The contents of the chip Jin Crow had handed over as part of the deal were astonishingly simple.
There were no videos or photographs.
Only a concise list of information.
Yet its contents were something Ideale could never simply overlook.
“Answer me, Warrant Officer Fidelis.”
The light reflected in Ideale's white pupils was itself filled with killing intent.
Fidelis, however, remained unconcerned.
Not merely because he stood beyond a hologram.
Rather, it was because, as the adjutant and steward who had served the Kukenhauzen Family for generations, his standing was one that did not yield to hers in the slightest.
Instead, as though intrigued, he quietly studied Ideale before the wrinkles around his eyes twitched slightly and he asked,
〔What are you referring to?〕
It was only a single sentence.
But Ideale was not foolish enough to miss the meaning hidden within it.
He was asking her to say it outright.
Fidelis was neither stupid, nor dull, nor timid enough to panic and confess simply because she had uttered the words, 'You joined hands with the Empire.'
Perhaps because of that.
Ideale glared at him in silence for a long while before finally being forced to speak the disgraceful conspiracy of her own family with her own lips.
“Smuggling with the Empire.”
Compared to the rest, that was almost harmless.
She could not tolerate even that.
But Kukenhauzen was hardly the only family profiting through smuggling that bypassed Mercato.
“......Deliberately escalating tensions with the neighboring Adalbert County. Expanding your influence and conducting trade because of it.”
However, what truly enraged her was not that.
It was the family's continued crimes.
No.
“Leaking military secrets. The catastrophic losses at the Tedrang Front because of it. And on top of that, more than ten separate leaks of grand strategy and military tactics.”
Acts of treason.
“Leaking the personal information of generals belonging to rival factions. Even human trafficking involving citizens of the United Federation.”
She stared directly at Fidelis, as though asking whether she needed to continue.
At that moment, Fidelis' lips twitched before he spoke.
〔It seems you have no evidence, Brigadier General.〕
There wasn't the slightest trace of shame in his voice.
As though they had merely done what needed to be done.
To people like them, that wasn't even incorrect.
The Kukenhauzen Faction's loyalty belonged neither to the nation nor its people.
It belonged solely to the Kukenhauzen Family.
The same was true of Fidelis.
Rather than fearing or becoming angry that Ideale had uncovered the family's shameful secrets, he instead looked at her with an expression filled with interest and approval.
There had once been a time when she welcomed that gaze.
Her father had been cold.
Her mother had obediently followed him.
Her siblings, raised solely for the sake of the family, had gradually lost their humanity.
Among all of them, his had been the only warm gaze.
But the moment she realized that even he, who had always been so kind, was ultimately nothing more than one of the Kukenhauzens—
One of those who devoured the nation from within—
Ideale severed every remaining attachment she had ever held toward him.
‘Fidelis Friedrich.’
The head of House Friedrich, which had begun with Eahn Friedrich, the lifelong adjutant of Kering Kukenhauzen, the founder of the Kukenhauzen Family.
The second-in-command who oversaw all of the family's retainers.
He spoke to her.
〔The Kukenhauzen Family will not be shaken by conspiracy theories unsupported by evidence, Brigadier General.〕
His voice sounded as though he were gently advising her.
Or perhaps disciplining her.
Though his tone remained warm, the words he spoke to her were mercilessly cold.
Naturally.
Whether the affection he once held for Ideale had been genuine or false, he had undeniably participated in the Kukenhauzen Family's efforts to break her.
‘If you have no expectations, you can never be disappointed.’
After repeating those words to herself, Ideale looked directly at Fidelis' wrinkled face and spoke with utterly cold eyes.
“Perhaps.
If it remains nothing more than a rumor.”
Twitch.
Fidelis' eyes shifted ever so slightly.
“But what if it becomes a public exposure?”
She spoke words that no member of the Kukenhauzen Family would ever have dared imagine.
“The Headmaster of the Central Special-duty Officer Academy. A direct member of the family. A Penta Gear Special-duty Officer. The hero of Rocha Colony...”
