Chapter 143

Chapter 143

Kamael’s demeanor was more cooperative than the professor had expected. He didn’t even seem reluctant to make what must have been a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary visit for a man who has expressed his dismay at the state of affairs on the continent.
“Yes. I had been informed by the Captain of what had been discussed at the summit, but I had assumed that it had little to do with Ishrad…. complacent.”
On the contrary, he seemed to be seriously considering the possibility that a dark cloud might be hanging over Ishrad. Not enough to make her wrinkles deepen in thought.
“I do have a question, though. Contrary to your fears, the Ivory Tower is calm. Is it because we are completely unaware of the Legion’s movements back home, or is it because….”
Kamael trailed off, glancing at Leila.
The omitted question is how much intelligence does the Cellbrox Labs have that allows them to see through Legion moves that even Ish’ladd’s leaders can’t read?
The intent was open to interpretation.
It’s a natural question if you don’t know who Kamael really is, and when Kim and Edwin learn that he’s a Legion mole, it feels like he’s trying to get information out of them.
I can’t point this out too bluntly.
The conversation was led by the professor and Leila.
“No, to be honest, we don’t have any solid information either.”
The professor smirked.
“Just take it to mean that there’s a lot of golden resources and knowledge here for the Legion to covet, so be prepared. This is a wonderful city that shouldn’t be terrorized.”
It was a nice thing to hear. It evoked a sense of patriotism and responsibility from the country’s most powerful man. At the same time, it was unbureaucratic, and Leila’s sunny smile was inviting.
“Hmm.
Kim watched the professor from the sidelines. As expected, the atmosphere was quite different. In the game, it was a fleeting impression, like the first snowfall in winter, that would melt away as soon as you touched it.
On the other hand, I felt like I had my feet firmly on the ground. The uneasiness, alienation, and peculiar feeling of being out of place that came from having forgotten the past had been washed away.
I also came alive when I was planning the Legion’s jaw-dropping atrocities.
“It’ll be a nice change.
One human being would have.
As a commander, it’s ambiguous.
“Phew. I’m glad it was mild.”
Leila breathes a sigh of relief after her confrontation with Kamael.
“It seems a lot smoother than I thought it would be, I’m just a little out of the loop.”
“I know what you mean, I’ve never felt so welcome.”
The two of them were both relieved and proud. They had been through many twists and turns, but this favor had been earned through the accumulation of their actions.
That’s what most people thought. In reality, it wasn’t a far-fetched idea. If the summit had gone badly, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the Islamic Republic had turned its agents away.
It’s just that there’s a little something they don’t realize. Kim didn’t blow the whistle. Instead, she sat down with Edwin to discuss the future.
In a hotel room. I double-checked and the bug was still there.
“I’ll be blunt and say it: Kamael Rothfurter is a….”
“You’re in league with the Legion?”
“Did you know that, too?”
He looked at me like he was bored, so I shrugged once.
“You noticed, and I think they noticed you, too.”
“Probably so, though there’s no one-size-fits-all.”
“They’re celebrities in the organization.”
Edwin didn’t deny it.
On one side, the hound of his godmother. On the other, a man who has not only integrated himself into a nation, but has taken over its leadership. No matter how you look at it, they’re not minions.
“What are you going to do from here?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”
We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves in terms of planning details. The most useful game knowledge to take into the episode is the who, where, and why of the Legion.
The rest of them are slowly becoming unhelpful. The exact timing has long since become impossible to deduce since all the regular scenarios have gone awry. We don’t even know which way it will go.
In short, it’s a matter of intelligence.
It’s too much to keep track of all the variables.
‘Assuming that Legion is in the dark right now….’
The only way to fill in the missing pieces is with information from the field. And now. With the arrival of Cellbrossix Labs and Dustborne, Kim had already thrown the first punch.
“They have two choices.
Take the action to the extreme.
Or silent with no response.
“The key is the godmother.”
