Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 055
Chapter Title: Quantitas Siege Battle
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On the way back from 'Akio's Torch'.
One of the black-robed figures following behind Franz Reberk spoke up.
"Young master. But are you sure about this?"
"Sure about what?"
"Originally, the plan wasn't for you to possess it directly, but to forcibly possess the consciousness of sacrifices with decent magic aptitude."
Of course, their consciousnesses would collapse as a price, but it would leave a powerful suggestion like 'kill the Mafia Butcher' in the summon.
That way, even if full control over the dragonkin was impossible, they could at least achieve their primary goal.
But Franz Reberk had changed the plan on his own authority.
"If the family head finds out..."
"Then he just won't find out. Right?"
"But..."
"I've thought this for a while, but Grandpa treats me like I'm still a three-year-old kid. I'm a proper Reberk magician now."
He praised him as precious bloodline in words, but under the pretext of protection, he gave him nothing real to hold.
But he too was a legitimate heir to the great Reberk family.
It grated on him to be excluded from important family matters forever.
'This time, I'll show Grandpa.'
That this Franz Reberk was no longer a weakling in need of protection, but a proper heir qualified to lead and discuss the Reberk family's future.
"If I use the dragonkin to kill the Butcher, even Grandpa will have to acknowledge me."
"Young master..."
"So keep your mouths shut about this until the end. I'll tell him myself when it's all over. Got it?"
The hesitant robed figures soon nodded.
"We shall obey."
"Good."
A smile crept across Franz Reberk's lips.
"That's how it should be."
"How did this end up as a single room?"
Kyle scratched his head while staring at the empty locker.
"Can't complain."
Turning toward the voice, he saw Walter rolling around on the bed across from him, as usual.
"...Uncle, why are you still here anyway?"
"Oh, right. I moved rooms."
Walter scratched his head.
"Habit, I guess."
"Go take care of your cellmate or something."
"Nah, ever since then, the kids are so disciplined I got nothing to do."
And sure enough, one of the rookies poked his head into the room.
"Bro. Thirsty? Want me to grab you a cold drink?"
"...Uh, no. I'm good."
"Got it. Just say the word if you need anything!"
The rookie vanished again.
Walter chuckled at Kyle's glance amid the overwhelming kindness.
"That's normal in the Gulag."
"Normal?"
"The king of the room, I suppose. Anyway, if there's an overwhelmingly strong guy in the cell, the others tread carefully."
The Gulag was a place where you had to build a solid ally somehow just to survive.
"They even look at me and the other inmates weird. Like, 'Why aren't you properly serving the boss?'"
"Oh, really?"
Kyle cleared his throat lightly and struck a haughty pose.
"Alright then, try calling me boss."
"Aigoo, thank you always, boss~. So please take me along when the platoons mix~."
"Are the platoons actually mixing?"
"Yeah, I thought we were this time."
Right then, a scream echoed from the hallway.
"Aaaah! M-my, my hand! Hand!"
"??"
Kyle and Walter poked their heads out and blinked.
There stood the fierce-looking dark elf Lumia, twisting a Gulag rookie's wrist with a growl.
"Touch my body carelessly one more time..."
She raised her hand like a blade to her own throat.
"...and it won't be your wrist flying off—it'll be your head."
"O-okay, okay, just please... my hand...!"
Her eyes met Kyle's, and she flinched, quickly releasing the wrist and clasping her hands demurely.
"Ahem."
The dark elf coughed awkwardly, her face flushing.
Walter looked incredulous.
"...She turns into a schoolgirl every time she sees you."
"Beats me. Like I said last time, that girl's weird."
"Weird? Nah, kid. Sigh."
Walter shook his head.
"How can this oblivious guy be so appealing? Not even that handsome..."
He glanced at Kyle's face, paused, then corrected himself.
"Okay, face is decent. Yeah, I'll give you that."
"...??"
"Still, elves have sky-high standards... Guess it's the strong guy thing. That must be it."
"What are you on about? She's not like that."
"Not like that my ass, kid. You impotent or what?"
