Chapter 143: What in the World Is Going On?
In an alley near the Ramfremp Hotel.
“Gasp! Pant…!”
Ferman, wearing a wool beret, ran, gasping for breath.
He was fleeing for one reason.
He had witnessed a woman with red eyes slaughtering his comrades.
To be precise, it was less that he had witnessed it and more that he had heard their screams.
The moment Lucy killed Harom with an illusion, Ferman had sensed something was wrong and fled without a second glance.
Not long after he got outside, his colleagues' screams had echoed through the air, giving him a pretty good idea of the situation inside the hotel.
Shit! How did it come to this…!
Ferman’s plan had been simple.
Assassinate Daniel Steiner, return to the Allied Nations, and be recognized and rewarded for his service. That was all.
Templet had spouted some nonsense about a greater cause, but Ferman had no intention of being played by such cheap patriotism.
He hadn't considered it a particularly dangerous mission, either.
No matter how fearsome Daniel Steiner’s reputation was, Ferman had been certain he couldn't stand against thirty intelligence agents who were veterans at killing.
But they had run into an ambush.
His comrades had been slaughtered like dogs by Steiner’s adjutant before they could even get close to the man himself.
I have no idea why things turned out this way, but…
For now, he decided to be content with the fact that he had escaped with his life.
Ferman raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his brow. He paused to catch his breath, then froze.
From the other end of the alley, a human figure was slowly approaching.
At first, he thought it was a lost passerby, but as the figure drew closer, he couldn't shake a growing sense of unease.
The dark-skinned man’s eyes were fixed squarely on him.
Don't tell me.
Panicked, Ferman reached into his coat for his pistol, but he was too late.
The man had drawn his own pistol faster, his finger already on the trigger.
“You son of a—”
Pfft!
A bullet, fired from a silencer, pierced Ferman’s head.
He collapsed in the same motion he’d used to draw his weapon, his head plunging into a puddle on the ground.
Hamtal walked up to the body and emotionlessly lowered his pistol, pulling the trigger again.
Another bullet slammed into Ferman’s fallen head, splattering blood.
A confirmation kill.
Hamtal holstered his pistol, took out a radio, and pressed the transmit button.
“The runner is caught. What about the others?”
He released the button and waited. A moment later, a reply came.
— The screaming has stopped, and there are no more gunshots. Also, no one has come out of the hotel.
It meant Lucy Emilia had eliminated all the Allied agents.
Hamtal found this quite startling.
He never imagined Lucy Emilia would kill every single enemy by herself.
She may be a former test subject of the Allied Nations, but…
When Hamtal had destroyed the Palentia branch, he had reviewed the intelligence and classified materials they had collected.
His plan was to take any necessary information and hand the rest over to the Security Bureau.
He also needed to destroy any information that could be disadvantageous to Daniel Steiner.
It was then that Hamtal had stumbled upon a classified file related to the ‘Lucy Project.’
It was a top-secret document that roughly described the location of the research facility where the Lucy Project had been conducted.
Believing that the truth about Daniel Steiner’s adjutant being an enemy test subject must not be revealed, Hamtal had taken the files and left the textile factory.
Since then, Hamtal had been tormented by a difficult question.
Was it right to assassinate Lucy Emilia for Daniel Steiner’s sake?
According to the documents he’d acquired, Lucy Emilia was a monster who had transcended the limits of a human being.
Allowing such a monster to walk freely by Daniel Steiner’s side was not advisable.
He had been devising a plan to kill her, even if it meant accepting some losses, but after what Lucy had just done, he knew it was next to impossible.
This was Lucy Emilia—a woman who could slaughter nearly thirty Allied agents in an instant.
Even if Hamtal and his men intervened, the outcome would likely be the same.
Besides…
He didn't know her exact reasons, but for now, Lucy Emilia was protecting Daniel Steiner.
Since their objectives aligned, there was no need to make an enemy of her.
His only concern was whether Daniel Steiner was fully aware of the situation.
If, in this situation, Lucy Emilia were to have a change of heart…
Daniel Steiner would most likely die without ever knowing why.
Now that he understood the full extent of Lucy Emilia’s power, there was only one option left.
His mind made up, Hamtal raised the radio and pressed the transmit button.
“Prepare to return to the capital. We’ve confirmed that Lucy Emilia is on Daniel Steiner’s side for now, so we will reduce our escort detail to a minimum. Also, once we return to the capital, we will devote all our resources to pinpointing the location of the research facility where the Lucy Project was conducted.”
