episode_0090
by fnovelpiaThe largest city within the vast empire, Jedo is a place bustling with people every day.
In such a system, a man who does business without having to worry about expensive land prices and monthly rents. Walter Bailey.
He came into the tavern slowly in the morning as usual and wiped down the tables of the tavern that was not open yet.
Walter, who was arranging the displayed bottles of liquor and wiping the glasses with a dry cloth, sat on a chair and muttered absentmindedly.
“It’s going to be crazy today too… .”
Recently, word of mouth has spread about his tavern’s delicious food, and unexpectedly, many customers have been flocking to his tavern. His tavern, which was packed just yesterday, will probably be packed again today.
Of course, a ‘normal person’ would have been delighted by this good news.
Walter is not an ordinary man. He furrowed his brow and began to mutter.
“Damn, I could probably get some kickbacks… . I don’t think I should just throw you in the corner like this… .”
He has been committing dirty deeds for a long time, taking large sums of money in exchange for clearing up the dirty rumors of the so-called ‘high-ranking people’.
He was not satisfied with the salary he received as an agent of the Federal Intelligence Service, and the social connections he developed with high-ranking officials were a tempting reward, so he accepted the job without hesitation.
However, there was a problem with the last commission I received about 3 years ago.
As the work he was commissioned to do went differently than expected, his unidentified employer reported Walter’s wrongdoings to the head of the intelligence agency.
Walter rubbed his old scar and complained. This burn scar was also the aftermath of a ‘small accident’ that happened when the work he was assigned that day went a little differently.
‘I’ll just report to my superiors that something went wrong with my work… I guess I’ll have to accept work from that guy twice.’
In the end, the longer the tail, the more it will be caught. Not only was the illicit wealth he had accumulated over the years exposed, but he was also caught doing work in return for bribes.
The only good thing about it was that his employer never mentioned anything about his request. Thanks to this, Walter was able to avoid being a suspect in the case, but in his eyes, he only saw the thief as a thief.
Anyway, it was a good thing. I heard that there were quite a few casualties from the accident that day.
But even if that wasn’t the case, taking bribes was a pretty big sin. Normally, he would have been fired right away, but Walter’s connections over the years didn’t betray him. He ended up taking charge of a small tavern in the system.
The tavern he was in charge of appeared on the surface to be a common tavern that was widespread throughout the system, but its essence was different. It was one of the many meeting places for agents operating within the system.
Walter neatly arranged the glasses that he had cleaned. Although he was muttering, he smiled inwardly as he looked at the neatly arranged glasses.
Having run a bar for three years without intending to, he had become a person close to the owner of a bar. His body had become so stiff that it was questionable whether he would be able to function as an agent of the intelligence agency as before.
‘When I retire, I’m thinking about opening a restaurant.’
With that thought in mind, Walter was about to put down the glass he had just cleaned.
– Knock! Knock!
There was a sound of glass shattering. Walter turned his head in the direction of the sound.
Four men in maintenance uniforms were knocking on the glass door in front of his tavern. Walter scratched his head and headed toward them.
“Is today the inspection day?”
They were maintenance workers who inspected meters, horsepower generators, and various equipment placed in the kitchen.
They had been together for about two years. After the inspection, they would drink together and got to know each other to some extent, so they became quite close.
Perhaps because they were people who did hard work, they were smooth-talking and drank well, making them perfect drinking buddies. Walter saw familiar faces and waved his hand in a familiar manner with a happy expression.
– Tinkle—!
“Hey. Today was the inspection day? Oh man, I completely forgot.”
“… … .”
“Ah, you’re going to start with the meter like usual? It’s in the storage room outside the store, so if you look under the flower pot, you’ll find the key… .”
– Tirolong—!
At that moment, the phone on the counter started to ring. Walter ran to answer it without a care.
“Yes. Bailey’s Tavern. What… .”
[ I’m hungry. I want to be treated right now. ]
For a moment, Walter’s expression hardened. He asked in a tense voice.
“… Of course. What would you like me to prepare for you?”
[Salad with tomatoes. One jumbo size.]
