Isaac - Chapter 70
Due to some copyright issues. I changed some word such god= supreme-ruler. /diviné= supreme. And some Chinese words etc, all of this to avoid copyright *.*
A novel by the same Author of nano machin and the same universe:
https://novelrare.com/novel/myst-might-mayhem-novel/novel/
âThatâs a convenient ability.â
ââŠâ
Isaac complimented the old man as the end of the shaft opened up to reveal a secret passage. The old man maintained silence, however, and moved on to lead the way.
Fascinated, Isaac ran his hands against the walls of the passage before asking his question.
âHey old man, how do you become a warlock? Is it difficult?â
ââŠâ
The old man was at a loss for words. It was the first time in his life that a human asked him about how to become a warlock. It was a life of secrecy and exile avoiding the eyes of Central. Yet Isaac pestered at the old man with trivial questions such as âIs the work difficult? Howâs the pay? Do you get to flex around much once you become a warlock?â as if it was just another job opportunity. The old man began to doubt his decision of forming a contract with someone whoâd ask such silly questions.
âIâm not sure if I did the right thing making a deal with you.â
Isaac shrugged at the old manâs comment.
âSo what? Now that weâve left the mana crystal veins, you wonât be able to attack me anymore.â
âHa! Central will never leave you alone if I hand over the evidence.â
âI know.â
Isaac responded at the old manâs continuous reminder with an apathetic, even annoyed tone. The old man wasnât very happy to hear Isaac respond like that. He turned for a moment to look at him with doubtful eyes before looking forward again.
The old man couldnât understand Isaac. Isaac had provided him with a crucial exploit. With this, Isaac had no choice but to bow down to any demands the old man were to make, whether it be the Queenâs Artefacts and more. The old man believed that Isaac was smart enough to know that, but he wasnât so sure anymore. Isaac was just too crazy.
The old man shook his head and approached the end of the secret passage. When he placed his hand on the wall, the earth sunk into the ground as if it were melting, and light rushed into the passage.
âHooh? This coat protects me against this too? It really was worth its price.â
Despite his eyes having been adjusted to the darkness of the mines, the sudden influx of light didnât cause Isaacâs eyes any discomfort. Satisfied with his coat, Isaac followed the old man out of the mine with a smile.
It seemed the passage ended halfway up the Minolen Mountain, as New Port City and the lake could be seen from afar. As Isaac admired the view ahead of him, the old man approached.
âDonât forget. If the Queenâs Artefact isnât in my hands, I will hand over the contract to Central.â
âDonât you think itâs rather pathetic that youâre relying on Central to get the job done as a warlock?â
âWhat?â
As the old manâs expression stiffened in response to Isaacâs ridicule, Isaac shrugged and stretched his hand out as if offering a handshake.
âNow, why donât we say our goodbyes? Nothing good will come if anyone were to see us together like this.â
Although annoying, what Isaac said was true. The old man glared at Isaac, doubting whether he could trust him. But in the end he grabbed Isaacâs hand for a handshake, which was one of the requirements for the contract ritual.
âBut how are you going to explain all this? You better come up with a good excuse as to how you got out alone.â
Isaac smiled broadly at the old manâs question, as if the answer was simple.
âThatâs obvious. Iâll just tell them I was captured by a warlock.â
âWhat?â
Before the old man could even react to his words, Isaac had already firmly grabbed at the old manâs hand while Isaacâs other hand also grabbed onto the back of the old manâs hand.
âWhat! T, this is!â
Realising what the hard sensation on the back of his hand was, the old man tried to pull his hand out in disbelief. He used his shadow to attack at Isaac, but Isaac was quicker.
Bang!
The shockwave from the explosion knocked Isaac onto the ground with his hands flailing, while the old man screamed in pain as he witnessed what his arm had turned into.
