SEED's Request
"So, like, help us out."
I tilted my head, seated in the chair in the tower lord's office. The two SEED agents who had come to see me, Lee Ju-hyeok and Yoo Yeon, sat on the guest sofa, staring at me. I wiggled my exhausted fingers. It was because I'd been hounded by Kang Seo-hee and Lee Sera since morning, leaving me with barely any energy left.
"Does the 1st Army not have enough people? With twelve members, they have to borrow the strength of an eight-year-old kid?"
Lee Ha-ryeong, who had been listening, sipped her coffee and chimed in.
"Not wrong. Those pampered 1st Army brats..."
Yoo Yeon bristled at Lee Ha-ryeong's words.
"Back in your day, you could barely handle the 20th floor! Now we're at a whopping 36 floors!"
"Well..."
"It takes six out of our twelve 1st Army members just to hold back the Black! The situation's totally different from your time!"
Her words brought the Gangnam Joint to mind. Yoo Yeon seemed to have a real grudge, pressing Lee Ha-ryeong further.
"Your generation went and cleared up to the 30th floor without a care, leaving us to clean up the mess! You deadweight old-timers!"
"...We can't just let a Code Black happen."
Lee Ha-ryeong crossed her legs, looking uncomfortable. A Code Black meant leaving an Abyss deep entity unchecked for too long, allowing it to burst out into the world—a total catastrophe. So Abyss raids had to be done on a strict schedule, but...
"That's rich! You rushed it back then because of ether shortages, and that's why we're in this mess!"
If Korea's twenty years of ether depletion had led them to push higher floors too fast, that was a problem, sure.
"......"
Lee Ha-ryeong's eyebrows drooped; she really seemed sorry.
"We thought there'd be more ether the higher we went..."
"Same difference! The enemies just got stronger!"
"Even the ether scientists and American experts back then said there'd be more the higher up..."
"Guess you were just good lab rats for the US."
Lee Ju-hyeok summed it up and leaned on the table.
"To be frank, twelve isn't enough to even maintain the status quo."
"......"
"So we'd appreciate help from the 2nd Army for SEED. Especially someone who knows Orb well."
He looked at me and continued.
"Your father was in Orb, so you should know plenty. More than the intel I've gathered..."
Casually, he placed a dog tag on the table.
"You were right. Their hands are already reaching into spots all over Korea."
I brushed back my bangs as I eyed the dog tag crusted with dried purple fluid.
"All of them turned into deep entities...?"
"Probably~ If you don't help, there'll be even more~"
I shot a glance at Yoo Yeon and opened my mouth.
"But I've got ongoing training for Lee Sera, Kang Seo-hee, and Eun-byeol. Isn't raising the next generation of mages important too?"
"???"
Yoo Yeon looked back and forth between me and Lee Ha-ryeong in bewilderment.
"Uh... this kid's coaching three people?"
Lee Ha-ryeong briefly recapped for her.
"About a month ago? Those three are learning casting basics, close-quarters combat, and ether control from our little one here."
Leaning back in her chair, she added,
"To be honest, the kid's so good in those areas, even I want lessons."
Lee Ju-hyeok pondered for a moment, then said gravely,
"If time's short, just hand over your memories."
"Oh. That's an option?"
"Hey... junior."
Lee Ha-ryeong, who'd been listening, gathered her ether.
"You know the side effects of memory extraction, right? You trying to turn our tower lord into a vegetable?"
"...Modern magic makes that risk tiny."
"Not even 1%."
"......"
As Lee Ha-ryeong growled, Lee Ju-hyeok backed off a step.
"Then you'll help, right?"
"......"
I thought of the three who'd been desperately keeping up with my lessons. Not just Eun-byeol, but even Kang Seo-hee and Lee Sera, who'd joined later, were shaping up decently.
They trained for a month prepping for Spectrum, but it's still not enough. A bit more time would be ideal...
Chin in hand, I pictured the trio, still a worry.
"Let's be real. Is helping SEED even worth my time?"
"What? This 2nd Army brat really—!"
As Yoo Yeon flared up, I replied coolly.
"I've seen SEED in action: always a step late, failing to nab key suspects, thin intel on enemies, inefficient talent use. Even child exploitation attempts."
"You..."
"Six out of twelve getting shredded in the Abyss? Yeah, I get it, tough break. But that's no excuse—the results are what matter."
Lee Ju-hyeok cut me off, pulling something from thin air.
"......"
It was definitely K's head. The neck cross-section showed tangled high-voltage wires, busted hydraulic presses, and all sorts of machinery.
"Didn't let it get away. More like let it go to find their base."
"......"
"The problem is."
