Bad Born Blood-Chapter 158

Chapter 158

Tajirun placed an ice pack on his head. Being a cold-blooded creature like a snake, it seemed difficult for him to regulate his body temperature.

"Since there seems to be some misunderstanding between us, let’s introduce ourselves properly. My name is Jafa. It’s not my original name, but I changed it to something easier for you to pronounce."

"Luka. Lukaus Custoria."

"First, let me say that I have no intention of harming you. In fact, I was protecting you."

"Hmm, I guess I’ll have to search my memory to see if I recall asking for protection. My memory isn’t exactly intact, you see."

Tajirun—Jafa—stuck out his forked tongue and exhaled.

"...You don’t believe me, Mr. Luka. Stop acting aggressively just to gain the upper hand in negotiations. I am an expert in this field as well, and I’m starting to feel inclined to treat you as a hostile."

"Is that so?"

I crossed my arms and tilted my head.

"Three Equessian mercenaries are guarding me. I know you’re an exceptional soldier, but in your current state, you can’t do anything about them. I hold the advantage in this negotiation. You should remember that any concessions I make are purely out of goodwill."

Not easy. The rumors about Tajirun being a born merchant were clearly not just hearsay. He had a keen insight into the flow of the conversation.

"You’re right. I woke up after twelve years with no knowledge of anything. I’ve lost even the means to protect myself. So it’s not just you—I can’t trust anyone."

"You’re saying that, like a wounded beast, I should understand if you lash out?"

"I’m saying that if I bite, you should endure it—if you truly have goodwill toward me."

"Goodwill..."

Jafa flicked his tongue in and out as he fell into thought. Soon, he pointed to the door with his long, sharp nails.

"Equessians, the escort is unnecessary. Wait outside. I will call you when my conversation with Mr. Luka is over."

The Equessians didn’t question him. They calmly brushed past me and stepped outside.

Clatter, clatter.

Jafa pulled a chair closer and sat down in front of me. The distance between us was uncomfortably close. If I took just one step forward, I could wrap my fingers around his throat.

Jafa, who was taller than me, hunched over to meet my gaze. At the center of his bright yellow irises, his vertically slit pupils dilated into deep black. Seeing his snake-like eyes made it all the more real that he was of a different species.

"Mr. Luka, with your abilities, you could kill or capture me at this distance at any time. That means you and I are now on equal footing."

Bold and surprising.

"I thought merchants wouldn’t gamble their own lives in a deal."

I adjusted my posture, straightening my back.

"Soldiers and warriors often fall into that arrogance. They assume merchants won’t put their lives on the line. But staking one’s life is not an exclusive privilege of your kind, hoyot."

The conversation was ready to begin.

We stood on equal ground. I could kill Jafa at any moment. Likewise, Jafa could summon the Equessians to kill me.

A position where we could both end each other’s lives.

There was nothing fairer than this.

I bared my teeth in a grin.

"I’d like you to explain the circumstances under which I woke up in Lazarus."

"I was going to explain it to you in detail even without your request. I want to earn your trust."

Jafa clicked his long, claw-like nails together as he spoke. I assumed he was smiling. It was hard to tell what counted as a smile on a reptilian face.

Jafa continued his explanation. The timeline did not start during Akbaran’s Storm Era but rather in the more recent past.

"I discovered your existence three years ago. You were in cryosleep at Lazarus due to unpaid medical bills. Typically, when medical payments are discontinued, patients are disposed of as test subjects. However, your guardian had been consistently paying a substantial amount in medical fees, leading them to believe you were under the protection of a powerful or wealthy individual. That’s why they kept you on hold instead of discarding you. If things had continued as they were, you would have remained locked in a cryogenic chamber until the Lazarus facility collapsed."

I forced myself to maintain an expression as cold as ice. I didn’t know the name of the guardian who had placed me in Lazarus, but I was certain it was Giselle.

‘Something must have happened to Giselle for some reason.’

Three years after the Storm Era ended, Giselle admitted me to Lazarus. She must have found out they had the means to treat me. Since I ultimately recovered, her judgment had been correct.

‘Two years after I was admitted, Giselle’s financial support stopped. Something must have happened then. After that, I was left in cryosleep for five years.’

Jafa discovered me three years ago and continued paying for my treatment. And that was how I returned to the living.

"Where did you get the information that I was here?"

"I paid an amount as substantial as your medical bills. The Tajirun information market is far larger than you might think. We possess knowledge even the leaders of the three nations are unaware of. That is our weapon."

Something felt off.

No matter how secretive the Tajirun were, they were still a nomadic race without a nation of their own. It was hard to believe that they possessed information unknown even to the leaders of the Three Nations.

The Tajirun were not human. Naturally, their reactions and unconscious expressions when lying differed from those of humans.

‘I still don’t know much about the Tajirun.’

I lacked experience and information about them. Intuition alone wasn’t enough to see through a Tajirun’s intentions.

Jafa’s pupils repeatedly dilated and contracted. His tongue flicked out even faster than before.

‘Just as I’m trying to read him, he’s reading me.’

It felt like being observed by Akies Victima.

"Tajirun usually operate in family units. Each family has its own area of expertise and principles. Trust is crucial in commerce. A merchant who breaks their principles is trusted by no one. While we may deceive others, we do not lie."

"Hah, that’s a funny thing to say, but I get it. The highest form of deception is misleading without lying."

