Chapter 106

Everyone has their own story. Therefore, there is no grave without excuses, and everyone has their own circumstances. However, how one accepts it depends on personal interpretation.

For this reason, Violet’s story sparked a fierce chemical reaction in the hearts of two friends. The experiences Violet went through were beyond imagination for the two girls, each with their own twists and turns in life.

The one who spoke up felt no particular excitement, but her friends felt as if they had been struck in the heart by a siege weapon.

Irene speculated why Violet had become the type to fight recklessly without caring for her own body.

“Could it be that she values herself so lowly? Because of the experiments she endured in the laboratory?”

The unethical experiments and poor treatment might have caused her to underestimate her own worth.

She reflected on Violet’s past actions.

Suddenly, she remembered a declaration Violet had made in front of her long ago. Back then, she had said this while revealing the truth about the academy she had discovered.

– I will destroy the academy!

Having learned of the school’s misdeeds and conspiracies, she intended to help Violet no matter what she did, but she secretly wondered if this was foolish.

However, after hearing what Violet went through today, Irene’s thoughts changed. She felt she understood now why Violet had made such an outrageous declaration.

“So that’s why she said she would destroy the academy…”

There was a girl who had suffered in the laboratory for months, even years. She eventually escaped through a series of coincidences and enrolled at the academy for a better future. However, the identity of the academy turned out to be a huge laboratory.

How frightening it must have been, to escape from one cage only to find herself trapped in another. But she didn’t run away.

“I’m okay now. So, don’t cry. Hehe.”

“Huuuh.. hick…”

Despite such events, she instead cheered up others with a smile.

Watching Violet comfort Daphne, Irene felt a pang of sympathy.

She considered the possibility. Perhaps Violet…

“Does she want to save other people?”

At that moment, Irene began to understand what it meant to say she would destroy the academy.

Overcoming pain and surviving is already commendable, but beyond that, Violet seeks justice.

I don’t know her exact intentions. It could be that she hates to see others suffer like she did, or her goal might simply be to eliminate what she deems evil.

Anything is fine. She bravely strives to fight against injustice.

Irene felt a sense of awe towards Violet now. Her friend might be deeper than she initially thought.

Meanwhile, Daphne’s gaze was directed elsewhere.

“Is that why she suffers every night…? Because of her experience in the laboratory…?”

“I’m fine!”

Even now, she says that, but Daphne knows.

Violet has been plagued by nightmares every night, losing sleep. Having shared a room with her every night, she witnessed it. Thus, she had anticipated that her friend would go through something unfortunate, but she hadn’t guessed the depth of this story.

“She’s smiling now, but she’s trying so hard to hide it. The memories of suffering from the laboratory still linger.”

Daphne found it harder to see Violet’s smiling face as it truly was.

The behaviors she showed, which appeared somewhat lacking, or her impulsive actions, self-destructive behaviors, and disregard for pain could be evidence of just how broken Violet had become.

All of that was so tragic, yet she felt proud of her determination to keep on living despite it all.

“Violet, I will definitely make sure you don’t get hurt!”

In the midst of tears with her Violet friends, she made a resolution. She would work hard so her friend wouldn’t have to suffer anymore.

*

After a while, Daphne calmed down. She looked at me with her red eyes, smiling awkwardly.

“I’m sorry. I was so surprised… I ended up causing trouble while visiting my friend’s house.”

“It’s okay! I should have told you ahead of time. It’s my fault.”

I felt someone hugging me from behind. It was Irene.

“You had your own path to walk. I had no idea at all.”

“Uh?”

Why is she acting like that? It was confusing.

“Kalia.”

“Uh, um? Why?”

Daphne suddenly spoke to Kalia, who had been sitting quietly, just watching.

“You said you were in the same laboratory as Violet, right? Thank you for helping her.”

“Thank you for saying that, but I feel I’ve received even more help from Violet.”

“Yep! I helped her out!”

I explained again what I had done.

“You mean you broke into the lab’s security all by yourself using your Unique Ability?”

