067. hunting (1)
The sports car cut through the air of the wilderness at dawn.
Estelle, who was looking out the window with her chin bent as if she could not sleep, said suddenly.
“I knew the guards were after you. He showed an obsession with you even in prison, and immediately after you disappeared, he resigned his position as a prison guard and left the prison.”
She turned her head towards me.
“I think it can be. Because she’s a cop and you’re a famous criminal. But the conversation the two of them had earlier in the ossuary seemed to be more of a relationship.”
“… … .”
“If I ask you to tell me what happened in the past, is that presumptuous?”
I was looking ahead while driving.
I could feel her stern gaze from the side.
“… bad luck. That’s all.”
“I knew a lot about her.”
“Until there.”
“I knew her real name, and she knew that the ashes of a loved one were there. You know me well too. You know not only the fact that you have a horse disease, but also every single behavioral habit, right?”
“There are limits to what I can answer.”
“I know. I didn’t even expect it. Like I said, I’ve decided not to question you. It’s just what I wanted to say.”
She paused for a moment.
After the sound of the engine and the wind, the next words came out.
“I was upset.”
“Are you mad?”
“When we were fighting. I couldn’t even touch her body once. let me know How do I become strong?”
squeaky.
I stopped the car and turned my head.
Her eyes fluttered with some intense will.
I want to be strong.
It was an unexpected word.
With her innate talent and hard work, she quickly rose to the top of the ranks among the trainees of the Order.
When she became an adult and was officially appointed as a combat priest, her position among priests of the same rank did not change.
However, with the exception of a very small number of characters, including the main character, growth is limited for most of the characters.
There is a limit to growth through simple effort, and it has a fixed value of mana as the story progresses.
She, too, must have stopped growing long ago.
After realizing that further training was meaningless and that the treatment of horse disease was impossible, that attitude would have gotten worse.
‘In the original story, she is a character who is not greedy for her own power.’
But now, with her own mouth, she was saying that she wanted to be strong.
“You know everything. tell me How can I become stronger so that I can protect you in any situation?”
“I want to be strong. How strong do you want it to be?”
“At least not to the point where I’m not pushed by her.”
The reason why she made up her mind was probably not just because of this one battle.
‘It must have been an opportunity. There were times when I had a complicated face every time the battle was over.’
It was an issue I wasn’t very conscious of.
I thought she was strong enough, and I’ve been focusing on getting stronger by myself rather than her strength.
I checked my circuit status.
[circuit level: 2]
[Mana 327 / 1384]
I keep growing.
From the moment he entered this world to the moment he left the prison until now.
Cain, along with the main character, was one of the few characters whose growth limits were open.
‘It helps me, of course, that she gets stronger. But I can’t just apply my method to her.’
There is only one way for a supporting actor with a fixed amount of mana to go beyond the limit.
‘Awakening’ triggered by a specific event.
After meeting the main character, it is set as a growth that occurs by ‘awakening’ in the wake of a major change of heart or a change of situation.
And in the case of Estelle, the treatment of horse disease is the case.
want to be strong
For the treatment of horse disease.
However, it was an ironic situation because he could only become stronger if he was treated for horse disease first.
“Like I said, you’ve held up well enough.”
“You survived it. not winning No, I couldn’t stand it. I was beaten and fell to the floor.”
Theoretically yes, but maybe we can find a way.
As if by twisting the gap in the setting, three or more stages of refinement were realized.
I put my palms on her head to calm her emotions.
“Don’t be impatient. We are doing well enough.”
“… I see.”
* * *
We arrived at Area 45 around dawn.
“long time no see. People work with me so early.”
Outside the window was a wide wheat field. People bowed to work, and harvest vehicles moved around.
Each numbered section, numbered 1 through 119, extends outward in a tree-ring shape centered on the capital city.
And the closer to the central capital, the higher the fertility of the land.
Gradually, it was a section where land where crops could be grown appeared.
“It’s all just fields.”
“It would be absurd to use precious land for other purposes. No matter what you plant, you will earn several times more than in any other case. Isn’t there farmland owned by the church in the capital too?”
“There is. It’s not on private land like here, but all the crops harvested are used for distribution.”
“… … .”
There was one thing she was wrong about.
Crops grown on the church’s farmland, so-called ‘Golden Land’, are not used for distribution, unlike what is known externally.
All are classified as special items and delivered to high-ranking government agencies, including the imperial family.
What is used in the distribution business are crops of extremely low commodity value, purchased from the lowest level of farmland.
“Have you ever participated in distribution yourself?”
“I don’t think there is anything other than my apprenticeship when I was very young. After being appointed as a combat priest, he continued to travel around the continent to carry out his duties.”
Then a boy working in the field approached a slow-moving car and knocked on the window.
His body was shriveled up with a scruffy face.
He looked around and looked into the supervisor’s eyes and held out his palm.
Weing-
Estelle lowered the window and placed a coin on the palm of her hand.
The boy bowed his head and hurriedly disappeared into the workplace.
She said looking back at her.
“… There are times when it feels ironic. The fact is that no one else, but those who work in the fertile land, are starving.”
Farmland workers are usually funded by cheap, young labor from the slums.
The contract is close to exploitation, but no one complains.
There is no other way for children to survive in the city, and there are plenty of children who want to work in the worst conditions.