âKuaaack! My arm!â
âHm. I was prepared to lose one of my arms too, but theyâre fine. I knew this coat was worth its price. It was a nice purchase, no matter how I see it.â
âKuuk! Isaac! You bastard!â
The old man grabbed at his arm, which was so tattered that the white of the bones could be seen. He shouted out with eyes filled with hatred, but Isaac simply remarked at how unscathed his own arm was. He pulled out a cigarette.
âI think Iâll need this to convince the people.â
â⊠What?â
âIâm not that good at lying you see. And Iâm too stupid to come up with good excuses. But now I can say that with my quick thinking, I managed to escape the warlock who tried to kidnap me.â
â⊠Kuuk! Youâre saying this attack was for that excuse?â
âYou need to be injured somewhat for my excuse to have any weight. Or do you think people will believe that I managed to escape a warlock unscathed?â
âBullshit!â
Isaac smirked at the old manâs cry.
âYea. I just wanted to say some bullshit.â
âKuuk! With the contract in my hands, Central will interrogate you!â
âMan, you speak a lot. Are you going to stay here? Iâm sure everyone has heard the explosion by now. Shouldnât you make haste and get out of here?â
Isaac flicked his hand as if chasing away a fly. The old man looked at Isaac as he grit his teeth in anger.
âYou will regret this.â
âI look forward to it.â
Crack!
With the bone-chilling crack, Isaac threw another eggbomb at the old man. The old man screamed and jumped back. A shadow emerged from the ground and carried the old manâs body through the mountain unhindered, despite the dense foliage all around.
Bang!
With a great explosion, a wave of dust and dirt showered Isaac, only to be deflected by a blue barrier.
âItâs been a while since Iâve seen this.â
Seeing the crater the eggbomb made reminded Isaac of the many craters he saw from artillery shells. Isaac smirked and focused on his smoking. By the time he finished his second smoke and went for a third, Isaac could hear footsteps and voices.
âOver here!â
Rivelia and a group of elves forced their way through the dense trees to find the origin of the explosion, only to be dumbfounded by Isaacâs presence.
âSir Isaac? How are you here?â
âWaah! Sir Isaac is alive!â
While Rivelia asked incredulously, the elves, who had thought that Isaac was buried under the mines, seemed ecstatic at Isaacâs safety and quickly descended the mountain to tell the news, racing one another to be the bearer of good news.
âWait! Stop!â
Rivelia shouted out, but the elves didnât seem interested as to why there was an explosion. They ignored Riveliaâs orders, too preoccupied with the thought of spreading the news. Their employer was Isaac after all, not Rivelia.
âSir Isaac, explain yourself!â
Isaac dropped the cigarette onto the ground and stepped on it as Rivelia questioned him.
âLetâs get down the mountain first. Iâll tell you the details later.â
Rivelia was tempted to grab Isaac and demand the explanation now, but she contained herself. Now that Isaac was safe, she needed to withdraw the rescue team, which was busy trying to rebuild shafts in the mine. Plus, the news of Isaac being caught in an incident had sent the city into chaos. She needed to spread the news of his safe return before the situation turned for the worse.
âFine. But you better tell me every detail from start to finish.â
âHow tiring.â
Isaac yielded his body to the soft and cushiony sofa on the rooftop, staring blankly into the sky. His tired body felt as if it was being pulled by a mysterious force, pushing him deeper and deeper into the cushions by the minute.
âI didnât think I was at a level to be looked down uponâŠâ
He did expect some of it. No matter how insane he acted, it would only prevent the annoying flies and insignificants from pestering him. Those who truly desired something from him wouldnât be hindered by the act, no matter what happened to the city or how many died.
That was why he at least tried to show that anyone who carelessly approached him would leave worse off than they had at first; it should have made them more careful in their approach at the very least.
âNo. Perhaps I was careful enough.â
He never expected a mana crystal vein to reveal itself, and he didnât think a warlock would prepare his trap within that place. Who could he fault when it was due to the lack of information?
âBut this was still very uncoordinatedâŠâ
Isaac sighed and took out a cigarette. Although it was just a theory, it was still a bad idea to jump to conclusions so soon. He had to investigate every possibility.
