Chapter 1064 – #253_잡잡잡잡 – DeepL

#1058

1.
Tobacco is a funny thing.

If it’s a quality product like the one Lydia smokes in her pipe, the raw materials and processing are superior and the product is homogeneous.

But depending on your mood, the taste and flavor can vary widely.

Sometimes it’s dirty, sometimes it’s heavenly.

“스읍…. Haa….”

Pink lips pucker and inhale, and a pleasant puff of smoke hits my lungs.
It’s a very satisfying smoke, thanks to the small sense of accomplishment that comes with solving a troublesome quiz once and for all.

Lydia looked at the report her secretary had sent her from Central American Operations earlier.

[Zero human casualties from both incidents].

“Woo-hoo-hoo.”

That’s a good accident.
One ship even sank in the middle of the Pacific.

But there was not a single “human” casualty.
Further investigation revealed that the raid on Lehar’s teammates also resulted in zero human casualties.

This unnatural phenomenon is conclusive proof of the identity of the raiders, and by extension, of the bug that was slithering between Lehar’s group and the top of Solidus.

Gehenna? Clipport? Achievement? Exile?

It can’t be.

A human life is to a witch what an ant is to an ant.

This is true even for relatively benign Gehenna witches.
In the eyes of the highborn Gehenna, a human in the service of Hexenacht would be a meritorious creature.

In peacetime, what witch would care about the lives of humans on the battlefield, where they can hit and run and hide their identities?

Despite all her scheming, she never crossed the line.
A weakness that blatantly leaves a tail in the wind.
The foolishness of giving up rationality for the sake of mere justice.

Lydia laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, leaving her secretary dumbfounded.

“I’m sure it’s not the pink duchess….”

As far as Lydia knew, the only witch with that level of sanity was the Duke of Tifferet.

But she’s been informed that she’s in “long-term care” due to the after-effects of the last flood, and she doesn’t have the temperament to pull such a stunt.

Eloa Tiperet is too honest.

After a series of erasures, Lydia was left with a man in her head.

The man she had erased from her mind in the first place, even on board the dragon.

“Xin Xiu, it’s you.”

Xin Xiu’s vision was clear across the table.

The black fog clears, and he can finally see the face of his opponent.

“Yes, it’s me.”

As he sits there, he is no longer the innocent child of the world.

He’s no longer the puzzled sandman who’s been pondering his options since he brought down the mace of justice on the evil Rosie.

There’s a hunter there, a hunter who shakes the Rehar group out from under them, who has Lydia by the scruff of the neck, and who hunts down accomplishments without mercy.

“But you knew I was a woman who could see through this, didn’t you?”

Lydia looked at Xiu with conviction in her eyes.

“Yes, I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

Xiu sat down at the table and took a slow drag on his cigarette.

Across the purple smoke from the setting sun, his opponent, Lydia Magnus, loomed large.

Her gleaming golden eyes caught Xiu’s, glistening with greed, like a merchant faced with a lifetime’s worth of treasure.
A smile curled Lydia’s lips.

“You’ve left just as much of a mark, haven’t you?”

I suppose so.

The first sinking, at least, had the geography of ‘offshore’ behind it.
But the smuggling ship Xiu had sunk after shoving Talia’s body aboard had turned over in the middle of the Pacific.

And yet not a single sailor died.

There will be unnatural marks left behind, and we recognize that.

But there are no innocent humans involved in this revenge plot.

It is a non-negotiable ‘good’.
A signpost left by someone who has traveled a long way and still wants to return.

Lydia will see right through this.

She’s a cunning, manipulative woman.
Doubt will become certainty, and she will discover Xiu’s presence.

“You’ll find me soon enough, Suspicion, in a series of coincidences. You’ll also recognize the lack of casualties in my raid on the Lehar group.”
“Right, of course. I looked into it.”

Lydia set her jaw.
There it was, the ease of a strong man who had just met an interesting opponent.

“I’ll give you credit. It was a brilliant plan, thoroughly aligning the top with a group of Lehar with a common enemy in Xinxiu, and deliberately imbalancing the damage to eliminate any chance of a talky fix.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised, too, because I thought they’d be able to work together at least once, but instead, the top of Solidus went ahead and embraced the Lehar group.”

“So you ended up ‘tossing’ Talia’s body to completely split the two groups?”
“Yes.”

Up until this point.
Xiu had gotten what he wanted without revealing the slightest shadow of himself,

“But it’s too bad. If you’d killed just a few humans, if you’d compromised just a little, instead of displaying that defective purity, I still wouldn’t be able to see your face.”

To put it another way, could Xin Xiu, with all his planning, not have seen this coming?

Apparently not.

“You even know how to make a complete crime out of it, Shi Shunyang.”

Xin Xiu realized that at this rate, Lydia would soon discover his identity.
Her revenge would be thwarted.

He had predicted it.

