Bad Born Blood - Chapter 160
Only Noblemtl
160
The room that Jafar prepared was as cozy and neat as a luxury hotel. The bed and chair, which were designed to human standards, fit my body perfectly, and the wall monitor and table were connected to a computer so that I could immediately see the information I needed.
I sat down on the chair and opened up ten holographic screens. The information Jafar had prepared came out first.
I manipulated the terminal to connect to the Border City network and output external information as well.
Woohoo.
A cascade of information came to mind to fill my gap. Images and text flashed back and forth.
‘There won’t be much information about the Accrecia Empire. Even less about what happened during the storm.’
The first thing I checked was the Empire and House Custoria.
‘The current emperor is Ivan Kratia.’
The emperor has not changed since the storm.
‘Former Emperor Yuri Kratia died suddenly from old age.’
The external reasons were obviously different from the truth. Even the time of Yuri Kratsya’s death was much earlier than the actual time.
‘Yuri Kratzia died in the first week of the Storm, and the Imperial bureaucracy did not announce the death to the outside world in order to prevent chaos due to the Emperor’s absence.’
My teeth ground as soon as I saw the following.
‘Before Yuri Kratsia died, he appointed a new successor. In response, Francek Kratsia joined hands with the military and attempted to usurp power by inciting the people.’
‘The next emperor, Ivan, went into power, defeated Francis, and declared himself emperor. It seems that he reconciled with Francis because Francis enjoyed popular support. After that, they effectively began to rule together.’
I couldn’t even imagine how much gagging and information manipulation there would have been. The Empire and the royal family must have been quite unreasonable.
Emperor Yuri Kratia also gave a reasonable reason as to why he changed his successor.
‘Emperor Yuri Kratia and Crown Prince Francis had different policy directions and were often in conflict and friction, but it is presumed that the Emperor did not withdraw his nomination of the Crown Prince for fear of division and chaos in the empire. However, due to his sudden deterioration in condition, he designated his second son Ivan Kratia as his successor in his will.’
The lie was cleverly hidden within the truth.
‘It is true that the Emperor and Francis had different policy directions. Francis had a reformist tendency that was different from that of the previous Emperors… … It would not be strange if the Emperor was secretly displeased.’
So, the explanation that they kept the popular Francis as the nominal crown prince and then put Ivan as the emperor in the end… … was persuasive.
“Haha, that’s a pretty plausible lie.”
You can tell just by looking at the external records up to this point. Francek was eaten by Ivan.
‘Three years later, Francek was captured and imprisoned while trying to defect to the Holy Nation of Korra after handing over imperial secrets. He has not been active externally since then.’
And I was admitted to the Lazarus facility at this time. I guess they wanted to protect me from Ivan’s clutches.
‘There must have been many plots and intrigues during this period. As soon as his rule was secured, Ivan tried to oust Francis.’
I asked Illei to prevent this situation. I wanted to believe that Illei did his best.
‘The Guard is reducing the number of positives every year for economic reasons.’
The guards were disappearing.
‘The Empire has released the training curriculum for the Royal Guard to private companies and entrusted their training. However, the Legion technology is still monopolized by the Imperial Family, and the soldiers trained by private companies appear to be inferior to the existing Royal Guard members.’
The existing guards focused on training the best without considering the cost. However, the company will identify the point where utility is highest and produce soldiers of an appropriate level.
‘Some of the top soldiers produced by private companies are hired by the royal family and incorporated into mercenary units. They are not military personnel, and it seems that they are intentionally excluding those from military families from employment.’
A unit was being created to replace the Royal Guard. Since they were mercenaries rather than soldiers, they would not remain in the military after their contracts ended, and since they did not come from military families, they had even less of a connection to the military.
The new SS has been made to have no contact with the military. It is not known what will happen in the distant future, but for now, they will operate as separate groups that keep each other in check.
My feelings were complicated and subtle.
