episode_0278

In an office piled high with papers and documents, Yurik, who was scribbling something on a blackboard, turned his head at Violet’s casual remark as she carried coffee and cookies.

“Uncle, do you know this university? I heard of it for the first time today.”

The one who answered the question was Professor Albert, who was standing beside her, arms crossed, reviewing documents, his tone brusque.

“Violet, you foolish girl, how can you not know that?”

The professor let out a scoff, as if dumbfounded by her ignorance. Violet, with a clueless expression, sent the professor a silent gaze, demanding an explanation.

“You really don’t know? Eckhart University is Dr. Yurik’s alma mater, the one standing right in front of you. I told you before, did you forget?”

“I forgot!”

At Violet’s reaction, scratching her head with a giggle, Yurik and Albert exchanged glances for a moment.

‘Really, you’re so reckless. How do you plan to complete that theory based on this girl…’

‘But the calculations are accurate. I’m certain.’

Now Professor Albert spoke in a lecturing tone.

“Girl, shouldn’t you at least know what the person you live with does? It’s also where Professor Sturges was, at the very least.”

“Hehehe…I’ll remember next time.”

“Sigh, let’s not talk about it.”

After laughing it off, Violet handed over a coffee cup and asked a question.

“Hmm, Uncle, so if it’s Eckhart University, is it a good place?”

Yurik muttered, sipping his coffee.

“Ah, if it’s an incredibly good place… well, it was full of people crazy about studying. Objectively, it’s not bad, but the atmosphere…”

As Yurik explained in vague terms, Albert clarified once again.

“Why are you being so evasive again? You might have bad memories, but that’s how life is everywhere. The matter with your advisor is regrettable, but it’s still your alma mater, isn’t it? Be proud. Eckhart University is one of the leading institutions in awakened research.”

Violet thought.

If Professor Albert said it like that, then it must be a good place. She decided to look into it more later.

“By the way, Uncle Yurik, have you heard the name Bernike? They say he’s a professor there.”

Yurik’s eyes, which had been sipping coffee, widened slightly at once.

“Bernike? Are you talking about the professor with white hair?”

“Yeah, that’s probably him. You seem to know him well.”

“That professor… I’ve only heard that he’s an authority in neurology. He wasn’t in our department, but I saw him occasionally come to my advisor’s office for discussions. They were very… intense.”

Yurik recalled memories and rumors from his graduate school days.

Although he had never directly encountered him, students said he seemed to be the complete opposite of his advisor.

They said he was competent but crazy in many ways.

If Professor Sturges, who had such a good character, could commit such horrifying acts, what kind of person would a professor openly called crazy be? The more he thought about it, the less he wanted to meet him.

“By the way, why him? Did he do something wrong? Surely not human experimentation…”

Albert and Yurik’s gazes uneasily turned to the girl holding the tray. Why on earth was she looking for that professor?

“Violet, surely you’re not planning something big in the Western District this time, are you?”

“No, it’s not like that! I told you I’d tell you when I was doing something big, didn’t I? I was just curious.”

Before more questions could pour out, Violet backed away, quickly retreating from the office.

“That girl makes me uneasy, wondering what plan she’s cooking up now. Aegis Academy is apparently having midterms soon. What is she doing instead of preparing for exams…”

“Indeed…”

**

After solving a small doubt, we Violets began serious preparations.

First, we replenished ammunition and weapons through Helios, and also retrieved the large firearms that hadn’t been used since the last duel.

“Big guns! Harpoons!”

Helios is now a healthy clan since Rigel’s gang died, but in its early days, Helios was said to be a rough clan that focused on bounty hunting. They mainly hunted notorious giant magic beasts that interfered with their business or wanted criminals with bounties on their heads. They reportedly earned money by slaying many infamous criminals and magic beasts. Irene’s father earned the nickname “Spear Fighter” because of anecdotes from that time.

Anyway, the sea is teeming with large magic beasts, and there are awakened pirates as well. The equipment provided by Helios might be quite useful.

“Let’s bring back what we used in the duel. We have some allocated to us.”

“Bring the ammo too!”

While we were at it, we also resupplied consumables used in the Red Zone and ship fuel, then sought information.

First, I asked Irene.

If it’s the clan side, they’d know a lot about maritime security and related requests.

“Pirates or marine magic beasts? Those are a bit hard for me to explain.”

When Unit 2411 went to her, Irene had many books spread out on her desk and was busy looking through them.

“Exploring sea monsters or deep-sea gates requires specialized skills. Naval combat or deep-sea combat isn’t our clan’s specialty.”

Indeed, no matter how tough an awakened person is, fighting while enduring breathing problems and the immense water pressure of the deep sea would be impossible.

