2. I told you you'd regret it.
2. I told you you'd regret it.
Kal racked his brain to find an escape route. Since he was restrained, there was no way to escape on his own. That meant he needed someone's help...!
"Hey, pretty."
"...Me?"
"Yeah, who else is a pretty one here? ...Come here for a sec."
Kal called the youngest member of the pursuit team. The cute-looking girl approached the prison cell where he was trapped.
"Why?"
"Nah, looking at you again, you're really my type. You're so pretty. You're totally my style."
"...Really?"
"Really. You're a hundred times better than that gross woman."
"Shh. If the Captain hears, we're in big trouble."
"It's just us talking, what's the big deal."
Kal seized the opportunity and kept running his mouth.
"What's your name?"
"Anna."
"Even your name is pretty, Anna. ...Wanna be friends?"
"Friends? No way."
"Why? Just friends to talk to. I'm locked up anyway. I'm bored. I just want someone to talk to. ...Is even that not allowed?"
"The Captain said not to do anything. If I don't listen to the Captain, I'm in big trouble."
"Just say I forced you to. That'll work."
Kal needed to create a justification. So he sweated bullets trying to persuade Anna.
She looked a bit too innocent for someone working in a bounty hunter squad. Of course, you can't judge by appearances, but he had to grab at straws right now. He had no choice but to bet on even the slimmest possibility.
"...Fine. Go ahead."
Bingo.
And so, Kal started chatting excitedly with Anna. Then, he smoothly started sowing discord.
"You know those two bastards who came to catch me yesterday?"
"Beef and Cole?"
"Oh, so those bastards' names are Beef and Cole? They named them pretty stupidly too."
"Pfft. Their actions are pretty stupid too."
Anna burst into a giggle. Kal, who had been smiling slightly, suddenly hardened his expression.
"But you know, you should be careful."
"What?"
"They were planning to take you. ...Did you really not notice anything weird?"
"Whaaat?!"
Anna looked extremely surprised. Kal gestured for her to lower her voice with a "Shh."
"You didn't know? You're in real trouble. ...What are you going to do? You seem like you're in real danger."
"Is it true? Did they really say that? ...I can't believe it! They're my colleagues!"
"Fuck, where in this world are there colleagues. ...They'll definitely split the money among themselves, right? It's such a huge amount of money, do you think they'd share it with you?"
"No. They're definitely not people like that."
"You're so naive. ...That's why I like you."
Kal's voice became suggestive.
"At least I don't want to give my bounty to those bastards. I'd rather you take it all, Anna. How about it?"
"...What?"
"You're going to get stabbed in the back anyway, so you should stab them in the back first. You take all of my bounty."
At that moment, Anna's eyes narrowed. It was a suspicious look. Kal actually found this more fortunate. If she were too naive, she wouldn't have believed him anyway.
"You're trying to trick me right now, aren't you? You think I don't know?"
"Anna, I'm telling you this specially because it's you. They're probably trying to reduce the number of heads to split the money with, so who would be the easiest target, huh? They've probably already talked about it among themselves. If you keep this up, you'll do all the hard work and not get a single penny. ...I'm just saying this because I feel bad for you, okay?"
"They're not people like that, I told you!"
"Ha..."
Kal let out a deep sigh. As if he really felt bad for her. Actually, he did feel bad. That she wasn't falling for it easily.
"Do you know how much my bounty is?"
"Isn't it 100 million Zeny?"
"Hmph, 100 million? It's 1 billion Zeny."
---!!!
Anna was shocked. Because it was 10 times the amount she knew.
Actually, 100 million Zeny was correct, but Kal lied and inflated it on purpose. It was all a scheme to trick Anna.
"You're already lying."
"Th-that can't be. I definitely heard 100 million Zeny!"
"It's 1 billion Zeny, 1 billion Zeny! Do you really think your Captain would risk her life for a measly 100 million Zeny?"
Of course, 100 million Zeny was a huge amount of money too, but compared to 1 billion Zeny, it looked a bit small.
"R-really?"
"Look at this. You're so naive, that's why you get tricked. ...Do you think she'll give you 250 million Zeny? She probably won't even give you 25 million! That's the price of a building, a whole building!"
Anna gulped. Kal thought she was almost hooked.
"So, you should strike first. Otherwise, you'll be taken out without a sound."
"...Wh-what should I do then?"
"What do you mean, what. Wait for an opportunity and kill them all."
"That's impossible! How could I kill my colleagues...!"
"Otherwise you'll die, won't you? ...Fine, then just stay still. I warned you."
Kal turned around and lay down, pretending not to care. Of course, his heart was pounding. If she left like this, he would have no way to escape anymore.
Anna sat there squatting for a long time. She still seemed to have something bothering her.
"What... should I do?"
Kal thought, "Bingo," and quickly stuck to the iron bars again.
"What do you mean, what. When it's your navigation shift, that's when you kill those guys while they're sleeping. Who would know if you dump the bodies in space? ...Just say they died while dealing with me."
