RE - Chapter 270: When There Are No Problems, Your Brothers Are the Biggest Problem (Patreon)

“Lo~~↗ad, I can’t chan~ge~↘

Won’t you fly~~~ high~~↗, Free—— Bird ——yeah~”

The powerful sound of the electric guitar filled the car as Alan floored the accelerator, tearing down the muddy road and throwing up huge sprays of water.

The roar of the engine reverberated through the chassis, the entire car vibrating beneath him.

With the soaring, infectious melody of “Free Bird” blasting around him, Alan unconsciously bobbed his head to the beat. Before he knew it, his foot was practically welded to the floor.

It wasn’t until the song changed that he gradually slowed down.

He’d almost launched the car like a missile.

Resting his right hand on the gearshift, Alan continued down the road at a more leisurely pace.

As the forest gradually disappeared and gave way to open plains, Alan spotted a black sedan parked on the roadside in the pouring rain.

A man with a somewhat receding hairline stood in front of it, examining the engine.

Judging by the look on his face, though, he seemed to be blindly poking around in hopes of getting lucky rather than actually knowing how to fix it.

Alan slowed down and pulled to a steady stop beside him.

Noticing the car stop, the man turned toward Alan as he rolled down the window. The moment he recognized him, surprise flickered in his eyes.

Him?

“Need some help?”

Alan’s voice was partly drowned out by the rain, but it was still just clear enough for the man to hear.

“The car stalled and won’t start. It’s giving me some trouble.”

Alan lightly tapped a finger against the steering wheel and glanced at the downpour outside.

“Could be that something in the lines got damp. If that’s the case, you probably won’t get it started anytime soon.”

“If that’s really it, then this is going to be…”

“You’ve got two options. Call someone to tow it, or I can give you a ride.

“Actually, there’s a third, but I doubt you’ll pick it.

“Keep trying your luck and hope the car starts.”

The man turned to look at the engine again before finally giving up and shutting the hood. He took out his car keys, opened Alan’s passenger door, and climbed inside.

Rain immediately blew into the car the moment the door opened. The man wasted no time shutting it again, folding his umbrella and placing it by his feet before fastening his seat belt.

“Sorry to trouble you.”

“No problem. Where to?”

“...Downtown, I guess. With things like this today, I’ll just have to head back.”

“Sure. I’m going that way anyway.”

Alan checked the rearview mirror to make sure there was no traffic coming, then pulled back onto the road and continued along the highway.

For the man’s sake, Alan turned off the music.

The man was busy calling for a tow truck. Once he had everything arranged, he put away his phone and struck up a conversation.

“Thanks. You don’t often meet people these days who’ll stop and help a stranger.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

The man laughed.

“Of course it’s a compliment. Thanks for the help. I’m Victor Gideon.”

Alan glanced at him before answering.

“Alan Han.”

Just as silence was about to settle between them, Victor spoke again.

“Ah, I was supposed to visit my mentor today and ask him a few things. Now look at me.

“Didn’t get to see him, and my car broke down too.”

“Life’s unpredictable. Sometimes the big intestine wraps around the small intestine.

“Since today’s plans went wrong, leave the worrying for tomorrow.

“...By the way, I can tell just from your look that you must be some famous scholar.”

Victor instinctively thought of his steadily receding hairline.

He shook his head helplessly.

“I’m hardly a famous scholar. I just work for someone else.”

“Well, don’t we all...

“Mind if I ask what you research?”

“...Chronic diseases. Alzheimer’s, chronic respiratory diseases, things like that.”

Alan nodded in understanding.

So he was more like a doctor.

The two continued chatting on and off, and before long they reached the city.

Since Alan intended to drive straight through the city and continue along the highway, he found a busy area and dropped Victor off there.

Before leaving, Victor thanked him again and handed him a business card.

“...I don’t think I’m ever going to need this?”

Alan looked at the names of several diseases printed on the card, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Standing beneath his umbrella, Victor smiled at him through the car window.

“But if you ever do, I’ll give you a discount.”

Alan shrugged.

“Fine, but I’d rather never need it.

“Well, see you.”

With that, Alan pulled away again.

