Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: The Method of the Hunt (1)
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Back in the church office on the outskirts after so long.
A single data chip was clutched in my hand.
It contained backups of the personal scandals of VIPs and city elites who'd visited Paradise up to now.
This was the [Black Letter] I'd received from Isidora as payment for this job.
"......."
In the quiet office, I stared intently at the data chip.
'She said this has... the information we've been looking for too.'
The Paradise usage records of Klaus Adler, CEO of Prosper Wellness—the company currently obstructing the church's hospital business.
Honestly, a man of his stature wouldn't even need to visit such an establishment. If he wanted, he could summon dozens or hundreds of prostitutes tailored to his tastes with a mere whim...
So why go to the trouble of coming all the way out to the suburbs for his fun?
It wasn't hard to guess.
The economic scale of the outskirts was barely a crumb compared to the city center.
Naturally, no other major corporations paid it any mind.
Which meant it was actually better suited for shady dealings than the city itself—away from prying eyes.
The perfect spot for the city's power players to indulge their secret desires without drawing attention.
They probably thought it was only logical too.
No mere mafia upstart would dare provoke them.
And if any issues arose, they could just wipe them all out.
In fact, Isidora herself hadn't dared use the Black Letter for that very reason.
The gap in their social standing was simply too vast for blackmail to work.
One wrong move, and it would've cost Isidora and the entire Velvet Circle their lives.
That's why, even though I knew about the Black Letter from the original story's knowledge, I hadn't demanded it.
'Handing over the lives of everyone in the Velvet Circle would've been no different.'
But in the end, the data chip had fallen into my hands like fate.
"......."
Would this thing truly provide the key to resolving this incident?
'No way to know without checking it myself.'
With that, I finally steeled my resolve and moved to interface the Black Letter with my personal terminal.
Right then, an unfamiliar hand shot out from the side and gently snatched the chip away.
"Ah!"
The culprit was Esty.
"Pardon the intrusion."
She'd already taken the Black Letter from my hand and spoke in a low voice.
"Eve, I'll inspect this data first."
"Pardon?"
"It might contain viruses or malicious code. My implant interface has military-grade security firewalls, so it's safe."
Even after that explanation, I was still a bit puzzled.
No matter how I thought about it, it didn't seem like Isidora would've planted any traps here.
'But better safe than sorry, I guess.'
In the end, I nodded.
With permission granted, Esty inserted the data chip into the port at the nape of her neck.
She closed her eyes, connecting to her neural interface for a moment.
She was probably reviewing the data in an accelerated consciousness space.
"......."
"......"
About ten minutes passed in real time.
Having finished her review, Esty half-opened her golden eyes again.
The expression that appeared on her face... was one of clear contempt.
What they call a "looks like she just chewed shit" face.
It was the first time I'd seen the ever-cool Esty make such a disgusted look.
Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked.
"You okay? What on earth did you see...?"
"......"
Uncharacteristically, Esty closed her eyes without answering.
After a moment as if calming herself, she spoke in a voice stripped of emotion.
"In parts of the data, I confirmed scenes of Klaus Adler indulging in paraphilic desires based on severe sexual deviance. If this data were made public, his social standing would be severely damaged."
"...!"
I lit up at those words.
If we'd really nabbed the CEO's weakness, this could solve our current problem.
Excited, I reached for the data chip on the table to check it myself.
But Esty swiftly snatched it away first.
"...Esty?"
She stated with utmost firmness.
"Considering the emotional harm contained in that audiovisual material, I cannot allow you to see it, Eve."
"Whaaat?!"
I was flustered by the sudden declaration.
This was data I'd obtained myself, and now I couldn't even view it? Confiscated, no less.
And the reason? Merely that it was indecent.
'What, it's not like it's age-restricted for teens or something...'
Remembering her over-the-top reaction at Paradise last time, I narrowed my eyes and glared at her.
"Esty... are you treating me like a child right now?"
