episode_0200

Irene had to exhaust herself calming down her friend, who would get crazily stimulated whenever elements of blood and violence came up.

“First, calm down and listen to me. What do you think would happen if you assassinated Rigel and your cousin right now? How would the remaining clan members react?”

Violet replied as if it were no big deal.

“Some would surrender, and some would fight back, right?”

“That’s right. But would all those people be part of Rigel’s faction? What about those who simply bear ill will?”

“Irene-yang, what is the intention of your question?”

Next to Violet, Seijis calmly opened his mouth. Irene momentarily suppressed an unpleasant feeling rising within her.

“I’ll get straight to the point. I want to minimize the damage to our clan members.”

Violet, whose joyful violence plan had been rejected, pouted like a complaining child.

“Don’t tell me, you’re thinking of letting Rigel live?”

That was until she heard the chilling declaration that followed.

“No. Absolutely not.”

Violet flinched at her friend’s unfamiliar cold voice.

“To be honest, I did hesitate a bit. If only they hadn’t brought up selling 30% of the clan’s shares. I no longer care about the lives of my uncle, my relatives, or their subordinates. Once everything is over, do as you please with them, whether you use them as target practice or tear them to pieces.”

“Huh? Really?”

While the Violets’ eyes widened at the unexpected suggestion, Irene continued speaking.

“But Violet, not everyone in our clan is involved in this factional dispute. Most are hunters who simply perform exploration missions, or staff who faithfully carry out their duties in their positions, unrelated to internal politics. If we attack them without justification, it could escalate into a civil war in the worst case, and innocent people would have to bear the full brunt of the damage.”

Irene calculated.

The outcome if a civil war broke out within the clan.

‘It would be easier than twisting a child’s arm.’

Helios was certainly a powerful clan.

But what if Violet stepped in?

Considering Violet’s abilities and her brilliant performance in the last Western District offensive, the outcome was obvious.

To exaggerate, it would be over in the time it takes to eat a snack.

It wouldn’t matter even if the entire clan charged with gritted teeth.

Considering Violet’s tenacious vitality and brutality, destruction would be a matter of time.

The problem wasn’t about victory or defeat.

‘But if I reclaim the clan like that, what would be left? Just ashes?’

Crushing Rigel’s faction was simple.

They had to be eliminated.

‘I understand you covet the clan head’s position. But to sell it to another clan? Helios, founded by my father?’

Though she didn’t show it for fear of provoking Violet, a boiling rage felt ready to erupt within her at any moment.

In the video her friend had filmed, there were quite a few adult relatives and cousins whom she knew well.

‘After receiving help from my father during difficult times, how could they…’

In betrayal, she unconsciously ground her teeth.

But she regained control of her emotions.

In situations like this, she needed to be even more rational.

‘The problem is the other people within the clan.’

She recalled the information she had gradually heard from loyal faction members and from Mr. Cress.

‘Not everyone is an enemy.’

“Teacher-nim, there are people within the clan who can certainly be made into potential allies. With effort, we can at least ensure they aren’t hostile. If we secure these potential collaborators in advance, we can minimize friction later when we reorganize the clan. But would it truly be a wise choice to just attack without making such efforts?”

“That’s not wrong.”

As Seijis nodded, Irene turned her gaze back to her friend.

“Your help is truly appreciated. But Violet, the problem with our clan requires a different approach than when we dealt with Magnabyss. To minimize future internal strife, let’s consider a more moderate method.”

If Violet’s power is mobilized, preventing backlash wouldn’t be difficult. She could simply crush them by force. The overwhelming difference in strength would prevent a civil war.

Resistance and opposition would be crushed as easily as a walnut before an excavator.

However, one cannot eat a crushed, dirt-covered walnut. To retrieve the kernel, one needs to control their strength.

Furthermore, her own situation was also an issue.

Aside from her father being a former clan head, she was merely an academy student with no shares. She had no support base whatsoever, relying only on her friend’s external power. She had no experience managing a clan.

‘If I just eliminate my uncle and step in, who would listen to me?’

There were limits to reinstating the loyalists. Loyalty could not be bought with fear and oppression.

‘Rather than rushing things, gaining internal support would be more useful for future clan reorganization.’

