Chapter 75

Duck.
Teacups are placed on the table. Adrian stared at the woman setting the table. Her behavior was so natural for someone who wasn’t even a servant.
Three men, three cups. Does that mean he’s prepared his share?
As Adrian stares in disbelief, the woman pulls a small vial from her bosom.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
A drop of a clear reagent is added to a cup of tea. The woman calmly observed the changes taking place in the tea cup. After a few moments, she returned the third cup to the tea cart.
“No problem.”
“Ha, did you expect poison or something? That’s very unusual.”
“There is such a thing as too much worry, but not enough, and since the king puts it in his mouth, how can I not be concerned?”
Carmen graciously accepted and left with a bow, leaving Adrian to stare after her until the door closed behind her.
“In four or five years, the person has completely changed.”
Carmen Mobillet was the ubiquitous aristocratic darling. A common woman who wore dresses and gossiped with the children of the same clique.
One day it disappeared, and then it came back, all grown up. An angular gait. Instead of a flowing dress, she wears a jumper that hides a lot of things.
Carmen was a warrior.
“What the hell was that all about?”
Adrian didn’t touch the car. He just glared at his opponent. Despite the piercing glare from the man she usually feared, Ainoa was somehow not uncomfortable.
It was just a little fresh. It was rare for Adrian to visit her in her private palace. Even sitting across from him over a teacup, she felt a strange disconnect.
It was funny. I didn’t think it was something I’d want to do with my family.
“What do you mean, what are you talking about?”
“You ask because you don’t know.”
Adrian clicked his tongue.
“Your guests. Carmen Mobillet, yes, yes, yes. She still has enemies in the Mobiles. She deserves it, but those minos are a different story.”
“Did they do anything disrespectful to your brother?”
“If there’s any disrespect, it’s the fact that Minos has entered the castle grounds, and it’s been a hundred years. There hasn’t been a Minos to walk the halls of Saji Castle in a hundred years…!”
Even she was a dancer, treated as the king’s plaything. Minos, who was invited as an equal guest, was buried in the distant past.
Ainoa was just as devastating. Even though her radius of action is limited to my star palace, she made dozens of Minos stomp their feet.
Still, the dumb sister was proud.
“It’s not exactly illegal.”
“The law is not everything. Do you not know that custom is?”
“Did your brother follow all the customs? Well, as far as I know, he didn’t.”
“There’s a line to be drawn.”
“If it’s a line, it’s my conscience, and I’m keeping my line. My conscience doesn’t have a hair’s breadth of shame, and I don’t think that’s an answer.”
He sipped his tea and exhaled shallowly. Adrian frowned. He was more than angry at his brother’s cocky demeanor, he was questioning.
Was he always the guy who said this?
“No, I don’t think so.
The Ainoa Adrian knew was even more frustrating. She never showed her true colors, pretending to be harmless and obedient. Not hated, not hated, but not affectionate.
It used to make me feel uncomfortable in ways I can’t explain. But now, he’s openly abrasive. He doesn’t try to hide his prickly demeanor in the slightest.
“……what happened.”
“Nothing worth telling my brother about, at least not yet.”
It was a tone that left room. Before Adrian could ask, Ainoa spoke up.
“You said 100 years.”
She gave a small hollow laugh.
“It’s pretty insignificant that we’ve been clinging to a custom for 100 years that can be broken so easily. The bastienda has been stagnant for far too long.”
“Moore?”
“Stagnant water is clouding even the freshly falling rainwater. The water in this country has long been polluted. The people drink dirty water, and suffer from plagues.”
You don’t have to travel far from the capital to see the reality of Bastiterra. There are estates everywhere, where the nobles have embezzled and the remaining funds are scant to get them through the year.
The land that the catastrophe swept through so many years ago still lies desolate. I wonder if the people who lost their homes will ever receive a penny in compensation.
There is a huge imbalance in Bastitera.
Ainoa had known this for a long time. Adrian knew it too. None of them knew, but none of them had ever taken their feet off the ground.
So far, so good.
“So, what are you going to do?”
Poof!
The wooden table screamed. The corner Adrian gripped with one hand dented and the cutlery on top rattled.
“You’re going to covet my position eventually?”
“You’re the same, my brother, all you have in mind is the throne.”
“You bitch!”
Boom!
Chapter slammed the table in frustration. The teacup fell over, spilling tea. After rolling across the table, the cup landed on the floor and shattered.
Young, Ainoa thought for a moment.
He was no different than a child whose toy was taken away. He had always been possessive, and even as he grew, some things never changed.
Surprisingly, I wasn’t scared. I’ve been through worse things. In just over a month, these experiences have changed Ainoa’s values.
There was also a reference point.
“Don’t worry, you’re going to follow in your mom’s footsteps, and it’s going to happen naturally, even if you don’t do anything. So, rather, worry about what happens after your goals are achieved, because that will be constructive in many ways.”
For now, Ainoa’s path to the throne is a thorny one. It’s hard and long. And I don’t think Celbrox Labs will be there for him the whole way.
I don’t care about it in the first place.
“As a fellow Bastiterine, I look forward to my brother’s reign, and consider what is about to happen a gift from me.”
“You’re up to something again. I don’t know what they’ve put into you, but it can’t be good. The last thing we need is Minos meddling!”
Minos, Tabeth.
It’s discrimination. We need to smash narrow-mindedness once and for all. Ainoa looked down at the dirty table and rose from her seat.
“I’ll pave the way, just don’t get in the way.”
“Ainoa……!”
