NOVEL NEXT WORLD EP.49
With the power of the Bogle, we effortlessly extracted information about Mia’s organization, the Black Moon.
“Are you saying you’re organizing your business?”
“Y-yes, really! Please believe me!”
I could vaguely guess why.
The sudden cut-off of contact from the surface likely indicated that they were being clamped down on for some reason, making activities difficult for a while.
It meant they had taken a hit. However, that didn’t necessarily work in our favor right away.
“This is going to become a hassle.”
Maria was right. Stopping outside business operations meant that the deployed personnel had returned. For us, who needed to infiltrate covertly, this was bound to complicate things.
Of course, while it was something to keep in mind, it wasn’t enough to hinder our objectives.
Having created a binary system with breath to install the Bogle, the bewildered prisoner was securely tied up as we proceeded toward the headquarters of the Black Moon. Naturally, approaching from the front was an obvious way to get caught, so we headed for the back door instead.
They weren’t amateurs either, so there was security here, but I easily bypassed it using the biometric unlocking device I had prepared in advance.
“Gah!”
“Grrr….”
Of course, the guards realized the authentication key hadn’t been used through the correct channel and hurriedly tried to shut the backdoor, but with my programming skills honed by HTML, I swung my sword and easily subdued them.
The guards spitting out incorrect responses were taken down by Maria. She laid down ice on the floor, and they just slipped and fell.
It seemed Maria was gradually getting the hang of what she could do without her trauma flaring up, as she instinctively moved without needing to be told.
“I’ve taken care of everyone.”
With that, the downed ones were promptly handled by Mia. It wasn’t that she killed them; she quickly gagged them and tied them up snugly in a box. Leaving them as they were might result in their demise, but if Mia said it was fine, it probably was.
Of course, the prisoner who had already served his purpose in breaking security was tossed in too.
We then made our way inside. The building was structured with carved stone columns, allowing us to move stealthily if we were careful about our footfalls.
As we slowly advanced inward, taking down anyone we encountered one by one, we soon found ourselves passing through the lower ranks and reaching the area where the executives resided.
“Well… it’s not much different.”
“Unlike on the surface, we can’t freely reconstruct the buildings, so it can’t be helped.”
Thanks to the limitations of the stone column interior, the inside bore little difference from the lower levels. This made moving around inside pretty easy.
“Who—gack.”
From here on out, it became easy to discern who we needed to kill and who we didn’t.
“This person primarily handles contract killings.”
“This one is in charge of kidnappings.”
“This person deals with robberies and hostage situations.”
Mia’s claim that she often rubbed shoulders with the executives didn’t seem like an empty boast, as she expertly identified each individual we encountered. Their reactions were enough to confirm that her words were not lies.
“Mia, you dare betray us!”
“When did you ever show such strong loyalty?”
The executives couldn’t help but flinch every time they laid eyes on Mia, but she crushed them with a single word and delivered her judgments without hesitation.
The curious thing was that nearly all of them were sentenced to death.
“But why is it that all we have here are major offenders?”
It seemed Maria shared this line of inquiry as well. After all, the empire prided itself on the rule of law, so from her perspective, such summary executions would surely rub her the wrong way. You could say she had been quite patient up to this point.
Of course, the Holy Kingdom also upheld law and order based on doctrines and legal codes, so her question was entirely valid. In reality, we were engaged in activities that were bordering on illegal when it came to assessing legality versus illegality.
However, that didn’t mean we had to assist Mia in killing people for her personal revenge. I added my two cents.
“We don’t need to go this far; once this is all over, you’ll face the consequences for your actions anyway. But if you keep insisting on killing people for your own gain, we’ll have no choice but to notify the judicial office about this.”
Mia nodded, seeming to resonate with our words.
Then, skillfully stepping over a subdued executive who had been gagged, she opened a drawer and pulled out some documents, which she handed to Maria.
Maria swiftly flipped through the papers, and since she was already well-versed in document examination, it didn’t take her long to skim through them.
“…Sure enough, Mia was right.”
