“What are you going to do now?”
Yuki’s shoulders tensed at the sharp question. She strained to keep her expression from crumbling.
“As I mentioned before, we’ve erased the traces as much as possible.”
“As much as possible? Not ‘completely’?”
Yuki swallowed hard as Livio picked at her words. After the failure of the plan to eliminate Luke Illum using Carlos, she was cornered.
“I apologize. We did our best to ensure absolutely no harm would come to our side…”
“Do you know what the media has been saying yesterday and today?”
Livio cut off Yuki’s words with a question. Two days ago, a famous Parisian daily newspaper raised suspicions that the ‘European branch rampage incident by a drug-addicted ex-soldier’ might be related to the Mars Guild. This was because the victim of the attack was Captain Luke Illum, Major Iberis Hyun’s personal guide.
As other media outlets eagerly picked up the story, rumors spread rapidly. As a result, they were inundated with calls from journalists inquiring about the Mars Guild’s stance on the circulating rumors. Even cyber sleuths who loved conspiracy theories had caught wind and joined in.
“It’s not the first time journalists have been talking nonsense. The whole department is mobilized to respond…”
“Tsk.”
Livio clicked his tongue disapprovingly and glared at the fidgeting Yuki. This was already the second failure this year. Although their involvement in this incident hadn’t been revealed yet, he couldn’t relax. If Carlos were to say something wrong…
“Damn it.”
Livio’s face contorted as he spat out a curse. Perhaps because everything he’d been doing lately had poor results, negative thoughts kept surfacing. Irritated, he leaned back in his chair and lowered his eyes.
“What about eliminating Carlos Norris?”
Livio slowly opened his mouth after a moment of silence. No matter how he thought about it, getting rid of Carlos, the risk factor, seemed the cleanest solution. If they could silence him, both the Investigation Bureau and the Intelligence Department would have a hard time tracking them down. However, an unsatisfactory answer soon followed.
“We’re watching for an opportunity, but the security is tight…”
“Nothing’s being done properly.”
Yuki lowered her head at the sharp rebuke. In truth, this was beyond her control. The military intelligence was even involved in this case investigation.
“The headquarters got involved because Lieutenant General Bismarck was at the scene. That’s probably why even the military investigation bureau, which should be making a fuss about infringement of investigation rights, is quiet…”
“I know, I know! As you say, Lieutenant General Bismarck is really grinding his teeth. Having failed to take me down last time by implicating me… He’s probably the one who released the article too.”
Livio raised his voice with an expression that said it was obvious. Manipulating public opinion using information was Winfried’s specialty.
“Recently, the military investigation bureau has been criticized for inadequate investigation of the N-zone terror incident. Then, this incident occurred where Captain Illum, known as Lieutenant General Bismarck’s successor, was the victim. Given the circumstances, they couldn’t prevent him from interfering with the investigation.”
Livio easily deduced the situation. Having worked in the defense force for a long time, he naturally pictured the circumstances in his mind.
If he had maintained his position as lieutenant general, he could have smoothed over something like this with a few orders.
Feeling suddenly stifled, he heaved a heavy sigh. At times like these, he keenly regretted not being a soldier anymore.
Even as the head of a promising guild, he was still a civilian after all, with more constraints and less power than when he was a lieutenant general. Not only that, but with all the noise, investors and the Japanese government were also overtly pressuring Livio.
“This is maddening…”
Livio muttered in a low voice, upset by the successive failures. To return to the defense force, he needed to produce results that everyone would acknowledge by the first half of next year, but at this rate, it seemed unlikely.
“I was too hasty…”
Livio admitted that his impatience was one of the reasons for the failure. He had been so fixated on returning to the defense force before the end of his biggest supporter, the marshal’s, term that he hadn’t been cautious enough. There was also an emotional element due to his bad blood with Iberis.
Of course, the plan was perfect. It was just that there were too many variables: Iberis, who they thought had health problems, was unexpectedly fine, and Luke Illum, despite being just a guide, had the power to subdue an A-class esper.
Feeling a headache coming on, Livio pressed his temples. Gritting his teeth hard enough to crush them, he glared at Yuki.
