Memoirs of the Returnee

Chapter 306: New Year (4)

On a winter night when the wind mixed with snow and whirled in white gusts, I was with soliette.

Listening to my depressingly unmatched story, she had a somewhat sorrowful expression.

But it wasn't too gloomy.

I had kept my terminal diagnosis a secret.

If I added that to the mix, wouldn't it be a bit too much?

I didn't even want to share the fact of my impending death.

“Now I understand. Shion, thats why you're trying to bring them down.”

Soliette murmured, her breath mingling with the snowflakes.

“Yeah. Its a bit of a grand dream. Will you help me?”

She frowned, as if questioning why I would even ask.

“What are you talking about? I already promised before. I said I'd go with you to the end.”

To the end.

It's a reassuring phrase, but I still don't know how many years I have left. Its a shame it won't be long.

It would be nice if I could save some.

“And… it seems like there's an overlap, Shion.”

“What is it?”

“The target our blades are aimed at.”

I smiled faintly and nodded.

“Exactly.”

Libra. They must definitely be involved with Knightmare. But just as much, Arkne's wrongdoing is significant.

Thats why, before my regression, she had committed suicide.

Back then, she avenged herself on Arkne with her death. She severed the 'line； cutting off the lineage of her family.

…At Least, thafs what I thought.

Ding-

Just then, an alarm went off on my Libra phone. It was a signal from GrawL

“I need to go.”

“What? Where are you going?”

“T0 clean up.”

“CLean up…”

Soliette didn't ask much. She already knew there was no need.

“Yes. Please go.”

Soliette extended her hand to me. I took her hand. We shook hands.

“Yeah. I'll be back.”

She said to come back, and I said I would.

Sometimes, I tell her to come back, and she says she will.

This level of relationship is enough.

I do not Love her now, and she is gradually overcoming her losses.

These experiences of burying those who left first will be of great help to her in the future.

Someday, I too will have to Leave her side.

Thump, thump.

Jade dusted off the dirt clinging to his body. The situation had long since ended.

He was the only one standing in his vicinity.

The entire area was scorched black. The farm that had been full of crops was now a dark mound. It was piled with the ashes of corpses.

Jade detested monstrosities.

Therefore, he burned them whenever possible. He preferred the near-nothingness of ash over Leaving debris that would pollute the scenery.

However, he did not handle chemicals. Simply by adjusting the friction of his strikes correctly, he could ignite with a punch.

Every battle Jade fought was intuitive.

He knew the limits of the violence he could inflict, and it was almost everything.

Perhaps.

The entire laws of physics were in his grasp.

“……”

Jade saw Blocker. Half of his face remained. Fitting for someone who had carved out his own influence, he had endured this much.

He was a bug that didn't even deserve a clean death, but Jade had no hobby of torturing people.

This was enough.

——Rustle.

The sound of footsteps on the ash. Jade had already sensed his approach.

“l'm sorry for being Late.”

Shion AscaL Jade turned to Look at him.

“Can you handle the cleanup?”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

“This was your doing.”

Jade spoke as if he was pinning a crime on him. Although it was indeed a crime, it wasn't entirely bad for Shion.

“Unde rsto o d.”

Jade turned away. He was not in a good mood. Direct killings always felt like this.

The discomfort of having gone out of his way to crush a bug.

On such days, Eceline often came to mind.

Perhaps, he would dream of that day's nightmare tonight. The day he had torn off the arm of the woman who said she would leave him…

Jade took a step forward.

Kwaaaaaa-

A massive shockwave erupted. A wave-like wind spread in a fan shape on the opposite side of him, shaking the ground. The embers in the ash flared up again.

…Too destructive for a mere leap.

Shion scratched the back of his neck and chuckled dryly.

“Well…”

At least the objective was achieved.

Jade's expertise had become his own, and there wasn't much left to clean up.

It was all ash anyway.

But to claim he did all this alone would be too grand, so he planned to downplay the report to the Intelligence Agency.

He had received help from Bell Moore, planted internal agents, and used several expensive explosives… That should sound plausible.

“……”

Shion suddenly looked up at the sky. Jade had already left, but he had doubts about him.

The undeniable strongest in the world. An unmatched champion.

Yet, he had been killed by Zia.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand it.

He seemed like a person who couldn't even die, more like the closest being to immortality.

How did Zia kill him?

“……IS it ultimately about lineage?”

No matter how much he stirred and dug around, all secrets eventually lay with the direct descendants.

Just as his revenge was directed towards them.

—The Blocker faction has been annihilated

That night, Zia received the news from the head of HR, Jean. It was hard to believe that Blocker had been wiped out in an instant.

At first, it sounded Like someone banging on a window in her sleep.

“Are you sure…?”

—Yes. We dispatched staff from the station to confirm.

Just awakened, Zia felt her mind floating hazily. Even her hair seemed slightly aloft.

“Ugh… just a moment…”

She rubbed her eyes.

Lately, she's been sleeping a Lot. All her time outside of work was devoted to sleep, to recovery.

—Not only Blocker but even his closest aides have been completely destroyed.

Zia was skeptical of the information. It was merely a fragment, after all, and she only trusted what she could see herself.

“Really…?”

She could hack electronic devices to create her own eyes and ears, and command countless demons, but sadly, her time was not infinite to observe everything. Neither was her capacity.

She was becoming dull.

More precisely, she was dying.

—Miss, I think you can stop doubting now.

As Jean suggested, Zia felt the need to rely on, or depend on someone.

She needed someone to whom she could delegate at least some of her responsibilities. Not always someone to doubt, but someone she could trust and rely on.

