Episode 230 – World’s Demise (1)

World’s Demise (1)

I looked down at the toppled bald man.

His body was limp, his breathing had ceased. His face, with dried blood bubbles and bloodshot eyes, he was frozen in death.

This was enough.

It would have been quite difficult in a head-on fight, but it was thanks to Riley.

Her mere presence was enough to let his guard down.

“You’re insane──!”

Meanwhile, Bell Moore was still in a frenzy.

I picked up the money bag sprawled on the ground.

“We do not negotiate with [Vancheon]. Just as we do not negotiate with terrorists.”

“That’s not the problem! This guy knew we were from Libra!”

Bell Moore bellowed out loud.

“Our information has been leaked! There’s a traitor inside us-”

“I leaked it.”

“……What?”

Bell Moore’s expression turned odd. I slipped a note onto my finger.

[We are Libra. We wish to speak with you.]

“I wanted to make him a bit careless. If I said I came to kill you from the start, it would have been unnecessarily tiresome, wouldn’t it?”

“……”

Bell Moore took the note and read it. He chuckled wryly and shook his head.

“This bald man was quite skilled. It’s better not to exert oneself if possible.”

“……Yeah, yeah, do as you like. Anyway, we caught him, so there’s that.”

Up to this point, Riley hadn’t said a word.

I was slightly curious about what she was thinking on her own.

Perhaps she was concerned about the last third suitcase that the bald man had died without opening.

Inside it would be a note written not by me, but by Riley herself.

I picked it up and threw it to her.

“Let’s take the money and take care of our bodies. Can you handle the body, Miss Riley?”

“……”

Riley shrugged her shoulders and pulled out a small bundle. She stuffed the bald man’s entire body into it, which was only as big as a handbag.

* * *

In the underground autopsy room of the Intelligence Agency.

Having returned, Bell Moore and Riley were looking at the tattered corpse on the autopsy table.

“It’s confirmed. This guy is indeed a [Vancheon] executive.”

Libra coroner Geppetto said. Bell Moore’s eyebrows twitched, and Riley nodded calmly.

“He has several names. Belang, Vladr, Serge… He’s the same guy who bombed the Libra train before. We’ve caught a big fish, haven’t we?”

A big fish. It should have been a thrilling achievement for a Chaser, but Bell Moore frowned in dissatisfaction.

“……There’s something that bothers me.”

“What’s that?”

“This guy said he’d tell Libra everything he knew before he died. That probably means [Vancheon] has quite a few spies in Libra. But…”

Geppetto continued as if he already understood the rest.

“Did Ascal kill him without listening? Well, that’s his personality.”

“……”

Then Bell Moore looked at Geppetto with a peculiar gaze.

“What are you looking at?”

“No, it’s just… you talk like you know him well. Shion Ascal, you’ve never seen him before, right?”

“Ha ha.”

The coroner chuckled lightly.

“Ascal has become much more famous than you think. The Intelligence Agency has already compiled a file on him, and the personnel department and the family elders are keeping an eye on him too. He’s almost treated like a specialist.”

“…”

Although it was somewhat grating to him, Bell Moore had to agree to some extent. From Libra’s perspective, Shion Ascal was the perfect trinity of personality, loyalty, and ability.

“More importantly, Ascal’s intelligence is surprising. To think he could find a [Vancheon] executive? Intelligence is usually the product of accumulation and experience. But that guy is young.”

“There’s a guy on the dark web, demands a high ransom. A guy who asks for hundreds of thousands of Ren for even a small piece of information…”

Was his name JAKE?

He was too much for Bell Moore to handle. He only accepted full payment upfront, in dark web points, which were as good as cash.

“Does Ascal use him?”

“Yeah. He reinvests everything, his salary, his bonuses, everything. It’s insane. Anyway.”

Bell Moore smiled contentedly.

“This guy is our achievement, right? A [Vancheon] executive.”

“That’s right. Congratulations.”

Bell Moore glanced to his side. Riley was still quiet.

“Well then, Mr. Geppetto. We’ll be going. The rest is up to you.”

“What’s there to ask? Just make sure to submit a good report.”

“Sure thing~”

The two left the autopsy room. Bell Moore casually placed his hand on Riley’s shoulder.

“I told you, I’d feed you.”

“I’m tired. I’m going to rest a bit.”

“Eh? Hey, shouldn’t we at least grab a meal?”

“Later.”

Riley pushed him away and walked down the corridor.

She climbed into the SUV on the ground level of the Intelligence Agency.

Now that she was heading home, she planned to transmit an encrypted report to Vancheon.

[The turtle is dead. Shion Ascal is dangerous. There could be enemies within Vancheon too.]

