"So… One of the remnants of Kronos is your sister, Carl Marcus?"
"Yeah."
"And she holds a considerable position?"
"That's right."
"Hah…"
Lieutenant Colonel Banol turned his gaze toward Kalakin.
Since I was just a mercenary, my words alone lacked credibility, so it was natural for him to seek confirmation from someone more trusted within Ark.
"What's your take on this? Did you get the impression that Carl Marcus's sister actually had that level of authority?"
"…I can't say for certain, but it's clear she held significant status. And to address any concerns, Kronos has already convened an emergency council and completed negotiations on the matter."
Lieutenant Colonel Banol turned back to me, his expression a mix of disbelief and exasperation.
"…Is this true?"
"It is."
"Hah… Ha-ha…"
With an incredulous chuckle, Lieutenant Colonel Banol shook his head before finally asking,
"What do you want me to do?"
"As proof of Ark's goodwill, send a reasonable amount of supplies to Kronos."
"You want us to tribute them?"
"Consider it an investment."
"Hah!"
Banol let out a hearty laugh.
"It's absurd… but I suppose this, too, is my duty. It seems I'll be quite busy from here on out. I have somewhere to be, so I'll take my leave."
With that, Banol stood up.
Naturally, as his guests, we followed suit.
"Carl Marcus."
"What is it?"
"I don't know what you were thinking when you set this all in motion… but I'll trust that this is also for Ark's benefit."
"You're not wrong."
"Haha!"
With a chuckle, Banol headed for the door, speaking as he walked out.
"I'll trust you. And… I'll trust my judgment in choosing you."
That was the last thing he said before he disappeared down the corridor.
He had a lot of work ahead of him.
'Well, it's out of his hands now anyway.'
From here, Banol would be meeting Ark's true power players—the influential figures of the White Line and the Red Line, as well as the representatives of each faction.
'I thought I might have to use my ace in the hole, but… looks like that won't be necessary.'
As expected, Banol was reasonable as long as things made sense.
This time was no exception.
'Though technically, this still isn't fully resolved.'
Regardless, my part in this was done.
It was time for me to return.
"Oh, right."
"Yes?"
I turned to Lieutenant Imosha.
"Tell Lieutenant Colonel Banol that the price for this mission… will be very steep."
"…Ah. Understood."
With that, I turned to leave, but Imosha called out to me.
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah."
"You should rest in Ark before you go… If you need a place to stay, I can arrange one for you."
"It's more uncomfortable here."
"Ah…"
Imosha hesitated, then simply nodded, as if there was nothing left to say.
Since it was time to head out, I turned to Kalakin.
"You did well."
Kalakin gave a slight bow.
"Then… I'll see you next time."
"Yeah. Take care on your way back."
"…Excuse me?"
"What."
"No, it's just… unexpected."
"It's just a parting phrase. Go on."
"Ah… Yes…"
Since Kalakin and I would be crossing paths plenty in the future, there was no need to foster unnecessary animosity.
'A good last impression makes for a good overall impression.'
With that, I made my way out.
Time to head back to my hideout.
*
I pushed my Z-74 jetpack to near full power, flying straight back to my hideout in one go.
The distance between Ark and my hideout wasn't that far to begin with, so the jetpack's energy was more than enough to handle the trip.
'How long has it been since I was last home…?'
It was a little depressing that I now considered this place my home, but there was no denying that it was where I felt the most at ease.
The first thing to catch my eye upon my long-awaited return was the Life Tree—which had grown tremendously.
Not only had it increased in size, but its energy had also become significantly stronger. So much so that, the moment I approached, Esther let out a sharp scream.
["W-Wait a second!"]
"What."
["I feel sick… I think I'm gonna throw up…"]
"Then go ahead."
Not like she actually had anything to throw up anyway.
["Bleeeeeeeeegh—"]
…Or so I thought.
"What… the hell?"
["…Ugh. I feel awful."]
How the hell does a ghost throw up?
No, wait—
[Kik… Kihihihihik…]
[Kill, die, disgust, perish, destruction, chaos, death, nausea, rejection, resentment, lies, arrogance, suffering, denial, rage…]
[Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting.]
This wasn't normal vomit.
This was ether waste.
A swirling mass of negative energy and corrupted emotions churned before me.
'…That's even worse than puke.'
Just looking at it made me feel nauseous, so I pulled out my handgun loaded with the Experimental Round—GHOST-157—for the first time in a while.
["W-Wait, why are you pulling that out?!"]
"It's making me sick just looking at it."
Click.
And with the squeeze of a trigger—
The remnants of whatever Esther had just thrown up were obliterated in an instant.
[Kyaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!]
As expected, the effects of GHOST-157 were very effective.
With all the disgusting ether waste gone, I finally noticed something odd.
"Huh?"
["What?"]
"I think… you look a little more transparent?"
