Chapter 661 – Visit
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「Suni: … Celestia’s incarnation is placed in…」
I was receiving reports from Sunni on the progress of the ‘Bark family escape operation’.
「Suni: … And no one refused our invitation.」
Although it was a short period of time, there were people who had a close relationship with Zephia, and I instructed them to encourage them to escape.
However, perhaps because Sunni and Chaos were good at persuading them, no one said they would stay.
I thought that Joanna would naturally accept Sunni’s offer… And Veronica also believed in conspiracy theories, so I expected that there was a high possibility that they would join together.
However, there were two unexpected people.
Linnet and Alcyone.
Linette was a great help to me during the Rebellion mission, so even… Alcyone was truly unexpected.
Alcyone was a member of the Mongoose team where I was the team leader in Rebellion.
My relationship with her was neither that good nor that bad. But is this relationship enough to participate in the escape from Zefia? If you do that, that’s not it.
I didn’t even know her contact information.
That’s why she didn’t even tell Sunni about Alcyone.
It was Lynette who made Alcyone participate as a member of the ‘Bark Family Escape Operation’.
It seems that Lynette was closer to Alcyone than I thought. Alcyone, who was a member of the same team, contacted her out of concern…
Alcyone said that she unexpectedly expressed her intention to be together.
「Suni: I heard that those two don’t have a family. So, isn’t that true?」
What Sunni said made sense.
Family plays a significant role in life.
It must have been a significant percentage of the reason why I was active in Rebellion.
It is not easy for someone with a decent family to join an anti-social group like Rebellion.
Orphans were more common in Zephiria than expected.
Are all places where people live the same? Like on Earth, children are abandoned for a variety of reasons, such as giving up custody, protection from abuse, single mothers, etc…
What is different, should we say that it is a child protection and welfare system that is so superior that it cannot be compared to the Earth’s?
Even if they are orphans, they are said to be raised in a fairly good environment.
「Suni: So it seems like he has no hesitation in abandoning his child. It is also a social problem in Zephiria.”
It could be said to be a side effect of a good child welfare system.
Still, it feels a bit lacking for Alcyone to join our escape plan simply because she was an orphan.
‘… No way? Was Alcyone interested in me?’
In that case, Adari is correct.
If she had known that was the case, she would have paid more attention. I feel a little sorry for being somewhat negligent in Joanna’s education.
〈You’re having a strange delusion again… Are you a spy? 〉
Cosmos intervenes and disrupts my amazing reasoning.
‘He didn’t look like a spy…’
If Alcyone was a spy in the first place, she was a spy targeting Rebellion, not Bark.
And the leaders of Rebellion are now in Karaz.
It doesn’t make sense.
The Bark family didn’t do anything wrong for someone to plant a spy. No, should I say that the mistake was not revealed?
As Cosmos said, he is a little suspicious, but Alcyone was once my subordinate.
I didn’t want to coldly refuse when he said he would follow me.
Even if Alcyone does something suspicious, Sunni, Chaos, and Celestia are not such easy women.
Alcyone’s level of variables can be sufficiently controlled.
「Suni: … Preparations will be completed within a week. The escape route was decided to go back to where we infiltrated.”
The escape route she is talking about is the place we first entered before coming to the Zephyrian residence.
A military base that manages ground reconnaissance aircraft.
The story was about escaping through there.
It is definitely a more convenient method than pioneering a new route.
「Suni: … Then, master. I will contact you as soon as I arrive at Pron.”
「Woonho: Okay.」
The approximate contents of this ‘Bark Family Escape Operation’ are as follows.
First, Celestia storms Zephyria’s military facility with her incarnations of her own powers. In the city furthest from their escape route.
Most likely, all incarnations of Celestia will be annihilated by Zephyria’s army.
That’s okay.
All you have to do is get Zephyria’s attention.
And taking advantage of the Zephyria army’s attention being focused on that area, the Bark family in Zephia begins to escape.
I was planning to escape from Karaz once the ‘Bark Family Escape Operation’ had progressed to some extent.
Sunni said preparations would be completed within a week.
