Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Red Star (5)
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A space thick with the stench of blood.
Beheaded corpses lay scattered everywhere.
The man, half-covered in blood, was the only one left alive.
Kneeling before the blade of his broken sword, he muttered in disbelief.
He clutched his throat with his hand, stemming the bleeding.
"Th-this... This can't..."
If he'd boiled over with rage and killed them all, he might have mustered the will to fight.
But this was a one-sided slaughter.
And all in a single exchange, no less.
The way the man looked at me was no longer the gaze one human gave another.
Was this how soldiers on the Northern Frontline stared at Great Beasts?
It was the look of someone beholding the unfathomable.
Regaining a fragile hold on his sanity, the man ground out his words.
"What the hell kind of monster are you...!!"
I wiped the blood from the corner of my eye.
I jammed the Rigid Body Armament into a nearby headless corpse and kicked the man's sword far away.
Then I stripped off his mask.
A middle-aged man with a massive scar running across his left eye and forehead was revealed.
"Figured you knew, so I asked anyway."
The man ground his teeth.
Swallowing blood and spit, he glared at me, clinging to his last shred of pride.
"Th-the Star will... crush monsters like you..."
"Yeah, yeah. Knew you'd say that. I can guess the rest, so shut it."
I opened the ledger and shoved it in his face.
Dozens of proper nouns were listed as delivery destinations.
Some referred to human organs.
The man clamped his mouth shut, as if vowing not to utter another word.
"You know what this is? And where it leads?"
"..."
I hadn't expected an answer.
Hell, if he'd spilled easily, I'd have suspected a trap.
No answer came, but I wasn't fazed and moved to the next question.
"Where do the harvested organs go?"
"What's the payoff for handing over the corpses?"
"Are the corpses used in live experiments?"
"Documents or evidence linking to nobles or higher-ups. Know where they are?"
No answers, but I hadn't expected any, so on to the next.
I started with broad questions, gradually narrowing the scope.
I observed his reactions, tightening the web of connections bit by bit.
I monitored every physical tell on his body and cross-referenced them with his responses after each question.
It was like closing your eyes and feeling an object's shape with touch alone.
Groping blindly to grasp its form.
I threw questions with subtle overlaps, different yet probing the same range.
My goal wasn't to extract info through questions and answers.
What I wanted was to leak what I knew—or pretended to know—to him unwittingly.
To make him realize I didn't know much about this organization.
Right after, I dropped the real question.
"You know the Luos Ducal House?"
A pinpoint question, narrowing straight to the target.
For an instant, his pupils quivered faintly. Then his face hardened again. Poker face.
But that split-second tremor had betrayed him.
Not certain, but undeniable evidence.
"The South gets its bio-experiment tech from them."
No reaction from the man.
'Wrong? Or hiding it?'
I didn't stop thinking, firing off info in rapid succession.
Separating solid intel from guesses.
Accuracy wasn't guaranteed.
I was just gauging reactions to sift truth from lies.
'...He flinched, but maybe it was the leading question. Hold judgment till the next one.'
"Was it procedures to artificially induce Aura use?"
Realizing my game, the man schooled his expression blank.
He shut his eyes, as if refusing to hear or see.
"...If you're gonna kill me, just do it."
Same response to a few more questions.
I pulled the Rigid Body Armament from the corpse.
The blade, soaked in blood and flesh, gleamed even darker.
Feeling the surge in strength and Aura Energy, I pierced his thigh.
With the sword still embedded, I pried his eyelids open by force.
Then asked again.
"Did you know the Empress was already aware of your existence?"
His face stiffened rigid.
All uncertain intel confirmed.
I smirked faintly and yanked the Rigid Body Armament from his thigh.
The pierced spot deflated like a punctured balloon.
The blade had absorbed the blood and flesh from his thigh.
"There. Just like you wanted."
Terror hit him late; he struggled, but the blade severed his neck cleanly, rendering it moot.
I dragged out Worker No. 11 from the lab and pinpointed the other evidence.
There was a safe, but No. 11 didn't know the code.
So I just sliced it open with a Wave.
Inside: documents linking to nobles, transaction ledgers, bundles of papers with delivery schedules.
Proof tying them to higher-ups.
'Got my pretext to raid the territory, at least.'
To uproot Red Star, cutting mid-level dealers and sowing distrust wasn't enough.
Bigger secrets lurked deeper.
I planned to storm the noble's estate—the core pillar of Red Star—and seize hard evidence.
I headed to the warehouse to link up with Astier.
After clearing workers and guards, I checked the sealed storage boxes in the corner.
As the workers said, each held dissected body parts.
But some were unmarked, stamped "Immediate Transport" in red.
I carefully broke the seal on one.
A pile of flour sat on top.
I swept it aside and peered beneath.
The size looked different from outside.
Extra space inside.
Double-layered structure.
I pried the false bottom off with my sword, and a chill wafted out.
Inside lay a corpse in pristine condition.
No decay on the skin; it still held body warmth, like death had just claimed it.
I recognized this face.
A soldier from the Northern Frontline.
He'd joined the subjugation force—or so I'd thought. Yet here he lay like this.
I examined his wounds.
His left shoulder was deeply caved in, slashed diagonally to his side.
A deep gash that pierced toward his heart.
Proof he'd never retreated till the end.
I hadn't asked for much.
Respect for the dead.
Honor for those who fell protecting others.
They'd earned that and more.
"...".
Even in death, his dignity was stripped.
Reduced to experiment fodder, priced merchandise tossed in a warehouse corner.
A hollow laugh escaped me, one even I couldn't fathom.
I checked the box's true bottom.
One brand burned into it.
LVN-Low-Grade Composite 012-Southern Link.
Concrete proof.
Linking this corpse to Red Star and the South.
'...Confirmed.'
I cross-checked codes from the ledger against the brand.
Matches, clear as day.
The South-Red Star trade line was no longer speculation—it was fact.
Astier appeared right after.
She nodded calmly at me, as always.
"How'd the intel go?"
"Secured. You?"
She handed me a red-bound official document and bloodstained papers.
I quietly flipped the document's cover.
Date of first Red Star-South contact. Test subject lists. Encrypted codes of noble backers.
Some matched the ledger I'd grabbed.
Astier offered me a candy and asked softly.
Eating sweets was her habit, part of her routine.
"...What now, my lord?"
I closed the ledger quietly.
Popped her candy in my mouth.
"They're already scrambling. Delay, and evidence vanishes."
"I follow your lead, Duke."
"Stick to plan: raze the body shop, then hit the Luos Ducal House."
I drew my sword, channeling Wave—
"!"
Her body slumped into my arms.
Blood now seeped from the body that had clutched Red Star's evidence.
Cold sweat beaded her nape.
I quickly checked her; she pressed her abdomen.
"W-wait—"
I ignored her, lifting her robe.
The hidden wound beneath: stabbed by a blade.
Myriad gashes around it.
Hasty first aid, but crude.
Even if she held out, max two hours.
Pressure failing; blood still poured.
No time for deep thought or hesitation.
The moment I saw her injury, I decided.
"We're pulling out."
"...No. We must finish..."
I ignored her protest clean.
She'd vowed to obey my call.
I scooped up her faint resistance effortlessly.