âI hope the old man died from that, but I doubt that would ever be the caseâŠâ
What was the best way to stop the warlock? The best answer was to give him what he wants and tell him to fuck off. Isaac also wanted to do that if he could. But now that heâd stabbed the warlock square in the back, it was more likely that the warlock was sharpening his blades for vengeance.
âNo matter how I think of it, I get the feeling this pen and lens are the Queenâs ArtefactsâŠâ
The only items Isaac could imagine a warlock drooling over were those two. But where did he get the confidence that Isaac had the Queenâs Artefacts?
âDo they have some tracking device on this?â
Isaac took out the pen for a careful examination, but it looked like an ordinary pen in Isaacâs eyes. He would have been happy to hand over the items to the warlock if they were ordinary in nature, but it was obvious that the warlock would use it to send the Empire into chaos, which would also ruin Isaacâs dream of a peaceful existence.
âBut thatâd screw up the timeline of everythingâŠâ
The warlock, who didnât even know what the Queenâs Artefacts looked like, was so sure that Isaac had the Artefacts. That meant that the warlock had a way to find out who possessed the Queenâs Artefacts, but Isaac found the artefacts in the room of the apprentice warlock after his murder. This was after Rivelia had been delegated onto this city.
If Rivelia hadnât come to the city, Isaac would have never bothered with an incident such as a single murder, which meant that there wouldnât have been any reason for a monster with demonic powers to suddenly spawn, which meant that Isaac wouldnât have found the Queenâs Artefact in the victimâs room that had already been ransacked by Central, who somehow missed the artefacts, and thatâd mean Isaac would have never fallen into the trap of a warlock whoâd demanded the Queenâs Artefact.
This was the most inconceivable part. If the warlock had some special talent in tracking the Queenâs Artefacts, then the warlock should have acquired it well before Isaac did when it was still in the hands of the original possessor.
Yet the warlock overlooked the opportunity to acquire the artefacts without notice, only to decide that it was the perfect time to move after the artefacts had fallen into Isaacâs hands. If what the warlock had said about controlling Axlon for a long time was true, then the warlock had been lurking inside the city for a very long time. Even if the warlockâs personality was very cautious, it still didnât make sense that heâd move now when there was so much attention on the city because of the wyvernâs summoning and Centralâs subsequent investigation.
âThereâs something Iâm not aware of⊠but that also means thereâs something I canât understand about Central. How could they not find the artefacts in that small room?â
Isaac frowned as complex thoughts tangled in his mind.
âIâd bet that old man would pester me continuouslyâŠâ
The warlockâs presence was like a big red target painted on the back of Isaacâs head. But it seemed the coat was still making it worth the price, so Isaac could avoid such dangerous situations as long as he didnât walk willingly into a trap like the mana crystal mine.
âIâd hoped Central would stop him on their own, but it feels as if Iâm asking for too much from them.â
No matter how the situation turned, it was obvious that Central would send their men to both protect and watch Isaac, since a warlock was targeting his life. You could say that Isaac now had the best security guards around him at all times, for free no less. Or it could be the opposite.
âWhat did you say about Central?â
âHm?â
Rivelia had shown herself onto the rooftop; she seemed to have taken a shower to rid herself of the dirt and dust which had covered her before. The sight of her shining, wet hair and her faceâs glistening skin was enough to make anyoneâs heart pound.
Isaac silently admired the beauty of Rivelia, which only presented itself while she had her mouth closed, and Rivelia marched on through without hesitation against Isaacâs blatant attitude and sat on a chair opposite to Isaac.
âWhat were you doing there, Sir Isaac? You better explain to me in full what you were doing in that place.â
âIt wasnât much. Pickaxe, he led me into the mine whilst being controlled by an old warlock.â
âWarlock!â
Surprised, Rivelia stood up from her chair. Warlocks were one of the major enemies of the Empire. But there was a different reason why Rivelia was so surprised.
