Ch.300Infiltrate (3)

In the Cult society, the position of Knowledge Manager holds high status.

The role of a Knowledge Manager is to assist the captain in ensuring the ship completes its mission safely.

This requires knowledge spanning across various fields. Additionally, they must learn special psychic techniques for communicating with other Knowledge Managers.

Only after years of dedicated effort can one earn the honor of performing this sacred duty.

As a result, most Cult crew members respect Knowledge Managers. Though their rank is technically below the captain and warrior commander, their status is no less significant.

Charas, a Knowledge Manager assigned to the Aurr System Surveillance Office, was highly respected by the crew. The ship had escaped crisis numerous times thanks to her contributions.

However, unlike the crew’s perception, Charas didn’t place much importance on her profession. To her, being a Knowledge Manager was just one gateway in her long life.

Her ultimate goal was to become a member of the Imperial Council.

Without factional backing and possessing only common goat horns, this path was her only option to become a council member.

‘Not much longer now.’

Since joining the elite fleet of the Surveillance Office, she had accomplished many achievements. Thanks to this, a few months ago, she received an offer from the Providences, one of the prominent factions of Beryan02.

They asked if she was interested in the empire’s future and would consider joining their cause.

‘The Providences aren’t a bad start.’

Recently, the Providences had been rapidly gaining power in the council.

Their core ideology is that to serve providence and protect imperial security, strong military force must be actively employed. They gain strength whenever the empire is unstable, standing in opposition to the Innovatives who advocate for disarmament.

From Charas’s perspective, the Providences’ future looked promising. In fact, information gathered during her duties as Knowledge Manager indicated that not just the empire, but the entire universe was in a state of impending crisis.

The destruction of Megacorp space cities, Star Union’s military provocations, and the recent “Kesha Arma” crash incident.

Unprecedented events have been occurring one after another in a short period. The Providences’ dominance is likely to continue for some time.

‘This benefits someone like me with military experience.’

She began her duties while dreaming of a rosy future.

Currently, Charas’s ship was on standby at a location where an unidentified magnetic field had been detected. They were waiting to immediately investigate if another anomaly occurred.

Additionally, the Surveillance Office had given her a separate mission. They were reviewing her “Report on the Connection with the Three-Headed Demon” and asked her to continue transmitting information.

After working non-stop for several hours, her tasks were finally complete. She reported the organized information to the Surveillance Office using a transmission technique only Knowledge Managers could learn.

‘Maybe I should go get something to drink.’

Her head was throbbing, possibly due to excessive psychic power usage. A Beryan02-style cocktail would be perfect for this situation.

Though she had no attachment to this ship, she would miss the delicious cocktails served at the ship’s bar.

She arrived at the unmanned bar after walking through corridors decorated with geometric patterns. She ordered her usual Beryan02-style cocktail.

Perhaps due to her heavy workload or feelings of regret, she drank more than usual. Leaving the bar with a slight buzz instead of a headache, she headed out.

Now all that remained was to return to her room and get some sleep.

‘Ah.’

Except for one thing.

‘They mentioned being hit by a meteorite earlier, right?’

She had heard from the control room while working. A meteorite had hit the outer wall of cannon #15, causing the protective barrier to malfunction. She had forgotten about it since there was no follow-up report from the gunner.

‘It’s annoying, but…’

By now, the ship’s technicians would have likely handled it, but it was still good to check. She couldn’t afford any issues before joining the Providences.

She turned around and headed to the “Shield Management Office,” which managed the ship’s protective barriers and shields. While the warrior unit fights enemies who board the ship, the Shield Management Office protects the ship itself.

She walked down the quiet corridor with slightly unsteady steps.

“……”

The corridor was exactly the same as when she had gone to the bar earlier. Only the geometric patterns were different; otherwise, it was identical to the corridors she was familiar with.

Yet she felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

As a Knowledge Manager, she knew every corner of this ship. She was aware that cameras were installed within the unique patterns on the corridor walls.

She knew the control room was monitoring in real-time. Despite this, an unknown ominousness was piercing her mind like an awl.

Something was beyond the corridor.

‘Something’s wrong.’

Charas is a Cult who has mastered various psychic techniques. She knows this feeling wouldn’t arise without reason.

She immediately felt along the pattern decoration on the wall. With a click, the pattern changed shape and a small communicator popped out. It was directly connected to the “Internal Surveillance Unit” that managed the corridor cameras.

“This is the middle of the corridor leading to the Shield Management Office. Is there anyone else here?”

“This is the Internal Surveillance Unit. Currently, only you, Knowledge Manager, are in the corridor. No one has come through for the past two hours.”

“For two hours?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Just in case, we’ll keep a close eye on things.”

“Thank you for your consideration. Have a good night.”

Only after hearing the Internal Surveillance Unit’s confirmation that no one else was in the corridor besides her could she feel at ease. If all the cameras in the corridor weren’t malfunctioning, their statement must be true.

