NovelChina Chapter 179 : Cooperation (4)
Chapter 179 : Cooperation (4)
Chapter 179: Cooperation (4)
Dale Wedmeyer, the leading figure of the pro-Bernhardt faction.
Of course, being pro-Bernhardt never meant he possessed any actual loyalty or sense of belonging to begin with.
Still—
I never expected him to switch sides this boldly.
‘…Maybe he’s been a double agent from the start.’
It wasn’t as though such timelines had never existed before.
At his core, the man was a survivalist.
Under the law of survival of the fittest—that those who survive are the strong—he excelled at attaching himself to whichever faction offered the highest probability of survival.
From that perspective, the fact that he passed this internal information to us could certainly be interpreted as a positive sign.
However—
The second proposal was disrupting Edel’s judgment.
Second, before Bernhardt’s supplies and military forces fall into the hands of the Dawn Society, seize them immediately.
‘This choice… will determine the future outcome of this timeline.’
The collapse of Bernhardt was not something that happened often.
And truthfully speaking, it was difficult to say they had completely collapsed yet.
Crushing them once or twice wasn’t enough.
Their vitality surpassed even cockroaches, and beyond simple survival, they possessed exceptional ability when it came to reorganizing the stage around themselves.
If Greenwhistle joined hands with them, then before long, the Platinum Dawn Society might transform into Bernhardt’s information organization.
The Dawn Society led by Charlotte Platina wouldn’t collapse so easily, but Bernhardt’s persistence surpassed even that.
And with catastrophe already right around the corner—
Such a mutant development was the last thing she wanted.
“So in the end… I have no choice but to trust her?”
…No.
It wasn’t about trusting her.
Eugene Carter.
The real question was whether she could trust that man.
After muttering to herself several times, Edel fell into thought.
Of course, it didn’t take long for her to arrive at a conclusion.
She smiled at her servant Lea with eyes full of determination.
“Alright, let’s do it, Lea.”
“…Pardon?”
“Send a message to Director Michel and Instructor Eugene. Tell them I’d like to see them soon.”
“Ah… yes! What date should I arrange…?”
Handing Dale’s letter back to Lea, Edel answered:
“Tomorrow.”
---
It was already 9 AM by the time we finally managed to return to Carvena, but there was no time to rest at all.
“You both worked extremely hard. We’ll resume discussion regarding future matters on Monday. Until then, please get some proper rest.”
I said that to the two of them before returning to my private room, but—
‘There’s no way those Bernhardt bastards are just going to let this pass quietly.’
True, the regular army was too occupied dealing with the Monster Beast outbreaks to focus on internal suppression.
Even taking that into account, however, there were only three organizations in the Empire capable of attempting national overthrow, as far as I knew.
The first was the divine army of the Ribenia Orthodoxy centered around Dellowel.
…Though they existed, Dellowel—their main fighting force—had already suffered catastrophic damage, and with the Archbishop in that state, their organizational power would still lag behind unless the Executors cooperated willingly.
We’d likely receive help from them once the apocalypse truly began in earnest later on.
The second was the pro-Bernhardt alliance centered around Bernhardt itself.
Considering the current public sentiment and atmosphere, even if they mobilized all their troops, they probably couldn’t gather more than five thousand soldiers.
They could inflict some damage, but not enough to seize control of the Imperial Palace.
And finally, the third was the Platinum Dawn Society and its allied forces.
Even in-game, the organization’s total numbers had rarely ever been fully revealed, and after recent events, the number of Resistance volunteers had likely increased significantly.
In terms of potential, they surpassed the other two by far.
The fact that their subordinates included special combat forces like Ain Cabala was another variable.
But the greatest variable of all was the person leading the Platinum Dawn Society—
Charlotte Platina.
I’d spent ten years repeatedly observing this world.
Naturally, I remembered at least rough information regarding all major characters.
And yet—
When it came to Charlotte Platina, not a single piece of information was truly certain.
‘Even after investigating directly, I couldn’t find anything useful.’
There might still be meaningful information hidden within her subordinate Ain Cabala, but attempting to investigate them carried risks far too great.
As such, the only information I possessed regarding the Chairman of the Platinum Dawn Society amounted to two things.
First—
She appeared to be a woman in her mid-twenties.
Second—
Despite that appearance, her actual lifespan exceeded two hundred years.
“Hmm….”
If preparation was necessary, then preparations had to be made by any means necessary.
And the foundation of such judgment always stemmed from information.
You couldn’t prepare for something you didn’t know.
I believed that was also part of the reason why I, someone who knew this world better than even the developers, had ended up transmigrating into it.
I had been thrown into this world to achieve salvation.
Which meant that whatever dragged me here—whether it was a god or some system—at the very least didn’t desire this world’s destruction.
From the opposite perspective—
If there existed an entity that desired this world’s destruction—
Then that being would naturally try to hide information about its subordinates from me as much as possible.
Because if I didn’t know about them, I couldn’t prepare.
Just as thoughts like those filled my head—
I suddenly sensed mana erupting from inside the drawer.
After reciting the Unlocking Spell, I pulled the handle open.
The Tebrel Orb stored inside was flashing violently.
