Codename Vestia

Chapter 33: Joonie

Tora turned around in front of the waiting helicopter. It was the day he was finally setting out to search for Rato, and they had come to see him off.

Gamal spoke with a worried expression.
“Be careful, Tora.”

“Don’t worry, Marti.”

Gamal remained silent for a moment before suddenly speaking, as though she couldn’t stand it anymore, her tone suggesting she was ready to pack her bags immediately.
“I can’t let this go. I’ll come with you.”

Tora shook his head.
“You’ll stand out too much, Marti. It’ll only make it harder to find Rato.”

Besides, Gamal had been granted an early end to her observation period on the condition that she stayed behind, so both of them leaving wasn’t an option anyway. There was also the possibility that the Grand Duke’s subordinates might still remember her.

“Have you forgotten how well I’ve managed on my own outside so far?”

“But this time….”

Tora gripped Gamal’s hand tightly.
“I’ll be fine.”

To anyone watching, they might not have appeared as blood relatives but rather as lovers saying goodbye.

“If you find yourself in even the slightest danger….”

Gamal still seemed uneasy. Tora pointed to Jain.

“Jain will be coming with me, won’t she?”

Jain felt the urge to demand to be addressed by her rank but chose not to interrupt their heartfelt moment. Then, Gamal suddenly approached Jain and took her hand.

Jain, unaccustomed to such casual physical contact, almost pulled her hand away out of reflex but refrained when she realized it was Gamal. There was a certain power in Gamal’s visually striking, harmless aura that even Jain couldn’t resist.

With eyes almost brimming with tears, Gamal whispered earnestly,
“Please take care of Tora, Jain.”

Jain nodded.
“I’ll do my best.”

She thought to herself that no one would dare lay a hand on such a towering vampire, but she kept her thoughts to herself. Tora watched them with amused eyes.

“I’ll be back,” Tora said, turning away.

As they walked, Jain spoke up.
“You’re quite kind to the Patroness.”

“It’s Marti,” Tora replied smoothly.

“Do you wish to be kind to Jain as well?”

“Please address me by my rank,” Jain said without a hint of humor. Tora chuckled.
“How cold.”

Jain couldn’t tell whether this man was serious or just playing around.

***

Music boomed around them. It was Friday night, so it was to be expected, but the club was packed to the point of bursting.

Beyond the flashing colored lights, Tora was entangled with a woman he had never met before. Jain sat at the bar, watching the scene unfold.

He claimed to be gathering clues, but to her, it looked more like he was using that as an excuse to have fun.

That man seemed to carry some kind of magnetic field around him. Women flocked to him wherever he went. Occasionally, a few men would approach, but they didn’t dare linger under the glare of the surrounding women.
Tora might have been worth a shot if he didn’t exude an overwhelming aura of being thoroughly straight from every pore.

Just like her father.

Though her father wasn’t as inhuman in his demeanor, she was sick and tired of men who constantly attracted women like moths to a flame.

“Are you alone?”

At that moment, a man approached Jain. She raised her lowered gaze to meet his.

From afar, Tora noticed the scene. Jain didn’t react even as the man subtly leaned in and wrapped an arm around her waist. Tora wondered if that was her type.

‘She has terrible taste.’

If that was the case, it made sense why she showed no reaction to him.

The man, however, seemed to have felt something at her waist and flinched. Jain, as though she had been waiting for this moment, smirked faintly on one side of her lips, a deadly smile that implied she was about to pull out whatever was at her waist and aim it at him.

“Don’t make me take it out.”

Then, without missing a beat, she returned to her neutral expression, acting as if the man didn’t exist. The man hesitated before retreating. Tora couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

“She’d roast Nikado alive.”

“What was that?”

A woman standing next to him, unable to catch his muttered words, asked.

“Nothing. Hang on.”

Tora gently brushed aside the woman’s hand trying to keep him from leaving and walked toward Jain.

“Not really enjoying a place like this, huh?”

“I’m working,” Jain answered indifferently.

“What if you came here with friends?”

“I know how to blend in,” she replied.

Still, it was impossible to picture Jain wearing an outfit like the other women here, dancing under the flashing lights.

“I wish you’d blend in a little now. Right now, you’re giving off only two possible vibes: either you’re dealing with a devastating breakup or you’re an undercover cop.”

Jain didn’t crack a smile as she replied, “Let’s go with the breakup.”

Suddenly, Tora moved closer. Jain stiffened, nearly stepping back, but managed to hold her ground. She didn’t want this man to think he had any influence over her.

“Then I guess that makes me the guy who comforts the heartbroken woman,” Tora teased.

Jain raised an eyebrow, and Tora waited for her reaction, his expression one of amused anticipation.

He seemed to seduce women instinctively. Or, more precisely, just a single glance from those deep eyes seemed to make women drop everything and flock to him. And it was clear he enjoyed it.

Without warning, Jain stood up abruptly. She moved so quickly that Tora instinctively stepped back a pace.

“What’s wrong?”

“Bathroom,” she said curtly, brushing past him and heading off. Tora let out a soft laugh as he watched her leave.

“A fortress,” he murmured.

Jain walked past the restroom entrance, where two drunk strangers were kissing sloppily. Scanning the restroom, she systematically pushed open each stall door, checking for occupants, until she reached the last one. She stepped inside and pulled a slim case from her inner pocket. Opening it carefully, she began her task.
Inside the case was a single syringe.

