episode_0203

Pillaging without killing had a novelty different from simply killing and taking.

“This is working?”

“Irene, that was a great idea!”

The idea my friend suggested was excellent. Though there was a minor problem.

“Noona! Can I see you tomorrow too? I want to play again!”

“What? He won’t let go. How annoying!”

1570 grumbled. It was because the boy she took to the amusement park kept clinging to her. His sparkling eyes were unusual.

“Ah, alright. Let’s play later!”

“Really…? I miss you, Noona!”

I shook him off with a lie and returned to work.

“Such a small brat, so annoying!”

1570 complained as she removed her wig and lenses.

“Don’t worry. This is the last time for something like this! We’ll use different methods for different people!”

Unit 1 encouraged the other Violets. Because there were still many to deal with.

We moved relentlessly to secure stakes from other factions. The methods were diverse.

“Now, you just need to sign this document. It’s a stake transfer agreement. You know that, right?”

For some, it was intimidation.

“What? Why should I hand that over to you?”

“Mr. Martin. It seems you’ve been leading a double life. Your wife and children would be sad, wouldn’t they?”

“Th-this damn it!”

For others, they attempted persuasion.

“I didn’t expect you to actually try to sell it off.”

“As you know, clans acquired by the Luminaxa Foundation are famous for always undergoing large-scale restructuring. The foundation’s people always fill the positions vacated by existing personnel. It doesn’t seem like your position will remain untouched, Teacher-nim.”

“Hmm… but…”

“You don’t necessarily have to side with me. It’s enough if you just stay silent. I will reward you after everything is over.”

Irene flexibly persuaded people in various ways, depending on their disposition and position. Those with stakes gave them up, and others either cooperated or decided to stay neutral. Depending on their disposition, there were some who surrendered with just a threat.

“What? What nonsense are you spouting now…”

“Take him away.”

“Oh, wait a moment! Young lady! Actually, I was just forced to follow that Rigel fellow out of fear. Here it is! Please, make sure to punish that bastard!”

“Thank you. We’ll certainly do that. We’ll make sure you get a generous severance package.”

Of course, there were also those who resisted until the end.

“Just a student… what right do you have to tell me what to do with clan matters? Get lost!”

In such cases, Violet-style measures had to be taken.

“How dare they defy us!”

Late at night, a Violet special operations team appeared in the bedroom of the man who had rejected their offer.

“Ack! W-what, who are you?!”

Awakened in his bedroom, he asked in fright. The Violets in black masks whispered softly.

“Our name is Nightmare!”

“Let’s play together!”

We mobilized all sorts of persuasion methods. The next day, he submitted his resignation to the clan and handed over all his stakes to Irene.

“This was effective too.”

What we did was simple. A photoshoot!

The Violets stripped the man, gagged him, dressed him in thin leather clothing, and took photos. He would never return to the clan if he didn’t want a leather photoshoot for people of a specific taste to be released.

As a result, the collection operation was successful. Irene and the Violets returned triumphantly with their spoils.

“We did it!”

“That’s not true. The Violets did it.”

Irene smiled with an embarrassed expression. Her purple hair swayed.

“But we just did what you told us to do? Come on, hold out your hand!”

-Clap!

We high-fived each other. Irene now had a voice in clan operations. She could even call an emergency general meeting if needed.

“Doesn’t this mean Irene can just become the clan leader? It feels like she could just go and say, ‘I’m going to be the chairman here!’”

“It’s not that much. It’s less than the combined stakes of Rigel’s faction. If I were to simply inherit my father’s shares, it would be over since that’s more than half. But that’s greedy, so I can’t do that.”

Hmm, it’s a bit disappointing. It would be easier to just take over cleanly and then purge them immediately.

“In a while, there’s the year-end party and annual settlement. Although it’s called a settlement announcement, it’s usually just a brief explanation to the executives and guests. Let’s handle it before then.”

“Alright. How should we handle… oh?”

As we were discussing our next move, I shivered. Irene asked with a puzzled expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Yeah, new information just came in. I’ll connect the wiretap.”

I focused my senses. Far from the Violet barracks, in Rigel’s mansion, the wiretapping devices embedded in the walls and pillars opened their ‘eyes’.