Whether the family had given her that status.
Whether she had earned it herself.
Or whether it had simply been the result of fortunate circumstances.
None of that mattered.
“Could you still dismiss it as nothing more than a mere exposure?”
She believed in her own worth.
Even if she gathered reporters and exposed everything, the Kukenhauzen Family would not magically collapse.
Nor would those involved suddenly burst into tears and confess all of their crimes.
But at the very least...
She could make their lives miserable.
Perhaps he had understood exactly what she was thinking.
Fidelis silently observed her for a moment before finally speaking.
〔Had that truly been your intention, you would not have sought out this old man with such anger on your face. Tell me, my lady. What is it that you want?〕
Her title had changed once more.
From Brigadier General...
Back to "my lady."
The matter had begun as military business.
From this point onward, however, the negotiation would proceed as one between members of the family.
Or rather...
It was an unconscious rebuke directed toward Ideale herself.
This very negotiation proved that she, too, had stepped into the factional struggle she had always despised.
Even if a stain could be wiped from pristine cloth...
Its mark would always remain.
“Identify the real culprit. Restore Instructor Jin Crow's and the researchers' reputations. Compensate the families of the deceased cadets and soldiers. And...”
Though the truth lodged in her throat like a thorn...
Ideale did not hesitate.
“Deliver the Special-duty equipment that has been withheld from us all this time.”
A mysterious smile spread across Fidelis' face at her final demand.
It was an expression she knew all too well.
〔You have grown, heh heh.〕
Just as he had smiled years ago...
When she had refused her father's order to kill the puppy she cherished.
And after crying endlessly...
She had finally stabbed it herself.
〔I shall report this to the Family Head. Then, glory to the bloodline of Ironblood.〕
With those final words, Fidelis ended the transmission.
Even after the connection disappeared, Ideale remained seated for a long while, staring at the empty space before her.
‘I won't look away anymore.’
Disgust still lingered on her face.
Yet paradoxically, her eyes had never been calmer.
After all...
The bitterest cold only tempered ice into something even stronger.
“......Fuck. Fuck!”
Head Instructor Günter cursed as he tore at his own hair.
Unable to withstand the strength of a superhuman, countless strands scattered across the foot of his bed.
He paid them no attention.
Naturally.
Something as trivial as losing a few hairs never even crossed his mind.
The current situation had already slipped completely beyond his control and expectations, tightening around his throat.
‘Where did everything start falling apart?’
Yes.
It all began because he had failed to realize how destructive the virus injected into Bishop would be.
Too many people had died.
The incident had grown far too large.
Even then, he had believed everything would be manageable.
Just in case, Professor Lillian had been delayed at the midway transit point.
Headmaster Ideale had been pressured.
Neither Jin Crow nor Rosen had shown any unusual movements.
‘Was it when those posts started appearing on Blind?’
Yes.
That was when everything began going wrong.
Günter had never been idle enough to care about worthless online communities that contributed nothing to life.
So he had ignored them.
Only for public opinion to begin shifting decisively in Jin Crow's favor.
‘Who the hell killed Aton? Rosen? Jin Crow? Ideale?’
The final blow that completely destroyed his already unstable sandcastle was Aton's death.
Martin had confessed.
Attention shifted toward whoever had been behind Aton's murder.
At the same time, every suspicion directed toward Jin Crow and Ideale rapidly lost momentum.
‘Still... at least I wasn't exposed. Nelle Meyer—that incompetent bitch—won't let it go that far.’
Had Nelle Meyer heard those words—
Considering she believed Günter himself had killed Aton—
She would have wanted to split 'Günter' into 'Gün' and 'ter' on the spot.
But Günter himself felt wronged.
Why would he kill Aton?
If he had been stupid enough to handle things that way, he would never have become the Head Instructor representing the Kukenhauzen Faction in the first place.
Even so...
There was still hope.
