This House Has A Delicious Restaurant - Chapter 12 - Spy (1) - Part 1

12. Spy (1)

How old was he when he first saw a corpse?

Suddenly, he finds himself sifting through the past. It was a long time ago, back when he was much younger than he is now.

A little girl lying before him as if asleep.

How did he react to the sudden, grim reality of witnessing someone else’s death for the first time?

Zerdan closed his eyes. Some parts of the memory were hazy, but he could recall someone else besides that little girl. Whether that person was an adult or a child, he couldn’t remember.

‘Why isn’t she waking up?’

A voice echoes in his mind.

Was there a hint of tears in that voice? Or was it simply confusion?

‘Make her move. She was just playing with me a moment ago.’

A stranger soon placed his hand on the little girl’s arm.

At that moment, he instinctively realized she was dead, and he was about to say it was useless. But then, a strange sensation tingled at his fingertips.

At the same time, he felt the little girl’s arm tensing under his touch. The next moment, she made a small movement.

When she finally opened her eyes, he quickly pulled his hand back.

Her pupils were unfocused. Yet, the way she blinked made her seem alive.

A dead person coming back to life.

But what was that strange sensation at his fingertips?

‘She woke up!’

A delighted voice came from beside him. And then, when they said it was all thanks to him, how did he react?

Did he run away from that place?

Unlike his brother Obella, Zerdan wasn’t born with any special abilities, but one day, he gained this strange power.

The ability to turn corpses into puppets wasn’t something he was born with.

It was a power forcibly bestowed upon him by someone else.

He tried to remember, but the face wouldn’t come to him.

As Zerdan frowned, Liffree, who had been watching him, sighed and gently touched his shoulder.

“Zerdan, what are you thinking about again?”

“…Nothing.”

“Nothing, huh? You were trying to recall an old memory again, weren’t you?”

Zerdan didn’t deny Liffree’s words. Seeing this, Liffree sighed again.

He never gets tired of it—so diligent, his friend.

“I don’t think it’s just because you were young that you can’t remember clearly. Even I can only recall fragments of what happened back then. It seems to be about a specific person, but I can’t clearly remember their appearance or voice. I don’t even know if they were an adult or a child.”

“…Do you think there could be someone who has the power to bestow abilities on others?”

“It’s not impossible. This ability itself is an unknown force, after all.”

At Liffree’s response, Zerdan leaned back on the sofa, tilting his head as his black hair spilled behind him.

He stared silently at the ceiling before speaking again.

“Do you think they might have other powers besides just bestowing abilities?”

“Maybe they even have the absurd power of creation. But whatever it is, the fact that they can erase someone’s memory for so long—it’s a formidable ability.”

“It would have been better if I had just died back then.”

“Don’t say that. You almost died at the hands of your parents too, remember? In a way, that person saved your life.”

“A lifesaver?”

Zerdan let out a bitter laugh.

Sure, it was a good thing to be freed from those devilish beings who called themselves parents.

“But messing with my body as a parting gift—that’s unsettling.”

“A ticking time bomb.”

Liffree said with a light laugh. Zerdan shot him a glare, but he didn’t seem too bothered.

Zerdan was, in many ways, like a living ticking time bomb.

He couldn’t hear it now while they were talking, but whenever he was alone in a quiet room, he could faintly hear the sound of time ticking near his heart.

It must be time only he could hear.

“If it does go off, maybe if Sidon uses his power right before it explodes, you might be able to survive?”

“Lily, do you have a death wish?”

“I told you not to call me by that name!”

Liffree winced at the nickname Zerdan called him with a laugh. Watching Liffree’s reaction, Zerdan gave a slight smirk and noticed that he was fiddling with a bracelet.

“Are you planning to give that to Sidon?”

“Yeah. The one I gave him before seems to be weakening, and the brainwasher has switched sides again. Better safe than sorry.”

“That’s the bracelet that makes Sidon appear as an illusion, different from his real form, right?”

“Yeah. I’m the one suffering to match a certain someone’s whims. You are a nasty piece of work. You deserve all the criticism you get. Making someone think their brother is dead, disguising them with an illusion so they don’t recognize him, and then planting that brother as a spy—it’s unbelievable.”

Zerdan smiled. Liffree shook his head in disbelief.

He was helping out because a close friend’s life was being threatened, but he wasn’t sure if what they were doing was right.

As long as it wasn’t himself or someone close to him, he didn’t care about killing someone. They only directly killed those who posed a threat to them, avoiding unnecessary bloodshed.

It was unsettling, though, that the underlings who flocked to them on their own accord were often involved in things like blackmail, murder, and human trafficking.

By the way, Zerdan personally killed those who were involved in human trafficking. It was usually crimes targeting vulnerable children or the elderly. Considering his past, he couldn’t just let that slide.

“By the way, how’s your ability control going lately? It seems like it works as long as the person is unconscious, even if they’re not dead.”

“It’s fine with ordinary people or weaker ability users, but for stronger ones like that brainwasher, it’s hard to control them without killing them.”

“Don’t expect too much. Your ability isn’t all-powerful, but it works well enough. If that amplifier joined our side, things would be a lot easier. Too bad.”

“Should we just kidnap her?”

Zerdan muttered, seemingly tempted by the idea.

With Khan’s ability, kidnapping wouldn’t be too difficult.

But considering the situation, it seemed like the amplifier had already joined forces with Obella. If they tried to kidnap her, Obella wouldn’t stand idly by. It would be the second time, after Diswen.

Knowing Obella’s tendency to protect his people, Liffree shook his head.