Then, we need to prepare for this as well.
In fact, there was nothing to do even to prepare.
Since I have an inventory anyway, all I have to do is rest comfortably and then leave.
Still, it was necessary to talk to the women living with her so that they could prepare their minds.
I called the three women I live with together and spoke to them.
“I think we’ll leave within a week.”
“A week? That quickly? Well, what we’re preparing is…”
Nehru asks with a nervous look.
“Don’t worry. I’ve prepared everything.”
“Yes?”
“Ready? When?”
“…?”
The three women open their eyes in surprise and look at me.
Their eyes, which look like they have a question mark floating above their heads, are full of distrust toward me.
Wouldn’t it be absurd for a person who used to scratch his or her stomach at home to now say something like that?
But what should I do if it’s true?
Suni has already shopped for all the necessary items at Zepia and put them in the inventory… And that inventory already includes a large camping car.
So what is there to prepare?
However, I have no intention of letting them know about my inventory abilities until I start escaping from Karaz.
My attitude could have seemed like unfounded confidence to them.
And their distrust of me showed itself in their actions. They began to prepare for their own escape.
Buy emergency food, emergency medicine, tools to start a fire, etc…
“Bark. Look at this. Can’t you see me? Don’t you think it will be useful when escaping?”
Perhaps Rania is a strange cover-up, but she brags to me while wearing something that looks like a cloth.
“…”
The covering that Rania had obtained was tacky and crude. I think I probably got it from a place called a general store where I got an instant camera.
I didn’t say anything about their actions.
Unless I was going to reveal my inventory abilities, I thought it would be better to leave them alone so that they could ease their anxiety a little, rather than just asking them to trust me.
Anyway, all they had to do was put the items they had prepared in the inventory on the day of departure.
In the midst of all this hustle, an unexpected group of guests came to the house.
It was Nora and Cowra.
Actually, Nora expected it a little.
To her, I was her man of foresight, and I thought she would come visit me at least once before I escaped.
But Cowra didn’t expect that.
‘Are you here to stop me from escaping?’
It could be her.
I opposed Rebellion when he visited my residence, and his attitude toward me was that he grumbled but tried to take care of me.
We sat around the sofa in the narrow living room.
“Surely, Bark, are the women here planning to join us?”
Kaura asked, glancing at her housemates who were sitting at her table some distance away.
“Of course.”
“This is so… Even if you’re alone, you’re going to drag three things that are difficult?”
“No problem. Don’t worry.”
Kaura glances at Nora at my confidence. Her eyes contained the meaning, “Is this right?”
Nora opened her mouth.
“After listening to Bark’s story, I thought about it carefully. Why are you proceeding with work in such a hurry?”
“So is there an answer?”
“A little bit. There’s one thing I want to ask.”
“What is that?”
“Bark was clearly looking for Helena. Could it be that your decision to escape this time had something to do with Helena?”
I thought for a moment.
How much should I reveal?
I think I made a guess that my quick change of heart was because of Helena… I thought it wouldn’t matter if I told you a little bit.
“… That’s right.”
“As expected, that’s right.”
Nora sighed in relief at my answer.
“Then I will join you.”
Her behavior was expected to some extent.
If Nora truly believed in her own intelligence, she might want to join me.
But Cowra…
Kaura, who caught my gaze, opened her mouth.
“I want to join you in this escape.”
She had thought something was strange ever since she came with Nora, but…
“The cloud allowed it?”
“This is my opinion. I am the only one who follows you. Bark, I know that you have more amazing abilities than I thought. I also know that you are a person with many secrets.”
When rescuing Lynette during the Rebellion mission, there was an ability that went beyond the ordinary.
Cowra seems to be saying that.
In any case, Rebellion was also a scummy bastard in Zephyria society, so I did it because I thought it didn’t matter.
“No matter how amazing your abilities are… My honest feeling is that this escape is unlikely to succeed. But we have to escape Karaz someday. I don’t know when that will be, but I would like to take this opportunity to experience it. I thought it wasn’t bad.”
What Cowra said was that as the representative of Rebellion, she would take the lead and take a look at the liver.