"Ugh, frustrating."
"I'm the frustrated one here, you punk."
Kyle rubbed his forehead.
The way Lumia looked at him wasn't romantic at all.
It was more like worshiping a god...
'Where have I felt this before?'
A memory flashed through Kyle's mind.
"Ah."
His eyes widened as he clapped involuntarily.
"That Bearwolf!"
"What? Bearwolf?"
"No, I mean, the way she looks at me is exactly like that Bearwolf gazing up at me back then."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
And she was a dark elf to boot.
Dark and demonic—perfect match.
'Nailed it! Probably!'
Either way, if true, jackpot.
He still had business with the devil worshipers.
'That Gamlong or whatever.'
Still owed him for the helicopter betrayal.
"...Time to settle things."
"What? Hey, where you going!"
Kyle strode down the hall, drawing eyes instantly.
He stopped dead in front of the excited Lumia. Some swallowed hard at his back.
"Shh."
Walter covered his mouth dramatically, jaw dropping.
"That punk...!"
Charging straight in?
"Fuck, he really is a guy...!"
Of course.
No matter how boyish the face, this was the tough Butcher.
Far from herbivore type.
Kyle looked down at Lumia and opened his mouth.
"You..."
[Situation Occurred! Situation Occurred!]
"Ah, sh—!"
The sudden blaring alarm startled everyone.
"Damn timing...!"
Walter cursed and bolted back to his room.
Inmates rushed to grab their gear.
Kyle clicked his tongue and told Lumia,
"You, meet after the op."
He turned, then looked back emphatically.
"And don't die."
Questions to ask, after all.
"!!"
'The proxy worries for me!'
Lumia clutched her chest like it was an honor, eyes sparkling.
"Yes!"
Kyle shuddered at the intensified gaze.
"Never thought I'd ride an armored car in my life!"
Walter said incredulously, boarding the armored vehicle lined up in the parade ground under the guards' orders.
Amid them, police radios buzzed frantically.
Huge transport helicopters crossed the sky.
Clank! Docking complete with the helicopters, ground guards shouted into radios.
Lieutenant Roden, onboard, yelled with the comms.
"Take off!!"
Bang! Hatch shut, rotors whirred fiercely.
The inmates muttered at the vibration.
"...Thought we were riding the armored car."
"They airlifting the whole damn thing?"
"Insane."
The armored car lifted off impossibly; guards sealed the ceiling hatches.
Kyle recalled yesterday's private briefing from Captain Joseph.
"Target's the Quantitas School of the Al Kimia Alliance hiding in Sector 14."
"Quantitas School?"
Joseph nodded.
"Info from the informant you nabbed in the Black Forest. Apparently, Quantitas excels in chimera production compared to other schools."
Less research on creating chimeras, more on efficient mass production once developed.
Naturally optimized for churning them out.
"As you know, their numbers are the Al Kimia Alliance's biggest headache."
That was their strength—and what made them tricky.
To suppress them properly, tackle the numbers first.
"Think of it as hitting their core munitions factory."
Destroying Quantitas would cripple the Alliance's momentum.
"They're a priority for puppetization in this project."
Mana stone veins started at the outskirts of their turf.
"After Mafia and Al Kimia, at least 8 upper sectors should stabilize."
This was a key battle.
"But it won't be easy."
"Makes sense, factory means lots of chimeras."
"Not that."
Joseph sighed softly.
"Heard from Intel's Cache yesterday... Seems a mole slipped into their appraisal team."
"...!!"
The Black Forest chimera informant passed through that team too.
"They know exactly what we know about Al Kimia locations."
Meaning they'd anticipate a strike on Quantitas.
"...So they're heavily fortified?"
"Exactly."
Joseph paused, then spoke.
"Previous op's pay come through?"
"Yeah, 800 million. Balance at 1.9 billion now."
Sentence reduction doubled too—half served soon.
"Good. Already."
Joseph gave a wry smile.
"Op's critical, so same pay promised. Plus bonuses for performance."
Serious now.
"Can I count on you for this one too?"