The one behind it all, a convoluted game of Chess
Okay, now I'm 100%... 90% sure this was the last chapter before the time skip.
I finished what I wanted to do before jumping a few days down the line, albeit I'm unsure if I'll have all 4 Earth months/8 Eden months Philip has of time before resuming the story.
There are still some events and progression I want him to go through, including some other things, albeit I'm considering if I should actually just leave them for the next Volume.
I've been wanting to finish this Volume for some time, and adding one more small Arc will extend it by 3-4 months...
Anyway, peace!
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/Earlier that day…/
/Shaa… Shaa…/
'While Philip slept like a log atop his bed, light rain fell onto the streets as the sun rose.'
'And far from his Manor, somewhere in the busy streets of the city of freedom, inside an inn, a girl with blond hair stretched her arms as she followed another girl very much like her, scratching her back with a drowsy face…'
"Yawwn… Do we really have to wake up so soon?"
"We do Fyr, I imagine that brat will complain a lot since we didn't meet him yesterday…" Lalta said with a slightly cruel smile
Though, it was his mistake for not being there as we planned.
'After meeting Philip and parting ways, the two elves, Lalta and Fyr made their way to the meeting place, but even after waiting for a while, there was no sign of their companion.'
'So they gave up and found an Inn to spend the night in since their other option was… Not exactly comfortable.'
'Lalta felt terrible knowing there were many eyes around her observing her movements... And due to this, she barely managed to have some time for herself.'
'If she went back now, they would never let them go again.'
"Urg… The time is so damn terrible." Lalta complained as she looked outside
I don't mind rain... When it comes at the right time.
What's with this damn skinny rain in the morning?
"Hm... It seems it won't rain for long, it's probably just a very quick morning… Huh?!"
'Fyr walked close to her, but she quickly stopped talking as she noticed something very conspicuous!'
"Isn't that…"
'Standing in the rain was a singular male Elf with dark black hair, wearing a mix of leathery goth clothes, holding a bloody sac in his hand.'
'His expression was dark and gloomy… And as such, he looked like an abandoned cat in the rain…'
"Who?... Ha… I thought this would happen." Lalta said with a slight smile as she brushed her hair aside with elegance.'
"Come, let's go greet him."
'She turned around, letting her gorgeous hair fly in the wind like a model of a shampoo commercial.'
"Uh? Really?..."
"Humph, if not now, then when? I have an inkling he'll stay there forever until we go meet with him, that's how petty he is."
Although I'm very inclined to just leave through the back door... I'm 100% sure he didn't account for that.
Unfortunately, I'll have to hold myself this time.
"..."
Why do they hate each other so much?...
…
'They eventually made their way to the entrance of the inn.'
/Snap!/
'Fyr snapped her fingers, and she pulled something like a large flower from thin air, using it as an umbrella, sharing it with Lalta.'
'It was oddly cute, and very stereotypical of her, an elf, to pull such a stunt off.'
'At least that was what Lalta would say had her attention not been on something else entirely.'
'Stepping out into the road, they stayed face to face with the man.'
"Look who it is, the late boy… By quite some time at that."
'Lalta tried to take the initiative by speaking first, but the man wasn't in the mood to discuss anything.'
"Albeit I have a massive desire to forcibly close that mouth of yours, I'm not really in the mood for such meaningless fights."
"Hum? You think you can brat?"
/Tug…/
'Fyr pulled her friend's shirt, smiling helplessly as she told her to bring it down a little, there was no point in fighting over such petty reasons in the middle of a busy city.'
"Whatever miss perfect, just listen to what I have to say."
"Does that include what you were doing previously? You didn't cause trouble did you?"
Last time we were assigned on a mission with him, we failed it immediately because he got into a fight with our informant, and the informant beat him up unconscious.
It was just a training mission, but we failed miserably regardless.
It was honestly so embarrassing, why were we assigned with him as a team?...
"Heh, are you my mom by any chance? I do think you're old enough for that, but I'm sorry, I only have one and I'm very satisfied with my current life."