âWhy did a warlock show himself in front of you, Sir Isaac?â
Isaac glimpsed at the pen that was stuck in between his fingers. Seeing that there was no point in hiding anymore, he spoke on apathetically. Riveliaâs eyes also followed Isaacâs and looked at his hand, only to have her face stiffen when she heard his explanation.
âThat old man suddenly told me to hand over the Queenâs Artefact.â
â⊠Do you have the Queenâs Artefact?â
âIâd have handed it over to him if I did. Whatâs funny is that the guy who was demanding it didnât even know what it looked like.â
âSo, you donât know what the Queenâs Artefact is, Sir Isaac?â
âYou think Iâd possess something a warlock would want? I would have thrown it away well in advance. Otherwise, I wouldnât have managed to pull off this incident.â
Isaac shamelessly responded while still sending a look at his pen, but Rivelia seemed too occupied to notice. Her head was full of speculations at this point.
âWhere did the information leak? No. Central only suspects that Sir Isaac has the queenâs artefact, and that fact hasnât been confirmed yet. But a demonic turncoat acting in advance? Was the turncoat confident? Or was it just an act to test our response? In this place so full of Centralâs agents? Whatâs happening? Is there something I donât know?â
Rivelia found a need to reassess all of her intel again. Until now, she had the odd feeling that the situation wasnât turning out as she had expected, and now this incident had occurred. Isaac was a target that was being closely monitored by the most elite agents of Central. Normally, it should have been impossible for Isaac to be trapped in a mine.
When Rivelia investigated how it happened, she found out that the situation occurred in the small gap when the agents monitoring Isaac were absent due to circumstances. This meant there was something that even she, the leader of New Port City, didnât know. This was why she was so active in trying to rescue Isaac. She didnât know the enemyâs identity or their motives, but the fact that the enemy had destroyed the mine meant that the enemy was trying to buy time.
âSigh, fine. Iâll let only the agents of Central know about the warlock. Itâd only spread chaos if the civilians found out.â
âThatâs unexpected. I thought youâd just go by the manual.â
âIncidents involving warlocks are much more complicated than you think, Sir Isaac. Donât think itâs so simple. But why did you go to the mines in the first place?â
Isaac shrugged as he answered Riveliaâs question.
âBecause I hit it big this time.â
âWhat?â
âThere are mana crystals forming veins in the mine.â
âHa! What a joke.â
Rivelia snorted in response to Isaacâs answer, only to have her face realise the gravity of the situation when Isaac remained silent.
âSeriously?â
Rivelia asked again to confirm, and Isaac answered as he touched the coat he was wearing.
âWhy do you think I was caught by the warlock? When this expensive gear I bought wasnât doing its job, there was nothing I could do.â
â⊠Did the warlock do something to you?â
âWell, a few things. He did shout at me to hand over the Queenâs Artefact. I have a question. Just what is the Queenâs Artefact?â
âThat⊠I donât know much about it either. All I know is that each and every artefact of the Queenâs collection are objects that would shift or completely change the common understanding of the world.â
Rivelia wondered how much information she should share with Isaac regarding the Queenâs Artefact. She decided to only share information that someone at the level of a common agent of Central would know to Isaac. Since sheâd already shown signs of knowing about it, she couldnât act oblivious. Isaac nodded at Riveliaâs explanation.
âSo what do they look like?â
â⊠What are you going to do when you find out?â
âIâll need to know what it looks like to hand it over, right?â
âWe donât know the shape of the artefact. It could look like an ordinary object or very foreign. We donât even know what function they have.â
âOr it could be both.â
The artefact had the shape of something that used to be so common but simultaneously something so foreign in this world. The fact that it was an object from the past world he was in was special enough, but it also possessed properties which couldnât be explained.
Isaac placed his chin on his left hand while he looked at his right, spinning the pen in his hand. Rivelia stood up from her chair.