Even if Nelle Meyer's authority as Inspector had been weakened, it had not been stripped away entirely.
If he simply kept his head down until everything was officially concluded as the impulsive crimes of Martin and the now-dead Aton, he could still survive.
Hiss, click.
With trembling fingers, Günter lit another cigarette, forcing down his anxiety.
Yes.
There was no way Kukenhauzen would abandon him.
Hadn't he devoted unwavering loyalty to them all this time?
But that desperate hope was instantly shattered by the voice that suddenly came from behind him.
“What are you thinking about? Oh my, look at your hair. Sudden baldness, perhaps?”
“Y-You bitch...?”
Standing beyond the window upon a platform of flames was Obia.
The hem of the white formal coat she rarely wore had been scorched black by the fire.
She paid it no attention.
Peeking through the half-drawn blinds, she waved cheerfully.
“It's been a while, Head Instructor Günter!”
Why would the Commander of the Military Police Battalion come looking for him?
A horrifying possibility flashed through Günter's mind.
He bit down on his lip and immediately tried to raise his Psionic Energy.
Unfortunately...
Obia Timist was far crazier than he had imagined.
「Muspellheim」
Without the slightest hesitation, she transformed the inside of his quarters into a hell where molten lava flowed.
The walls and windows melted away before they even had a chance to shatter.
She casually stepped through the opening.
The overwhelming heat repeatedly burned and regenerated Günter's cheeks.
He stared blankly up at Obia, who stood surrounded by flames.
“Nelle Meyer.”
“That bitch pissed me off by acting all high and mighty just because she's an Inspector. Same rank as me, lower Gear, yet she kept ordering me around.”
“So listen carefully.”
Smiling as though she were about to kill someone, Obia spoke.
At the same time, countless waves of Psionic Energy from the Military Police Special-duty Officers surrounding the building pressed down upon him.
If he resisted arrest...
Attacks would come from every possible angle.
There was nowhere to escape.
Left with no other choice, Günter silently looked at Obia with hollow, defeated eyes.
Looking down at him with her usual murderous aura mixed with open irritation, her crimson eyes curved into a vicious smile.
“You're under arrest.”
Naturally.
Günter couldn't utter a single word.
Obia's work didn't end there.
The moment Head Instructor Günter was arrested, Inspector Nelle Meyer was arrested as well.
Along with several bribed security personnel from the Research Building.
“I-I am an Inspector! You can't treat me like this!”
“You sure talk a lot. Should I melt your mouth shut?”
“H-Hiiik!”
“I-I was wrong! Please...!”
Obia Timist moved immediately after receiving Ideale's orders.
Finding the evidence wasn't difficult.
Someone had handed her a list containing the names of everyone involved in—or complicit with—the incident.
Of course, they couldn't punish anyone without evidence.
However...
The signed statement Kukenhauzen immediately sent to the Military Police after their arrests utterly shattered the small hope they still held that their faction would save them.
「The Kukenhauzen Family neither ordered, participated in, nor assisted with this incident. Head Instructor Günter, out of personal jealousy toward Instructor Jin Crow, acted independently...」
“H... Haha.”
After hearing its contents, Günter let out a hollow laugh.
Nelle Meyer turned deathly pale, unable to say a word.
Watching her reaction, Obia smiled brightly before whispering into her ear.
“Life's the real battlefield, you little bitch.”
Once again...
Nelle Meyer could say nothing.
At that same time.
With every suspicion erased and his detention lifted, Jin Crow slowly walked outside wearing nothing but his military trousers and a black shirt with several buttons left undone.
“......Tch.”
Squinting against the sunlight stabbing into his eyes, he unconsciously licked his dry lips, made rough by the alcohol he had secretly been drinking over the past several days.
‘......Now the bloodbath begins.’
‘Instructor Jin Crow has returned.’
Those who saw him from afar—
Regardless of faction or status—
Could do nothing but tremble in fear.
Of course...
The truth was somewhat different.
‘......I should've had something to eat with the drinks. Damn it.’
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