Vicious Darling

[37]

“Wow… I didn’t expect you to ask for work instead of something else.”

Peter muttered, as if dumbfounded.

Chris was carrying four large sugar sacks at once.

Hannah had asked him to move them from the warehouse.

“Time passes well when you use your body,” Chris said.

Peter looked at him as if to say he’d spoken well.

“It might not be difficult to lift the weight, but… won’t your back give out?”

He was carrying not just two, but four sugar sacks.

“Would you help if I looked like I was struggling?” Chris asked with a fresh face, not a drop of sweat on it.

“Well, I’m more than willing to help, but… I don’t have that ability.”

Yet Peter still followed Chris around.

The reason was that if he bothered Hannah while she was working, his back wouldn’t survive.

Chris thought that if Peter just kept his mouth shut, Hannah wouldn’t bother him first.

Since securing the unknown pill, she had been busy muttering and moving around.

Earlier, when he brought the flour sacks, Chris saw Hannah scribbling something on the blank pages of what looked like a recipe book.

“Why don’t you open a door under the sugar sacks?” Chris suggested.

Wouldn’t that deliver them directly to Hannah’s kitchen?

Peter shrugged.

“There are… some restrictions. If I draw on the floor, it only connects to the ceiling. And if these heavy things fall from the ceiling…”

“Ah, I understand.”

It was obvious that if the sugar sacks burst, the entire kitchen would be coated in sweetness.

Not only would it be difficult to clean, but it might also attract insects.

“It really looks heavy, but you’re carrying it so lightly.”

“Come and try lifting it.”

At Chris’s invitation, the curious young man strode over.

Peter grabbed the corner of the sack Chris was holding and lifted it, his mouth falling open.

“You’re lifting this with telekinesis. Your muscles must be crying for being wasted.”

It wasn’t heavy at all.

“Why are you carrying them? Couldn’t you just make the sugar sacks follow you on their own?”

With that ability, he could probably make the sugar sacks tap dance, let alone just follow.

Chris shrugged at Peter’s question.

“It’s to hide my ability from any eyes that might be watching.”

“Ah. But there’s no one here…”

It was a time when there were oddly few people around. Wasn’t that why they came straight to Hannah?

“This is a candy store, and a child might suddenly come in on a skateboard, right?”

“…Hmm.”

“Or parents might drop by to buy gifts for their children. If we’re really unlucky, someone passing by might be on a video call and risk recording us.”

He voiced several possibilities.

They needed to be more careful.

Hadn’t he just made eye contact with Yuri through the door when trying to bring the pills without anyone knowing?

He had been too complacent, relying only on his ability.

This was the Spring Continent, and he couldn’t exert influence like in the Winter Continent.

“Then why don’t you just carry two sugar sacks at a time with your own strength?” Peter asked again.

‘He must be very curious, being so young.’

Ironically, Chris himself wasn’t that old either.

But one thing was certain. Chris had more worn and battered aspects than someone twice his age.

It was the result of a life full of hardships and trials.

“Well, how should I put it?” Chris began seriously.

“I… try to use telekinesis frequently in daily life if possible.”

“Why?”

“Because it allows for more delicate control.”

That was an unexpected reason.

“Think of it like using a kettle full of water to the point of overflowing. Would that make it easier to understand?”

“Hmm. I think I get it a bit.”

“By using what’s inside frequently… emptying it as much as possible allows for the kind of control I showed earlier.”

Originally, Chris could only do things like gripping, bursting, and breaking.

His current delicate ability was the result of much trial and error.

How could he help Yuri, how could he avoid hurting him? He had repeated attempts and failures so many times, for so long.

“Otherwise, it just overflows with the slightest movement.”

Peter listened to Chris’s words with his mouth tightly shut.

Chris’s struggles didn’t feel entirely foreign to him.

“Everyone envies Espers, but… why is it so hard for us?”

Peter wasn’t the possessor of a powerful ability like Chris, but he was an Esper with a special ability.

Before he could define and handle that ‘door’ in the desired form, Peter had been a wanderer for quite a long time.

He couldn’t stay anywhere.

Unable to come and go as he wished, he lived most of his life as an illegal resident.

Even if he tried to find normal work, who would hire someone with no connections and no ID?

In the end, the only jobs Peter could do were dirty or dangerous ones that everyone else avoided.

It seemed like good days would never come.

So it felt strange to hear that even an amazing Esper like Chris had struggled like him.

“I thought someone like you was amazing from the start.”

It was almost a murmur to himself.

Peter, embarrassed by voicing his own inferiority complex, tightly shut his mouth.

Chris, who must have heard his voice, moved on without any reaction.