âAnyhow, donât bother yourself with the Queenâs Artefact anymore. Any curiosity you have about it will only bring bad news.â
âSure thing.â
Isaac responded detachedly while keeping his eyes on the pen. Rivelia frowned, looked at where Isaac was looking. She saw his hand and spoke.
âCentral will begin an investigation regarding the warlock soon. Please donât make a scene and comply with the investigation. And make sure you donât act so rude, since incidents involving warlocks are sensitive even within Central. Got it?â
âYes, yes.â
âAnd, why do you keep flicking your hand like that? If itâs some form of PTSD from something in the past, you better have it checked out at a hospital quickly.â
Tap!
Isaac looked up at Rivelia after hearing those words. The pen escaped from his hand, fell from the table and rolled near Riveliaâs foot. Yet Rivelia didnât show any signs of noticing the pen; she was only at odds with how surprised Isaac was.
âWhat is it?â
â⊠Itâs nothing. Iâm just surprised you were worried about me.â
âHmph!â
Rivelia snorted, as if Isaacâs words didnât have the slightest value in them. Once she disappeared down the stairs, Isaac reflexively laughed out loud after a moment of silence.
âKukus. Was that why? Wow! How amazing.â
After spending a good bit of time laughing, the pen that had escaped from Isaacâs hand evaporated only to return back into his hand. Isaac went back to thinking as he twirled the pen around.
Rivelia didnât perceive the existence of the pen at all. An object that remained hidden, even against a sword master. It explained how neither Central nor the warlock could find it no matter how hard they tried.
No wonder Central couldnât find the pen and lens despite ransacking that room. An object that could not be seen by the people of this world. This confirmed that whoever made the Queenâs Artefacts was someone from his past world.
Although one question was answered, it also meant that things have gotten even more complicated. Since there was no way to hand over the Queenâs Artefact, Isaac had to endure all efforts made against him to take it from him.
â⊠Was it a good thing that I used eggbombs instead of mana circles?â
Isaac grabbed at his coat. Although his magical artefacts were disabled by the effects of the mine, it didnât mean all of Isaacâs offensive options were null. The magic circles that Isaac had drawn were functioning properly even inside the mine.
But he couldnât smoke, as his limbs were tied together. Without the choyu cigarette, Isaac didnât have the mana to activate the magic circles.
Although Isaac did free himself thanks to the warlockâs stupidity and managed to light up a smoke, he couldnât activate the circles. The circles drawn onto Isaacâs coat were the most basic of basic magic circles available.
Using such trivial magic against a warlock who regularly fought against Central was like throwing toilet paper at a concrete wall, and it would only prove to the warlock that not only did Isaac have the Queenâs Artefact but that he also knew how to use it.
After snickering to himself, Isaac grabbed at another cigarette.
âAh. What an interesting world this is.â
Isaac muttered to himself as he got off the sofa and approached the balcony on the roof. He looked down onto the Ceta District, a sprawling plaza where the energetic sound of the pedestrians echoed throughout the growing city. Seeing the result of his efforts would have brought pride in the eyes of an ordinary man, yet Isaacâs eyes were eerily apathetic.
âI donât know who the creator of this pen is, but Iâd really like to punch that person when I find them.â
This world was Isaacâs, no Joon-youngâs vacation. Living quietly in peace would have been nice, but he also considered that living with a few ruckuses here and there wasnât so bad either.
But this was going too far. To have an important object that could only be seen by him. Itâs no wonder that everyone around him were so desperate to find it since it was a strategic weapon. With the constant crazy feats he had already performed, it was like an arsonist heaping flammable substances next to an armoury. This was a farewell to a peaceful life for him. And the cause was the creator of this pen.
Within the dark room, the sound of flipping paper echoed as a man shuffled through one document after another. The man seemed to be done looking through the documents and stacked the documents together when an old man with a pale face staggered into the room. The man in the room stopped what he was doing and spoke to the old man.
âIt seems youâve made quite the scene.â
â⊠I have nothing to say.â
The man looked at the old man who seemed to be waiting for his punishment apathetically.