There was also something she personally disliked.

Objectively speaking, her friend was a walking disaster.

If the storm named Violet struck Helios, countless assets would be destroyed.

“Hmm…”

The Violets, who had been listening attentively to Irene, rested their chins on their hands and thought.

The Violet in the very front exclaimed with a bright expression, as if having realized something.

“Aha! You were scared your dad’s inheritance would all be destroyed! My bad, you should’ve said so earlier!”

Irene made a dumbfounded expression for a moment.

“…I didn’t expect you to interpret it that way.”

**

We listened intently to Irene’s explanation.

“So, you want to prevent people unrelated to the faction from getting caught up, increase alliances, and then isolate Rigel’s faction and cut them out?”

“Exactly. That way, we can flexibly control the clan internally later.”

Only then did I understand Irene’s intention.

It means increasing allies, reducing enemies, isolating them internally, and then using a justification to cleanly sweep away only the uncle’s faction.

「It’s like precise anti-cancer treatment?」

If Helios Clan is the patient, then Rigel’s gang is the cancerous tumor.

Our Violets are the chemotherapy!

The doctor Violets burn the cancer cells with flamethrowers.

「So, you’re going to block the cancer’s spread and kill it!」

「Burn them! Kill them!」

While a medical drama unfolded within the Violet network, Irene continued speaking.

“In that regard, your wiretapping will be a great help for the next plan. If it becomes known that they’re selling most of the shares to Luminex, it will definitely turn some neutral factions and most conservative faction members into allies. At the same time, it can also worsen their influence within the clan.”

Sophieel, who had been listening silently all this time, asked.

“So, is that everything?”

“Of course, there are other things that others have investigated besides that. Minor and major embezzlements and misconducts, you see. We’ll use all of those as justification to strike Rigel’s faction.”

Irene, who had been explaining for a while, suddenly pointed somewhere.

Her finger was pointing at the calendar on the desk.

The number ’12’ was clearly visible.

“It’s almost the end of the year. Helios Clan holds an event every year-end. It’s a year-end party that combines financial statements and performance announcements. The clan is currently in disarray due to preparations for the year-end party, so it’s a good time to act.”

Irene had her own ideas after all.

“Alright, let’s reclaim the clan Irene’s father founded!”

“Let’s reclaim it! Let’s purge them!”

“Whoa!”

We held up our weapons and cheered. Somehow, Irene and the Teacher-nim siblings looked at us with half-resigned expressions, but we ignored them.

“…Oh right, Irene-yang. By the way, where is your father?”

“My father is…ah.”

Irene’s face turned pale, like an applicant standing before an interview room after forgetting to turn off the gas.

“I must be crazy! This idiot! How could I forget the most important thing!”

Irene screamed and ran outside.

We chased after her, not knowing why.

“What’s wrong?”

“Violet! No time for explanations, later. Please help me! Teacher-nim, I ask you too!”

**

The place we drove to at midnight was a massive general hospital in the Central District. The dark interior of the hospital was quiet and peaceful.

“Thank goodness…”

The VIP room, equipped with multiple layers of security, resembled a restricted area in a research lab.

The moment we hurried in, urging the doctor, a gigantic metal cylinder densely covered with complex machinery came into view.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a life support device. My father’s.”

As Irene let out a sigh of relief, Seijis, standing behind her, cautiously surveyed the surroundings.

“For now, the ambulance has been arranged as requested.”

Our reason for visiting this place was simple.

To get Irene’s father out of the hospital before Rigel’s gang could pull any stunts.

“So, we just have to carry it out?”

According to the explanation, all functions for life support were equipped within that device.

It was a measure prepared for emergencies, they said.

We just had to carry it out and hide it in a hospital near the Brotherhood.

The life support device was designed for easy transfer between hospitals; it could be easily transported simply by disconnecting the power.

Ten minutes later, the Violets, carrying the bio-coffin, ran down the hospital corridor.

“W-what are you doing?”

“Get out of the way! They said they don’t like your hospital’s service!”

Ignoring the doctor and security guard, we exited through the main entrance with Teacher-nim.

An ambulance was waiting.

“Alright, let’s load it quickly!”

“Heave-ho! Heave-ho!”