The content would be about this much. She wouldn’t bother adding that the turtle had turned traitor. It could cause unnecessary internal turmoil—

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the window. Riley looked outside. She was startled for a moment.

“!”

Standing there, staring intently at her through the window, was Shion Ascal.

Riley composed herself and rolled down the window first.

“What do you want?”

He asked in a dry voice.

“Could you give me a ride?”

Riley tilted her head slightly.

“…Are you talking about the dormitory?”

“Yes. I came without my car.”

“…”

Riley hesitated for a moment but then gestured to the passenger seat. She had a few questions of her own for him.

“Get in.”

“Thank you.”

Shion promptly sat in the adjacent seat.

As Riley set the navigation for the university, she spoke.

“You tracked him down well. [Vancheon] isn’t usually an easy target.”

“The guy left traces first. As if he was advertising his presence here.”

“Is that so?”

Riley pressed the accelerator.

“Yes. Thanks to that, from the first encounter with the executive, I suspected he was a turncoat.”

Driving down the dark road, she glanced at him in the rearview mirror.

“But why didn’t you negotiate?”

“Because it’s exhausting.”

Shion answered expressionlessly.

Thinking about it, from their first meeting until now.

He had shown no emotion.

“Sorting through the truth of the information he offered, playing nice to get more information, or letting him live a luxurious life with Libra’s money.”

He turned to look at her.

“It’s exhausting.”

His tone was cold. His eyes were already frozen over.

“Besides, if there is an insider in Libra, sooner or later, I will be able to root them out. It’s just a matter of time.”

Riley licked her dry lips with her tongue.

“You’re quite confident.”

“Yes.”

He nodded.

“Spies don’t just sit still. They always show movement. To leak information. Or to protect a colleague.”

Riley felt a twinge of guilt, but she did not let any agitation show on the surface—

“They think their movements are quiet, but that’s a mistake. I can see that writhing.”

“…”

It’s a bit, suspicious.

Is this a warning he’s giving? That she too is on his radar.

No, he doesn’t know of her existence yet.

There’s no need to stir things up by jumping to conclusions prematurely.

Just then, the light turned red.

Riley hit the brakes, and Shion looked at her.

“Miss Riley.”

“…”

Riley did not meet his eyes. She just pretended to focus on driving, looking ahead at the pedestrian crossing.

Shion spoke.

“I might ask for your help soon.”

“Anytime.”

The light turned green.

Riley’s car moved forward, and soon they arrived at the entrance to the university.

“You can stop here.”

Riley nodded.

“Thank you. I’ll be off now.”

He got out of the car.

Left alone in the driver’s seat, Riley leaned her forehead against the steering wheel.

She took a deep breath, watching Shion’s retreating back, and wiped the sweat that had slightly seeped into her hair.

“What can a mere twenty-year-old do…”

It was quite an absurd sense of pressure.

* * *

[Lockhard]. A mid-sized arms enterprise situated at the gateway that spreads from the outskirts of Edsilla to the slums.

There were various rumors about those bastards. The most prominent was that they were backed by ‘Jesco.’

Jesco is a dealer who manufactures and sells illegal synthetic mana stones. His nickname is ‘Quantum Mechanic’ or something like that.

Anyway, the illegal synthetic mana stone industry is as huge as the drug trade, so you could say he’s a guy with a pretty successful backer.

Therefore, using violent methods like assassination to eliminate them is amateurish.

The best method is to sow discord.

Lockhard periodically pays tribute to Jesco with weapons and cash. Illegal mana stone dealers fighting with competitors in the underworld especially need a lot of weapons.

In return, Jesco hands over the illegal synthetic mana stones they produce. Some are used for making weapons, and some are sold for profit.

Here, I’m going to use a very simple ‘trick.’

“Hey! Load it carefully!”

Dawn. The Lockhard bastards are loading stuff onto a truck.

I’m waiting for one of them to slack off and come my way.

For a smoke or a piss or anything.

“Ah~ I’m so fucking tired. The collections have been too frequent lately. It’s pissing me off.”

Just then, one comes trudging along, unbuckling his belt as he makes his way to my back alley. I grab the bastard by the neck and snap it.

“!”

He’s dead on the spot. I place my hand on his face and after I 「Memorize」 it, I paste it onto mine.

Luckily, I’m a bit taller, but not by much. Guys in the arms industry are all pretty well-built.

I walk to Lockhard’s workplace, suitably disguised.

“Jen! Stop slacking off and load this up!”

Silently, while loading the weapons onto the truck, I drop an illegal synthetic mana stone in an inconspicuous corner.

Ching-

A clear sound.

It’s a mana stone personally crafted by Grawl.

For reference, artificially synthesized illegal mana stones have certain patterns depending on the maker or the recipe.

