. You know how other Crawlers live, don’t you?”  

I had once delved deep into researching the Crawler species because of Boyan.  

The Crawlers of Border City lived short-sighted lives, indulging only in immediate pleasure and violence. Most of them were criminals and gang members, and the few who held legitimate jobs were either mercenaries or bodyguards. Even in those roles, they were overshadowed by the Equessians.  

‘In civilized society, Crawlers lack the ability to achieve anything long-term.’  

Their superior physical abilities and innate tendency for violence were more of a curse than a blessing.  

‘Because they’ve taken everything they wanted through violence, they never even had the chance to develop other skills.’

I scratched the area between my chin and the nape of my neck, staring in the direction Boyan had run off.  

‘A misfit like Boyan, an Irregular… could be the hope of his species.’  

The Crawler race, once the absolute predators on their home planet, was being weeded out on Planet Novus. They needed individuals among them who possessed abilities beyond mere strength.  

Yanaka and I moved in search of Boyan’s trail. As we entered the bustling commercial and downtown areas, tracking him became significantly harder.  

‘Can’t exactly wake Jafa up just for this and use her information network…’  

Either way, Boyan would return home eventually.  

“Well, he probably just went to get the medication he needs.”  

“…Then it could be a dangerous situation. How can you be so calm as his guardian?”  

“It’s his own choice. He has to bear the responsibility himself. I’ve already taught him how dangerous it is and what the consequences are.”  

I prepared to head back. I didn’t want to waste my energy on this.  

“Don’t act like you’ve fulfilled your responsibility. You’re just neglecting him. We… we aren’t wise enough to take full responsibility for our choices.”  

I shifted my gaze slightly, looking at Yanaka.  

Her voice trembled faintly. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.  

“Hey, you…”  

“I get it. You’re smart and capable. You probably trusted your own decisions and judgments from a younger age than us, and most of the time, you were probably right. But that’s because… you’re exceptionally talented. Most people aren’t like that. For us, making the wrong choice is normal, and failing is something that happens all the time—constantly.”  

There was sincerity in her words, the kind that came from experience.  

It seemed like Yanaka had made a grave mistake in the past. A decision that had completely overturned her life.  

“Don’t assume you know me. I’ve failed plenty of times too.”  

“If you failed, then it’s something anyone else would have failed at too. You remind me of the Deputy Minister. Even though you’re both human, it’s like you’re from an entirely different species—your thinking and decision-making are on another level.”  

Was that a compliment or an insult…?  

“You Federation dogs sure have a sharp nose. So what exactly are you trying to say?”  

I let out a low chuckle, shrugging my shoulders.  

“Just invest one day in Boyan. Help me find him. Taking responsibility for a child’s mistakes… isn’t that what a p—no, a guardian is supposed to do? Tell me I’m wrong.”  

The more I listened, the more it made sense. When it came to the relationship between parents and children, guardians and those under their care… Yanaka’s insight and perspective surpassed mine.  

She had probably thought about this topic a lot, even outside of this conversation.

‘Was she abandoned by her parents or went through something similar?’  

There had to be a reason why Yanaka obsessively looked after kids her age.  

"Boyan’s father was a textbook Crawler warrior. His name was Regor..."  

I walked through the alleyway, recounting Boyan’s past. Yanaka listened attentively.  

‘Regor… he fulfilled his duty as a parent, even if it was in a brutal way. He took responsibility for his child’s mistakes with his own violence.’  

Regor had driven off fellow Crawlers who wanted to kill Boyan, fighting them off himself. Every night, he must have struggled against the urge to murder his own son. The relationship between a parent and child wasn’t built solely on love. Sometimes, hatred and rage could be even greater.  

‘I made a foolish mistake too. In a moment of impulse, I took on a heavy burden that should have remained Regor’s.’  

Protecting someone was something I was used to. That was the mindset and reasoning behind taking Boyan in.  

But I wasn’t protecting Boyan.  

‘…I’m raising him.’  

I was already drowning in work, buried under countless problems crashing down on me. And that damn Crawler brat wasn’t helping in the slightest—he was only making my life harder.  

Honestly, these days, I resented Boyan.  

*         *         *  

Yanaka was mobilizing her connections to search Border City. Her so-called network wasn’t much—just a bunch of delinquent kids—but there were enough of them to make it surprisingly effective.  

-What? I’m busy.  

-It’s a favor from Yanaka.  

-Damn it, fine. Where do you want me to check?  