“Hmph, now I have a choice, and the best option is to bring in stupid Herya to clear up the misunderstanding between us, right?
Of course, it’s going to be hard to convince stupid Herya without evidence, but there’s no point in you two snarling and doing yourself any favors, is there?”

She reveals that the culprit is Cynthia.

Until the real culprit is found, he’ll make up for the damage to Talia and the Rehar group with a large monetary reward.

In other words, Herja’s patience is “too much money to refuse.

Even Cynthius can’t afford to go all the way into Hexenacht and cause trouble, so he keeps his base in the city and goes after the real culprits on good terms with Herja.

“Actually, this is the safest painting. As for the money, if we catch you and it turns out you’re the real culprit, we’ll get some of it back.”

As Lydia thinks this, Xiu asks.

“Are you sure you’re happy with that?”
“Hmm?”

“You’ve always wanted me. How about you play a game with me?”
“What game?”
“Peek-a-boo.”

Xinxiu suggests, with a pensive face and a sweet voice.

“I catch the Lehar group that killed Dorothy. You look the other way, condone it, and withhold information about me.
In exchange, you get the exclusive right to take me down-all by yourself, without the Lehar Group, without Solidus Top, without any other merit, and without Gehenna knowing.”

Of course Xinxiu would hate Lydia.
One day he will stand before her as an enemy, just as he said he would.

But for now, he knows he can’t deal with both groups at the same time, which is why he’s making such a bold offer.

“Hmm, do you trust me?”

But this is an imaginary conversation.
We don’t know what Lydia would do if she actually realized that Xin Xiu was the real culprit.

“No. Not at all.”
“And you’re willing to risk your life like this?”
“Because I believe in your greed.”

The offer, then, is a deal he can make because he knows Lydia’s tendencies and nature.

High risk, high return, her favorite.
No, super high return.

Could any game be more exhilarating?

“Smart, there aren’t many women greedier than me. Okay, let’s play. Love’s tricks.”

Lydia laughed.
Is Xinxiu laughing?

-Bang, bang, bang, bang.

“Secretary! Secretary!”
“Four!”

Lydia instructed the secretary, who rushed in within 30 seconds of Lydia excitedly ringing the bell.

“Get me the Gehenna immigration roster. Up to date.”
“Four, ma’am!”

First things first.
Not sure if any of his lovers are cooperating.

It’s doubtful that a chick in a vengeful mask would enlist a lover in his bloody revenge, but we’ll find out soon enough.
My secretary will be back shortly with the list from the Gehenna immigration office that my informant brought with him.

It must have occurred to him long ago that Gehenna might have a contact at the top of Solidus.

Unless Xinxiu is an idiot, he’s based locally and doesn’t use ‘doors’, so this is more about picking out his collaborators than tracking his location.

“And who are those kids who posted the casualty report today?”
“Uh, Central American Business Management? I picked the smart ones from the outcasts.”

“Organize them.”
“Yeah, how do we do that?”
“British style. Neatly.”

The assistant understood Lydia’s instructions, didn’t question them, didn’t wonder.

A common occurrence in an organization the size of the top of Solidus.

“And let’s see, yes. I want a pretty dress in ten minutes. Something cool, something sexy, because we’re going somewhere hot. I’m going on a date with a nice guy.”
“Me, with a guy…? With some guy….?”
“A man with muscles and brains.”

The secretary looked like the sky was falling.

2.
It’s because Solidus and Lydia are the kings of the beasts that have tamed the wilderness The notoriety and power of the Lehar Group is formidable.
A single individual is no match for the enemy in Nawabari.

The Lehar Group was a tricky prey, especially now that they had begun to show signs of warning.

Xiu thought soberly.

They would need more than a smoke screen to continue the hunt.
Not just a one-time smoke screen, but a scarecrow that would distract the Rehar Group in the long run.

So, he split the Rehar Group and the top of Solidus, turning the Rehar Group’s anger toward Solidus.
But it didn’t stop there, it gave Lydia a reason to take on the role of scarecrow.

“Enough for now.”

This bought her some time.

Even though I’d given her away, Lydia, who wants control of Xiu more than anyone else, will control the top of Solidus as well as the Rehar Group.

You’ve had enough rest.
It’s time to resume the hunt.

Your targets are the products of epilepsy, the freelancers of the Rehar Group.
They are mercenaries with no loyalty.

They’ve chosen to disassociate themselves from the Lehar Group, either because they’re terrified of Herja’s insanity in the face of Solidus Top or because they don’t want to fall prey to Lydia’s ambition.

Not realizing that it would isolate them in the face of hunters who knew every inch of the nest’s location.

I’ll take what I can get.

Xiu picked up his spear.

-Bulk

At that moment, the door to Dorothy’s workshop, the hangar, swung open.

“Hmph, what an expensive looking villa. Dorothy must have made a lot of money?”

Lydia, draped in a sensual outfit that was certainly beautiful, but inappropriate for a date, stepped into the hangar with a wide grin on her face.

“So there you are, huh?”