A Regressor's Bucket List

Chapter 197 : Declaration of the Beastkin Nation (2)

Tan’s appearance was, in fact, somewhat within the expected range.

Though I didn't know when, it was already a self-evident truth that UMC surveillance personnel would be dispatched to confirm Emily's whereabouts.

And I believed Tan was the right person for the job.

Of course.

From Ludwig Allegro's perspective, Tan, who had first exposed the agency's identity—a grave mistake a secret agent should never make—would not have been viewed favorably.

It was fortunate that things had worked out, because if I had intended to join the Demon King's Army or was a Demonic Species infiltrating with a disguised identity from the Demon King's Army, things would have reached an irreversible point.

Considering his duties as a secret agent, from Ludwig Allegro's standpoint, Tan should have been discarded.

However, putting that aside, Tan was the perfect person for the current situation.

Even setting everything else aside, Tan was the only person who had personally arrived at the Guildhouse before.

One might argue that having visited once wasn't that important, but this place was more unique than it seemed.

It wasn't fully part of The Order's Territory, ambiguously outside their direct influence, yet it couldn't be called a neutral zone or the Demon King's Territory either; it was private land.

For UMC, which was even more obsessed with information than The Order, who already prioritized it, this place was bound to be troublesome.

The only records that remained were from over a century ago, and while UMC's routes would likely have penetrated almost all regions belonging to The Order, this place was an exception.

Only Tan, who had willingly moved and escaped from this place, would have some understanding of the area.

If my predictions were correct, he would have explored the surrounding terrain to pinpoint its location rather than just easily leaving.

Moreover, Tan had conversed with us on the airship even before his identity was revealed.

Of course, it was only a brief interjection into our conversation, but it was still far better than other unknown agents having to establish new acquaintances.

No matter how brief the acquaintance, there was a world of difference between someone you'd met once and someone you'd never seen before.

‘…….’

And above all, given UMC's nature as a secret organization, the exposure of new agents was naturally avoided.

Tan himself had lived in the village since childhood to monitor Allen Tigris III's Thought Form and Valencia.

This showed how much effort UMC put into raising secret agents, and I didn't think Tan's case was particularly special.

Agents, though they might vary in type, would likely be produced through similar arduous processes.

It naturally took time to cultivate such elite individuals, and considering the number of dropouts during the process, the resulting agents would inevitably be few.

To what extent Ludwig Allegro considered our relationship positive, and how far he was looking ahead, I couldn't say for sure.

But given his personality, his cooperation was purely due to aligning interests, not because he fully trusted us.

After all, he would never place 100% trust in anyone not directly under The Order.

Simply put, our relationship with UMC was strictly a business-based collaboration.

A business relationship where they could cut their losses at any time if circumstances changed.

Of course, for now, we were unilaterally receiving from UMC, but Ludwig Allegro wouldn't be doing us favors without any ulterior motives.

He was probably listening to my story conveyed through Tan, and providing only the amount of help he could recoup, assuming the future establishment of a Beastkin Nation.

As part of the same logic, UMC had no need to unnecessarily increase the exposure of its agents.

If it were me, I would probably dispatch Tan, whose identity was already exposed and whose surveillance target had disappeared, leaving him in an ambiguous position.

Based on these comprehensive thoughts, I felt that if a surveillance measure for Emily were to be dispatched, it would likely be Tan.

...Or so I thought.

“He told me to go to hell.”

“…….”

To my question of whether he had come as a surveillance agent, Tan offered a bitter smile and immediately shook his head.

“I did tell him first that I would take responsibility and handle it myself... but it seems he still doesn't trust me.”

“…….”

“I've come to discuss the handling of matters related to the Beastkin Prison incident, and a different agent will be dispatched regarding Code Delta's whereabouts.”

To put it plainly, he wasn't dispatched to monitor Emily.

He had simply come to inform me how UMC had cooperated and handled the aftermath of what Tom had done.

A kind of odd job, you could say.

It seemed they didn't want to entrust someone who had already lost their trust again.

I had completely misjudged the situation.

Tan smiled bitterly, then pulled out a file and began a brief explanation.

“As you probably know, the market maker who monopolized the distribution of Beastkin slaves has been killed.”

“…….”

“Even for a criminal, murder within The Order's Territory is strictly forbidden.

While it partially meets the requirements for self-defense, considering the level of urgency, it's difficult to qualify as a justification for illegality.”

“…….”