I could hear the conversation through Yanaka’s terminal. The kids she contacted moved without question.  

I watched as Yanaka continued reaching out.  

‘They’re not listening to her out of fear.’  

Yanaka had a rare kind of leadership.  

‘…Charisma.’  

A concept completely foreign to me. Yanaka didn’t control people through fear. It seemed like everyone she contacted owed her in some way.  

-Ah, Yanaka, sorry. I’m kinda busy right now, but instead, I can—  

“No, it’s fine if you’re busy. Just let me know if the situation changes.”  

Yanaka never pressured those who turned her down.  

Charisma was enough to lead a small group. But when the scale grew, there would come a time when fear and violence would be necessary to command those beneath her.  

When that time came, someone would teach Yanaka that lesson.  

Or she would learn it on her own.

From my perspective, Yanaka was still clumsy, but to her peers, she was a highly reliable leader.  

“I’ve spread the kids out on the streets. We’ll get a call soon.”  

Yanaka said as she put away her terminal.  

We also roamed the streets, checking with alleyway drug dealers to gather information on Boyan’s whereabouts.  

“A Crawler boy, you say? Hm, if it’s a street where Crawlers gather, try over there. We don’t deal with those guys. No telling what would happen if we got on their bad side.”  

Even those selling illegal drugs avoided Crawlers.  

“A corpse, then.”  

I muttered as I narrowed my eyes.  

As we walked through an alley, we came across a bloodied corpse. Judging by the twisted limbs, they had been tortured to death.  

Corpses like this were often left abandoned in the backstreets of Border City.  

“Ugh…”  

Yanaka briefly covered her mouth as she passed by the body. She averted her gaze, showing she wasn’t used to seeing corpses.  

“You’ve never killed anyone before, have you?”  

“I h— no… I haven’t.”  

Yanaka almost blurted out a lie out of habit but stopped herself. She must have already realized there was no point in lying to me. She was sharp in her own way.  

“When you get the chance, you should take a good look at corpses like this. Think of it as a vaccination. If you don’t get used to death, you’ll be the one who dies.”  

After hearing my words, Yanaka lowered the hand covering her mouth and forced herself to face the corpse directly. Her pupils trembled, and her fingertips quivered slightly.  

“…When was the first time you killed someone?”  

“I was probably younger than you are now. Or around the same age.”  

“Did someone attack you? Was it self-defense?”  

“No. It was training. The higher-ups just threw me in and told me to kill. No matter how high your combat skills are, if you have an aversion to killing, you can’t be an excellent soldier.”  

Yanaka fell silent.  

“Teaching murder as part of training… The Empire really is different from us.”  

“It’s not that different. People live in both places. The only difference is the standard of pretense. Here, they teach that killing is wrong. In the Empire, they teach that it’s necessary. And in the real world, killing is necessary.”  

Before Yanaka could object, I continued.  

“The Federation’s elite units probably go through the same thing in secret. Imagine spending years training an elite soldier, only for them to become useless because they’re traumatized by their first kill—or they hesitate and get themselves killed. That’s a huge loss.”  

“…I never received that kind of training or education.”

"That's because you're an MAU pilot. Your main targets are Legions. Do you think of Legions as people? You probably wouldn't even feel like you'd committed murder if you blew one up entirely. From the outside, they're no different from robots. In fact, you fought against Legions with a detached mindset, like you were playing a game."  

Yanaka closed her mouth at my words. She was probably recalling her own actions and reflecting on them.  

"If you've got more criticisms, go ahead. I'll listen."  

"Not really. I'm not your instructor or guardian."  

Not long after, Yanaka’s terminal rang. A report had come in about a Crawler suspected to be Boyan. It wasn’t far from where we were.  

We turned into a darker, more ominous alleyway. It felt like a physical manifestation of unease—abandoned buildings groaned with eerie moans and distant screams.  

Ting.  

A faint gunshot echoed from afar. It was quiet enough that one could have easily missed it.  

"Wait, where are you going? The report said he was in the other direction."  

Yanaka spoke as she watched me change course.  

"I heard a gunshot from over there."  

"I didn't hear anything."  

As I walked toward the sound, I responded without looking back.  

"So?"  

"…I'll follow you."  

Yanaka sighed and trailed behind me.  

She was a pilot, but she had still been trained as a soldier, which made her easy to handle in situations like this.  

A soldier follows orders from a superior.  

Yanaka wouldn't admit it, but her subconscious had already recognized me as her superior officer.

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