novelraw Chapter 50
Chapter 50
Chapter 50
The brief lull before vacation passed quickly amid the uproar over Chance Marbre.
Of course, Baek Hwi-young was somewhat lacking to be called a related party, so he could show up at any time.
‘It’d be best to avoid him as much as possible.’
It wasn’t all that strange for Jin Crow to consciously avoid Baek Hwi-young.
Perhaps Baek Hwi-young got the answer from those actions.
At any rate, he didn’t come looking for him.
Thanks to that, Jin Crow was able to smoothly finish preparing to head to Mercato, the capital planet of the Free Planet Alliance.
‘This is the only chance.’
What was the reason he had headed to Atla Colony before?
It was all to head to the neighboring Free Planet Alliance and search for the whereabouts of the Oparts.
Of course, the plan had been ruined by the earnest trolling of the Red Hand and the Rermal Planetary Defense Force, but could he really afford to give up because of that?
‘Clues about the Oparts—or if even that’s difficult, I need to bring back as many awakening agents as possible.’
He wasn’t deaf, so he didn’t fail to hear what people outside were saying about him.
But he wasn’t stupid enough to get drunk on achievements born from coincidence and luck overlapping.
‘Brigadier General Kim Cheol. Penta Gear.’
This despairing galaxy was overflowing with enemies like that, or even stronger ones.
The top priority enemy was the Creature, but even just the named villains that came to mind numbered several.
“쯧.”
While packing his luggage, he happened to see his own face reflected in the mirror and couldn’t help but click his tongue.
He looked gaunt, unmistakably like a patient.
Though he hadn’t shown it outwardly, it was only after several weeks had passed that he managed to deal with the aftereffects of the previous deployment.
‘I have to get stronger.’
It was an obvious truth even just to protect his own life, but that wasn’t the only reason.
It had already been several months since he’d taken on the role of instructor, something never meant for his fate.
If there was something he’d realized in the meantime, it was, ironically, that Jin Crow’s trashy reputation—which at first had felt like a thorn stuck in his throat—had helped quite a lot with adapting.
– A demon who’d rolled around on battlefields for 20 years and risen from a soldier to a major.
– A personality wreck. A scumbag who wouldn’t hesitate to draw his sword even on cadets if they displeased him.
– A member of the Rozen faction, one of the most influential factions in the military, with an estimated Gear of at least Quad.
The past of having fought on battlefields for 20 years became plausibility for spouting unconventional tactics and strategies in the present.
The stigma of being a personality wreck turned into charisma that dominated cadets and instructors alike.
Even the still-uncomfortable faction had, so far, helped more than it harmed him.
“But for how long?”
In the future, enemies, cadets, and Creatures alike would grow incomparably stronger than they were now.
And that wasn’t all.
He also had to keep the Empire and the Free Planet Alliance in mind.
‘Right now, when there are no answers, is the most peaceful time. What unfolds ahead will be hell at best—and at worst…… I don’t even know if there’s a word to describe it.’
Jin Crow roughly swept back his bangs, which had grown longer in the meantime and were covering his eyes, as he looked at himself in the mirror.
His sunken cheeks stood out particularly sharply.
Let’s think about this calmly.
What had saved his life up until now wasn’t himself.
It was all thanks to the ‘real’ Jin Crow.
Even so, could he really just offer ritual food and pray to Jin Crow, who might be inside him or might be in heaven?
“……You don’t want to die either, right.”
So, he hoped he’d cooperate as much as possible.
He stopped tightening his resolve there and resumed packing the rest of his luggage.
‘Pentacle, and extra alcohol and cigarettes……. Damn it. This is practically an addict’s kit.’
However, those so-called essential items were so far from proper military discipline that if a superior suddenly overturned his bag, they’d tell him to pack his gear and leave immediately.
First, the small syringe containing the Pentacle was placed inside a case made of reinforced stainless steel and tucked deep inside his coat, and all that remained were a few sets of civilian clothes, all black and white.
There was nothing more conspicuous than walking around the Free Planet Alliance in a Composite State military uniform.
“Instructor Jin Crow. This is your leave paperwork.”
“Yes, confirmed. Loyalty!”
By the time he finished packing and left the academy like that, most of the cadets had already left the dormitories to return to their hometowns and enjoy their short vacation.
‘First, move to the planet supporting Sigma Satellite City, Sirt…….’
Because all the platforms operated directly by Sigma Satellite City were military, he was able to arrive at Planet Sirt without any waiting, but after that, he had to make transfers using civilian vessels.
It was only natural.
No matter how much of a puffed-up officer one was in the military, once you went out into society, you were just a middle-aged man in uniform.
“Thank you for using our Sirt Navigation Company. May I see your identification?”
……Thinking that, Jin Crow was soon forced to realize why the Human Composite State was evaluated as a militaristic nation.
“Cough, please wait just a moment.”
The android female employee sitting at the desk checked the identification embedded in Jin Crow’s body, looked something up, and then soon spoke with the same smile as before.
“Your reserved economy cabin has been canceled.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If you go up to the business level, the third floor, there is a military-exclusive cabin, so you may use that.”
For a moment, Jin Crow pondered what that meant, but when the android employee explicitly added the word ‘free,’ he was finally able to face reality.
‘Long live militarism.’
No matter how much they went on about democracy, federalism, or a bicameral system on the surface, at its core this was welfare befitting a militaristic state.
Was there any reason to refuse?
Thanks to that, Jin Crow was able to save the 2,000,000 Composite State dollars (USD) for an economy cabin ticket, and after lighting up a cigarette with a light heart, he boarded the ship.