-Damn it, Chairman Raihan says he wants the stakes first if he’s to receive all the goods. Our plan will get messed up at this rate. Where in the world is my elder brother?

-Irene, that woman, must have taken him away, they say. Honey, didn’t I tell you? We should have gotten rid of her long ago, without worrying about appearances!

Irene’s face was expressionless as she listened to the muffled voices transmitted from the site.

-There’s another problem. The attitude of those who were leaning towards us suddenly changed. They’re acting passively. Some directors even suddenly resigned. Why is that? Could our plan have been leaked…?

-No way. We’ve made sure everyone kept quiet. It must be Irene again. The atmosphere in the search and excavation departments has been strange lately. She’s definitely up to something.

I recalled the two hunters I met in the dungeon. They were uncooperative with us at the scene, but had their minds changed since then?

Silence permeated beyond the wall for a moment. Everyone seemed to be deep in thought. A short while later, Rigel’s voice broke the stillness.

-Alright. I’ll contact that policy cooperation director or whatever he is again. I’ll tell him I’ll give him everything he wants, but we need more supplies. The internal situation is not good. We’ll need more weapons for the big event.

Our eyes widened at the mention of a “big event.”

“Big event?”

“What’s that person planning again? No way…”

Irene muttered in a tone mixed with a slight bewilderment. Something also came to my mind.

“The 13th Street shooting?”

Hearing me mumble, Irene replied with an exasperated expression.

“It’s possible, I suppose. But no, surely not. A normal person wouldn’t resort to such a crude method…”

The next moment, upon hearing the words transmitted through the microphone, we looked at each other. My friend’s face and mine were identically distorted, as if looking into a mirror.

-We’ll use Laphlaxia’s biological weapons. We can definitely suppress Morgan and that Viktor bastard with them!

Listening to her uncle’s confident tone, Irene sighed self-deprecatingly.

“I overestimated that man too much. I forgot he’s an idiot who believes the world revolves around him.”

Good grief, it seems he was planning to purge all the clan’s internal personnel, not just engage in schemes. And specifically, those in charge of the clan’s main military force.

“How ignorant!”

Anyway, what should we do? It seems Rigel’s gang isn’t stopping at just selling their stakes to Luminaxa; they’re planning to buy troops from Laphlaxia.

“Should we do something more than just arson?”

It seems setting a few fires wasn’t enough.

As I pondered what to do about the problem of the massive clan’s intervention, a knock suddenly sounded.

“How are things progressing?”

I turned my head to see a black-haired man standing at the doorway.

“Inspector-nim.”

“It seems you’ve hit a snag.”

We explained the issue of the massive clan’s intervention that we had just heard. Seijis’s expression became serious.

“Luminaxa and even Chairman Raihan… this is serious. And at this particular time…”

I said to the Inspector-nim.

“Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out! I just thought of a fun method.”

“You’re planning to cause a second series of terror attacks in the Western District.”

Gasp, how did he know? The Inspector-nim read my mind like a ghost.

“I was going to make it a bit smaller than that…”

As I spoke hesitantly, the Inspector-nim suddenly threw out a question.

“Do you have enough ammunition and explosives?”

“Ah.”

Right. I completely forgot about that important fact.

“I checked, and we hardly have any explosives or ammunition left!”

“We have rifle bullets, but the rest are the problem!”

The explosives, rockets, and military supplies we had stockpiled and bought from Armas were mostly depleted when we brought down Magnabys. At this rate, we’d have to commit terrorism with knives.

Seijis, who had been scanning our faces, nodded as if he had expected it.

“Indeed, there’s no way you’d have any left after pouring that many into it. In such a situation, it’s better not to do it at all. Clans aren’t foolish. Magnabys collapsed helplessly because it was the first time they experienced such a thing, but it’s unreasonable to expect such luck again.”

The Inspector-nim continued his explanation, as if he knew what I was going to say.

“Other clans surely strengthened their internal security systems, taking that as a lesson. Also, the federal army is currently stationed in the Western District. If you blow things up too much, the military will intervene.”

I had no choice but to revise the terror plan. The Inspector-nim’s explanation was somewhat valid.

“Then what should we do?”

