Ch.156Favorite Crime! (3)

#156

After discovering that the death of the encyclopedia was ultimately a threat caused by himself, the two were discussing the investigation with William, who was waiting in the Special Investigation Team’s office.

“So that’s how it is…”

“What do you think, Mr. Pilgrim?”

“About what?”

“About the Director General, of course.”

William nodded at Dexter’s question, then looked back at him and said.

“I see her as a wicked woman who prevents Earth from accepting beneficial cosmic cultures. Of course, there are many other considerations besides cosmic culture… Didn’t you say the Director General appeared to be an Earthling?”

“Yes. Unless she’s using a disguise kit that even I can’t detect, or is an alien species very similar to humans, there’s a high probability she’s an Earthling.”

Dexter’s intuition is more exceptional than most people’s.

When guessing whether someone is an Earthling or not based solely on intuition, it’s not 100% accurate, but percentage-wise, he’s right about 80% of the time.

“I understand she’s trying to cause chaos, but it’s difficult for me to answer exactly ‘why’ she’s causing it. After all, it’s about an Earthling destroying her own homeland… Have you thought about why the Director General is engaging in such behavior?”

In response to William’s counter-question, Dexter rested his arms on the desk and tapped his fingers as he spoke.

“It would be a lie to say I haven’t. But even I can’t figure out what that person wants.”

Why would Director General Olivia, an Earthling, want to damage Earth?

The three people present couldn’t explain the clear reason.

“I might know the purpose, but as for the fundamental reason why… Well, maybe she had some bad memories of Earth?”

“Would someone do all this because of bad memories?”

“Why not? If someone experienced severe trauma from childhood, they could develop issues. Isn’t that right?”

“Trauma, huh.”

At Himena’s words, Dexter crossed his arms and fell into deep thought.

Dexter has trauma too.

Sometimes he dreams about his first day of being abducted into space.

There are times when he wakes up screaming in the middle of such dreams, or times when he groans and wakes up drenched in sweat.

“If someone continues to hold onto trauma, it’s possible. But there’s no way to know if the Director General has such trauma.”

“It really makes me want to ask her why she’s doing all this.”

Himena said with a pouty face, resting her chin on her hand.

“Everything should be based on rational reasoning. However, sometimes the truth can be something that doesn’t make sense.”

At William’s words, Himena thought deeply about something, then looked back and forth between Dexter and William before speaking.

“If we knew the fundamental reason why the Director General is trying to put Earth in danger, it would be easier to deal with her. But nobody knows that reason.”

“That’s right.”

“I was thinking maybe we should take another look at that drainage tunnel.”

“The drainage tunnel where the encyclopedia was? According to Jesse, the drainage system is hundreds of miles long.”

Since the drainage system throughout Las Vegas is extremely long, it’s highly likely that the three people present couldn’t find what they’re looking for even if they searched for months.

Himena knew this, so she nodded and said.

“I was thinking we could request cooperation from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, suggesting that an unknown criminal organization might be in the drainage system. We could focus on the drainage tunnel where the encyclopedia appeared, while the rest of the police personnel could explore the surrounding tunnels.”

“Hmm. Will security be maintained?”

“If we talk to the Director, we can have personnel from other departments monitor the police forces.”

While Dexter and Himena were discussing how to explore the drainage system and deploy personnel from other agencies, William, who was sitting between them, let out a hearty laugh.

“Haha, so OSA is such an impressive organization.”

“Of course, it’s an agency that knows things even the NSA doesn’t know. And Mr. Pilgrim, you’ve become a member of such an agency.”

At those words, William broke into a broad smile, and Himena and Dexter also laughed lightly.

* * *

“Urgh.”

“I’ve only hit you a few times, what’s wrong?”

There were three people in a peculiar room where the ceiling, walls, and floor were all covered in tiles.

However, the appearance of the three people was quite different.

One was sitting in a plush, comfortable-looking chair, another was holding an aluminum baseball bat covered in dark red liquid.

The last one was lying on the floor, groaning in pain and bleeding.

“Director General… please have mercy…”

“Mercy?”

Olivia, who was sitting in the chair, looked at the man rolling on the floor and smiled.

“Do you remember how many times I’ve let you off?”

“J-just one more chance…”

As the man on the floor tried to approach Olivia on his knees, the man holding the bat looked at Olivia.

“Let’s see how he acts, leave him be for a moment.”

The man with the bat nodded and lowered the bat, and the man on the floor approached Olivia’s feet and gently kissed the top of her foot.

“Please, please forgive me…”

“What an interesting fellow?”

Olivia covered her mouth and laughed lightly, then said to the man with the bat.

“He’s pitiful, so leave him alone for now.”

“Yes.”

“Thank you, thank you so much…!”

While the man who had been spared was nodding his head vigorously in gratitude, forgetting the pain spreading throughout his body, the door to the room opened.

It was Olivia’s secretary.

“Ms. Olivia, I think you need to come out for a moment.”

“Is that so?”

Following the secretary’s words, Olivia stepped out of the room and said in a small voice.

“Oh. I almost forgot. Break both legs and both arms.”

“What? Wait! Director General! Director Gene—”

-Thud, THWACK!

A strong impact sound was heard before Olivia closed the door, but naturally, she paid no attention and brushed back her hair as she looked at the secretary.

“Why did you call me when things were just getting interesting?”