No awakened person can fight as freely on the seabed thousands of meters deep as they can on land.

The girl in front of me might be able to during the duration of her unique ability.

“Still, don’t you know anything else? I’m curious!”

“You finished all your other studies before asking, right?”

“Yep!”

Feeling that more explanation was needed, Irene gently put down the tablet she had been looking at moments before.

“Usually, pirates are small groups that simply ride fishing boats and attack tourists, but some pirate organizations are large-scale groups that operate warships, airships, and even helicopters.”

“I see, but warships, the Federation people don’t say anything?”

Irene made an expression as if I was asking about all sorts of trivial things.

“Why the Federation? Violet. You know, the Teatime Treaty. The weapon possession limit for clans only applies to weapons of mass destruction using nuclear or energy reactions.

Our clan alone operates armed helicopters and armored vehicles, don’t we? The purchase and maintenance routes are complex, but possession itself isn’t a problem.”

Oh, right. In Academy City, anything except nuclear bombs isn’t illegal if you have money and connections.

If you operate under a clan banner, it’s relatively easier to purchase weapons in bulk than to smuggle them like I did.

The power level of nuclear weapons can also be replaced by magic or artifacts.

“Well, I don’t think corporations would sell warships to pirates. At best, they’re old destroyers or patrol boats from decades ago that have been released onto the market. Ones equipped with old cannons and torpedoes. Maintenance and repairs could be temporarily solved with magic or artifacts, perhaps.”

After finishing her explanation, Irene stared at me with a suspicious gaze.

“But why pirates? Did something happen out at sea?”

I vaguely made an excuse.

“No, I was just thinking of going on a sea trip together after this semester ends. But I heard rumors that pirates are rampant these days. That would create a security problem, wouldn’t it?”

At the mention of a trip, Irene’s golden eyes sparkled with interest.

“A summer vacation sea trip… that sounds nice. It would be fun to go with other people. As long as you don’t run away again like last time.”

“No! Not like that.”

“Of course not. And worrying about pirates is pointless. We’re all people accustomed to combat. Especially with you here.”

Indeed, if my friends and I gathered, pirates or magic beasts wouldn’t be anything to worry about. Perhaps we could even do something more interesting.

A flash of thought shook the network, and immediately Unit 3351 threw out an interesting idea.

“How about pirate murder tourism?”

“Oh! That sounds fun! It seems great!”

There are two types of pirates in the world. One type is good pirates who freely adventure the seas. The other type is bad pirates who kidnap people, commit robbery, and murder.

The pirates we sank into the sea belong to the latter.

Then what we Violets should aim for is to be good pirates.

“Freedom and liberation!”

That’s right. Spreading freedom and liberation throughout the seas is what we must do.

And in exchange for eradicating pirates, we might even earn some petty cash.

We do good deeds, and we get paid and receive ships. What a wonderful world this is.

Levi, who was discharged from the hospital, has been very depressed anyway, so I should invite him on a pirate murder tour later.

To cure the after-effects of that Apostle’s psychic attack and return to daily life, a large amount of dopamine will likely be needed.

If it’s about cleaning up sea trash with a legitimate cause and justice, Levi would like it too.

However, first, we need to get used to naval combat.

Which pirates should we kill first? We need information.

It’s not just because we’re bored, absolutely not.

“Let’s go to the manpower agency!”

In this situation, it would be good to find a back-alley broker.

I strode into the dim office.

A flickering fluorescent light cast an uneven glow on the messy desk and old filing cabinets.

It felt like a noir film, but I knew the truth.

The reason the fluorescent light flickered was because the office owner was too lazy to replace it, and the messy desk was due to beer cans and snack wrappers.

“The manager has become too lazy.”

Having only been given miscellaneous tasks, he’s become a bit lazy. I’ll have to keep him on his toes for a while.

In the middle of the office, Manager Leslie, who had a magazine covering his face, hastily stood up when he heard my footsteps.

“Ah, you’re back, Boss! How may I help you?”

The manager asked in a voice still thick with sleep.

“Where are the others?”

“They’re out for personal side jobs or vacation. I let them be free since there wasn’t any work.”

“I see. Tell them to come back since it’s going to be busy for a while.”

I plopped down onto the office sofa. The springs creaked under my weight.

“I need information on pirates. Right now. All kinds of armed groups roaming the sea, and if there are any related requests. Are there any bastards to be killed at sea?”

The manager’s eyes flashed, as if he hadn’t been dozing moments ago.

He furrowed his brow as if to accelerate his thoughts, tapping the desk rapidly with a pen.

“Pirates, huh? Work for troubleshooters at sea isn’t my specialty, but I’ll do my best to find something. By the way, if I may ask, Boss? Why did you suddenly become interested in pirates? It’s a rule that the workflow can only be concretely established if the intent and purpose are clear.”

