Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 87

Nora Galatea

I had succeeded in getting a hint about the Cloud Seizing Art, but rather than feeling happy, I had to prioritize Irena’s recovery.

Both of Irena’s hands were so badly injured that her bones were visible.

“I’m fine.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

At Irena’s words, Kairus replied coldly and then looked over at Tanya.

The patient’s opinion didn’t matter. The doctor’s assessment did.

“If we take the necessary measures and let her rest for two or three days, she should recover without any aftereffects.”

“That’s good to hear.”

But Tanya Lysand’s assessment wasn’t over yet.

“However, that’s assuming she’s treated in an appropriate environment with proper care. That’s not possible here.”

The damp and filthy sewer system was not an appropriate environment for recovery. Even Kairus, who wasn’t a doctor, could see that much.

“So you’re saying we need to return to the surface.”

“Yes. At least, that’s my medical opinion.”

The problem was that the world didn’t always move according to a medical opinion alone.

“Is it absolutely necessary to go up and get treated?”

Irena asked, and Tanya replied.

“I’m not just suggesting it for better recovery. There’s also a risk that her condition could worsen.”

From cellulitis and necrotizing fasciitis to sepsis—Tanya Lysand laid out various possibilities.

In short, the injury itself wasn’t the only issue. If she were exposed to bacteria in this unsanitary environment, it could lead to something irreversible.

“So it’s not a certainty.”

To Irena’s remark, Kairus gave a simple answer.

“We’re going back to the surface.”

“You know this is the perfect time, too.”

Kairus agreed with Irena’s point. Other groups hadn’t yet organized teams to send into the sewer system.

In this situation, they had managed to take out the three hunters hired by Lukas’s Children.

Now, the only investigative team roaming the sewers was theirs.

“You want to waste an entire day going back up in the middle of this golden opportunity?”

If the criminal organizations in Bennett City were truly formidable, by the next day they would have succeeded in organizing their own teams.

In that case, exploring the sewers comfortably and freely like now would become virtually impossible.

Irena hated that things were getting tangled up because of her.

“It’s fine. Even if we return to the surface, it won’t be a problem.”

“Did you listen to anything I just said with your butt?”

Kairus gave a short reply to Irena’s words.

“You completed the Peerless Wind.”

She hadn’t fully mastered the Swift Blade yet, but Irena had successfully completed the first critical step in it.

“From now on, it doesn’t matter if other teams start roaming the sewers.”

Taking a day to return to the surface and letting Irena recover to full condition would be the smarter move.

"Of course, if we could find Pontus within a day, I wouldn’t be thinking about going back to the surface either."

Kairus said that as he looked at Melvin. Melvin immediately shook his head.

"Impossible. Forget getting through the Dimensional Maze—we probably wouldn’t even be able to locate him."

In other words, even if they wandered around here freely for another day, the situation wouldn’t drastically change.

"It’s better for you to recover properly."

There was a big difference between having completed the Peerless Wind and not.

"From now on, we can coordinate attacks."

With two people proficient in the Swift Blade, they could create a synergistic effect.

Kairus no longer needed to seal off his use of the Swift Blade just to accommodate Irena. On the contrary, his own technique would grow even more powerful with Irena’s support.

"I’m telling you it’s fine to return to the surface, so just do it. No complaints."

With that, Kairus stood up. The decision had been made, and now all that was left was to quickly return to the surface.

"There’s nothing else we need to take care of here, right?"

"Yes, all the treatment’s done. The only concern was hygiene."

Irena’s hands were severely wounded to the point where the bones were visible. But Tanya Lysand confidently said she could recover within a day.

"Is that really possible? Her injuries didn’t look like the kind that would heal in a day."

Kairus asked with a doubtful tone.

"The location of the injury matters, and with hands, treatment should go smoothly."

After hearing Tanya’s answer, Irena let out a small "Hm?" and looked at Tanya.

"Is someone else going to treat me?"

"If we were pushing ahead with the exploration right now, I’d have to do my best to treat you properly."

But since they were heading to the surface anyway, Tanya obviously planned to refer Irena to an orthopedic specialist.

"I prefer doctors I can trust."

"Exactly. That’s why we need to go to a specialist."

While chatting, Kairus’s group successfully made it back to the surface.

And then, around the border between night and dawn the following day—

A train arrived at the station in Bennett City.

Inside the slowly halting train, a young girl stared out the window.

Her skin was as pale as sifted flour, and her eyes, like glass marbles, were a striking blue.

At most, she looked no older than fifteen.

As she hummed a tune and gazed outside, the girl spoke to the middle-aged man seated next to her.

"Manager Shaun, Manager! I think we’ve arrived!"

"Huh? Oh, already?"

The man, who had his face covered with a hat, glanced outside and spoke.

"Really, this city never changes."

After surveying the scene, Shaun offered a simple impression.

"Really? This is my first time going out, so..."

"I figured as much."

At Nora Galatea’s words, Pithos nodded.

The girl was a fully developed Lunaseeker agent—a walking human weapon.

But at the same time, Nora Galatea was a girl who had never experienced anything outside of combat.

This time, she would be accompanied by a manager who would instill her with basic common sense.

“Oh, did you hear? The enemy uses the Swift Blade!”

“Yeah. Are you worried?”

At Shaun’s question, Nora shook her head.

“Why would I be? The Lunaseeker should only be on edge against the Featherwing, not some civilian who picked up the Swift Blade!”

