Chapter 45: The Mysterious Girl – 1

Chapter 45: The Mysterious Girl – 1

“…Alright, I admit it. As you said, you have quite a troublesome talent. But… that doesn’t make me curious about your purpose, does it?”

“Really? Then, well… I’ll just blow this place up without regret. I was going easy on you, considering you might be a link to the headquarters, but if you’re going to act like this.”

At those words, the Branch Manager quietly glared at the girl.

However, the girl, without a hint of hesitation, glared back at the Branch Manager and shook the glass bottle in her hand.

After a few seconds of them not taking their eyes off each other… the girl simply threw the glass bottle onto the floor.

Naturally, a mist began to spread in all directions, freezing everything, whether human or object.

Just one person. A mist that froze everyone except the girl.

Even when the organization members tried to approach the girl to catch her, at some point, the girl was no longer there.

It was physical ability completely unsuited to her delicate-looking body.

“I’ve lived my life, and I’ve never seen a sword swung in front of my eyes that wasn’t a person, but a glass bottle placed where a person had been? And then it burst and I froze?”

……The organization members who experienced such a thing froze for a moment…

But the girl, ignoring them, just kept moving.

She simply continued to quietly mock the organization members from elsewhere, urging the Branch Manager for an answer.

***

Thud.

Something lightly dropped.

However… at that light sound, the organization members quickly scattered.

Soon, mist rapidly rose from that spot.

In truth, dealing with the mist itself wasn’t that difficult.

Since it was no different from low-grade magic, you could just blow it away with slightly higher-grade magic.

The problem was…… that the glass bottle containing the magic suddenly appeared from somewhere.

They had clearly swung their swords towards the target, the girl…

But the next moment, what they saw was the girl who had somehow moved behind them, and a glass bottle thrown in the direction the sword had been swung.

And when that glass bottle touched the sword, a chilling mist swirled out.

The organization members weren’t skilled enough to immediately cast magic at that very moment to deal with the mist engulfing them.

Nevertheless, they quickly used mana to endure the effects of the mist and continued fighting…

Unlike the girl, who showed no signs of tiring, the organization members’ bodies were gradually growing exhausted and freezing.

Thud.

Again, again, a glass bottle dropped from somewhere.

This time too, the organization members frantically spread out, tracking the girl who was somewhere.

They thought that if they just caught the girl once, it would be an immediate victory, so they desperately moved around and hid within the room, tracking the girl who kept throwing glass bottles that burst with mist.

It wasn’t just a room; it was covered in ice and mist everywhere, making tracking difficult, but they still believed that finding the girl would guarantee victory.

……Until some of the scattered organization members saw the girl’s fist land directly on someone’s solar plexus, knocking them out cold.

And, until the girl immediately leaped and kicked the heads of the organization members who found her in the room, which was covered in mist and ice.

Until then, they had thought so.

Clang!

In the instant the organization members froze at that shocking sight, a glass bottle flew.

And, one unlucky organization member was hit in the head by that glass bottle and fell backward.

…The mist that burst out as always, engulfing the organization members, was a bonus.

***

“……Stop. Further fighting would be futile.”

“You’re just realizing that now?”

“There are many skilled individuals in the Empire, but I never imagined one mere bitch would cause this.”

The Branch Manager, who finally signaled his surrender, looked around the room.

From the organization members who had, at some point, become one with the wall and couldn’t properly control their bodies… to the organization members who were passionately kissing the floor, glued by ice.

Moreover, the Vice Branch Managers were fighting with their backs against each other.

……It wasn’t that they were fighting the girl while protecting each other, but rather, they were frozen with their backs stuck together due to the ice created by the girl, or more precisely, by her mist.

And they were fighting each other, blaming the other for how they ended up like this.

Of course, if he stepped in, this situation would change completely.

Or he could simply remain silent and wait until other organization members arrived.

But… unfortunately, the Branch Manager had a reason why he couldn’t do that.

The branch’s status, already half out of favor with the headquarters due to poor performance.

And his own prestige, which had fallen in proportion to that.

In such a situation… to directly exert his power or call in other subordinates just to subdue one girl who appeared out of nowhere?

It was obvious that his already precarious position as Branch Manager in that branch would become even more precarious.

Furthermore… though she probably didn’t know what she was saying, it was true that he was curious about the girl’s objective.

