Finishing the Ruincrest

The rebellion in the Ruincrest layer has been suppressed.

To the uninitiated, the reaction was often, “Huh? There was a rebellion there?!” or “What guts do those rich snobs have to start a rebellion?”

Those who don’t know the twisted lust for power and meticulousness of the meritorious families might say that, but in reality, the central administration didn’t notice the Ruincrest rebellion at all until Alice was deployed.

In the Ark, rebellion is a capital crime that can burn down the entire layer, not just the perpetrators, but the punishment is so severe that it must be based on solid material evidence and a clear factual relationship that clearly threatens the peace and order of the Ark.

In fact, Perdain completely blocked external interference through his wealth, connections, employees, and various surveillance mechanisms. Even if a central Overseer infiltrated the Ruincrest layer, they would lie low and wait for the right moment for their cause.

A person in the top 1 percent with money and power prepared for rebellion with meticulous planning, and numerous nobles and mega corps involved with the meritorious family found themselves unable to back out.

Thus, Perdain created his own kingdom.

This would have been impossible without a long period of time and patience, enormous capital, and power.

If he had just six more months, the combat homunculus cultivation facility would have been operational, giving him a military force that even the central administration couldn’t ignore.

“The Ruincrest layer’s chances of a successful rebellion are uncertain, but considering the capital and military capabilities of the 17 mega corps and the existence of the forced-modification combat homunculus cultivation facility, I’ve determined that at the very least, the Ruincrest layer could completely secede from the Ark.”

[It would have been quite dangerous if the meritorious family had deliberately created a combat homunculus cultivation facility.]

Alice was reporting to 17 central administrators attending the meeting via hologram in the central hall of the Arbentaine Family.

With Perdain neutralized and all the combat homunculus under Alice’s command, the meritorious family’s rebellion ended futilely, practically a failure.

“Moreover, considering that the cultivation facility’s activation date is uncertain and the audacity and meticulousness of Perdain Arbentaine, we can’t rule out the possibility of a second or third cultivation facility in addition to the one under the Grand Duke’s residence, so I decided to strike Perdain Arbentaine first.”

At Alice’s words, the administrators visible in the hologram nodded in agreement.

-Wow, administrator Rilstia has an excellent Overseer.

-I’m jealous. I want to steal her…

-She’s a diligent and level-headed Overseer.

-Oh, she’s so pretty~

The administrators each highly praised Alice and looked at Rilstia, Alice’s direct superior, with envy, but in reality, Alice was on the verge of tears.

‘Noooo!!! There’s really no turning back now!! My eight-year noble lady life is completely ruined…!’

She still felt regret.

Even now, the regret lingers… it’s still there, unchanged.

Perdain’s rebellion?

Frankly, if Alice had deliberately tried to stop it, she could have collapsed it within a week.

Alice’s position was Perdain’s adopted daughter and the Arbentaine Family’s heir, so the more time passed, the closer she would have been to the center of the rebellion. Even if the Marlang Legion hadn’t flooded, Alice would have somehow overturned the rebellion.

But this noble lady’s life… If things went well, she could have spent eight years, or at least five years, living a luxurious and extravagant life as a noble lady…

【Ahem, human. The Grand Governor, who must spread the red ideology in the lower layer and Ruincrest Academy and lead the workers of all nations, wants to live the life of a capitalist. That is truly unacceptable.】

‘…Theresa, your tone has changed?’

【It was a ‘joke’ tone for the disheartened human. Do you like it?】

‘I like it so much I want to curse. Fuck.’

【You flatter me, human. Heh. Heh. Heh.】

‘You little shit. You’re making fun of me, right?’

【Amazing. Finally, the human’s intelligence and cognitive abilities have grown by about a nanometer. This is a remarkable achievement considering your past behavior.】

‘You fucking bitch.’

【Human, I don’t have male genitalia.】

‘I know, you little shit.’

Alice felt like a fuse was blowing in her forehead as Theresa, her auxiliary personality, made fun of her.

[One last question. Second-Class Overseer Alice, what do you think about the extermination of the Ruincrest layer?]

“…”

At those words, the people around Alice froze.

In fact, Alice wasn’t the only one in this place right now.

Everyone, including Jess and Taylor, as well as the Arbentaine Family’s employees, soldiers, combat secretaries, and servants, were kneeling obediently like prisoners of war.

Perdain had been neutralized, and all the mansion’s soldiers had been killed or captured by the Marlang Legion.

On top of that, Alice, who they thought was just a newly arrived adopted daughter, was a Second-Class Overseer.

She was a genuine Overseer with a blue armband, so their fate was in the hands of the administrators talking to Alice right now.

[Originally, the usual method is to exterminate the three generations of those found guilty of rebellion and burn down the layer. You know that, right? The mega corp called Ernest Rail was executed, regardless of whether they were employees or directors.]

“Yes, I know.”

Shadows fell on the faces of some of them.

Rebellion is always punished by execution.

Everyone knows that.

Of course, many of them didn’t know about Perdain’s cause or rebellion at all.

Even if they did know, the moment they realized it, they were already so deeply involved that they had no choice but to be loyal to Perdain, or they would face death or have their existence erased by the central administration.

In the end, it came to this.

The central administration will surely order the execution of everyone in this place.

“Therefore, I request a merciful judgment from the administrators.”

“…!”

The atmosphere changed at Alice’s words.

[A merciful judgment, you say. Did you say that out of simple compassion?]

