The Villain's Sister - Chapter 59

There was absolutely no way to calm down.

Raphael paced from one side of the room to the other, breathing roughly over and over.

Giselle had already been lying unconscious for three days. Her body was cold, and she hadn’t regained consciousness.

She couldn’t eat, so she was being fed fluids through an IV, but there was no telling how long she could last.

He had already run out of patience long ago, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if he exploded at any moment.

“Johan, that bastard must be killed!”

Liam was so agitated that his face had turned bright red.

“Isn’t he the guy who ran away to avoid being held accountable for failing to protect Deva? I’ll take full responsibility and bring back his head.”

Raphael let out a low groan. Liam’s voice sounded like noise.

Johan, who had appeared with the unconscious Giselle, had vanished without a trace.

The usual Raphael would have gone after him immediately and fired a cannon on deck.

But now was not the time to hold him accountable.

“Contact Big Bear.”

“The claim about an antidote might be a lie! We could capture the escaped Sunshine and have him study the drug—”

“Sunshine’s already joined Big Bear. Who else but Sunshine could make a drug unknown to even the experts? Tell them I’ll give up all narcotics distribution rights.”

A large hand stroked Giselle’s cheek.

Where are you now, and what are you doing?

“Deva…”

His nerves felt like they had burned down to ash.

He never thought he would see Giselle unconscious again.

He had tried so hard to avoid seeing her like this…

“…For the first time, I have regrets about not accepting your offer to run away.”

Blind belief in violence sometimes crumbles pathetically easily.

He swallowed a sigh and closed his eyes.

***

“Ms. Maria Rodriguez. We know you’ve known Raphael since childhood. You also know it’s illegal to cover for an underground boss, so it’s best to stop talking now.”

Tristan’s attitude as he interrogated Maria was bone-dry.

“I told you everything I know! Please, just find Deva—no, Giselle!”

“Her bodyguard took her, so she’s probably with Raphael. I’ll ask again. Where is Raphael Kapuzen’s house?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t! Raphael always said he had a lot of safe houses!”

“Hah.”

Tristan pressed his eyes with a look full of exhaustion.

Because Giselle was close to Maria, the organized crime team had already investigated everything from her yearbook to her past before immigrating to Mist Island.

Thanks to that, they were able to easily find it. Raphael Kapuzen’s real name.

“What a bold bastard. He didn’t even bother to hide his name.”

The director had clicked his tongue as he made that assessment.

Raphael Moltke.

A convict guilty of first-degree murder and a fugitive.

And the true owner of Death Adder.

The fact that the fugitive turned out to be Raphael Kapuzen highlighted the incompetence of the police, so the department made efforts to prevent leaks to the press.

Crrrk.

As Tristan ground his teeth, Maria suddenly exploded.

“You already know Raphael and Deva’s real last names! Then the police should be the ones finding them! I’ve told you everything, and now you’re asking me to answer what I don’t know? What more do you want from me? At least confirm whether my friend is alive or dead! If she’s dead, I won’t let any of you off the hook!”

Her booming voice echoed through the hospital room.

Looking thoroughly exhausted, Tristan left the room and plopped down on a bench in the hallway, spitting out a curse.

“What a hell of a friend you’ve got. If you die, Maria Rodriguez will grab you by the collar and drag you back from the afterlife.”

So she must still be alive. Tristan clenched his fist tightly.

He had seen Giselle fall victim to Big Bear’s drug right before his eyes.

And that man Johan had taken her away, leaving them unable to even confirm whether she was alive.

Meanwhile, the whistleblower documents he had confirmed left him utterly devastated.

Since the documents involved the theft of weapons from a munitions factory, it had been immediately obvious that the whistleblower was Giselle.

‘Stealing weapons from a military factory… Just how long have you been watching over me?’

The documents had been sent long before the funeral.

Since the war hadn’t even been over for ten years, if a massive corruption scandal involving the munitions factory erupted, it wouldn’t end with just taking down Raphael.

It would clearly reach all the way from the central government departments to the military.

‘She knew I was Black Pistols and sent it anyway.’

How she knew, he had no idea, damn it.

If she was going to trust him like that, why had she approached him at all?

She should have just sent the documents from the start. Why had she gone through all that and gotten cursed at?

Grinding his teeth, Tristan scrubbed his face roughly, muttering that the brother and sister were both experts at making people feel like fools.

“Are you still alive?”

The ache in his chest made him feel like he would lose his mind.

***

“The drug?”

Big Bear shook a small ampoule.

Raphael, a frown creasing his brow, asked, “How do I know that drug is the antidote for my sister?”

“If you didn’t trust it, you shouldn’t have come here.”

Big Bear chuckled with a scabbed-over face.

Though the helicopter had crashed because of Johan, she had survived thanks to the remarkable esper ability of physical enhancement.

“By the way, your subordinate—where did that guy even come from?”

“You mean Johan?”

“Yeah. He could use magic.”

“Do you think I’d entrust my sister to someone with no skills?”

“Well, he still ended up like that against me.”

Raphael ignored the part about Johan using magic, but he couldn’t let it slide when Big Bear brought up Giselle mockingly.