"You may not care, but the Tajirun have a family known as ‘Lalasha.’ They specialize exclusively in handling secretive information. The Lalasha family follows one fundamental principle. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Once they sell information, they never sell it again to another party. They promise exclusivity. And if they ever learn that the information has somehow spread to others, they immediately inform the original buyer. Consider it after-sales service for their product."

They treated information as something material, something that could be controlled and traded. That was surprising.

‘And the fact that he’s explaining all this... it means Jafa is reading my thoughts and emotions. Right now, he’s deciphering me. How?’

I had been consciously controlling my emotional signals. There was a gap in my conditioning due to my long inactivity, but I wasn’t careless enough to be this transparent.

"We Tajirun can sense emotions through scents floating in the air. It would be most accurate to say that emotions have a taste, which we can perceive with our tongues."

"You’ve been feeding me a lot of information since earlier."

"A sign of goodwill. I’ve dealt with countless humans, but this is your first time encountering a Tajirun. I figured giving you this much might help you trust me."

Now, I could trust him—if only a little. Even the most unyielding stone would at least turn its head after this much effort.

"...You said you were looking for Kinuan?"

I spoke as if granting permission.

"Hoyoooooot! That’s exactly why I was looking for you. I heard that Kinuan possesses a special ability called Akies Victima. It’s a method of cognitive expansion and multidimensional reasoning based on high-speed thought processing. According to my sources, after Kinuan, you are the most advanced Akies Victima practitioner on Planet Novus."

It seemed he didn’t know that I was Kinuan’s disciple and an Overseer. Or maybe he knew and was just pretending not to.

"I learned Akies Victima from Kinuan."

I tossed out the statement casually.

"I expected as much. But as his disciple, you don’t seem to like him very much."

"What makes you think that?"

"As I mentioned earlier, I can read emotions. When the name ‘Kinuan’ first came up, your emotions had an astoundingly bitter and cold taste. It was a rare combination."

"Not exactly pleasant, knowing that my emotions are being read."

I was standing before someone who could sense what people felt—much like an Akies Victima user.

"I’ll be honest with you. If you had shown any positive emotion upon hearing Kinuan’s name... I would have resorted to rather dreadful methods to put a leash on you. Then I would have used you as my hunting dog to find Kinuan, hoyot."

The way he put it actually made him seem more trustworthy. I didn’t know if all Tajirun were like this, but Jafa was an exceptionally skilled talker.

"You must have spent a fortune searching for me and treating me. Do you have a grudge against Kinuan or something? Want me to find him and kill him for you?"

"I want him captured alive. I won’t explain my reasons. But I am a successful businessman. With my wealth, I can provide you with all the support you need.

It’s not a bad deal, is it? You could use some solid backing, couldn’t you? Someone like you, one of the key figures of the Storm Era, stranded here without any support from the Empire—there must be a reason for that. And we know very well just how deep the darkness of the Empire runs."

I didn’t bother hiding my frown. There was no point in masking my expressions when my emotions were being read anyway.

"...If I move my hand right now, you’re dead."

"Hoyot, that thought chills me to my core—but I have already wagered my life. Oh, right, I’m a cold-blooded creature, aren’t I? Human idioms are quite tricky."

I stared at Jafa for a moment before standing up.

"I’ll send you a list of what I need. For now, give me some time to rest."

"I’ve already prepared everything. You won’t feel at ease until you have the strength to protect yourself. Follow En."

"En?"

"The Equessian mercenary who guided you here. He’ll be your partner. He’s the best warrior under my command."

"Not a partner—a watchdog, more like."

I grumbled.

"Hoyot, hoyot..."

Jafa let out a sound that could have been either laughter or just an exhale as he saw me off.

Creak, thud.

Leaving Jafa behind, I stepped out alone. Three Equessian mercenaries stood in the hallway. The only familiar one, En, gestured toward me with his chin.

- Follow.

Still as domineering as ever. I resisted the urge to make a snide remark and followed him.

‘Trying to extract information from Jafa, who can read emotions, isn’t a good idea. He’d just end up reading my thoughts instead.’

That was why I cut the conversation short, even though there was so much more I wanted to ask. Especially anything related to Giselle—I couldn’t let him sense those emotions. There was no need to expose my vulnerabilities.

‘I’m still psychologically unstable. I feel stripped bare, making me naturally vulnerable. Just maintaining my composure is already difficult enough.’

Once I got my emotions back under control like before, Jafa wouldn’t be able to read me so easily.

I followed En downstairs, observing my surroundings.

The entire building seemed to belong to Jafa. Equessian guards patrolled every floor. The people passing by included not just humans but various alien species as well.

Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks.

‘Armory.’

That was what the sign on the door read. A familiar scent wafted from beyond it. The thick, oily smell of metal, the tang of gunpowder, and the sharp scent of energy weapons. I had missed it all.

I felt a surge of excitement. No, I was already excited.

The smooth sensation of Ruina and Crucis, the weapons that weren’t in my hands, flashed through my mind.

My brain was releasing hormones that turned me into a bloodthirsty psycho. It felt like my mind was melting away. If I could get my hands on Ruina and Crucis again right now, I felt like I could kill three—no, four or five innocent people without hesitation.

Of course, this was just a fleeting impulse. I had no actual intention of acting on it. Seriously.

- It’s too soon for you to go in there. But I see you truly are a warrior.

En turned back to look at me. Even in his mechanical, inorganic voice, I could hear the hint of amusement.