Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 78

Office Rental (2)

Where could there be a place that guarantees Melvin’s safety?

As Kairus continued to dwell on the question, Irena spoke to him in an annoyed tone.

"Why not just leave him at that Rose Garden place or whatever it’s called?"

At Irena’s suggestion, Kairus shook his head firmly.

"The Rose Garden has its reasons for staying out of this."

The Cecilia Kairus knew wasn’t the kind of person to handle things so carelessly.

"Then does that mean I’ve been abandoned?"

To Melvin’s question, Kairus shook his head again.

"Of course not. They’re probably keeping watch, just not actively involved."

If a truly dangerous situation arose, they would help. But unless the threat reached that level, the Rose Garden wouldn’t make a move.

"What’s the difference between ‘really dangerous’ and just ‘dangerous’?"

"It means they won’t move unless you’re on the verge of dying."

Losing an arm or a leg wouldn’t be enough for the Rose Garden to act in Melvin’s defense.

What Cecilia needed was the knowledge inside Melvin’s head, not his limbs.

"I’d appreciate it if you considered how I feel while hearing all this."

Melvin’s expression as he listened to Kairus looked quite anxious.

In any case, Kairus had no plans to bring Melvin along when he went to meet the landlord.

He needed to leave Melvin somewhere with a decent level of safety.

"Where would be good?"

A few options flitted through Kairus’s mind.

Jonathan was out of the question. It hadn’t even been five minutes since he’d received help—asking for another favor so soon would be disgraceful.

As for Spring Parsley the architect—she could be considered if there were absolutely no other options...

But it wasn’t a particularly appealing choice.

"The moment I try to leave Melvin with her, she’ll catch the scent of money."

She was a skilled architect. There was no way she’d miss the smell of profit.

Spring Parsley would demand an explanation for why Melvin needed to be left with her, and if he gave her one, she’d most likely insist on getting a cut of the deal.

"Why should I?"

Spring Parsley had given up on Kairus halfway through. While he had said he wouldn’t hold a grudge, that simply meant he wouldn’t resent her.

But that didn’t mean he owed her anything, let alone job opportunities.

As Kairus kept running through candidates in his head, a name finally brushed past his thoughts.

"There might be a place that’s reasonably safe."

The place that came to Kairus’s mind was Tanya Lysand’s emergency room. Of course, it wasn’t a place that guaranteed complete safety.

"What do you mean by ‘reasonably safe’?"

"Geez, you get real proactive when it’s about your own safety. What do you think ‘reasonably safe’ means?"

Taken literally, it means “reasonably safe.”

Melvin's expression showed no sign of brightening at the idea of entrusting his body to a place that only offered uncertain safety.

“There’s no such thing as an absolutely safe place in this city.”

Even under the protection of the Rose Garden, that safety would only be guaranteed against forces weaker than the Rose Garden.

After finishing their meal, Kairus deliberately ignored Melvin's shivering response of anxiety and headed toward the emergency room operated by Tanya.

“Hello.”

Apparently having just finished a procedure, Tanya, wearing a mask and green surgical gown, took off her surgical cap and wiped her sweat as she greeted them.

“Tanya Lysand, looks like you just wrapped up something big.”

“Not really. I just pulled out three arrowheads from a patient.”

Her tone sounded like someone saying, “This morning I had coffee and a croissant.”

“There are some faces I haven’t seen before.”

Tanya Lysand looked at Irena and Melvin’s faces, then bowed in greeting.

“I’m Tanya Lysand. May blessings fully bloom upon this meeting arranged by my father.”

After hearing her greeting, the two glanced at each other briefly before coming to their senses and returning the greeting with self-introductions.

Melvin let out an “uh…” and turned to look at Kairus.

“You have a daughter?”

“Has this archaeologist lost his mind? How the hell did you get a PhD with that head?”

Even if Kairus had a daughter, there was no way she could be anywhere near Tanya Lysand’s age. It was biologically impossible.

“In the past, there was a time when the Imperial tax transport train was raided, and that’s when my father introduced us.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

Irena, who had several questions in her mind, immediately turned her gaze to Kairus as soon as she heard Tanya’s words.

“You were the bastard who looted the National Tax convoy?!”

Irena stared wide-eyed at Kairus. Her look was full of resentment.

“What? Why? It’s not shocking for a criminal to commit robbery.”

It was the Moonlight Order that had been guarding the train, not the Scarlet Leaf Order. There was no reason for Irena to be glaring at Kairus.

“Because of you, I went through hell for three weeks preparing for the knight order’s comprehensive capability evaluation!”

Irena’s resentful voice echoed through the emergency room.

The Moonlight Order, which had failed its mission, was reportedly still undergoing a rigorous three-month-long strength reinforcement training.

And other knight orders were suddenly forced into scenario-based training to prepare for similar events.

“As soon as we returned to the base, we had to start training again!”

Typically, after a capability evaluation, a knight order is given about a week of reorganization time.

But due to the sudden training schedule, the Scarlet Leaf Order had to resume training immediately without any break after the evaluation.

“Well, now that I’ve heard all that, I do feel kinda bad.”

Right after the evaluation ended, they were immediately scheduled for training again—no one could deny it was a schedule worthy of curses.

“Anyway, Tanya. I need a favor.”

At Kairus’s request, Tanya nodded without hesitation.

