Chapter 45
Edrian Arclight had recently been unable to shake a certain suspicion.
‘Confidential information inside Seraph Industries is leaking.’
At first, he thought it was a coincidence.
Information leaks among Magitera’s corporations were not uncommon, but this went beyond that.
Pale’s betrayal and the terror attack at Lumen Promenade fit that pattern as well.
Everything about it was unnatural.
Red Pulse’s methods had been brutal, but until now, they had never dragged civilians into the fray. Yet that day, they had gone berserk for the first time—and Kael and Lin had happened to be there.
Could he really call this a coincidence?
That was what troubled Edrian.
“….”
Lin Arclight.
His granddaughter and Seraph Industries’ sole heir.
And one of the few reasons Edrian still could not cast aside his personal feelings in this frigid city.
The thought that she had become someone’s target put Edrian on edge.
He leaned back in his chair and stared out the window.
“Hoo….”
After sighing once, Edrian turned his gaze away and skimmed the several reports floating above his desk.
[Lumen Promenade Incident Reinvestigation Report]
[Access Log for Lin Arclight’s Travel Route]
[Interrogation Summary of Captured Target from Seraph Industries Prototype Shipment Ambush]
His gaze stopped at the last report.
Officially, it had been an armed ambush during the transport of a new product, but in reality, it was bait Edrian had prepared.
He had deliberately leaked this classified information to those under suspicion, making it look natural.
Information that Seraph Industries was secretly transporting a prototype product to the Third Outer Testing Site.
And someone had taken the bait.
The ambush had been planned, and the attackers were highly trained PMC mercenaries.
Their objective could have been to steal the cargo or test Seraph’s response forces, but.
Either way, the result was valuable enough.
Especially since Kael had captured the commander, giving Edrian a chance to obtain a lead.
Edrian opened the interrogation summary.
[Captured Target: Identity Unknown]
[Equipment Used: Nonstandard combat equipment, mixed components from multiple corporations]
[Client: Identity Unknown]
[Contract Structure: Three or more intermediary layers]
[Additional interrogation ongoing]
Edrian slowly tapped the desk with one finger.
He had not uncovered the key information yet, but he could see a path.
Information was leaking from within Seraph, and it was being passed through an external intermediary network to an armed organization.
The direct mastermind had not surfaced yet, but the intermediary codes obtained during interrogation were beginning to overlap with access records from inside Seraph.
They needed a little more time.
Edrian closed his eyes.
Kael.
Whenever he thought of that name, a sensation he still could not explain lingered.
He was not one of Seraph’s people, but neither could he be called a complete outsider.
Even so, Kael had genuinely been helpful so far.
He had killed Pale and saved Lin, stopped the terror attack at Lumen Promenade, and—
In this bait operation, he had achieved far more than Edrian had expected.
Edrian was sincerely grateful for that.
He smiled awkwardly.
“…What a difficult man to handle.”
Elena Weiss, who had been quietly waiting in one corner of the office, raised her gaze.
“You mean Mr. Kael?”
“Did I just say his name?”
“There aren’t many people these days who would come to mind when you make that expression, sir.”
Edrian nodded.
“You’re right. It’s Kael.”
Elena checked the panel in her hand.
“It appears he has been turning down most recent bounty contracts and scouting requests. And there is already talk at Magitera City Hall of reassessing his rank. According to unofficial data shared among the corporations, he is considered at least A-rank.”
“He was bound to stand out too much to remain F-rank.”
Edrian closed the report.
“It was only a matter of time before he attracted attention. I just didn’t expect it to happen this quickly.”
“Weren’t you the one who put him on the stage, sir?”
“That’s true.”
Edrian did not deny it.
He already knew that he could not simply keep Kael hidden.
If so, it would be better to establish him as a Seraph-endorsed freelancer, giving him some recognition in advance.
At that moment, the secure terminal on the desk gave a brief chime.
The private secure line Edrian had provided to Kael.
[Sender: Kael]
The message was not long.
[I need a way to approach the White Society.]
No—it was almost excessively brief.
***
Kael stood by the window of the reception room in Seraph Tower.
Magitera’s surface levels lay spread out below him beyond the glass.
To think this was a sight some people could not even dream of seeing.
Just as he was thinking that, the reception-room door opened.
Edrian Arclight entered.
He was dressed in a neat suit as usual, but a trace of fatigue showed around his eyes.
Kael turned toward him.
“I came to hear your answer.”
Edrian sat in the chair opposite him.
“I thought you would.”
“Can I gain access to the White Society?”
“Gaining access itself is possible.”
Kael waited for him to continue.
Edrian immediately added,
“But I would not recommend taking you there under Seraph’s name.”
“Why?”
Edrian seemed to choose his words for a moment as he interlaced his fingers.
“First of all, Seraph does not hold as high a position within the White Society as you might think.”
Kael gave him a puzzled look.
“Judging by how I’ve been treated until now, I assumed it was a fairly prominent corporation. Is that not the case?”
“You’re right. But the White Society is a gathering of one hundred corporations, just as its name suggests. They do not all wield equal influence within it. And Seraph’s voting shares are on the low side. Quite low, in fact.”
“Shares?”
“You can think of them as a measure determining the right to speak at meetings and one’s influence over proposals. Corporate size, owned infrastructure, contribution to the allocation of high-tier ACUs, the percentage of the city’s core districts under its control—all of it is reflected.”