And the Featherwing no longer existed in this world.

“Still, it’s better to maintain at least minimal caution.”

“I’m aware.”

After getting off the train, Nora Galatea stared blankly at the people bustling through the station.

“This is your first time seeing so many people, right?”

Even though it was early morning, the train station was quite crowded. Nora Galatea nodded at Shaun’s question.

“Yes! It’s so packed. At this rate… I think it’d take about 30 minutes.”

Thirty minutes to kill everyone moving around the station.

“Well, yeah. That sounds about right to me, too.”

Shaun agreed with Nora’s estimate.

A more experienced agent, who had built up skills through prolonged fieldwork, could probably shorten the time.

But Nora Galatea was an agent newly emerged into the world—she couldn’t yet perform at that level.

“I heard other exploration teams are made up of about three to four people.”

In contrast, Nora Galatea was alone. Though Shaun followed as her manager, his role was solely to teach her how to function in society.

There was zero expectation of him contributing to combat. He wouldn’t even be going down into the sewer.

Nora Galatea would be fighting alone. That was fine.

“You’ve memorized the list of people to be cautious of in the city, right?”

“Hmm?”

Nora replied slyly, then began greeting random people around her on a whim.

To an outsider, she looked like nothing more than an innocent girl wandering around without a clue.

With Nora Galatea’s arrival at the station, the sun rose. Meanwhile, Irena, having received the necessary treatment, lay in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV drip of antibiotics and regenerative stimulants.

“I’ve heard of Lunaseeker’s reputation. But what exactly makes them so remarkable to be that infamous?”

At Irena’s question, Kairus, sitting beside her, replied.

“They’re strong.”

“Well, obviously they’re strong.”

Kairus paused a moment, then elaborated.

“The bodies of Lunaseeker agents are special. They can twist every joint in their body in any direction without limitation.”

For Lunaseeker agents, having arms that bend the wrong way was nothing. Even if they bent their fingers until their nails touched the back of their hand, they’d feel no pain at all.

“That’s creepy. Judging from your face, that’s not all, is it?”

At Irena’s comment, Kairus nodded and pointed to his forearm.

“Normally, human muscles contract and relax, right?”

“Right.”

“The muscles of Lunaseeker agents don’t relax—they, how should I put it... right, they reverse-contract.”

At Kairus’s words, a question mark practically appeared in Irena’s eyes. It was hard to understand what he meant.

“Reverse-contract?”

“Here, watch.”

Kairus bent his left arm.

“When we do this, we contract the biceps and relax the triceps, right?”

To bend an arm, the biceps contract and the triceps relax. That’s the natural process.

“But not for Lunaseeker. When their biceps contract, their triceps reverse-contract at the same time.”

Likewise, when they extend their arm, their triceps contract and their biceps reverse-contract simultaneously.

Hearing this, Irena made a perplexed expression.

“I don’t see what’s so amazing about that. Sure, if their muscle efficiency is better, they’re probably stronger.”

Kairus gave a simple example.

“Can you sprint at full speed… while running backward?”

“…”

For a Lunaseeker agent, there’s no difference between sprinting forward and sprinting backward.

“They’re the kind that break all common sense in combat.”

Of course, even Kairus only knew this from what he’d heard from the elders of his family.

“That’s insane. Do you think I could become like that?”

“It’s possible—if you manage to beat the odds of about 0.075%.”

If the procedure failed, you either died or ended up crippled. And it wasn’t a clean death either.

“The modified joints and muscles all go into side-effect overload.”

The whole body would start to rot while still alive. And you didn’t die before the pain set in, either.

You endured the pain of your entire body rotting alive until, finally, if your body overcame the ordeal and began to recover, you’d survive.

If your body couldn’t handle it, you’d die. Killing the subject before the pain even began would mean ending a potentially successful candidate without ever knowing the outcome.

“That’s brutal. So should I assume that one Lunaseeker agent has come to this city?”

At Irena’s words, Kairus gave a slight shiver.

“Probably not that many.”

If there were four, finding Pontus would be impossible.

Of course, even then, Kairus would end up being killed by the Rose Garden.

“I’m not sure if it’s even confirmed that one is coming, but if they do, it’ll only be one.”

“Just one? What could one person even accomplish?”

It was something Irena found hard to understand. Even if the task was something one person could technically handle, sending at least one more for backup was standard practice.

The concept of a main and support doesn’t only exist in the military. There’s always a reason for it.

“They call themselves a corporation, but it’s practically a government agency.”

No matter how much money you offer, the Lunaseeker only prioritized missions requested by the Aylan Republic government.

“…So you’re saying the Republic’s reason for dispatching a Lunaseeker here might not even be Pontus.”

This was a rare opportunity to send one of the Republic’s top assets, the Lunaseeker, to Bennett City. Would the Republic, which had been eyeing the city, really pass up that chance?

Kairus shook his head slightly at Irena’s speculation.

“I would’ve thought the same, back in the day.”

But now, Kairus didn’t consider that possibility to be very likely.

‘The Canal Operations Committee…’

Their influence was far stronger than he’d expected. While they didn’t dominate Bennett City’s internal power structures, their reach outside the city was beyond anything Kairus could have imagined.

To the extent that—

If the Aylan Republic had sent Lunaseeker with ulterior motives, the city’s criminal organizations would’ve caught on immediately.

So the Lunaseeker agent dispatched this time was clearly here to search for Pontus.