Chapter 1064 – #253_Hide-And-Seek
#1058
1.
Cigarettes are truly fascinating things.
If it’s a high-quality product like the one Lydia smokes in her pipe, the raw materials and processing are excellent, and the quality of the product is consistent.
However, depending on one’s mood, the taste and aroma can vary greatly.
Sometimes it’s terribly bitter, and other times it’s heavenly, wouldn’t you say?
“Sss… haaa…”
As she sucks on the mouthpiece with her pink lips, the smoke pleasantly fills her lungs. Perhaps it’s thanks to the small sense of accomplishment she feels after solving a tricky quiz in one go, but it’s a very satisfying smoke.
Lydia had just finished reading the report that her secretary had brought from the Central American Business Management Department.
[Zero human fatalities from two incidents]
“Hehehe.”
Those were significant incidents.
One ship even sank in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Yet, there wasn’t a single ‘human’ casualty.
Further investigation revealed that there were also zero human casualties when the Lehar Group’s team was attacked.
This unnatural phenomenon is decisive evidence that allows one to gauge the identity of the instigator who was subtly driving a wedge between the Lehar Group and the Solidus Trading Company, and even further, the attacker.
Gehenna? Qliphoth? Public Enemy? Exile?
That can’t be it.
To a witch, a human life is usually like that of an ant.
Even for a relatively benevolent witch from Gehenna, it’s the same.
From the perspective of the aloof Gehenna scholars, humans who serve for Hexennacht are also the Public Enemy’s lackeys.
In peacetime, maybe, but in a battlefield where they are hiding their identities and carrying out hit-and-run attacks, would there be a witch who would care about each and every human life?
The weakness of not crossing the line despite using all sorts of schemes.
The sloppiness of leaving an obvious trail in the end.
The foolishness of abandoning rationality for the sake of a flimsy sense of justice.
The sight was so ridiculous that Lydia burst into laughter, leaving her secretary bewildered.
“It can’t be the Pink Peacock…”
As far as Lydia knows, the only witch with that level of uprightness is Duchess Tiferet.
However, she received intelligence that Tiferet is ‘on long-term care’ due to the aftereffects of the recent flood, and more than anything, she doesn’t have the personality to devise such a cunning scheme.
Eloa Tiferet is too honest.
After going through various elimination methods, one man naturally remained in Lydia’s mind.
The man she had initially dismissed from the list of suspects because she had doubts.
“Shin Siwoo. It was you.”
The illusion of Shin Siwoo is clearly visible across the table.
The black fog clears, and finally, the face of the opponent she had been so curious about appears.
“Yes, it’s me.”
The man sitting there is no longer an innocent who doesn’t know the ways of the world.
He’s not the naive man who, after delivering the hammer of justice to the wicked Rosie, was agonizing in a complex and subtle way instead of saying, ‘Ah, that feels so good.’
There is a hunter who is shaking the Lehar Group from the shadows, grabbing Lydia by the back of the neck, and mercilessly hunting down Public Enemies.
“But, you knew that I’m the kind of woman who can see through this much, right?”
Lydia looked at Siwoo with a confident gaze.
“Yeah, you’d be catching on soon.”
Siwoo sat at the table and slowly puffed on his cigarette.
Across the purple smoke, tinged with the setting sun, the figure of his opponent, Lydia Magnus, flickered.
The brilliantly shining golden eyes that had captured Siwoo sparkled with greed, like a merchant who had found the treasure they had been seeking their whole life.
Lydia’s lips, which had a smile on them, moved.
“You left that many traces, didn’t you?”
That’s right.
The first sinking was possible because of the geographical factor of being ‘near the coast.’
However, the smuggling ship that Siwoo sank after pushing Talia’s body into it capsized in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Yet, not a single crew member died.
Unnatural traces would have been left, and she is aware of this.
However, no innocent humans are dragged into this revenge.
That is an ‘absolute’ that cannot be compromised.
It’s a signpost left by someone who wants to return even after going a long way.
Lydia would quickly realize this much.
She is a cunning and meticulous woman.
The suspicion will turn into certainty, and she will discover Siwoo’s existence.
“You’ll find me soon. You’ll find suspicion in the series of coincidences. You’ll also realize that there were no casualties when I attacked the Lehar Group.”
“That’s right, of course. I investigated it.”
Lydia rested her chin on her hand.
There was the composure of a strong person who had met an interesting match after a long time.
“I’ll give you a compliment. It was a great plan. You thoroughly alienated the Lehar Group and the Trading Company, who have a common enemy in Shin Siwoo, and intentionally created an imbalance in the damage to eliminate the possibility of reconciliation through dialogue.”
“Honestly, I was surprised too. I thought they would be at odds with each other after just one incident, but the Solidus Trading Company suddenly embraced the Lehar Group.”
“So, in the end, you ‘threw’ Talia’s body to completely separate the two groups?”
“Yeah.”
Even up to this point.
Siwoo was able to achieve what he wanted without revealing his shadow at all.
“But it’s a shame. If you had killed just a few humans. If you hadn’t revealed that purity like a phobia and had compromised just a little, I still wouldn’t have been able to see your face.”
Conversely, wouldn’t Shin Siwoo, who devised such a plan, have predicted this situation?
No, he wouldn’t.
“You even know how to create a perfect crime, Siwoo.”
With this kind of soft approach, he knew that his identity would soon be revealed to Lydia.
That there would be a setback in his revenge.
He would have predicted it.