Though the unease crawling up her spine had subsided, a new problem now troubled her.

‘What is this smell?’

There was a strange odor in the corridor. A smell she had never encountered before in her life.

It was something bizarre, difficult to describe in words. Like formless insects trying to burrow into her body, the stench seeped into her nose and mouth.

The foul smell grew stronger as she approached the Shield Management Office.

Fortunately, apart from the smell, she didn’t notice anything unusual until she arrived.

‘Let’s finish this quickly and go.’

When she opened the door, the interior lights recognized the visitor and shone brightly. As the Internal Surveillance Unit had said, there was no one inside.

She quickly activated the computer. She checked the problematic shield and protective barrier section, but everything was fine. It seemed the technicians had taken care of the issue reported by gunner #15.

‘I don’t know who, but tomorrow I’ll have to discipline…’

Just as she was about to shut down the computer after her troublesome errand because of gunner #15.

At that moment, she heard a sound.

“!”

Startled, she quickly turned her head. Under the bright light, nothing was visible except the deactivated Cult computers.

“I must have misheard—huh?!”

Just as she was about to dismiss it as her imagination, she heard the sound again.

Clatter, clatter. It sounded like multiple small metal skewers hitting the floor.

And then she saw it. An object larger than a Cult’s head, moving its long legs as it slipped out from between the computers.

Swallowing hard, she concentrated psychic power in her hand. She intended to shoot immediately if the creature lunged at her.

“…!”

The noise was heard again. A black shadow with multiple legs quickly passed between the computers.

‘I-I need to get out of here now!’

Not all Knowledge Managers excel in combat. Well aware of her limitations, she rushed toward the door.

Suddenly, a computer near the door fell forward for no apparent reason. She immediately released the psychic technique she had been preparing, “Psychic Impact.”

With a bang, the Psychic Impact dissipated in mid-air. From behind the computer, a Cult male emerged with his hands raised.

“Don’t shoot!”

Charas nearly screamed at the sight of the Cult appearing from an unexpected place.

“Who are you?”

“I’m a gunner in charge of the cannons.”

“Are you #15 by any chance?”

“Yes! I-I came in earlier to fix things before you arrived, Knowledge Manager. I was about to leave after finishing when you…”

The Cult introduced himself as gunner #15. As he said, he was wearing the uniform of a cannon gunner.

“You were trying to handle this without making an official report? Are you in your right mind?”

“I’m new to being a gunner, so I think I was inexperienced. I’m sorry.”

“Apologizing to me won’t help. Tomorrow morning, I’ll initiate disciplinary procedures…”

Before she could finish speaking, they heard the sound of the bizarre creature. Both her head and gunner #15’s turned simultaneously toward the source of the sound.

“What was that sound just now? Did you hear it?”

Perhaps because she now had a companion, Charas’s thoughts shifted slightly.

‘If I handle this situation well here…’

Instead of contacting the Internal Surveillance Unit, she decided to use this clueless Cult to resolve the issue.

He had entered here secretly. He was in no position to claim credit. That meant any achievements he made would all be attributed to her. This was a chance to earn another merit before joining the Providences.

“There’s an unknown creature somewhere in here.”

“What?”

“For now, help me. If we handle this well, I might consider reducing the severity of your disciplinary action.”

“Oh, understood!”

His nervous demeanor wasn’t reassuring at all, but as a gunner, he would have received basic military training. At least in terms of combat ability, he would likely be superior to Charas.

“The sound came from the tool room.”

As she said, the tool room door was slightly open. The lights didn’t seem to react to the strange creature, as only pitch-black darkness was visible inside.

“Can you create light?”

“I’m not very good at that…”

Without asking further, she created light with her own psychic power and illuminated the inside of the tool room.

The floor inside was covered with tools that had spilled out when stacked boxes collapsed. There was no sign of the monster that had made a mess of the tool room.

“If you spot the creature inside, kill it immediately.”

“Understood.”

“Don’t just scream stupidly like earlier…”

“What’s wrong?”

She stopped mid-sentence. Through her conversation with gunner #15, she realized something was off about the situation.

“You said you couldn’t create light, right?”

“Huh? Yes.”

“When I came in here, the lights turned on immediately, but before that, how did you…”

Gunner #15 had just said he couldn’t create light.

That meant he had operated the computer in a place where he couldn’t see an inch in front of him.

Even if he had turned off the lights to secretly operate the computer, something still didn’t add up.

The Internal Surveillance Unit had said:

No one had come through the corridor leading here for two hours.

Then what had gunner #15 been doing in the darkness for two hours, and with the strange creature no less?

“Ah. The lights.”

Gunner #15 spoke as if he hadn’t thought of that.

No.

“It” spoke, wearing the shell of gunner #15.

The monster in the Shield Management Office wasn’t just one.