episode_0116

Violet is plural.

If someone pours their efforts into weapon development, and someone else organizes a Kamikaze-style special attack unit outside the island, then others can handle a friend’s affairs.

The characteristic of being able to do many things at once grants us a strange sense of time, different from ordinary people. It’s to the point where I wonder if there’s any word more fitting than ‘synchronicity’ for Violet.

Therefore, I am currently in the downtown area of the Central District.

While heading to the target location, I passed by 12th Street in the Central District. It had been about a day since the shooting incident occurred. The devastation of that day was still palpable.

Looking around, I saw floors shattered by explosions and bullet holes scattered everywhere. When I looked up, I saw a penthouse completely incinerated to black, and looking down, there was police tape stretched around the 60-story building.

Around them, people who appeared to be forensic investigators were examining the surroundings, searching for any suspicious evidence. In front of them, a reporter was broadcasting before a cameraman. They were undoubtedly covering yesterday’s incident.

“Whoever it was, they’re truly foolish. To engage in a shootout in broad daylight.”

“And they failed! Pathetic.”

Whoever instigated it, they ultimately failed. Considering the Awakened unit we blew up and the mercenaries they hired, they must have spent a fortune. It’s truly unfortunate for them. Since too much attention has been drawn, they probably won’t be able to pull off similar stunts for a while.

“What exactly was their objective? Assassination? Judging by how they blew up the penthouse, it’s suspicious.”

After the incident, our task was to figure out their objective. So, I replayed the scene countless times in my mind.

They caused enough trouble to turn the city into a mess. However, from the perspective of someone who knows Awakened individuals well, that was merely a collective beating. In fact, during the battle, they even attempted to restrain her with harpoons and such.

“Anyone could tell they were trying to restrain her.”

Although they were annihilated by me after pulling off such a stunt in broad daylight, their movements and equipment were elite-grade. There’s no way such individuals would have been negligent in investigating their target.

I considered it from their perspective. If I were an assassin and had properly investigated Irene, what would I have done?

“They would have installed bigger, stronger bombs in the penthouse. Primarily magic-based attacks!”

“Physical attacks alone wouldn’t kill her. They would have unleashed a barrage of attacks from Awakened individuals skilled in using crossbows and magic.”

Engaging in close combat against a top-tier tank just doesn’t add up.

So why did they try to kidnap her? That much remains unknown.

“For now, we’ll have to meet and talk.”

And so, I sat near the Inspection Bureau building and waited. Irene, whom the superintendent had taken, was said to be coming out today. Since her cellphone was destroyed during the engagement, she had contacted me using an internal phone.

By rights, I should have gone in person to pick her up, but I felt a bit uneasy about entering. It would be troublesome if I ran into the superintendent.

I considered one worst-case scenario that could happen.

-Wait, those eye colors… that hair color… Could it be!

-Ah, I saw wrong! *Gaaaah!*

Ugh, thinking about it, it really feels terrifying. I need to be careful so that something like that doesn’t happen.

As I waited, Irene came out.

“I was waiting! You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No, I just got a bit exhausted from using too much mana in a short amount of time.”

As soon as she came out, I had a brief conversation with her.

“I talked briefly with the person called the superintendent. They seemed to have many questions about this incident.”

“I see. So, about us as well…”

“I did as you said. I told them we were a security unit called ‘Ariel Group.’ They seemed suspicious but didn’t ask further.”

After hearing Irene’s words, I felt relieved inwardly. An unknown armed organization suddenly appearing—anyone would find that extremely suspicious. They’ll probably investigate separately behind the scenes, but for now, it’s one less thing to worry about.

“But shouldn’t we have used a different alias? Ariel is our underworld alias.”

“Well, when we operate in the underworld, we go in disguise. Or wear masks.”

Suddenly, Violet became the leader of the suspicious secret organization of the underworld, the Ariel Group. At this rate, I might even create an organization called the ‘Violet Legion’.

“By the way, that superintendent person is a bit strange.”

While walking, Irene spoke with a questioning look on her face. Her gaze was momentarily distant, as if she was recalling the memories of yesterday.

“It was our first meeting, yet somehow they knew my name, and the way they looked at me was a bit strange too.”

“Strange, how?”

“Not in a bad way. It was just… they kept looking at me with a kind of pity.”

As soon as I heard Irene’s words, I was certain. The superintendent had indeed regressed. I could easily infer this just from Irene’s description. The problem was which timeline they came from.

“I hope they came from the perspective of Part 1, but what if it’s after or before that?”

“That’s not something we can control. Let’s adapt to the situation.”

Discussing rapidly in my mind, I drank the last sip of coffee left in my cup.

“They also gave me their contact information, telling me to reach out if I needed anything later. Although I don’t fully trust them yet…”

“Oh.”