Irene was amazed.

“That’s our power!”

“That’s right! Right!”

“Hey! One person at a time! It’s hurting my ears!”

As the Violets chattered, the barracks quickly became lively.

Once everyone shook off the shock, we had time to chat and explore the house.

While I was showing Violet Barracks, Daphne spoke up.

“Uh, I’ll stay here just one more day.”

“Why? Is something wrong?”

She pointed with her finger towards the factory area. Unorganized trash and food wrappers littered the corner.

“I’ll help clean up inside the house. Even if many people live here, what is all this? It’s not a pigsty!”

“You’re right, Violet. Didn’t you clean today?”

“Well, I was going to, but I got busy.”

“I’m doing it now!”

“Ugh!”

I felt like I was being scolded by my parents.

*

Irene had to leave our house first due to her personal circumstances.

While Kalia and Daphne stayed behind to make dinner, Violet (457) and I (213) headed towards the dormitory and the brokerage office.

“I’m going to check on the kids in the dormitory for a bit.”

As far as I know, those guys live in the dorms too. I’ll ask what room they’re in and let them know as I haul my things inside.

By the way, I checked the TV and internet, but there was hardly any mention of the dungeon collapse incident from yesterday. There were only a few short articles saying the dungeon collapsed and was suppressed.

Did the clan stop press coverage?

As I entered the office, a woman in business attire was sorting out documents. She was a subordinate of the manager. When I first met her, she was dressed as a bartender; now she just looked like an office worker.

“Are you done with the bartender job?”

Aina replied.

“That was just a disguise for the meeting. I don’t need to do that now.”

As I sat waiting on the sofa, Manager Leslie walked in.

“I came because of the text message. Explain.”

“First of all, there’s an appointment scheduled for two days later. I’ve had the chance to reconnect with someone I used to trade with. His name is Armas. The location is near the harbor in the eastern district.”

Since the eastern district, I haven’t stepped foot there since escaping from the Laplacian Laboratory. It’ll be a long time since I go back.

“Sounds a bit far. So, what does he do? Can we trust him?”

“Armas is pretty well-connected. He has ties with the Federal Army as well. He has a bit of a picky personality; if the deposit is just one minute late, he’ll overturn the transaction, but he keeps promises once made without fail.”

Alright, the appointment is finally set. I need to bring in the weapons quickly.

Loading bombs onto a truck is certainly powerful, but to catch guys who run around quickly like cars and use magic, it’s better to utilize various means.

While I was having this conversation in my head, Aina came over with the sorted documents.

“And here are the materials you requested.”

A huge pile of documents appeared on the table. It was a bit too much to read all at once.

“The details are in the papers, but I’ll summarize the points for you.”

First, there were pictures of a fierce-looking blonde woman and a punk blonde boy on the front of the documents.

“Are these students?”

“Yes!”

The whereabouts of Martina and her brother appeared.

“While their exact location hasn’t been confirmed, they were last spotted near a certain dungeon in the southern district. They don’t seem to stay in one place and keep moving around. Should we keep tracking them?”

I had only said it out of curiosity, but I didn’t expect them to actually find them. I wondered why those guys were hiding out here. There was something suspicious about it.

“No, I’ll handle it from here.”

Well, it isn’t urgent, so there’s no need to look into it right now.

The fact that I asked to investigate them was purely out of curiosity. They had vanished suddenly from school after the duel, and it irked me. I still had my revenge to take against them, yet they dared to run away.

I thought about going and giving them a beating, but I had too many other things to do. I needed to focus on what’s important right now.

Afterward, the manager moved on to the next part of the explanation.

“No, how did you find all of this?”

“I just did what I was told. Look.”

Surprisingly, the person had completed almost everything I instructed.

The list of board members at Polaris Academy, names and addresses of the administrative office staff, family relationships, regular hangout spots, and various characteristics were all neatly recorded. They even investigated connections between the Magnavis Clan and the board of directors of the academy, things I didn’t even ask for.

