Those Who Live Without the Law Chapter 170

Chapter 170

Interlude (1)

There was no one who could disturb Kairus during alti.

"The food here still tastes just as good."

The only difference was Jonathan, who now stood right beside him with his hands politely clasped and an awkward smile—quite the change from his forrly brusque deanor.

"I'm glad to hear that."

Using honorifics toward soone he used to speak informally to wasn't sothing that would bruise Jonathan’s pride. In fact, the very fact that he once had Kairus under him, even for a mont, glead like a trophy he could boast about.

"Ahem."

The al was excellent, but Kairus's physical condition was not. With a slight cough, blood imdiately trickled from the corner of his mouth. Even while he was rapidly healing thanks to the procedure of the Featherwing, he was still in this state.

"By the way, you're incredible. I heard you fought all the mbers of the Operations Committee."

"They weren’t going all out."

Jonathan tried to give Kairus so praise, but Kairus simply shook his head and denied it.

Just look at Lukas.

If he had truly intended to go all in, Lukas would’ve erased his tattoos and charged in.

Donovan had been sowhat passive as well, and the silvery-white swamp created by Barenza Onui probably wasn’t just so tentacle-producing battle gear either.

It was the sa with Cecilia.

‘Her real weapon was that aura of hers.’

An overwhelming presence, strong enough to outshine even Dana Watson. It wasn’t about destruction or pressure. Her aura resembled literal death. Even Kairus had montarily felt like he had died and was moving after death.

If Cecilia had kept up that aura, Kairus certainly wouldn’t have been able to put up a proper fight.

"Then…"

"Still, if it’s a one-on-one, I’m confident I can win. Oh, and please stop speaking so formally. It's giving goosebumps, boss."

"I—Is that so? Then I’ll stop."

Tapas had gone all out. Even so, Kairus had erged victorious.

The power Kairus gained from acquiring the Veil of Plud Mist clearly surpassed the strength of a single Operations Committee mber.

‘Barenza Onui and her brother felt more like two people equaling one.’

Jonathan, quietly listening to the conversation, let out a small sigh of admiration. The fact that Kairus had strength left over even after defeating one committee mber could an only one thing.

"It ans you’re equal to an entire organization that controls a city single-handedly."

The current Kairus had beco soone worthy of the title: one-man army.

"But seriously, what’s up with you suddenly selling kimchi fried rice as a new nu item?"

It felt strange to see food from the Daeyeon Kingdom being served in Bennett City.

"It’s good, isn’t it?"

Previously, he would’ve snapped back with sothing like, "Then don’t eat it, asshole!" But while they’d dropped formalities, it seed Jonathan still couldn’t quite relax.

"There are a lot of ships going to and from the Daeyeon Kingdom, so it’s easy to get rice and kimchi. Plus, it's quick to make."

Jonathan, after a brief glance for approval, added those few words like a timid excuse.

"Don’t like it?"

"No, it’s fine."

It was a dish so foolproof that making it taste bad would take more effort. Even soone with zero talent for cooking would have a hard ti ruining kimchi fried rice.

Having finished his al, Kairus leaned back in his chair for a mont before slowly standing up. The al was over, and though the break hadn’t been long, it had helped him recover a little.

"I’ll drop by again from ti to ti."

After saying his goodbye, Kairus stood up from his seat. He intended to return to his reclaid office.

But before that—

"First, I should pick up the one who's waiting for ."

Stepping outside, Kairus lifted himself into the air with the roar of a turbine. Flying at a moderate speed was still within his capability despite his condition.

Rising into the sky, Kairus headed straight for the city where Irena was waiting.

‘Definitely fast.’

He was intentionally limiting his speed due to his condition, but even so, it was several tis faster than a train.

Combine that speed with stealth, and you get mobility as a strategic advantage. It was a strength Kairus would be able to put to good use in the future.

After flying for a couple of hours, Kairus arrived at his destination and went straight to the hotel where Irena was staying.

"...You're alive, right? You're not dead and haunting as a ghost or sothing?"

After a knock, the door opened a mont later. Irena looked at him with wide eyes and spoke.

"I’m a ghost. I’ve co to take you with to the afterlife."

"Shit, you’re really alive."

At Kairus's reply, Irena let out a deep, heavy breath. From her perspective, his plan had looked like suicide.

Still, the reason she hadn’t tried to stop him was obvious: she understood that Kairus had nowhere else to go besides Bennett City.

"And you even ca back with all your limbs."

She had assud that even if he survived, he’d at least be missing an arm or a leg.

"Disappointed?"

"Of course not. If you're missing limbs, it’d be harder to teach you."

That was true. He wouldn’t be able to practice demonstrations. Kairus glanced around the room and spoke.

"Any reason you need to stay here longer?"

"Nope. We can leave right away."

"Good."

With that, Kairus handed her the bag he’d brought. Irena stared at it for a mont before raising her head.

"Don’t tell ... again?"

"Why? Would you prefer being tied up with rope again?"

"Asshole. Can’t you think of sothing different for once?"

"You're flying for free and still complaining."

Grumbling all the while, Irena crawled into the bag. Kairus picked it up and took to the air once more.

"I think this speed is better. Last ti was way too fast. This is way more stable."

"You're giving ride comfort ratings now?"

"Why not? More importantly, spill the story, will you?"

At Irena’s request, Kairus began to explain without resistance. After all, these were things Irena needed to know anyway.

Listening quietly, Irena tilted her head.

