episode_0331

Numerous monitor screens lined up, and naval intelligence agents meticulously analyzed the information coming in every moment.

Just then, an agent watching the screen reported indifferently.

“The signal has been cut.”

The agents could not hide their disappointment at the news that the tracking of the top-tier surveillance target had been lost, but they quickly began preparations for the next pursuit.

There was no reason to panic.

Losing track of a target was an everyday occurrence; they had various tracking methods.

The smart cockroaches provided by Raphlaxia were one of their reconnaissance assets.

After imprinting genetic information or scent and inputting simple commands, these small insects would attach themselves to or shadow their targets.

“As expected, since it’s a cockroach…”

“Its lifespan is short. If you’re unlucky, it gets caught or falls off. Even if it lasts a long time, the signal often distorts and then cuts off.”

The agent replied casually to his colleague’s words.

“Still, about half of them work properly, don’t they? Besides these, we have various other reconnaissance assets. Let’s trust the shapeshifters.”

**

Some time later, a little distance away, we decided to catch our breath.

No one seemed to be chasing us, but just in case, we entered a nearby shopping mall and hid ourselves among the crowds.

As soon as a moment of calm presented itself, Kalia was the first to speak.

“Remote-controlled cockroaches? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Well, couldn’t it be possible? We can control mice, after all.”

Suddenly, a small sound came from my pocket.

“Squeak?”

“No, it’s more like a command than direct control. Lemon, there are a lot of people here, so stay quiet in my pocket.”

I gave a peanut to Lemon, who had poked her head out curiously, and pushed her back into my pocket.

While Lemon gnawed on the peanut, we sat in a cafe and waited for a moment.

Soon, Bernike returned after going to the restroom, saying she wanted to wash her hands.

“Ugh, to think something like that was attached to me. Did you check the equipment?”

“Yep! Me and the other mice checked, and there was nothing strange.”

A remote-controlled cockroach had been found on Bernike a moment ago.

According to Lemon’s explanation, the cockroach had cleverly hidden itself between her clothes, lying flat.

“A mouse’s sense of smell is even better than a dog’s, which is famous for its keen nose. They simply have more olfactory receptor genes. I never thought that ability would be useful in a situation like this.”

“Aha!”

Listening to the Professor’s explanation, I felt I understood why Lemon had reacted immediately.

I had always sensed that her sense of smell was much more sensitive and superior than ours, but I didn’t realize it was to this extent.

“What exactly did it feel like?”

“It smelled strange! I just had a suspicious feeling!”

No matter how many times I asked, Lemon could only say she had such a feeling and struggled to explain what exactly was strange.

Perhaps it was because, despite their improved intelligence, they were still fundamentally mice.

There was still a fundamental difference in perception between us, the Violets, and the mice.

“It’s natural not to understand. Humans and other living things perceive the world differently. Can a human fully understand the world perceived by a bat’s echolocation? Can we empathize with a mole’s vision? As you’ve only recently connected to the network, it will be difficult for you to perfectly understand your animal subordinates.”

Unexpectedly, I ended up getting a biology lecture.

By the way, who on earth attached that cockroach to Bernike?

“No way, isn’t it those Raphlaxia guys again?”

Bernike’s lips twitched upward in agreement with Kalia’s murmur.

“Hmm, Kalia, was it? You seem to understand things faster than this one.”

“That’s not something you should say to the people involved, is it?”

Bernike pretended not to hear our complaints, ignoring them, and dumped five sugar cubes into her coffee.

“There are only a handful of organizations that use small living creatures as reconnaissance assets. One is Raphlaxia, another is Luminexa, and then there are a few corporations based in the East and North. Among them, only one place can create and operate sophisticated bio-circuits like the one we just saw.”

Bio-circuits…

Come to think of it, I’d heard that what was attached to the heads of our Violet Animal Task Force members was also a type of bio-circuit.

“I don’t know when or where it got attached, but it’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s a plot to figure out the location of the research lab.”

