Chapter 265
Matilda Sedouforne seemed conflicted. Invincible Iron Dog Maximus had joined them, but he was clearly not in normal condition. It was to be expected, considering one of his arms had been torn off.
On the other hand, Team Leader Hank and Eres Shore, who had joined our side, had all their limbs intact despite looking exhausted.
The difference in combat power between the two sides wasn’t that significant. Considering Maximus’s physical condition, our side might actually have the advantage.
Unless one was a fool, it was obvious whether to pick a fight or avoid it in this situation. The escort under her command soothed and persuaded the trembling artist Matilda Sedouforne, opening a path for us.
I thought to myself that they must be having a hard time too.
We followed behind Team Leader Hank and headed inside, acting as confident as triumphant generals.
If there was something slightly unexpected, it was that Team Leader Hank and Maximus exchanged a light nod as they passed each other.
What was that? They had definitely been on rather uncomfortable terms back in the banquet Hall. Team Leader Hank had even been struck by the Invincible Iron Dog’s bio-arm and sent flying away.
Did they have some sort of interaction while coming to the landing pad? Then again, their timing of arrival was very close.
The thought occurred to me that perhaps Team Leader Hank had helped Maximus escape from the Chrome Monster.
I was curious, but I didn’t bother asking. Since I had returned to being a newcomer bodyguard, I intended to act accordingly.
“Good. Now we can escape from this sickening place. Kali, did you check the status of the AV (air vehicle)? I mean, can we move out right away?”
It was music to my ears. I didn’t want to stay in this Mirror Castle, swarming with terrorists and bizarre phenomena, any longer.
Whatever happened here, I wanted nothing more than to leave it to the Meredith Family’s jurisdiction and just depart.
However, Ms. Kali’s expression wasn’t good. She looked somewhat troubled.
“About that. The vehicle’s condition is fine. But there’s a problem.”
Come to think of it… I remembered what Ms. Kali had said earlier.
'It’s not dangerous, though there are some very annoying things.'
Annoying 'things', huh. Matilda Sedouforne was definitely an annoying person.
Was there some other annoyance-inducing factor?
“A problem?”
When Team Leader Hank asked with a furrowed brow, Ms. Kali let out a sigh and dropped a bombshell.
“The car is perfectly fine, but we can’t get on and leave.”
What on earth did that mean?
It was hard to understand, but as we went deeper inside, I could see what she meant.
The outer section of the landing pad, the front of the runway connected to the outside of the Mirror Castle, was packed with various ultra-expensive flying vehicles, their owners, and escorts.
Those people, who must have arrived much earlier than us, were all gathered here, unable to go outside yet.
It would be noisy even if that many people just said one word each. But they were all shouting and protesting heatedly. It was a very loud and chaotic situation.
As for who they were protesting to… it was the Dolls.
A number of Dolls large enough to be called a Legion of Dolls were lined up in the Departure Area with barricades set up, blocking the AVs from approaching.
The Meredith Family had mobilized the Dolls to prevent the visitors from leaving, and the visitors were fiercely rebelling against it.
Team Leader Hank took a quick glance and spoke as if he had immediately grasped the situation.
“The Meredith Family is taking control of the access. Why? It won’t help stop the terrorists at all.”
He was right. It was a nonsensical decision.
They couldn’t hold the nobles captive here forever.
They would have to leave eventually, and when they did, the Meredith Family’s relationship with the other noble families would be severely ruined, on top of the massive damage suffered from the terror attack.
'Maybe it won’t just stop at being ruined…'
I didn’t know the stance of the Dusk Upper Class Noble society, but I had heard it was a world of the strong preying on the weak, no different from - no, perhaps even more cutthroat than - the lower levels.
Would the numerous competitor companies and families just leave the Merediths alone when they were suffering from a terrorist attack and had even lost their reputation? Especially when they were a highly mouth-watering target due to the new technique.
There was no way the Meredith Family didn’t know something even I could deduce. So why on earth were they committing an act so close to self-destruction?
Unless there was an absolute reason they had to do this…
“Are these tin cans crazy?! Do you know who this person is, blocking our path?! We don’t care about your circumstances! Open the runway right now!”
The commotion in the distance was growing louder.
