Chapter 202

We continued the recruitment.

The important people were directly visited by Irene, while the other individuals were approached by the Violet representatives.

Surprisingly, the recruitment went smoothly. It’s mainly because Rigel’s antics were far beyond imagination.

“Th-this crazy bastard…”

“We have to kick him out immediately! We need to convene the Board of Directors…”

“That traitor! I won’t let this slide!”

Opinions converged among both the conservative and neutral factions to expel Rigel.

Of course, not everything went smoothly.

I sighed as I gazed at the shimmering Gate.

“Of all places, it had to be in the Dungeon.”

“We can’t help it. We don’t have time to wait. It’s faster to meet them in person and persuade them. Above all, the person going to meet them is a big shot from the conservative faction.”

The head of the Relic Excavation Department and team leader of Excavation Team 1, Morgan Ashford.

That’s who we were going to meet.

“Good luck. I just heard some news: he’s here too.”

“Really?”

Irene showed a beaming expression as she displayed the Death List.

“What luck! Chief Viktor is here too. He’s the most important person in the neutral faction.”

Next to the green checkmark was written the name ‘Viktor Amadeti’.

He is the head of the Search and Reconnaissance Department.

“That Rigel brat. He couldn’t manage to recruit the heads of the most important departments.”

“That’s why he must’ve tried to pull in outside forces.”

I heard that these two had been running alongside Irene’s father since the inception of the clan.

So they possess not only a significant share but also considerable influence.

“Except for my father and a few others, they are among the top fighters in the clan. Even if we can’t turn them into allies, we don’t need them as enemies. Their experience is rich.”

“In the end, we have to go in there…”

“Charge!”

“Uwaah!”

After quite a while, we finally entered the depths of the Dungeon.

Amidst the lush undergrowth, bizarre ruins appeared.

In the meantime, there were people digging up the ground.

From excavators to shovels and pickaxes imbued with magical power, it was a loud excavation site.

“They must definitely be here. Search more thoroughly!”

In the heart of the excavation site, a man with short brown hair and bronze skin was commanding the workers.

That’s the person we were looking for.

“Chief Ashford. Can we have a word?”

“Irene?”

The man scrutinized us with a suspicious look.

It was only natural for students to suddenly show up in a Dungeon, after all.

We got the chance to talk like the chief and the others.

“Is this… real?”

“Yes. It’s the absolute truth with not an ounce of manipulation.”

The reaction was instantaneous. Chief Morgan struck a nearby rock in fury.

With a thunderous sound, the rock shattered.

“How dare you! Trying to sell out the Chief? I’ll make that bastard Rigel into monster food!”

Upon hearing the recording, Chief Morgan expressed his emotions fervently like a volcano.

“Wow, this guy definitely seems like he’ll be on our side!”

“Will you help us? We need to drive out those scoundrels and restore the clan.”

Irene asked.

Morgan nodded vigorously in response.

“Yes, let’s wipe them out. Then we’ll resurrect Chief Orion with the power of the relics.”

“…Huh?”

At the sudden outburst, Irene turned to the chief, bewildered.

Morgan’s face twisted in surprise at Irene’s reaction.

“What? Were you thinking of taking over as our leader? You, a student with no experience?”

“…What do you mean by ‘resurrect’?”

To my friend’s question, the chief replied with an attitude that implied ‘why even ask about something so obvious.’

“We’re looking for relics. Holy Grails or equipment with powerful regenerative abilities. If we find them, we can free the chief from life support. We’ll get to see our clan’s legend shine brightly once more. Like a phoenix!”

“Chief, those relics are just urban legends. There’s no way they exist…”

As Irene uttered in disbelief, Chief Morgan frowned.

“Nonsense! Is there any evidence that it’s impossible? We will find them. Thanks for telling us about that brat Rigel’s scheme. We’ll handle this ourselves, so you return to the Academy. This is our problem. A kid with no shares or experience shouldn’t meddle.”

Feeling despondent, Irene and I rose from our seats.

Just then, someone else approached.

A man with a spear and a cold demeanor.

“Hey, when are you going to stop prattling about relics? You need to find something that makes money. You need to cover your losses, right?”

“What does your opinion matter?”

Morgan grumbled and walked away. Irene went up to the newly arrived man.

He was the head of the Search Department we were looking for.

“By the way, Irene. Why are you here? I heard your Academy got wrecked not long ago.”

Irene recounted what had happened as before.

Upon hearing the circumstances, Chief Viktor’s face twisted into a severe frown.

“This is maddening.”

“Chief, this is our chance to drive out Rigel’s faction. Otherwise, the clan…”

Viktor cut off my friend mid-sentence.

“I see. It’s time to call it quits.”

“Huh?”

“That idiot must be planning to bring Luminecsa in to take over this clan. If so, it’s all over. I have to retire.”

In a ‘whatever happens, happens’ attitude, Irene momentarily lost her words.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Our clan was destined to fail soon anyway. It wouldn’t matter if Rigel or someone else took over.”