Bernike no longer tried to hide her irritation, openly displaying it. It was enough to make anyone nearby uncomfortable.

“Those guys are still obsessed with Apostle research, it seems. We’ll have to be more careful from now on. Once this is over, it would be best not to show ourselves for a while. That damn Raihan.”

A question suddenly crossed my mind. If we didn’t know when the eavesdropping cockroach was attached, wouldn’t everything already be exposed?

Bernike gave an unexpected answer to my question.

“You don’t have to worry about that. The location of the research lab is thoroughly hidden using every means possible to prevent any signals, external or internal, from reaching it. Even I travel blindfolded when going out or staying overnight. It would be troublesome if the Apostle’s friend came running after hearing a scream, wouldn’t it?”

Oh, they seemed to have prepared thoroughly in their own way. But another question arose.

“Wait, then it means it’s hard to send immediate support from outside if something happens inside, right? Like if the Apostle escapes…”

Bernike smiled and replied.

“The Luminexa-style seven-layer containment procedure is in place, so there shouldn’t be any big problems. Even if an Apostle escapes, that’s Restraidna’s responsibility. Hehe, are you perhaps worrying about me?”

As her personality shifted, 2501 immediately popped out.

“No, I heard that the strange illness our prospective junior is suffering from is also related to that guy.”

Once, when we were discussing Apostle-related information, Ariel’s story came up.

Hadn’t Restraidna recovered all the tools and artifacts the Apostle had possessed?

It seemed they were still conducting research on those artifacts as a whole.

At this rate, Ariel might not even be able to take next year’s exam.

“Well, there’s no sign of interpretation yet… but don’t worry about that. The prisoner researchers dispatched by the Federation are doing a good job. If worst comes to worst, I’ll just take one of your animal friends.”

“Prisoner researchers?”

“The Federation brought out experts incarcerated in their prisons. I wish I could exploit my research staff like that…”

To condone slave labor, truly fitting for that evil ponytail.

Bernike quickly finished what she needed to do and left immediately.

“Pereira! See you later!”

“Yes… yes!”

In her hand as she left was a small cage.

She said she would go with the V-animals, as remote-controlled cockroaches or other bio-monitoring devices might follow.

Well, I allowed it. I needed to know about the research lab.

Additionally, she seemed to be planning to conduct her own unique research.

“Just in case, I should use them for location tracking too!”

“Squeak?”

“Have a good time there! Auntie, don’t torment our animals, and take good care of them! Understood?”

“If you keep calling me ‘Auntie,’ I’ll use your crow and little mouse as experiment materials, you hear?”

“Got it, Auntie!”

Watching Bernike leave, I thought.

I hope our animal task force enters the research lab without any trouble.

**

Today, too, the Joint Otherworldly Organism Research Lab was peaceful.

A day at the lab began at 6 AM.

As darkness began to lift, researchers one by one woke up for work.

“Ah… ugh… I’m sorry… I was wrong… ugh…”

“Come on, wake up, Dr. Lowell. It’s time to start work.”

A Federal agent who entered the lab shook Ennis, who was sprawled like a frog on her desk.

Ennis, who got up with a gloomy expression, rubbed her eyes, which were deeply shadowed, and checked the clock.

“Ah, Agent-nim. You’re here…”

The recently replaced female agent was kinder than the previous one.

She waited silently until Ennis came to her senses.

Ennis, having erased the lingering images of a gloomy dream, staggered up like a ghoul from Vittorio Arcade.

She pulled a cold energy drink from the lab refrigerator, habitually popped the lid, and poured it into a needleless syringe.

She gulped it down in an instant.

The effect was immediate; Ennis’s dark eyes twitched.

“Hoo…”

Caffeine dilated her blood vessels, and stimulants stormed in like a raging torrent.

Their target was the receptors. The drugs, penetrating the blood-brain barrier, slammed into her brain nerves, squeezing out dopamine.

A temporary acceleration of magical circulation stimulating her entire body was a bonus.

