Memoirs of the Returnee

“Ah, my body is killing me…”

I had just escaped from Ortus. It felt Like my whole body was shattered, and my insides slightly damaged.

I really did fall from that high-rise. Probably shaved off a week of my Life, at least.

Anyway.

Killian is dead.

He fell from the top floor of the hotel, and then, coincidentally, a bombing happened that shattered his body beyond recognition.

—You've had it tough!

Growl said. His main body clung to my shoulder, pointing towards the distant Ortus.

—Phew! That's a relief!

“Right. But how much did Vito see?”

“l'm not sure, but with all that smoke, he might not know Killian was a traitor!”

“Good then.”

The future is somewhat predictable.

Once the Edsilla Council forces intervene and calm Ortus, Derek will be imprisoned based on the evidence I provided.

But Derek is no sandcastle. He's not an opponent who can be easily crumbled in an instant.

Even before my regression, he had been imprisoned. Back then, it must have been sonya and Zia who took over my role.

Derek Lost a lot then, but he was released after six months, and Theia died a year Later.

Things wouldn't be much different now.

The world doesnl follow a romantic formula where justice prevails.

The phone rang just then. It was Zia.

I answered the call.

“…Shion.”

“Yes, Miss Zia.”

Zia was silent, seemingly waiting forto speak.

“Derek seems to be on the verge of being ousted.”

“…ln d eed.”

She responded as if she had anticipated this.

“Shion, what do you want to do next?”

“I will support Lord Derek.”

Technically, it's just a pretense.

Usurpation doesn't happen overnight. Everything that belongs to Derek is his. If Derek falls, it will be torn apart, and those who claimed to be his loyalists will try to divide it among themselves.

So, I must pretend to be an ally and help Derek.

While he is imprisoned, I must gradually steal everything from him.

“I will make Lord Derek trust me.”

…

Zia was silent for a moment but then responded with a firm will.

“Okay… Please do.”

In a secluded forest.

Theia had heard the details from Riley. The content was quite bitter. She picked up a stone and threw it into the lake.

“…That's what happened.”

Riley shrugged her shoulders as she spoke.

The evidence they had obtained was actually an internal whistleblowing by Dr. Killian. However, he died as a perpetrator, not a witness.

“We could even make a drama out of this.”

At Theia's needless joke, Riley shot her a sharp Look.

“Ahem. What are you planning to do now?”

Theia, who had cleared her throat, asked Riley. She looked at the bushes stretched out along the lakeside.

Suddenly, she saw Dr. Killian's face on the other side. His image, scratching the back of his neck and smiling, flickered like an apparition.

“l'm planning to leave. I'm tired of being an inside agent.”

“…Yeah. You've suffered enough.”

Theia nodded.

“Yeah. Deceiving people is getting tough.”

Riley Let out a faint sigh. This time, her internal injuries were a bit more severe.

“Just leave Edsilla.”

“No, I don't plan to.”

She shook her head.

“l'm going underground.”

“…”

She planned to return to [Vancheon]. With her qualifications, she could definitely claim an executive position.

“l'm thinking of changing things up there too.”

“Change?”

“Yeah.”

Riley chuckled dryly.

“This operation was too much… like a terrorist group.”

Thanks to Killian, she had Learned one thing.

Changing the world, changing people, wasn't about radical destruction or collective action, but about the conscience of each individual.

“…lf thats the case, Leave as soon as possible.”

Theia said.

“Derek is going to go berserk soon.”

Riley turned to look at her.

A faint smile was playing on her lips. For sreason, her face seemed to be delighted about the upcoming events.

—This is an urgent news update. The artificial intelligence released by Derek Industries is allegedly linked to crimes against humanity…

Derek trembled as he glared at the news spreading across the media and the public opinion. A rage that seemed to burn his insides surged within him.

He doubted everything about this situation.

He suspected Dr. Vito first. Then Johanna, Jade, and even Zia.

“Lord Derek.”

Someone called him.

It was a prison guard.

Now, Derek was in custody. He hadn't even been tried yet, but he was detained on the humiliating grounds of 'risk of evidence tampering.'

“Do you know a person named Shion Ascal?”

“…”

Derek glared silently at the guard. A murderous impulse surged through him. How dare this scum look him straight in the eye.

“lts a visitor. If you wish to refuse—”

“Lead the way.”

“…Ah, yes.”

Derek moved.

In the visiting room, Shion Ascal stood up immediately upon seeing Derek.

“You've arrived.”

“…Sit down.”

“Yes.”

Derek sat down, and Shion followed suit, placing a lunchbox on the table.

“…”

Derek asked with his eyes.

“lts sushi from Chef Metroci.”

Shion opened the Lid.

Indeed, it was from Pine Dining, Derek's favorite.

“The balancers are busy moving around. If you gather your strengths, good news will come.”

Derek, raising an eyebrow, unwittingly picked up the chopsticks first. Taking a bite improved his mood slightly, but then a surge of anger welled up.

“…What were you and the Intelligence Agency doing until things got to this point?”

“I apologize. I was unable to intervene due to external duties. Also, the Intelligence Agency itself is…”

“The Intelligence Agency itself is?”

Shion nodded.

“There's severe political strife.”

The ongoing discord between Gedley and the team Leaders. It seems endless, meaning all the resources and capabilities within the Intelligence Agency are being wasted on internal surveillance.

Derek scoffed.

“ls that why you came? You were too busy to Look after Theia, and the Intelligence Agency has becuseless, leading to this situation?”

“…”

Shion quietly looked around the visiting room and then placed a briefcase on the table.