“I checked the menu. What time should I bring it to you?”
[ At 5pm sharp. On another plate. ]
Another plate. Walter looked at the phone with regretful eyes.
‘… was it exposed? It’s a new phone, damn it.’
Walter’s eyes turned to the clock on the wall. The hour and minute hands pointed to exactly 8:45 AM.
“Okay. Okay.”
Click.
If it had been as usual, he would have waited for the other person to hang up first, but Walter didn’t wait and hung up first. Immediately afterwards, he briefly checked the movement of the door.
The mechanics had apparently gone to the storage room outside the store to check the meter. Walter quickly ran to the front door and locked the store.
– Closed for business today.
‘I guess I’ll have to ask him to come next time.’
He turned back the tavern sign, went straight back to the counter, ripped out the phone cord, and headed to the kitchen with the unplugged phone in his hand.
“Hoo… .”
Walter, who had come in with the kitchen door tightly shut, immediately threw the phone into the trash can, picked up a hammer from the corner of the kitchen, and mercilessly struck the phone. The phone, which had been making a dull sound and screaming, soon shattered into pieces and scattered in the trash can.
As if that wasn’t enough, Walter took out his magic wand and conjured a magic circle. Flame magic circles were his specialty.
“Burn(Κάψτε το).”
The broken phone was instantly engulfed in flames. Walter poured cold water on the phone, which had turned into a black lump of charcoal. The phone was so badly damaged that it was hard to even recognize its shape.
Walter watched the scene for a moment, then looked around after confirming once again that the phone was definitely broken.
There was no one else in the house except Walter, and nothing could be heard except his breathing. I opened the kitchen door and checked outside, and the glass door was also closed properly.
Walter sighed in relief and opened the cabinet door under the sink. As he rummaged through the cabinet filled with frying pans and pots, a small door handle fell into his hand.
Walter pulled the doorknob and squeezed his hunched body inside. It was an uncomfortable passage no matter when he went in and out, but he had no time to complain.
Beyond the small door he came in through, there was a plethora of communication equipment, and headsets for wiretapping and receiving commands were strewn about.
Walter quickly put on his headset and immediately set the frequency of his communication magic.
‘Channel Red. Frequency is J-855001… .’
– Chijijik—.
As soon as they tuned in, a mechanical sound and an urgent voice came into Walter’s headset.
[Here’s a periscope! Here’s a periscope! Here’s two whiskeys, is the reception good?!]
“Whiskey two. Good reception.”
[ Currently… . doing… ! Chijik… ! ]
“… Please notify me that there are two whiskeys here, and resend one periscope.”
[ Crackle—. Whiskey two! Whiskey two! Get out of there now! I repeat! Whiskey two! Get out of there now! The crayfish has broken through the fish trap! I repeat! The crayfish has broken through the fish trap! ]
“… … !!!”
[ Crack, crack—! Two whiskeys! Change the menu to chicken tenders! Repeat! Change the menu to chicken tenders! ]
– Clang!
The sound of glass breaking. The sound was very quiet due to the room’s soundproofing, but Walter’s keen hearing, which was extremely tense, did not miss it.
At that moment, an alarm bell rang in Walter’s head.
“Fuck!”
Walter immediately threw down his headset. Out of habit, he shut off all the magic from his communication devices, opened the door he had crawled through earlier, and quickly stepped outside.
He left the kitchen and returned to the counter, where he saw this.
“Ah… !”
Far away, beyond the glass wall, at the other end of the system, a single red flower blooms faintly.
And then, four maintenance workers who were clearly supposed to be checking the meter were suddenly trying to break through the window and break in.
‘Magic is late!’
Walter quickly aimed the gun he had hidden in his bosom. It must have been the fastest gun-toting moment of his life.
– Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three gunshots. They left Walter’s pistol and struck the thighs, stomach, and shoulders of three mechanics, respectively.
– Bang!
However, the fourth bullet did not hit the last mechanic. The absence of the past few years had rusted his skills.
The mechanics continued to climb through the window. Walter took aim at them urgently and shouted.
