Work Experience (2)
Libra’s Intelligence Agency.
Bell Moore chuckled as he looked at the office that the Intelligence Agency team leader ‘used to’ occupy.
“Sly son of a bitch.”
Serves him right. How dare he try to pin a crime on me.
At this moment, he could only curse inwardly, but it was also chilling.
If the team leader’s plan had gone through.
No, if Shion Ascal had been fooled by the team leader.
The false charges against Sonya would have been entirely on him.
“He’s totally screwed~”
Bell Moore knocked on the office door a few times for good measure and turned to leave─
“Mr. Bell Moore.”
Several employees of the Intelligence Agency approached him.
“Oh, yes?”
“What’s that rookie Chaser up to?”
“Well... I don’t really know.”The origin of this chapter's debut can be traced to N0v3l--B1n.
Rookie Chaser. Of course, they were talking about Shion Ascal.
That lunatic killed the team leader. He went to the mansion and, finding Benedict defenseless, sliced his neck with a single stroke.
A rookie assassinating a senior, it was a stab in the back that would make any Chaser shake their head, no matter the circumstances.
“He’s probably at the university right now?”
As such, the expressions on the faces of the Intelligence Agency employees were not too pleased.
“If you want to pick a fight, go find him yourself.”
Bell Moore smirked slyly.
“But be careful. That guy’s a real lunatic.”
“...”
The Intelligence Agency employees were silent.
These guys still don’t know how much of a lunatic Shion Ascal is, or how much focus he’s drawing from Libra.
“Well then. I’m off.”
Bell Moore waved his hand and walked down the corridor. A person appeared from the corner of the lobby.
“Excuse me.”
Riley. She crossed her arms as she looked at Bell Moore.
“What.”
“What do you mean what. You called me.”
“...What.”
Bell Moore raised an eyebrow.
“It’s nothing big. Want to work on something with me?”
“A job?”
“Yeah. I think I need a team.”
“Again? Don’t you know anyone else but me? Don’t you have any Chaser friends?”
Of course, there are many Chasers.
But the only one he can trust is Riley.
“We had fun last time we did it together.”
“You seem to be under a misconception. I’m not a Chaser to-”
“It’s about [Vancheon].”
Bell Moore said.
Riley’s expression hardened instantly.
“About... Vancheon?”
“Yeah. It’s from Shion again.”
“...”
Riley looked at Bell Moore without saying a word. Bell Moore smiled deeply.
“I can’t talk about the details yet, but it’s an opportunity to climb the ranks.”
* * *
I drove to the scene of the incident. It was an ordinary forest.
“Wow! Shion, you have a car too?!”
Layla’s eyes sparkled as she saw the SUV.
It was an SUV gifted by Bell Moore, and it was proving quite useful.
“Yeah. Here.”
I handed her a bread. It was the cream bun bought by Bell Moore.
By the way, Bell Moore himself is probably forming a team right now. Vancheon is a traitorous organization with a hefty bounty on its head, not just from Libra but also from the council.
“Wow!”
Layla’s expression became animated.
“Shion, how did you buy this?!”
She was dazzled by the sight of the cream bun.
I asked her a question.
“I have my connections. Where’s the crime scene?”
“Oh right, let’s go!”
A sorcery murder case.
Simply put, it’s a case where people are killed through sorcery.
But it’s different from ordinary murders. Sorcery murder is ‘long-distance murder’ because the sorcery is activated in one space and flies to another.
The character for ‘kill’ (殺) is a typical example.
“It’s quite a scene.”
Near the lake. A chilling talisman and threads were clinging to a tree, and nearby, a dark red liquid oozed like pus.
“It’s a sorcery murder.”
Suddenly, a familiar, somewhat welcome voice.
I turned to look.
It was Elise.
There were other university student pairs besides us here. They all must have chosen ‘detective’ for their teaming job experience.
Elise slightly lifted her chin.
“This is your first time with something like this, isn’t it?”
“...Aren’t you also a first-timer?”
For the record, it’s not my first time. Living in the underworld, you get to experience all sorts of things.
“Hmph. It’s not.”
Elise approached me.
Or rather, she tried to, but Layla pushed her away.
“Elly. Can you not tail my team?”
“...Tail?”
Elise’s eyes narrowed.
“──Hold on.”
Suddenly, Gerkhen interjected with a rather serious expression. We all turned to look at him.