“Sure.”

“Wow, you didn’t even ask what the favor was.”

“If it were something that would harm me, my father wouldn’t have let you through the door.”

Listening to the conversation, Irena couldn’t hold back her curiosity and finally asked a question.

“Um, Miss Lysand. Would it be rude to ask who your father is?”

The answer Tanya would give was already set.

“I’m the daughter of Itera.”

Hearing that, Irena gave an awkward smile and nodded.

“Ri…ght. According to the doctrine of the Ascension Cult, we’re all sons and daughters of merciful Itera.”

But that was merely an interpretation of the doctrine. To be precise, it meant that Itera loved all people like his sons and daughters.

Tanya’s face turned sorrowful at Irena’s answer.

“If only Father loved you all even half as much as he loves me. But he has no interest in any of you.”

In the end, a deep and irresistible confusion settled in Irena’s mind as she tried to make sense of Tanya’s answer.

“She’s Itera’s daughter. Or at least, she believes she is.”

At Kairus’s comment, Irena made a conflicted and awkward expression.

“That’s a cult.”

Tanya laughed at Irena’s remark.

“If we’re using that classification, then I’m not part of a cult—I’m a heretic. At least from the perspective of the Ascension Cult.”

A cult refers to frauds disguised as religion—those who exploit faith for money or criminal acts.

A heresy refers to a religion that worships the same god but holds fundamental doctrinal differences.

“The conversation’s getting more and more off-track. Let me get to the point. While Irena and I step out for a bit, can you look after this guy here?”

At Kairus’s words, Tanya nodded.

“Reproduction is important. Go ahead. I hope you have a fulfilling time in both body and spirit.”

“…”

Everyone present could tell that Tanya Lysand had seriously misunderstood something.

But correcting her would have been too much of a hassle, so Kairus left Melvin behind and exited the emergency room with Irena.

“So, where are we going? An inn? I’d prefer a place with a clean bed, if possible.”

“Get real.”

Kairus answered Irena’s teasing remark bluntly and walked ahead.

The place they arrived at was a building with a yellow roof shaped like a windmill.

“Wow, a cabaret! It’s my first time seeing one in person.”

Irena looked at the yellow windmill-shaped building with an expression of genuine curiosity.

A cabaret could be described as a tavern equipped with a large stage for performances.

“You’ve been to at least a salon before, right?”

“No. My father forbade me from going to places like that at my age, saying it would hurt my reputation.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

Salons were facilities created for nobles to engage in social and cultural activities.

But regardless of the purpose, since men and women mingled in the same space, nobles who frequented salons inevitably became the subject of all sorts of rumors, whether they liked it or not.

If Irena, the only daughter of the Kellogg family, were known for frequenting salons, gossip mongers would go wild.

Considering the value she held for the Kellogg family, it was understandable why Simid Kellogg took that stance. In any case, this wasn’t a salon—it was a cabaret.

“Don’t get your hopes up. We’re not here for fun.”

“I heard the daytime shows are really fun though. That’s a shame.”

“By day, we contribute to cultural life; by night, we sell booze and bodies.”

That was the cabaret’s motto and an unspoken rule everyone followed.

Cabaret performances were divided between day and night. During the day, they hosted various concerts including jazz and blues, or performed plays for children and popular musicals.

But once night fell, the performances mostly involved scantily clad shows, often referred to with the word “showgirl.”

“Daytime shows are really cheap.”

“That’s because making money isn’t the purpose of the daytime shows.”

The goal of daytime shows was simple.

‘Look at how much we contribute to public cultural life during the day, so cut us some slack for making money through night shows.’

It was an appeal to the state. That’s why cabaret daytime shows were both affordable and well-produced.

But Kairus and Irena hadn’t come here to watch a performance. Besides, today seemed to be a holiday for the cabaret—there didn’t seem to be any show happening.

“I’ve got something to discuss with the owner of this place.”

“You sure it’s just a discussion?”

Irena’s suspicion was warranted.

“If the other side is willing to cooperate through conversation, then there’s no reason to fight.”

“What if they agree to talk but don’t intend to cooperate?”

Kairus made a regretful expression.

“Then I’ll have to do both.”

Irena let out a heavy sigh at his words.

“Well, yeah. You can’t play the good guy forever while swinging a sword.”

A knight on the battlefield didn’t always fight honorably. Sometimes, they had to cut down child soldiers and encourage troops to pillage innocent civilians.

Not sometimes. That was the reality of war, always.

There was only one reason knights staked their lives on honor and loyalty.

Yearning for honor was a desperate desire for something that could never truly exist. There was no such thing as an honorable war.

Loyalty was the only comfort that could forgive their actions. All the atrocities committed by knights on the battlefield were absolved by that one word—loyalty.

“You and me, we’re just bastards who make a living killing and beating up others.”

“What a lovely way to put it. You asshole.”

Irena snapped at Kairus and then stood in front of the cabaret’s door.

“But one thing’s certain—I’m still better than the trash in this city.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Could there really be a life more worthless than that of the scum in this city? At the very least, Irena had joined the knighthood with a sincere belief in fighting for her country.

She was not someone to be compared to the criminals of Bennett City.

Creeeak. Kairus opened the cabaret door, stepped into the dim building, and shouted loudly.

“Hey, is anyone here? A customer’s here, open up!”