Bad Born Blood-Chapter 189

Chapter 189

I steadied my breathing, still intoxicated by the afterglow of battle.

Even though I had sealed away the Firelight Twinblades and placed restrictions on myself, this time, I had fully unleashed my skills in close combat. The Menoan Guard Commander was strong enough to take it all.

Back in my days as an Imperial Guard cadet, I used to have three or four chances a month to vent my aggression. There were frequent real combat missions, too.

One of the hardest times I had in Akbaran was during my dispatch to the Cracia Academy. I thought I was going to lose my mind back then.

Now that I had let it all out, everything felt quiet.

I closed my eyes and checked within myself. The overwhelming urges that had once surged so violently they threatened to burst outward were now still. One day, they would rise again, but not for a while. My emotions had settled, and I could see the world with clearer reason.

Looking at it this way... I really had drifted too far from what was normal. My aggression had been on the higher side among the cadets, but they had all shared similar tendencies and dispositions. frёewebnoѵēl.com

However, the people I had met in Border City—while far from normal themselves—had rarely struggled to control their aggression like I did. I was practically the only one.

"You’ve turned from a monster into a person."

Ragnata’s voice came from inside the duffel bag.

"I’m starting to feel the urge to rip that tongue out."

I opened my eyes, arms crossed, and looked at Jafa and the Guard Commander.

Strange.

The two of them seemed to know each other. Jafa looked down at the Guard Commander and said something in Tajirunese.

The Guard Commander had shown no particular emotion despite losing all his subordinates and fighting me so fiercely. He had conveyed his feelings through solemn actions instead.

But now, facing Jafa, his emotions were written all over his face—rage, contempt, hatred...

The Guard Commander despised Jafa with all his being. He shouted in Tajirunese, his tone accusatory, while Jafa simply listened in silence.

Would Jafa let the Guard Commander live?

By now, I could vaguely understand the emotional signals of the Tajirunese.

Jafa was looking at the Guard Commander with pity. He reached out toward the Equessian mercenary, signaling for transport.

But then, something unexpected happened.

Crack!

The Guard Commander refused Jafa’s mercy. With his remaining hand, he struck his own throat. His windpipe twisted unnaturally under the force of his knifehand, and a chilling sound of life being cut short echoed through the air.

—If you perform emergency treatment right now, you can still save him, Jafa.

One of the Equessian mercenaries spoke through a translator. Now that I thought about it, En was nowhere to be seen.

“No, let her die. It was her own choice.”

Jafa turned his back as he spoke. His already narrow eyes thinned even further, deep in thought.

"Is this situation mostly wrapped up now?"

I asked Jafa. He glanced back and forth between me and Ragnata.

"Mr. Luka, you’ve gained another companion. And if I remember correctly, I requested you to guard Anguis Regina, not provide support..."

I shrugged. I had nothing to say to that. The only reason I was here was to satisfy my own personal urges.

Jafa never needed my help.

He had made thorough preparations for today. Even I had been surprised by his bold move to blow up an entire floor of the building.

"Anguis Regina is in a safe house. Want me to bring her?"

"I’ll leave that to someone else. More importantly, I’m curious about the person beside you. She doesn’t look... in the best condition."

"She’s the assassin who ambushed Anguis Regina. And... an old acquaintance of mine."

I cobbled together a convenient explanation. A low chuckle came from Ragnata.

"So, she was an enemy at some point. We’ll send her to the holding cells and hear the details later. That should be fine, right?"

Jafa must have had a splitting headache right now. There was more than enough chaos for him to deal with.

And now, I actually had the mental space to be considerate of Jafa.

I nodded and handed the duffel bag containing Ragnata to the Equessian. Ragnata would be taken to the holding cells in the underground levels of the building.

"She’s badly injured, so give her some painkillers and antibiotics. But never untie her arms. She’s weakened, and she’s lost her legs, but... she was once a notorious assassin. Let your guard down, and you’ll lose your head. Your comrades already did."

The mention of his fallen comrades made the Equessian flinch slightly. But soon, he suppressed any personal emotions, hoisted up the duffel bag, and carried it away.

Jafa activated the hologram on his terminal and started issuing orders to his staff. Then, he began conversing with media outlets and Border City officials. He was informing the city’s key figures that the situation had been stabilized.

"I’ll send out an official press release with the details. Yes, yes, hooo... and the report will be ready by the day after tomorrow..."

Being the head of an organization was an exhausting job. I could never do it. You had to say things you didn’t even mean. If it were me, the stress would cut my lifespan in half.

Jafa, having finished handling the urgent matters, downed a bottle of water in large gulps.

"Is En dead?"

"Came close. He’s receiving treatment now."

"So much for acting high and mighty—guess he got taken down."

"He took on the most dangerous role. En was the one who bought us time until the explosives were armed. He’s never once disappointed me. Never failed a mission either."

Jafa’s trust in him was clear. Though technically just an employer and a mercenary, they’d been through too much together for it to be just that.

I wanted to see how En fought. I’d been curious about his skills for a while now. Eventually, I’d get the chance. If he managed to hold off the Menoan Guard, then he wasn’t just all talk.

"Are you going to renegotiate with the Menoa Family now? You’re back to being an exile. We stopped an attack on this side, and they must have taken heavy losses too—seems like there’s room for a truce."

I brought up the topic. Jafa looked at me thoughtfully.

"Did you hear about me from Anguis Regina?"

"Half from her. The other half from elsewhere."

"That woman mentioned the Menoan Guard earlier. As you said, I was once part of the Menoa Family, but now I’m an exile. Are you interested?"