âWhy donât you take off that shell of yours first?â
âYes sir.â
With that, the shadow under the old manâs feet crawled over him, covering him from head to toe. When the shadow eventually dissipated, the middle-aged man who recruited Rivelia into Central showed himself.
âHowâs the wound?â
âWeâve managed to perform first aid.â
âAnd the result?â
â⊠I apologise.â
The middle-aged man hesitated at first, and then he made his apology with a voice which whimpered. The first man snorted, tied the documents on his table together with a string, and spoke.
âSo youâre telling me that despite almost dying, you never managed to confirm whether the target has the Queenâs Artefact? And you couldnât even find evidence of the identity of the demonic turncoatâs accomplice?â
ââŠâ
âWell, fine. Weâll leave it at that then. What about the angelic turncoatsâ response?â
ââŠâ
The middle-aged man hesitated to speak and remained silent. Annoyed by this, the man looked at him with displeasure on his face.
âLetâs ignore the Queenâs Artefact and demonic turncoat involvement for now. Youâre telling me that the angelic turncoats remained idle when surveillance target 728 was almost buried underground from a cave in incident?â
â⊠There was only activity among the people within the City Hall when the news reached the city. No one else within the city tried to persuade the populace to aid in the rescue attempt.â
The man frowned with displeasure when he heard the explanation from the middle-aged man and muttered.
âDoes that mean that the conclusion made by the Directorate of Analysis was correct?â
âSorry?â
Unable to understand the manâs muttering, the middle-aged man asked. The man spoke as he leaned back into his chair.
âThe Directorate of Analysis has come to the conclusion that the angelic turncoats have given up on New Port City due to our presence, and have gone into hiding again.â
âThatâs impossible. If theyâve sacrificed a follower already, Iâd imagine theyâd have invested much of their resources into the city already. Thereâs no way theyâd give up on it all and go back into hiding.â
âThatâs the key factor. The angelic turncoats spend tens of years and massive amounts of resources to grab hold of a target and deify them. Seeing how they sacrificed a follower, Iâd imagined that the angelic turncoats have spread their roots deep into New Port City too. But the Directorate of Analysis has come up with another theory.â
ââŠâ
âThat surveillance target 728 appeared in New Port City just as they were starting to work their way into New Port City.â
âEven if theyâve just begun their work, isnât it a great opportunity for them to accelerate the deifying process for the angelic turncoats?â
âAngelic turncoats always create a hero, try to turn them into a supreme-ruler, and then control them in the end. Iâm sure they tried to do the same here as well. And theyâve given up on it.â
âWhat could possibly make themâŠâ
The middle-aged man stopped trying to ask for the reason. The answer was too obvious. There were too many reasons why it was impossible. The target burnt down the city. He turns a blind eye at all sorts of criminal activities, even controlling them to a certain extent. Plus, he cares so little about his own life that he almost buried himself alive in the mine by detonating eggbombs.
Turning that man into a hero? Even the middle-aged man could understand why the stubborn angelic turncoats would give up on it.
âGiving up on it would have been easy and simple if they were just starting at this point. Not only that, but my brother intervened officially too. With so much attention placed on them, thereâs no way they could hold out anymore.â
âBut theyâve sacrificed a follower.â
âDonât you think itâs an excellent move on their part? If theyâve decided on a retreat, followers are excellent cards to use. Followers who have already chosen their target are just baggage. By leaving us with expendables and putting up a facade that they are lurking within New Port City, they can fixate our eyes on the city while they move somewhere else and try from another place. I think they say âcut off oneâs tailâ and âlive to fight another dayâ in a situation like this.â
PR Note: The original raw is âshed oneâs skin,â but it has been changed to âcut off oneâs tailâ for common clarityâs sake. Both idioms have similar meanings that derive from real life phenomenon (geckos allow predators to rip off their skin while escaping, and lizards can âdropâ part of their tail to confuse predators.) The âinjuredâ parts can be regrown given their species, respectively.
