Chapter 120
― [Mist Island Times] A Hostage’s Death. Who Bears Responsibility?
― [Daily Issue] Death Adder Launches Full Scale War Against Two Star.
― [IN CITY] Heroes Outside the Law. Villains or Justice?
― [Daily Issue] Central Army Fails to Track Raphael. What Went Wrong?
― The hostage’s death wasn’t Black Pistols’ fault. It was shock caused by internal organ damage from the traffic accident combined with poison. People blaming him can sit on their couches chewing cheese balls and gossip, but Black Pistols actually run the streets.
― It’s a tragedy that wouldn’t have happened if Sunshine hadn’t been provoked. The real problem is vigilantism by someone who isn’t police. If he were police, he would’ve taken responsibility, but he fled the scene. Look how cowardly he is!
― Vigilantes exist because the police are incompetent. Let’s be honest. Take Mist Island’s correctional facilities, for example. Raphael escaped Monte Prison a total of four times, and the guards couldn’t even recognize him as a long escaped inmate. And the police?
― That’s right. How many villains has Black Pistols caught outside the law and handed over to the police? We should be grateful to him!
― Then by that logic, we should thank Red Shadow too.
― Don’t be sarcastic.
***
Black Pistols stopped patrolling and returned home only when the faint light seeped into the darkness and the world turned gray.
Sunshine was still nowhere to be found.
With a gunshot wound to his hand, he was probably busy getting treatment.
After washing up roughly and falling asleep, he woke to find it was 1 p.m.
When he went down to the first floor, he saw a back he’d grown fairly used to.
“Did you get any sleep?”
There was no reply.
Tristan quietly swallowed a sigh.
Johan sat leaning against the sofa, still wearing his suit.
It would’ve been better if he were dozing off, but instead he kept fiddling with the bracelet Giselle gave him, eyes bloodshot.
It looked like he hadn’t slept at all last night either.
He’d never been sane to begin with, but after Giselle disappeared like that, he’d completely lost his reason.
“Hey. Eat breakfast.”
When calling didn’t work, Tristan grabbed Johan by the back of the neck and dragged him over himself.
Johan pressed hard at his bloodshot eyes.
“I heard from Raphael that she ran away from home a few times before. She’s experienced, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous.”
“That was when her face wasn’t known yet. That’s why she was safe.”
“She’s tougher than you think. Stop worrying and eat first.”
Despite Tristan’s urging, Johan barely touched his food.
Tristan didn’t push him further.
He couldn’t eat either, so he just set his fork down.
‘The media’s having a field day.’
Whether they bash the police or bash Black Pistols, the insults are the same.
I just want to quit everything and disappear.
What am I even doing all this for, chasing wealth or glory?
I want to watch basketball games on time, wake up without feeling miserable in the morning, do my laundry on weekends, take naps, and live with some breathing room.
“I’m heading out.”
“Where to?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know where I should go.”
Can a person really fall apart like that just because one person left?
The clothes he used to wear so neatly were crumpled, and the light was gone from his once sharp eyes.
For days now, he hasn’t eaten or slept. At night, he tears through Two Star, and during the day, he wanders the city searching for Giselle.
Alive, but dead. No, maybe it was more accurate to say a dead man was walking around.
Smoke wrapped around Johan.
Only after Johan disappeared did Tristan finally let out the sigh that had been piling up in his chest.
‘This is a complete mess.’
Johan had turned into a hopeless idiot, and as for him….
He just wanted to write a resignation letter and leave.
But then the eyes of the hostage, who had been infinitely close to death, surfaced in his mind.
“…Fuck.”
After spitting out a curse for the umpteenth time, he stood up and finished getting ready to head out.
***
― I believe it’s already been proven that the central army is meaningless. You only need to step forward and say one word. That alone—
“The affairs between the central government and Mist Island are for you to handle yourselves.”
― Duke of Valkenstein. Unless public opinion completely collapses, the central government will never miss a chance to exert influence over Mist Island. Don’t turn your back on the city.
“Interesting thing to say, Maggie Giomatti. I became a soldier and ruined my body watching a city fall apart in war. What more responsibility are you asking me to take?”
Could he use Maggie Giomatti to find Giselle?
Would Giselle be put in even greater danger if this woman gained leverage over her?
It was infuriating that he had so little time to find Giselle, yet still had to be tied up with problems like this.