“Hmm, now I have a choice? The best option would be to bring in that idiot Herja and clear up the misunderstanding between the two, right?
Of course, it would be difficult to persuade Herja, who is a blockhead with a bad temper, without any evidence, but there’s no need for the two of them to growl at each other and do you a favor, right?”
She would tell them that the culprit is Shin Siwoo.
Until the real culprit is revealed, she would compensate for the damage suffered by the Lehar Group, including Talia, with a huge amount of money.
In other words, she would buy Herja’s patience with ‘too much money to refuse.’
No matter how much of a Shin Siwoo he is, he wouldn’t be able to sneak into Hexennacht and cause an accident, so he would set up a base in the city and chase the real culprit with Herja.
“Actually, this is the safest picture. As for the money, well, if I catch you and it’s revealed that you’re the real culprit, I can get some of it back.”
To Lydia, who was thinking that way, Siwoo was asking.
“Is that really enough for you?”
“Hmm?”
“You’ve been eyeing me since before. How about it? Let’s play a game.”
“What game?”
“Hide-and-seek.”
Shin Siwoo makes this suggestion with a pretty face and a sweet voice.
“I’ll catch the Lehar Group who killed Dorothy. You’ll overlook it, abandon it, and conceal information about me.
Instead, you get the exclusive right to catch me. Without the Lehar Group, the Solidus Trading Company, other Public Enemies, or Gehenna knowing, only you.”
Of course, Shin Siwoo would hate Lydia.
As he said once, he would become an enemy and stand before Lydia.
However, he knows that he cannot deal with both groups at the same time right now, so he is making such a tempting offer.
“Hmm, do you trust me?”
But this is just an imaginary conversation.
It is not known how Lydia, who has actually seen through the fact that the real culprit is Shin Siwoo, will move.
“No. Not at all.”
“But you’re acting so dangerously?”
“Because I trust your greed.”
That’s why the offer is a deal that can be made because she knows Lydia’s tendencies and nature.
High risk, high return, which Lydia likes the most.
No, super high return.
What game could be more thrilling than this?
“Smart, aren’t you? There aren’t many women who are more greedy than me. Okay, let’s do it. A love hide-and-seek.”
Lydia smiled.
Is Shin Siwoo smiling?
-Ding ding ding ding ding
“Secretary! Secretaryyyy!”
“Yes!”
As soon as Lydia rang the bell excitedly, she instructed the secretary who had rushed in within 30 seconds.
“Bring me the Gehenna Immigration Office registry. The most recent one.”
“Yes! Madam President!”
There is something to check first.
It is not certain whether there is cooperation among his lovers.
It is questionable whether a pure person wearing the mask of a vengeful spirit would have dragged his lover into a bloody revenge, but she will soon find out.
Soon, the secretary will bring the registry of the Gehenna Immigration Office that the mole has taken out.
She would have already considered the possibility that there could be a mole from the Solidus Trading Company in Gehenna.
If Shin Siwoo is not a fool, he would have set up a base locally and moved without using the ‘gate,’ so this is not to track his location but to pick out his collaborators.
“And who are the kids who submitted the human casualty report today?”
“Oh, the Central American Business Management Department? I picked out the smart ones among the exiles and made them.”
“Clean them up.”
“Yes, how should I do it?”
“British style. Cleanly.”
The secretary understood Lydia’s instructions, did not ask again, and was not curious.
It’s a common occurrence in an organization the size of the Solidus Trading Company.
“And let’s see, yes. Prepare a pretty dress for me in 10 minutes. Something cool and sexy since I’m going to a hot place. I have a date with a handsome man.”
“A, a man…? Who is the man…?”
“A muscular man with a sexy brain.”
The secretary looked as if the sky had fallen.
2.
It’s just that the Solidus Trading Company and Lydia are the kings of beasts who have conquered the wild, but the notoriety and skills of the Lehar Group are also considerable.
It’s not an enemy that an individual, let alone in the enemy’s territory, can confront.
Moreover, the Lehar Group, which had begun to show signs of alert due to the series of attacks, was a difficult prey.
Siwoo made a cold judgment.
To continue the hunt, something more than a smokescreen is needed.
Not a one-time smokescreen, but a scarecrow that will divert the Lehar Group’s attention in the long term.
Therefore, he alienated the Lehar Group and the Solidus Trading Company, turning the Lehar Group’s anger towards Solidus.
Not stopping there, he created a reason for Lydia to volunteer as a scarecrow.
“That’s enough for now.”
This bought him some time.
Although it meant revealing his identity to Lydia, Lydia, who wants to monopolize Siwoo more than anyone else, will control not only the Solidus Trading Company but also the Lehar Group.
He has rested enough.
Now it’s time to resume the hunt.
The target is the result of the alienation, the freelancers who were in the Lehar Group.
They are mercenaries without loyalty.
They chose to cut ties with the Lehar Group, either out of fear of Herja’s madness in confronting the Solidus Trading Company, or to avoid becoming a victim of Lydia’s ambition.
They don’t know that they are isolating themselves in front of a hunter who knows the location of all their nests.
He will use anything that can be used.
Siwoo picked up his spear.
-Bang
At that moment, the door to Dorothy’s workshop, the hangar, swung open.
“Hmm, it’s a really expensive-looking villa. Dorothy must have made a lot of money?”
Lydia, who was clearly beautiful but wearing a sensual outfit unsuitable for a date, entered the hangar with a full smile.
“I knew you’d be here?”
