Chapter 190 : Help Me
“……”
Amelia carefully reached out her hand to the World Tree. It was a careful touch, as if it would break if she touched it. When her finger touched it, the World Tree twisted its stem as if it were ticklish.
“……It’s the World Tree. How? I heard the World Tree had died.”
“Well.”
It was a story I didn’t know even if she asked me. The factory manager had said that the thief who had gifted the World Tree’s seed had died. There was no one left who could give an answer.
“More importantly, you’re just glossing over the fact that the World Tree is growing in a human body.”
“That’s what a druid is. A gardener who tends to Mother Nature. A terminal and incarnation of the World Tree. Usually, they just carry a normal plant in their body, but there have been precedents where the World Tree has taken root in a person’s body.”
So it wasn’t just luck that I had survived after swallowing the World Tree’s seed. Well, the druid’s corpse I had found in the ruins had also harbored the World Tree. It was understandable if it was a professional characteristic of a druid.
“You seem to know a lot about druids.”
“In the past, our elves served the World Tree, and the druids represented the will of the World Tree. We had a close relationship.”
Well, why would Greenwood have been looking for a druid for no reason? The source of the information that only a druid could hatch the spirit’s cocoons must have been Amelia.
“First of all…”
Amelia fiddled with the World Tree with a less cautious touch. It was a purposeful movement, as if to confirm something. Perhaps that’s why the World Tree also endured the ticklishness and entrusted its body to her.
“In its current state, it’s impossible for the World Tree to act as a barrier even if it goes to the end of the continent.”
“Are you saying there’s still room for it to grow?”
“Rather than that… I think it can be expressed as the difficulty of restoring a broken object to its original state. That’s what restoration work is like. You have to prepare well in advance, such as drawing a sketch, so that there’s less chance of the result failing when you try.”
“You’re talking about the spirit’s cocoons.”
“You’re quick to understand.”
Since it was a World Tree that had grown into a sacred tree, I wasn’t worried that the growth stage would be a problem. Naturally, my thoughts turned to the spirit’s cocoons that I had not yet recovered.
“I’ve taken all the spirit’s cocoons that your Greenwood has recovered. If that’s still not enough, do I have to go to another city?”
Recalling the hardships I had gone through in the City of Iron and Blood, it was not a very appealing option.
“You don’t have to go that far. We don’t have enough time to tour each city and collect the spirit’s cocoons. Anyway, most of them have already been recovered by sending personnel in advance, just like in Katarina’s case, whom you met.”
“Then do you have another plan in mind?”
“I do. It’s just that it’s a very difficult goal to achieve.”
She was someone who had only been put on probation even after hacking the city government’s database. If she was determined, she could probably do anything.
But seeing her sigh deeply, I could guess the difficulty of the ‘goal’.
“Besides our Greenwood, there’s another faction that’s aiming for and using the spirit’s cocoons.”
…Just by hearing the beginning, I had a feeling.
“If we can just snatch the spirit’s cocoons from Centream, the best corporation that Gellerg City has produced, everything will be solved.”
***
I had a vague feeling that the time would come when I would have to settle things with Centream since I had fought with Cole Khamisi, the leader of Quadruple. In preparation for that, I had once felt the need to form a faction or recruit talent.
Now, I didn’t feel the burden of being unable to face a megacorp alone like before. The coordinator Mirei had single-handedly turned the city into a mess.
Although it was possible because of various conditions, my skills were not inferior to hers. Moreover, as a contractor, I had raised my reputation and had formed connections with various people, organizations, and factions.
The Drexier Mercenary Corps, the Mage Tower, the Public Security Bureau security officer, the Blood Alliance… I would have to pay a price, but they were people who would willingly help me if I asked.
‘The problem is whether they’ll be willing to help even after I say I’m going to fight Centream.’
The pressure that the name Centream brought was enormous to accept just with friendship. It was a gamble where you could gain a lot if you succeeded, but lose everything if you made a slight mistake.
‘Most of all, no matter how high my reputation has risen, there’s a limit to what a contractor can do.’
A mere contractor trying to lead the collapse of Centream? It was normal to hesitate.
‘And I can’t just put Greenwood forward.’
I was better than Greenwood. I didn’t know if Amelia Greenwood would volunteer to be the public face, but the elves wouldn’t allow it.
‘In the end, I need a justification.’
But it wasn’t an impossible task to the point where I had to give up, just considering the uncertainty, difficulty, and impossibility. If you take away its huge size, Centream was just another corporation.
And Gellerg City was the city with the most intense competition between corporations. Dozens of corporations were created and collapsed every day.
Centream was not exempt from such a law of the jungle. There were countless people who wanted to bring down Centream.
Sylvester was a representative example. But it was like hitting a rock with an egg, so they couldn’t even dare.
So I needed a justification. A justification that would make everyone not hesitate to rush in and tear apart the delicious meat called Centream.
‘I hope Hazel brings that justification well.’
Although large corporations were his main clients, Alfonso was practically Centream’s exclusive agent. Just by considering the fact that Shadowfang had used the spirit’s cocoons to restore their pure bloodline, Centream was a likely suspect as their backer.
