## Chapter 51 – No. 25. End of the Street
Seeing Orca standing in front of him, No. 25 instantly recalled the memories of being tormented by her. An overwhelming fear that instantly erased the happy moments with Acer from his mind.
Fear is the most primal emotion humans have possessed since the beginning of time, when they had no weapons, and it is also the first line of defense for survival. No. 25 trembled like an aspen leaf, clutching Acer’s clothes tightly so as not to let go.
He had subtly asked Acer if they shouldn’t have dealt with her properly back then, knowing something like this might happen, and in the end, No. 25’s worries manifested into reality in the worst possible way.
Orca, who had been staring at No. 25 hiding behind Acer with an indifferent gaze, strode past the sliding door and into the lodging without a word of greeting. Even the old man, who had been wearing a gentle expression, looked visibly flustered when he saw the real Orca, the owner of the district.
From the old man’s perspective, there was no reason for her, who held the position of Demon King of District 6, to enter such a shabby boarding house.
Acer was confronting her with every cell in her body on high alert, ready to react to any small gesture Orca made.
More than anything, the situation was different from back then, when she was unilaterally beaten by Orca. No. 25 was behind her, and the old man had disappeared from his spot. On the other hand, there was nothing near Orca. If she could just blow her away like this…
A moment’s hesitation could lead to the pain of loss. Acer finished thinking and immediately raised her hand.
But Orca urgently held out her hand, stopping Acer.
“Ah, wait! I don’t intend to fight you.”
Acer glared at Orca, ready to snap her fingers at any moment.
“You don’t intend to fight? You don’t expect me to believe you after secretly committing such dirty deeds, do you?”
“I don’t really care whether you believe me or not. What I’m interested in now is that guy behind you.”
The guy Orca was talking about was obviously referring to No. 25. But that was a slip of the tongue for Orca. Now that No. 25 had risen to the undisputed top priority in Acer’s heart, bringing it up like that would only increase Acer’s wariness of her.
“Interested…? What the hell are you talking about?”
Acer’s voice was as cold as an ice pack. Orca didn’t back down and wore an arrogant sneer on her face.
“What else could it mean for a woman to be interested in a man?”
Acer gritted her teeth at Orca’s provocation.
“You think I’ll let you take him from me twice, you piece of trash?”
“We’ll have to see about that. Besides, I was the one who took that guy’s first, wasn’t I? If you want to get technical, isn’t it you who took him from me?”
It was an argument no different from a child’s stubbornness.
No. 25 peeked out from behind Acer, observing the situation as the two women argued over their ownership without even asking for his opinion.
Seeing No. 25’s slightly protruding face, Orca instantly erased the sneer she had been wearing and approached him with a friendly smile.
Acer pushed Orca’s chest, who had suddenly started moving, and glared at her, saying harshly.
“Don’t come any closer.”
Orca shrugged her shoulders and replied nonchalantly.
“You don’t have to be so wary. My body isn’t fully recovered either. I’m not stupid enough to take on you and a dragon at the same time with this body.”
No. 25’s heart was beating even faster than before due to Orca getting closer.
His lower abdomen, or more precisely, his testicles, were tingling. Looking into her burning red eyes, he couldn’t help but recall those memories he wanted to forget.
Blocked by Acer, Orca couldn’t get right in front of No. 25, but she bowed her head to him from a position that was definitely closer than before. Acer’s eyes widened. For that arrogant, crazy woman to bow her head to someone else was unprecedented.
Orca spoke briefly in the most serious voice he had ever heard.
“I admit defeat.”
No. 25 tilted his head, as if not understanding.
“Defeat…? What are you talking about?”
Orca lifted her head at the stupid-sounding answer. Her eyes looked as empty as ashes that had been burned out. No. 25’s answer must have been quite shocking, as Orca muttered to herself.
“What, could it be that he doesn’t remember? No, it’s only been a week, so that can’t be… Or does he not know that it’s his power?”
The tense atmosphere from before disappeared in an instant, as if a tangled thread had been unraveled by No. 25’s words. Unlike before, Acer relaxed slightly and asked Orca in a chilly voice.
“Is that all you have to say?”
“Yeah, that’s all I wanted to say to him.”
To him? That meant she still had something to say to Acer. Acer narrowed her eyes and curtly said, “Say it.” Orca also didn’t speak at length.
“You saw it too, didn’t you?”
To someone who didn’t know, it was just a random remark that popped out without any context, but not to Acer. Her body twitched for a moment, and her eyes trembled. The image of her former subordinate working under the red lights of the pleasure district came to mind. Unlike when she was in the castle, she was smiling brightly.
