Chapter 187
Chapter 187
Regular Meeting (2)
If one side staggered, then you just had to beat the other side until it staggered too. The balance of power could be adjusted that way.
Cecilia continued speaking.
“In this city, what truly benefits us is for both nations to weaken together.”
It would make the external operations of the criminal organization ruling this city far easier. When a state wavered, public security inevitably became unstable, and where security was unstable, crime sprouted.
And this city was a place where only those bastards who had attained enlightenment in crime gathered.
“The fence-sitter has grown old and timid. Calling an opportunity a crisis.”
Taking advantage of the Valorn Empire’s instability, we could make a move on the Republic and weaken both nations.
Cecilia crossed her legs and slowly stirred her tea with a teaspoon, letting out a sigh.
“You crazy bitch, do you even hear yourself right now?”
“Didn’t we already do it?”
At Cecilia’s words, Donovan stopped mid-sentence. Then he briefly looked at Kairus.
Why at this point? I wondered, and soon found the answer.
“The annihilation of House Featherwing.”
It had been a tremendous incident that shook the Empire to its core. At the time, the Aylan Republic had been unable to act aggressively due to controversy over election fraud. While the Empire wavered, the Republic wavered as well.
“It was an achievement the city accomplished by pouring in all its strength. I trust you’re not mistaken about whom to resent.”
Cecilia spoke to me in a gentle tone.
“If someone started a wildfire, that’d be one thing. But I’m not so trashy as to curse at a farmer who simply chose to cultivate land where a wildfire happened by chance, so don’t worry.”
I answered her calmly. If we had remained still, the balance of power would have collapsed, so the Operations Committee of Bennett City had joined forces and shaken the Republic as well.
I could fully understand that it had merely been a survival strategy.
“Let me make this clear. It must have been a wildfire that occurred by chance, Representative Cecilia.”
“Come on, are you saying we manipulated the Emperor to destroy House Featherwing?”
That required a completely different level of difficulty compared to election rigging.
Swapping ballot boxes and pulling strings not only with the media and the Prosecutor’s Office but also with both the ruling and opposition parties—such things were still easier than manipulating the Emperor of the Empire.
In the Republic, the nation’s direction was decided by majority vote. When the majority decided, it meant there were many cracks to slip into.
But in the Empire, the Emperor alone decided everything. Manipulating a crowd was easy, but manipulating a single person was difficult.
“That sounds fun.”
Lucas, who had been quietly listening, bared his white teeth in a grin.
By nature, Lucas didn’t like staying still. If you compared him to a predator, he wasn’t a spider or a praying mantis. He was a wolf.
Rather than waiting for prey to come to him, he preferred to seek it out and hunt it down.
“Fun? Did you just say fun? You insane orphan bastard.”
Compared to him, Donovan was closer to a spider or a praying mantis. He preferred to conserve his strength while waiting for something to come, then move at the decisive moment and seize the profit.
“The moment our threat level exceeds that of the Antaria Grand Canal, everything could change. Looks like that orphan bastard and that insurance-selling bitch can’t see a damn thing.”
Donovan’s point wasn’t wrong. The Antaria Grand Canal was important.
But to the Aylan Republic and the Valorn Empire, their own national stability was more important than the Antaria Grand Canal.
If the criminal organizations of Bennett City threatened their national security, the possibility that the two nations might abandon the delicious bait called the Antaria Grand Canal was by no means zero.
“As always, we just don’t get caught, right? Life’s a continuous gamble and struggle.”
Lucas clenched his fist as he spoke. He was grinning, but the way his arm muscles writhed made it abundantly clear that he was always ready to fight.
“Look at that bastard.”
Lucas flicked his gaze toward me.
“Why are you like this. You’re embarrassing me.”
I replied indifferently to the attention pouring onto me.
“The last survivor of an annihilated house crawled up here after passing through a labor correctional facility and a restaurant server job. You think that bastard is here because he waited for an opportunity and took advantage of the right timing?”
Lucas shook his head.
“If he’d been waiting for an opportunity, he’d still be carrying pancakes for those idiots to shovel down in the morning.”
It was an irrefutable fact. Lying in wait for an opportunity meant spending time holding your breath. If I had wanted to aim for the perfect moment, I would probably still have remained a server at Longwave Bistro.
“Let’s move, you idiots. While the Empire’s stumbling around like fools, if we smack the Republic once too, both nations will start spewing money and opportunities like broken slot machines.”
It had definitely been Cecilia who gave the first push, but it was Lucas who was burning with passion.
“I’ve lived long enough to see the day I agree with that orphan.”
At Cecilia’s words, Lucas replied shortly, “Bullshit.” It didn’t seem like their relationship would improve anytime soon.
“We’ll take our hands off whatever’s happening in the Empire. What comes after is more important to us.”
The criminals of Bennett City intended to watch the flow of events unfolding in the Empire and then release an appropriate level of chaos into the Aylan Republic to match it.
I had not the slightest dissatisfaction with that outcome. I had never once expected the Operations Committee to help with Simid Kellogg’s rebellion anyway.
I would have considered it a jackpot if they simply didn’t interfere, and now that they had truly decided not to interfere, it was something to welcome.
I didn’t want the Empire to fall in the first place.
‘It’s not like I’m overflowing with hatred and rage and want the whole world to be destroyed.’
As long as the Emperor died, I didn’t care what happened to the Empire afterward.