"So what happened to that battle gear, Sopor?"

Naturally, Kairus had no way of knowing. It had been impossible for the Operations Committee mbers to recover it either.

Once Kairus began his escape to Bennett City, all five of them had frantically chased after him.

"Well... maybe soone from the Lantern Gang recovered it?"

It was just speculation. Given the situation at the ti, the likelihood of any Lantern Gang mbers remaining in the area was slim.

Still, if you were only talking pure possibilities, that was the only explanation Kairus could co up with.

However, the one who ended up with Sopor turned out to be soone entirely unexpected.

…

Archaeologist lvin Istovan stripped off his mud-caked coat and silently stared at the broom he’d brought with him.

‘Kairus’s Red Ticket.’

And then Kairus heading to Bennett City. Streets reduced to rubble, screams, and trembling people full of fear. Amidst it all, lvin Istovan saw opportunity—and acted.

By then, the story of Kairus attacking Tapas’s base was common knowledge among those in the loop.

‘The fact that the other Operations Committee mbers chased him to Bennett City—’

That ant Tapas had lost. And in that world, losing ant death.

While everyone else was focused on the fact of Tapas’s defeat, lvin Istovan had taken it a step further. He had succeeded in spotting a window of opportunity in the chaos.

‘Then what about the battle gear Tapas Aiola was using?’

Kairus, fleeing, and the committee mbers, in pursuit—none of them would have had ti to recover it. lvin had judged that, and imdiately rushed to Tapas’s hideout.

Good judgnt and swift action—that’s how people seize opportunity. And lvin was the one who had seized it this ti.

Others only started to think that far later. Specifically, not until after everything had already ended did they begin to consider the fate of Tapas’s battle gear. Too slow.

"This thing…"

Even as soone working as an architectural historian, lvin had started to feel the need for battle gear. In Bennett City, power was essential for one’s own safety.

At a beginner level, he had sohow managed to reach the point where he could boost the output of standard battle gear and use it.

Of course, that didn’t an he was anywhere near capable of controlling battle gear with fearso output like Sopor.

‘But if it’s just the unique ability…’

That much was possible. Handling output and handling a battle gear’s unique power were slightly different disciplines, and Sopor was considered one of the easiest in terms of managing its unique ability. Even Tapas, while high out of his mind on drugs, could still use Sopor’s ability.

"Excuse . Are you alright?"

In the basent of a building, lvin tapped the cheek of the person he had tied up. The man had his limbs bound with chains, and a mouth opener forced between his jaws.

“Are you still not in your right mind? I’ll help you a little.”

Saying that, lvin brought an alcohol lamp up to the palm of the man who was hanging his head low.

“Ghk… Aaaaaaah!”

The fla from the alcohol lamp seared the man’s hand, and the stench of burning flesh filled the air. Unable to endure the pain, the man scread as tears stread down his face.

“When soone talks to you, you should at least pretend to listen.”

The man wasn’t here because he’d done sothing wrong. lvin simply wanted to test his newly acquired toy, and the man had just happened to pass near lvin’s house.

That trivial coincidence had now intertwined like this, forcing pain and terror onto the man.

Flash! The lights burst. It was the light from lvin’s cara. The man, whose palm had been burned beyond recognition and turned black like charcoal, stared blankly at him.

‘Did he just take a photo?’

Before he could even resolve that question, drowsiness washed over the captive man. It was an overwhelming, irresistible wave of sleep, strong enough to make him forget even his scorched hand.

“Sleep, huh. I see.”

lvin put on his glasses and began writing sothing down in his notebook. The ability to put soone to sleep was, of course, a useful power. Tapas had also made good use of Sopor’s power.

But she had been a warrior who wielded a sword. Because of that, she couldn’t think the way lvin did, soone who had learned and heard so much.

“If controlled properly.”

It would be possible to plunge a chosen target into a state known as induced sleep or trance.

When Kairus had faced Tapas, he had fallen into a trance while forcibly resisting the drowsiness. But if Sopor’s ability were used repeatedly and the user beca accustod to it, it would be possible to deliberately guide a target into a trance state.

And one of the things that could be attempted on soone who had fallen into a trance was—

“Hypnosis.”

lvin focused on that possibility. If it was truly possible, he could engrave loyalty into a person’s subconscious.

He could turn them into a tool that would never resist any command, and never betray its master.

“I’ll need… so related books.”

lvin wasn’t an expert in the field. At best, his knowledge amounted to things he had picked up from reading countless books as a scholar.

But if the possibility lvin had discovered could be proven feasible in reality through experintation and theory—

“Then what couldn’t I do? Even that bastard Kairus climbed up there without issue.”

There was no reason lvin couldn’t stand shoulder to shoulder with Kairus where he sat.

“Honestly!”

Suddenly, lvin waved his hand wildly at the wall and shouted.

“I’m the one who got my hands on the Pathfinder’s battle gear! Doesn’t that an I’m even more qualified?!”

His shout of “Answer !” echoed off the walls.

“‘Pathfinder’ is a tacky title. Hmm, it doesn’t suit either.”

A museum. lvin had always wanted a museum. He wanted to preserve precious items that allowed conversation with the past beyond the wall of ti, through proper and perfect managent.

It was similar to why he liked photography. It was a dium that recorded the past.

“Museum director. Yes, museum director sounds good. And I’ll call the mbers curators. Heh heh heh heh.”

Murmuring like that, lvin gently stroked Sopor, the fragnt of his dream that he had seized.

“This is mine now.”