It sounded like a terrifying story at first glance. But Anna thought about it seriously. 1 billion Zeny was certainly a huge amount of money. Enough to make her want to kill all her colleagues and take it all.
"O-okay."
Kal smiled broadly as he watched Anna's back as she left. ...But that smile didn't last long.
The vile smile was on Anna's lips when she returned. The innocent girl from earlier was nowhere to be found.
"Eonni, look at this bastard."
...Eonni?
Anna brought the female captain. Kal's face went pale.
"Do you know what this bastard said? Seriously, I thought I was going to die laughing."
"What is it?"
"No, he told me to kill everyone. To take the bounty all for myself."
"Really? Well, I kind of expected that. ...This bastard, he looks like a vile bastard just by looking at him."
Kal cursed, "Fuck," and lay flat on his back. After dancing around so much, he realized he was in the palm of their hands. ...The way to escape seemed distant.
The female captain stuck to the iron bars. And muttered gloomily.
"Don't even dream of escaping, you bastard. Hmph, do you think I'd give up 100 million Zeny that easily? Absolutely not."
"...You'll really regret this."
"Regret what. You idiot, I'll never regret it."
"I clearly warned you. I'm serious."
Kal looked at the female captain with an extremely serious expression. She felt a bit of a chill in her chest. And she was angry at the fact that she was momentarily intimidated.
"Fuck, go suck a dick, you asshole."
She huffed and got up, telling them not to give him a single drop of water until tomorrow. Anna looked like she thought that was a bit too harsh.
"It's not like the merchandise will spoil just because he didn't drink water for a bit. ...And, don't make me say it twice. Got it?"
"...Got it."
Anna glanced at Kal once and left the spot. Fuck. Kal wondered if he had rebelled for nothing. Because he had talked so much earlier, he was already a bit thirsty.
"Hey, Anna. Anna...! Fuck, I'll suck your pussy once, so please give me some water, okay?"
Kal said all sorts of obscene things. Later, he even sang a song. Then Anna told him to shut up before she gagged him. So he shut his mouth.
In the end, Kal couldn't escape until they filled up their energy at the high-temperature star. He resigned himself there. It seemed impossible to get out of here.
The spaceship, full of energy, began to perform a space jump. After several jumps, they finally arrived at the planet with the warp device.
The only planet among the warp locations that didn't have a number.
The spaceship was finally heading to Earth.
They leaped tens of thousands of light-years with photon jumps. It was the technology of the Earth Galaxy Corps that had come to dominate the entire galaxy.
The blue star, precious even in the galaxy, Earth.
The female captain, Phoebe, let out an exclamation, "Wow." This was her third visit, but she was still in awe every time she saw this blue planet. It was such a beautiful color compared to the desolate other planets.
Maybe I should try living here once I get the money.
It wouldn't be easy to enter Earth, where only the best of the best were said to be, but since she would have a lot of money, she wondered if it might work out.
"But why did that guy get targeted by someone on Earth?"
"How should I know. And what's the point of knowing that. Fuck, we just need to get paid. Do we have to know every little thing like that?"
"No, that's not it, hehe."
The red-headed guy was already giggling, excited about getting paid. Phoebe also had fun fantasies about what she would do if she got 100 million Zeny. Of course, she would split the money with her subordinates to some extent, but she didn't intend to split it fairly. She was planning to swallow half, 50 million Zeny, for herself.
Near Earth, there were countless enormously huge warships. They were million-ton class warships that were hard to see even once. There were even two 10-million-ton class warships, which were said to be able to devastate a planet with just one.
It was truly an airtight defense without a single gap.
Compared to those, Phoebe's spaceship was nothing more than a rowboat. Her group couldn't help but feel intimidated by that enormous scale.
Soon, a warning sound was sent to them. Phoebe accepted the connection signal. It was obvious what kind of retaliation would come if she refused here. Hundreds of ion cannons from the warships would evaporate her spaceship in an instant.
"We have captured a wanted person."
"It is E-67198540014."
There was a brief silence.
Phoebe's brow twitched. However, she politely called out the number.
"It is E-67198540014. ...Is there a problem?"
There was silence again. This time it was a bit longer. But Phoebe waited persistently.
"Yes? ...Ah, yes. Understood."
Phoebe was a bit surprised that a warship was moving. Well, since the bounty was so huge, it must be a big shot. Since even this spaceship she bought with a lot of money was less than 5 million Zeny.
But her jaw dropped when she saw the moving warship. What was approaching her spaceship was a 10-million-ton class warship. Compared to that, her spaceship was tiny.
---!!!
Not only her, but all the subordinates who were watching it were astonished.
Before entering the landing area, they had to pass through the scan room. Phoebe slowly passed through the scan room. Soon, it was judged that there were no dangerous elements. Of course, it was equipped with a few missiles, but it meant that such missiles were not a threat at all.
Phoebe entered the landing area. The entrance closed again with an energy barrier. The female captain dragged the captured wanted person out of the prison. Kal was wearing a strange smile. It was a look that seemed to look down on something.
"Fuck, why don't you lower your eyes?!"