The secretary, not looking at Olivia whose expression was not pleasant, bowed his head deeply and said.

“Well, OSA is planning to search the drainage tunnels.”

“Ah. So they’ve discovered it?”

“Along with that, it seems information about Experiment Subject 456 and the exiled crown prince of the Gaijin Empire being connected has entered OSA’s information network… Ugh!”

As soon as the secretary said this, Olivia kicked him hard in the shin.

Looking at the secretary with a displeased face, Olivia sighed thinly and said.

“Why do you keep doing this?”

“…I’m sorry.”

The pain in his shin continued to throb, but the secretary didn’t touch it and stood with his hands clasped in front of him, looking at Olivia.

“What about the experimental facilities that remained there?”

“I destroyed them remotely, but we can’t rule out the possibility that some might still remain.”

“I’ve told you many times.”

Olivia took a step closer to the secretary and placed her hand on his shoulder.

It seemed like an ordinary touch to anyone watching, but it felt quite different to the secretary receiving it.

‘Damn it…’

Sweat was gradually forming on the secretary’s forehead.

He never realized that the subtle tulip scent emanating from Olivia could be so revolting.

As soon as Olivia’s hand rested on his shoulder, the secretary gritted his teeth.

Terrible pain was about to arrive.

Along with this, Olivia gave a sinister smile, and the hand on his shoulder began to tremble slightly.

“Argh!”

As excruciating pain shot through the shoulder where Olivia had placed her hand, the secretary couldn’t bear it and fell to his knees.

“Why do you keep disappointing me?”

“I-I’m sorry… Urgh.”

“You haven’t forgotten our promise from that day, have you?”

“N-no, I haven’t…”

As Olivia slowly removed her hand from his shoulder, dark red smoke began to rise from the secretary’s shoulder and started to follow Olivia’s hand.

“Since my life would be inconvenient without a secretary, I’ll let you off with just this much, okay?”

“…Thank you.”

Without even looking at the secretary’s face, Olivia repeatedly scattered or gathered the dark red smoke that had collected in her hand.

“Collector.”

“…Yes.”

When Olivia held out her hand, the secretary took out an object from the inner pocket of his suit jacket—a glass bottle with a coiled snake ornament fitted at the opening—and handed it to Olivia.

The peculiar thing was that the snake ornament’s mouth was wide open.

Olivia brought the snake ornament to her right hand where the smoke was swirling, and pressed firmly on the snake’s tail. The smoke was sucked into the snake’s mouth, and the glass bottle was filled with dark red smoke.

Holding up the glass bottle filled with dark red smoke and holding it against the light, Olivia smiled lightly and said.

“Negative is truly beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.”

After handing the glass bottle back to the secretary, Olivia walked forward with clicking steps and said.

“How is our negative inventory coming along?”

“It’s accumulating steadily. We expect to produce 10 barrels (about 1600ℓ) by the end of this first half of the year.”

The secretary spoke with a somewhat confident voice about the results, but Olivia shook her head.

“That’s too little.”

“When your plan is completed, it will surely increase.”

“But… I know that the plans you’ve been executing are increasingly going awry, don’t I?”

The plans that Olivia casually proposed are adjusted and refined in detail by the secretary working with experts under him.

Until the beginning of this year, any plan was proceeding smoothly from development to execution without interference.

The problem began in early summer this year.

The OSA Special Investigation Team started to interfere continuously.

Every time the two investigators solved a case, several projects that had been prepared for a long time were instantly ruined, and if they hadn’t prepared in advance, there would have been problems with fund management.

“I’ve trusted you well until now, haven’t I?”

“…Yes.”

“Then why do you keep disappointing me?”

Along with this, an invisible force from Olivia began to stab at the secretary’s entire body.

“……!”

Unlike when Olivia forcibly extracted negative from the secretary’s shoulder, he couldn’t say anything as his breath was suddenly cut off.

With the feeling of his throat being gradually constricted and his vision becoming darker, the secretary opened his eyes wide and began to tremble violently.

Just as he was losing control of his body and the world was turning gray, Olivia withdrew her force.

With the withdrawal came a flood of sensation and relief, causing the secretary to collapse on the spot.

“Huff, huff…”

Regardless of the secretary sitting on the floor breathing roughly, Olivia sat in a nearby chair and looked out the window as she spoke.

“This won’t do.”

“…Pardon?”

If there’s a stone on a path you’re walking on, from the moment you know of its existence, you become conscious of it, whether you trip over it or not. That’s human nature.

Olivia, who wanted to deal directly with the people who kept interfering with her work despite having many things to do, gestured for the secretary who was still on the floor to get up and said.

“Haven’t you investigated the people who keep interfering with our plans?”

The secretary, having regained his senses, immediately stood up and said.

“…Do you mean Dexter Hughes and Himena Ribero?”

“I can’t leave them alone any longer.”

Olivia brushed back her hair once more and said.

“Investigate those people in detail, down to their every action. Make sure we know even their schedules.”

“Yes, understood.”

When Olivia made a dismissive gesture with her hand, the secretary bowed his head slightly in greeting and left the room.

In the now quiet room, Olivia, looking out the window, stared at the blue sky with deeply immersed eyes and said in a small voice.

“…Dexter Hughes, you returned from space only to interfere with me until the end.”

Olivia, who spoke softly, was not frowning heavily or angry.

Her face was tinged with a subtle, sad emotion.