I shrugged.

“Nothing special, just saw some blood recently from that direction. What do you know about pirates or gangs operating in the waters near Lustrum?”

Leslie leaned back and steepled his fingers.

“They’ve always been there. It’s said that over the past few years, as competition between clans intensified, the number of stragglers pushed out to sea has increased. Friends who lived by the sword wouldn’t be satisfied with the paltry sums from manual labor, would they? So, you could say they changed their way of earning money to raiding shipping companies and cruise ships. Of course, there are also clans that have always operated at sea. The problem is that the line between legitimate clans working at sea and blatant pirates is as vague as wave marks on a sandy beach.”

I nodded, encouraging him to continue.

“On one hand, there are clans that hunt marine magic beasts and explore for underwater artifacts or profitable resources. But these guys sometimes engage in piracy on the high seas as a side job. Conversely, there are also pirates who ostensibly operate under a clan banner to avoid the eyes of the Federation or large clans.”

“That’s interesting. So that’s how it works. But what about the Federation?”

At the mention of the Federation, Manager Leslie let out a small laugh.

“The Federation, you say? It would be fortunate if they were merely incompetent. It’s just a rumor, but it’s said that some factions within the Federal Navy also have pirates who collect tolls.”

Oh dear, so some of the Federal Navy also play at being pirates.

“The sea is vast. While the Navy and large clans do some enforcement, there are limits. So, they take hostages, extort protection money from merchant ships, or plunder goods. The risk is low, you see.”

Well, I’ve heard enough general information. Now, let’s get to the main point.

“Okay, I’ve heard everything I needed to. Are there any requests related to pirates?”

Even if large clans or the Federation condone it, the problem doesn’t disappear. There would surely be efforts to deal with it privately. There would be requests for personal extermination. There would also be efforts to investigate.

As I stared intently, the manager made a calming gesture.

“Could you give me a few hours? I do have connections, so I’ll look into it.”

The manager immediately picked up his phone. His fingers moved busily, sending encrypted messages through a secure anonymous messenger service. I got bored pacing around the small office and went outside.

Thirty minutes later, the manager sent a message. Along with an access link containing a list of multiple requests.

-Connected here. And I’ve brought some lucrative bounty lists as well.

I skimmed the details of various cases. Rescue missions, investigation work, and the like.

Among them, one particularly caught my eye. An awakened pirate crew operating a modified whaling ship. The content said to eliminate them, dead or alive.

The manager’s added explanation said it was commissioned by an anonymous wealthy individual.

Wait a minute, that description sounds quite familiar.

Modified whaling ship, and the pirates’ appearance and behavior.

“Huh? Could this be…”

“Aren’t these the guys we caught?”

I scanned the request repeatedly. The Violets were flustered. It was written that a large sum would be paid per head if they brought them in.

“Hey! We’re in big trouble! Where is it! Where is it!”

“We need to retrieve those barrels immediately!”

The Violets quickly dove into the sea, but it was too late.

Suddenly, the idiom *Gakjujugum* [literally, ‘marking the boat to find the sword,’ a proverb about foolishly clinging to outdated information] came to mind.

The barrels that fell into the sea had long since disappeared beyond the deep ocean, out of our reach.

The pirates would have become good people by now.

The Violets wailed like someone who had missed a winning lottery ticket right before their eyes.

“No!”

“We should have kept them alive…”

It was so unfair.

Those guys were worth a lot of money, but we needlessly gave them a sea trip. If we’d kept them alive, we’d have gotten a fortune.

“Next time, I need to check the requests first!”

From now on, I should try to keep pirates alive as much as possible.

“Let’s try this request first!”

I clicked on the first link the manager sent.

It stated that three students on a personal experiential learning trip were kidnapped, and although ransom was paid, the pirates kept delaying their release.

The last tracked location was near Cascadia, and conveniently, I had buried one Violet near a reef.

“Marines, attention! From now on, I will allocate sea areas.”

The Violet strategic map unfolds.

Now, a certain number of Violets are assigned per area to begin the search.

“Rubber boats and hang gliders should be enough.”

Five hours later, the waters near Cascadia, southeast of the Lustrum Archipelago, were stained with blood.

“Catch them alive!”

The rubber boat unit, having spotted a suspicious vessel, rushed in like a pack of wolves.

“Aaaaargh! They’re coming! They’re coming!”

Countless black wingsuit formations dropping from the sky.

After 30 minutes of fierce combat, the Violet Marine Corps returned with two students, one corpse that had long since grown cold, and numerous prisoners.

“I came, I saw, I conquered!”

The first ‘good pirate’ operation ended in success.