Acer pursed her lips instead of answering. Acer’s answer never reached Orca’s ears, but she finished the rest of her words in a calm voice.
“That girl is living in the present, fulfilling her role here. There’s no place for you to interfere, clinging to the past, so erase her from your mind.”
It was a somewhat rough way of speaking, but she knew that it was Orca’s own form of consideration.
“…Okay.”
After finishing her words to Acer, Orca turned to No. 25 again. Compared to when she was talking to Acer, her voice was definitely brighter, but she couldn’t completely erase the feeling that she was forcing it.
“You should come visit our district sometime later when you have time, without this guy knowing. I promise I won’t treat you harshly like I did back then.”
“Wi, without him knowing?”
Acer let out a dumbfounded laugh at the blatant suggestion to come secretly.
“Shouldn’t you be saying that where I can’t hear you, at least?”
“What does it matter? Let’s not worry about such trivial details.”
Orca glossed over the situation with a laugh and held out her scarred hand to No. 25 as a sign of reconciliation. Acer couldn’t allow him to touch Orca’s body at all. That went for handshakes too. Just as Acer was about to push Orca’s hand away, No. 25 stepped forward.
“No. 25?”
No. 25 stammered and spoke softly in front of Orca.
“If you promise not to treat me harshly like before… I might be able to come once in a while.”
That was enough. Orca smiled contentedly and took No. 25’s hand.
But there was no way Orca would be satisfied with just a handshake. Orca’s smile turned sinister, and she pulled No. 25’s hand, drawing him into her arms, and then suddenly stole a kiss.
Acer was speechless at the sudden lip robbery, stammering for a moment before blushing and raising her voice.
“…You!”
Acer swung her hand wildly at the spot where Orca’s face had been, intending to slap her, but there was no way Acer’s hand, which had never thrown a punch in her life, would reach Orca. Orca easily dodged it with just a tilt of her head. The lost hand unfortunately struck No. 25’s cheek, who was standing in front of Orca, squarely.
Smack! No. 25’s scream rang out briefly.
“Ah!”
Feeling the tingling sensation on the palm of her hand, Acer immediately realized what had happened and hugged No. 25, caressing his cheek where the handprint was red.
“S, sorry! Are you okay?”
Orca, the culprit of all this, watched the situation as if it had nothing to do with her, laughing out loud. Orca laughed so much that she wiped the tears from her eyes and gave her final farewell.
“I lost the fight, but you know I’m still winning in bed, right? If you don’t want to lose like before when we have sex next time, try doing it with your true feelings. Like when you’re protecting Acer.”
Orca left those words behind, laughing heartily as she left. For a while, Acer glared at the spot where Orca had been. To have a rematch in bed, she could never allow such a thing. No. 25’s body could never be taken from her again. This body was only hers.
But that wasn’t the problem now. Acer withdrew her hostile gaze and looked at No. 25, who had been slapped by her, with worried eyes.
“Are you okay? Here, let’s wipe your lips first.”
Acer took out a handkerchief from her arms and rubbed No. 25’s lips roughly. Seeing someone else steal what she thought was her own lips right in front of her eyes was a much greater mental blow than she had expected.
After wiping his lips, No. 25, who had finally regained the freedom of his mouth, barely opened his mouth.
“I’m okay.”
Judging from Orca’s words before she left, there was a high possibility that she would come looking for No. 25 again soon.
She had left with a friendly smile on her face now, but no one but herself knew when and how her mind would change. He didn’t even want to think about it, but if they were to meet as enemies again next time and he was trembling with fear like now, Acer could suffer again.
It was time to get his act together. No. 25 suppressed the fear of Orca that had taken root in a corner of his heart and said to Acer.
“Let’s go now.”
Every time he looked at the purple sky covered with Orca’s magic and the suggestive colored lights, bad memories came to mind. The first day he spent in District 6 was full of memories he didn’t even want to think about, but he didn’t regret coming here.
There was definitely a sense of curiosity being satisfied by seeing a different district after escaping District 7, but what stood out the most was the memories with Acer. With just this one memory, No. 25 was able to find a light that illuminated the way forward even in the purple sky.
Acer glanced at No. 25 next to her as they strolled down the street. Acer gently took his hand and asked carefully.
“You didn’t really enjoy it because of Orca… But it was still good, right?”
The answer was already decided from the start. No. 25 looked straight at Acer’s face and smiled, raising the corners of his mouth.
“Yes, it was good.”
A smile so bright that it even gave the illusion that it contained the sunlight. Acer vowed to protect this man’s smile until the day this body turned to ashes and scattered in the wind.