“I’ll leave you to it, and I’ll see you next time in a better place, with a brighter face.”
If possible,” he added.
I left Adrian unattended and turned to leave.
“Oh, I was wondering the same thing.”
Ainoa said, as if in retrospect. Her tone and expression had softened somewhat, and she looked more like Adrian remembered her.
But the awkwardness remained.
“……what is it.”
He replied, his face growing tired. No matter how hard he tried to fight back, he could only wear himself out.
“Sessa was introduced to you by your brother, right?”
“Sessa?”
A puzzled reaction. After a moment, he realized.
“Alas, that was your servant’s name, and I don’t see him.”
“…….”
“What, you still have something to say after all that rambling?”
Ainoa shook her head.
“No, nothing.”
* * *
Tak.
The last of the four-star operatives, a Navy SEAL, closed the car door. The total number of people in Kim’s command team was seven. It wasn’t a lot, but it wasn’t a shortage either.
I had to look at the faces, not the heads.
“Rather, it’s too much power.
Westcreek, Asterique, and Chelsea. In addition to the usual four, including Kim himself, there were two five-star agents from Redwood and Navy.
‘With this formation, Mithril can stay behind.
If the terrain is favorable, she can take on Snowfield. It’s funny to think that even with seven people she could be pushed back, but that’s just because she’s an out-of-scale monster.
Unless the Godmother herself is involved, there’s no such danger in the first place. The team was organized with the expectation of being attacked by Legion on the way.
I’ve also put together a couple of teams that I’ve sent to other locations. No elite agents, but regular members of the lab who have always worked together. I don’t know their individual tactics, but their coordination is better than this.
“That’s the mine you were talking about, right?”
Rocco of the Redwoods said. Brother was how he called Kim, and he had a thick enough skin to be friendly even to people he’d never spoken to.
The other side was not uncomfortable either.
‘Because he’s full of primal energy.
Meanwhile, two other new faces remained silent. Redwood’s Daisy is a different kind of person than Rocco, and Rap’s Navy is naturally reticent.
“I’m a little skeptical of the credibility of the information, but it doesn’t look like a place for civilians to go, so if it’s bullshit, let’s call it what it is.”
“I’m sure we’ll find a trail along the way.”
Five hundred meters away, I could see the entrance to the mine. An abandoned mine. There were no people in the village we passed through. The inhabitants must have moved on long ago.
“It’s a different time of year, but this is a different place.
Like Kilikia, Bastitera’s post-Civil War content will be open to the public. One of the highlights was the “Lasquita Mining Village”.
Of course, this is no ordinary ghost town.
“We’re here in public, so they might have seen us coming. Someone might try to get away with it, but never mind. We only need to take 50, not 100.”
It’s all about gathering evidence. Clues that will become Ainoa’s sword. If you can take home the ‘real thing’ instead of just the paperwork, it’s a better harvest.
“We’re going fast. Follow me.”
Kim entered the mine with a riot shield and a pistol in each hand. Agents armed with guns and knives followed him. Asterique, too, held an ordinary sword.
I quickly traversed the shaft.
The paths were unnaturally tidy, even if they seemed empty. It was proof that there were still people maintaining it.
As you continue to move forward along the rails of the ore car, Westcreek sends you a signal. He had detected something. His spells excelled in detection as well as combat.
Crossroads.
No light reached the darkness beyond. The agents exchanged glances in the limited light. Soon, the group took a path to the left.
Jab, jab, jab.
Kim and Rocco were the only ones making footsteps, and as they moved ahead, the agents set their lights down on the ground. They crouched low and waited behind them.
Tadadak!
A popular ship is approaching from the road you just passed. Enemies not only from the rear, but also from the front. Militants with firearms and combat uniforms. Their number is still unknown.
“Not Pekatum.
As soon as Kim saw that the enemy had no horns on his head, he charged. Narrow passage. The shield tactic works. The iron plates blocked the shot.
“Boom!”
The soldier who collided with the shield fell out. At the same time, the four men scattered to either side, clinging to the wall. Kim turned the shield to the right, eliminating the left.
Two soldiers pointed their guns at Kim’s side. But no trigger was pulled.
Bam!
A blade was lodged in one’s throat.
Rocco tossed the falling soldier’s body like garbage, his sword still in his hand. Then he reached out and slammed the second’s head into the wall.
Her skull was smashed open and blood dripped down her face. It was an unimaginable feat of strength for such a slender figure. Rocco drew a new dagger from his pocket and turned his head to the left.
And I let out an exclamation of “Whoa.”
“That’s a little harsh.”
“Is that so?”
The other two were already lying at Kim’s feet. One had his jawbone blown off, the other had a dent in his chest. The shield was thickly stained with blood, up and down.
Kim rubbed the back of his hand under his chin. His breathing unsteady, he held out his gun. To the soldier still lying on the ground, fluttering.
Bam!
After a brief twitch, the soldier stopped moving.
“Is this it for now?”
“I think so.”
Kim and Rocco looked back, the ranks had shifted a bit, but there were no injuries. Only a few bodies could be seen beyond the agents.
The battle in the rear seemed to be organized. Ambushes and frontal assaults. It would be effective, but not enough to make up the difference in capabilities.
“If it were me, I’d just take down the mine.
They had no choice but to go there. It is said to be one of the Legion’s main branches in Bastitera, but it is unlikely to be manned.
This means that there is no one to blame if the data is lost. Of course, anyone who insists on having someone in charge would be wasting their life. They’re in the minority, so you’d rather exclude them by force.
“When finished, move again.”
Get the job done while you can.