Friends with ‘More’ Benefits (2)
Thinking it over, rejecting Vesper Hunt's request outright wasn't the only viable option.
The risks that came with turning her down were damaging my ties with the Magic Defense Bureau personnel.
I still hadn't uncovered the full truth behind W's motives. Why had he introduced me to this girl in the first place? Had he truly believed I would grant her request, or had my role ended the moment I handed her over and whether she accepted the conditions was purely up to me?
If the former, rejecting her request would erode the trust I'd only just begun to win back within the organization.
I couldn't say why the group had bothered to take in an outsider like this, but still.
On the other hand, let's weigh the benefits of accepting her plea.
"In return, gaining the trust of the Magic Defense Bureau personnel."
Even if the second path, at least there would be no black mark against me. And if I accepted, I could grant W a small favor. "Why introduce such a rookie?" she might grumble.
Vesper Hunt had basically given me a sales pitch. Objectively speaking, the presentation had left room for debate, but it had been thorough enough.
Of course, if the investor she was addressing had been a man, that alone would have been decisive. With weapons of violence-level power on offer, there'd have been no need to hesitate.
Whether she'd intended it or not, I wasn't sure. She'd always lived without self-awareness in that way.
…It was too awkward to ask, honestly.
Regardless, the reason I'd sought out every advantage was the same hope I'd had earlier: that this opportunity might finally be mine to seize.
“Um… I have something I need to show you right now. Would you like to come take a look…?”
“Of course. Real-world testing feedback will take some time, but that’s fine.”
“It’s fine…! I’ll count on you going forward…!”
With genuine excitement, Vesper Hunt clasped my hands. She then led the way toward the workshop, Tinny trotting along at her heels. The shelves along the wall suggested a makeshift warehouse.
My plan for capitalizing on this opportunity had hinged on the slim chance that this girl wasn’t a prodigy. If she proved to be merely above average, it would still be worthwhile.
Once I had the chance to guide her, she would remember the people who had taken her in first. By then she would be holding a key position within the American Magic Defense Bureau.
Thinking ahead, simply shaking hands with her would secure a future ally. And to do that, I would need to provide real-world testing data for the relics she created first. But that was no problem.
As long as I didn’t push it onto my subordinates, it was nothing to worry about. I could carry the artifacts myself.
This way, I could skip the process of collecting field data from others, making cooperation far more efficient.
Checking whether the relics were actually usable in combat or merely stable was also an option.
“I can do that myself.”
It was fortunate that the path Vesper Hunt was walking alone was one I had already traveled in my previous life.
Most mages simply marched along their own magic paths without ever questioning the origin of their artifacts. It was an astonishing coincidence.
Of course, I had specialized in excavating relics in the field myself.
But the inevitable follow-up was analyzing the artifacts for their functions and capabilities.
As long as I could examine and analyze them, reverse-engineering was partially possible.
Once I mastered reverse-engineering techniques, I could manipulate existing artifacts or even create new ones without outside help.
The ability to customize Spiegel to my liking the moment I fell from the sky had been thanks to this very skill.
It was a magical technique worth learning in every way, yet most other mages preferred to focus on refining their own paths. They had fewer opportunities for such skills.
Still, watching a young talent pour their heart into a field I had mastered, it was hard to find fault with their ambitions.
If they ever became threats, I could simply dismantle the ladder they climbed. That was a problem for the distant future, though.
For now, the relationship could only be one of mutual benefit.
If describing it as self-justification felt too close to the mark, I would nod along.
I still didn’t know how much talent Vesper Hunt possessed or what she could offer in return. But even if she was only above average, it wouldn’t be a bad bargain.
She would have plenty to learn from me. The favor I would grant her would be even greater.
As these thoughts swirled, Vesper Hunt could be seen in the distance carrying a box overflowing with various items.
“Tinny! Are you holding it securely? If you drop it, there’ll be big trouble!”
- Master, I am always careful. Please refrain from getting excited and falling, Master.
“Okay, okay! You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder lately, huh?”
- It’s natural. Protecting my master is my duty. If my master jumps around in excitement and gets hurt, it’s on me.