There was no mass purge of the guards, but they would decline and disappear. It was bitter to see the group I belonged to disappear.
‘And the Custoria family.’
Heilas Custoria has officially attempted treason by betraying the Emperor. There are many witnesses, so it will be difficult to completely hide this fact.
“… … Amazing.”
I looked at the record and touched my mouth and chin.
Heilas Custoria was posthumously awarded the Cross of the Sword, 2nd Class. It was the order of Ivan Kratsya.
The attack on the military generals and Heilas was recorded as ‘the Empress’s sole order’, because according to official records, Yuri Kratia died shortly after the start of the storm.
In any case, the medal was given to the opponent who was hostile to the imperial family. The inside story was quite complicated.
– Captain Heilas Custoria was a proud and honorable soldier. His courage was justified, and the Emperor had done something wrong to the guards. If I had known this, I would have tried to talk to him first… … .
Ivan’s speech came out. He was a bit more mature than I remembered. He looked like a young man.
The imperial family officially admitted the mistake. And the plan to dehumanize the guards was attributed to Yuri Kratia’s personal misconduct, and Ivan was talking as if he had not known about it because of his sudden succession. As if the disaster had been caused by a misunderstanding.
Ivan awarded Heilas Custoria the Medal of Honor as an apology for his wrongdoings. He even granted the Custoria family special privileges. No one would have thought they were a traitor’s family.
‘If you think about it, it’s not that far-fetched. Heilas’s influence is enough to shake even the obsessive loyalty of the Royal Guard.’
The guards had not yet been destroyed. Their power was not as great as before, but it was still enormous. Without any replacement units, abolishing the guards would have left a huge vacuum in security.
Ivan wants to replace the guard unit through the natural disappearance of the guard unit. After a few decades, the guard unit will become a decorative unit with no real power but a grand name.
‘There’s no need to label Heilas a traitor for no reason and arouse the resentment of the guards.’
Given the obsessive loyalty of the guardsmen, they will accept decline and extinction, as long as they are not forced to do so.
I quickly read the records of the Custoria family.
‘Jupe is holding up well in his position as the head of the household. Eva is by his side too.’
Lucas Custoria, no longer in power.
“Hey, you were acting all smart and proper, but I knew this would happen to you.”
I checked the next name while grumbling.
‘Giselle Custoria, Co-CEO of G&G Cybernetics.’
The company that started out as an industrial plant even had a grand name: G&G Cybernetics.
‘The independently developed Kinetics chip became a necessity for the lower classes, generating huge sales. Kinetics is a chip that minimizes and optimizes interference and errors between incompatible products. It has a significant responsiveness improvement effect for the lower classes, who frequently illegally modify and inappropriately use their prosthetics.’
In other words, it means that it has no effect on people who wear compatible devices guaranteed by the company and receive tuning.
‘Some cybernetics companies sued Kinetics, claiming that it was an illegal hacking chip that infringed on their patents and compromised user safety, but lost.’
Competitive companies declared that they would not support any problems that arose when using the Kinesis chip. However, this was not a problem for the lower class. If there was a problem with the prosthesis, they would go to a nearby clinic or factory, not the company.
Now, let’s not get upset when we read this, Luca. It’s probably not good.
‘… …Giselle Custoria went missing while visiting Border City to expand her business.’
Okay, don’t be angry, don’t get excited. It’s one of the expected results. If Giselle was okay, I would be seeing her right now. Since the time the medical expenses were cut off, something must have happened to her… … .
bang!
My vision darkened with a sound. It was probably the sound of me kicking the table.
* * *
… … I regained consciousness.
Dismissed!
My fist was shattering the monitor. Electricity was tingling across the surface of the prosthetic arm.
– Are you coming to your senses now? How many times have I tried to put a bullet hole in that head? Your employer kept yelling at me not to kill you.