This syringe contained something capable of killing a vampire in an instant.

“Do you know much about vampires?” Jain’s superior had asked. Jain had responded,
“Enough to say I work at MCTC.”

“Then you must know that vampires can’t accept infections from sources other than their own.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that’s why they can’t drink blood from their own kind.”

“Exactly. If they drink the wrong blood, they could die from an attack by a different infection source.”

With that, her superior had slid a small black case, no larger than a palm, across the desk. When Jain opened it, inside was a steel syringe cushioned in shock-absorbing material.

“This was developed based on the principle that vampires can’t ingest blood from their own kind. It’s a modified serum made from vampire blood—a specialized poison for vampires. It’s the latest thing out of the military lab, so the effectiveness is guaranteed.”

Her superior had looked at Jain quietly.
“You’ll know when the time comes to use it.”

Tora might have felt secure knowing his watcher was human, but just this amount would bring down even a massive vampire like him in a matter of seconds.

Jain carefully stored the poison in her inner pocket. When she emerged from the restroom, Tora was now tangled up with a different woman. Each one he interacted with was undeniably beautiful.

Jain suppressed the irrational urge to use what was in her pocket right away.

***

Doyeong noticed Gamal, who seemed deeply preoccupied ever since Tora had left.
“Feeling empty?” he asked.

Without even glancing at him, Gamal murmured with a grave expression,
“I’m worried.”

She should probably have been more concerned about Tora going around picking fights than getting hurt, but it was understandable given how much she cherished her Clientes. Her reaction made sense. Doyeong, uncharacteristically, tried to offer some comforting words, but Gamal spoke first.
“Tora is too naïve.”

Doyeong was incredulous.
“Are we talking about the same Tora here?”

“Tora is kind.”

“Right. And even a hedgehog is soft to its own mother.”

Gamal seemed so lost in thought that Doyeong wasn’t sure she even heard him. Watching her, he finally broke the silence.
“If I were your Clientes—”

That finally got Gamal’s attention.
“Huh?” She turned to him.

Doyeong muttered, frustrated,
“Forget it. What am I even saying?”

He turned and walked away, leaving Gamal bewildered.
“Doyeong?”

She quickly followed after him.
“Tora is genuinely kind. That’s the problem.”

***

Tora checked the sign above the building.

Upon entering, a waiter who was serving another customer greeted him.
“Welcome.”

The two sat at an outdoor table. Before long, a waiter approached them with a smile.

“You’re back again.”

Tora and Jain exchanged a quick glance.

There was no way Tora, who had only left the base yesterday, could have been here before. Someone with his face must have visited recently.

“Places that serve food like this aren’t common,” Tora said, smoothly adjusting his expression and responding with a lighthearted tone. He glanced at the chalkboard menu on the wall, ordered a coffee, and continued,
“I’ve been so busy lately that my memory’s all over the place. When was I here last? I think it was recently.”

“It’s been a while, actually. Around a month or so ago.”

“But you remember me?”

“It’s hard to forget someone like you.”

The waiter left, and Tora and Jain didn’t speak further, cautious of who might overhear their conversation.

Then, with hearing far sharper than a human’s, Tora caught the murmurs of the waitstaff conversing in the distance.

“He’s already with a new woman.”
“I wonder what it’s like to live with a face like that.”

Tora turned to look at Jain.

‘Already with a new woman.’

Did that mean Rato had been with a woman? But who?

Noticing Tora staring at her, Jain asked with a displeased tone,
“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

With that, Tora stood.

“Where are you going?” Jain asked.

Tora jerked a thumb in the direction of the restroom behind the counter.
“Want to come with me?”

Jain simply turned her head away without answering.

As Tora passed by the counter where an employee stood, he shook his head and muttered,
“Women who try to control you are exhausting.”

The waiter glanced at Jain, who was gazing outside.
“She seems like an amazing woman.”

He sounded sincere. Jain, after all, was strikingly beautiful and had a well-toned physique from her training, enough to catch the attention of most men.

Tora leaned casually on the counter and began to talk more animatedly.

“I mean, sure, I was drawn to her charisma at first. But then it’s like, ‘Put the cup here,’ ‘Place the toothbrush there,’ ‘Wipe up the water,’ you know? All that nagging women do.”

He waved his hand as if dismissing the topic entirely.
“And on top of that, she’s got this control-freak streak. Even in bed, she’s always telling me what to do. Kills the mood, you know?”

As he spoke, he made a subtle gesture downward with his eyes, as though to say, “You know what I mean,” and let out an exaggerated sigh. To anyone who knew the context, his dramatic act might have seemed almost comedic.

“The last one was so much better,” he muttered loudly enough for the waiter to hear.

Meanwhile, Jain observed Tora, who was behaving more obnoxiously than usual as he chatted with the waiter.

‘What’s he doing?’

Though she couldn’t hear their conversation, Jain found his behavior slightly irritating—but then again, she found Tora irritating in general, so she didn’t dwell on it and turned her gaze away.

At that moment, a man at a nearby table stood.

Jain sensed the movement but didn’t turn around, instead watching the reflection in the glass shelf.

One man headed toward the restroom, while another remained seated, casually fiddling with his phone. Yet, something about them stuck in her mind.