A girl who wanted a connection with the headquarters. Right now, she was just a bastard who had infiltrated the branch, but… you never knew.

She might be a hidden card that could instantly improve the branch’s situation.

The ‘organization’s’ headquarters considered finding excellent organization members to be the branch’s best achievement.

Doing things beneficial to the organization was a given, and they periodically checked how many good talents had been found.

That’s why, in fact, they had ordered this girl to be captured as soon as they saw the speculative report that she had created a new drug.

Of course… things didn’t go as planned, but what if this girl was truly as exceptional as she claimed?

Then, the Branch Manager himself could claim that this branch had achieved the ‘talent discovery’ that the headquarters loved most.

“So, what promise do you want?”

“Oh, it’s simple. To remain silent about everything that happened earlier, and everything that will happen from now on. Of course, if you’re still alive in the future.”

“That’s a strange request.”

“Well, I’m trying to make a deal with the headquarters, and it would be a bit awkward if I told them I trashed one of their branches, wouldn’t it?”

‘Trashed, my ass. She’s just arrogant after fighting a few nobodies.’

The Branch Manager quietly nodded, thinking that the branch’s main forces were probably standing guard, unaware of anything, and that she was overflowing with confidence.

In any case, it was an easy task from the Branch Manager’s perspective.

……Although the girl’s attitude of suddenly using informal speech at some point was unpleasant, he decided to let it slide.

“There’s no compulsion to the promise, but it would be best to keep it for your own safety.”

“So, what is your purpose that you did such a thing?”

“I told you. A deal.”

Saying that, the girl took out a few empty glass bottles onto her hand.

“You see, I can make all sorts of potions. I call them ‘potions.’

 As you just saw, there are potions that cause magic, and there are also potions like the so-called ‘drugs’ that I made to attract your attention.”

“You’re going to make a deal with the headquarters with that? You’re arrogant.”

“Even those without mana can become an army that constantly unleashes magic if they just have potions. Just throw them, and the potion’s effect will manifest.”

At the girl’s confident attitude, the Branch Manager once again fell into his characteristic silence.

The difference was that… if before he had been silent to observe the girl, this time it was a silence to suppress his bursting laughter.

He was currently experiencing the power of what the girl called ‘potions’ firsthand.

All the personnel deployed as guards in the room were either unconscious or had their bodies restrained by ice, and although they weren’t combat specialists, the two Vice Branch Managers were also affected by that potion.

To that extent, the girl’s potion was quite a practical weapon… so there was no way the headquarters would refuse this girl’s deal.

“So, are you thinking of helping me out a bit?”

“…You’re arrogant. If later……”

“My point is, is there a path to the headquarters in this branch?”

……A question arose as to how the girl, an outsider, knew that, but the Branch Manager didn’t ask it.

She wouldn’t answer anyway.

Instead, he merely offered a different proposal.

“There isn’t one in this branch. However, later……”

“Then that’s too bad. Actually, the time given to you has already run out. My ‘ace in the hole’ has arrived.

 By the way, my ace in the hole is quite strong. Which means you’re all screwed now.”

The girl completely ignored his words, lightly snapping her fingers.

Rage surged within the Branch Manager at her actions, but he still decided to give her one last chance.

“I don’t know what that ace in the hole is, but with that kind of attitude, you won’t……”

However, the Branch Manager didn’t even have time to finish his sentence; he had to quickly deploy defensive magic.

Someone had instantly broken through the room’s door and lunged a sword at him.

As he barely managed to block the sudden strike, a cold voice descended.

“Defense Commander, Christie. Your crimes…… you already know them well, so there’s no need to state them.”

“De-Defense Force…? But how…? That, that can’t be…!!”

The Branch Manager quickly scanned his surroundings at the sudden disaster. But the fact that the Defense Commander was swinging her sword in front of him remained unchanged.

Behind her, the girl with a faint smirk and the already chaotic state of the branch could be seen.

More precisely… the branch being swept through by the Defense Force.

“I told you, didn’t I? My ‘ace in the hole’ is quite strong?”

…Along with that shocking sight and the girl’s mocking words, the Branch Manager’s consciousness faded.

As his consciousness blurred, he thought he faintly heard the girl say not to kill him, because she needed to use him.