I looked back. En, bleeding red blood, was turning his shoulders sharply. His skin was shining brightly with orange stripes beneath his combat uniform, as if he had been in a fierce fight with me. His combat helmet was also partially broken, revealing his right eye.
Crackle, crackle.
The room was a mess. Not only was the furniture and electronics broken, but five security androids were lying half-dead.
“Hmm, I needed to relieve some stress.”
I said it awkwardly. It was stupid of me to say it.
-You’re not normal. You weren’t just angry just now, you were completely unconscious. Get yourself locked up in Lazarus and get a thorough examination. Before you get locked up in a mental hospital with all your limbs cut off.
“You must be more skilled than me. You were able to stop me, even with your bare hands. Or maybe my skills have gotten rusty.”
En lifted his battle helmet slightly and spat bloody saliva onto the floor.
-If you can’t stop even one crazy person, you should give up your position as Grandmaster.
“A great warrior? As the leader of a mercenary corps, you seem a bit frivolous.”
-There is a separate captain. We choose the best fighter in the group as a champion. I am sent to a place where I absolutely cannot lose. The dueling culture is important to the Equusians. Anyway, don’t change the subject, human. You lose your reason over trivial things.
En pointed at me with his index finger. Equusian had four fingers, but each one was thick and strong.
Anyway, Yen saw through my attempt to change the subject. He wasn’t very eloquent, but he had insight. He knew what was important.
“It wasn’t a trivial matter.”
-No matter what, losing your mind is a bad sign.
“To make excuses, it’s a miracle that I’m standing upright right now. It’s nothing to have one or two of these strange reactions. I’ll take care of my own body, so don’t worry about it, Equusian. If you’re a mercenary, do what you’re paid to do like a mercenary.”
-I should have pretended it was a mistake and killed him.
The yen’s momentum was fierce.
At that moment, a wicked laugh spread from behind the door. It was Jafar’s appearance. He came in, tapping his long nails.
“Hey, hey! Let’s not fight, En. And Mr. Luca. As a peace-loving Tajirun, this sight breaks my heart so much.”
-Do you really need this guy’s power?
“It’s necessary. En, you just need to protect Mr. Luca like you did just now. There’s no need to give your personal opinion. Do you really need to tell the captain?”
-……I get it.
Jafar openly took my side.
‘What on earth did Kinuan do to Jafar?’
Japha’s obsession with finding Kinuan was immense. From the cost of treatment to the destruction of Android, the losses he suffered because of me must have been enormous.
‘Finding Kinuan is more important than anything else, so that all these losses don’t matter.’
The Tajirun were known to be more greedy than any other race. They are giving me this convenience because they are sure that my presence will be helpful.
“I’ll show you to another room. Do you like the new body?”
Jafar spoke as he walked down the hallway, his robes trailing along the floor so long that they looked like a snake’s tail.
“Excellent.”
“We poured all of Jafar’s sales for the first half of the year into the production of that body. Not net profit, but sales.”
“Oh, really?”
I answered calmly. I was more shocked by my loss of reason. It would be troublesome if I lost consciousness like this at a crucial moment. My real weapons are reason and insight. If I can’t use these weapons, I’m just a soldier who is good at fighting.
“Oh! This sarcastic response hurts me a little. If I were a chef at Jaffa Pizza, I might throw you into the oven. Have you seen the Jaffa Pizza commercial? The song sung by their exclusive idol… .”
“I haven’t seen it, but it looks terrible.”
Jafar held the terminal screen up in front of me.
-Snake, snake, snake! A whole snake as a topping… … .
I snatched Jafar’s terminal and held it in my hand.
Kwajik!
Parts of the terminal fell into my palm.
-Bae aeam, Bae aeam… … .
The sound was drawn out and then cut off.
Jafar looked at me with an expression that seemed as if the sky had fallen. Now I thought I could read Tajirun’s expression a little.
“If you need my powers, don’t interfere with my recovery. Just leave me alone for the next 24 hours.”
I warned myself and entered my newly assigned room.