novelraw Chapter 153 : The Higher the Mountain, the Deeper the Valley (3)
Chapter 153 : The Higher the Mountain, the Deeper the Valley (3)
Chapter 153: The Higher the Mountain, the Deeper the Valley (3)
“I’ll do it.”
“Me too.”
“…If you can give me enough time for the handover, I’ll lead the operation.”
Stefan Taurus. Mike Bedell. Ernest Kael.
The three accepted the proposal with almost no hesitation.
Part of it was certainly greed for achievement and recognition.
But more than that, their curiosity was far greater.
Eugene Carter—the man currently shaking the entire Empire.
What exactly was he planning to stir up this time, and just how massive would the aftermath become?
The anticipation and excitement of participating in the entire process completely numbed their reason.
Since everyone had agreed, there was no point wasting more time.
Eugene looked over each person gathered in the president’s office before beginning his explanation.
“Then I’ll assume everyone’s resolved themselves and explain exactly where I intend to go.”
At first, their expressions remained relatively calm.
But midway through the briefing, everyone’s mouths gradually fell open in shock.
Especially once the term Beastification came up—even President Alberto couldn’t help but sigh heavily.
“That concludes my hypothesis.”
The moment Eugene’s briefing ended, silence descended over the room.
“…I can’t believe it.”
“The Bernhardts really… did something like that?”
“I hope they didn’t. Which is why we need to confirm it ourselves. We need to see what’s actually there.”
Once he finished speaking, Eugene immediately proposed the departure time.
“I plan to leave at exactly 7 PM. Everyone alright with that?”
“…….”
“Then I’ll take that as agreement… I’ll see you all at the front gate later. I still have some preparations left.”
And with that, he suddenly left the office alongside the cadet who had accompanied him.
The people left behind could only stare at one another speechlessly for quite some time.
After the long silence, Stefan Taurus finally spoke first.
“…Where in the world does he even get information like this?”
“Who knows….”
“It must’ve been Michel Bernhardt. If it’s her, she’d know all of the Bernhardts’ darkness.”
“No, I doubt that.”
“…President?”
At Alberto’s firm voice, everyone’s attention turned toward him.
“Lady Michel fell out of favor with the family head more than fifteen years ago. And as far as I know, she’s been excluded from the Bernhardt Supreme Council for over ten years now. Sure, she probably knew about Beastification, but I doubt she knew the exact location this specifically.”
“Then who…?”
“How would I know?”
And besides, what does that matter anymore?
BAAAANG!
Alberto slammed his gray desk violently before revealing a spirited grin.
Even through his fleshy eyes, his burning fighting spirit was obvious.
“This goes beyond journalism. It’s a matter of human rights. If those bastards are really researching human Beastification… if they’re trying to create their own Imperial Guard with it… then that absolutely must be stopped, don’t you think?”
---
At the same time, inside the Bernhardt main house.
Family head Edgar was speaking privately with his eldest son Robert.
“So. No separate contact yet?”
“No. It seems they haven’t approached any of our lines, nor any of the twelve media companies. I don’t know where all that confidence comes from….”
Watching Robert grumble irritably, Edgar spoke quietly.
“My son.”
“Yes?”
“There’s no chance that matter leaked out, correct?”
At his father’s sharp gaze, Robert immediately understood what he meant.
“…No matter how extraordinary Eugene Carter may be, I don’t believe it’s possible he discovered that location.”
“Certainty is dangerous, Robert. Edel and Michel are already backing him. Not to mention the Special Task Force and Mallet as well.”
Most importantly, haven’t we already lost the ability to control that traitor?
“Jeff Halenber knows most of the core information regarding the research. If Eugene Carter offers him judicial bargaining in exchange for that information, there’s no way that bastard will stay silent.”
“So what you’re saying is….”
Edgar nodded while making a throat-slitting gesture with his hand.
“We’ll shut down the institute and relocate all related materials immediately. Can you handle it?”
“That won’t be difficult… but right now?”
“Right now. Immediately.”
“…….”
“When you grow complacent because you’re certain of your advantage, that’s exactly when you get blindsided. The moment you sense necessity, you act.”
His father was someone who spent an extremely long time contemplating decisions before making them, but once a decision was made, he almost never reversed it.
As the eldest son, Robert understood that better than anyone, so he obediently rose from his seat.
“I’ll depart immediately, Father.”
“I trust you, Robert.”
“…Yes.”
“Report back as soon as it’s completed.”
That concluded the conversation.
The moment he exited the family head’s office, Robert let out a long sigh.
“Fuuu….”
Ever since hearing opinions regarding the next family head during the previous meeting, his thoughts had become increasingly complicated.
Among all the children of this generation, nobody had devoted more effort to the Bernhardts than he had.
Results were what mattered most in anything, and he had achieved more accomplishments than any other direct or branch descendant in the entire family.
Even if the principle of eldest-son succession disappeared, his chances of becoming the next family head were effectively one hundred percent.
Then what was this inexplicable anxiety?
Why did he feel so uneasy?
There wasn’t a single person in the Bernhardts capable of replacing his role.
As he questioned himself, the face of one girl suddenly surfaced in his mind.
“……Michel.”
Could it be… he was still afraid?
Afraid of that absurdly young genius who was over fifteen years younger than him?
“…No. Impossible.”
I settled those feelings long ago.
After heading toward his room and summoning his subordinates, Robert resumed walking.
