“The Commander-in-Chief?”
– Yes. Our Defense Force has been criticized heavily for the past few weeks. He seems quite displeased.
“But we can’t end it like this…”
– Hmph, you’re going to move separately anyway, aren’t you?
The investigation bureau chief spoke as if it was obvious. Though politically neutral, he knew that Winfried, his colleague, had been watching Livio for a long time.
– If you bring usable evidence, I’ll order a reinvestigation.
“…Won’t there be strong internal resistance?”
Winfried snorted briefly at the unexpected proposal. Reinvestigation meant the initial investigation had failed. No one would willingly admit their work was flawed. It wasn’t just about pride; it would also affect promotions.
Moreover, if a reinvestigation was based on external evidence, it would inevitably lead to accusations of a sloppy initial investigation. This would paint the entire investigation bureau as incompetent. Internal complaints were inevitable.
– I can handle that level of resistance. If you don’t like it, you should have conducted a perfect investigation from the start, tsk. Besides, Isaac Miller wasn’t an innocent victim, was he? It’s common for accomplices to be caught later.
“Hmm, what do you want?”
– Regular progress updates and ensuring that blame doesn’t fall on us if a reinvestigation happens.
The investigation bureau chief answered as if he’d been waiting for this question.
“So that was your goal from the start.”
– You think I want to end the investigation like this? I had to give in because the Commander-in-Chief was making a fuss.
“Excuses… Fine, I accept your proposal.”
– Really?
“But send a few people to help our side.”
– Hm?
“Wouldn’t it be better to have liaisons for easier information sharing? And if all the truth comes out later, it would be good to have evidence that the investigation bureau actually worked with us to receive less criticism.”
– …Are you suggesting we continue the joint investigation unofficially?
The investigation bureau chief, after a moment of silence, asked in a lower voice. Sending people to Winfried meant taking that much risk. If things went wrong, they would have to share the responsibility.
“That’s right. As the bureau chief, isn’t that much possible for you?”
– Hmm, alright. I’ll send a couple of tight-lipped, capable individuals.
The investigation bureau chief, after weighing the pros and cons in his mind, accepted Winfried’s proposal. He believed in his abilities and recognized that Livio was suspicious in many ways.
Above all, while the current Commander-in-Chief was a setting sun, Winfried was a rising one. Unless he fell from grace, there was a high possibility he would reach the military’s pinnacle within 10 years. Though he had no intention of joining a faction, it was necessary to build a friendly relationship in advance.
Moreover, it was no loss for the bureau chief as Winfried and his intelligence department would be doing the work that he and the investigation bureau should be doing.
– Your insistence suggests you’re certain about Livio’s charges.
“You know that, so why ask?”
– I hope you’re not pushing too hard because of personal feelings against him.
“You worry too much. Anyway, let’s do well from now on.”
After ending the call with the investigation bureau chief, Winfried leaned back in his chair with a tired face. How many times had it been now? He looked up at the ceiling with an exhausted expression. Despite reminding himself not to be hasty, every time Livio slipped away like this, anger welled up inside him.
“Huh…”
Winfried, frowning as if a headache was coming on, pressed his temples firmly. While he had succeeded in involving the investigation bureau, the future was the problem. Livio would certainly move more meticulously after this failure.
However, the situation wasn’t entirely negative. General Elias Gerhardt, a reformist, was likely to be the next Commander-in-Chief. Although the conservative faction had also put forward a candidate, they were weaker in both power and reputation compared to Gerhardt, who was supported by the reformists.
If the next Commander-in-Chief came from the reformist faction, Livio’s return to the military would be impossible. Therefore, he would try to return to the military somehow before the current Commander-in-Chief’s term ended. That was probably why he had moved hastily recently.
Time was on Winfried’s side, not Livio’s, so he needed to use Livio’s impatience to induce mistakes. Winfried tried to calm himself.
“It would be good if Major Hyun joined our side completely…”
Winfried’s gaze turned to the news article photo on the monitor. After Mars Guild’s statement, articles about the bad blood between Livio and Iberis poured out again.
While throwing Isaac Miller under the bus, Livio had expressed his intention to formally apologize to Iberis. However, Iberis rejected Livio’s apology. This stirred up public opinion once again.
In this situation, even within the reformist faction, voices began to suggest bringing Iberis to their side. The recent terrorist incident had brought renewed attention to Iberis’s past, increasing his value as he gained worldwide attention.