A trip she never had with her lost older brother, now belatedly together.
Was this Shion’s consideration?
“......It’s fine. More importantly, do you know what’s beneath us?”
Soliette asked Jared.
“Um...... I don’t know. However, the explosives we need to attach at the very bottom are still here.”
Jared smiled faintly, pulling out the explosives from his bosom.
“Attach this underground and detonate it, and that’s the end.”
“......”
Soliette found Jared’s words bitter.
She still didn’t know if he was really Jared. Whether he was just a Jared created by programming, or if he was a reconstructed being with the real Jared’s soul.
But, whatever it was.
“Aren’t you afraid of what will happen if this Bottle collapses?”
He would disappear along with this Bottle.
Therefore, this journey is one to kill Jared.
“It’s okay.”
Jared smiled faintly.
“After all, this world is fake. Whether we succeed in liberating the Bottle or fail and get exploited by an individual, both outcomes lead to death.”
Soliette listened quietly to his words.
“I want my death to be on my own terms.”
He bowed his head.
For a moment, she almost cried.
Jared added more wood to the campfire.
“Why don’t you get some sleep?”
“...Yes.”
Soliette looked around. The underground was dark in all directions.
This place was a route that penetrated the fake Edsilla’s bottom, aiming to reach the bottom of the bottle.
In game terms, it was the path that led to the ending.
She watched Jared as he sat with his eyes closed.
“Do you have... a family?”
“...?”
At her words, Jared opened his eyes slightly. He looked at her with a puzzled expression, and she mirrored him.
They were similar.
In their actions, expressions, and the way they spoke.
“Are you talking about family?”
“Yes.”
“...I had one.”
Jared said with a casual smile.
“I would have had one when I was alive. There was a strict father, a kind mother who passed away too early...”
Crackle- Crackle-
Jared watched the sound of the campfire.
“And a very cute little sister who resembled that mother.”
Soliette wiped the corner of her eyes, pretending to get a spark in them, pretending her eyes were irritated.
“I always wanted to treat her well. She was so small and precious. I don’t know if I did a good job.”
She bit her lip hard, not wanting her crumpled face to be seen, so she lay back.
“.......”
Jared said nothing to her.
He just kept a faint smile on his face as he scribbled small letters in the dirt.
[Soliette]
* * *
“Ha ha.”
Libra’s Jade was in the extreme mana stone storage. He looked around at the places filled with extreme mana stones and smiled.
“Ha ha.”
The leisurely laugh of a noble. The elegance and dignity of it earned applause from everyone around.
“Hmm. What’s all this fuss about.”
Jade waved his hand in response.
The business had succeeded.
The efficiency of the extreme mana stones researched by Libra would soon be on the news. It would bring tens of times the profit to Jade himself.
With this profit, he would start another business, and then another...
Tadadadak──
At that moment, a multitude of footsteps echoed. Jade looked outside the storage. It was the bastards from Libra’s Intelligence Agency.
“What’s the matter?”
They lined up in front of Jade.
“Lord Jade. We have obtained information that the main mage has fired a ‘cut’ at one of Libra’s direct lines.”
“......”
Jade blinked for a moment. In contrast, the faces of the Intelligence Agency agents were extremely serious.
They probably thought that obtaining this information was a great achievement.
“Yeah. Now get lost.”
Jade just waved his hand.
“Lord Jade could be the target-”
“I said I got it, now get lost. Business is more important right now.”
Cut.
Whatever it was, Jade didn’t care.
What was important to him now was the next business.
“......Besides. Davis. How is that matter progressing?”
Jade asked his newly appointed secretary.
“The negotiations are currently underway. The results of the soil research are exactly as they said.”
His next target was ginseng.
A region where ginseng grew, an elixir-like herb that increased the mana of those who consumed it. If he acquired that land and farmed it properly-
“It’s a scam.”
Suddenly, someone interrupted. Jade frowned deeply and turned to look in that direction.
How dare an Intelligence Agency agent meddle in my business...
“Hmm?”
But it wasn’t just any agent.
Jade twisted the corner of his mouth with a smirk as he looked at him.
“A scam, you say.”
Among the Intelligence Agency agents, one stood out with his tall stature and blonde hair.
“Yes.”
Shion Ascal.
The man confidently spoke as he approached.
“That ginseng region is a scam, Lord Jade.”