"##!!"
"Lalta… Please…"
/Inhale…/
/Exhale…/
"Fine then… Speak."
I'll crush his spine later.
'The man rolled his eyes.'
"S-Shouldn't we talk inside?" Fyr pointed out as she looked around, but she noticed something strange, no one was looking at them
"You think I have the time for that? While you two were getting your hair ready and putting on your skin cream, I got ahead and set up a small perception barrier, no one will look at us."
Honestly, why do they even bring those with them to a mission like this?
'He then shrugged as he shook his head.'
"If they still can, then hiding inside that shabby inn won't really make a difference."
"Shabby? Where did you sleep then?" Lalta asked with a cheeky smile
"..."
"Silence? I thought as much…"
'But the man smiled, pointing at a large manor in the distance as he pulled up a small insignia from his pockets, together with a small sac full of coins.'
"There, I helped a young lady with a problem and she let me sleep in her home, I even gained some money and a connection."
"I'm so resourceful aren't I?"
Look at her facial distortion, priceless.
"... So you made use of a young lady's naivety for your own benefit? As expected of you."
'The man looked at her with some pity.'
"... You're so insufferable, no wonder you didn't find a partner despite being well over your adult years." He said with a smug and ironic expression
Damn middle-aged Elves posing as teens, the others may ignore it but I won't bother.
"##!!!"
'This time Fyr had to hold Lalta's clothes else she would rush ahead…'
…
'After a moment of tension, the man continued.'
"In any case, I've made my way to our 'Contact'."
""!""
'The two of them were rather surprised, out of everything he could've done, he actually proceeded with the mission?'
'It was frightening even, what if...'
"So? How was it?"
"They're dead." The man said in a light tone
""???""
'The two of them frowned in their own ways.'
"Did you do it?" Fyr asked with a confused expression
"Unfortunately, I didn't have the pleasure of seeing how capable they were, by the time I arrived, everything was destroyed, some rubble here and there, and even if there were some evidence, it was buried 10 feet under, and digging isn't my forte you see."
"Isn't that just an excuse?" Lalta complained
He's just lazy, with his powers clearing some rubble is no problem.
"I was preoccupied with other things you see, I had no time to search for crumbs amidst that mess."
'He then threw his sac on the ground.'
"Instead, I saw this on the ground…"
"I think whoever did this is trying to provoke them, since it would be illogical for them to target us, despite the awful timing of everything." He said as he scratched his chin
For us to be the targets... It would mean something really convoluted is happening.
The fight between the Elven royalty and those snooty kids? No thanks, if that's the case I'll be leaving as soon as today.
I have no time to be used as a tool for political prestige.
/Thud…/
'The bloody sac crashed on the ground, and several things rolled from inside.'
/Roll…/
"!..."
Disgusting.
"How terrible…"
Those people...
'Before she had the time to mourn, Lalta touched her shoulder.'
"Don't say that Fyr, these people likely deserve no such thoughts." Lalta replied with a cold expression
So they were killed?
Is it really a provocation? A threat?
Or is this merely another gang fight?
The timing though… Was this planned by him, or was this planned by someone else?
"As you can see, I imagine you already understand what's left to do now, do you?" He asked as he looked at Fyr
My work here is done, now it's with them, I need to find something to do...
The guards back at that Manor were barely appetizers, some were decent but they were overall pretty lackluster.
"I can try… Albeit I can tell it has been a while since they died, I may not be able to do much."
"Well, that's your problem, not mine."
'Lalta shook her head in disapproval.'
"As expected of you, just when you do something useful, you somehow find a way to make it worse."
"Did you stay outside with the heads out of pettiness? In fact, how did you hide these awful things from the authorities?"
"I have my ways to hide these from others, and yes, I did it because I hate you, gonna cry or something?" The man asked as he turned his head 'cutely'
"... You genuinely piss me off sometimes."
"The feeling is mutual."