“Still, we have to try. We need to save the clan.”

Chief Viktor looked at Irene with vacant eyes.

“Try? What’s the point? A clan without a leader is useless. Besides, how can someone with no shares like you save it? Are you just throwing a tantrum because you want to inherit your father’s position? I’m not going to help you in your heroics, so get lost.”

My hand instinctively reached for my weapon at the harsh words thrown at my friend.

Irene urgently pulled me back and turned around.

“Ugh…! What’s with people like that? Did we go to the wrong place?”

Irene’s expression was hardened.

“How strange. They weren’t like that before. Why are they acting this way?”

After meeting with people for two days, we felt our stomachs turn.

The clan situation was more dire than expected.

“The conservative Hunters are fools, and the neutral Hunters are cynical.”

Some were friendly toward our proposal. But not everyone was like that.

“I didn’t think they would cling to such absurd ideas as resurrecting my father.”

As Irene vented her frustrations, Mr. Kress spoke with a sympathetic expression.

“They weren’t like that initially. They changed when the resurrection plans repeatedly failed and the clan’s finances worsened.”

“Still, that’s not an excuse…”

Unfortunately, it seemed that the Helios Clan was excessively reliant on Orion’s charisma.

Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why the key executives reacted this way just because one leader became a cripple.

The conservative Hunters, frustrated at seeing their leader split in two, made it their daily routine to waste time searching for relics or miraculous miracles.

Once loyalists or conservatives, they had given up hope and turned into salary thieves.

“The most proactive figure in clan matters used to be Chief Viktor. Years have passed, and with no hope in sight, he has changed like this.”

“Still, this isn’t right. The clan is on the brink of collapse right now…!”

After parting ways with Mr. Kress and walking home, Irene asked me.

“Violet, how’s the Leash Operation preparation going?”

“Yeah, we can implement it right away.”

The Leash Operation is a strike operation targeting all faction members who are uncooperative with us.

Ranging from hostage crises to bombings and massacres, it includes Violet-style persuasion.

“Shall we start?”

Irene seemed to be irritated as she fiddled with her spear. After a moment of contemplation, she shook her head.

“No, not yet. At least it’s certain those people won’t side with Rigel. With surveillance in place, we don’t have to worry for now. Let’s proceed to the next step as planned.”

“What do you mean by ‘next step’… collection?”

The Violets looked at my friend with excited expressions.

Irene mumbled with lifeless eyes.

“Yes, collection. And could you cause a commotion in the eastern district? We need to divert Luminecsa’s attention.”

“Got it, that sounds fun!”

The next day, the eastern district faced an unexpected incident of arson from the Obsidian Legion.

“We are the Obsidian Legion! We’ll burn it all down!”

“Stop!”

In the meantime, Irene and I rolled up our sleeves to collect the clan shares.

The method was simple.

A proper mix of sweet words and brute force.

“The shares of Helios Frontier Services may appear to be ordinary paper documents at first glance. But the documents are embedded with a magical defensive formula. Just stealing or snatching them won’t do. We must go through the transfer of ownership process.”

“Oh, I see. We need to persuade them well.”

So the Violets decided to persuade effectively.

“Mr. Mortis, it seems you’ve pocketed quite a lot. Just presenting this alone would make it easy to end you on charges of embezzlement.”

Irene rarely spoke harshly, and the accounting department’s executive snorted.

This guy was an opportunist from the neutral faction, testing the waters to switch sides to Rigel.

“Hah? Are you threatening me right now? What do you want?”

“Simple. Hand over all the clan shares and quietly withdraw. We’ll turn a blind eye to everything that happened until now.”

“Bodyguards! Get these bastards out of here!”

Moments later, Mortis, subdued by the Violets, thrashed around.

“You! You’re the count’s daughter. You think you can pull off something like this without consequences? You’re a child, but you’re already acting recklessly…”

Irene signaled us.

686 approached and held out a Tablet right in front of his face.

“What is this…?”

The moment the screen lit up, Mortis’s face turned rigid.

“Jamie, why are you there…”

He was shocked to find that his son, who should be in school, was suddenly at an amusement park with a suspicious woman.

-Daddy! I can play with this sister, right? It’s super fun here!

The identity of the sister on the screen was disguised Violet 1570. While his son held balloons and smiled brightly, 1570 lightly tapped her index finger on her neck. The executive’s eyes shook as if there was an earthquake.

Before he could say anything, Irene struck first. She whispered silently.

‘Smile.’

The executive, having read her lips, forced a smile.

“Y-yeah. Have fun, okay? Hahaha…”

-Daddy! Thank you!

The father and son smiled at each other through the screen.

After the call ended, the executive begged.

“Please take my life, my shares, anything! Just save my son!”

Irene replied in a soft tone.

“We didn’t say anything, though…”

“I’ll give everything! Please!”

Five minutes later, we secured the clan shares.

“Collecting donations is surprisingly easy!”

“Let’s hurry to the next person!”