Peter stared blankly at his back.

If Chris had pretended to understand or snapped that no one was amazing from the start, Peter might have gotten upset. But Chris’s silent back didn’t even give him that chance.

However, the fact that this taciturnity felt kind was probably due to the spring breeze of this continent.

‘Get a grip, Peter Garrett.’

It’s not good to be attracted to an Esper who’s kind while having no interest in anyone but his own Guide.

That’s an impulse perfect for ruining one’s life.

Peter, slapping his own cheeks, quickly entered the kitchen.

Hannah was standing in front of Chris, holding a test paper. With a serious face, she was in the middle of explaining, pointing to several places.

“Hey. Did I miss anything?”

The two briefly turned their heads at Peter’s appearance before focusing back on the test paper.

“To summarize, it’s not the guiding drug that’s been popular recently… but it’s definitely close to being a narcotic,” Hannah said, waving her hand.

“Rather than a cure-all… it’s more like a painkiller.”

Her eyes looking down at the pill bottle were bitter.

“People think they’re better because they don’t feel pain. And with this level of anesthetic effect, it’s also very addictive.”

“Why is that?” Chris asked.

“Imagine living for a week, two weeks, a month… unable to move a finger due to severe headaches.”

Hannah twirled the pill between her fingers as if performing magic.

“But when you take this, suddenly you don’t feel any pain?”

“…”

“Suddenly you can return to your daily life. You can enjoy the diverse flavors of food that used to taste like sand, the noise of the vacuum cleaner doesn’t make your head buzz, the outside air feels refreshing, you can deal with people without being so irritable, you can hug your beloved child…”

Hannah added with a deep sigh.

“…You’re no longer afraid to wake up in the morning. You have no choice but to depend on it.”

Chris pressed his lips tightly together.

It was difficult to dare say he understood those feelings.

“Moreover, since it’s labeled as an anesthetic, it’s more accessible than real drugs. With a prescription, you can go to a pharmacy instead of a back alley.”

“How does the city regulate it?”

Hannah’s eyes darkened.

“What do you think? They revoked the license of a doctor who supposedly ignored patients’ pain due to personal disputes with pharmaceutical companies.”

The atmosphere became solemn.

“Well, don’t look at me like that. I’ve found my true calling and I’m living happily.”

Chris stared at the pill Hannah had handed him.

That round shape didn’t look dangerous at all.

“So… it was a drug after all?”

He couldn’t understand no matter how hard he tried.

“What if there’s an accident while working under the influence…”

As Chris muttered, Hannah answered.

“Then they replace them with someone else.”

She said, meeting his gaze directly.

“You seem to be misunderstanding something… The people who distribute these things aren’t particularly concerned about the users’ well-being.”

“That… I know.”

Chris rubbed his eyes.

Knowing something and expecting better of humans were two different things.

‘So here, it seems the mayor was the one distributing drugs among the workers.’

And when they break, they’re replaced.

Thinking about it, both illegal immigrants and prisoners were doing forced labor. It was surprising to see everyone diligently meeting their quotas with only one supervisor and few guards.

The freedom offered as compensation was certainly good. But in this case, wasn’t it an extremely expensive freedom?

It was an environment where dissatisfaction was bound to build up.

‘But if they were slowly addicting them using such drugs?’

It was good to have finally found traces of the Thorns Order after going round and round, but he couldn’t help feeling bitter.

“It’s not a very strong drug, but… if used for a long time, it will break people.”

“Which is more affected, the body or the mind?”

Hannah snorted at Chris’s question.

“You ask which is more affected. You really haven’t done drugs, have you…”

She thought he must have lived quite cleanly compared to his terrible reputation.

Thinking about it again, if he had been addicted to drugs, he would have died before building such a reputation.

“Listen well. When the body breaks down, the mind breaks down, and when the mind breaks down, the body breaks down. They’re not separate, but one.”

“Hmm.”

Chris nodded slowly.

He seemed to understand.

No matter how important mental strength is said to be, there are many things that can’t be accomplished if the body doesn’t support it. Even a solid mind is bound to be eaten away by repeated failures and feelings of helplessness. Moreover, even with a healthy body, if the mind breaks down, it tends to harm health as well.

He needed to inform Yuri before it was too late.

Chris set his lips firmly.

Sensing the change in his atmosphere, Peter changed the subject.

“Hey, I thought you said you’ve quit this line of work, but you know about guiding drugs?”

It was a sly tone, but he was testing the waters in his own way. Hannah had said she wasn’t active anymore, but it seemed she still kept her ears open.

“Well, someone once came asking me to replicate a guiding drug.”