A vein bulged on Raphael’s forehead, and he barely calmed himself down.

He could tear Big Bear apart later.

Right now, Giselle came first.

“Hand over the antidote, and I’ll give up all drug distribution rights. I can swear it on Styx’s brew.”

At Raphael’s signal, Liam handed over the relevant documents to Big Bear’s subordinate.

It was information about the vendors currently under Death Adder’s control.

“Thorough, aren’t you. And throw in one more thing—luring Black Pistols.”

“Didn’t know you had any interest in Black Pistols.”

“I’ll kill him and hang his body from the tallest building on Mist Island. I need to show this city what happens if you dare cross me. What, don’t like the sound of that?”

Black Pistols?

He was just a card to use, not someone to protect.

“You’re suspicious of me. Afraid I might team up with Black Pistols and come after you?”

Now that she had allied with Sunshine, she could lure Black Pistols anytime.

And yet Big Bear was reacting like this because she was scared she might end up like Sunshine.

It must have been the right guess, as Big Bear’s cheek twitched.

“Just hand over the antidote.”

The moment Big Bear reached out with the antidote—

Ratatatatata!

Someone on the warehouse roof opened fire with a submachine gun.

The bullets didn’t spare either Two Star or Death Adder.

Thanks to her enhanced body, Big Bear wasn’t hit, but the antidote was a different story.

The ampoule shattered into pieces.

Raphael clenched his teeth as he activated a magical magnetic field to block the incoming bullets.

“Are you all right?”

“Shut up.”

Raphael buttoned his jacket to hide the blood seeping through his shirt.

Judging by Big Bear’s shocked reaction, it didn’t seem like her doing.

Thunk!

Clatter.

As the bullets stopped, the man on the roof tossed the submachine gun aside.

Tap.

He landed stably from the roof and walked slowly toward the streetlamp.

Out of the darkness, the shape of a man emerged.

“This deal’s useless. If you let them live, you share, but if you kill them, you get everything. Why not act a little more rationally?”

Among the people Raphael knew, there was only one person who spoke with such a languid tone.

Flaming red hair, sleepy eyes, round glasses, and an oddly good physique.

Fingers that habitually scratched his body.

The man he had thrown into prison a year ago.

“…Sunshine.”

“Long time no see.”

At Sunshine’s nonchalant greeting, Raphael gritted his teeth.

“You, do you even know what you’ve done?”

“Of course. If you threw me in prison, shouldn’t you have expected this kind of revenge? You’ve really let yourself go over the year.”

While Sunshine dealt with Raphael with a crooked attitude, Big Bear confirmed the death of her subordinates.

Damn it.

Scratching her head nervously, tufts of hair popped out.

No matter how many gangs she had under her, there was a limit to the number of subordinates.

Especially during a labor shortage like now, and right before a deal, of all times.

“Sunshine!”

Big Bear swung a fist at Sunshine.

But he dodged easily by turning his head.

“How dare you interfere with my business?”

“I thought I might see Black Pistols if I came here. Since I’m here, I figured I’d lend you a hand.”

“Fight when I’m not around. Big Bear, hand over the new drug.”

When Raphael extended his hand, Sunshine let out a dry chuckle.

“That was the last dose. Your sister will wander through dreams forever and die.”

“Do you want to die?”

Exchanging a quick glance with Big Bear, Sunshine pulled a knife from his sleeve and swung it.

Raphael leaned back and dodged the blade.

Liam jumped in and wrestled with Sunshine.

Meanwhile, Big Bear took a few steps back with a fishy grin.

“I meant to give it to you. That was the only dose I had.”

“Big Bear! Are you trying to go against us?”

“Sunshine knows how to make the antidote, but you know, that bastard never listens.”

Leaving behind her wounded subordinates, Big Bear jumped into the car and drove toward Liam and Sunshine, who were locked in a fight.

Thunk!

The car aimed to hit Liam, but he rolled quickly and avoided it.

“Sunshine!”

Big Bear shouted to Sunshine.

“You can deal with Raphael some other day. Let’s go now. Red Shadow is going berserk trying to find you, so now’s the time to hide!”

With a sour expression, Sunshine got into the passenger seat, and the car took off.

As Liam fired his gun at the retreating car, he belatedly remembered Raphael.

“Mr. Raphael! Are you all right?”

Raphael was pressing down on his jacket.

When Liam moved his hand aside, blood that the fabric could no longer absorb flowed down.

“You need to go to the hospital. It’s a through-and-through wound.”

“L-Liam. Bring it… the walkie-talkie… we stole… from the police…”

Raphael clenched his teeth from the pain and trembled.

Liam helped him to his feet. Now wasn’t the time to look for a walkie-talkie.

Shoving Raphael into the car, Liam drove at top speed.

“Liam. The walkie-talkie, give me the walkie-talkie! To Black Pistols… grkh!”

“I’ll contact them. Please be still. It’s dangerous, Mr. Raphael.”

Raphael had a bullet hole in his abdomen, and Giselle was unconscious.

Was Black Pistols really the only one they could trust in this situation?

Liam took out the walkie-talkie, his mind in turmoil.