Chapter 1063 – #252_Hunter(4)
#1057
1.
It was only two days later.
That is, after Lydia’s patience had temporarily patched up the discord between the Rehar Group and the Solidus Trading Company.
Another ship from the Solidus Trading Company sank again.
This time, it wasn’t near the Panama Canal, but far out in the Pacific Ocean.
The Rehar Group, which had been hired by Lydia for escort duty, arrived at the scene in 15 minutes using a ‘gate,’ only to find the escort team annihilated without even leaving a radio message.
And cargo floating on the vast open sea.
“Shit. What is it this time?”
Herya suppressed the anger rising to her head and salvaged the cargo.
Whether this sinking was Lydia’s own doing, or a third party’s attempt to sow discord as she claimed, was unknown.
However, having taken on the escort duty and failed to properly execute it, Lydia could seize any opportunity to find fault.
To avoid her unreasonable demands, Herya had to salvage at least some of the cargo from the wrecked ship, so she salvaged the cargo with bloodshot eyes.
During the salvage, the vice-captain approached Herya.
“Captain, wasn’t this your plan from the start?”
“What?”
“I thought it was too easy for Lydia to let us into Hexen Nacht. Hasn’t that witch made us wander around for days?”
At the vice-captain’s remark, Herya rolled her eyes.
“Let’s say Lydia was the one who hit our guys and killed Thalia. You went to argue with her, and she gave you citizenship and an escort mission.”
“So what.”
“But do you think that crazy bitch would really back down so easily? She attacked her own smuggling ship, hunted our team members again, and is going to make a fuss about us not escorting properly.”
“Damn it, I know that much.”
“The guys’ morale is low. There are more than a few who want to quit. Some have just disappeared.”
Herya clenched her teeth.
The Rehar Group is not an organization with a firm hierarchy and command system like the Solidus Trading Company, but a network of cells.
The team led by her closest elite members is closely connected to Herya, but the rest are freelancers whose loyalty is hard to expect.
It was only natural that freelancers who had accepted the Rehar Group’s instructions because they were given stable subcontracting work would leave in this crisis.
The logic of power takes precedence in public society.
The Rehar Group was showing signs of conflict with the Solidus Trading Company, and there were even suspicions that the Solidus Trading Company was attacking them from behind the scenes.
They were not sailors loyal enough to stay with a sinking ship.
What should she do?
Herya felt her head spinning with complexity.
But that worry didn’t last long.
One hour into the cargo recovery operation.
“Captain. There’s something you need to see here.”
A container that had been so badly wrecked that it was completely destroyed.
Inside, the body of Herya’s closest aide, ‘The Tragedy Witch’ Thalia, who had lost contact a while ago, was found.
As if it were a product, it was very neatly packaged.
2.
“I told you. I knew this would happen.”
“……”
“How do you explain this?”
Herya is often seen as a simple-minded, anger-management-challenged person due to her appearance and rough language.
But Lydia, who has maintained a relationship with Herya for quite some time, knows.
When she really loses it, she is surprisingly cold and calm.
“If you have a good excuse, give it a try. I’ll listen to you one last time.”
However, that calmness is not a calmness to look at the situation objectively.
It is the composure that someone who has already made a decision can show because they have decided on their own path.
The conflict between the Solidus Trading Company and the Rehar Group.
A dramatic reconciliation with Lydia’s step back, who predicted it would be a case of discord.
In the midst of that, Thalia’s body was found neatly packaged like a product on a ‘Solidus Trading Company smuggling ship.’
Even Lydia, who had been unsure, was now convinced.
Someone was working hard to stir up trouble to divide the two groups.
“It’s a setup.”
“What?”
“Isn’t the situation obvious? I’m not Rosie, and there’s no reason for me to package a witch’s body with a removed brand. Especially on my company’s ship? Do you think I’d do something so stupid? And then that ship just happened to sink, and you just happened to see it? Don’t you think that’s weird?”
Lydia’s additional words were closer to organizing her own thoughts.
“I didn’t attack the Rehar Group. But it’s a well-known fact that you and I don’t get along, so someone is trying to sow discord, hoping that you and I will be at odds.”
“…So, you’re saying it wasn’t you? Neither the previous attack nor this incident, you’re innocent. Just a victim?”
“You know, you and I are on different levels. I don’t need to sink two smuggling ships just to deal with you.”
