Chapter 232: Green Circle (1)

‘Why did I come here? What on earth was I expecting?’

Reconciliation with Ianco?

It would be a lie to say I didn’t hope for it, but looking at his attitude, it seemed like a distant dream.

‘Fine. I won’t expect anything more either.’

Yuria suddenly felt annoyed.

So.

“Why do you speak like that?”

……She just shouted it out.

“What?”

“I asked why you talk like that. Do you think I came here because I wanted to?”

Right.

Since it came to this, Yuria made up her mind to at least get what she was promised before leaving.

The condition Johnny promised her in exchange for fulfilling the request was to keep her past of being raised in Green Circle a secret forever.

Of course, she would also solve the monsterization phenomenon.

Only then could she clear the debt in her heart and speak proudly to Gerard.

“Why. Does it feel bad?”

Ianco?

From now on, I won’t even care.

I’ll treat him as a complete stranger.

Just as he wishes.

“Of course. Do you even have to ask?”

“…….”

“You asked for what purpose I came? Look here. You were the ones who called me here, not me. Dragging up the past and appealing emotionally, threatening to spread rumors at the Academy. Did I have any way to withstand that? Still, I came wanting to resolve it nicely, but to my face, you embarrass me…….”

Yuria spat out her words like rapid fire.

“If you were going to be like this, why did you call me? It definitely doesn’t seem like it was to see your daughter’s face after a long time, so wasn’t I called to eliminate the monsterization and save the Spiritbeasts? Then please show proper courtesy.”

“There seems to be some misunderstanding, but I clearly oppose it. It was something my subordinates did on their own accord. This is something we can sufficiently handle by ourselves.”

“That’s even funnier. It’s like confessing you’re a leader who can’t even manage his own subordinates properly. Instead, why don’t you hand everything over to Uncle Johnny and step down? Ah, and also.”

Yuria continued while looking at the carcass of the dead Half-Moon Wolf.

“It doesn’t look like something you can sufficiently handle either.”

“…….”

When Yuria poured out all her words, the place was naturally engulfed in a heavy silence.

Johnny was looking at Yuria with his mouth stupidly agape.

Ianco…… had an expression whose mood was hard to read.

Looking at his piercing gaze, he seemed angry, but the corners of his mouth were raised higher than before, making it look like he was faintly smiling.

It was then.

“Hmm? Is something happening here?”

As someone came out from inside the building, the awkward silence was broken.

The man who walked over while tilting his head had a pure white face and wore glasses.

Because of his exceptionally slanted and small eyes, he gave an overall light impression, and perhaps due to his cautious tone and actions, he seemed to have a timid personality.

“Doctor! I was wondering where you went, were you inside there?”

“You’ve returned, Johnny.”

“Haha. I just arrived!”

“I see. I have no face to show you. I tried to keep it alive as much as possible until you came, but as you can see, because my ability is lacking…….”

The man called Doctor apologized to Johnny with a sorry expression.

At that, Johnny jumped as if asking what kind of talk that was and waved his hand.

“Ey, what’s there to be sorry about! It couldn’t be helped. Now, now! Forget about the past quickly! Here. You two introduce yourselves. It’s Yuria, I told you before I left, right?”

Only then did the man discovered Yuria standing still and pushed up his glasses.

“Ah, is this the person who communicates with Spiritbeasts……?”

“That’s right. She’s a kid I cherish like a niece. Hehehe.”

As Johnny patted Yuria’s shoulder and introduced her to him, the Doctor smiled awkwardly and greeted her.

“I am called Edric. I have a lot of interest in Spiritbeasts and magical beasts, so although humble, I am staying here to help the Ianco Mercenaries. Nice to meet you.”

“Yes. Hello.”

Yuria replied coldly and looked around.

Ianco, who was there just a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen.

He had entered the building during the brief moment she was paying attention to Edric after he appeared.

‘Phew.’

Yuria sighed inwardly.

Although she shouted in a fit of anger, she couldn’t help but be bothered.

She was worried even more than before, wondering if she had retorted too coldly.

“Um, by any chance, did I make some mistake?”

“Pardon?”

“Well. Because your expression isn’t good.”

“No. It’s nothing like that.”

“She’s originally like that, Doctor. You can think of it as the price of beauty. Hehe. Anyway, I have something to talk about with Big Brother, so I’ll go first. Hey, Yuria! I’m going. See you later?”

Saying that, Johnny approached her and whispered with a wink.

“Don’t worry. He doesn’t know we were in the Green Circle. He’s a bookworm, a bookworm.”

Yuria replaced her answer with a silent glare.

“…….”

Yuria and Dr. Edric were left like that.

Edric, who was awkwardly scratching his head, suddenly bowed to Yuria and walked somewhere.

The place he approached was where the carcass of the Half-Moon Wolf lay.

After examining the carcass with a serious expression, he abruptly raised his head and asked Yuria.

“By the way, I heard you converse with Spiritbeasts, is that true? Honestly, I still can’t believe it. Conversation with a Spiritbeast.”

Yuria faced him.

Only then could she properly grasp the look in the eyes of the man named Edric.

“……It’s not as specific as a conversation. What I feel is just a mental exchange with the Spiritbeast’s emotions and moods as the basic information.”