Seeing the note Irene showed me, my eyes widened. With this, even if direct contact was difficult, I could report matters related to the academy.

Finishing all the small talk, we stood up.

“Well, it worked out. But Irene, your house burned down, do you have anywhere to stay?”

“Ah, about that…”

Irene’s complexion darkened. I became curious about the reason. I quickly understood the situation because she told me herself.

“All my accounts have been frozen. I barely have any money.”

“Didn’t you live near the school? What about your rented house?”

My poor friend, whose home was gone overnight, shook her head.

“I can’t go there. The guys who attacked this time installed bombs in my house. It was a place with thick security, so no one could easily get in, but still. They must have surely tampered with that house too.”

I thought her words were valid.

“Then do you want to live at my place? Like Lucian’s kids?”

“Would that be okay?”

“It’s not ‘would that be okay,’ it’s the only way! Come to my place. If another attack comes, I can provide immediate support, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

She hesitated. Irene’s golden eyes wavered with embarrassment and apology.

“If you come to my place, I’ll give you free food and money! We’re right next door, so we can spar every day too.”

“…Now that I think about it, you’re right.”

When I clung to her, Irene chuckled softly. This surely meant she agreed. I immediately put my friend in the car and headed to the factory.

“Alright, everyone, pay attention. Irene is on her way. We have a room in the dormitory, don’t we? Hurry and clean it!”

“Ugh! What a bother.”

While the escort unit took Irene to the house, Violet moved to clean an unused dormitory room at the factory. After finishing the work and gathering the cleaning tools, I came out of the room and encountered Lucian, who was standing outside.

“What is it? Why are you suddenly cleaning?”

“Oh, we have a new neighbor. Irene’s moving in!”

Lucian scrutinized me as if something was strange, then asked me in a gruff tone.

“What? Why is she suddenly coming here?”

“Ah! Her, house… no. It’s nothing!”

“…?”

He stared at me with a face full of questions, but I ignored him. Soon after, Irene arrived, and I welcomed the new tenant.

“Today’s a party!”

First, I should throw a housewarming party. There are many things I want to ask and many things to dig into, but for now, she looks very tired!

“But what about the academy?”

“I asked, and they said they’d tell me the details tomorrow.”

Hmm, I had a lot to say regarding the academy anyway.

**

Violet’s purpose in splitting into multiple selves and doing their own tasks is to bring down the academy. More precisely, it’s to smash the heads of everyone involved in the academy’s experiments, teach them a lesson, and then burn down the facilities.

However, according to the data obtained by hiring intermediaries and what I saw and felt by going in person, it wasn’t a matter that would end by killing just one or two people. The head of the school’s board of directors is the chairman, and the chairman is connected to the four great clans. Seeing them bring in clan-affiliated airships and elite units last time, it seems his influence still remains, even if he’s just called the former leader.

The more I peeled back, the more things kept appearing, like an onion. For starters, to bring down the academy, it seems there will be friction with the Magnarvis Clan.

All we can do is thorough preparation.

“Alright, what about the dormant Violet deployment?”

“It was successful. They won’t be discovered unless they tear open the walls.”

Ever since I first discovered the underground laboratory at the school, the scientists inside have been continuously conducting suspicious research.

Before, I had planned to kidnap these individuals but then canceled it. It seemed like an overreach. Now, my thoughts have changed. We’ve grown quite a bit, and our numbers have increased. Now, it was entirely possible.

-Damn it! This is driving me crazy. The power went out again!

-Has anyone seen the documents that were here?

Even before that, there was a lot to do. I constantly interfered with their research with a few simple pranks. Short-circuiting the electricity was basic, turning off switches, crawling secretly into blind spots to steal documents or unplug computers. I even put toilet paper in the sewers to cause backflows.

The best reaction was when I dumped a basket of rotten fish into the ventilation system. Their reactions were quite a sight.

-I feel like I’m going to vomit!

-What is this smell?

Of course, to avoid getting caught further, I immediately hid the fish. That way, I disrupted the research progress every day while finding weak points throughout the laboratory.

First, I grasped the structure of the underground particle accelerator. I examined where to destroy it later to make it irrecoverable. Meanwhile, I redrew the internal map and identified the locations of passages leading to the surface.

This is necessary if we are to kidnap dozens of researchers at once. If things go according to plan, all those who must be killed will be killed, and those who must be kept alive will be spared for now, with their fate decided later.

“Alright. Deployment complete.”

So that the heavily armed Violet squad could intrude at any time, I installed dormant Violets in the empty spaces between the ceiling and floor, and between the walls of the underground laboratory. It’s a type of teleportation beacon.

I don’t know when that day will come, but when it does, everything will burn and vanish!