episode_0202

We continued our recruitment.

Irene personally visited the important people, while Violet’s representatives sought out the others.

Surprisingly, recruitment was easy. Rigel’s actions were beyond imagination.

“T-This crazy bastard…”

“We need to kick him out immediately! We must call a board meeting…”

“That traitorous bastard! I won’t let him get away with this!”

Whether conservative or neutral factions, the consensus was to first expel Rigel.

Of course, things didn’t always go smoothly.

I sighed, gazing at the flickering gate.

“Of all places, he’s in a dungeon.”

“It can’t be helped. We don’t have enough time to wait. It’s faster to meet him in person and persuade him. Moreover, the person we’re going to meet now is a big shot from the conservative faction.”

Morgan Ashford, the general manager of the Artifact Excavation Department and leader of Excavation Team 1.

He was the person we were going to meet.

“How lucky. Young lady, I just heard the news. He’s here too.”

“Really?”

Irene showed me the hit list, her face brightening.

“How fortunate, Victor Vice Manager-nim is here too. This person is the most important individual in the neutral faction.”

Next to the green checkmark was the name ‘Victor Amedeti’.

He was the general manager of the Search and Reconnaissance Department.

“Rigel. He couldn’t recruit the most important department heads.”

“That’s why he tried to bring in outside forces, I suppose.”

I heard that these two had been working with Irene’s father since the very beginning of the clan’s establishment.

So, they not only held a significant share but also wielded great influence.

“Excluding Father and a few others, they are among the most powerful individuals in the clan. Even if we can’t make them allies, there’s no need to turn them into enemies. They’re also very experienced.”

“So, we have to go in here after all…”

“Charge!”

“Aargh!”

After a considerable amount of time, we entered the depths of the dungeon.

A bizarre ruin was visible amidst the dense forest.

Among them, people were digging up the ground.

From excavators to shovels and pickaxes imbued with magic, it was a noisy excavation site.

“He must be here. Search more thoroughly!”

In the middle of the excavation site, a bronze-skinned man with short brown hair was directing the people.

He was the man we were looking for.

“Vice Manager-nim Ashford. Could we speak for a moment?”

“Irene?”

The man scrutinized us with suspicious eyes.

It was only natural to be suspicious when young students suddenly appeared in a dungeon.

We were given the opportunity to speak with the vice manager, just like everyone else.

“This… is real?”

“Yes. It’s the unadulterated truth.”

The reaction was immediate. Vice Manager Morgan angrily struck a nearby rock. With a crash, the rock shattered.

“How dare he! Try to sell off the Commander-nim? I’ll turn that parentless bastard Rigel into monster food!”

As soon as he heard the recording, Vice Manager Morgan passionately expressed his emotions, reminiscent of an erupting volcano.

“Wow, this person will definitely be on our side!”

“Will you help us? We need to drive out their faction and set the clan right again.”

Irene asked.

Vice Manager Morgan nodded vigorously and replied.

“Yes, let’s sweep them away. After that, we’ll revive Commander-nim Orion with the power of artifacts.”

“…Huh?”

At the sudden outburst, Irene stared at the vice manager, bewildered.

Vice Manager Morgan distorted his face, as if perplexed by Irene’s reaction.

“What? Are you saying you intended to be our leader? You, who still has the milk of youth on your lips? A mere student?”

“…Revival? What are you talking about?”

To my friend’s question, the vice manager replied with a tone that implied, “Why are you asking such an obvious question?”

“We’re looking for artifacts. Things like the Holy Grail, or equipment with powerful regenerative abilities for the user. If we find that, we can free the Commander-nim from the life support system. You’ll see our clan’s legend shine brilliantly again. Like a phoenix!”

“Vice Manager-nim, those artifacts are just urban legends. There’s no way they exist…”

As Irene muttered with a bewildered expression, Vice Manager Morgan frowned.

“Nonsense! Do you have proof it’s impossible? We’ll find them. I appreciate you telling us about Rigel’s schemes. We’ll handle it ourselves, so you go back to the academy. This is our business. It’s not something a kid with no shares or experience should meddle with.”

Feeling dismal, Irene and I stood up.

Just then, another person approached nearby.

It was a man with a cold expression, holding a harpoon.

“Hey, how long are you going to keep talking about artifacts? Find something profitable. We need to cover our losses, don’t we?”

“What does it matter to you?”

Vice Manager Morgan left in annoyance. Irene approached the newly appeared man. He was the general manager of the Search Department we were looking for.

“By the way, Irene. Why are you here? I heard your academy was destroyed not long ago.”

Irene conveyed the story as she had before.

Upon hearing the situation, Vice Manager Victor’s face twisted grimly.

“This is driving me crazy.”

“Vice Manager-nim. This is our chance to drive out Rigel’s faction. Otherwise, the clan will…”

That Victor fellow cut off my friend’s words.

“I see. It’s time to quit now.”

“What?”

“That imbecile plans to bring in Luminexa and take over this clan, right? Well, then it’s over. I guess I’ll retire.”

At his ‘whatever happens, happens’ attitude, Irene was momentarily speechless.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Our clan was going to collapse anyway. Whether Rigel becomes the leader or some other guy, it won’t make much difference.”