Fatigue slowly disappeared.

This was the secret to the 154-hour continuous work possible only for Awakened individuals.

For Grade 5 personnel, working year-round was mandatory.

According to the Federal Prisoner Special Management Act, prisoners with specific skills and abilities were utilized without limits.

For them, labor laws and the word “holiday” were synonymous with rainbow-colored hills where unicorns frolicked.

Starting with Ennis coming to her senses, all the researchers in her department woke up, groggily.

“Ugh… Team Leader-nim, the meteor is getting bigger! Or is it a comet? Shooting stars keep falling…”

“Can I have some of that medicine too? Ah! I’m alive! Here I go! Hehehe!”

Once all team members were awake, they checked on the progress of work from two hours prior.

When that was done, they headed to the meeting room, guided by the waiting agent. After a brief briefing, work began again.

Suddenly, a person from the adjacent department, who had come to retrieve some data, suddenly had a seizure.

“A loud, high-pitched shriek!”

“Whoa! Whoa! All hail the throne of the ineffable Monad!”

“Oh, that bastard’s having a seizure! Drag him out!”

As the security team rushed over, a security armored knight knelt down and punched the head of the researcher who had been rejoicing.

The researcher, whose head was dented, ceased his bizarre praise.

Seeing a red line dragging on the floor, she tried her best to suppress her nausea and averted her gaze.

Amidst that, a tormented scream once again slammed into her brain.

“Aaaah! I’ll kill youuuu! Bernikeeeeeee!”

“Um, Knight-nim? The artifact owner I’m in charge of… the one in the isolation room, it really is a monster, right?”

The agent gave Ennis a look, as if asking why she was asking again.

“It is a monster, I tell you.”

Work continued.

Code Omega, which Ennis was analyzing, was not just any monster.

It was clearly a highly intelligent being.

The clothing, accessories, and weapons it possessed were diverse and complex, yet incomprehensible.

“You still don’t know the composition of this sword? You said you managed to break through the barriers and security spells, didn’t you?”

“It’s not a problem of Ether engineering. It’s simply physically impossible to analyze. Even with all observation equipment mobilized.”

An unnamed administrator pointed a finger at a gigantic greatsword.

“We couldn’t destroy it by any means. Its magic resistance is self-evident. Do you see how smooth its surface is, like a mirror? The scene you’re looking at now is the highest magnification possible with our best microscope. The interatomic density is beyond imagination. It’s at a neutron star level. Compressing interatomic spaces to this extent, ignoring electron degeneracy pressure, is impossible even with all magic and science combined. A different approach…”

“What do you mean ‘impossible’? Just do it!”

Despite being tormented by the coarse Restraidna executives and Federal management, Ennis and her team members encouraged themselves, making gradual progress.

Soon, the short lunch break arrived.

Having no appetite due to the medication, Ennis quickly swallowed her meal and secured some free time.

To read the letters in her drawer.

The senders were mostly her parents, but sometimes other names appeared.

Letters from military bereaved families.

Ennis’s fingers carefully opened the envelope.

“My son died because of you! I hope your life ends, just like my family was torn apart! You trash!”

“Please stop sending money. It’s burdensome. It’s compensation, but are you mocking us after killing a family’s breadwinner? I want to forget now…”

“…Thank you for revealing the truth. My friend won’t come back… but yes, I understand.”

Ennis’s heart was filled with bitterness and guilt as she read the letters mixed with resentment, gratitude, and anger.

If only she had acted more courageously, perhaps innocent sacrifices could have been prevented.

All her wages were sent to the bereaved families of Federal soldiers who died in Vittorio Arcade.

The compensation she received under the nominal title of researcher was considerable. It was research sponsored by large clans.

Nevertheless, Ennis couldn’t shake off the question of whether such compensation was truly appropriate.

‘Can money really compensate for losing family? Isn’t this just for my own self-satisfaction?’

Someone gently tapped Ennis’s shoulder as she was lost in gloomy thoughts, preparing her reply.