As the Violets hurriedly loaded the life support device into the ambulance, suspicious people appeared.

“Wait a moment, you people!”

“Huh?”

“That’s Orion Solstice, right? Where are you taking him now?”

Goosebumps rose.

Number 1278 calmly lied.

“No? This is a coffin.”

“We’re going to the funeral home. Don’t interfere.”

As we equivocated, the fellow who appeared to be the leader of the group stepped forward.

He pointed at the coffin with an unpleasant smile.

“Coffin, what? That’s a life support device designed by our company. Can’t you see the mark on it?”

The moment they looked in the direction he pointed, the Violets were horrified.

Two triangular symbols, the Raphlaxia logo.

「Aaaah! Why is this here?!」

「It must be something those guys made!」

Judging by their demeanor, those guys must have come from Raphlaxia.

“Excuse me, young lady. It seems there’s been some misunderstanding, but we’re supposed to take that ourselves. Would you hand it over?”

And Raphlaxia is a company deeply connected to Luminex.

As Irene and I prepared to fight in tension, a whispering voice was heard from behind.

“Here, big sister. Wear this mask.”

“What’s this now?”

“From now on, we’re problem solvers. I trust you understand.”

“Hey, who are you…”

-Bang!

A loud boom echoed, and the Raphlaxia guys in front of us were shattered. Literally.

When the dust cleared, what was revealed was Teacher-nim, wearing a mask. He was holding a blood-stained mace.

「Fast! I couldn’t see it!」

“Violet, you know the car we came in, right? Quickly tie them up and load them. Right now!”

Confused, we nonetheless loaded the prisoners into the car as instructed.

The two cars soon left the hospital.

**

The next morning, inside an old warehouse, the Violets faced an unexpected challenge.

“Lightning Strike!”

“Water Dive!”

The Raphlaxia prisoner we caught yesterday refused to open his mouth.

He calmly endured our electric torture and water torture.

We were disgusted by his defiant attitude, as if he felt no pain.

“Why?!”

“Hahaha! You call that torture?”

As the prisoners cackled, the warehouse door opened, and Teacher-nim entered.

“So you were here.”

“Gasp! This is, well…”

Caught in the act of torture, we fidgeted nervously.

Because the image of Teacher-nim raging was vividly painted in our minds.

「Aah! We’re dead!」

Teacher-nim silently and carefully approached the prisoner.

He inspected the prisoners with his mouth shut, and the atmosphere was unusual.

“This is, well, that is…”

Teacher-nim raised his right hand.

Flames gathered in his hand.

Seijis brought it directly to the prisoner’s head.

“Ugh, aaaaah!”

“Watch closely.”

The prisoner screamed in pain.

Surprisingly, even as he was burning in the magical flames, his flesh was slowly regenerating.

“Unique ability?”

“No, but it’s similar. It’s Raphlaxia’s super-regeneration procedure.”

Saying that, Seijis increased the intensity of the flames.

“When interrogating an opponent with super-regeneration, this is what you have to do.”

We nodded silently. To witness a new realm of torture at Teacher-nim’s hands.

While the interrogation continued for a long time, Violet 152, who had come out after breakfast, saw Irene busy organizing documents like an office worker.

She was holding pens of various colors and drawing diverse lines on the papers.

“What are you doing?”

The identity of the stack of documents was a personnel roster.

“This is…”

“Don’t tell me, a hit list?”

At the mention of ‘hit list,’ Irene finally spoke.

“It’s a long story to explain, but half of that is correct.”

She said it was a document obtained through Mr. Cress.

“I referenced your method. Starting today, I’ll separate the wheat from the chaff.”

The red checkmark adorning the very top line of the list was impressive.

At the very top was the name ‘Rigel Solstice’.

“To be honest, I’m grateful to my uncle. Thanks to seeing those guys trying to abduct my father yesterday, I was able to solidify my conviction even further.”

It seems Irene has learned the aesthetics of purging from us Violets. It’s truly a touching moment.

For some reason, it seems those guys were trying to sell Irene’s father to Raphlaxia.

Seeing that, our friend became even more resolute.

“Starting today, I’ll be going around to meet people. Will you help?”

I replied with a chuckle.

“Yeah! Of course, I’ll help. We’re friends!”