Chapter 1063 – #252_사냥꾼(4) – DeepL

#1057

1.
It was only two days later.

That is, after Lydia’s perseverance had temporarily mended the rift between the Lehar Group and Top of Solidus.

Once again, another Soledus Top ship was sunk.

This time, it wasn’t in the waters of the Panama Canal, but far out in the Pacific.

When the Lehar Group, hired by Lydia to escort it, arrived on the scene in 15 minutes via the Moon, they found the escort team wiped out, unable to communicate.

And their cargo floating in a vast, deadly sea.

“Shit. What the hell?”

Herya stifled the anger that rose to the top of her lungs as she gathered up the cargo.

Whether the sinking was Lydia’s doing or, as she said, a third party’s epilepsy, we don’t know.
But I’ve entrusted her with an escort, and the moment I fail to fulfill it, there’s no telling what pods she’ll grab.

In order to get the shoal, they had to salvage at least some cargo from the wrecked ship, and so Herya went to work with a grimace.

Halfway through, the assistant captain approached her.

“Captain, wasn’t this what you were going to do all along?”
“What?”
“I thought Lydia was too willing to let us into Hexenacht, and it’s only been a day or two since that wench has had us wandering around with her vicious bite.”

Herja rolled her eyes at the deputy’s point.

“Let’s just say it was Lydia who ran over our kids and killed Talia. The Chief went to her and got her citizenship and assigned her to escort duty.”
“Well.”

“But do you really think that bitch is going to back down so easily? She’s going to attack her own smuggling ship, hunt down our teammates one more time, and then use the excuse that she didn’t escort them properly as an excuse to do more shit.”
“Shit, I know that much.”

“They’re in a bad mood, a lot of them want to wash their hands of it, and some of the bitches have just disappeared.”

Herja clenched her teeth.
The Rehar group is a dot-com, not a solid hierarchy and chain of command like Solidus’.

The team is led by an elite group of close-knit members, but the rest are freelancers whose loyalty is hardly expected.

It’s not surprising that freelancers who had previously accepted the Lehar Group’s direction because it provided stable subcontracting work would defect during this crisis.

This is a public society where the logic of power prevails.

Not only is the Rehar Group trying to antagonize Solidus Top, but there’s even a suspicion that Solidus Top is attacking from below.

They are not loyal enough sailors to join a sinking ship.

What should they do?

Herja felt her head spinning.
But it didn’t last long.

An hour into the cargo lift.

“Foreman. There’s something you need to see.”

The container was a mangled mess, completely crushed.

Inside was the body of Thalia, the Witch of Tragedy, Herja’s closest confidante, whom she had recently lost contact with.

Very finely wrapped, as if it were a commodity.

2.
“I told you, I knew it.”
“…….”
“How do you explain it?”

Because of her appearance and harsh words, Herya is often dismissed as a simple case of ignorant anger management disorder.

But Lydia, who has known her for quite some time, knows better.
She knows that when her eyes really roll, she can be surprisingly cool and calm.

“I’ve got a great excuse, so go ahead. I’ll hear it last.”

But this is not the kind of coldness that allows you to look at things objectively.
It’s the calm of someone who’s already made up his mind and set his course.

The conflict between the top of Solidus and the Lehar group.

It is dramatically sealed with a step backward by Lydia, who predicts that it will be epilepsy.
In the meantime, Talia’s body is found on a smuggling vessel on top of Solidus, wrapped up like a prize.

Lydia was skeptical, but now she was certain.

Someone was working hard to drive a wedge between the two groups.

“Throwing.”
“What?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Why would I bring a nicely wrapped corpse of a witch who wasn’t a rogue and had her brand removed, and put it on the ship above me? Do you think I’d do such a stupid thing? And then the ship sank and you saw it? Doesn’t that sound weird to you?”

Lydia’s words were more like a half-hearted attempt to organize my thoughts.

“I wasn’t the one who attacked the Lehar group, but it’s no secret that you and I don’t get along, so someone is trying to set you up, hoping to turn you against me.”
“…So, you’re not? You’re not guilty of anything, not the previous attack, not this one. You’re just an innocent victim?”