Inform Daniel Steiner of Lucy Emilia’s true identity and provide him with her weakness.
That was the only help the secret organization, the Black Swan, could offer Daniel Steiner right now.
*
The first light of dawn streamed through the window, and Daniel’s eyes slowly fluttered open.
The ceiling was familiar.
He blinked a few times, then sat up, frowning.
…What kind of dream was that?
In the dream, he had been walking his golden retriever, Kelly, in a park.
The peaceful life he had so desperately longed for had come true in his dream.
But then, suddenly…
In the blink of an eye, Kelly had transformed into Lucy and started to approach him.
Flustered, Daniel had shouted at her not to come closer, but Lucy had just stuck to him like a puppy, her tongue lolling out.
It was as if Kelly’s soul had entered Lucy’s body…
He couldn't understand why he’d had such a bizarre dream.
Daniel sat there blankly for a moment, then scratched his head.
Whatever. Let’s not overthink it.
With a sigh, he started to get up to wash, but then he paused.
He felt something foreign in his ear.
He reached up and felt something made of rubber.
When he pulled it out, he saw it was a military-grade earplug.
An earplug? Why was I wearing this…?
Completely baffled, Daniel looked around the room.
“Adjutant?”
No one answered his call.
In fact, there was no sign of anyone at all.
Did she go out first?
Figuring that was possible, Daniel got out of bed.
There was no point in dawdling, so he planned to take a quick shower and head out.
Maybe I’ll start the day with a coffee at a nearby café.
The sunlight was warm, and he had a feeling that something good was going to happen today.
*
After showering and putting on his military dress uniform, Daniel hummed a tune as he took the elevator down to the hotel lobby.
The moment he stepped out of the elevator, he froze.
…What is this?
The first thing he registered was the coppery smell of blood. The next was the sight of thirty bodies, torn to pieces and scattered across the floor.
It looked as if a bloody battle had taken place; not a single body was left intact as they lay strewn across the ground.
They say that when you’re truly shocked, you forget to scream. That was exactly how Daniel felt.
But he quickly snapped out of it, drew his revolver, and began to walk forward slowly.
Sharpening his senses to be ready to use Neural Acceleration at any moment, Daniel slowly spoke.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
Unsurprisingly, there was no reply.
Who on earth did this? Don’t tell me…
As he was trying to guess who the culprit might be, the loud wail of sirens echoed from outside the hotel.
The police?
Thinking he was saved, Daniel relaxed and walked toward the hotel entrance.
“Move in!”
“This way!”
A moment later, armed police officers stormed through the hotel entrance.
They gasped at the sight of the bodies littering the floor, then turned their heads to look at Daniel, who was walking toward them.
Every one of them had a look of pure horror on their face.
“Ah, thank you for your hard work. I know this situation must be confusing…”
The terrified officers simultaneously raised their pistols and aimed them at Daniel.
“D-Don’t come any closer!”
“Freeze! Stop right where you are!”
“Drop the revolver! Drop it now!”
A cold sweat broke out on Daniel’s brow as he stopped in his tracks.
Realizing there was a serious misunderstanding, he placed his revolver on the floor and raised both hands.
“Wait a moment. I can explain everything. I didn’t do this…”
As Daniel was trying to explain, a man who appeared to be an inspector shouted.
“You bastards! Lower your weapons! That man is Colonel Daniel Steiner!”
“B-But, the person who committed this massacre…”
“You idiots, look at what the dead men are holding! Does it look like Colonel Steiner attacked a bunch of innocent people!?”
Hearing the inspector’s words, the officers began to lower their pistols one by one.
Just as the inspector had said, all the corpses were armed.
But they still stared at Daniel Steiner with eyes full of fear.
Wait a minute…
Sensing this situation was not going well, Daniel spoke again, his tone serious.
“Everyone, you have to believe me. Please understand that I have no connection whatsoever to the bodies on the floor. And I’m asking you, please stop looking at me like that…”
Daniel tried to explain as coherently as possible, but the police didn't believe him.
That included the inspector leading them.
The inspector deliberately avoided Daniel’s gaze, then raised his radio to his lips.
“This is headquarters. Inspector Derento of the Wartime Security Patrol. We have a massive number of casualties here at the Ramfremp Hotel on 8th Street. Approximately thirty dead. The one who emerged victorious from the engagement with them is…”
The inspector swallowed hard and continued, his voice filled with disbelief.
“One person. Colonel Daniel Steiner.”