“Let’s not. Even if we did kidnap her, I doubt she’d cooperate willingly. And Obella’s side would be in an uproar, so it’s better to leave it alone. If it looks like they’ll be a hindrance, it might be better to eliminate them instead.”

“Surprising. I thought you’d be happy to bring her over since it would make your life easier.”

“That’s true, but I don’t want to start a fight unnecessarily. Obella’s ability is terrifying. Besides, I think that woman, Moa Ablon, seems promising.”

Liffree thought of the woman with silver bobbed hair.

Her ability wasn’t particularly impressive, but she maximized it in battle, showing intelligence and assertiveness. Though a bit exhausting to deal with, she wasn’t bad.

“That young lady is dead.”

“What?! Are you serious? Wait, from the way you’re talking, did you kill her, Zerdan? Weren’t you interested in her? You two seemed to get along well!”

“We had good conversations.”

“Not just good conversations—she was practically a female version of you…”

Liffree remembered when Khan had once remarked that Moa Ablon was like a female Zerdan. Even Liffree, who had only met her once, had agreed with that.

Why did he kill her? Was it self-loathing?

Liffree looked at Zerdan, trying to understand, but Zerdan’s face was expressionless, devoid of any particular emotion.

“She was bold, which I liked, but when she tried to cross a line, I warned her. She didn’t heed it.”

“Even so, you… Khan mentioned that you two were a good match, even physically.”

“Yeah. But eliminating obstacles comes first. The person we’re looking for might be with Obella’s group. If she had more time, she probably would have figured that out. Same with Sidon’s identity.”

“Yeah, that would’ve been a problem.”

Liffree grimaced, agreeing with Zerdan.

They didn’t even know the full extent of the enemy’s abilities, so they had to strike by surprise. If Moa Ablon had figured things out and tipped them off, it could have caused serious trouble.

They had prepared and waited so long for this moment.

Zerdan had merely removed a potential threat for the future. Still, he felt a slight twinge of regret.

She was someone who might have been useful to work with.

“Obella must be furious.”

“Why?”

“Your brother cares about his people. Wasn’t that woman one of his comrades?”

“A comrade…”

Zerdan frowned as he recalled Obella smiling. Was Obella ever someone who smiled like that when thinking about a comrade? It was the first time Zerdan had seen such a smile.

Surely, Moa Ablon wasn’t just an ordinary comrade. For some reason, that fact bothered him—a nagging, uncomfortable feeling.

But it didn’t matter anymore. Moa Ablon was dead, and there was no longer any need to concern himself with her.

* * *

As Sidon had predicted, it didn’t take long for Diswen to regain consciousness. Though she seemed a bit confused by the sudden situation, she appeared relieved, as if comforted by the thought that she had returned.

At the moment, Obella and Phel were explaining the situation to her and helping her to calm down.

“It’s a relief that she’s come to her senses.”

“There’s something strangely mystical about Sidon. Even when she’s treated, she seems to heal a bit faster than others. Of course, it might just be my imagination.”

Terisier answered Anise. Listening to Terisier, I asked him.

“He’s an ordinary person without any special abilities, right?”

“Yeah, but he’s still helpful, even though he can be a bit of a hassle. He’s got a bit of a dazed side to him.”

“I see. I’d like to formally introduce myself to him later.”

“That’s up to you. But why don’t you tell us why you called us here? It was you who gathered us when we were trying to rest.”

Terisier replied, a slight irritation in his tone. He was probably annoyed at being interrupted during his rest.

Gathered in the living room were Terisier, who looked displeased, Anise, who was looking at us with innocent curiosity, and me. Obella and Phel were absent, still caring for Diswen.

I smiled at them and spoke.

“I called you here to discuss something. We realized during the last battle that we’re at a disadvantage in terms of strength.”

“Of course. They’ve got the upper hand when it comes to abilities.”

“That’s true. But having more abilities isn’t always an advantage. It depends on how you use them. What works in our favor is that Anise is cooperating with us. But even a strong ability is useless if we don’t use it properly, so I wanted us to practice.”

“A special training session for my ability!”

Anise said, catching on to the main point of the conversation. I nodded.

In reality, Anise unconsciously imbues objects with her power through acts like signing things. This means she hasn’t fully controlled her strong ability, likely because she only recently became aware of it.

“Controlling your ability is crucial. I’ve been meaning to ask—how extensive is the range of Anise’s ability? Can she differentiate between allies and enemies when using it? The biggest issue is when both allies and enemies are within the same range. If she can’t control it precisely, she might end up amplifying the abilities of the enemy as well.”

“That’s true… I haven’t tried anything like that yet, so I’m not sure.”

Anise replied, looking a bit dejected.

I patted her shoulder lightly in a gesture of comfort, then looked over at Terisier, who seemed to be wondering what this special training had to do with him.

“I know it’s with good intentions, but what does that have to do with why I was called here?”

“You know Anise’s ability is amplification, right? So, we need to check if it works properly when a power user is using their ability. But if we ask Obella or Mummy Man, who have offensive abilities, this area might end up in ruins, right?”

“There’s also Phel.”

“Phel is busy right now.”

“Well… Does that mean I’m free?”

“That’s not what I meant. Calm down. Since my abilities don’t harm others, I thought it would be helpful to help Anise control her abilities. And with my ability, the only person I can recognize at a glance is Terisier.”

Terisier, who had been looking confused, soon hardened his expression. He seemed to understand what I meant.

Though he looked like he had a lot to say, he couldn’t deny that Anise’s ability was important, so he didn’t object.