Chapter 154
"No, even so, we were scammed by your employee. Shouldn't you be the ones to resolve it?"
The Cultist argued.
"Yeees?"
Governor Pastel flinched and babbled, "Th-that's, heeeeng! But it's just an individual's deviation. The Headquarters is not at fault! Please resolve it with the party involved!"
Meanwhile, the Team Leader stared intently at the Patent Rights Contract.
What is this?
He couldn't figure out the Governor-General's intentions.
Another Cultist approached and whispered.
"What kind of trick is that Governor-General playing?"
The Team Leader stepped back carefully to a distance where no human could hear and whispered back.
"I don't know either. Why is she giving us this? Does she really purely want a Patent Transaction?"
Or is there some sinister trick mixed in? It seemed they hadn't been found out as the Cult yet, but he wondered if they were getting pointlessly entangled in a headache for some other reason.
"Did we even apply for a patent?"
"Do you think we did?"
It wasn't like the Cult was some legitimate business.
Governor Pastel, who had been trembling at the arguing Cultist's strong attitude, suddenly flinched.
Her head snapped around to look this way, and she made an Oing? expression. Then, as if a completely evil thought had crossed her mind before she snapped back to her senses, she let out a Hah! sound and shook her head vigorously.
Governor Pastel trembled again as if nothing had happened.
"Heeeee! Buuut it's not our fault! Still, I'll take your circumstances into consideration, so please calm doooown."
The whispering Cultist looked dazed.
"What was that, just now?"
"Can she hear our voices?"
"At this distance and with this tone of voice? She's not a beast. A human couldn't possibly do that, right?"
The Team Leader thought about the ant-like voices at such a far distance and nodded.
"True. They say geniuses have jumbled thoughts, so I guess it's something like that."
"Team Leader."
Another Cultist with a scraped lip approached falteringly. It was the Subordinate who had pointed a gun at Pastel on the Train without being told, twisting the situation, and had gotten beaten by the Team Leader.
"Uh, yeah. Is your lip okay? No matter how urgent it was, I was a bit harsh earlier, wasn't I?"
"You were. Since you're apologizing, I'll accept it, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't do that from now on."
This punk.
"More importantly."
The Junior Cultist rubbed his scraped lip with his tongue and put on a serious expression.
"The way I see it, I think we've fallen into Governor-General Kraft's trap."
"Hmm."
The Team Leader put on an unexpected expression.
The Junior Cultist spoke heatedly.
"Look at our situation. We're practically trapped in the Kraft Merchant Guild. We can't see them right now, but it's obvious they've surrounded the area with troops."
The Team Leader looked around. The Train and Railroad were visible, and the surroundings were entirely enclosed by walls and buildings.
Even though it was a Station in a wide Clearing, at first glance, it looked like they were trapped. Although the Railroad was on the outskirts, because it came all the way into the Station inside the guild, the surroundings were entirely Merchant Guild Territory.
They could surround them, sure, but...
"Why?"
"Pardon?"
"Why would the Governor-General go out of her way to do that?"
"Pardon?"
"If she were going to surround us with Troops, she would have done it earlier. The Governor-General had arrived even before we reached the coastal Station. If she were going to do it, she would have done it then."
At that time, they were nervous that they had been found out as the Cult, but given the Governor-General's actions since then, it was highly likely to be a coincidence.
The Junior Cultist faltered, thought for a moment, and then retorted.
"No. This environment is better for capturing us, so she lured us here."
Huh? Is that so?
At the unexpectedly reasonable remark, the Team Leader's expression changed.
"That could be it? Her goal is Capture, so she's acting to change the location?"
His hand unconsciously hovered around the wooden box hidden in his arms.
Even if the Governor-General didn't know this was an Artificial Spirit, if she had received intelligence that it was something valuable, it made sense she would want to capture the carrier to get additional information.
"That's what I'm saying. If it were the Governor-General's plan, we shouldn't have come here in the first place! It's like shoving our heads into a tiger's jaws!"
"Is that so?"
The Team Leader crossed his arms and let out a groan.
"But since some time has passed since we arrived here and the Governor-General still hasn't called the Troops, it also seems that's not it."
If not, it would be a bigger problem for them to make a move unnecessarily.
If the Governor-General was mistaking them for a good-natured Engineer and his party, playing along and then slipping away was the best option.
"I understand your opinion well, so you stay still. I'll check it out slowly."
Even though the Youngest Member almost caused an accident earlier, it seemed he had given a sharp opinion this time.
The Team Leader kept a close eye on Governor Pastel, who was now completely pushed back by the momentum of the Cultists' protesting and was stepping backward with a tearful face.
The Junior Cultist suddenly crumpled his expression.
"Are you trying to steal my credit right now? I could have used Shoot Down on the off-guard Governor-General, but you interfered and we fell into a trap, so you're trying to make up for it with this?"
"What?"
The Team Leader was so dumbfounded that he was at a loss for words.
"You could have just run away with the wooden box, Team Leader, but you pointlessly hid it in your arms and kept acting, which is why it turned out like this. So I'm asking if you're trying to take my credit now to make up for your responsibility."
"Hey. Why would it be like that?"
The Team Leader tried to explain his position and duties.
"Ouch!"
In the distance, Governor Pastel suddenly fell flat on her face.
"Still, the guild should take responsibility—are you okay?!"
"Uwaah. I'm okay."
Governor Pastel staggered to her feet. She dusted off her white hem, checked her pink hair, and freaked out.
"Uwah, there's dirt on my hair too. Hold on a second. I'll dust off my hair and tie it again."
Her small pigtails came undone. The Governor-General dusted off her hair and started tying the small left pigtail first.
