The Villain's Sister - Chapter 42

“Y-yes? Wh-White Hands, you say?”

“I heard you had an accident two weeks before going abroad.”

“T-that’s true, but what does that have to do with White Hands… Ugh!”

As Red Shadow let out a short sigh, the man began to sob in fear.

“Don’t worry. The others don’t know that White Hands visited your daughter.”

“She was hurt a little, but it wasn’t serious! I-I swear I never saw White Hands!”

“Is that so? Then I guess I’ll have to go ask your daughter.”

“It was just a miracle! That’s what the doctors at Langfester Hospital said! A m-miracle happened…”

“I wonder if your daughter will say it was a miracle too.”

As Red Shadow seemed ready to actually go see the daughter, the man swallowed hard.

Being killed by a villain hunter himself was more than enough.

“It was the third day after we brought her home in a vegetative state following a failed surgery after the accident. When I came back from meeting my wife and lawyer, the child had gotten up and was eating.”

“You didn’t see anything?”

“Y-yes. A-as my daughter said, she saw a white hand. A woman with her face covered… she warned her repeatedly not to tell anyone and then left.”

When he mentioned the face was covered, a wrinkle formed between Red Shadow’s brows.

He unconsciously held his breath.

“She said to just believe a miracle had happened.”

His teeth clenched tightly.

Was Maya Cox really not the girl who healed him?

His head started to ache. If White Hands were to fall into villains’ hands…

Red Shadow placed a hand on the man’s head.

The man struggled in fear, but it was futile as magic had tightly bound his body.

A hazy white light rose like threads and entered the man’s head through his ear.

Mental-type magic wasn’t his specialty, but he could imitate it just a bit.

With unfocused eyes, the man collapsed onto the floor, asleep.

When he woke, he would forget everything about White Hands and meeting Red Shadow.

Red Shadow left the factory and disappeared into the city to gather more information.

***

That day, as usual, Death Adder, Two Star, and Lucky Ginger clashed.

When the rumor spread that Death Adder had secured White Hands, Two Star and Lucky Ginger, unable to suppress their greed, teamed up to attack Death Adder.

As a result, gunshots echoed through Babel Street, an important underground stronghold, all through the night.

The police came, and even the Black Pistols and Red Shadow appeared to stop the clash between the three groups.

“You’d better share Fog’s code or reveal who White Hands is.”

Big Bear swung his knuckled fist at Raphael.

The bullets from the Black Pistols fell powerlessly to the ground as they hit Big Bear’s reinforced body.

When Sunshine leapt at Raphael, Black Pistols threw himself in the way, tumbling to the ground with Sunshine.

“You bastard. I’m your opponent.”

Black Pistols threw a punch, and Sunshine swung a knife.

Big Bear let out a noise like laughter and pushed Raphael back.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t find White Hands through Fog’s code.”

“What nonsense. Maybe if I rip your mouth open, you’ll stop lying.”

Raphael swung a knife made from moonstone.

Thanks to it, he nullified Big Bear’s power of physical enhancement, and blood spurted from Big Bear’s arm.

Seeing the blood, Big Bear’s eyes turned red with excitement.

She twisted her lips and adjusted her stance.

While Raphael and Big Bear faced off, Red Shadow, who had finished dealing with the Two Star gang members attempting chemical terrorism and the Death Adder operatives firing machine guns, approached them.

“Did you kill White Hands?”

“I swear on Styx’s brew. I didn’t kill him, nor did I intend to find White Hands. I was just handling personal business.”

Big Bear, who had been swinging her knife, stopped moving.

Red Shadow also frowned.

Countless espers had flowed into the underworld.

Among them, some created strange phenomena by combining innate shamanistic powers and abilities.

One such person was an esper named Styx, who had died over twenty years ago.

The man himself was dead, but the vows made with his brew during his lifetime created a magical constraint for those in the underworld.

To swear falsely means death.

To break a vow means hell.

“What a waste of time! Damn it! Then at least tell me where Fog is.”

“The single room next to the bathroom at Big Bunny bar. I’m sure they ran away after I dropped by.”

Raphael and Big Bear exchanged glances.

They gauged the distance to Red Shadow by the shadow alone.

Big Bear pulled a magic-suppressing magnetic bomb from her coat and threw it.

Raphael shot the bomb flying in an arc, detonating it instantly.

Red Shadow was an unusually powerful wizard, so weapons labeled as ‘anti-magic’ didn’t work properly on him.

But it was enough to create a fleeting opening.

Raphael and Big Bear escaped, and Sunshine jabbed at the side of the Black Pistols before vanishing.

“Shit. That really fucking hurt. That bastard Raphael found White Hands?”

