Chapter 296: City Councilman (1)

“Data collection, huh…” Lennok mumbled, flicking the cigarette he held.

The betrayal of the defense forces guarding the megacity’s outer perimeter. It wasn’t particularly surprising, though.

The transgressions of former soldiers. It wasn’t new for veterans who couldn’t find their place to flow into the underground.

From the veteran soldier who headed the Scavengers’ branch, to the special forces veterans flowing into the underground, and even the traces of the front lines that had slowly ceased operation and begun to rust.

It was merely one of the countless anxieties and fissures rooted in this city that had newly revealed itself.

The problem was that the malevolent force at the end of that fissure might now be overtly targeting Lennok.

It wasn’t something he could overlook.

“There’s a high probability you’ll be contacted, Van. Most likely by one of the City Councilors.”

“A City Councilor?”

“Among the powerful figures in the underground, there aren’t many who aren’t bound by specific organizations or affiliations. Most of those few are psychopaths who have no concept of cooperation. It’s only natural their attention would turn to you, who has proven both skill and reliability through freelance work.”

“…”

“To grant authority to powerful figures in mainstream society before the Prohibition Edict is lifted, the City Council would have to sacrifice a lot. They would rather borrow the hands of outlaws operating in the outer districts.”

The Prohibition Edict, which restricts the authority of powerful figures in mainstream society while granting them equivalent privileges, is one of the biggest controversies in this city.

As the Ibon Family Head mentioned, there have recently been rumors that the edict might be lifted, but nothing has been decided yet.

Considering that the edict isn’t just a simple system but a restriction mixed with a Geas, they would likely try to find other methods instead of hastily tampering with the edict.

“I mostly understand.” Lennok, listening to Nicole, slowly nodded.

“But I haven’t heard the most important part. Why are you telling me all this?”

He understood what she wanted to say. Wasn’t she implying that the recent attack on Lennok wasn’t a mere isolated incident, but tied to vast interests surrounding the megacity’s defense forces?

It was a plausible story, but Lennok didn’t believe everything Nicole said anyway.

The specific details would be resolved later by cross-verifying them through the captured members.

But what were Nicole’s intentions in appearing and relaying this information first?

Her actions now were tantamount to solidifying the suspicion that the Platon Office was closely connected to the City Government.

If she had come, willing to face Lennok’s judgment, then Nicole must have had a purpose herself.

Before he could see and judge all those facts for himself, Lennok wanted to hear Nicole’s answer first.

Nicole offered a wry smile and spoke.

“Well… let’s just say it’s a token of gratitude, if I had to put a name to it.”

“What?”

“I heard about the Proxy Battle at the Fortress. That you met Adam and saved his life.”

“…”

“I’ve repaid my nephew’s life debt here… Is that enough of a reason?”

Saying that, Nicole calmly turned her back and walked away into the alley.

Her relaxed attitude suggested she didn’t think Lennok would make a move.

Rather, this kind of response implicitly showed how much she trusted Lennok.

Lennok watched her retreating figure, lost in thought.

He weighed the pros and cons of capturing her and making her spill all she knew versus the relationship with the Platon Office and the consistently friendly attitude she had shown thus far.

While her attitude of observing the situation from hiding wasn’t to his liking, there was no need to immediately antagonize the woman who had provided information as a token of gratitude.

As Nicole’s personal details were well-known, it would be sufficient to take action if any problems arose later.

Deciding to let Nicole go, Lennok turned and pulled out his phone from his pocket.

“Should I contact Antares…?”

Since Evelyn had received a long vacation and lost contact after responding to a summons, Antares was the only collaborator he could immediately consult with on such matters.

In addition, there was only Dray, a former soldier affiliated with Lennok’s company.

For now, he had no choice but to contact those who might have useful information.

“Vaaan—!” Frowning at Manson’s yell from nearby, Lennok began to move his fingers.

“Van!” Lennok chuckled, seeing Dylan approaching him, waving from a distance.

Dylan naturally tossed one of the drinks he was holding to Lennok.

Instead of catching it with his hand, Lennok naturally snatched it with a Mana Thread and held it.

Through the events at Palgung Fortress, not only his skill in manipulating Mana Threads but also their overall efficiency had greatly increased.

In terms of purely technical skill, it was the fastest-growing among the spell systems Lennok possessed.

This was likely because his proficiency in other systems sufficiently supported it, but rapid achievement, even by Lennok’s standards, was not a bad thing.