“Fuck…! What the hell are you guys…!”
At that moment, the man who had been hit on the shoulder and was lying down suddenly swung his arm and threw something. Walter quickly aimed his pistol at his head, but the object the man was holding flew towards him much faster.
‘bag…?’
It was a mechanic’s tool bag. Through the zipper of the half-open tool bag, I could glimpse something with a ticking clock on it.
‘…bomb.’
Bombs. The magic bombs themselves wouldn’t have much effect, but if you had a bag full of them,
And, there is a boiler room in the warehouse next to the store. If someone were to reverse the horsepower and gas used there, and even a small explosion would occur… .
Walter, who had just finished thinking for a moment, saw the mechanics laughing while bleeding.
And the fact that they are talking. Walter’s head, which had learned the art of lip-reading early on, naturally inputs that information into his brain.
‘Goodbye, trash.’
“What the—!”
– Kwakwakwang—!!!
Walter’s last words were never continued.
Because a huge pillar of fire rose up, engulfing his entire tavern.
* * * * *
Explosion. The sound of something exploding.
So, those pillars of fire. Two pillars of fire rising up, spewing out hot heat.
Chief Curbane stared blankly at the sight. Any thought of continuing to ask questions to get information from Professor Antonelli had already completely disappeared from her mind.
And, what quickly filled that gap in thought was.
‘…terrorism.’
Someone committed an act of terror in the heart of the system. I don’t know if the purpose was to eliminate someone or to destroy something.
In the head of Captain Kerbane, a list of people who could have done something like this began to form. Among them were saboteurs from the dwarves and elves, as well as radical groups that opposed the imperial decision.
So, the conclusion that Chief Kerbein reached after thinking it over in that short moment was:
‘First, return to the information department.’
She quickly gathered her thoughts.
There is an order to everything. Now that this situation has arisen, it is time to put off asking Professor Antonelli unwilling questions and extracting information. The priority is to get a clear picture of the situation.
‘Wait a minute. Professor Antonelli… .’
If only it hadn’t been for the thought that suddenly flashed through her mind like lightning. Chief Curvein hurriedly looked around the seat next to her.
“Ugh, ah… . Aah… .”
Professor Antonelli had already turned his back to the bench and was lying face down on the dirt floor of the school flower bed. Unintelligible sounds continued to flow from his mouth.
“Ah, no… . Please, again… . Again like this… .”
‘Damn! This is the worst!’
Chief Curbane roughly lifted Professor Antonelli up from his stupor. He didn’t have time to gently soothe him and get up.
“Professor Antonelli! Come to your senses!”
“Ah, uh… .”
“We have to go to the main church! Now!”
Two agents. We must hurry and take them back to the Intelligence Department. That was the only thought on Chief Curbane’s mind.
“Why, why… . Why always… .”
In Professor Antonelli’s clouded eyes, there was no sign of the previous bright light returning. Chief Curbane squeezed his eyes shut and raised his palms.
– Thud—!
“Wake up!”
“… … .”
When he slapped his cheek, Professor Antonelli’s head turned with a crunching sound. Chief Curbane grabbed him by the collar and shouted.
“Professor! We have to go to the main hall! Hurry up!”
“Bar, what just happened… .”
“Your Majesty may be in danger! We have to go quickly!”
“… … !”
In Professor Antonelli’s eyes, his former bright and intelligent self returned. Professor Antonelli, who had come to his senses, shook off the hand that was holding his collar and soon started walking briskly.
“Let’s go.”
“… Yes.”
However, their steps soon stopped.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness!”
“Manager!”
Because they saw four people running towards the two people in a hurry. Seeing their safe appearance, Professor Antonelli and Director Kerbain simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.
Professor Antonelli, who was looking at Deacon Sophia running towards him with an urgent expression, suddenly looked up at the sky.
And then, I remembered. The fierce burning of hatred in Cesar’s eyes. His mumbling, fueled by anger.
– I should also get some kind of revenge.
A hotbed of destruction that dyes the morning sky of the system red.
Because that was what Professor Antonelli saw.
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