“Why is he coming out here?”
“He hates me like crazy.”
Bastitera. I remember the last look I saw in her eyes before the catastrophe that began so suddenly. The hatred in my godmother’s eyes as she glared at Kim Yi Hyun was like maggots.
“There’s no way she’s going to stand still after all this.”
The godmother is seriously psychotic, but her behavior is very simple. She can’t control the Chapter inside her. It can be interpreted as anger management disorder.
“Can you reach ……?”
“If I didn’t have a chance, I wouldn’t have come in the first place.”
I’m going to use Helixivir from the start and push it. I’m nervous, but it doesn’t matter. I can’t afford to use the standard strategy right now. I need the special items that you get as you progress through the episodes.
“Rather, the problem is when the godmother isn’t here.”
This was actually more likely.
In the game, the Godmother is not killed until Episode 17. She appears three times in unreachable stages, none of which are assigned to the Ishurad episode.
The former would be the harder of the two, based on the risk of the operation, but the latter would be more of a headache than a body. Without the Godmother, it was obvious what would happen to the Legion.
“We’ll probably wait and see. Until they’re satisfied that we’ve established a contact with the Ish’lahd and leave quietly. We can’t stay here forever.”
“Wouldn’t you rather have been smuggled in?”
“It’s a hassle as it is, and it’s a pain in the ass to clean up afterward, and there’s no guarantee that you won’t get caught in the first place. The checkpoints in Ishrad are pretty tight, and even if you do manage to get through, you’ll have to stay hidden until it happens, which will take a lot of time.”
For the sake of future relations, it’s better to interfere legitimately. If we can oust the Legion as planned, and pay off Ish’rad’s debts, we’ll have no shortage of beans.
“Let’s wait and see what they come up with. It’s not like we’re sitting on our hands…….”
I lifted my head, which had been angled downward in thought. His eyes locked with the Legion’s traitor.
“You remind me of Camael Rothfer.”
“I’m sure they’re wary of me.”
“At best, it’s a borderline, not a certainty, and if it’s confusing, that’s good enough.”
“…Okay, first of all, what are you going to do?”
“What the heck, it’s obvious.”
Kim replied, rising from his chair.
“This side should be ready this way.”
* * *
‘Double agent, you’re up to no good.
Edwin was both amused and somewhat troubled by my situation. Playing the spy was proving to be more difficult than I had expected. The first problem was how to approach Kamael.
To appear natural, he would have to avoid the eyes of both Rapp and Ishrad, an impossible task for Edwin. He wasn’t proud of it, but he was terrible at espionage.
‘The lab seems to be watching me, too.’
One of the elite agents, codenamed Ghost, had a stealthy gaze that made me nervous at first, but repeatedly, I couldn’t help but notice. The cold wariness in his eyes.
Of course, if I got caught, I could explain myself, but I had to be careful not to make Camael think, “Edwin escaped the lab and came to see me.
One day to struggle with harsh conditions.
The problem was surprisingly easy to solve.
“Hmm.”
When he ordered room service, a small communicator sat in a covered bowl. Edwin grabbed it and looked down at the empty bowl.
“You’re not feeding me.”
A flicker of trepidation flashed across Edwin’s impassive face, but it faded quickly. These days, he says, he eats sparingly on the road, but he used to starve routinely.
……, but licking the wounds of the past hasn’t quenched my hunger. There was a faint murmur of dissatisfaction in his voice, less than 5 percent if you quantify it.
“This is Edwin Berenice. Speak.”
-You must be Lord Edwin again.
It was the voice of Kamael Rothfurter, who we heard just yesterday.
-I’d like an explanation. I’ve heard of a mysterious disappearance in Banzar.
“Your tone is aggressive. Do you think I’ve betrayed the organization?”
-Because it’s bound to be misunderstood. No?
“It’s not worth discussing. I was saved by you. As long as you are in the organization, I will have nothing against you.”
I blurted out a bunch of bullshit.