The Team Leader watched the Governor-General, and seeing nothing special, turned back to the Junior Cultist.
"I understand what kind of misunderstanding you might have had, but no, how the hell is it my fault in the first place? That was the best option at the time. What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
"Are you evading responsibility right now too?"
The argument continued.
Just as their faces turned red and the argument was about to turn into a fistfight, a group came running into the station-turned-clearing.
"Everyone, stop!"
They were guild members wearing knight armor, blatantly showing off that they were Former Knights.
"Things are unsettled lately due to terrorism, so why did you enter without permission?"
The Team Leader flinched.
"What is this?"
"Shouldn't we run away?!"
"You just stay still."
The Team Leader completely subdued the Junior Cultist with his body and hurriedly checked on Governor Pastel.
"Oing."
Governor Pastel's eyes were wide open.
"Everyone, what brings you here?"
A former knight gave a salute with a stiff face.
"With the grim atmosphere due to the Radical Faction's Railway Terrorism, no matter if you are the Governor-General, it is troublesome if you recklessly bring in Outsiders."
"Yeees? Uwaah. Then do they have to get a body search or something? I suppose it would be dangerous if they came with explosives hidden. Uwah."
"A body search. Yes, that is correct."
The Former Knight turned to look this way.
"We will conduct a body search on everyone. Originally, Outsiders must undergo one every time they enter, so please cooperate smoothly."
The Team Leader became rapidly confused.
What the.
#
The Engineer and his party whispered among themselves and then obediently complied with the body search.
The Engineer stepped forward with a tense face.
"Well, we don't have any terrorist intentions."
"Yes, it will be over soon."
The Former Knight pressed over the Engineer's clothes to inspect his body. Even though it seemed like a simple check, it wasn't simple since a Semi-Knight Level individual was inspecting with his senses.
"Woah-Woah."
So this is a knight order's body search.
Pastel snooped around the Former Knights who were working hard according to the guidelines.
"What is this wooden box? It's a good size to hold explosives."
The Former Knight pulled the wooden box from the Engineer's arms. The padlock on the wooden box rattled.
The Engineer answered calmly with a tense expression.
"It is a customer's valuable item. Originally, it should have been transported along with the cargo."
Heok is valuable.
The Former Knight looked back at Pastel.
Pastel trotted over. She hid behind the back of the Semi-Knight Level and sneakily poked her head out.
"What is it, what is it. What kind of valuable is it?"
I'm curious.
The Engineer panicked. As he agonized, trying to think of what kind of valuable thing it was, Pastel answered for him instead.
"Could it be that it's so valuable that even you don't know, Engineer? I suppose we also often have customers who don't tell us what the item is."
"That's right. I don't know. That's why it has to be handled more carefully."
"Heok, then you shouldn't just leave it like this!"
"Pardon?"
"It's not our responsibility, but since you were scammed by an employee's personal deviation, as a special consideration, the Kraft Merchant Guild will deliver the valuable item for you instead!"
It's the Kraft Merchant Guild that fulfills its responsibilities!
Yeah, yeah!
The Engineer panicked and waved both hands.
"There is no need for that."
"It's fine! Since our guild started the delivery business with the good intention of delivering necessary items to those who don't have them, we can't just overlook a situation like this!"
Pastel took the wooden box from the Former Knight.
"Since it's a valuable item, I'll move it to a Valuables-only Box for now! It's being packaged as a Double Box!"
Completely professional.
"Keep getting your body searched!"
"Pardon?! No, there's no need to...!"
Pastel walked away with Short Steps.
A La-la-la hum came out.
It's Pastel doing a good deed again today~.
Ppiong-ppiong pparam-ppappa~.
Suddenly, the wooden box shook.
Oing.
Pastel stopped walking and looked down at the wooden box. The padlock rattled and vibrated frantically.
Uh-oh.
The surface of the wooden box holding the padlock shattered, and the lid burst open violently. A Black Aura spewed out.
"Uwaaang!"
A pitch-black, round shape emerged from the aura. The small, murky mass of energy dashed straight forward and pierced through Pastel.
"Hwaaak!"
Pastel screamed and flopped down.
Save Pastel...!
She fumbled at her pierced chest and paused.
"Oing, I don't feel anything."
She thought something incredibly serious had happened, but it hadn't.
Screams were heard from behind her.
When she looked back, the Black Aura that had pierced through Pastel was piercing through the bodies of the Engineer and his party one by one, as if taking revenge on the opponents who had imprisoned it.
The Engineer screamed. The clothes covering his body rotted away, revealing his skin. The cracked and black-discolored skin necrotized and rotted.
Eueh?
The Engineer's party scratched their bodies, screamed one after another, and collapsed. In agony, their limbs twisted, their skin burst, and blood splattered.
Eueh?
The Black Aura, having finished its revenge, was about to pounce on the Former Knights this time, but paused. As it stopped its dash, one could see that inside the Black Aura was a small shape that wasn't human, but roughly had a human form.
The shape flew over in a panic.
It stared blankly for a moment, and then a voice was heard.
―Why are you fine...?
An intense scream rang out. The Engineer's body necrotized and rotted until it couldn't hold on and burst apart. Bloodstains formed, and fragmented pieces of flesh covered the ground.
Eueh.
A screw popped loose in Pastel's head.
A small being that wasn't human but had arms and legs.
"Heok, are you a fairy?"
Silence flowed.
The dazed Fairy looked back. The fragmented pieces of flesh submerged in red blood turned black and rotted away.
The Fairy looked back at Pastel. Then it looked at the sky, looked back at her, rolled its eyes, and covered its mouth with both its small hands.
―That's right!
The Fairy had a surprised expression.
Wow, it's a Fairy!