"..... No."
Oddly, her response was a beat late.
So I protested firmly.
"Let me be clear: I'm plenty adult enough for this. This is overprotection."
I figured that would get through to her.
But Esty still wouldn't return the chip and just stared straight at me, countering.
"Then, Eve, would you answer just one question?"
"Sure?"
"What is your exact current age?"
"Well, of course...."
I started to answer naturally, then paused.
'Come to think of it, have we ever talked about this between us?'
This was Omega Detroit, a city of freedom and permissiveness. Living here with no age-based culture or systems, the topic rarely came up.
Besides, Esty still couldn't remember her own past.
Unable to recall her age, origins, or life story, we'd naturally avoided personal details like that.
Maybe that's why. Seizing the chance to clear up the misunderstanding, I declared.
"I'm twenty...."
But as I began, another thought made me hesitate.
Saying my original world's age with this face... wouldn't it sound utterly ridiculous?
'Even I think I look young.'
More importantly, I didn't even know this body's real age.
After a moment's deliberation, I opted for a more realistic, lowered number.
"Twenty.... one. I'm twenty-one this year."
This was already the highest I could claim with my current appearance.
But oddly, Esty showed no reaction.
"......."
Her gaze, devoid of even a shred of belief, like interrogating a lie, made me shrink back oddly.
Then, meeting her distinctive golden eyes, it hit me late.
'Oh, right. Those prosthetic eyes have lie detection!'
Panicking, I started fumbling excuses.
"W-Wait.... That's not....!"
But trust had already vanished from Esty's gaze.
"......."
Like a kid caught trying to sneak a peek at porn behind their guardian's back, spouting nonsense excuses.
Frustrated, I finally told her my real original age, but even that didn't work.
"Why won't you believe this one either?!"
Esty replied calmly.
"Lie detection via biometric scanning drops in accuracy when the subject is aware of the scan."
With that, she pocketed the Black Letter in her suit's inner pocket, as if it were only natural.
"I'll hold onto this data. This is my judgment as your head bodyguard. I ask for your understanding."
I could only stare blankly, unable to protest.
=====
It felt absurd at the time...
But looking back, Esty probably didn't care about age one way or another.
When Yoanna demanded to review the data, she'd handed over the Black Letter without a word.
And that led to the scene now before my eyes.
"Urk."
I patted the girl's back with a worried look and asked.
"You okay...?"
"S-Sis... this... urp, blegh!!"
Yoanna had been spewing rainbows into the trash can for minutes now.
The energy drink she favored lately, 'Rainbow Bullseye.'
Its distinctive rainbow liquid, engineered by near-future food tech...
Apparently retained its seven vivid colors even after mixing with stomach contents.
Info I had zero desire to know, honestly.
Really.
"Gurgle...!"
Only after using Healing Radiance did Yoanna finally stop retching.
Paaat-
With the glow fading, the girl's complexion eased considerably.
But her face still showed the mental shock hadn't fully dissipated as she muttered.
"Ugh... The grossest tastes I've ever seen since birth. Sis, you absolutely can't look... never...!"
What the hell was in that data?
At this point, I couldn't even imagine.
Yoanna was young, but not faint of stomach.
No, she was tougher than most adults.
She'd been hacking for quite a while before meeting me.
Considering the horrific, uncensored data floating around cyberspace in this world... she was a kid who wouldn't blink at most images, videos, or sensory experience files.
Yet she'd reacted this badly, meaning the Black Letter held some truly horrific secret.
A massive scandal, which could actually be good news for us.
But I couldn't voice that in front of Yoanna right now.
Not to the girl still muttering with a massively shocked expression.
"Ugh... I wanna rip out my brain and wash it... Why did I even insist on seeing that...?"
Then, as if remembering something, her face drained white.
She hurriedly clutched the trash can again.
And unleashed another rainbow torrent.
"Urgh-"
Watching her, I silently patted her back.
"......"