“You know, you and I, we’re different. I don’t have two smuggling ships at sea to deal with you.”
“…….”

As the silence lengthened, Lydia felt hopeful for the first time.

Was this quack finally starting to think?

“Haha!”
“Haha….”

So it was.
Lydia sighed heavily at the sight of Herya grinning ferociously.

“Well, Mrs. Magnus, I can see how you’ve been working on the top of the Solidus, blabbering on and on, slowing down the response and making metallurgical moves in between.”

Her ears had already closed tightly.
No amount of eloquence will convince her.

Partly because they have different perspectives, partly because they have different things to lose.

Lydia no longer needs to doubt Herja.

There’s no way Herja, who cares about at least her own faction, would have killed Talia and shoved her into the cargo hold of a smuggling ship.
Especially not when her goal was to get the Lehar group into Hexenacht.

But Herja is different.

Her suspicions of Lydia have only grown stronger.
No matter how conscious she is of the smell of foul play, no matter how eloquently Lydia pleads her case.

The words fall on deaf ears.

Crucially, the two women have lost differently.

Lydia hasn’t lost much.
Two cargo ships, at most.
Whatever the cost, it’s nothing compared to what she’s capable of.

But Herya lost not just any member, but two elite members, and a member of the team below them.

Those who have lost so much are bound to be more sensitive and paranoid.

These imbalances creep in and create a gap between two people who were once so far apart.
What should have been a calm conversation becomes increasingly unresolvable.

At this point, Lydia has given up trying to lead a harmonious negotiation.

“Hey, Lydia, you Calvary bitch.”
“…….”
“Admit it. I’m a bully and I’m stupid, but why do you think the kids follow me?”

Lydia’s eyes, bloodshot and bloodshot red, flashed in front of her.
They were the eyes of a rabid dog, ready to lunge at its master and bite the nape of his neck.

“Because they believe that when they die, I will pay them back.”
“…….”

Lydia didn’t bother to point out Herja’s self-consciousness in discussing the public subject of righteousness and morality.

With the outcome decided in her head, further conversation was a waste of time.

“We’ll see.”

Herja clenched her bloodied fists and walked away, her footsteps echoing off the ground.

“Ms. Chairman.”

A moment later, Lydia’s secretary informed her that Herja had left Hexenacht with her entire entourage back in the realm of the living.

“…….”

Who could this be?
What big livered bastard had sank his teeth into this witch of gold.

Too many enemies, too many suspects.
Worrying that Herya, who had fallen to the enemy’s insanity, would be damned in this world.

As Lydia pondered her options, she called her assistant.

“Stop the smuggling ships for now. Those that have already left, dock at a nearby port as soon as possible.”
“Aye.”
“Assign an action team to guard the docked ships. Report anything unusual immediately. Get back to work.”
“Aye!”

The secretary turned, delighted to see Lydia back to her ruthless businesswoman self.

“Stop for a minute.”
“Four.”

Lydia called her back.

“I want you to look into these two sinkings, the casualties, and get me a report.”
“Casualties? If they’re from the sinkings, that’s four.”
“Come on, ma’am, report the casualties, don’t you know the casualties?”

The secretary scratched her head in disbelief, then realized what he meant.

She was supposed to report how many humans died in the incident, not how many witches died.

It was also a puzzling directive.
To Gongyong, humans were cogs in the wheel, except for the business owner.

Put a well-spoken pantser in charge, and he’d sharpen the cogs and remove the rusty parts.

“Old man, I’ll take care of it!”

Has the chairman suddenly opened his eyes to humanism?
The secretary was puzzled, but immediately contacted the Central American business management to get a report on how many sailors had died.

The secretary finished her research in ten minutes and posted the report.
The secretary looked at Lydia with a puzzled expression on her face and became even more puzzled.

“Ahahahaha!!!”

Lydia, who had recently been chewing on something all day, burst out laughing, holding her stomach.

“This sucks, this sucks, this sucks!”

The secretary watched in bewilderment as Lydia laughed so hard that tears welled up in her eyes.