“Mental exchange. Could you explain in more detail what kind of method it is?”

“If compared to magic, I think it would be similar to [Mind Transfer].”

“Oho. That’s interesting. Since when were you like that?”

“I don’t know that either.”

The look in his eyes was…… how should I say it.

It was hard to describe exactly, but somehow it didn’t feel good to face.

The expression ‘unpleasant’ suited it best.

After flashing his eyes once while looking at Yuria like that, he turned his eyes back to the Half-Moon Wolf.

“It’s a pity. If it were alive, we could have easily found out the cause of the monsterization with Yuria communication ability. Since it died like this.”

“…….”

“Still, there is a way. Now that I look at this Half-Moon Wolf, it’s a female. And one that had a cub not long ago at that. There must be this Half-Moon Wolf’s cub nearby. If we catch that cub, we might be able to obtain a new clue.”

Yuria nodded.

Although it was currently unknown how much they could reveal about the monsterization phenomenon with a cub, since the Half-Moon Wolf, which was the only clue, had died, finding even the cub was the best they could do.

‘At least we’ll be able to know whether monsterization is passed down hereditarily or not.’

Apart from that.

Yuria thought it would be better to keep her distance from this man named Edric while staying here.

***

As soon as Johnny entered the office and saw Ianco, he smiled and said.

“She’s become bold. She’s changed a lot in the time we haven’t seen her.”

Ianco agreed too.

Compared to the past when she was clumsy at expressing emotions, she had a much more mature appearance.

He felt he knew why people kept talking about the Academy.

Anyway,

That wasn’t the important thing.

“Why did you do that, Johnny. Did you really bring her here by threatening to expose her to the Academy?”

“……Ah, that is.”

Johnny scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.

“I’m sorry, Big Brother. We need to solve the monsterization as soon as possible, but the clue was on the verge of dying. I guess I became urgent without realizing it. Haha.”

Ianco quietly stared into Johnny’s eyes.

“You don’t have other thoughts, do you?”

“……Yes?”

“I heard stories that recently, poachers of unknown affiliation are active centering around the south.”

“Is that so? It’s the first time I’m hearing…….”

Johnny, who was tilting his head, started in surprise as if realizing something.

“……It’s absolutely not true, Big Brother! It’s a misunderstanding. How could I. With how long we’ve been together, would I do something like stabbing a knife in Big Brother’s back? I’m disappointed!”

Ianco, who was staring intently at Johnny denying it while waving his hands, let out a sigh.

“Right. How long have you and I spent together? They say useless worries increase as you age, and I guess I’m like that too. Seeing how I’ve weakened a lot. Like that child said, maybe I really should retire. Huhu.”

“No, you have to be with me until the end. I will continue to assist you, Big Brother. Like before.”

Ianco smiled silently.

‘Like before, huh…….’

He could know when the ‘before’ Johnny spoke of was without even asking.

It was when they hunted Spiritbeasts under the Naimus Empire and made artifacts with those materials.

Running even a large factory back then and having the Empire’s high officials and upper class as clients, they were so-called successful businessmen.

A life where the expression ‘raking in money’ fits perfectly.

Behind that success, a special situation existed where the Naimus Empire ostracized magic.

The Frey Empire possessed excellent weapons called artifacts thanks to the development of magic and engineering.

From the Naimus Empire’s perspective, that was a huge wall; even if they wanted to produce artifacts themselves, artifact development was bound to be sluggish due to the cultural difference of ostracizing magic.

Even if they managed to make something somehow, the results were worlds apart.

What was invented then was precisely the artifact that contained the power of a Spiritbeast.

Artifacts made with parts of Spiritbeasts possessed the power of the corresponding Spiritbeast.

Qualitatively, they were superior to the Frey Empire’s artifacts, and since Spiritbeasts possessed inherent resistance to magic, they even had the function of destroying mana barriers.

After that, indiscriminate Spiritbeast hunting continued worldwide.

To what extent was it?

It was to the extent that the Five Divine Beasts, the kings of Spiritbeasts, intervened.

The war between the Divine Beasts and the Naimus Empire.

The result was the Naimus Empire’s crushing defeat, and the changes brought about by the Empire’s defeat were significant, such as the southern neutral countries, which were colonies of the Empire, becoming independent and international treaties being newly signed.

Anyway, Spiritbeast hunting was banned worldwide because it could provoke the wrath of the Five Divine Beasts again.

However, human greed was endless, and the poaching group created by gathering such greed was precisely Green Circle.

Johnny sometimes missed those times.

He thought it was a challenge and adventure only they could do, and earning big money was also natural as the price for taking various risks.

Ianco thought so too.

Back then, he thought the money earned that way was the best.

‘Though not now.’

Ianco looked at Johnny, who was standing there hesitating and gauging his mood, and said.

“Good work. Go out and finish your work.”

“Haha. Yes. Then rest well, Big Brother.”

After Johnny left, Ianco took out a key and opened the lock of the bottommost drawer of his desk.

Inside the opened drawer, the past was contained.

Photos or records taken while active as Green Circle.

He reached deep inside and took out a box buried within.

Click-

Inside the box, a pendant was contained.

Along with a note saying Happy Birthday.

“…….”

Now he had lost his left eye and right arm.

And the most precious thing, incomparable to anything else.

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