“A startled gasp!”

“I won’t eat you, Doctor. Still writing those replies, are you? Don’t you want to see this?”

The security knight, seemingly frustrated, took off her helmet and scratched her short hair with a gauntlet.

She took an envelope from her waist pouch and handed it over, and Ennis’s face brightened as she checked the sender.

“Tha-thank you, Knight-nim.”

She clutched the letter to her chest with a joyful expression.

The female knight retorted gruffly, pointing behind her.

“Thank the agent behind you. That guy pulled it out from going to the prison where you originally were. It’s not supposed to be like this.”

The Federal agent waiting behind smiled and nodded.

Behind him stood a man with an irritated expression.

The red name tag hanging around the man’s neck swayed.

“Alright, Doctor. Put the letter down for a moment. This person is a new addition to the department starting today. Please guide him well. You’re both Grade 5, so get along. Come on, say hello! This is where you’ll be serving your time from now on.”

“Serving time? I’m not guilty!”

The man grumbled.

“Damn it, is hitting someone while drunk a crime?”

The agent was momentarily dumbfounded, and the security knight let out a bewildered chuckle.

As everyone fell silent, only Ennis murmured with a flustered expression.

“…Um, th-that’s… isn’t that a crime?”

“That guy was a vanguard hunter! It’s okay to hit him. Rather, my car was totaled, so he should be the one in prison, not me!… Ow!”

“Alright, that’s enough, get in, you criminal!”

The protesting man was punched on the head by the female knight, as if she couldn’t stand it anymore. The groaning man suddenly stopped when he saw Ennis.

“Oh, wait! You! I know! Who you are!”

“You know me?”

“Of course! That hearing! I saw it! There was a huge uproar because you blabbed about the Artifact Excavation Department incident in Congress! The Magnabyss subsidiary I worked for was ruined because of it! The Inspection Bureau stormed in, and the Patent Headhunting Squad even raided us!”

“Th-that…”

“Don’t pretend to be scared! You burned the heads of military personnel with an artifact. Shouldn’t you have been shot and killed by the Ariel Group right there? You alone snitched and survived, didn’t you? Oh, you’re the only good person, aren’t you! I got fired because of you, and I’m suffering this sh*t—”

The security knight watching once again subdued the man.

“Keep spouting nonsense, and I’ll break a few of your bones. Doctor, show him around.”

The knight left. With the agent watching, Ennis cautiously reached out her hand to the man clutching his head and groaning.

“Are you okay…?”

The man slapped her hand away and stood up.

“Hmph, whatever. Just show me around.”

Ennis’s department was a melting pot of various human types.

Some were from Magnabyss itself, and others from its subsidiaries.

There were also those who had been dragged in after working at research labs in other regions or continents.

‘Each had their own story, but all were involved in criminal charges.’

That’s why their rank was Grade 5. A red name tag.

A red name tag signified the lowest status in the Joint Otherworldly Organism Research Lab.

They were nominally employed as researchers and received an annual salary, but most of it was deducted under various pretexts.

Ennis made a self-deprecating remark.

Still, there was no one here who had committed a greater crime than herself.

One day, she too would be expended. She knew this coming in, so she had no regrets.

**

It was around that time that a familiar figure arrived.

“Team Leader Ennis Lowell. Right? Yes, it is, I’ve been looking for you for ages.”

A white mechanical tentacle extended and tugged at her name tag. Ennis gasped with a short hiccup of surprise.

In front of her stood a tall, slender woman, a head taller than her, with a blank expression.

Her sunglasses glinted sharply under the lights.

“Hmm, Arthurius Academy graduate, then Master’s and Ph.D. at Rheincreuf University. Is that right? Please answer quickly. You don’t have brain damage, do you? Don’t test my patience.”

When the woman took off her sunglasses, her hawk-like yellow eyes swept over Ennis.

Ennis, who had been dazed, quickly put her brain to work with the lingering stimulant effect. Who was this again?