'Fyr felt the pressure increase, so in the end, she took a step forward and grabbed the sac.'
"Let's go back inside, we have to discuss what to do now that the contact is… Dead."
"It's just one of their branches, we can always contact their main headquarters, so it won't be a problem." He said in a dismissive tone
"So why did you bring their heads with you?!" Fyr asked with a frown of annoyance, a rare expression
I need to get my bearings... Their heads are still useful.
'The man smiled.'
"I want to see who was the bastard that did all of this!"
"Let me guess, you want to fight him? Are you crazy? Do you think you can take down someone that did all of this while also avoiding all traces of himself?"
"In fact, how are you so sure it was done by a single individual and not a group?"
This maniac, this isn't the Elven Empire anymore, in here, people won't hesitate to end his sorry life if he provokes someone too much.
'To her question, the man smiled widely.'
"Why you ask? I'm a resourceful man..."
"I went after some eyewitnesses you see, and according to them, there was no one like that, no large army."
"The entire uprising came from the escapees and more chaos, albeit some claimed they heard the cries and clashes of weapons coming from the central parts of their base, so I assumed this was either instigated by one person, or by a small group that hid inside..."
"Eventually, the entire base just went 'boom', erasing most of the clues, so there isn't much we can do about that."
'Lalta and Fyr remained silent.'
"How frustrating, just why are we here in the first place?" Lalta complained as she looked around
This entire situation is so messy... Even yesterday...
Speaking of him, I would prefer to have a talk with that man over this... Excuse of one.
"Heh, perhaps we're here to deal with this bastard, doesn't it all make sense?"
"Think about it, only a crazy son of a bitch like that guy back there would predict something like this to happen."
"It can only be this."
"... That's wrong." Fyr retorted immediately
"We were sent here to collect information about a certain series of events and confirm something, this something would be relayed to us once we met with the contact."
There wasn't a lot of information, that's likely due to the prince wanting us to learn how to do things effectively and not have everything fed to us...
I do question this sometimes, but I can see where he's coming from if that's the case...
Though considering who he is... Would it be for such a simple reason?
"Regardless... You can share your opinion, you should always do it, in fact..."
"But please don't distort the truth, my head is already spinning from what happened yester… Anyway…"
"Hm?"
'The boy noticed their expressions, it was hard to miss...'
They both reacted a little when she said yesterday, did something happen while I was away?
"As I was saying… Meeting with their Main headquarters won't change anything, we had a specific contact, and now it's dead…"
"Still, we'll likely need to meet them." She said as she crossed her arms
"But first… We'll deal with these people… And our contact."
'Fyr turned around, getting inside the inn without an extra word.'
"Look at what you've done, you upset her."
"Me? I did nothing, it must've been your brute personality."
"#!! Are you sure it wasn't your smell? Carrying those heads around must've been tough, you don't really smell like flowers."
"My bad breath? Are you sure you didn't gargle with perfume? Your breath is so strong I'm afraid the plants will wither."
'They bickered with each other for a little longer, but their day was far from over.'
…
/Later that day…/
"What?! I… Understand!"
/CRASH!/
"Fucking Stone Asses!"
'Deep inside a complicated laboratory, a Dwarf holding something similar to an old-style telephone smashed it against the table in a fit of anger after hearing what the person on the other side had to say about their current situation.'
'Next to him was another Dwarf, clearly a young man, his expression was a bit sweaty, tense as he heard his father scream nonstop throughout the night and for almost half a day.'
"Was that really the right reply?"
There wasn't a single moment father smiled or didn't scream... Is it really the right choice to antagonize all of his superiors?
"You don't understand Gert, their... His words… They were everything I needed to hear." Tredis said as he got up from his office chair
"We're on our own, they never cared, they only want this project to end, in one way or another, rake in the profits or whatever they want to collect... I'm afraid they don't even know what we're working with here!"
Now it makes sense why they never sent one fucking inspector... This was shady from the very beginning!
How did it take me soo damn long to realize?!