Kael nodded as though he understood.
Even nobles of the same rank had different levels of influence, so that was easy enough to understand.
Edrian continued,
“Within the White Society, the Seraph brand has always served to balance things among corporations with massive shares.”
“So you’re saying you can’t take me?”
“Precisely, I can take you. I mean that the method would be unwise.”
Kael remained standing as he looked at Edrian.
“Even if not to the White Society’s main assembly, I can arrange for you to attend a small party or private reception. Under the pretext that you are Seraph’s outside adviser or an independent contractor with special endorsement.”
“Then that’s enough.”
“No.”
Edrian’s reply was low.
“The problem is what comes after that.”
Kael stared at Edrian in silence, and Edrian met his gaze without looking away.
“The moment you stand there, people will look at you. More precisely, they will look at Seraph Industries behind you.”
“You mean they’ll think I’m connected to Seraph.”
“They already do.”
Edrian’s eyes narrowed.
“It is already known that you received Seraph’s special endorsement. Your participation in the transport escort incident has spread through the industry, and it will be difficult to bury the Raul Kesk capture completely. And then Seraph takes you to a White Society social gathering?”
He paused for a moment.
“At that moment, you will look like the card Seraph has been keeping hidden.”
“Hmm.”
“That alone might not be a problem. But you are… a card that is difficult to explain.”
Kael did not particularly deny that.
Edrian’s voice grew lower still.
“People in the White Society tend to be curious. If you’re Tier 5, they’ll ask how you captured Raul Kesk alive. If you’re F-rank, they’ll ask why Seraph guaranteed you, and if you’re merely a mercenary, they’ll ask why Seraph brought you all the way to the meeting hall.”
“They certainly have a lot they want to know.”
“It would be fortunate if it ended with questions.”
Edrian looked straight at Kael.
“You will draw far more attention than necessary. Much more than you do now.”
Unlike the underground levels, that was how things worked on the surface.
The higher one climbed, the more visible one became—and just as it grew easier to look down on others, it also became easier for others to notice you.
Kael asked,
“Are you asking whether I’m okay with that?”
“Yes.”
Edrian slowly nodded.
“If you want it, I can create a path. But it will be a thorny one. And if you enter under Seraph’s name, that attention will be directed not only at you, but at Lin and me as well.”
At the mention of Lin’s name, Kael fell silent for a moment.
“I know you are the sort of person willing to take risks. But I had to tell you that the danger you take on could spread to Seraph as well.”
Kael turned his gaze out the window.
Even though the weather was clearly sunny, it felt somehow gloomy.
***
Kael decided to put the matter of approaching the White Society under Seraph’s name on hold for now.
Graveblock at night was no different from usual.
Kael walked toward the building bearing the Last Round sign, and—
But when he was almost at the building, he stopped.
Because there was a louder-than-usual commotion coming from the side alley.
For several nights, Kael had walked the alleys and dealt with those disturbances little by little.
He had thought there would at least no longer be anyone recklessly active around the Last Round, but—
Several voices laughing, threats, and rough breathing.
Kael turned his head.
Inside the alley, people were gathered beneath a flickering red advertising light.
Five, maybe.
They were surrounding a black-haired woman.
The expensive coat she wore was completely out of place in the alley, suggesting she had come from another district.
One of the thugs stood in front of the woman and said something.
He could not hear the words clearly, but he could roughly guess what they meant.
Demanding her money was the obvious part.
Saying they intended to handle the victim’s body however they pleased was the bonus.
Kael’s brow furrowed.
‘I thought I’d cleaned up this area.’
Even after Black Ring collapsed, stragglers and bugs crawling in from outside remained.
Graveblock had been that kind of place from the start.
The strange thing, however, was the woman.
She was not trembling, screaming, or even moving at all.
She stood silently, as though denying the very existence of the six people surrounding her.
Amid that silence, Kael lowered his hand to his waist.
Before he could determine who the woman was, one of the thugs reached out.
Kael moved immediately afterward.
Pop.
As the first gunshot rang through the alley, the head of the man reaching for the woman snapped backward.
Pop.
With the following gunshot, the temple of the man on the left was pierced.
Only after the two collapsed almost simultaneously did the remaining ones understand what had happened.
“W-what the hell!”
“Run!”
Two of the thugs reflexively turned and fled, while one remained frozen and sprawled on the ground.
Kael turned his muzzle without hesitation.
If he simply let the remaining fugitives go, they would come back.
It was the moment he was about to pull the trigger.
Crack.
A strange sound rang out.
The fleeing man’s body jerked to a stop in midair.
As though invisible hands had seized his arm and knee at the same time.
His right arm bent backward, and his knee folded inward.
The second man suffered the same fate.
His body twisted in the exact posture in which he had been running.
The sound of breaking bones rang out, but his scream did not last long.
Because his neck twisted first.
The two men were already dead before they even hit the ground.
The last remaining thug tried to scream, but only a sound like escaping air came out.
His neck twisted as well, and his eyes rolled upward.
Thud.
The last thug collapsed to the ground.
Kael did not lower his gun as he looked deeper into the alley.
Only then did he get a proper look at the woman.
At that moment, the woman slowly turned around.
Black hair, a flawless face, and a cold smile.
It was Rea Valenkroft.
But her eyes were different.
They were not the black eyes Kael had seen at the Last Round.
Her irises were unmistakably red.
A deep, vivid red.