Professor Bernike. She had heard of her indirectly during her university days.

And she had encountered her from a distance here before, regarding the monster sealing incident.

She was said to be in charge of important research.

The color of her name tag was white.

Grade 1.

“Yes! Yes! That’s me. What brings you here…?”

Bernike chuckled, looking at the disciplined-looking, brown-haired woman in front of her.

Her demeanor was quite docile and compliant, just as the emotional color seen through her sunglasses had suggested.

“Hmm, nothing much. I read the documents and reports from the Artifact Research Department. You perceived the problems quite sharply, didn’t you? Although your final answer was ‘I’ve hit my limit.’”

Ennis, cringing at the sharp remark, murmured. Her graduate school advisor suddenly came to mind.

“…Yes, that’s right. The artifact the monster possessed was too intricate and complex. Destructive testing was almost impossible too.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m not criticizing. Your analysis itself wasn’t bad, and I saw the diligence of someone who did their best. That’s how academia works, isn’t it? You have to start by admitting what you don’t know.”

Bernike called out to the agent standing behind her.

“Hey, Federal officer! From now on, I’m taking this entire department under my command, with Grade 1 authority. Understood?”

The agent stiffly shouted.

“Yes! Understood!”

A metal tentacle snatched the name tag of Ennis, who was staring blankly, bewildered.

“Oh, this is…”

“From now on, you’ll be doing something really important with me. So, a Grade 5 position won’t be enough, will it?”

“Yes, yes! That’s… right?”

The color of the name tag held by the tentacle changed instantly. To blue.

Ennis’s eyes widened.

“From now on, by the authority of a Grade 1 supervisor, I’ve temporarily raised your position to Grade 2. Do you understand how important this is? Has the medication damaged your brain? Answer me.”

“Yes, understood!”

Ennis, dumbfounded, soon accepted the situation. She figured if her grade went up, her annual salary would be higher.

A thought crossed her mind that perhaps she could increase the compensation going to the bereaved families.

Bernike put on her artifact sunglasses again and observed Ennis, who was contemplating her given situation.

The colors she saw were relief, anxiety, trembling.

Not bad. Her research reports and personnel records from her Magnabyss days to the present showed a submissive personality.

She was also said to be dexterous and quite intelligent.

For the in-depth research to be conducted in the future, she would be useful to keep by her side and exploit.

She would also be good for compensating for her own shortcomings in artifact and magical engineering.

“First, if your rank has gone up, you have to sign an important security oath. You haven’t heard what the monster inside there is, have you?”

“No, I haven’t.”

Bernike threw an unexpected bombshell at the slave, who was overwhelmed by the flood of information.

“First, I have an instruction for you, okay? Get everything organized. Senators will be coming soon.”

Ennis, whose medication effect suddenly wore off, froze.

“Huh…? Senators?”

Looking at the dazed fool in front of her, a mischievous malevolence arose in the professor.

To react like that just to the mention of senators.

‘I wonder. How will this woman react when she faces the Apostle’s true identity?’

A subtle smile spread across Bernike’s lips.

**

With the Aigis Academy final exams fast approaching, Enrica, who had been idly spending her time at home, received an unexpected call.

Her expression instantly filled with tension.

“Yes? Yes… Just a moment. What did you say?”

Enrica’s voice trembled. She nervously exchanged calls here and there.

Trinity’s whispered words in the room were filled with an incomprehensible tension.

“Yes…”

Finally hanging up the phone, Enrica restlessly curled up on the sofa. Complex emotions crossed her face.

When I asked what was wrong, she hesitated, then spoke after about 10 minutes of silence.

“Well, my parents…”

“Your parents?”

“Yes, it was a call from the academy. I don’t know how they found out… It seems Mom and Dad contacted them through the academy. So they got our home number. They asked to be connected. So…”

Putting together Enrica’s stammering story, it was this:

“Near Serkliff, at our house…”

Enrica’s parents had contacted her, asking to meet.