“Anyway, that matter’s settled, so shall we move on to the distribution issue?”
The Police Commissioner and the Security Captain, who had stepped outside for a moment, returned and took their seats again.
Cecilia looked at me once more. In her gaze was silent pressure, telling me that this was a good place to concede and move on.
“10%. I have absolutely no intention of going any lower.”
That was the line Cecilia and I had agreed upon beforehand. It was a figure I could be satisfied with, and not one the others had any real reason to refuse.
After about thirty more minutes of tense back-and-forth, my share was decided at 10%.
The remaining distribution ratios were settled much more quickly. Everyone was already accustomed to dividing things among themselves.
The reason this meeting had dragged on was solely because of the discussion over how much to allot to me, the newcomer.
“Then, have a good day, everyone.”
I rose from my seat, gave my farewell, and left.
The meeting was over, and one of the things I had been worried about was no longer something to worry about.
Now the next objective was the tail feather said to be in the possession of the Dalton family.
“What were you two doing?”
When I returned after the meeting, I was greeted by the sight of Nora and Irena, both covered in sweat and dust.
“We had a meaningful spar.”
“I was just exhausted!”
At Irena’s words, Nora shouted irritably and pointed at Irena as she spoke to me.
“Unni got stronger!”
“That’s good news. What happened?”
At my question, Irena grinned and replied.
“Training Compendium is an incredible book. If I refine it just a little more, it’s going to be amazing.”
“If you talk that abstractly, how am I supposed to respond?”
Still brimming with excitement, Irena smoothly drew her sword and looked at me.
“What’s the point of explaining? I’ll show you.”
Seeing her that worked up, it didn’t seem like a good idea to back out. I obediently drew Flicker.
“Go ahead. I’m curious how impressive it is to have you that excited.”
Immediately, I swung my sword at Irena’s shoulder.
“?!”
At that instant, a sudden weight loaded onto my blade—and then vanished. I glanced at my hand for a moment and let out a low chuckle.
“So this is it?”
“That’s right.”
Irena smiled as she lightly lifted Stained Glass.
If someone who could lift 100 kg was warming up with 80 kg, and then someone suddenly added a 20 kg plate from the side, what would happen?
Would there be no problem just because someone who could originally lift 100 kg was lifting it?
Not at all. It could strain the wrist or the shoulder. In severe cases, it could even cause injury.
That was exactly what Irena had succeeded in doing. In that instant, she had pushed the sword away with Swift Blade.
“I see earlier than others.”
Irena’s talent. A level of prediction so exceptional it couldn’t even be compared to others.
“If I anticipate in advance and apply what I gained from the box-lifting training—”
At the exact moment the opponent attacked, she could use Swift Blade in the precise opposite direction of the force being applied.
“It’s good.”
It was the kind of achievement that would make Irena beside herself with excitement.
If the trick she had just used were repeated, it would damage joints or tendons. A skilled warrior might endure it to some extent, but the outcome wouldn’t differ much in the end.
“Nora held up pretty well, though.”
“Lunaseekers have specially made joints. You’d better not plan on winning that way.”
Unfortunately, the first test subject of Irena’s new trick had been Nora. The joints of a Lunaseeker were fundamentally different from those of an ordinary human, so it was only natural she could withstand it even after being hit several times.
“For me, it’s pretty tough.”
The procedure I had undergone wasn’t specialized for joints, so the method Irena had just demonstrated was rather troublesome for me.
“It’ll work on the others too, right?”
“Anyone weaker than me—it’ll work on them without fail.”
Of course, that was under the assumption that the opponent was an enemy wielding a weapon. In fact, most would probably be caught off guard with a bewildered “Huh?” the first time they experienced it, only to be struck down by Irena’s follow-up attack.
“Of course, I need to polish and develop it more.”
The key was to suddenly crush down with wind in a single burst, sharply increasing the weight. With a conventional application of Swift Blade, the weight would increase gradually.
“I think one of the training methods in Training Compendium might help.”
As I said that, I recalled one of the contents from Training Compendium.
“Really? Then can we try it right away?”
“We’ll need some preparation.”
We needed two heavy iron spheres and a sturdy rope. We had to make something called a Newton’s cradle.
If you lifted one sphere and let it go, it would swing like a pendulum and strike the other iron sphere. Then that sphere would rise like a pendulum and fall.
We needed a structure that repeated that ticking, back-and-forth swinging motion.
“What are we doing with that?”
“You use Swift Blade at the exact moment the iron spheres collide. If both spheres stop dead without even the slightest sway, that’s a success.”
The key was to create a gust at that instant to prevent the spheres from bouncing back.
If the force was too strong or too weak, one of the two spheres would start moving again. It was suitable for practicing force control and instantaneous impact, and it was perfect training for Irena right now.
“Our next target is the tail feather the Dalton family has. Until we finalize a proper plan, Irena, you focus on training.”
“That works for me! I’ll handle the preparations too!”
Irena sprang to her feet, radiating fierce enthusiasm.
A small, selfish part of me even hoped that completing the plan to obtain the tail feather would be delayed a little.
“But do you have a plan to secure the tail feather Dalton has?”
Still fired up about training, Irena asked me. After a brief moment of thought, I nodded.
“This time, I’m thinking of keeping it simple. I realized there’s no reason for me to personally go to the Dalton industrial complex.”
Irena couldn’t understand what I meant, but I had no intention of offering any further explanation.