TCWGRF 39

Suddenly freed from the familiar shackle and now wearing unfamiliar, stuffy clothes and even shoes, Isaac was seized by a feeling that his body’s balance was off with every step he took. It felt as if he would stagger and fall disgracefully at any moment if he did not walk with deliberate force, one step at a time.

Walter, who was walking ahead, pushed the door to the official residence open. He had never dreamed that he would go outside alive, especially walking on his own two feet. Putting aside a little hesitation and tension, Isaac cautiously extended his foot toward the hallway.

‘Why….’

The hallway was completely empty. As if someone had deliberately cleared it all out, there was no one standing guard.

Judging from the sound of footsteps he had heard all this time and the sound of the military review that was consistently repeated at the same time, there should have been about a dozen people guarding right in front of the door and throughout the hallway.

Could I run away now?

Isaac had that delusion for a very brief moment. There was no longer anything binding his body, and the only person to stop him was Walter.

He could not win a head-on fight against the military officer who was taller and larger than him, but if he gave it his all, he might be able to create a small opening. Perhaps if Walter was a really good person, he might just let him go if he explained the whole situation.

“This way.”

However, even if he managed to escape this place, the way to get outside, through the building and the city gates, was far-fetched. Besides, at the end of this road were the Superintendent General, who had gone out of his way to grant his request, and Asel. Could he make that all come to nothing?

Even if he was scared and afraid to go back. Even if he wanted to escape from the Superintendent General, to be free from the shackle, from the guilt. Isaac had to obediently walk down the desolate hallway and get on the elevator at the end.

The elevator was a small, unfamiliar prison where you had to slide open a double iron door, then turn a handle to open and close another door. Because it swayed slightly whenever weight was applied and it moved, Isaac decided to grab the arm of Walter standing next to him instead of losing his balance and falling over.

“…You don’t have to be scared. It’s safe, despite how it looks.”

While he strung together words to reassure his companion, he did not forcefully pull away Isaac’s hand that was leaning on his arm. He only scratched his chin as if embarrassed, and tapped his foot as if he were anxious, hurrying the steadily operating machine.

“Follow me.”

Even when they arrived on the first floor, there was not a soul to be seen. It was as if a silence similar to that of the day Isaac had been caught after infiltrating the archives hung in the air. A strange sense of déjà vu, that he was unknowingly walking into a trap himself, made his heart sink.

A gleaming black car was parked at the bottom of the building’s entrance stairs.

What captured Isaac’s gaze was not the view of the building from below, which he thought he would never see again, nor the fancy car, nor the vast training ground with yellow sand fluttering about, nor the sky covered in a similar color, but the Superintendent General, who was leaning against the car with a cigarette in his mouth.

Even though he was wearing a rather plain black suit instead of the white uniform he always wore, his presence stood out more than anything else in the world.

He only glanced at the prisoner, who had changed beyond recognition, and calmly finished smoking his cigarette without any greeting or sign of recognition. Isaac, possessed by the thought of wanting to say something, staggered towards him as if bewitched.

Without even savoring the feel of the soft shoe leather, which made it seem as if he were not on the crunchy sand, or taking a breath of the air of freedom that had been permitted for a brief moment, he once again stood before his jailer, fidgeting and waiting for his judgment.

The Superintendent General silently flicked away the half-smoked cigarette and then, whoosh, exhaled a hazy breath into the air.

Then he untied Isaac’s loosely tied, slender tie and retied it neatly into a bow shape. He must not have liked the hairstyle either, as he intertwined his fingers in his hair and styled it again.

“Hmm.”

Only after tilting his head slightly to the side to check if it was perfect did he open the back door of the car he had been leaning against.

“Shall we go?”

At the slight upward curve of his lips, Isaac forgot his own situation, even the fact that he could finally meet Asel, and tried not to let his pounding heart be noticed as he got into the car.

WEEEEENG. The siren wailed, and the streets were already so deserted that you could not find a single person.