âDoes the Directorate of Analysis believe that the angelic turncoats have completely escaped from the city?â
âI assume so, since they are very guarded against us. Thanks to that, itâs just us who are in trouble. If the report had come a little earlier, we wouldnât have agitated the surveillance target so unnecessarily. All weâve done now is raise 728âs guard without gaining anything in return.â
âAre you sure we didnât just feed oil into a burning fire? 728âs actions are so unpredictable that even the Directorate of Analysis have given up on predicting his moves.â
The middle-aged man grit his teeth as he remembered Isaacâs face. The sinful man who didnât hesitate to negotiate with a warlock, only to betray the warlock moments after. He was more evil than a warlock himself. It had been a while since the middle-aged man felt so enraged like this.
The man placed his chin on one hand while tapping on the desk with another as he pondered. He seemed to come to a decision as he spoke.
âIt seems that the Directorate of Analysis has come up with another interesting find other than their conclusion about the angelic turncoats.â
âWhat is it?â
The man silently handed over the bundle of documents to the middle-aged manâs question. After careful examination, the middle-aged man spoke back with disbelief in his eyes.
âI⊠I canât trust this. These are completely baseless assumptions.â
âI would like to think the same too, but has the Directorate of Analysis ever come up with a wrong conclusion in their analysis?â
ââŠâ
Never. Centralâs Directorate of Analysis had the ability to come up with the cause, result, and make a web of connections from just a single sentence they find. If the Directorate of Surveillance were Centralâs eyes and the Directorate of Strategy were its limbs, then the Directorate of Analysis was its head.
They couldnât completely reject the conclusion that the Directorate of Analysis had come up with. But if the report in front of the middle aged manâs eyes was true, this was a grave situation where even Central would be fractured into pieces.
âDoes the Director of Analysis know of this?â
âThe Director of Analysis is human, but all agents within the Directorate of Analysis are non-human. Why do you think thatâs the case?â
â⊠Because humans are political animals.â
âExactly. Brolen, especially, is pro-Queen, so they canât leave it to chance. Which is why the Directorate of Analysis gave the information to me instead.â
âWhat will you do now?â
âInvestigate. Investigate as to why the Queen has joined hands with the demonic turncoat to smuggle her artefact outside.â
The middle aged man pondered before he responded.
âBut there are too many interconnected missions, and we canât move so carelessly.â
âDonât worry about it. Iâve already received approval from my brother. The Directorate of Strategy is already at work with the plans, so you are to move once it is finished.â
The middle aged man pondered after receiving his orders from the man.
âAlthough carrying out the orders arenât a problem, there are two significant issues.â
âTwo? Not just one?â
The man spoke back with surprise to the middle aged man.
âWhat will you do with the Director of Surveillance? Target 728 is already subject to close surveillance by the Director of Surveillance, and all analysis and missions involving him are forbidden. If we move, there will be significant backlash.â
âNo matter. We may get a scolding later, but the most important factor is the Queenâs involvement in this incident. Ignore it. Whatâs the other issue?â
The middle aged man hesitated before he continued.
âIt seems Lady Rivelia has noticed.â
The man frowned deeply in response.
âI see. I guess with the mission failing, she was bound to find out. Can it become a problem?â
âShe will most definitely discover our existence before we initiate our next mission. Whatâs more, Lady Rivelia is directly connected to the Director of Surveillance. Above that is the Queen. If we provide her with even a single hint, then the Director of Surveillance or the Queen will notice our act.â
âI swear, that stubbornness runs deep in the Pendleton Family, both the father and daughter mind you. I guess thereâs no point in stopping them right?â
âThey are as persistent as they are stubborn.â
âI guess thereâs no choice. I will meet her to buy some time, and we will need to make our move in that time. I guess this is the first time Iâm meeting that little girl since she was a child. I heard sheâd grown quite a lot?â
âShe has grown to be praised as the greatest beauty in the Empire.â
âI look forward to it.â