“Hey, I told you I just wanted tea. Why’d you buy this crap?” Mila, walking behind Dylan, grumbled, shaking the mint-flavored soda in her hand.

Dylan grinned from behind his mask and replied.

“I personally took care of it because I pity you for not knowing the taste of mint, so be grateful.”

“Are you going to keep spouting nonsense?”

“Then want to swap? This is barley-flavored soda, it’s not bad either.”

“Are you serious? Do you want to die?”

Bickering, the two naturally took seats opposite the bench where Lennok was sitting.

“Why’d you pick a place like this to meet?”

An abandoned park. Near the mall stairs overlooking a dusty playground. Not even sunlight pierced through the cloudy sky; only the faint glow from an old mall sign illuminated the area. The air was humid, as if it would rain at any moment. But Lennok, unconcerned, sat on the bench between the stairs and opened a can of coffee.

“Oh, Van, I heard you were hanging out with those cult freaks at Palgung Fortress?” Mila said, sipping her mint-flavored soda, as if suddenly remembering.

“Because of that, there’s talk that the City Government is launching a full investigation into the Fortress. Do you know what’s going on? It seems like it’ll just cause more trouble, especially without the Divine Bow around.”

“…” Dylan, listening quietly, flinched. Lennok didn’t miss the movement and shifted his gaze.

Come to think of it, Dylan, who always lights up at news related to the Cult, couldn’t possibly be unaware of this.

Given that Nicole from Platon also knew information related to the Fortress, the Antares mercenaries probably had some inkling of what Lennok had done.

As he couldn’t guess whether Mila knew about Dylan’s circumstances, there was no reason to bring up the topic now.

“I had a few things going on with their missionary… I’ll tell you about it separately later.” Lennok subtly changed the subject.

“More importantly, my business comes first. If you’ve read the message, you probably know what’s going on.”

He had contacted Antares first, but there was no sign the message had even been read. No, he couldn’t even guess if Antares was currently in the city.

That’s why Lennok had called the mercenaries he knew, hoping to hear Antares’s intentions or any messages he might have left.

That man was undoubtedly one of the superhumans closest to the truth of this world. Which direction Antares’s answer would take, and how much he was aware of the current situation, was a more important matter than it seemed.

“Hmm, the Defense Force Command, you say.” Dylan mumbled, shaking the mint chocolate flavored beer in his hand.

“Honestly, our commander is too busy; it’s been a while since I’ve had a proper talk with him.”

“…”

“He’s probably doing various things somewhere else, not in the megacity. I wonder if it’d be a bit of a hassle to find him?”

Mila chimed in with an unenthusiastic expression.

“If those soldier friends really intend to overturn this city, they wouldn’t care about someone who’s already left the city in the first place.”

“That’s not wrong. Then how about this?” Lennok briefly told them about Nicole and what she had said.

As the Platon Office and even the City Government were mentioned, their attitudes became more serious.

“Platon, huh…”

“Come to think of it, it’s been ages since I saw that mister’s face. How did I not know?”

“…” Lennok sighed at Dylan’s words, as he scratched his mask.

It wasn’t just a lack of concern; they simply had no interest whatsoever to react like this.

On the contrary, Mila, who had been listening next to them, snapped her fingers as if she knew something.

“Come to think of it, that woman Nicole, there were a lot of strange rumors about her.”

“What is it?”

“I heard it from a Platon mercenary I happened to work with; apparently, she’s not originally from the underground.”

“…”

“They said she used to be a civil servant from some unknown department.”

“A civil servant, huh.”

“Some even say she wasn’t born in this city. She’s respected within the office, but apparently, she’s thorough about keeping her private life hidden.”

“Hmm, that has some similarities to a certain wizard I know.”

“In terms of being inscrutable, you two are exactly alike, like siblings.”

Lennok mostly ignored the nonsense Dylan and Mila were spouting, lost in thought.

For now, it seemed clear that the Platon Office had some kind of connection with the City Government.

If so, Nicole’s statement that one of the City Councilors would directly summon Lennok was not a low possibility either.

‘What should I do…?’

If the outer defense forces truly cut ties with the megacity and began to act independently, Lennok couldn’t ignore it.

It would be obvious that the muzzles of the defense forces, with their countless armaments and human resources, would first point towards the megacity’s outskirts.

It was natural that Jenny’s established logistics network would collapse and her business would suffer disruptions.

Lennok had no interest in Vulcan’s welfare or the order of the underground, but he didn’t want his hard-built business to be ruined in such a way.