A single car sped down the empty road. Isaac, who was riding in a car for the first time today, stuck to the window and watched the ever-changing city scenery.

As the sun that had set the edge of the sky on fire disappeared, the streetlights flickered and lit up one by one. Announcing the official start of the city’s night, the wave of light created a clear boundary with the shadows.

It was the first time he had been anywhere in the city center other than the Public Security Bureau. The deeper they went, the denser the streetlights became, so bright that it could have been daytime. The trees that could not be seen in Sector 28 were neatly trimmed at regular intervals here.

But that was all that was uniform. Beyond the roads were rows of colorful high walls and magnificent gates that reflected individual personalities, and several times the number of officers who guarded the gates or each sector patrolled restlessly outside the walls.

The officers stopped every time the car passed, brought their heels together, and gave a disciplined salute. Worried that he might make eye contact with them or that someone might find him suspicious, Isaac, feeling guilty, soon moved away from the window and lowered his head.

In the driver’s seat in front, Walter was focused solely on driving with his eyes fixed forward, and in the seat next to him, the Superintendent General was looking out the window indifferently with his legs crossed.

He could not stare openly, so he only glanced sideways, but the plain clothes suited his face very well.

When he was in his uniform, he was just an endlessly cold and heartless Superintendent General, but seeing him in an unfamiliar space wearing a color that was the complete opposite of his usual attire was enough to make him look like a different person.

“……el.”

Samuel, Samuel. He felt the urge to call him by his name. The contradictory name that he had let linger in his mouth and swallowed several times, the name that induced an unknown thirst while alternating between the roles of savior and destroyer.

“We’ll be there soon, so if you have something to say, say it before then.”

“…Pardon?”

“Rather than being like a dog that needs to go.”

The gaze containing his improper thoughts was arrested on the spot. He said it without even looking this way, but Isaac hastily lowered his eyes and looked at himself.

He had been rubbing the sweat that had been drenching his palms on his thighs since a while ago, and the signs of his nervousness were evident. As his companion had said, he was closer to an animal that could only whine, unskilled in expressing its desires, than the lover or whore of a Superintendent General who had a taste for being tied up.

“Ah….”

He could not confess the thoughts that had just crossed his mind, so all Isaac could say to the Superintendent General right now were words of gratitude.

“I was going to say thank you.”

“For what.”

“I didn’t know you would go this far to grant my request…?”

His thanks had not even finished. The Superintendent General’s arm wrapped around his shoulder, and his fingertips toyed with the shell of his ear. Soon he came closer and whispered, his body pressed tightly against his.

“I received payment, so I have to grant it.”

As his lips drew so close that they could touch at any moment, Isaac recalled the sensation they had given.

He soon remembered how hot the tongue hidden inside was, how good it felt to share a breath. Goosebumps rose on the skin trapped beneath the expensive, soft fabric, and the back of him, which was rubbing against the leather seat, tingled.

It was a natural consequence that the front of him swelled up. He did meaningless things like crossing his legs in a tangle or pulling on his jacket to try to hide it somehow.

While worrying that Walter in the driver’s seat would find out about his situation, he did not dislike being close to the Superintendent General. He only wished for more, and for what came next.

But today was the day he would meet Asel. He had set aside his worries and expectations for the boy, his anxiety that it might not be him, and his concerns about a mountain of problems like escape. For a moment, he thought he wanted to go back to the official residence, to that place with the shackle, and be alone with him. He might have finally gone mad.

“We have arrived.”

Fortunately, the car came to a stop before he could cling to his companion with unnecessary words or come up with a flimsy excuse.

The Superintendent General, without any lingering attachment, cleanly moved away from Isaac, whose face was flushed red, got out of the car, went around to the back, opened the door, and held out his hand.

He was wearing gloves, so he would not know, but feeling embarrassed by his somehow sweaty hand, Isaac repeatedly rubbed it on his knees and thighs before he could take his companion’s hand and get out.