Meaning, Jesco will immediately suspect ‘this is not my mana stone’ upon finding it.

From Jesco’s perspective, an illegal mana stone that isn’t his is on a subsidiary’s truck?

That’s serious.

Those involved in illegal industries are very suspicious.

So, inevitably, he’ll suspect. That Lockhard is in cahoots with another dealer.

“……”

There’s a truth I’ve learned while scraping by at the bottom.

Those blinded by money betray easily and trust with difficulty. They’re swine with no more loyalty than fleas.

So, they’ll definitely move as I expect them to.

I killed some time and then slipped out of the establishment.

A round synthetic mana stone placed in the corner of the truck.

It sparkled as if reflecting the moonlight…

The next day, it ends up in someone else’s hands. It rolls between their fingers before being tightly clenched in their palm.

“It was found on a Lockhard truck.”

In the office inside the Quantum mana stone factory.

Quantum Mechanic Jesco chuckled at his subordinate’s report.

“Did you show any reaction?”

“No. I’ve hidden it for now.”

“Good.”

“…What should we do?”

“What else? It’s a well-crafted mana stone. Someone with decent skills made it. Maybe it’s from the Bermang side? Those fuckers must’ve recruited a new engineer, hahaha, seriously…”

Jesco ran his fingers through his hair and shook his fist.

“Search Lockhard discreetly. Investigate. There’s no way this stone ended up on their truck by accident. They might have already struck a deal, or maybe they just received a sample.”

“Either way, it’s unacceptable.”

Jesco nodded at his subordinate’s words.

Lockhard was a company he had nurtured from the start.

If those bastards harbored even the slightest different thought…

“Smash their fucking heads in.”

* * *

[Breaking news. The number of patients suffering from unidentified symptoms such as stomach pain, chills, and high fever is rapidly increasing.]

On the first floor of the university’s liberal arts building, I watched the news bulletin on TV.

[At first glance, the symptoms seem simple, but their severity has most of the patients now grappling with death…]

“Does it bother you?”

A voice mixed with the TV. I flinched and looked back.

“You startled me.”

It was Akane.

“Long time no see?”

“Indeed.”

I scanned her from top to bottom. She tried to hide her identity with a bucket hat, but Akane’s unique aura was unmistakable.

“You came as the ‘real’ one.”

“Ah. Was I the real one? That’s a nice thing to say.”

Akane smirked. She looked up at the TV with a pleased expression.

[With 337 patients now affected, the possibility of an epidemic has raised an alarm, and the Edsilla council is currently on high alert.]

“Do you know about that?”

“…I’m aware.”

“You know?”

I turned to look at her.

I was also aware of the incident itself. It was called the ‘Nameless Calamity.’ More specifically, an indiscriminate, all-encompassing slaughter.

The continent had trembled in fear for quite some time, but there was no proper solution, and even less so a suspect, ultimately resulting in tens of thousands of deaths.

Akane spoke of the incident.

“It’s the work of an old adversary of mine.”

“…An old adversary?”

“Yes.”

“Akane, you had friends too?”

At that, a vein on her temple throbbed visibly.

“…It’s a demeaning thing to say, but I’ll hold back.”

“No, I was just curious—”

“I had them. Now he’s known as the ‘World’s Demise.'”

* * *

“Another patient! Same symptoms!”

In the Petra emergency room, Elise was looking at the influx of patients with a somewhat dazed expression.

Two hundred.

Already two hundred people.

A staggering two hundred people had been admitted to the emergency room with the same symptoms.

Chills, abdominal pain, high fever. Most were admitted with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees, deliriously muttering nonsense before passing out…

And for the severe cases, the fever soared to 45 degrees, causing their internal organs to literally melt away.

“…Miss Elise. This might be contagious, so perhaps you should step back—”

“What kind of contagion does this?”

Elise looked at the patients. She placed her hand on the forehead of a child. At the same time, she manifested her magic.

Fizz.

Sparks flew from the hot forehead.

A clash of magical forces.

This meant that the high fever itself was caused by an intense concentration of magic.

“Ah, Miss! If you touch them—”

“It’s not contagious, I told you.”

Elise glared at the doctors.

Doctors who had spent over a decade learning their craft logically and flawlessly became irrational when faced with a situation they couldn’t understand.

That’s why most of them were already wearing protective gear.

“Can you perform a Diagnosis?”

The doctor asked her. Elise nodded and then—

“This is…”

“Murder.”

Someone interrupted with their own diagnosis.

Elise, suddenly irritated, turned to look in that direction.

There were two of them.

One was Shion Ascal, and…

“Elly! I came too!”

Layla Hilton.

The words ‘Why are you here?’ almost escaped her lips, but she held them back.