"Does that even make any sense?" Gert asked with a frown
This Laboratory, in name, belongs to father... Or something along those lines. I never really asked about such things.
Though in truth, it belongs to the people he just contacted... Pestered throughout the night.
Yet, ever since I was small, I don't remember them claiming that to be the case even once... I don't even know what his boss looks like.
Every time I heard him talk about him were over, long, Phantom wire calls.
"Who knows what they have on their agendas, whatever it is, it certainly doesn't take us into consideration."
'Tredis made his way to the side, opening the door by smacking a button on the side, before leaving his office with heavy steps.'
'His son ran after him, listening to him along the way.'
"At least they didn't persecute us, so one of my fears was soothed."
"But they won't offer us any protection either, much less any help or compensation, they instead told me to hurry up!"
"I don't care if it's just for us, but now, we've likely impacted everyone that works here! How can they be so heartless to abandon everyone and request results under such a convoluted scenario?!"
'He swung his hands around angrily.'
"Fine then! Is that how they play? Their workers are abused due to their own power plays and we get nothing in return apart from a measly salary and constant abuse from their end?"
"Father…"
"So I'll play their little game!"
...
/Step step step!/
'Tredis turned several corners, entering into a small room at the end of a hallway.'
/Ding!/
[Identity confirmed]
'Using a small metallic card to open a metallic door, he got inside this locked room.'
'It was dark, with only a few red lights here and there to illuminate the way, it was shipped like a hallway, but he was sure there were many items stored along the ways behind glass protection, he didn't know what they were, but they looked more like relics than anything else.'
"Whats this place?"
"My personal collection... Let's go, I'll show you the rest later."
...
'As they walked, Trevis started to talk:'
"Your mother has already recovered and any possible mishaps with your... Brother has been averted… Thanks to his warning."
'His voice was really soft as he said that.'
"But now, what guarantees us that we'll be safe?"
"Perhaps we… Should ask him for help?" Gert asked as he looked at his father
'His father went silent, the atmosphere around him heavy.'
"... Perhaps we really should, I'm not going to be stubborn and put you all at risk over some measly pride."
'Trevis stopped, putting his hand on the wall and pulling a small hidden lever.'
/Clank!/
'Something seemed to move behind the walls, but nothing happened.'
/Cronk!/
'With the sound of gears turning, he took a step forward.'
...
'After a few more steps and a few more security measures, they reached the end of the hallway.'
"Still... First, before anything else, I need to make sure we have some wriggle room for... 'Negotiation'."
'He turned to his son, saying:'
"I don't have anything against him, I'm not some ungrateful 'Wet Mudder', but it's also true his motives and reasons are a mystery to us."
"So we shouldn't blindly trust anyone that easily… Not anymore."
"I trusted them, and what did they do? Humph!"
"So… Son… Always have a backup plan." He said as he raised his card up above his head
/DING!/
[Identity confirmed]
'The metal door in front of them opened, and instead of a room, they saw a long shelf full of items…'
/Clack!/
'Tredis grabbed something that looked like a long… Rectangle metal box... With a hole in the middle... Like some kind of rifle.'
"I may be old, but some habits die hard." He said softly as he stroked the metal engravings on the strange 'box'
/Cathing!/
'He looked at the object with a slight smile.'
"Is that a…"
Am I mistaken? Why would there...
"Yes, it's a military, heavy duty, portable, long-range tractor canon… A heavily modified one at that."
"When did you make all of this?" Junior asked as he looked at all the strange objects on the shelves
"Always have a plan B, though honestly speaking, this is just my personal collection... Your mother never let me store it back home."
"You say that having enough hidden firepower to blow up the entire lab is plan B?! Personal collection?!"
"... It was a pastime at first, gather this, fix that, buy this... Improve that..."
"Whenever I felt too tired and exhausted from working in the reactor and the other projects, I just worked on these old tools of mine… I'll agree that I went a bit over the top…"
How can I not work on these beauties? If it wasn't for their stupid demands... If they were just a tad more responsible with us...