“I’ll see you later.”

As soon as the door closed with a bang, Walter drove off somewhere with the car, and two neatly dressed people were left in front of the vast mansion.

But there was no room for other thoughts to intervene. Because Isaac’s gaze was soon stolen by the sight unfolding before his eyes.

“…!”

The massive mansion, which seemed to be the size of all the Public Security Bureau buildings and the training ground combined, did not fit the gray city at all.

Inside the high walls, flower trees and marble sculptures were scattered everywhere, enough to be called a small, separate world, and a blue roof and lattice windows filled the ivory exterior walls. The citizens who spent their entire lives in gray cement chicken coops would not believe that such a mansion existed in the city.

To think this place was for just one person. Just how many such mansions were there in the city center? Seeing the series of unexpected events, it might be a dream. The things he wore, the things his eyes took in, and even the person standing next to him. Everything combined to create an extreme sense of disharmony.

As if he were drunk or bewitched, Isaac unknowingly walked ahead, admiring the neatly trimmed path from the entrance, the regularly planted garden trees, and the sculptures.

“You shouldn’t go first.”

The Superintendent General, who was following behind, called Isaac, and then wrapped an arm around his waist. His mind, which had been floating in a fantasy world, finally set foot on the ground and recognized reality.

“Naturally.”

The words he whispered in his ear reminded Isaac of his role. He must not forget today’s purpose by getting lost in beautiful scenery. He was here to confirm if Asel was really here.

Even while the mansion’s servant, who had noticed the arrival of the last guest, ran out and politely guided them, the hand wrapped around his waist did not come off. It only slid down more stickily.

Isaac too had to match his pace and quickly cover his fruitlessly swelling heart with solemnity, with nonchalance.

The interior of the mansion, entered after passing a path paved with smooth marble that prevented even a handful of sand from scattering, six steps, and a magnificent door about twice the height of a person, was even more spectacular.

Lights hung heavily from the ceiling, sparkling, and on the floor, dazzling tiles that could only be described as extravagant vied to show off their luster.

To the point where he was convinced that a pathological obsession with cleanliness was also a habit of the powerful, Isaac felt a simultaneous sense of both déjà vu and dissonance in this unfamiliar space.

Inside, nearly a hundred people dressed to the nines in expensive clothes had their eyes covered with identical masks. Wearing thin masks of black mesh, they formed groups here and there, each holding a wine glass, fluttering like butterflies, and sprinkling restrained laughter of “haha” and “hoho” at each other.

A servant offered the same masks to the two of them, but the Superintendent General only put one on Isaac and did not wear one himself.

“It suits you quite well.”

Since the last guests had arrived, it should have been enough to attract the attention of the other guests, yet no one among them gave this side a glance. A few did glance over, but seeing as they did not turn back, it seemed more appropriate to say they were deliberately ignoring them.

Nevertheless, the Superintendent General did not approach them first to greet them or bow his head. He only picked up a tall wine glass from a tray carried by the servants dressed in simple, identical clothes and handed it to Isaac.

Isaac took a sip of the drink in his hand. The refreshing and sweet beverage seemed to calm the tension that had risen to the tip of his chin, so he gulped it down and drained the rest.

“You should drink slowly.”

The Superintendent General took the empty glass, placed it on a shelf, and wiped the drink smeared on Isaac’s mouth with his thumb.

“Besides, this is a drink you shouldn’t have too much of.”

Was the alcohol already taking effect? His face flushed, and he could not bring himself to look at his companion.

“Today’s guests have all gathered.”

From the other side of the mansion, a man with a portly figure appeared, bursting into a cheerful laugh. The people all stopped in their tracks, sent him applause, and enthusiastically chanted the name ‘Beres!’

He was the only person in this space, other than Samuel, who was not wearing a mask. Beres waved to his supporters and made his way through the crowd, approaching the Superintendent General directly.

“Thank you for coming. Though I knew you would.”