"More than interest, knowing about you makes it easier to find Kinuan. And my guess is, you’re keeping information to yourself because it’s tied to all of this."

Right now, Jafa was in a difficult position with a lot to handle. Negotiating with the Menoa Family was a necessity.

But his head of security, En, had been severely injured.

That left a gap in his forces, and I was the perfect fit to fill it. This was my chance to gain access to Jafa’s private information.

"Mr. Luka, I assume you already know what I’m about to say. You seem to have led me to this point, after all—hoyot."

I liked how well we understood each other. I smirked.

"I’ll take over En’s role for the time being. No charge. Consider it free of cost."

"...Well, if you had any conscience, you wouldn’t take payment. For the record, hearing the word ’conscience’ from a Tajirunese is quite rare."

* * *

Three days had passed since the attack on Jafa Corporation. Things were gradually returning to normal. Anguis Regina’s tour was also expected to resume once things had fully stabilized.

Step, step.

I walked down the hospital corridor, heading to En’s room. Technically, it was to get a formal handover of his duties.

But that was just an excuse. I really just wanted to see what kind of state he was in.

"Hmm, you’re a mess. But seeing as you’re still alive, I guess Equessians really are tougher than humans."

I spoke while looking at En’s chart on the monitor. It was hard to find a single bone in his body that wasn’t broken. His body was riddled with metal rods holding his bones in place.

—You came to visit your superior and didn’t even bring a gift?

En, lying in bed, turned his head toward me. I rummaged through my pockets and pulled out a crumpled energy bar, then tossed it onto his bed.

"It’s packed with nutrients. Perfect for a patient. Happy now?"

En frowned. Seeing an Equessian without a combat helmet was strange.

Equessians were said to have evolved from creatures similar to horses on Earth—just as we had evolved from primates.

But just as humans had lost most of their body hair, Equessians no longer retained many equine features. Their long evolution had erased most of those traces. With their blue skin, they looked almost reptilian instead.

Not that their appearance interested me. What mattered was that Equessians were a resilient and formidable warrior race.

—Hospital food is disgusting, but it’s probably better than this. Next time, bring me a Jafa Burger or a pizza. They won’t even let me order delivery here.

En shot the energy bar a glance and grumbled.

"I don’t know if I’ll be back, but I’ll keep it in mind. For now, I’m Jafa’s personal bodyguard. Anything I should know?"

—You’ll have a hard time guarding a Tajirunese with a human biological cycle.

"Don’t worry about that. I can control my sleep."

—Also, Jafa doesn’t eat often, but when he does, he eats a lot. Oh, and he won’t eat unless he has a carbonated drink. After a meal, he usually sleeps for more than half a day.

The more I knew about my charge, the better. But listening to these trivial details made me feel more like a babysitter than a bodyguard.

"What else?"

—Sometimes, Jafa will wake up screaming. Just ignore it. He has frequent nightmares. And one last thing about his personal life—his private affairs are...

En suddenly coughed up blood, cutting himself off. His vitals on the monitor spiked.

Clang!

The door burst open, and medical staff rushed in. They told me the patient needed absolute rest, going on about how he shouldn’t even be talking. Apparently, his vocal cords and lungs were already punctured by metal rods.

"If neither of us dies, I’ll see you next time, Equessian."

With that, I walked out of the hospital room.

* * *

I confirmed that Lapis Lazuli, Boyan, and Gabriel were all safe.

Of course, Anguis Regina was also doing well. She was preparing to resume her tour. The attack on Jafa Corporation, which had shaken up Border City, seemed to be slowly fading from public memory.

Clang, clang. Thud!

Jafa Corporation’s headquarters was undergoing major construction. Heavy machinery filled the surrounding area, and construction drones flew around, reattaching the burned and collapsed outer walls.

Inside, renovations were also underway, with workers busily carrying materials and furniture back and forth.

Step, step.

With my hands tucked into the pockets of my newly issued coat, I descended into the underground levels of the building. Rows of holding cells lined the space, and beyond the iron bars, I saw strange aliens—occasionally even humans.

This was Jafa Corporation’s private prison, where those who had committed crimes against the company were held. And not just criminals—some were likely locked up simply for getting on Jafa’s bad side.

"I’ll kill you! Jafa! Jafa! Jafaaaaa!"

"The patties in Jafa Burgers! The patties! They have that in them! I swear, that is in them! Aaaahhhh!"

"A whole year in here just for skipping out on a meal?! Let me out! This is messed up!"

As I walked past, prisoners clung to the bars, shouting and raving. Quite a few of them seemed completely unhinged.

Some even spat at me. I casually lifted my foot and stomped on the fingers gripping the bars. Crack! The sound of breaking bones quieted things down a bit.

Creak. Thud.

I descended another level and shut the iron door behind me.

This was the VIP holding area, soundproofed and isolated. At the very back was Ragnata’s cell. She had received proper medical treatment—her amputated legs were tightly wrapped in bandages, and a cast covered her broken arm. The sharp scent of medicine lingered in the air.

"So, you can’t regenerate on your own? It would’ve been pretty entertaining if your legs just popped back like magic."

I sat on a chair outside the bars and spoke to Ragnata.

"If that were possible, I wouldn’t be human—I’d be a monster. But while we’re on the topic, I wouldn’t mind a few books to pass the time."

"I have no reason to do you that favor. If you want something, make a fair trade. Keeping you alive already puts you in my debt."

Deep wrinkles formed around Ragnata’s mouth as she smirked.

"If there’s something you want, just say it, boy."

I laced my fingers together, pressing my thumbs against each other as I parted my lips.

"What do you think is the weakness of an Akies Victima user?"

I wanted to hear her thoughts from experience.

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