Mia nodded again and said, “It’s a necessary evil. People know that illegal activities can be quite lucrative, but that’s because you can’t supply that volume through normal means; the prices go up simply because of the risk involved. You might call it a sort of pie-stealing contest.”
She then pointed upward with her finger.
“In the end, the organization makes money primarily through businesses conducted on the surface. If they can handle the volume, the transaction amounts reach a completely different scale, raising the costs considerably.”
“I already know that.”
After all, business fundamentally revolves around the idea that the more people you target, the more money you make. Luxury goods might seem pricey for each item, but ultimately, due to the limited number of consumers, they typically can’t match the overall sales figures of standard brands.
“But in such organizations, who usually ends up with the profitable businesses?”
“Ah.”
“Oh.”
Both Maria and I exhaled in realization.
Thinking back, it made sense. Profitable ventures would naturally fall into the hands of the boss or those loyal to him. And those individuals would be promoted to higher positions due to their achievements. Consequently, those who cannot align themselves with the hierarchy would have no choice but to shoulder such tasks in order to survive.
It could be considered rather brutal, to say the least. These people weren’t devoid of ambition, so in their attempt to get back into the boss’s good graces, they’d undertake their missions even more ruthlessly, and each time, more victims would pile up. This would lead to more individuals seeking to join such organizations in order to make a living.
It was a vicious cycle perpetuating itself.
“Ugh, this isn’t exactly uplifting.”
In the end, this meant that before we reached the area where the boss and his inner circle were located, most of the executives would be doomed to meet their end.
I couldn’t exactly go crashing through the floor with a ruckus. This operation had to be executed stealthily. I couldn’t afford to make a commotion until we secured at least four different exits.
Actually, it was crucial that we didn’t signal our presence to the Holy Kingdom’s knights who would be here to raid this place. All I could do was smash a few organizations and silence them at best.
The more places I stirred up, the higher the chances of getting caught, and that also increased the risk of things going awry before the operation even kicked off.
Ultimately, what I could do was achieve the mission quickly before the number of victims increased even further.
“It’s unavoidable,” Maria commented, sensing my irritation. I clicked my tongue and ruffled my hair. It was annoying to know all this yet still feel frustrated by the circumstances.
“We have no choice but to capture the boss and hold him accountable.”
I exited the room again, purposely picking up the pace. Maria and Mia quietly followed my lead. We advanced quickly, eliminating executives along the way as we ascended.
As Maria had noted, the higher we climbed, the fewer serious offenses we encountered. In fact, just below the floor where the boss resided, we found ourselves in a situation where not a single person had to be killed.
And finally, we arrived at the boss’s room.
We approached as quietly as possible, moving slowly and cautiously, step by step.
At last, we stood before the boss’s door. Unsurprisingly, the layout of this room was different from the lower levels, designed to accommodate someone who occupied an entire floor for themselves.
“Everyone, get ready.”
At my command, Maria cast barrier magic. Naturally, this would only protect her. I was still skeptical about fully trusting Mia, so I opted to keep the two of them separate. As for me, I planned to storm in and fight without any waiting.
“Do you know the plan?”
“Of course.”
Maria prepared two spells: Light and Wind. The flashbang effect from using Light last time had been incredibly impressive, so we were going to make use of it again.
“I’ll count to three, then we break down the door with Wind and set off the Light.”
Maria nodded in agreement.
“One, two, three!”
“Wind!”
With a crashing sound, the wind roared, and the door was shattered to pieces.
“Light!”
Simultaneously, a burst of light erupted. I had my eyes shut, but the moment I saw the flash through my eyelids, I dashed forward, drawing my sword and scanning the room for the boss’s location.
“What the…?”
The room was empty.
At that moment, I heard a voice coming from behind me.
“Looking for me?”
I whirled around to find a masked man holding a knife to Mia’s throat.
Maria gasped, her eyes wide with horror as she shouted, “Bill…! This guy is a mage!”
To me, it sounded like everything had just veered off course from our meticulously laid plan.