Chapter 274
'Got it, I got it. You’re certainly thorough with your calculations. Hard to tell who the master is here, really.'
How many hardships and adversities had we overcome together? Alexandra and I were quite familiar with each other now.
So I thought Alexandra Schneider would playfully reply with something along those lines.
But her reaction was unexpected.
“Huh? U… uh. Right. Come to think of it, you’re right.”
What is this deflating answer?
Young Lady Schneider was the one who threw the joke first, yet when I cheerfully bantered back, she came across as so boring.
Is it unacceptable for a mere bodyguard to dare play a joke on a noble’s daughter as high as the sky?
Is this a double standard mindset where it’s fine for her, but not for me? Alexandra didn’t seem to have that kind of disposition.
Looking blank for a moment, she also seemed like she was thinking about something else.
Surely she hasn’t already forgotten that I saved her life during the Luddite Gang’s terror attack, right?
It was only a short while ago that she staked her honor and assured me she would definitely repay me someday.
Anyway, just as I was feeling sullen, wondering if thinking we had gotten close was my own delusion, Alexandra broke the awkward atmosphere and spoke.
“Let us move for now. There is no benefit in staying still like this, is there?”
She was right. In truth, this wasn’t the time to be exchanging jokes.
We still hadn’t gotten far enough away from Rodrick Smith. With that monster’s abilities, he could easily chase us down over this distance.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to pay any more attention to us after the last Photon Cannon he fired, but there was absolutely no reason to needlessly linger within the detection range of that absolute madman powerhouse.
“…My situation is quite pitiful.”
It was truly a day of relentless battering without a single moment to rest.
I knew it from the moment that Iron-faced Family Head Eugene Schneider tried to end the agreement with just one escort duty.
I thought it wouldn’t be an easy task, but to think it would be to this degree was beyond imagination.
I was even at the point of missing that terrible Luddite Ned Ludd. He was a great formidable enemy too, but those high-ranking ninja and chrome monster were on a different level. It was embarrassing to even compare them.
An A-rank ronin, a MILI-TAC special forces member, a highly skilled Shaolin Monk… The powerhouses of the city I had faced so far were numerous.
However, beings like them were a first.
It was to the point of doubting whether they were even humans like me, or if they were a different species altogether.
I never thought I would come to realize what it meant to be A Shrimp Caught in a Whale Fight.
Just getting swept up in their fight almost killed everyone.
The massive fragment that nearly crushed me was also a result brought about by a single photon blast fired lightly by the chrome monster.
It wasn’t like a frog being crushed by a carelessly tossed pebble… for him, it must have been an action as effortless as waving a hand in the air to catch a fleeing fly, but to me, it struck like a sudden typhoon.
A literal walking Natural Disaster, one had to be at least this formidable to deserve being called a named figure.
“Perhaps instead of thinking the Meredith Family is pathetic, I should consider it amazing that they held out this much when two such unmanageable monsters appeared and ran amok…”
At this point, it even made me wonder if the Meredith Family truly had the underlying strength befitting an upper-level noble family.
Even so, even the family head had her head severed to the Communist Ninja’s blade, having revealed their Floor/Ground.
Come to think of it, there was a person who came naturally to mind when thinking of the Meredith Family.
After joining up with the Companions and getting far enough away from the chrome monster Rodrick Smith to feel certain we were safe, team leader Hank immediately pulled out his gun and aimed it at that guy, Prezen Meredith.
Putting pressure on the trigger, he spat out his words as if chewing them.
“If there’s a reason I shouldn’t shoot you right here, tell me.”
It was an extremely natural course of action.
The crises they had experienced so far, getting swept up in the great battle between the monster and the ninja… it was all Prezen Meredith’s fault.
There was no proof that he had called the high-ranking ninja and the chrome monster all the way to the office. However, considering the circumstances thus far, and the conversation he had with the dead family head, the suspicion was certain.
Schneider’s Companions had undoubtedly been thoroughly used by this noble artist for a fight within the family.
It would be hard to overlook even if the Meredith Family’s prestige were still intact, let alone when they had just witnessed the fall of the Meredith Family and the death of the family head firsthand.