Oddly enough, there was not even the slightest ripple in his heart. I realized that the resolve I had developed over and over again as a result of being tested by Kim Yi-hyun had become as solid as a rock.
Loyalty, like a leash, was torn and burned.
Edwin Berenice will kill his godmother, who was once his benefactor and woolly support. By wielding the sword that is Kim Yi Hyun, or by becoming the sword that is wielded by him.
-Haha, my godmother’s hound.
Fortunately, the lie was through. I thought about it for a moment, then changed my mind.
We shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Their positions of trust were heavy, and the few words they spoke were so light.
-So, why are you with them?
Now is the time. If you have an excuse, you have it ready.
“I don’t know why, because I was told to.”
-Have you been in touch with your godmother? Where is she?
“That’s not something I can say on my own.”
There was a click of the tongue.
-You mean you’re checking out Celbrox Labs on your godmother’s orders?
“I guess you could say yes.”
-That’s not like him.
This was a valid point.
Godmothers don’t favor cumbersome methods such as epilepsy or espionage using spies. Most problems are simply solved by overwhelming violence.
But it all depends on the situation. She can be as cunning as she needs to be. As she did with the nobles in Bastitera.
“That’s why you’re looking at the Celbrosix Labs as an eyesore.”
-No wonder. You’ve lost big time.
Camael seemed to be convinced on the surface. On the inside, I don’t know, but it wasn’t a completely unconvincing story, at least as far as Edwin could tell.
This time it was their turn to step in.
“I’d ask the same thing. I know the Organization has been working on Ishrad for a long time. It seems like a good time to replenish our lost forces, but do you have any plans?”
-What is my reason for asking that?
“I’m just asking if there’s anything I can do to help. I’m part of the organization, so I can’t ignore it. I’ll help if you want, but only if it doesn’t compromise the mission at hand.”
-…….
After a long, long silence, a voice spoke up.
-I’m sorry, but I still doubt you. I recognize the loyalty you’ve shown to your godmother, but that’s another matter. Don’t you realize how ambiguous your situation is?
It was a foregone conclusion. The missing person had appeared out of nowhere with a group of Lab agents. Anyone in their right mind would have been suspicious.
“Right, I get it.”
That was as far as Edwin’s verbal skills would take him.
“Let’s spill the beans here and there during our stay.”
I won’t say no.
Soon, we lost contact.
‘I’ve had my harvest.
We still have information that the Godmother is in hiding, though we cannot rule out the possibility that it is false. If the Godmother does not appear in Ish’ladd, it is safe to assume that it is true.
I don’t feel relieved. Instead, I feel anxious.
“Where the hell are you and what are you doing.
He thought hard, but no answer came. Edwin looked back and forth between the communicator and the bowl. He frowned as hunger, which he’d forgotten he had, took over.
“Do I need to reorder….”
* * *
Asterike was a very free spirit at the moment.
Arya, who was always there like a stick of gum, was not. Arya’s mental age meant that she wasn’t part of the ops team.
“I don’t hate it, but it’s a little.
Sometimes, no, a lot of times, she felt like a nuisance. Asterike’s brief respite from parenting was both unsettling and incredibly liberating.
And we’ve added one more happy surprise.
I got a separate call from Kim. It was probably work-related, but I couldn’t help but feel excited.
Artificially controlled cool temperatures, moderate humidity, and clear skies over a transparent dome – it was like the world was blessing us with a long-overdue date.
Chelsea’s groomed to the point where she’s a bit annoyed. She doesn’t really have any accessories, so I don’t think she’s changed anything. Even her horns have been thoroughly cleaned.
With the conflicting desire not to show off the effort, but to be noticed. He clung to Kim’s side as they waited in the hotel lobby.
“Hyun, where are you going?”
A far cry from Asterike, who is overjoyed.
Kim’s demeanor was uncharacteristically calm.
“Filstein Prison.”
It’s time to meet the criminals.