〔Our Sirt Galactic Navigation Company sincerely welcomes all passengers aboard. We will do our utmost to ensure that you have a safe and comfortable journey. In-flight safety…….〕
The worry that the quality might be a bit lacking because it was for military personnel vanished cleanly the moment he entered the cabin, and Jin Crow cracked open a relatively light beer from among the neatly arranged welcome drinks and sank straight into the sofa.
“……Liberation, huh.”
It was a night where the stillness he felt for the first time in a long while was quite to his liking.
The Free Planet Alliance (自由行星同盟).
The capital star (首都星), Mercato.
When he left the comfortable officer’s cabin, reached the platform, and stood before the massive glass window overlooking the cityscape, the emotion he felt was, how should he put it.
‘Overwhelming.’
He was overwhelmed in the literal sense.
There was no need to add any other words.
A forest of buildings piercing through the clouds.
“Hey, brother, what kind of man only has two arms? Come here. I’ll prettily add one more to each of your shoulder blades.”
“Hm, wouldn’t that be hard to adapt to?”
“What’s there to worry about? If anything, you can just stick a pre-learned chip into your frontal lobe.”
On the streets walked not only humans, androids, and cyborgs, but countless races whose names were hard to even recite.
“So back then, I…….”
“Really? Honestly, you’re something else. You’re impossible.”
To the point that even at a glance, guys who were clearly elves were linking arms with humans and going on dates.
‘So the melting pot of races was here.’
Aside from the advancement of various technologies, the future—which hadn’t really felt tangible—now felt a bit more real.
Of course, it wasn’t all bright.
“Ha, just one coin……. Kgh.”
A homeless figure with an appearance like a mix of an orc and a goblin begging with a pad reminiscent of a QR code propped up.
“The Council must guarantee the right to survival of the interstellar transport union’s transport workers! Guarantee it!”
“What we need is food!”
“Waaaaaah!”
A group of burly men in rugged work clothes, muscular even at a glance, shouting as if they might grapple with public security at any moment.
“They say another idol committed suicide at Carpe Diem Entertainment this time.”
“Well, is that anything new?”
“True.”
Public security officers openly puffing on something that clearly wasn’t a cigarette, using another’s misfortune as passing conversation material.
“What a mess.”
Jin Crow put the Black Star—something that had now become impossible to separate from him—between his lips and lit it.
Smoke scattered and broke apart into the air between short breaths, and after taking in the sight of freedom and corruption that couldn’t be compared to any other planet of the Human Composite State, he slowly began to think about his destination.
‘Oparts. Nectar (Νέκταρ).’
It was an item whose very existence even in the original work remained questionable, but there was a need to verify even that faint possibility.
As could be inferred from the name, it referred to the drink of the gods from Greco-Roman mythology.
Of course, there was no way it was the actual beverage Zeus and Venus drank at banquets.
If anything, that would be an even bigger problem.
That stuff only worked if taken long-term together with ambrosia.
‘For now, I’ll have to focus on the black market.’
In truth, there wasn’t much else he could do.
The political body leading the Free Planet Alliance was the Council, but in reality it was nothing more than a puppet—the real power lay with the owners of the five major corporations.
Of course, they were called corporations and owners, but in truth there were only three real corporations.
If Nectar truly existed, it would have ended up in the hands of those owners, but at least in the original work he had read, there were no hints or content suggesting that any of the owners possessed Nectar.
In other words, if an Oparts named Nectar truly existed, it meant that the probability of it being in the black market was the highest.
Chiiik-.
Having decided on his destination, there was no reason to hesitate further.
He ground out the nearly finished cigarette in the ashtray and started walking toward outside the platform.
Was it because of the heavy atmosphere subtly hanging in the air?
Despite the abundance of people soliciting customers all over the platform, no one tried to stop Jin Crow.
Even if they had, it would’ve been hard for them to hear anything pleasant.
“……P-please, just give my daughter back. I’ll repay the debt, I swear, I swear I will.”
“What?”
As he was thinking that and had just stepped off the platform, a series of commotion brushed past his ears.
Turning his head at the conversation, which felt like it carried some kind of story even when heard in passing, he saw a male elf kneeling before a man in a suit.
‘……His ears were cut.’
However, the middle-aged elf’s appearance was so wretched that it made Jin Crow—who fundamentally despised elves—hesitate inwardly for a moment.
The ears that should have been sharply pointed were cut off halfway.
Both wrists were gone, crudely stitched together with implants that looked like cheap knockoffs at a glance, and even those were swollen with pus from rejection—whether because they weren’t compatible with his body, or because he’d entrusted himself to a Ripperdoc with poor skills.
“Get a grip, you piece of trash. I just carried out what was written in the documents you signed when you went crazy gambling. What are you talking about?”
“Th-that’s……!”
In contrast, the man the elf was kneeling and clinging to had received high-quality bio-implants, leaving almost no visible trace on his exterior.
After spitting out such caustic words for several minutes—
“I said get lost!”
The man roughly kicked the elf aside as if he couldn’t be bothered to deal with him any longer.
Seeing that, Jin Crow’s expression hardened, and just as he unconsciously slid his hand into his coat to take out his hip flask—
“T-this profit! Th-there was a place that said they’d buy that bitch for more money!”
“You lunatic.”
Along with a voice that made one doubt their ears, the middle-aged man’s face—which until just moments ago had been filled with the desire to get his daughter back—now swirled with lust and vile resentment.
“Isn’t he truly pitiful?”
And then, at the sly voice that followed right behind him, he turned his head.
“That elf. He was originally a mercenary from the Imperial Army. But he fell into drugs and gambling, and sold off not only his property, but his daughter, his son, and even his wife.”
What soon entered his sight was a series of white suits bearing small badges engraved with the character for gold.
“Nice to meet you. I am Geum Kang-hyeok, the man who leads Geum Young Securities and Bank.”
And at their forefront stood that unfamiliar face.