“I saw the arson incident at the Luminaxa building last time. That was your doing, wasn’t it? Continue with that for now. However, the targets will be locations I designate. I’ll handle the rest of the problems that draw their attention.”

“By what means?”

Seijis pointed at himself.

“Have you forgotten who I am?”

While I tilted my head, not understanding what he meant, Seijis continued.

“And Violet, there’s something else you need to do. Arrange a meeting between Irene and someone you know well. Your involvement will definitely be a great help.”

“Someone I know?”

“If the opponent brings in a massive clan, then we need to bring in someone with comparable influence. A clan that can offer much more rational and better options.”

Irene, who had been looking at me, let out a small gasp, “Ah.”

“Oh, no way?”

Only then did I realize what the Inspector-nim was planning.

**

The TV screen flashed.

While Violet drew attention with arson, the Inspector-nim did what he could. As a result, Rigel had to force down his boiling rage by pouring alcohol down his throat late into the night.

“Damn it, why now…”

He stared at the news screen, which was still broadcasting. The results created by the Inspector-nim and Violet were loudly being broadcast through the media. Several academies sponsored by Luminaxa and Laphlaxia had to face a sudden deluge of audits and revelations. With the minor experiments targeting the academies being disrupted, Chairman Raihan momentarily turned his attention away from external matters. Furthermore, the policy cooperation director, who had been connecting the lines between Helios and Luminaxa, had unfortunately died. Cause of death: hit-and-run traffic accident.

“Hello? I’m a dump truck. Let’s go to another world!”

“W-what! Aaaaargh!”

The result of Violet driving two dump trucks was a crumpled passenger car.

“Damn it! Is this even possible?!”

Rigel erupted in fury. As a result of a series of absurd events, he couldn’t receive all the troops and supplies needed for the big event.

‘Damn it, I still haven’t found Irene…’

As far as he knew, Chairman Raihan was someone who lived according to his moods. Since he was annoyed by the Audit Bureau and terrorists, he might make unreasonable demands. There was a risk that they might have to give up all their stakes.

Rigel racked his brain over the upcoming problems. As he drank, contemplating his next move, a small figure of a child approached him.

“Dad. Aren’t you sleeping?”

“No, Betel. Dad’s going to sleep. You go inside too, okay?”

The young boy grimaced at the scent of alcohol wafting from his father’s mouth.

“They say drinking too much alcohol is bad for your body!”

“Yes, I know.”

The boy went back to his room. Watching his young son’s retreating figure, Rigel put down his glass as if he had made a decision.

‘Yeah, what’s there to worry about? I can do enough. It’s possible with our own strength!’

Suddenly, his elder brother, now half-dead, flashed before his eyes. A man with pale golden hair, sparkling golden eyes, and a striking appearance. Feeling unpleasant, Rigel chugged the alcohol straight from the bottle.

‘Damn it, yeah. I can do it too!’

Orion Solstice, that damn elder brother. The pride of Polaris Academy.

‘Is being the eldest son everything? Are you really that great? What’s so special about a clan? I can manage it well too!’

For the one looking from behind, his brother’s halo was too bright. So bright it made his eyes ache and water. And he always monopolized everything.

‘Hmph, that bastard was just lucky. I could have done that much too…’

Cheers, admiration, praise. A popular man. An excellent model student. Years of being left behind and marginalized. Swaying purple hair, a smiling female student.

‘Damn it, why suddenly…’

In an instant, the bitterness he felt as a child resurfaced. Emotions he had tried to bury welled up. Rigel unconsciously ground his teeth.

‘It’s just old news!’

After swallowing his rage with the remaining alcohol, Rigel tapped his smartphone screen.

“Uh, yeah. It’s me. I’ve decided.”

Was it because of the unusual situation within and outside the clan, or the fervor ignited by old memories that surfaced due to the alcohol? Rigel made a decision as if possessed.

“Let’s move up the big event. To the day of the year-end settlement announcement.”

As he gave the order, he felt a refreshing sensation, as if his stuffy chest had opened up.

‘It’s fine. I just need to win, right? That’s all!’

He stood up. As he walked back to his bedroom, he heard a rustling sound from somewhere.

‘What was that?’

It sounded like something was coming from inside the wall. He tilted his head in confusion and lay down.