Now, his innate surname could not protect the figure named Prezen from the extremely angry Schneider Family Members.
Even so, Prezen Meredith showed not the slightest hint of fear, appearing detestably calm.
Then again, having enough guts to use not only the Schneider Family but even the communist high-ranking ninja and the chrome monster, what would he be afraid of?
However, to survive in this place right now, guts alone were not enough.
team leader Hank was a thorough security team leader, possessing an obsession with leaving not a single risk factor that could harm the VIP.
Hadn’t I also clashed with him because of that and even gotten heavily beaten?
Back then it ended with a slap, but this time it was a gun. team leader Hank was not a man to end things with just words.
If he said he would shoot, he really would shoot. He was more than capable of doing so.
I was at most just tagging along as a bodyguard through a nepotism hire without an agreement, but Prezen’s case was on a different level, wasn’t it?
Prezen de Se Meredith had proven through his actions that he was a truly massive risk factor to Alexandra Amadeus Schneider’s escort.
Therefore, to save his own life, he would have to convince team leader Hank of the reason, necessity, and justification for tolerating the risk factor that was himself.
I wondered what kind of answer Prezen Meredith would give, but what followed was, unexpectedly, a simple and clear sentence.
“I am the family head of Meredith.”
team leader Hank, seemingly even more infuriated by those words, limped over and pressed the muzzle of his gun against Prezen Meredith’s head.
“Yeah, I know that well because I saw that retarded succession scene with my own eyes. Thanks to that, I could confirm that Meredith is completely ruined. That petty title of yours seems far from enough to stop my bullet, huh?”
Prezen meekly acknowledged it.
“Yes, Meredith is ruined.”
What is this? Is he asking to be killed? Has he given up on life Just like this?
I thought so for a moment, but that wasn’t it.
“That is why you must spare me. Meredith is ruined, and I am the last remaining family head.”
team leader Hank contorted his face.
“Are you seriously banking on that agreement? That deal where we protect the Meredith Family head and return to the family? You must have known from the start that you would become the family head like this, huh? You used your head well, I’ll give you that.”
However, that is nothing but a lump of data. The moment you deceived us, and the moment Meredith lost its power, that agreement collapsed as well.”
“Is that so? But if the agreement collapses, you will be the ones taking the loss.”
At Prezen Meredith’s words, team leader Hank paused.
“Wasn’t the biggest reason you made an agreement with Meredith to escape the Mirror Castle? If you kill me here, you cannot escape. The escape shuttle can only operate with the approval of the Meredith Family head.”
Without me, there is no escape for you either. If you plan to return to the landing pad after coming all this way, do as you please. However, with terrorists running amok even in the Family Head’s Office, I don’t know if that place will still be intact.”
He was right. Apart from the crazy stunts Prezen Meredith had pulled, we needed him.
“The agreement has not changed, and the deal remains the same. If you do not kill me and accompany me, you can escape safely. Now that I am the family head of Meredith, everything is in my head.”
Information on new techniques, shares in the Enatomia Corporation, Meredith’s hidden assets… In a word, I am Meredith. You Schneiders will be able to get your hands on the entire Meredith Family just by saving me. To me, it seems like a sufficiently profitable trade.”
The means of escape was one thing, but the astronomical benefits that could be gained just by taking Prezen Meredith along… This would definitely be helpful to the family.
As a loyal subject of Schneider, team leader Hank could not ignore the proposition.
However, a fatal problem still remained.
“You talk a good game. But that’s only when trust is guaranteed. I can’t trust you at all.”
Though he had reason to be conflicted, team leader Hank still kept his expression stiffly hardened and did not lower his gun. Prezen Meredith calmly replied, as if he had anticipated even this situation.
“Do not trust me. Just as I used you, isn’t it enough for you to use me as well? Just as you need a means of escape and Meredith’s assets, I also need you, because it is difficult to escape on my own. Now that I have succeeded to the family head position, there are no more tricks to play, either. If you are truly suspicious of me, couldn’t you just shoot me as soon as you see a Suspicious Sign? Seeing as you hold my lifeline tightly in your grasp, it seems you have nothing to fear.”