“What I want to hear isn’t empty promises or long-winded excuses. How are you going to resolve this situation?”
“Well…”
The frightened Yuki could only move her lips. She was overcome with fear that she would be discarded by Livio like the dead information team leader. Overwhelmed by the stress of the past few days, she fell into panic.
“P-please spare my life!”
Yuki, her face turning pale, fell to her knees and begged for her life. Livio’s brow furrowed at this unexpected behavior.
“What are you doing? When did I say I was going to kill you?”
“Please, just one more chance…”
“Hah, you’ve lost your mind.”
Livio twisted his lips as he looked at the whimpering Yuki. He disliked weak humans like her. However, it would be a waste to dismiss Yuki like this. After all, she was currently the guide with the second-highest matching rate with him.
“As long as the situation doesn’t spiral to the worst, I have no intention of getting rid of you, so don’t worry.”
“Re-really?”
Yuki asked with tears in her eyes. She couldn’t trust Livio’s words. Having seen things by his side for years, she couldn’t help but be skeptical. He had casually disposed of Isaac Miller, who had worked with him for a long time since their defense force days, so it would be even easier to get rid of her.
But now, even if she couldn’t trust Livio, she was in a position to hope for his mercy. Yuki waited for the verdict, feeling like she was grasping at straws.
“Yes. But you’ll step away from secretarial duties and focus solely on guiding me.”
“Ah.”
Yuki sighed at the order to resign from her secretarial position. While it was fortunate that she had saved her life for now, the prospect of living only as Livio’s guide was devastating.
There was a reason for her reaction. Although guides’ human rights had improved a lot compared to the past, Japan still had poor working conditions compared to other countries.
This was why Yuki had joined the Mars Guild. The Mars Guild, mainly composed of people from the defense force, treated guides overwhelmingly better than conservative Japanese guilds.
Although there was discrimination within the guild based on whether one was from the defense force or not, Yuki, who became both Livio’s secretary and guide, enjoyed quite good benefits from the start.
However, being a secretary and guide versus just a guide was like heaven and earth. If she were to only do guiding work from now on, it was clear she would lose most of the privileges she had enjoyed as the guild leader’s secretary.
Above all, Yuki disliked guiding Livio. He had quite eccentric tastes. That’s why she wanted to remain a secretary, but…
“Why that expression? Are you dissatisfied with my decision?”
“No, not at all. I’m just relieved… Thank you for your mercy. However… I would like some time to wrap up my secretarial duties. I need to properly hand over my work so the next person can assist you properly, Guild Leader.”
“Fine. You may go now.”
At Livio’s dismissal, Yuki stumbled to her feet and left the guild leader’s office. As soon as she did, someone called out to her as if they had been waiting.
“Secretary!”
“…Mr. Karas?”
“I’m sorry, it’s urgent.”
“What is it?”
Yuki quickly composed herself as she saw the man approaching her. He was Karas Yoon, who had recently become a new member of the information team through a personnel transfer.
“You asked me to look into the European branch’s movements in detail. So, huh?”
Karas, who was handing Yuki some documents, suddenly widened his eyes as if he had noticed something. Then he carefully asked,
“Have you… been crying? Did the Guild Leader scold you?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Yuki hurriedly wiped her face with her hand. She paused when Karas offered her a handkerchief.
“I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry. You’ve seemed quite depressed lately… Please use this to wipe your face.”
Karas smiled with a kind face. It was a typical action from someone whom guild members unanimously praised for being handsome and well-mannered.
“Th-thank you.”
Momentarily captivated, Yuki blushed as she hurriedly accepted the handkerchief.
“It’s nothing. Um, instead of standing here, shall we go to the small conference room? Our team leader also has a message for you…”
Karas naturally led Yuki to the small conference room. His eyes and lips formed an elegant arc as he looked at her.
“Yes, yes, let’s do that.”
Yuki nodded and started walking. Frustrated by the misfortune that had befallen her, she failed to notice until the end that Karas’s eyes were glinting sharply, like a predator that had spotted its prey.