“……”
At Herya’s prolonged silence, Lydia felt a glimmer of hope for the first time.
Has this blockhead finally started to think?
“Haha!”
“Haa…”
Well, of course not.
Lydia sighed deeply at Herya’s fierce laughter.
“Ms. Magnus, I understand. I understand how you built the Solidus Trading Company. You’d string along with fancy words to slow down the response, and in the meantime, you’d move little by little.”
Herya’s ears were already completely closed.
No matter how eloquent someone is, they cannot persuade her.
First of all, it’s because their perspectives are different, and what they’ve lost is different.
Lydia no longer needed to suspect Herya.
At least, Herya, who takes care of her own faction, would never have killed Thalia and stuffed her into the cargo hold of a smuggling ship.
Especially now that the Rehar Group’s entry into Hexen Nacht, which was her goal, had been achieved.
But Herya is different.
She became even more suspicious of Lydia.
Even if she was aware that the series of events smelled somewhat artificial, no matter how persuasive Lydia’s rhetoric was.
Those words did not reach her ears.
Decisively, it’s because the two people lost different things.
Lydia didn’t lose much.
At most, two cargo ships.
No matter the cost, it was nothing compared to Lydia’s abilities.
But Herya lost not just any members, but two elite members and their team members.
Those who have lost a lot are bound to react more sensitively and with paranoia.
These imbalances seep into the already distant relationship between the two, creating a gap.
It makes it increasingly impossible to solve problems that would normally be resolved through calm conversation.
When her thoughts reached this point, Lydia gave up on leading a harmonious negotiation.
“Hey, Lydia. You slut.”
“……”
“Admit it. I only know how to fight, and I’m stupid. But do you know why the guys follow me?”
Her eyes, bloodshot red enough to bleed, flashed in front of Lydia.
They were the eyes of a mad dog that wanted to run at its owner and bite its neck.
“It’s because they believe that if they die, I’ll get revenge for them.”
“……”
Lydia did not bother to point out Herya’s self-consciousness about public justice, morality, and cooperation.
Since the outcome had already been decided in Herya’s head, further conversation was a waste of time.
“Just you wait.”
Herya left, stomping the ground with her fist clenched, dripping with blood.
“Madam.”
A moment later, Lydia’s secretary reported that Herya had taken all of her aides who had been staying in Hexen Nacht and returned to the mortal world.
“……”
Who could it be?
What kind of daring person would dare to bite this Golden Witch?
The worry of not being able to pick out a suspect because there are too many enemies.
The worry that Herya, who had been so easily swayed by the enemy’s discord, would go on a rampage in the mortal world.
After much deliberation, Lydia called her secretary.
“Suspend the operation of smuggling ships for the time being. Have those that have already set sail dock at the nearest port as soon as possible.”
“Yes.”
“Place action members on the docked ships to guard them. Herya has gone crazy, so we don’t know what she’ll do. Report any unusual activity immediately. Get to work.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The secretary, feeling joy at Lydia’s return to her ruthless businesswoman persona, turned away.
“Wait a minute, stop.”
“Yes.”
Lydia called her back.
“Investigate the casualties from the two recent sinkings and report them.”
“Casualties? If we’re talking about the damage from the sinkings, there are four in total.”
“Damn it! I said report the casualties! Don’t you know what casualties are?”
The secretary tilted her head, puzzled, before realizing the meaning of her words.
It meant reporting how many humans had died in the accident, not how many witches had died.
It was also a very strange instruction.
To the public, humans were nothing more than cogs in a machine, except for the figurehead presidents of businesses.
If they had a figurehead president who was easy to communicate with, they would replace the cogs themselves, and get rid of any parts that were out of order.
“Yes! I’ll take care of it!”
Had the president suddenly opened her eyes to humanism?
The secretary was puzzled, but immediately contacted the Central American Business Management Department and received a report on how many sailors had died.
The secretary, who had finished the investigation and submitted the report in just 10 minutes, was even more bewildered as she watched Lydia’s reaction with a strange expression.
“Hahahaha!!!”
Lydia, who had been scolding her secretary with a chewing expression all day, was now holding her stomach and laughing heartily.
“This is a sight to behold! A sight to behold!”
The secretary could only watch Lydia, who was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face, with a bewildered expression, along with the sound of clinking gold coins.
