Chapter 98: Reports

“Freya. Now that the plan has been canceled, I’ll return to Guardian Command. Will you ask LingShi for help? She said she had oil rigs to lend you, right?”

I had forgotten to place mana eyes on LingShi. I would either have to return to Enra’s headquarters to spy on her or ask Freya to connect the call directly to LingShi.

“Oh yeah! LingShi said she had oil rigs to help us!” Freya said brightly.

I knew LingShi was lying. She only said whatever Freya wanted to hear to gain her trust—just so she could smear Shirayuki’s name. Freya was… pitiful. I wondered if I could sneak a conversation with her familiar to break the truth more gently. Maybe her fairy could help.

“Be careful. That Shirayuki girl already knows LingShi has oil rigs, right? This might be a trap,” Lexus said.

Thanks to the mana eyes I’d planted on him, I knew exactly what he had just told Freya. I gritted my teeth as that snake tried to pin the blame on me and Shirayuki.

Meanwhile, the officials and rig workers guided the exiles back to the pier, having confirmed that there were no more Anathema threatening the rig.

“Tch! Damn Shirayuki! They told us they’d help us, but they lied,” one of the exiles spat as they were ushered away.

I couldn’t remain an observer forever. I needed to act—otherwise, Lexus would take the initiative. An idea popped into my head. I approached Freya’s father and told him the truth.

“Shirayuki didn’t betray you. Lexus was the one who planned to set a trap for us. That’s why we canceled the plan. You see, this operation was top secret. No one outside the officials, me, and General Armstrong was supposed to know. We were going against a verdict from the Zenith, after all. If the plan leaked, we had no choice but to cancel it.”

“I see… was my daughter…”

“I don’t know. You should ask your daughter. But the plan was leaked not by me and certainly not by General Armstrong. Maybe it leaked when Freya had been running around asking for help? Anyway, do you really think Lexus came here to save you? No—he wanted to smear Shirayuki and Guardian Command by sacrificing all of you.”

“What? But he said he was here to save us all.”

“Did you really believe that in your heart? If you swapped places with him, what choices would you have made?” I asked.

Freya’s father fell silent at my question. As expected, he was no different from Lexus. Both will betray each other the moment it becomes convenient.

“So, do you think LingShi will help you? Do you even have a good relationship with him?”

“Shit! That fox! You’re Lily, right? You have to help me. I have stocks in Enra—I’ll give half to you! I don’t know, just do something!”

“So, LingShi won’t help you? What was he like? Was he particularly devious or treacherous? Like Lexus, maybe?” I asked. I had no intention of helping him, but his testimony might be useful for my report. These corporations could burn for all I cared. If Shirayuki ever did something similar, I might need to abandon them too and side with Guardian Command.

“Yes. LingShi’s an opportunist. I don’t believe he’ll help me. He has a son who’s a Rank B Guardian, and he sees Freya as a rival.”

“He’s worse than you, huh?”

“What do you know about me? Don’t believe everything the media says. I just wanted Enra to connect and help people. This is normal in business—there’s always competition,” Freya’s father said.

I didn’t trust him, but if he was telling the truth, then the most tolerable of the corrupt was the only one punished. What irony.

“I see.”

“You’re Black Lily, right? The one who managed to sway Zenith’s verdict about the previous exiles. Can’t you petition the Zenith to lighten our punishment? You saved those convicts, didn’t you?”

“Sorry. They had something of value for humanity.”

“I have stocks! Billions of them,” Freya’s father said.

I couldn’t get any more information out of him, so it was time to say goodbye.

“I can’t help you there. Why don’t you give them to the Zenith? Maybe you can convince them?”

I went inside, to the cafeteria within the oil rig, to buy some food. I hadn’t had breakfast or lunch today—I was starving.

“The report’s not done yet?” I sighed as I cuddled Felicia while waiting for my curry rice. I plopped my face onto his furry back.

“We still need to meet. At least call LingShi and ask what he plans to do with Enra.”

“We have that footage where Lexus had a secret deal with LingShi, right?”

“Do you want to submit the report now?”

“Hm… We have nothing to do here. The mission was canceled, and I don’t think I’ll get anything more out of Enra. After this—whether Freya’s father is saved or not—I’ll have nothing to do with Freya and Enra again.”

“I see. So, will you submit your report now?”

“What effect will the report have on humanity?”

“Dunno. That’s up to the higher-ups in Delawa.”

“Delawa? Not Umbra?” I pondered. If I recalled correctly, Agneya came from Umbra, and their civilization is called Lameyan.

“The world beside Earth and Umbra—the Zenith there—is the one that primarily helped us during the Anathema invasion. Most of the Zenith’s decisions, including Earth’s budget, come from them. Ah, my apologies—the budget is collective. Other worlds contribute their points as well.”

Sensing my doubt about Delawa and Umbra, Felicia projected four balls of light: one white, two gray, and one black. Two lines connected the black orb to the gray ones, but they didn’t touch the white orb. Likewise, the white orb had two lines branching to the gray ones.

“This is a simplified map of Yggdrasil—the World Tree. The black orb represents the Anathema world, while the gray ones are Earth and Umbra. Of course, there are many other worlds beyond these, both Anathema and Zenith, but for simplicity’s sake, I only showed our direct supporter, Delawa, and our comrade-in-arms, Umbra.