A confidant to lessen her burden and fatigue.

—Chaser Shion is a knight solely for Miss Zia.

Zia pondered for a moment. It didn't take Long.

She had only been with Shion AscaL for two years, but their relationship was perhaps thicker than the ten years she had spent with Jean.

“Okay. I'll hang up.”

She nodded and ended the call. Then she contacted sonya.

There was no time to sit idle. If this information leaked, other hyenas would swoop in.

Before that, she had to swallow up all of Blocker's forces and foundations in one go.

…What?

Sonya's voice was heavy with sleep.

Zia told her.

“Sonya… Blocker is dead…”

…Eh?

Sonya reacted similarly. It must be confusing to hear such news while asleep.

“lt's not a lie… We need to move now…”

—Uh… Okay. Kll issue the deployment orders.

Zia had already cultivated her forces. She had even established a mercenary group with that power. Now, she just needed to deploy them to seize control of all distribution networks.

“…”

It was such a crucial moment.

Yet, she couldn't get up. Unknowingly, she had Lain back down on the bed.

“…l'm sleepy.”

Like being buried in sand, Like sinking into the ocean, her consciousness precipitated. She was too sleepy to even twitch a finger.

Drrriiing——

Suddenly, the phone rang. She Looked at the phone in her hand.

It was Shion.

Shion AscaL

She moved her fingers to answer the phone.

—Miss Zia, the mission has been completed.

“…Yeah.”

Her response was brief.

It was the best Zia could muster.

—Are you feeling unwell?

“…”

Zia didn't speak. Even moving her lips felt like too much effort.

—I'll be there soon.

Shion arrived quickly, at least in his own estimation, though it might have taken a few hours. He stayed by her side until she recovered, and when she woke, he had prepared a meal for her.

It tasted good.

Gedley of the Intelligence Agency heard the shocking news.

Blocker. The force that even the Intelligence Agency had been watching, had been annihilated by Shion Ascal and Bell Moore team.

For Ged ley, this was practically a death blow.

Bell Moore's stature had skyrocketed, and his capabilities far exceeded Gedley's expectations.

Bell Moore was now recognized as one of the strongest at the Intelligence Agency. Rumors circulated that he was on par with a top balancer.

“…”

Gedley stood alone in his office, Looking at his nameplate. He had held onto his position for a long time.

[Director Ged ley]

If he remained passive, he would be devoured by him.

He would be betrayed by his own subordinates.

Now, it was time to make a choice.

Gedley walked out of his office with a bitter smile, strolling through the Intelligence Agency.

By chance, Bell Moore was walking down the corridor leading to the main hall.

Bell Moore simply walked. His hands were casually stuffed in his pockets, a confident smile on his face, and Shion Ascal was by his side.

The eyes of the Intelligence Agency were all focused on them.

To Ged ley, everything about them seemed to move in slow motion, Like a scene from a movie.

Gedley envied their confidence. He feared Bell Moore's grand ambitions and his meticulousness. He scowled at himself for having misjudged the man.

The day to pay for that misjudgment was not far off.

Winter seemed to pass quickly somehow.

My regression had already reached its third year, and soliette had started the new semester without dropping out, while Castology was temporarily closed.

There was no need to operate it until a family capable of extracting more information than GLofeld appeared.

Also, as Dr. Killian, I had been gathering materials as a whistleblower.

The lab, as well as Killian's residence, were under surveillance, so I utilized the fNotepadJ .

I had stored all the data and experimental processes in my [NotepadJ . A perfect replica is indistinguishable from the original, so it would serve as suitable evidence.

“…Are you nervous?”

And today— Vito had asked me that. Now, I stand in front of Derek's inner sanctum.

As a key researcher, I had been granted the opportunity to meet Derek.

“Yes, I am nervous.”

Vito regarded me as a key researcher, a special treatment far beyond what other senior researchers received.

“Don't be too nervous. Lord Derek has called Dr. Killian to be commended, after all.”

“…Yes.”

I feigned nervousness in my response, and Vito chuckled lightly. He knocked lightly on the door before opening it.

Beyond it was Derek, and by his side stood his direct secretary, Riley, who had also been promoted.

“You've arrived.”

Uncharacteristically, Derek greeted us with a bright smile.

“Dr. Killian of the Abyss project, was it?”

“Yes, it's an honor, truly an honor.”

He placed his hand on my shoulder. I pretended as best as I could that I didn't know how to react.

“l've heard a lot about you from Dr. Vito. You played a significant role in artificial intelligence?”

Joy radiated from every gesture and expression of Derek.

Indeed, it was a performance good enough to outshine even Everett, the top company this quarter.

“I merely assisted Dr. Vito.”

As always, I deflected the credit to Vito. Vito shook his head with a smile, and Derek laughed as well.

“Hahaha, what a humble friend.”

Not many could earn the title of 'friend' from Derek.

“The reason I've called you is simple. For the second quarter, we plan to present version two at the Ortus Symposium, and I want you to accompany me.”

The Ortus Symposium. Its the largest tech and academic conference attended by the top scholars of the continent.

“T0 accompany… you mean?”

“Yes. As the architect behind the revolutionary Al, it's only right to show the world the faces of those who walked this path with me.”

I paused for a moment, then subtly glanced at Riley. Our eyes met, and she raised her eyebrows slightly.

I then bowed slightly to Derek.

“…lf I may accompany Lord Derek, it would be an infinite honor.”

The Ortus Symposium.

A place Like the Milky Way, where stars of intellect gather.

It would be the perfect stage to handle the 'end' of Dr. Killian.