Her talent had been far too great from the very beginning.
And precisely because of that, it had also been far too excessive.
His grandfather, Johann Bernhardt, had believed she would use her talents for the family and granted her unprecedented privileges.
But what was the result?
At merely nine years old, she blackmailed her grandfather into writing a will naming her the future family head.
When Johann resisted, she murdered him using a dagger that left behind no evidence.
Despite being from a branch family, she killed the grandfather who had cherished her so dearly.
Before the situation could spiral further out of control, it was his father Edgar and his uncle Mikhail who cleaned everything up.
The two fabricated a false incident to ensure the horrifying truth never reached the outside world, and they granted minimal mercy to Michel, who had committed such monstrous patricide.
Wasn’t that why she had still been allowed to rise as far as Chairwoman of Karbenna despite abandoning all familial morality?
Originally, she would’ve naturally faded away after drifting through insignificant positions for the rest of her life.
And that was likely what she herself wanted.
But what was happening now?
A war hero who suddenly emerged from the Special Task Force was trying to drag her back onto the stage.
No matter how much he dressed it up with grand ideals, he was ultimately just some ambitious mongrel seeking social ascension.
And yet she chose to side with someone like that.
Where had the pride of being a noble direct descendant of the Bernhardts gone?
If she had any conscience left, she should’ve refused.
She should’ve stayed buried quietly while remaining grateful she had been allowed to live peacefully all this time.
“…Please, I’m begging you. Don’t step forward, Michel.”
You are the Bernhardts’ disgrace. Killing you would only amount to spitting in our own faces.
And yet, if you insist on uncovering our curtain to the very end—
Then I’ll have no choice but to finally claim the life we spared.
Robert roughly mounted the horse his servant had prepared and lightly tapped its flank.
In response, the horse smoothly turned and headed toward the rear gate.
Its destination—
Ivric, the Empire’s Eighth Region connected to northern Centre.
---
Billion, a small town in northwestern Ivric.
A place long known as a representative Beast Habitat Zone, where the average population over the past decade barely reached the thousands even across the entire city.
Using old district classifications from maps created during the Empire’s founding era, we managed to pinpoint the exact location of Berkshire No.16.
But the place standing before us—
Contained no building whatsoever.
Nothing but an empty field.
“…….”
The five of us instinctively realized it immediately.
“I can feel the flow of mana… and it’s extremely unnatural.”
“Mm.”
Francia’s analysis was accurate.
Then Ernest Kael, Head of Social Affairs, pointed his Wand toward the area while narrowing his eyes.
“It seems to be protected by a powerful Barrier Magic… how do we break through?”
“Let’s locate the boundary first.”
I drew Lukezax and casually unleashed two slashes.
Jjeeeong…!
If there had been nothing there, the slash would’ve continued into the distance without losing power.
Instead, it struck an invisible wall and dissipated completely.
What mattered came afterward.
Focusing every sense, I searched for the weakest recovery point.
‘…Twenty-three meters left of the direct impact point.’
After finishing the analysis, I glanced toward Francia.
She seemed to have identified the same location, as her head tilted slightly in that direction.
“Francia.”
“Yes.”
Standing before the spherical barrier’s boundary, I lightly pushed my sword forward.
Tiiing!
The sword rebounded with a metallic crack as though striking an iron wall.
The moment she saw that, Francia drew her sword.
A familiar crimson Aura spread across the blade.
“So that’s the….”
“…First time seeing it up close.”
Ignoring the awed voices behind her, she swung her sword smoothly.
Craaack, craaack!
KWADEUDEUDEUK!
With a deafening sound, a massive fissure opened near the barrier’s edge.
The five of us exchanged brief glances before charging inside in one motion.
---
The moment we passed through the barrier, what greeted us was a ten-meter-tall stone wall.
“…….”
Feeling a strange sense of unease, I picked up a fist-sized rock from the ground and tossed it over the wall.
KWAANG!
An invisible shell suddenly flew from somewhere and shattered the rock instantly.
“…That doesn’t seem like Barrier Magic.”
“They’ve probably installed permanently active turrets.”
They likely configured conditions preventing activation against authorized personnel, but determining exactly what those conditions were would be impossible.
Especially if it operated through some form of code.
‘…I’d rather not make too much noise.’
The Bernhardts had undoubtedly already begun preparing their response.
They might even already be on their way here.
Which meant we needed to secure evidence and escape as quickly and cleanly as possible.
If the battle dragged on, we couldn’t guarantee the reporters’ survival—and without them, submitting evidence would become impossible.
As I reorganized our strategy in my head—
A strange voice reached my ears.
It came from the right side of the wall.
I raised a finger to my lips and carefully moved closer.
“Yes. Yes. Understood. We only need to exclude materials related to Test Subject 1966 and destroy everything else, correct? Ah, the timing? We’re a bit short on manpower, so it’ll probably take all day… Ah? Ah, you’re coming here personally? Right now? Yes. Yes… Understood for now. We’ll proceed with the cleanup. Yes. See you soon.”
The man appeared to be in his early thirties and wore a stained white lab coat.
The moment he finished the call and tucked the Orb into his coat—
Francia and I moved simultaneously.
“Now then… what should we dispose of fir— huh?”
“Excuse me.”
“WAAAAAH?!”
We instantly subdued him and slammed him into the ground.
Then I asked,
“Who exactly were you just talking to?”