“Even so, we should try. We have to save the clan.”

Vice Manager Victor gazed at Irene with empty eyes.

“Effort? What kind of effort? What’s the point of anything when the clan has no Commander? And how are you, someone with no shares, going to save it? Are you just throwing a tantrum because you want to inherit your father’s position? I have no intention of helping with your heroics, so get lost.”

At the torrent of abuse directed at my friend, my hand instinctively reached for my weapon.

Irene quickly pulled me back and turned away.

“Ugh…! What kind of people are they? Did we come to the wrong place?”

Irene’s expression was stiff.

“It’s strange, they weren’t like this before. Why are they acting like this?”

**

After meeting people for two days, we felt our insides twisting.

The clan’s situation was more serious than we had imagined.

“The conservative hunters are fools, and the neutral hunters are cynical.”

Some were receptive to our proposal. But not everyone was.

“I didn’t know they would cling to such absurd notions about reviving Father.”

As Irene complained, Cress-ssi said with a pitiable expression.

“They weren’t like that initially. They changed because the resurrection plans failed repeatedly and the clan’s financial situation worsened.”

“Even so…”

Unfortunately, it seemed the Helios Clan was an organization overly reliant on Orion’s charisma.

Otherwise, there’s no explanation for why key executives would act like that just because one leader became half-paralyzed.

Unable to bear seeing their Commander split in half vertically, the conservative hunters made it a daily routine to waste time searching for artifacts or miraculous wonders.

Those who were once conservatives or loyalists gave up hope and degenerated into salary thieves.

“Vice Manager Victor was originally the most proactive in clan affairs. He changed after years passed and there was no hope in sight.”

“But this isn’t right. The clan is about to collapse right now…!”

After parting with Cress-ssi and returning home, Irene asked me.

“Violet, is the Collar Operation ready?”

“Yes, we can implement it right now.”

The Collar Operation is a strike operation targeting all uncooperative faction members.

From small-scale hostage situations to Violet-style persuasion involving explosions and slaughter.

“Shall we begin?”

Perhaps annoyed, Irene had been fiddling with her spear. A moment later, having made her decision, she shook her head.

“No, not yet. At least we’re sure those people aren’t siding with Rigel. And they’re being monitored, so we don’t have to worry for now. For now, let’s proceed with the next step as planned.”

“The next step… collection?”

The Violets looked at my friend with expressions full of excitement.

Irene muttered with lifeless eyes.

“Yes, collection. And can you cause some trouble in the eastern district? We need to divert Luminexa’s attention.”

“Got it, this will be fun!”

**

The next day, the eastern district was met with an unexpected arson incident caused by the sudden appearance of the Obsidian Legion.

“We are the Obsidian Legion! We’ll burn everything down!”

“Stop!”

Meanwhile, Irene and I stepped up to collect the clan shares.

The method was simple.

A proper mix of polite words and physical force.

“Helios Frontier Service shares look like ordinary paper documents at first glance. But the documents are imbued with magic defense spells. Just stealing or taking them won’t work. We need to go through the ownership transfer procedure.”

“Ah, I see. So we have to persuade them well.”

So the Violets decided to persuade them well.

“Mr. Motis, you’ve really taken a lot for yourself. Just presenting this will be enough to finish you off with embezzlement charges.”

As Irene, uncharacteristically, threatened him with a harsh tone, the accounting department executive snorted.

This fellow was a neutral faction opportunist, testing the waters to switch to Rigel’s side.

“Ha? Are you threatening me now? Fine, what do you want?”

“It’s simple. Hand over all your clan shares and quietly withdraw. Then we’ll overlook everything you’ve done until now.”

“Guards! Get these brats out of here immediately!”

A moment later, Motis, subdued by the Violets, struggled.

“You! Do you think you can get away with this just because you’re the clan head’s daughter? A mere child already acting so brazenly…”

Irene gestured to us.

Number 686 pulled out a tablet and held it right in front of his nose.

“What is that…?”

The next moment, as the screen lit up, Motis’s face stiffened.

“Jamie, why are you there…?”

He was greatly flustered by the fact that his son, who should have been at school, was suddenly at an amusement park with a suspicious woman.

– “Dad! It’s okay to play with this noona, right? This place is so much fun!”

The identity of the “noona” on screen was Violet Number 1570, disguised. As his son smiled brightly, holding a balloon, Number 1570 lightly tapped her own neck with her index finger. Seeing that, the executive’s eyes shook as if an earthquake had struck.

Before he could say anything, Irene got a word in first. She spoke silently.

‘Smile.’

The executive, having read her lips, forced the corners of his mouth upwards.

“R-Right. Have fun playing. Hahahaha…”

– “Dad! Thank you!”

Father and son smiled together, with the screen between them.

After the call ended, the executive pleaded.

“Please, you can take my life, my shares, whatever! Just spare my son!”

Irene replied in a gentle tone.

“We didn’t say anything, did we…?”

“I’ll hand it all over! Please!”

Five minutes later, we secured the clan shares.

“It’s incredibly easy to receive donations!”

“Let’s go to the next person quickly!”