Winfried despised those who changed their attitudes so easily, but he couldn’t say anything. After all, he himself secretly hoped for Iberis to join the reformist faction.
Given that Lucas had grown closer to Iberis much faster than expected, it seemed possible to use him, but the problem was that Lucas didn’t seem likely to cooperate in recruiting Iberis.
Even when Winfried had contacted him recently, Lucas had shown reluctance to use Iberis politically.
“For now… I should lend a bit more strength to Major Hyun’s side.”
After finishing his thoughts, Winfried picked up his phone again. As the saying goes, ‘strike while the iron is hot’ – whether Iberis joined the reformist faction or not, it was good to build up his influence for the battles to come.
* * *
Bang!
Lucas calmly fired his gun at the fiercely charging poison bee. The monster, its body pierced by the mana bullet, died without even a scream.
Bang! Bang!
Turning his body, Lucas quickly eliminated the poison bees that were struggling to cross the mana barrier. After dispatching the enemies with remarkable accuracy, he looked beyond the barrier. The things that looked like black cloud masses were all swarms of poison bees.
“…Stupid humans.”
Lucas cursed the absent Major Jonas and Major Rose while ordering to raise the mana barrier higher. The situation had come to this because of those two incompetent cowards.
A few months ago, when Major Norris was disciplined for negligence and lost his position, the N-zone unit leaders became hesitant to ask Iberis for help. They were afraid of giving Lucas a reason to criticize them if they requested support as usual.
Then, while Iberis was on sick leave after the recent terrorist incident, a problem arose. An A-class rift appeared in the N-1 zone under Major Jonas’s responsibility. Normally, they would have called Iberis, but they were reluctant to summon someone who was injured.
Eventually, the N-1 unit led by Major Jonas and the N-2 unit led by Major Rose joined forces to tackle the rift. However, the attack failed miserably, and the rift evolved into a dungeon.
Even then, if they had contacted the N-0 unit immediately, it would have been better. But Major Jonas and Major Rose tried to keep the situation quiet and resolve it themselves.
When a dungeon break became imminent, they had no choice but to request support from the N-0 unit. Although they deployed immediately upon receiving the call, the rift that had turned into a dungeon had already become a massive beehive.
‘Surround the rift with a mana barrier and then set it on fire.’
‘What? Fire?’
‘I’ve fought them before. The hives they make are vulnerable to fire. If we detonate a bomb to start a fire inside the dungeon, the poison bees will come out.’
‘Ah.’
‘They’re flying creatures, so we can’t give them a chance to escape. If we’re not careful, they could fly to civilian areas. Let’s trap them inside the mana barrier and concentrate on killing them.’
Judging it difficult to enter the rift, Iberis ordered to set fire inside. The plan was for a small elite team, including himself, to enter the empty rift once the fire-startled monsters rushed out, kill the boss, and destroy the core.
It was a crude and simple plan, but very effective. The only problem was that there were far more monsters than expected.
Because of this, Lucas couldn’t go inside with Iberis and had to stay outside. His mana was needed to maintain the huge cylindrical mana barrier.
“Oh my.”
“This is endless…”
“How many of these are there?”
The unit members looked aghast at the swarm of poison bees, which still boasted large numbers despite the mountain of corpses. Although members from N-0 to N-2 units were all mobilized, there seemed to be no end in sight due to the sheer number of enemies, no matter how many they killed.
Cursing once again, Lucas calmly aimed his mana gun. As he did so, he observed the rift entrance where acrid smoke was flowing out. He was concerned about Iberis, who had entered the dungeon a moment ago. Although he didn’t doubt his skills, he couldn’t help but worry.
After all, this was Iberis’s first time in the field since the terrorist incident. Although he had judged that Iberis could now engage in monster combat without problems, he couldn’t help but have his mind partly focused on him.
Boom!
As if dispelling Lucas’s concerns, sharp ice pillars shot up through the black smoke that had been thick at the rift entrance. The transparent spikes, which had burst out explosively, grew in number and size, stretching towards the sky.
“W-what’s that?”
“Maintain the barrier!”
“That’s…”
The unit members, who had been surprised by the sudden situation, each let out exclamations as several ice pillars rose high into the sky, encircling the dungeon entrance area to form a shape like a giant crown.
While everyone was captivated by the beautiful and spectacular ice pillars, Lucas only stared at the entrance of the rift. Soon, a slightly tired-looking Iberis appeared between the ice pillars.
“Major!”
As soon as he spotted Iberis, Lucas ran to him like a dog that had found its owner.