“See those lines? We call them branches of the World Tree. It’s the only way for us to cross worlds. The worlds that don’t border the Anathema are expected to support the worlds that do—both materially and militarily.”

“I see. Their world would be next if they didn’t pitch in, huh?” I nodded. I kind of expected them to abandon us, but they haven’t betrayed us so far.

“Earth has no magic and has no knowledge about gate technology. They fell at an alarming rate. The Zenith at Delawa considered abandoning your world, but your species proved incompatible with their atmosphere. Only Guardians could enter their world—humans would die within hours.

“Thus, Delawa sent seven sanctuary cities to you, torn away from their own homeland. The computer didn’t think humanity would win, so Delawa initiated the Ark Project—to save the human species.”

“I see. Did we screw up that badly? Ours seems a bit darker than Umbra.”

“Yes. Even though Umbra was hit by Anathema a century earlier, Anathema had almost conquered your world. But thankfully, the miasma level has stopped rising. We’re even seeing some ticks in positivity—we’ve gained ground in frontier projects.”

“But they were destroyed.”

“Yes, unfortunately.”

“Was this information classified?”

“Nope. But I’d advise against disseminating it freely. If people knew how bad the situation on Earth really is, they might lose morale.”

“Let’s give this to Kageyama. He’s smarter and more experienced than I am. Please include that warning as a postscript.”

“Done. I’ve prepared the package. We just need to send it.”

“We can’t do it now?”

“Unfortunately, the network was jammed. The Anathema damaged the main antenna. The officials are now using emergency radio to communicate with Central Guardian Command. We can only wait until they repair the main antenna.”

“...” I pouted in annoyance. “Back on topic—will my report cause Delawa or Umbra to pull their support for humanity?”

“It shouldn’t be that severe. Modifications in support happen all the time. The budget for the UNH has never been constant. Sometimes it increases, sometimes it decreases.”

“...That didn’t reassure me in the slightest.”

“Hm… would it help to see this as rooting out corruption, like in earthly terms? Rooting out corruption is usually appreciated, right? Unless a region is so deeply corrupt that it’s hopeless, you don’t just abandon it. Besides, your Anathema essence has brokered a new way for Zenith to fight the Anathema. The Zenith were surprised that you could use Anathema like that. They appreciate it.”

“Let’s compile the report. I think I’m done with the investigation. I’ve met with LingShi. We’ve also interviewed Freya’s father, right? Lexus was spied on without his knowledge. I have no more information to share.”

“Alright. I’ll compile everything we’ve gathered. Once the mana connection is restored with Eden’s headquarters, I’ll send the package—along with the explanation about Delawa and Umbra.”

“Damn it! Why does nobody care!” Freya walked into the cafeteria in a foul mood. She ordered chicken katsu, rice, and soup, then slammed her tray in front of me and sat down, visibly annoyed.

...The cafeteria is empty. She could’ve sat literally anywhere else. Why here?

I ignored her rambling and continued eating. But of course, fate had other plans—Freya spoke first.

“Lily… Did you ask Guardian Command to cancel the plan?” Freya looked me in the eye.

“...Yes. I did. Lexus was there. I was told that this mission had to be carried out in complete secrecy. If it leaked, the citizens would riot. Both Shirayuki and Guardian Command would face severe repercussions.” I decided not to lie. If I lied and Freya knew about it, I would be no different than Lexus.

“Lily! You know how important this mission is! How could you?” Freya clenched her fists. Her look of betrayal was painful to see.

But Freya, the risk is too great. If this mission were to leak, we would not only risk my family, but also a nationwide civil war involving all of Eden.

“The mission said so. Ask your familiar. Are you asking me to lie to General Armstrong and Shirayuki? Even though they’ve been so kind in helping us? They didn’t have to—but they did. You know that by letting Lexus in, we are putting their positions at risk.”

“But… we can trust them. What would Lexus gain by betraying us, anyway? He was in the same situation as my father. He was here because he understood.”

“... I don’t trust him. Your father didn’t trust him either. I talked to him.”

“Lily… Yes… you’re right… I’m sorry. I wasn’t supposed to hint to them about this mission. It’s my fault. But what am I supposed to do now? No one will accept my father.”

“... What if you leave them in the Darkland? You could visit them and deliver supplies once a week, maybe? The remnants of New Mesa are only two days away from Eden. Or… maybe you can move them to a closer sanctuary city? Felicia?”

“Yes, Valhalla is only seven hours away by speedboat from what was once called South America.”

“But the Darklands are dangerous. They’re just civilians. If the Anathema got to my father…” Freya teared up. “Can’t they lower the punishment? Jail and shelter are much better than this.”

“...”

Thanks to Freya’s rambling, my appetite had disappeared. The report for my mission was finished. All I needed now was for the main antenna to be repaired so I could send it.

Since my report seemed incomplete by Zenith’s standards, I didn’t know how many points I would receive. But it would surely be enough to buy weapons from the Masterwork Vault. If the points permitted, I could also look into the defensive armaments Felicia had been recommending.

Such thoughts filled my mind as I tried to console the crying Freya.
I was such a cold-hearted girl.