I wouldn't be opening these old memories with this expression.
"I didn't expect to use them, they were supposed to be a decoration, nothing more."
"But now… I'm afraid…"
/CATHING!/
'He grabbed a small ball from the side, loading it inside a compartment before pulling a side lever on the gun.'
"That I may have to take things into my own hands, show them some good old Dwarven engineering."
"Directly at their faces if they wish."
"..."
'Before Junior could answer to that, his father grabbed a few more things, throwing them at him.'
"Hold that for me, we need to move."
"Wh-Whats this?" He asked as he grabbed a small ball-shaped object, there were three of them
"Thermal annihilators… Well, they're zero generation so they're a bit clunkier than the 2nd generation ones they use way back there..."
"?????"
"Why do you have such things absurd things…?!"
'The old Dwarf let out a small chuckle.'
"What are you talking about? I was the one that invented them in the first place… A few years before I met your mother… A childhood project if you mean."
I have the best workshops available, I just ended up making them again in my spare time, though I never fixed their clear problems.
"Childhood project…"
Sometimes I'm afraid of what grandpa and grandma had to go through…
Compared to him... I understand why mother says I'm cute compared to how father was in his youth.
"Be careful, if they fall on the ground I can't guarantee their integrity."
"Wait… That means…"
"Boom." Tedris said as he cut off his soon
"..."
'His expression twisted as dread took over his body, he held onto all of that junk with everything he had…'
'More tightly than a mother holding her baby.'
…
/A few minutes later outside…/
'A girl with platinum hair stared at the lit complex of buildings that composed the laboratory Tedris worked at.'
'Her sky blue eyes were serene as she stared from the window of a nearby apartment, letting out a soft sigh as she walked away.'
"... What do you think?"
'From the side, a small green spider crawled out from a shelf, staring at her with its cute, big round eyes.'
"Something just doesn't connect." The girl replied as she sat on a chair
"That does seem to be the case, we came here to find the hidden project the Pyke Family was investing in, but instead, we found something that doesn't quite fit with their standards."
Like it wasn't them, to begin with.
'The girl took off the small hair scrunchie to untie her hair, letting it flow all around.'
'While she did that, the spider went on with its narrative.'
"At first I came to think that this was because they were keeping tight seals on their operations, trying to paint this matter as something else with the intuition of avoiding any leaks and tracks that might lead back to them."
"Not only that, if it wasn't for your mother's information, we wouldn't have found this place…"
To think they would hide such a thing, I wonder how she got that information in the first place.
"But now that we investigated it, something does seem very… Off." The spider mumbled before jumping onto her shoulder
"... Sigh…"
'The girl let out a tired sigh, she was exhausted from staying up all night long.'
'Despite only having arrived at the city a few days ago, she felt it had been months.'
"Eri… I think you did enough already, I have an inkling something is very wrong, it would be best to return and report this to your father first, let them deal with the rest."
'But the girl was unwilling to let her efforts go like that.'
"No… It's my job, so I'll get it done with."
"That is true, but please, don't be stubborn when your safety is at risk… Much less when you're so far away from home."
"I don't want to remain inside that box forever." She said in a light tone
"Don't be dramatic, you're growing by the minute, and soon enough you won't need protection, you'll be the one doing it... But that's not now."
"Besides, your home isn't by any means a box, you can always leave, it's just that, by the looks of it, this matter runs deeper than what everyone expected, so it would be best to retreat while we still can."
"... Sigh. You're right… Yet it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to just stop here."
'Eri started to go through everything she had found so far.'
"This situation is too strange… Outside of the normal way of operating displayed by the Pyke Family."
"It's as if it isn't them, but someone else is using their name… But our sources indicate this operation is indeed being overseen by them to some extent."
Originally, this situation presented itself as this:
Pyke Rafiel was sent here to learn how to operate the Familia on a small scale.
This act would be used to hide their other operations... But was that truly the case?