But Kal didn't say anything and just smiled. Phoebe felt strangely uneasy about that. The feeling was strange. That was just her gut feeling.
It was something she had learned while working as a tracker for a long time that it was better not to know the personal details of the wanted person. However, this time, the feeling was strange. She felt like something had gone wrong.
"Eonni..."
Her younger sister, Anna, also called her sister in a low voice, as if she felt something unusual. Only the two clueless subordinates were giggling, thinking about getting paid.
"It'll be fine. We didn't do anything wrong."
"...I guess so?"
The four of them dragged the bound Kal out of the spaceship. There were countless people lined up there. ...It was too flashy for welcoming a wanted person.
What is this...
Phoebe became increasingly convinced that something had gone wrong. The two clueless subordinates also felt something unusual at this point and looked back at their captain.
"C-captain."
"...Fuck, just go for now."
They walked forward, barely taking trembling steps. The dignity of the Imperial Army lined up was so enormous that their bodies trembled on their own. Ah. Phoebe was astonished to see the emblem on the chest of the Imperial Army. It was a golden emblem shaped like the sun.
It was the Solar Knights, the best knights of the Empire. They, who were said to have monster-like martial power, each and every one of them, were lined up like that for just one person.
...No way.
Phoebe slowly looked at Kal, whom she was dragging. He had a smug expression.
"That's why I told you. You said you'd regret it, right?"
Someone walked over briskly. It was a female knight with military discipline like a sharp sword. Two more knights followed beside her.
Phoebe was momentarily overwhelmed by the momentum, let go of Kal, and stepped back. She was also from the Imperial Army, but it was an unknown army on the frontier. Naturally, her status was heaven and earth apart from the knights, who were the elite of the elite.
The female knight signaled to the two knights.
"What are you doing without releasing him immediately."
The knights cut the alloy shackles tied to his hands with energy swords. The heavy shackles fell to the floor with a thud. When they also released the ones tied to his two feet, only then did Kal stretch his body as if he could live a little.
"Now I feel like I can live."
The female knight knelt on one knee and paid her respects.
"Have you arrived."
"Wow, Ellis. You must have been quite successful, huh? Now you even have subordinates to give orders to."
"It has been a full 5 years. It is enough time for many things to change."
"5 years..."
"I am glad to see you are safe."
"I did stay safe."
Kal turned to look at Phoebe and Anna. Phoebe, who still had a temper, didn't avoid his gaze, but her younger sister, Anna, was surprised and bowed her head deeply. She knew she had touched someone she shouldn't have dared to touch.
He walked briskly in front of the two, smiling. He could see that the older sister was very tense. He looked at her chest. It was the emblem of the Imperial Army.
"Which unit were you in?"
"...I was in the 2nd Regiment, 5th Division, 1087th Sector."
"1087th Sector? That's a far place."
Kal patted Phoebe's shoulder. With a bit of emotion involved.
"I told you, you'd regret it... didn't I?"
He could see Phoebe clenching her teeth and making a fist. But there was nothing she could do. It was certain that she had touched the wrong person.
She should have noticed from the moment the amount was abnormally large. The problem was that she lost her reason because of the too-large amount. She felt that things were twisted, and twisted hard.
"I was treated quite harshly as a prisoner. I wanted to drink water, but they wouldn't even let me drink that. ...How upset I was."
Kal sneered. Ellis's eyes sharpened.
"That is a violation of the prisoner law."
"Oh, and they also stole my belongings without permission."
"That is also an illegal matter."
"On top of that, the spaceship seems to be illegally modified. ...Should we check?"
Kal flicked his finger. Two knights quickly moved toward the spaceship. Phoebe's face hardened more and more. She quickly knelt in front of Kal. Never mind the money, she was on the verge of being thrown into prison if things went wrong.
"Please, forgive me."
"Forgiveness? It's not something I can do. It's doing things by the law. Oh, and I have no intention of eating your money. I'll give you that. So don't worry."
Money wasn't the problem. The problem was that she would be in a situation where she couldn't use it even if she had it.
Phoebe knew how shrewd a man Kal was. The opponent was a person who would blow up a missile in front of a spaceship. Once bitten by him, she had to be prepared to have her flesh torn off.
"How much did you say? 100 million Zeny? Take it. You are my benefactor who brought me here safely."
It was definitely not money she could receive safely. It was money that would definitely cause trouble if she ate it. ...No, it wouldn't be at the level of causing trouble.
If she ate it, she would die.
So Phoebe declined it.
"No. I will not accept it. It was honor enough to have brought a high-ranking person here."
"How can that be. No, no."
The knights who were investigating the spaceship returned. They said there were several places that were illegally modified. Ellis said that was also an illegal matter. Phoebe eventually bowed her head to the ground. The blood drained from Anna's face when she saw that.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I have committed a crime worthy of death. Please forgive me. Please, please forgive me."
"Why are you doing this, Captain Phoebe. What power does a mere wanted bastard have."
Ellis signaled to the knights. To take them away.
"Please forgive me, please. Please forgive me---!!"
But Kal just waved his hand at them as they were being dragged away, smiling annoyingly.