“l'm sorry for being a step too late…”

Click—the briefcase opened, revealing documents inside. Shion handed them to Derek, who accepted them with a displeased expression.

“…What?”

His eyes gradually widened, and a smirk spread across his face.

“Well imprison Theia.”

“…”

At Shion's words, Derek set the documents down. They seemed satisfactory, but he wanted more.

“No need for that. Kill her.”

Derek would have Theia's throat slit. There was no need to keep alive a woman who had brought him such disgrace. The very fact that he shared the sworld and breathed the sair as such a woman was repulsive.

“Yes.”

Shion nodded, his response too clear, prompting Derek to question him further.

“Do you have no thoughts of your own?”

“I will carry out your orders, Lord Derek… However, personally, I believe she deserves a fate worse than death.”

“Worse?”

“Yes.”

Derek crossed his arms.

“Go on.”

“To make the trial more favorable.”

“…”

Derek Looked at Shion curiously.

“The triaL”

“Yes. The best way to attack the message is to attack the messenger. Moreover…”

Shion Ascal asked quietly.

“…Do you suspect anyone in this situation?”

“Suspect?”

“Yes. Why did Dr. Killian have such files?”

“That's…”

Derek's expression hardened. He started to speak, then stopped. All his words receded back to thoughts in his head.

“Did he really possess them? Or did someone else plant them on Dr. Killian?”

“…”

“To clear that suspicion, we must keep Theia Esil alive. It seems she is deeply involved in this case.”

“Wait.”

Vito.

Derek suddenly suspected Vito. Vito did not trust him. At the stime, he was jealous of him. Perfect appearance, genius, and even the direct Lineage.

Vito envied everything about himself, whose hair grew like grass.

“What is Vito doing?”

“He has gone to the lab.”

“Gone to the lab?”

Derek frowned.

Libra Station's Derek Industries. Vito is affiliated with it. Derek is the major shareholder, but Vito holds a significant amount of shares.

Enough to usurp ownership in an emergency.

“…”

Derek pondered.

“Legal judgments are made by judges. But with evidence this conclusive, the only way for Derek to escape is to pin the blon someone else.”

SO…

“Vito seems suspicious.”

Derek told Shion Ascal.

“Dr. Vito, you mean?”

“Yes. Look into it. But don't tell the balancers.”

Derek found it hard to trust even his own balancers.

Vito was a collateral relative, a man of his father's, and most of his own balancers were originally his father's.

Meaning they weren't entirely his people.

“Yes. I will comply.”

At least for now, this bastard in front of him seemed more trustworthy. A Chaser serving the utterly useless Zia.

“…”

Derek silently ate his sushi. It tasted quite good, having been a while since he last had it.

Just Looking at this lunchbox, one could tell. Shion Ascal, this guy really is different from the others.

Sensing his mood and knowing what he wanted beforehand, and satisfying those desires.

…

…

After finishing the visit, I got into the car. I placed the empty lunchbox on the passenger seat.

For your information, Derek is a gourmet. He doesn't show it much, but he really enjoys eating.

Probably scored a solid 10 points of favor with this lunchbox?

“Hmm… this will be easy to take over.”

A rough blueprint formed in my mind.

Firstly, take over the shares of Derek Industries under the pretext that Vito is trying to usurp the company.

That's the first step, next is imprisoning Theia Esil, killing Vito, and carrying out all other tasks Derek desires.

Ultimately, the goal is to increase Derek's trust.

To make him trustmore than his own balancers, so that all the nominee properties and shares will be transferred back to Zia.

Probably the relatives will request compensation, and a punitive damages verdict should suffice.

“Keep everything under Miss Zia's nuntil things quiet down. The public are pigs anyway, they'll quiet down on their own…”

That should do.

I nodded and added the line into the [NotepadJ .

Vrooom——!

I stepped on the accelerator, Looking at the scenery outside.

“…”

This detention center has a nice view. Its more like a hotel than a prison, actually.

Theia had put in a lot of effort to imprison Derek, but she was most likely annoyed at that.

Because that was her nature.

“But whatever.”

After all, when he Leaves here, he'll be penniless.

I grinned and gripped the steering wheel.

Today felt unusually enjoyable.

Watching Derek's downfall, seeing him dressed up and trapped in a detention center, felt unexpectedly good…

Next week.

For the first tin a while, I was summoned not as a 'Chaser' but as a 'Knight'. For us knights in our first to fourth year, these summon orders were mandatory.

“…Yaaawn.”

A yawn cnaturally.

“Shion. Stay alert. This is our first summon.”

Next to me, Soliette jabbedin the ribs. Yet, my yawning didn't stop.

After all, this wasn't a field operation but a classroom.

“Letexplain the overview of the summon.”

At the podium stood a woman who looked like a government official.

“First, today you knights will be deployed in an operation with the mages.”

At this, most of the knights grimaced. Mages were notoriously difficult to work with for knights.

“lts called teaming, right?”

It was the teaming' we had previously Learned about in class.

“First, I will distribute the list of mages.”

The official handed out the List. I quickly scanned it, and one ncaught my eye.

Elise.

“Pfft.”

Is she a comedian? Just seeing her nmakesLaugh.

“This summon is essentially about syncing up. Normally, a knight and a mage pair up, and their combined strength is often stronger than an entire battalion. So, get in sync now, in case of an emergency summoning…”

As she spoke, I thought about how I could torment Elise.

There were rumors, not just that her nose was high in the air, but that her shoulders, head, and even her height had grown a bit recently.

I planned to crush her properly.

Pride and arrogance are a mage's greatest enemies, after all, it's for her sake too.