“He swore on Styx’s brew that it was personal business.”

“What about Fog?”

“Do you think he’s the type to give information without a code?”

Since that day, White Hands hadn’t appeared in the city again.

He might have feared the underground organizations searching for him, or more likely, he was caught up in one of the many daily crimes and died.

Even so, Red Shadow didn’t give up on finding White Hands.

He searched other nearby cities and even visited others who had been healed like him under the name Johan to get hints.

He turned the city upside down again and again trying to find Fog, who was said to have disappeared without a trace.

One year and another half passed, and he finally learned where Fog had been hiding. At last, he used Giselle to get the code from Raphael.

***

“Deva. I’m your guardian.”

“I’m a grown adult, why would I need a guardian like I’m in a hospital?”

“Yeah. You’re an adult. But you’re also my sister. So shouldn’t I at least know that you were caught up in a terrorist attack?”

Raphael was angry, but didn’t show it.

He swallowed the bubbling emotions and tried to remain as calm as possible.

If he spoke his mind, it would just lead to another shouting match like last time.

“It’s not like I did something reckless. I just got caught up in it… I was going to tell you once I calmed down a bit. Sorry I didn’t say anything right away.”

“Hoo.”

Raphael let out a deep sigh and sank into the sofa.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“Really. Johan, that guy. He’s good. Thanks to him, I escaped quickly.”

Relieved, Raphael nodded and changed the subject.

He must have decided that any further conversation would only lead to fighting.

“The move probably won’t be finished until next week. I’m concerned about your security, so it’d be good to have Liam with you for a while.”

“Liam? Johan is here.”

“He quit.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“It’s true.”

So suddenly?

What did Raphael give him in return for saving me?

As if he’d read the question on my face, Raphael explained, “He wanted some simple information. Since he protected you from that kind of danger, I had to properly compensate him.”

“What kind of information?”

“Something that’s no use to me anymore. The moment I saw his face, I could tell he’d done something big enough to get what he wanted.”

After confirming I was safe, Raphael seemed to relax a little and rubbed his face dry with both hands.

“Since the house was exposed, maybe staying at a crowded hotel would be safer. Yesterday’s attack involved blue gas, so the police are on high alert. For the time being, both I and Two Star will be laying low.”

“I won’t leave the hotel. I’ll stay inside the room. But I don’t want Liam. If I don’t have at least that much freedom, I might actually go crazy.”

“……”

I need to go back to Tristan’s house, but even if I can’t, I don’t want to be assigned a bodyguard.

“If it weren’t for the house issue, I wouldn’t be leaving you at a hotel.”

“Raphael. Why don’t you hand over Death Adder to someone else and emigrate abroad?”

“That again.”

Normally he’d brush it off easily, but today, Raphael pressed his eyes with a look of deep regret.

“Considering how many incidents have happened this year already, what if you went overseas alone for about half a year?”

“Don’t say such nonsense. I’m not going anywhere alone.”

“Didn’t you once run off to the countryside because you said you hated me? Just think of it as a recuperation trip and go on a vacation.”

Where would I even go when the original story begins?

When I frowned, Raphael closed his mouth.

We fell silent, lost in thought.

Raphael knew I was going to be stubborn, and I knew Raphael was sensitive about my safety.

Two years ago, Raphael once lost control because he couldn’t accept the fact that he couldn’t give up Death Adder.

He went around treating injured people, and back then, he had tracked down an informant thought to be dead and set up a few measures.

It was only after that when he began scolding me.

“Once I move into the new house next week, I’ll go buy furniture and decorate it right away. Don’t nag. I’ll stay quietly at home instead.”

At my words, Raphael gave a short laugh and stood up.

“You’re so spirited, I guess I don’t need to worry you’ll be wasting away clutching your chest in shock. I’ve got to go. I’m planning to visit a liquor factory on the outskirts this evening.”

“I’ll stay safe. Don’t worry.”

After exchanging promise after promise, I saw Raphael off.

Addicts had staged a hostage terrorism incident because of the blue gas.

Now, in addition to moonshine and illegal weapons, Raphael was burning with desire to get involved in drug sales too.

Can I really say yesterday’s incident had nothing to do with me?

I remember the child who was dying, pierced by glass.

If that child dies, then part of the blame will lie with me.

‘I want to abandon everything and run away.’

I want to escape from reality, but I can’t run away from Raphael.

Raphael has no intention of dissolving the organization, and no matter how much I struggle, it’s nothing more than a butterfly flapping its wings.

Even so, I can’t give up.

‘Just a little longer. Hang in there. Yeah. Just a little more…’

In the evening, I’ll go back to Tristan’s house and prepare to attend the wedding over the weekend.