["…Huh?"]
Just as I said, the ghostly blue glow that symbolized her existence had faded a little—making her look more like ordinary ether.
["W-What's happening to me? Am I dying?!"]
"That's not it, so calm down."
["P-Please save me! Master, I swear I won't secretly curse you at night ever again! Please, just this once…!"]
"…You've been cursing me?"
["Uh… Y-Yeah, I have. B-But please forgive me, just this once…!"]
Esther clung to my leg, sniffling and sobbing like her life depended on it.
Of course, there was no way she was actually dying just from puking up some ether waste.
"You're not dying, so get a grip."
["B-But… my body feels weird…"]
"You just got purified a little."
At that, Esther—who had been clutching my pant leg with teary eyes—finally calmed down a bit.
["…Purified? What do you mean?"]
"Think of it as… becoming a little nicer."
They say 'only the good die young,' but that wasn't the important thing right now.
["Nicer?"]
"Just take it like that. You don't feel as sick anymore, do you?"
["Now that you mention it…"]
Back when she was a full-fledged ghost, the Life Tree triggered a violent rejection in her. But now that her ether had been diluted a little, things were different.
In a way, I guess you could say she really had become "nicer."
["…Are you sure I'm, okay?"]
"You should be."
["'Should be'? That's a pretty vague answer…"]
"Just take it as it is. Don't be annoying."
["A-Annoying? You think I'm annoying?! Is that all I am to you?! I thought we were one in body and soul—if you die, I die, and if I die, you die! How could you say something so heartless?!"]
"There's something in there that's not true."
["Is that what matters right now?!"]
Ah…
So damn annoying.
*
A full day had passed since I returned to my hideout.
Although the grueling journey had left quite a bit of fatigue in my body, it wasn't much of a problem.
After all, I had the Life Tree Hot Spring.
It wasn't in its fully matured form yet, but compared to before, the Life Tree had grown to an unimaginable degree.
The hot spring, infused with the Life Tree's roots, had become a place where even a brief soak could heal all wounds and wash away exhaustion.
'As the Life Tree has grown, its effects have significantly increased. At this point, it's more than worthy of being called a potion.'
Considering what potion technology was capable of, this was an incredible feat.
"Ugh…"
["Are you my master or an old man?"]
"Both, I guess."
And so, to start my day, I indulged in a long soak in what was essentially a potion bath, then quickly got to work.
There was a mountain of tasks to tackle.
'Now then…'
First, I cleaned up the hideout, which had been neglected for quite some time, and sorted out the supplies I had acquired.
'These go to the Sandstorm Caravan, these are for me… and these, well, I could just hand them over to Ark instead of making a separate trip elsewhere.'
While organizing my things, my eyes landed on something familiar.
'The communication terminal.'
A gift from Tatiana Belov some time ago.
'I used it once when I saved Maybell Pilgrim, but after that, I completely forgot about it.'
Not for any particular reason—just that I had been too busy to even spare a moment to charge it with solar power, so it had ended up buried in a corner.
Now that I had come across it, I placed it in a sunlit spot to let it recharge.
It would take care of itself from there.
'Might not be a bad idea to check on Ark's situation after a while.'
As far as I knew, nothing major was happening there at this time.
But with how much I had already altered the course of events, I couldn't just ignore the possibility of a butterfly effect.
Since I had some time before the next Wave, I figured I could afford to check in.
Bzzzzt, crackle…
Before long, enough energy had charged for the device to turn on, so I booted it up.
The channel? Red-F004.
This was the channel primarily used to transmit classified information within the Red Line—essentially a hub through which nearly every major event in the region passed.
["Ugh… what a mess."]
["Seriously. They've been insisting on being taken along for ages, and now look what happened."]
["This is why savages can't be trusted…"]
It sounded like they were talking trash about someone I knew, but unfortunately, the conversation cut off before I could get any details.
And then—
The transmission continued.
Bzzzt, crackle…
["The investigation team sent to track the remnants of Kronos just returned."]
["That team? How many died?"]
["You won't believe this—none."]
["What?"]
["Apparently, that barbarian Carl Marcus is insanely skilled. The soldiers who went with him were all impressed."]
I kept the terminal on, letting it play in the background like a radio as I went about my work.
But unsurprisingly, there wasn't much useful information.
["Ooooh, so you turned it on just to hear them praise you?"]
"...No."
["C'mon, don't be shy. You're totally enjoying this. Hearing people praise you makes me happy too, you know?"]
"…Shut up."
I switched channels.
Since Red Line wasn't giving me much, I decided to check if any other channels had something worthwhile.
["Did you hear? Kalakin is back."]
["Really? We should throw a welcome party."]
Bzzzt.
["...Sir Skull Knight, what brings you here?"]
["I'm on a mission."]
Bzzzt…
["Someone… please… help me…"]