But if he were to step back and observe the situation, the impending summons from the Eyes of Blue weighed on his mind.

Since Evelyn Marcia had already received contact and left, it wouldn’t be long before Lapis, the Lighthouse Keeper, contacted Lennok.

If it were a simple social gathering, he could ignore it, but if it was a summons from Lapis, who had recently left the Autonomous Region and was rapidly expanding her influence, Lennok would also find it difficult to ignore.

Given the Cult’s affairs, it would be advisable to show his face this time and gather relevant information.

Solving the defense force problem as quickly as possible and responding to the summons would be the best course of action, but…

“Van?” Mila asked with a slight frown while Lennok was lost in thought.

“What are you doing?”

“Hm?” Lennok looked down at his hands upon hearing that, giving an awkward laugh.

Without realizing it, strands of Mana Thread had flowed from both his fingers, holding an empty coffee can and playing cat’s cradle in the air.

He hadn’t realized the habit of occasionally practicing Mana Thread manipulation at Palgung Fortress to improve his ability was still lingering.

The two mercenaries stared at Lennok, who was subtly retracting his hands, with strange expressions.

“Wizards are really hard to understand, you know.”

“To be able to do something like that unconsciously… I guess I’ll never be able to set foot in the world of spells.”

“Anyway, I mostly understand what you’re saying.” Lennok, quickly organizing his thoughts, stood up.

“With Evelyn and Antares both absent… if the defense forces considered even this and chose their timing, then this isn’t something to be treated lightly, just as Nicole said.”

“Should we help?”

“No need to. There’ll be another chance for us to meet soon anyway. If one of the City Councilors really contacts me, naturally—”

Riiiiing! Before Lennok could finish speaking, his phone’s ringer loudly began to sound.

The three looked at each other with perplexed expressions and pulled out their phones.

As if on cue, all three phone screens displayed the caller’s name.

Lennok, looking down at his phone screen, continued.

“—they’ll try to secure personnel with good reputations.”

But even so, he never imagined he’d hear from this person again.

Lennok truly hadn’t even considered that a connection started with a single job would become so entangled and reach this far.

[Call: District Councilor John Meyer]

What did it mean that the District Councilor, whom he’d learned about as the power behind the pharmaceutical company’s affairs, happened to contact him now?

The greedy old man, whom even Lennok, who had just started freelance work, coveted, had shed his District Councilor title and grasped an even higher position.

“Councilor. Do you really intend to request this man’s cooperation?”

“Why? Do you doubt my discernment?”

“That’s not it,” the woman replied in a sharp voice.

“But ’Adamant Thunder’s recent actions appear quite dangerous. Even by old-fashioned standards, he is certainly very unusual.”

“…”

“He acts as if he has no interest in the power struggles behind this city, yet he steadily accumulates benefits as a result. This becomes even clearer when you look at how he handled the Cartel and Palgung Fortress, which he recently involved himself with.”

He was assertive in the power struggle with the Cartel, but during the Proxy Battle at Palgung Fortress, he instead integrated himself, making both forces adopt a friendly stance simultaneously.

How far his cunning, displayed with a long-term view of organizational rivalries, would reach was something even she found impossible to guess.

“You’ll see if you look at the analysis report extracted from the Security Department’s database.”

Saying that, she naturally pulled out thick papers and placed them before the old man.

Thud! A thick analysis report, easily dozens of pages long.

It was a compilation of data created solely to ascertain the background, abilities, actions, and tendencies of a single individual.

At the very top of the papers was a blurry photo of a young man with an unusually sharp gaze.

What did it mean that the quality of the photo used in an analysis report, produced under the authorization of a high-ranking official directly under the City Government, was so poor?

It was proof that this blurry image was the best they could capture of the wizard Van within photographic data.

“Even while he’s engaged in and accomplished so many things that require records, not a single piece of information about his past can be found. It’s a level far beyond meticulousness. He perfectly conceals and changes his personal information to the point of obsession.”

The woman said.

“Wouldn’t such actions only be possible if he held such circumstances and secrets?”

“…”

“An abnormally fast growth rate. Connections and affiliations proportional to that. A clean track record without any superfluous details. There must be a powerful motive that we haven’t grasped.”

The woman concluded, looking down at the old man who was smiling leisurely.

“And no one can guess if Adamant Thunder’s objective will be beneficial to you, Councilor.”

As if answering her words, the jet-black nameplate placed before the old man shone cleanly.

[City Government Central Council, House of Representatives Member]

[John Meyer]