“Tinny, you…”
Truly, it was a scene too moving to watch without tears—well, actually, it was.
I quickly checked the contents of the box the girl and the robot were carrying and asked,
“Is this it? There are quite a few of them.”
“Ahaha… I’ve made a bunch of things just to tinker with them. I’ll have to sort out the usable ones.”
Yep, she was dripping with rookie energy. A fresh face stumbling into the field. How rare.
***
That day’s schedule concluded with Vesper Hunt delivering the relics she had painstakingly chosen.
There were quite a few of them, but I wasn’t sure yet which ones would prove magically potent or useful in the field. I didn’t have time to analyze them leisurely.
Since eyes were watching from the hotel as well, I would probably handle the serious analysis back in London.
Knowing that was the case, I had already warned Vesper Hunt that field data would take time.
Just days after the sudden meeting sparked by W’s introduction,
I was able to review the brief materials I had gathered during my transatlantic flight back to London.
“I looked into that American woman we met before. The intel just got uploaded from London.”
“Oh, fast as ever. Information Bureau, right?”
There was no department faster or more perfect at its work than the Information Bureau.
Other departments might have been competent, but the head of the Information Bureau had held the entire section in an iron grip.
That was why the trust the organization placed in Delis was extraordinary.
With overwhelming achievements and ability, she had turned down the sideways glances of those who muttered, ‘It’s probably just because it rolled in on its own’.
This was precisely why her private life was tolerated.
The relationship between the Information Bureau chief and the Security Bureau chief was one of the syndicate’s alpha-omega politics that ignored half the table.
Even if I had made an exception, the other department members would see it as favoritism.
Yet she proved her worth through superior results and capabilities. What could they do if they felt slighted? If they were annoyed, they should just produce results themselves.
Of course, I had made it clear that I didn’t approve of such competition.
“Don’t go beyond your abilities and make trouble. Don’t rush things either.”
The actual memo I delivered was longer and more detailed, but in essence it read like this.
Once the organization had established its system and absorbed a nuclear-armed, permanent-member state, time was no longer its enemy.
Even inside the aircraft, satellite communication made it easy to access intranet materials in-flight.
The British government’s existing satellite network had now fallen into the organization’s hands, so satellite communication was available far beyond the surveillance reach of major powers like the US and the Soviet Union.
I skimmed the profile of Vesper Hunt.
“Matches the expected age range. Aside from witches, mages don’t age quickly; they just slow down.”
The American woman listed as Vesper Hunt was twenty-one.
Four years older than me, but due to her slow aging, she looked roughly the same age.
Well… there were slight developmental differences in certain areas, but still.
I was far from small; in fact, I was clearly large. Yet she still couldn’t compare.
She seemed even bigger than Elze.
Hmph, enough about certain parts.
“Delis, how old are you again?”
“Twenty-four.”
“As expected. I’d guessed you were about my age.”
“I thought the same. I even looked into whether she was the biological daughter of the ‘weapon of democracy.’ Turns out she is.”
“Mmm, I’m reading it. This… it seems like she never planned to hide any of it…?”
It felt strangely surreal, as if I had spent my entire life in heated debates only to meet a pure child who knew nothing.
If the intelligence gathered by the Information Bureau was all accurate—and it probably was, without contradiction—then Vesper Hunt had approached me purely and simply, wanting only to test relics and be recognized on her own.
Yet here I was, still pondering whether I could mold the naive girl to my will.
Of course, that wasn’t a bad thing.
Although I’d phrased it as “molding,” since things had turned out this way, I was willing to pass on some of my knowledge from my previous life.
To be honest, it was a technique I couldn’t have bought with money anywhere.
Which mage in the world would freely share a lifetime of hard-earned knowledge about artifacts and magic?
In that sense, Vesper Hunt had every right to become a friend who shared only the greater benefits with me. It would be a relationship of pure mutual benefit.
By now the plane was nearing London. It had been a long journey, or rather… it hadn’t been short at all. The end of my American assignment was finally within reach.
Just as I was returning to England, I had instructed the prime minister to recall the nuclear submarine fleet.
I was slowly preparing to touch nuclear weapons as well.
War preparations were underway. After all, I simply wanted to live a peaceful life.