“If you could save those children, would you?”
“I don’t know if it was before, but now it is. Just saving the children in front of you right now will not solve the problem.”
She raised the window again and looked away from the children.
That was the right story.
The gap between the rich and the poor and poverty that drifted across the continent could not be resolved unless the fundamental parts were touched.
The car glided slowly towards the center of the area.
* * *
“welcome. I was waiting for you to contact me.”
A three-story high-end mansion.
An old man who appeared to be the butler came out to the front door and greeted us.
The Nedvice family had villas throughout the district, and Pieta made arrangements for us to use them freely.
As if it was the minimum number of people to manage the mansion, the number of users was not very large.
I unpacked my things and laid down on the bed, closing my eyes for a moment. After about two hours, I got up and moved with a clear mind.
quiver-
There was Estelle in the yard garden.
As she swung her mace in the air, she made a dissatisfied face, found me and approached me.
“Are you leaving?”
“okay. It would have been better to rest a little. Were you still warming up?”
“It got me thinking a little bit. I even put some eyes on the car.”
She spoke with determined eyes.
“Can I change the equipment?”
“Are you talking about equipment?”
“yes. First of all, lack of skills was the biggest reason, but if the equipment was a little better, the result would have been a little different when I fought with her.”
It seemed that her mind had not yet escaped from the conversation they had at dawn.
She has two pieces of equipment.
mace and shield.
I don’t use anything else because my body slows down.
As an item received from the church, it boasts a higher quality than any ready-made product.
Any kind of equipment will not occupy her castle.
‘I’ll have to keep track of all the schedules of the auction featuring Mithril.’
Simply in terms of efficiency, giving her a mace and a shield was more likely to lead to a greater power increase than making multiple justice guns for me to use.
“I’ll do it when this is over and I can afford it.”
“thanks.”
Her face brightened at once.
We got into the car together and went out the door of the mansion.
The streets were neat and tidy, and the clothes of people passing by were also clean.
This was because the 40th district had the majority of the population in the middle class.
It was a completely different landscape from the high numbered zone, where most of the district consisted of slums and factories.
The car has entered the entertainment district.
It was morning, so all the neon signs were turned off and promotional materials were lying on the floor like fallen leaves.
There was no need to ask anyone for the location of the information guild.
The 30th and 40th divisions were Cain’s main areas of activity, and the locations of major facilities and buildings were all entered in his head.
I parked the car in front of the five-story building located inside and approached the glass door.
The whole building was a high-end pub with halls and bars.
thud. thud.
Not long after knocking on the glass door, a handsome man appeared from the inside.
“It’s not time for a drink yet… . We’re open from dinner, so come back then. If you want a daytime drink, look for another restaurant.”
He looked me up and down and scratched his head.
The bartender’s outfit was ruined because he fell asleep while working the night before.
“I heard that there are drinks that can only be ordered here.”
eyes met.
After a while he opened the door and said:
“I was your guest. Come on in. It doesn’t sound like a store, though.”
Me and Estelle entered the store.
Estelle whispered to her when she saw the staff lying around the tables and sofas.
“I heard that the operation method differs depending on the personality of the branch manager, but this is a bit unusual.”
I agreed with her, but I couldn’t ignore it.
Contrary to their poor appearance, they were all capable of overturning a knight of any level.
In particular, the man who was guiding us, Jack the drinker, was quite a positional figure in this world.
He was famous for selling information by all means and methods and ascending to the position of branch manager within the shortest period of time.
We passed the floor littered with broken bottles and arrived at the innermost room of the hall.
“Wait outside.”
“I see.”
I went inside with Jack.
On the marble table, papers were piled up everywhere in addition to ice buckets and wine bottles.
little girl.
He put ice in a glass and poured vodka.
“Would the client have a drink too?”
“… became Go straight to the point. There must be a quest registered under the name of Evan.”
“Ah, that’s a name I remember. It must have been a customer who made a huge request… .”
He flipped the glass to his mouth and rummaged through the pile of papers.
He took out one of them, brushed off the drops of alcohol on the top, and spread it out.
“Let’s see. You were a person with a lot of questions. What would you like to hear first?”
“Starting with the executives of the Blue Serpent.”
He nodded and said what was written on the paper.
It appears that Leica has resumed activity after leaving Area 33, an artificial forest.
Bama recently appeared in Area 53 and disappeared, and we are investigating what happened thereafter.
Parter does not leave the 40th division, and it seems that he was conscious of the recently rising new organization, Putilland.
Laxen is a student at the Matoap, and he did not show any special features during the semester.
‘Fertilland.’
It was an organization in Cain’s memory.
It was an organization that started activities in the 40th and 50th divisions, and was buying land based on a huge amount of capital.
Rumors circulated as orthodox that most of the land purchased was from farmland-related companies, and there was a conflict with Blue Serpent in the 40th division regarding land issues.
‘As expected, the conflict is not over yet. Putilland is also a formidable organization.’
“Once this is all you have requested, do you have any more questions?”
I thought for a moment, and before long a picture came into my mind.
I leaned towards the table and said.
“About the recent movements of Blue Serpent and Puttyland in the 40th Division.”
thud!
Then the ceiling fell and someone landed on the table.
“die!”
Doo doo doo-!
In the misty dust, the intruder fired his rifle at Jack with a shriek.