Out of habit, I checked my surroundings before pouring mana into it.
As expected, the voice from the other side belonged to someone very familiar.
“Instructor, it’s Lea.”
“Yeah. What is it?”
“Ah, well….”
The story Lea relayed neatly resolved one of my lingering questions.
“…So that’s what happened.”
“…You really aren’t surprised at all, are you?”
“There was something similar before.”
“Anyway, regarding this matter, my master has summoned both of you to the Imperial Palace.”
“Well, there’s plenty to discuss.”
I stroked my lips before suddenly speaking.
“Fine. We’ll head to the Imperial Palace tomorrow. But I have a condition.”
“…This somehow feels like the reverse of last time. What is it?”
“I want this discussion to include Fransia and Rubia as well.”
.
.
.
Perhaps Edel had been nearby, because Lea returned with an answer almost immediately.
“But why those two all of a sudden? Is this related to the current situation?”
“It is. Very much so.”
“…Well, if you say so, Instructor.”
Lea didn’t ask for specifics.
“Then we’ll see you then. Just arrive before noon.”
“Understood.”
The moment the communication ended, I returned the orb to the drawer and let out a sigh.
“Fuuu….”
This was going to be quite a gamble.
As I muttered that to myself, Clina’s voice echoed from within.
― So it seems you’re plotting something, Contractor.
‘Yeah. Something big.’
― Hm.
‘The problem is that I can’t tell whether this’ll become a blessing or poison in the future.’
― You mean the choice to bring those two along?
‘Yeah.’
― …If you’re truly that anxious, then you could simply avoid bringing them.
‘No. I have to bring them.’
I decided to stop choosing only the safer option after endlessly weighing risk against reward.
Why?
The reason was simple.
‘Because I trust them.’
That said, separate from my trust in them, the risks involved in this plan were undeniably enormous.
Which meant preparations were necessary.
Insurance—
In case everything failed.
“Though I can’t be certain the great Executors of the Orthodoxy will actually help me….”
Fortunately, I’d already narrowed down several insiders who could potentially be recruited.
Greenwhistle’s Maximilian.
Resistance member Dale Wedmeyer.
And similarly, Resistance member Erik Hallenberg as well.
As for the rest—
I’d have to improvise while carrying out the operation.
The moment I reached a conclusion, I abruptly rose from my seat and headed outside.
I needed to inform everyone immediately.
---
“…If I can be of help, then gladly.”
“No way, Eugene. You weren’t planning to leave me behind, were you? Because if so, I’m disappointed.”
Even with nothing more than the clichéd reason of “needing help,” the two of them readily accepted my proposal.
“This works out nicely. There were many things I wished to discuss with the Princess.”
Michel also accepted the request without resistance, albeit for a different reason.
After arranging to gather at the departure location before dawn tomorrow, I headed alone toward the Academic Affairs Office.
There, I happened to run into Frederick just as he was entering the Director’s Office, and without a word, I followed him inside.
The moment we entered the room, I spoke first.
“You seem perfectly fine, Director. Looks like you returned safely.”
“The security inside the territory wasn’t as strict as expected. Thanks to that.”
“And Walter’s safe too, I assume?”
“Carter, aren’t you underestimating fellow Special Operations veterans too much? Of course he’s fine.”
“…Fair enough. Walter might be a coward, but he’s not the type to abandon everyone and run away alone.”
“…Can’t tell whether that was praise or an insult.”
Frederick shrugged before scratching his chin.
“So. You’re wondering how I ended up there that day?”
“Dale Wedmeyer, wasn’t it?”
The moment I answered immediately, Frederick blanked out before nodding.
“Ah… right. Dale gave me a warning beforehand. What, did you already know?”
“I had my suspicions.”
Then I slowly organized my thoughts and asked:
“When did you become capable of using the Azure Dragon’s power?”
For an instant, his eyes widened dramatically before quickly returning to normal.
Perhaps because it happened so briefly that he thought I hadn’t noticed, Frederick immediately tried to joke it off.
“…Azure Dragon? What nonsense are you suddenly talking about?”
“The legendary divine beast, the Azure Dragon. Others may simply think your blue aura is Mana Fist, but I can distinguish the difference.”
Truthfully, I’d already roughly figured it out before our first clash during the conference.
The fact that Frederick Lake was the successor of a Divine Beast had been revealed multiple times in-game, and among the Divine Beasts, only the Azure Dragon possessed blue aura.
Reaching that conclusion wasn’t difficult.
But there was another reason I chose to bring it up now.
“Before the next catastrophe begins, there are beings we need to secure as allies. The Divine Beasts are among them.”
Especially the White Tiger and Black Tortoise.
We needed to recruit them as quickly as possible.
Those lofty Divine Beasts likely wouldn’t move personally—
But at the very least, we needed them to lend us their power.
After all—
For Michel and Edel, who could no longer achieve additional growth due to incompatibility with Guardian Gods, those two Divine Beasts represented the best possible alternatives.
Looking at Frederick, who still maintained his poker face, I spoke firmly.
“Just tell me where you encountered the Azure Dragon.”
“I’ll handle the rest myself.”