I'm starting to think that was a misconception from my father...However, this leads me to another problem, how did he learn about this?
Even mother just recently found this place, is there some sort of misunderstanding between them? What did father want me to find?
Something's not connecting here.
'The Spider remained silent before saying:'
"What if it's not the family per se and an individual?"
'Eri cleared her convoluted thoughts, they wouldn't lead her anywhere.'
"... If that's the case… It would fit somewhat. However, for that to work, it would have to be one of the higher decision-makers…"
"If we go by the sources… Then it's likely…"
'She looked at the spider and it nodded.'
"Let's assume this is all being led by someone, a lone figure, why would that be the case?" The spider asked
"Well… I find it strange for that to happen… The only way the family would accept that is either because the truth is too heavy for them to bear, so they have to hide their involvement in case someone tracks it down…"
"Or they have no idea this is happening in the first place." She said in a heavy tone
"Honestly, it could be either, perhaps even the personal greed of that man…" The Spider said with an inquisitive look
"We should confirm it later, see if there's anything suspicious about him, if there is, it might be due to this."
"And if there is something… This matter would change completely."
"Because then, we would need to confirm his motives."
'Eri nodded.'
"Head of administration of the Pyke Family, Ezekiel Perfor, bla bla bla, Pyke." Eri said with a straight face as she remembered the papers she memorized just a few days ago
"Only he would qualify to hide such a thing, and even then, why would he do so?"
"You mentioned greed, but I find it difficult, what could entice such an old man?"
"Many things, in fact, though most of those things would mean an entirely different set of problems…"
"How so?"
"For starters, they would be difficult to acquire, just imagine the Head Administrator of the Pyke Family… Just what kind of things pass through his hands..."
"With that in mind, just how incredible or rare are the things he can't get even if he puts an effort into it?"
"There are always exceptions, but I can't see him going so far for nothing significant."
"It is a hypothesis of course."
"Then… The problem would be?...!" Eri asked before understanding
"Yes… If he can't find it… What about someone that can?"
"Are you insinuating there is another force behind this?"
"No Eri, I'm just following this train of thoughts."
"If this, then that… And so on."
"... Alright… I understand that part, but what's next? I don't see the point of this all."
"It's simple really, if this was truly the case, then we got ourselves everything we needed."
"Your father wanted you to find out what they were planning, but in truth, it was never the Pyke Family but someone else, he would do the rest from there and you would receive many rewards and praises for your outstanding work…"
"Nothing more, we aren't here to shine light onto the deepest of nights, but instead to connect one end to the other."
'Eri remained silent, but after pondering for a moment, she asked:'
"Then… I'm curious, who do you think this hypothetical hidden force is?"
"... I'm unsure, however, if I were to punch in the dark… I would say they are the same people behind the Conjunction… Or a force opposing them."
"What?! That makes even less sense!"
"Calm down, listen to me first."
'She was a bit upset, but she let the spider talk.'
"Although most of the clues were destroyed when their branch headquarters was destroyed, while you were away, I did my own set of investigation… And I did manage to recover some things from within the ruble."
/Thud…/
'Several burned-down papers fell onto the table next to her.'
"What's all of this?..."
"It's a series of documents going into the past of everyone they captured, and in some cases, what they plan to do with them together with their reasons for being captured."
"It's rather through, something surprising for a bunch of thugs."
'Eri skimmed through the papers, and as she expected, she saw the face of the head researcher of the Laboratory she was investigating.'
'She knew who he was, she had been investigating him for a day or two after all.'
"What does it say?"
It's all messy... And honestly, I'm tired of reading papers...
"Well… It's a long story, some of it you already know, but it does fill in some missing bits of information we had about this matter, though it's a shame some of the documents were destroyed."
"I'll cut it all down for now and go on with the crux of this matter…"
'The spider asked Eri to move the pages until it fell onto a woman, Tedri's wife.'