The Dolls reached out their hands to block an exceptionally aggressive visitor.
However, the visitor and their escort, seemingly artist, raised their weapons to attack the Dolls.
“This won’t do. Just shoot! We just have to wipe them all out!”
The Dolls' eyes glowed red simultaneously.
[Terrorist detected. Kill on sight immediately.]
That wasn’t a warning, but a declaration.
Red lasers were fired in unison. Their individual power wasn’t that outstanding, as if they focused more on subdue than lethality.
Compared to the large optical weapon used by Dead Cell or the beam cannon fired by the Chrome Monster, they looked as weak as a drop in the bucket.
But even if they were weak, they were still more than enough to burn a person to a crisp.
And the number of Dolls blocking the runway was well over fifty, at a minimum.
What would happen if that many fired lethal lasers at a single point all at once? The hot-tempered noble and their escort would be turned into ashes in an instant, unable to leave even a single dying word.
At the gruesome death that didn’t even leave bones behind, the angry protests of the visitors died down. A heavy silence flowed.
“…”
Dozens of Dolls spoke in overlapping, monotonous voices.
[We apologize for the inconvenience to our Visitors. Today, a major asset of the Meredith Family, which was kept under strict security in the Mirror Castle, was stolen.]
[Therefore, until the stolen asset is recovered, a decision has been made to treat all Visitors within the Mirror Castle as Potential Suspects and prohibit anyone from going outside the castle. We would appreciate it if you could follow our instructions. We will strive to resolve the confusion as quickly as possible.]
A major asset of the Meredith Family…
Just what kind of thing was it that they would tie up numerous nobles in the Departure Area and prevent them from leaving?
I didn’t know for sure, but my intuition told me it was likely related to the Enatomia Corporation’s new technique.
In the end, whether that was the purpose of the terror attack in the first place, or whether a spy sent by other corporations and families had stolen it under the cover of the attack, that unidentified technology had been leaked.
They must have judged that even if the family were to fall into ruin over this incident, they had to recover the new technique no matter what.
I had wondered where the Dolls, who had initially moved to kill on sight against the terrorists in the banquet Hall, had gone when they suddenly disappeared and were nowhere to be found, but now I understood.
It seemed the top priority of all the Dolls had shifted to catching the thief who stole the new technique.
That was probably the reason why the Dolls we encountered in the corridor ignored Alexandra and me and hurried past.
“Is the culprit really among these people?”
I didn’t know. In truth, everyone looked suspicious.
There was no one bold enough to force an armed protest after seeing what had just happened, but it was still clear that all the visitors were filled with great dissatisfaction.
Everyone seemed to be scheming for a way to escape somehow.
It was inevitable, since prominent nobles were being suspected as suspects without clear evidence and locked up, unable to go anywhere.
It would be something to be condemned for even in a safe situation, but currently, aren’t there three types of terrorists running rampant in the Mirror Castle all at once?
Just then, Ms. Kali whispered quietly, as if something had occurred to her.
“Could it be… the Phantom Thief?”
I wondered what she was talking about, but realized it a moment later.
I had completely forgotten about it because I had gone through such a rough day, but wasn’t that the information Team Leader Hank had relayed?
The intelligence that Phantom Thief Zodiac, a magnate of the criminal underworld, might attempt an infiltration of this Meredith Family’s banquet exists.
Certainly, if that master thief was the culprit, it felt understandable that the Meredith Family still hadn’t been able to catch the thief even after its new technique was stolen.
And since Phantom Thief Zodiac was said to be a disguise art, it wouldn’t be strange at all if they were really here in the Departure Area, disguised as one of the nobles or escorts, eagerly looking for an opportunity to leave.
“This is a big problem. Doesn’t this mean we can’t leave and are helplessly trapped here?”
Alexandra furrowed her pretty brow, looking troubled. Even Team Leader Hank, who would normally have found a countermeasure somehow, was just grimacing right now.
No matter how capable the escort was, it couldn’t find a way out now that the master, the Meredith Family, had personally decided to Seal Off the castle.
Even if they waged an all-out war against the Dolls to break through and somehow managed to board an aerial vehicle and take off, the Mirror Castle’s interception system might fire something like a tracking missile to shoot down their vehicle.