“Oh, and by the way, there were a couple of students I asked you to investigate…”

The manager, who had been explaining coherently, hesitated.

“Is there a problem?”

“I’ve gathered some basic information on the student council president and her two subordinates. However, there are no records on them.”

“What?”

Confused, I urged the manager to explain further. After hearing what followed, I was taken aback.

“The first recorded entry suddenly appeared between six to seven years ago. They have addresses and parents’ names, but it turns out other people have been living there, and the people listed are all deceased. They’re all fakes.”

“Then could they have come from outside Rustroom?”

“I asked customs and immigration personnel as well. There’s nothing. The entry and exit records are clean.”

From what this person was saying, it sounded like the student council president and her group had dropped from the sky out of nowhere.

“They could have been brought in by the clan, but if so, there’s nothing for me to check…”

“That’s okay. This is enough. Good job!”

I didn’t press further. Just knowing that the broker had managed to uncover this much was quite impressive.

However, the surprises didn’t end there.

“You found him?”

“I only confirmed where he was last seen. I can’t pinpoint his exact location.”

The papers showed the name “Ospri Rodriguez.”

He is Kalia’s uncle and the leader of the Ospri Brotherhood. After he disappeared, the Ospri Brotherhood transformed from a healthy neighborhood watch into a vicious violent gang.

Yet, this was incredible. Kalia’s uncle was said to be missing in the original story, with no hope of ever being found. But I found him.

“I’ve received multiple reports of someone resembling him being seen recently. We got lucky.”

According to his explanation, someone similar to the person I described was moved to the hideout of a human trafficking organization.

There were several suspected locations, but they were difficult to verify from there. They suggested it was likely he had been moved to another location from there as well.

But a clue had emerged. I should be able to find him with this.

I pulled out a thick envelope from my pocket and handed it over. The manager accepted the envelope without any expression.

“This is too much for me to go over here. I’ll read it later.”

After collecting the documents, I immediately sent them to the temporary command center in the barracks. There was a lot to read through.

「Hey, how is it that there are no records of a single student?」

「Could they be from another world?」

The student council president, vice president, and the treasurer were all truly strange. There were almost no records of them. As the Violets chatted among themselves, an interesting assertion arose.

「Could they be like us?」

It was quite possible. They could have also been orphans like us.

「Maybe they’re secret agents trained in the shadows?」

A special forces unit that trained talented kids, it’s entirely plausible in this world. I myself was dragged here without parents and experimented on!

But I wouldn’t deal with the student council and board issues right now. There was something I needed to handle quickly.

According to the documents, Kalia’s uncle had been taken to a location in the western district. It’s said to be a hideout for a human trafficking organization, and there are rumors that this organization has ties with pharmaceutical companies or clans.

Alright, first, I need to approach that organization and find out if that person I’m looking for is indeed him, and to where he has been taken. I only have my suspicions for now, so everything feels uncertain. If it turns out to be real, I should approach it carefully.

It’s likely that some shady pharmaceutical company or clan is behind this. It doesn’t seem to be located in Laplacian, so what else could be connected?

「I’ll find out once I look into it. Let’s move, everyone!」

「Let’s start the operation right away.」

*

That night, somewhere in the western district.

“Hey! Spill it!”

“Ahhh! I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Mom! Mooooooom!”

A heavily armed Violet squad stormed the hideout of a human trafficking gang called Water Pigs. After some small talk and hammer-to-hammer communication, we secured a lead.

「Found it.」

「Let’s inform Kalia!」

According to the testimony, the person suspected of being Ospri Rodriguez was said to be in a hospital in the downtown area of a small town in the western district.

“So, the hospital is not really a hospital?”

“I really don’t know! It’s probably some kind of experiments! We were just delivering stuff!”

“Shut up!”

I brought down the hammer on the back of the whining human trafficker. He went silent forever.

「A laboratory, huh? It’s been a while, hasn’t it?」

「I wonder what kind of place this is…」