"You know who she is, right? So I'll jump over her introduction"
"First thing I found odd was that they knew exactly when and where she would appear, they were prepared for it as if it was a matter of course..."
"Meaning, what we thought had been an accident had in fact been a thought-out plan."
"Wh… at?..."
They planned to ambush her from the start?
"Next, although we'll need to seek some confirmation later, have you noticed how the Head Administrator sent absolutely no one to clean this mess?"
"Even if he's trying to hide, if he were to lose his investments, wouldn't it be all for naught?"
"So, what I think is that… He's not running this place at all, and instead, the person that is truly managing this place is merely using his name to run it."
"That is why he's so dismissive of it all and is always putting pressure on his workers even when it's not proper... It's all because he himself has no idea of what's happening and is instead just being used by someone."
"Don't you think it's strange the Pyke Family wouldn't have an interest in the research they are doing inside there? Even if we aren't exactly aware of what it is, we do have an idea of its magnitude."
"They would be very interested in any kind of Magitech research, especially the ones involving ancient Dwarven technology."
"..."
It does seem to have... Some weight to it.
But it's still rather unbelievable.
'Trying to organize her thoughts, Eri said:'
"So, in essence, on one side we have a force using the name of the Pyke Family through the Head Administrator, likely giving him something in exchange, while on the other side, we have a force backing the Conjunction, and they're trying to put a stop to this force…"
"After all of this… How can you even imagine they are the same person?!"
"You just said it, how can two very secretive forces know each other with such determination they would perform such actions, while the entire world is unaware of their existence?"
"W-Well… Even then, what would this singular force gain by setting two groups it's backing to hack and slash each other?"
'The spider seemed to shrug.'
"I have no idea, and that's where this theory falls apart, we don't have a reason, and without one, this is all meaningless… A fun theory to think about."
"Urg… You shove so much into my head just to say it's a 'Fun' theory?"
(A film theory! Thank you for watching…)
"You were the one that felt iffy about leaving this half done, I just said what was on my mind."
"Yes… Yes I was…"
There are many possibilities, and at the very least, I should try to prove or disprove each of them before leaving, at least that'll make things more… Complete.
Besides… I shouldn't underestimate this guy's intuition… For whatever goofy it is.
"I'll contact father."
"Hm? So soon?"
Did she give up in the end?
"It's not for that…"
'Eri walked towards the door nearby.'
"I'll ask him if he knows anything about the Head Administrator…"
It's a shot in the dark... But if there is something... Then perhaps there may be something else to pursue.
"Oh? You actually believe what I said?"
"I think that… There is some weight to it… At least at the start."
Although everything he said later was a bunch of nonsense to believe… I do think there is the possibility the Pyke Family isn't exactly aware of this project.
And if I can confirm that to be true, then I can go home satisfied.
"Alright then, since we're moving away, how about I tell you about the other possibilities I thought of?"
"... Sigh… Be my guest." Eri said in a tired tone
Better have that done with, else I'm sure he's going to pester me about it later on.
"Well then, let's start with my political fight theory…"
…
.
.
.
Notes
This chapter was mostly of POVs and useless theory crafting.
Through the next chapter, we'll resume with Philip and his daily life during the next set of days.
I don't think I'll go full dive into his conversations with all characters, and I'll instead do small voiceovers here and there, otherwise, we would take a few more chapters only of interactions...
There are quite a few people that want to meet him right now, and not only that, we have quite a few outside POVs to see.
Including some juicy ones... Like the 'important' people.
Anyway, I really want to have it be more focused on Philip and his development in the arts he acquired in Mundus, together with his attempts at making an Oblivion Plane and playing around with that.
There is a LOT to show and cover, and this is what I like about this series...
The problem is that it's weekly, so it just feels like everything will take soo damn long...
Overall, do you think the Spirit Spider was right? Do take that it may be wrong, I do want to make characters speak and be completely wrong, I think it adds some details even if their interactions end up 'useless'.
I think having the characters find out that something wasn't as they expected can always be quite interesting.
Anyway, bye!