― If you don’t want to become a spectacle, explaining Red Shadow and Giselle Moltke should come first, Your Grace.
Mist Island was trying to use him to reject the stationing of the central army.
Because the Duke of Valkenstein held authority over Mist Island.
When Johan refused to exercise that authority, they brought up Red Shadow to pressure him.
Because Red Shadow was an anti-hero, a villain who hunted other villains.
‘And Giselle is Death Adder’s whistleblower.’
It had been revealed that she’d consistently reported Raphael over the past few years, and there was even a bounty placed on her by Two Star.
On top of that, Raphael had escaped the transport vehicle, drawing all eyes to the city.
So once Giselle and Red Shadow were mentioned, it inevitably became pressure on the Duke of Valkenstein.
But Johan was no longer the Duke of Valkenstein.
He’d abandoned that position long ago.
“Ha. Hahaha.”
When Johan suddenly let out a hysterical laugh, Maggie Giomatti froze and held her breath.
“I love her terribly.”
― Are you serious?
“Isn’t she the woman who betrayed her family for the city? I didn’t realize giving such a person a place to stay would become a problem.”
Johan smoothly evaded Maggie Giomatti’s pressure.
“Consider this the last warning to choose your words carefully. I don’t want any further contact.”
He ended the call in a sharp tone and clutched his throbbing head.
He hadn’t slept for weeks, and it felt like his head was about to split open.
Even after searching this much, he couldn’t find even a single strand of Giselle’s hair, and his nerves shattered with every passing moment.
Johan left the house he’d prepared in Paradise Hill City and instantly moved to his apartment on Mist Island.
Crunch. Crack.
Because organization members had broken in, the apartment was in ruins.
With the windows shattered, dust blown in from outside blackened the floor.
Broken plates crunched under his shoes.
On the floor where bullets were embedded, he found the thin blanket Giselle often used.
“Ah….”
Johan shook the dust off the blanket.
Seeing how it had lost its original color made his heart ache for no reason.
The fact that she’d truly thrown everything away and left hit him all over again.
Still, she could have taken at least a blanket with her. She gets cold so easily. Where could she possibly have gone in the middle of winter?
Johan was so afraid something had happened to Giselle that he felt like he was going to die.
Would it hurt less if he just went insane?
“Giselle….”
He pressed his face into the blanket, forcing back a sob.
Amid the dusty smell, Giselle’s scent lingered faintly.
He inhaled like a madman.
Giselle, Giselle. Giselle….
He wanted to fill his lungs with that familiar scent, but he couldn’t truly feel it anymore.
He missed Giselle. Her image shimmered beneath his eyelids.
He remembered the day she fell asleep on the sofa during a nap, leaving him nowhere to sit, so he sat on the floor by her head and watched her sleeping face.
Sometimes, when he opened the wardrobe to get clothes, her scent would spill out.
Johan loved those moments.
For a brief instant, it felt like Giselle belonged to him.
Some days, he would smile to himself at the sight of two toothbrushes standing together in the bathroom.
He was happy even if she didn’t accept his feelings.
He truly was happy.
Because he could spend every day with her at such a close distance.
“Please, Giselle….”
For the first two days, he focused solely on searching for Giselle.
He wanted to believe the note was a lie, that if he didn’t find her quickly, she might be in danger.
That she hadn’t abandoned him.
But the more he searched, the clearer it became that Giselle had left of her own will.
Otherwise, it couldn’t have been this meticulous.
Even so, the most important thing was Giselle’s safety.
He couldn’t even confirm whether she was alive….
“Ha.”
Filled with resentment, Johan cast magic.
An invisible sphere wrapped around the blanket, then exploded from within.
In less than a minute, the blanket turned to ash.
Johan collapsed weakly onto the filthy floor.
He hated her. He resented her.
He was so angry he felt like he was going insane.
If he buried these surging emotions inside, they would become a volcano burning forever.
He couldn’t endure a moment of rage and turned the blanket to ash, yet.
“I would have asked for the first place to shine by your side.”
“…I miss you, Giselle.”
If this feeling were gratitude toward a benefactor, then God would truly exist in this world.
But as he yearned for the woman named Giselle Moltke, he felt the absence of God in this world once again today.
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ynnej_uoyssimi
ass much as i root for johan this is getting out of hand dawg why r u so mad at her like that what did she even do wrong to you ugh you dont own her she doesnt have any obligation to allow you in her life