[Second-Class Overseer Alice. An Overseer must not let trivial compassion or a reluctance to kill sway their will to execute.]

“Of course not. Do you think I would mention mercy because I’m afraid of killing people?”

In fact, Alice wasn’t averse to killing itself, but she thought it was better not to kill if possible.

Of course, she had challenged Dehite, who had tried to rape her on the first day, to a Duel Trial and turned his limbs into a Christmas tree, but executing so many people didn’t sit well with her.

Of course, if it was necessary or if they didn’t know gratitude and tried to stab her in the back, she could kill them without hesitation.

It would be nice if they didn’t die, but if not, oh well.

“Ruincrest is a layer of nobles, even if it’s rotten. The employees and soldiers are mostly Academy graduates and powerful Awakened, and considering Arbentaine’s enormous capital and power, and their future cooperation with the Ark, I think it’s inefficient to waste human and material resources through execution.”

[Hmm.]

“Above all, the ‘rebellion’ hasn’t even started yet. I have control of the combat homunculus and the cultivation facility, and they have never attempted a direct attack on the central administration, so how about putting them on a leash as ‘agency slaves’?”

Agency slaves.

This refers to legions or Awakened who belong to central administrative agencies and carry out various orders.

It’s similar to a penal unit or a prisoner unit. The patrol contact unit that Oriana used to use at the outer base was also a punishment for Awakened who had committed crimes.

The treatment wouldn’t be good, but at least they would be freed after serving their term. They would also be paid, so it would be much better than being branded as traitors and executed on the spot.

[Hmm, good. Following the opinion of the first-class contributor to suppressing the rebellion, the ‘execution order’ is hereby lifted.]

[Grachie Violence Serena commands. All enforcement and surveillance forces surrounding Ruincrest are to disarm. Situation over, situation over.]

Sighs of relief could be heard from all over.

Now, these people will be judged by the central administration according to the severity of their crimes, and if they’re lucky, they might be released immediately after the investigation.

“And I have a personal request.”

[Speak.]

“The head of the Ruincrest meritorious family is vacant. However, Perdain’s position was, in its own way, the position held by the ruler of this noble layer. If it’s left vacant, there’s a possibility of chaos that would be difficult to manage.”

[Can’t say you’re wrong.]

[If the ruler’s seat is empty, hyenas will bite each other to take it.]

“Therefore, I… want to entrust that position to Jestiel Arbentaine, who was Perdain’s wife.”

“…!”

Jess’s face brightened at those words.

Becoming the head of the Arbentaine Family with the endorsement of the Overseer and the central administration, rather than simply pushing Perdain out and taking his place, would give Jess a different level of weight and support.

Even if Jess had taken over as the head of the Arbentaine Family, the nobles of this layer would have naturally rebelled or looked down on Jess and tried to elect a new leader.

As Alice and one of the administrators said, Ruincrest was destined for chaos like the Warring States period, but receiving the administrator’s endorsement was like having a unified dynasty from the beginning.

[Good. Granted.]

[If the contributor says so, then it’s determined that Jestiel Arbentaine is the right person to take over as the new head and control the layer.]

[Is that the end of it then?]

“Yes, I will leave the detailed handover to the Overseer who will come in the future.”

[I see. Understood. Then that’s enough for the report on the status and conclusion of the Ruincrest rebellion.]

[The reporting ceremony is hereby concluded. End the secretary’s recording.]

[Good work, Second-Class Overseer Alice.]

[The Ark will remember your dedication.]

[Additional rewards and allowances will be bestowed directly through Administrator Rilstia Frostia.]

“Yes, thank you.”

[By the way, it’s been newly confirmed that the meritorious family’s capabilities can evade the eyes of the central administration.]

[We need to cut off the limbs of the capitalists and meritorious families.]

[Administrator Grachie Violence Serena, who is in charge of the nobles, speaks. These are the guys who avoided the central Overseer in ways that weren’t known before. Since there’s also the pretext that they rebelled, it’s determined that changing the laws won’t be a problem.]

The administrators were already discussing not only this Ruincrest rebellion but also how to control the nobles, the wealthy, and the powerful within the Ark through this.

There will probably be a considerable upheaval.

With this incident as an opportunity, the existing rights and powers of the powerful and nobles will be cut off in large chunks, and if they’re unlucky, many will even have their noble status taken away.

[Oh, by the way, what’s the current status of the rebel Perdain Arbentaine?]

“He’s being transported to the central administration with permanent damage to his limbs, including his mana circuit.”

[Is that so? Just a moment… Ah, confirmed. Special transport cargo 5389-148. Oh, dear… Alice.]

“Yes?”

[The Perdain being transported is calling your name endlessly. He’s feeling wronged, sad, and resentful.]

“……”

Well, to be honest, he has a right to feel wronged.

I found out while finishing this mission that Perdain had been suspecting me but dismissing it in a way that wasn’t just once or twice…

Every single time, it was things like ‘There’s no way the central administration would do that’, ‘There’s no way they’d use such a clumsy and flawed infiltrator’, ‘If Alice was an Overseer, she would have contacted me much more meticulously and naturally, and there’s no way she would have done something so stupid as to kill the Arbentaine Family’s heir apparent in a Duel Trial on her first day at the Academy…’

Hmm.

I see.

Perdain is smart, but his flaw is that he’s stupid!

【Wouldn’t the human be worse?】

‘Still, wouldn’t I be better than him? The one whose limbs are broken and being dragged away isn’t me, it’s Perdain.’

【Can’t say you’re wrong.】