If the fact that Centream had instigated Shadowfang to plan a terrorist act was revealed, the problem would be solved. Without me having to step in, the Public Security Bureau would first designate Centream as an enemy.
‘When is she scheduled to contact me?’
The interrogation of McDonald had also taken time, but Alfonso’s corpse was in a better condition than at that time. Would it take this long?
I was walking down the street with a minor complaint when.
“Hey.”
A call to me. My hand naturally went to the handle of the gun in my holster.
That’s because if someone suddenly called me, it was one of two cases. A desperate client who wanted to hire me directly, or a rogue who wanted to challenge me.
Most of them were the latter. It was a side effect of becoming famous.
Owners of a shallow mind who, instead of diligently building their reputation through requests, wanted to make a name for themselves in one fell swoop by defeating a famous person.
The person who came into my sight as I held back a sigh and turned around was unexpected.
“Help me.”
***
The air that clung to my skin was damp. To exaggerate a little, it felt like I was swimming in water.
Every time I stepped on the ground, the sound of water echoed. There were puddles here and there on the ground, so the soles of my feet were slippery.
It was better for there to be water, but it was worse in that I couldn’t let my guard down for fear of slipping. Most of all, the surroundings were dark.
I didn’t know what was where, so I had to take each step carefully.
“Are the underground sewers always this dark?”
I was currently in the underground sewers of Gellerg City. The air was damp and the atmosphere was gloomy.
The sound of the flowing water was more eerie than refreshing. It was because I knew how deep the sewer was.
Since it was dark, there was no better place for a test of courage with one’s life on the line. Whether it was suicide or getting lost.
There were no accurate statistics, but it was a place where rumors circulated that hundreds of people had lost their lives.
“The city government turns on the lights when they dispatch public officials.”
“Then what about now?”
“We’re not public officials.”
It was a tone that asked why I was asking such a foolish thing. I also had something to say.
“You asked for help and then dragged me here right away, so I thought you had received a request from the city government.”
“Ah, I haven’t explained anything yet, have I?”
“No.”
The person who had been walking ahead stopped. Her characteristic ponytail and active attire, Hella.
I had been thinking of visiting the Drexier Mercenary Corps to ask why they had stopped their activities, but surprisingly, she had come to me directly and asked for help.
“Why did you follow me all the way here without hearing any explanation?”
She was being prickly, perhaps because she was embarrassed by her own mistake. It wasn’t a question that expected my answer, as she continued.
“There’s information that mercenaries have hidden in this sewer.”
“Here? Mercenaries?”
The underground sewer was a facility managed by the city government. Of course, although it was a facility managed by the city government, it was almost in a state of neglect except for regular inspections.
It was so wide that there was a limit to how much a person could explore and search it thoroughly. But the problem was that it was too dark to be used as a hiding place.
The words ‘why bother?’ came out on their own. If you wanted to avoid attention or have a hiding place, you could find a suitable place on the ground.
In many ways, it was not a place for mercenaries to hide.
“It’s dark, but you can see if you wear night vision goggles.”
Hella was also wearing a mechanical device on her eyes. Night vision goggles.
On the other hand, I was bare-bodied. It wasn’t that Hella had selfishly prepared only her own.
It was uncomfortable, and since the light of the spirits was added to the hawk’s vision, the darkness was not an obstacle.
“I wasn’t asking about that, but what’s the point of coming all the way here to search the underground sewers?”
“I don’t know either.”
“……?”
Hella scratched her cheek as I stared at her with a dumbfounded expression.
“That… you know we suddenly stopped our activities when the water came in and we had to row, right?”
“I heard so.”
“That’s because of our old man.”
“Is there something wrong with Drexier’s personal safety?”
I’m sure he had said he was busy with calls from his comrades until the time of Sylvester’s request. Time had passed since then, but with his skills, it would be hard for him to get hurt anywhere.
“Well, something like that.”
Hella made a face as if she had bitten into a bitter fruit.
“You said he was busy responding to calls from his comrades, right? It turns out they were trying to form a large mercenary organization and were trying to scout our old man.”
Headhunting. It was a common thing.
Since he had the friendship of a comrade and his skills were outstanding, Drexier was a valuable asset that was worth a shot.
“Among the war heroes, there are very few who are in one piece, including our old man. Most of them are cripples with a broken part of their body or something. A skilled person like our old man is rare.”
“So there’s no need to dismantle a successful mercenary corps and move over.”
“There’s a way to move the whole mercenary corps, but it’s just best to refuse in the first place.”
“So what does that have to do with Drexier’s personal safety?”
“He hasn’t been showing his face recently.”
“……?”
“He comes to the office sometimes, but he leaves right after that. Whatever I ask, he just says he’ll take care of it and teach me. I was so frustrated I almost died.”
In other words, it wasn’t a serious injury or a problem with his personal safety. The mercenary corps had stopped its activities because the leader had stepped away from the operation of the mercenary corps.
“And then this time, he finally told us where to go. But I thought it would take a long time to look around if we moved in a group, so I asked you for help to solve it quickly and then ask the old man what’s going on.”
(End of Chapter)