“Therefore, as soon as The Order's Police Bureau discovered the scene, it should have been referred to trial, and for acts of murder, emergency arrest warrants can be issued even without a formal warrant.

Thus, the suspect, ‘Tom Hardist,’ should have been arrested, however...”

Flap—

“UMC issued a Zero Code and roughly covered it up. It was transferred as a classified matter from the Police Bureau to UMC, and all related information has been sealed off. Mr. Tom Hardist was processed as a person of interest in the incident, but not arrested.”

“…….”

“In about a month, it will likely be transferred to a special ex officio trial under the UMC Director's privilege, and the verdict will be a ‘conditional suspension with a gag order for classified information.’

After six months from then, all information will be locked as top-secret, and the Police Bureau will never be able to access it. Essentially, he'll be cleared of all charges.”

...I didn't fully understand it, but.

It seemed like they had roughly released Tom through an abuse of authority.

It wasn't an unbelievable story.

From the start, UMC was a top-secret organization, unknown even within The Order, so it wasn't uncommon for them to handle missions in this manner.

In fact, UMC could be considered veterans in this field.

“Furthermore... some issues were discovered during the large-scale movement of the Beastkin, but all witnesses related to the incident confirmed so far have had their memories erased with special Artifacts possessed by UMC. The movement of the Beastkin was openly reported to the higher-ups by UMC, stating they would investigate it themselves.”

“…….”

“Well, I don't know the exact details about this part either, but from what you're saying, it seems there won't be any additional interference.”

He recounted these things as if they were nothing, but in truth, none of what Tan said was insignificant.

Of course, since these were typical UMC operations, there might not have been any particular difficulties, but that itself was the problem.

Having UMC's name attached to everything meant they would inevitably bear responsibility if problems arose later.

Of course, as a secret agency whose primary job was 'damage control,' they could probably evade some responsibility if they were determined.

But if they so openly affixed UMC's label to all related matters, 100% evasion would be virtually impossible.

And Tan was subtly hinting, almost casually, that UMC's name was now attached to everything.

If my thoughts were correct, this was Ludwig's demand.

In other words.

‘...He's putting it on credit, expecting me to pay it back later, isn't he?’

This, too, was part of Ludwig Allegro's give-and-take with me.

I didn't know what he saw in me, but it seemed this man intended to forge connections with us in quite a few areas.

Well.

Even if he gave us a choice, we would naturally have no option but to accept.

It wasn't something I could change by agonizing over it, and if I considered it the price for the Beastkin Prison incident having turned out better than expected, it was something I could accept and move past to some extent.

So I shrugged and changed the subject.

“Then what about that matter?”

“That matter?”

“That... the kid named Emily Delta you handed over to us. Didn't you say there was an organization pursuing her?”

At my question, Tan exclaimed 'Ah!' and nodded.

“You're referring to Code Delta.”

“Delta or Code, I'm not sure, but I think that's it.”

Tan closed his mouth for a moment, organized his thoughts, then spoke again.

“Regarding Code Delta's situation, there has been some progress, but...”

“…….”

“It seems more complicated than we thought, so it will take a bit more time.”

“Complicated?”

“Yes.”

Tan nodded.

“We succeeded in tracking down and capturing the leader, but the rest of the group hasn't been eradicated yet. As I mentioned, it's an organization, so we did anticipate this to some extent.”

“…….”

“More numbers remain than expected, so we anticipate it will take approximately six more months to completely clear them out.”

“Six months, huh...”

The time it would take to completely eliminate the organization pursuing Emily.

In other words.

For me, it was the time Emily had to create the Magitek firearms.

Six months.

It was a bit tight, but half a year seemed enough to create a reasonably usable weapon.

During that period, it would be difficult to produce Magitek firearms with such high perfection that they needed no further refinement, as I had in my previous life.

But then again, I wasn't expecting that level of perfection right away.

Once connections were established, I could reinforce them later, and even during the time apart, Emily would likely continue her conceptualization, so I didn't expect perfection from the start.

Something reasonably usable.

Literally, a prototype would be enough for now.

“...I wish it would take a bit longer, though.”

“...Pardon?”

Tan asked again, as if he had misheard my involuntary mumble.

I shook my head as if it were nothing, and instead asked back.

“Ah.”

“......?”

“Just one more message for him, if you would.”

Shrug—

“Tell him I'm holding an inauguration ceremony, and ask if he'd care to attend as a VIP.”