Another head appeared in the air. Different shape, but unmistakably the same mechanical android.
"Didn't expect two..."
Bam—Lee Ju-hyeok pulled out a third head and set it on the table. Freshly severed, oil still leaking from the cut.
I shut my mouth, staring at the three heads on the table.
"......"
"This one wouldn't die. Similar androids keep popping up, all claiming to be K."
"Damn..."
"Tracked the connections, but nada. Even the comms seem like future tech~"
Lee Ha-ryeong, intrigued, poked a mechanical head.
"For real... a robot? Like, actually?"
As she gawked in fascination, I sank into thought.
"Say I help. What about the 2nd League?"
"League's getting suspended this year."
I furrowed my brow at Lee Ju-hyeok's words.
"Sorry, but it's urgent."
"That bad...?"
Yoo Yeon nodded at Lee Ha-ryeong's murmur.
"Gonna need every retired mage too, probably."
Lee Ha-ryeong's face grew complicated.
"War's closing in..."
Despite her troubled words, Lee Ju-hyeok just calmly eyed me.
"Can you help?"
"If it's that dire, even for the 2nd Army, just conscript everyone."
Lee Ju-hyeok shook his head at my words.
"Can't pick comrades to trust your back to just anyone."
In other words, elite recruitment...
I pondered briefly, then nodded.
"Ah! Thank goodness~"
Yoo Yeon slumped off her chair like melting. Lee Ju-hyeok met my eyes, then stood.
As he rose, the three K heads vanished smoothly.
"Thanks for the tough call."
He handed me a small metal card across my desk.
SEED – Yoo Eunha
Special Intelligence Advisor
Special Enforcement for Etheric Disorders
"Special Intelligence Advisor?"
As I blinked in surprise, Lee Ju-hyeok smirked.
"Can't exactly put an eight-year-old 2nd Army kid on the front lines."
"......"
He gave a faint smile.
"See you next time, Advisor."
I pouted as he left the office.
"Hmph, annoying jerk."
Lee Ha-ryeong shrugged at my grumble.
"Surprisingly chill about the 'kid' talk."
I sighed heavily.
"I can just instinctively tell—they're way above me."
"Ahaha. Yeah? Well... our little one's heart core isn't liberated yet."
"Heart core liberation?"
"Oh. Yeah, that's... a thing!"
I glared at Lee Ha-ryeong's hasty exit, then rubbed my forehead. The shiny metal card gleamed on the big table.
"Sigh... picking up Monica keeps getting pushed back..."
Can't bring her home to a vanished country...
I'd just have to tackle the problems at hand.
*
Star Sea had changed a ton since my last visit. The massive spaceship was slowly being dismantled for building materials. Even the orbital ships overhead looked trimmed down.
"Just a few months, right?"
I tilted my head at the advanced expansion work. Yupri grinned, showing off her new prosthetic arm.
"Population boom."
She then cocked her head, pointing at a huge pile of ether cartridges.
"Anyway, I did as ordered, but... what's with all the ether cartridges and the giant dimensional gate?"
"Got uses for 'em. Outsider world's gonna be noisy for a while."
"Hmm..."
Yupri glanced at the huge spaceship and nodded.
"Well, guess that means vacation time for a bit."
I nodded back.
"Fine by me. With ether cartridges and a large gate ready, you can slack off awhile."
Nikola grumbled, sounding fed up.
"Tch, back in the day we could've kept factories running. Too many duds among the colony folk."
"That's still decent, Nikola. No real savages like space pirates."
"Population's a headache, though."
I shrugged, recalling the reports.
"Still just double, right? Barely hit ten thousand."
"Well..."
I teased Nikola lightly.
"Can't the great heir of King Peter embrace even ten thousand?"
"Fine, fine. I'll sweet-talk 'em."
As Nikola groused, Yupri whispered.
"Speaking of colony survivors, some humans who made it out have unusually strong ether resistance."
"Hm."
"They overcame bio-contamination, so their tolerance is proven."
Yupri paused, then said,
"Using 'em as farmers now, but how to deploy 'em is up to you, Mayor."
Her expression complicated, she added,
"If for the military, at least tell me..."
Kwaaaang—
Her words cut off with a massive explosion. Sirens blared across the city.
Weeeeoooooo—weeeeoooooo—
As I winced at the noise,
"This is..."
"Enemy raid, Mayor!"
Yupri and Nikola bolted toward the coast; I hurried after. A familiar ether flow pissed me off.
"Tch. Guess these guys can invade Foundation at will too."
Past the forest to the coast, a slender android stood. Last body was a giant tin can; this one was a sleek female form. Static radio noise crackled from her mouth.