Victor remained where he was, watching the car disappear into the distance as he murmured softly to himself.

“Alan Han, a federal agent... What was he doing near my mentor’s ancient castle?”

Victor felt vaguely uneasy, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Two years earlier, he had successfully established contact with The Connections. Continuing to pursue his mentor’s ultimate ideal, he had been conducting virus research under the cover of a sanatorium.

He had gone looking for Spencer this time because he had accidentally discovered latent T-Virus genetic sequences in several Raccoon City survivors staying at the sanatorium.

It was a phenomenon their earlier research had never uncovered.

The downpour had ruined his plans, but it had also led to an unexpected encounter.

The Connections had instructed him to avoid contact with Alan whenever possible, lest their research be exposed.

There was another one named Leon, too, wasn’t there?

Still, Victor didn’t necessarily see this as a bad thing.

Making himself a familiar face might come in handy someday.

With that thought, Victor turned his attention back to the present.

He needed to contact Patrick.

He had a feeling something might have happened to Spencer.

Meanwhile, Alan was sitting at a red light when he picked up the business card Victor had given him and took a closer look.

Aside from Victor’s personal information and a list of diseases, the most eye-catching line on the card read:

“Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center”

...

One day later.

Inside the safe house.

“Huh? You actually went looking for me?”

“Yeah. I ran into Chris, too.”

Leon fiddled with the Grapple Gun in his hands as he answered Alan.

“We searched the castle, but Spencer had already cleaned everything up, so we didn’t find any useful clues.

“I did find out something about you, though.”

Alan looked utterly confused.

“About me?”

“You have psychological issues, don’t you?”

Alan: ??

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. You’re the one who isn’t, Alan.”

Leon sat down beside him and looked at Alan with genuine concern.

“You emptied two magazines of 12.7-millimeter rounds into Spencer and turned him into ground meat. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

Looking at Alan’s completely baffled expression, Leon felt a sharp pang of guilt.

He must have neglected Alan’s mental state all this time, simply assuming Alan was more cheerful than he was.

“I…”

“And you hid it from me.

“Alan, are we brothers or not?!”

“We are…”

“Then tell me. You still haven’t gotten over everything that happened in Raccoon City, have you? You’ve been carrying all of it by yourself this whole time.

“What else could explain you going out of your way to buy a monster like this just so you could assassinate Spencer alone?”

Leon looked so serious that Alan couldn’t decide whether to feel touched or exasperated.

He was touched because the brother he trusted most had secretly gone looking for him and was now genuinely worried about his mental health.

The problem was…

He seriously wasn’t sick, damn it!

Who wouldn’t get addicted to shooting targets from long range?!

Besides, Wesker had kept dodging around instead of just leaving. Otherwise, Alan had only planned to fire one or two shots.

“…I really don’t have anything wrong with me. It’s just…”

“Just what?

“Then tell me why you went to assassinate Spencer alone.”

From Leon’s expression, it was obvious he intended to keep asking until Alan gave him an answer.

Alan was helpless.

He couldn’t exactly tell Leon that he had a cheat that let him know in advance that Jill might fall off the cliff.

Then Leon produced a second piece of evidence, something Alan hadn’t expected at all.

Worse, Alan had dug this particular hole for himself.

“Then explain this.”

“…Holy shit! You snuck into my car!”

“Don’t change the subject. I want to know why you had this business card in your car.”

Alan stared at the sanatorium business card in Leon’s hand, completely at a loss for how to defend himself.

Was he supposed to tell Leon that he’d happened across a guy whose car had broken down, kindly given him a ride into the city, and the guy had handed him the card afterward?

Leon: I’ve never heard of someone handing out sanatorium business cards in exchange for a ride.

Alan: But that’s literally what happened!!

Leon: Proof?

Alan: …Should’ve installed a camera in the car.

There was only one thing he could do now.

...

Victor was still fretting over his inability to reach either Patrick or Spencer when his phone suddenly rang.

When he saw that the caller was Alan Han, he was more than a little confused.

Had Alan somehow figured out his background after meeting him just once?

Then Alan explained that he needed Victor to prove to someone that he wasn’t mentally ill.

Victor was even more confused.

Huh??