How to Live as a Knight After the Ending - Chapter 14
Only Noblemtl
Episode 14. The Road to the Industrial Age (1)
The observer immediately raised both hands in a sign of surrender.
“… … Whoa, whoa. Calm down. I’m sorry I watched you just now.”
As the observer spoke, he slowly removed the gas mask that had filled his face.
As he removed his leather hat and goggles, his voluminous ivory hair flowed down.
Ossian opened his eyes as if in surprise.
Who would have thought it was a woman? And quite a beauty.
“This is not your enemy. Rather, I am trying to help you. It’s true. Please believe me.”
“I believe.”
“really?”
“Yes. Because I didn’t sense any malicious intent or intent in their gaze.”
At those words, the person paying attention opened his eyes wide as if to say, “That’s not true.”
“… … Okay. I’m glad you noticed. Let me introduce myself. My name is Lorraine Fonk.”
“It’s Ossian.”
“Yes, Ossian. Why were you watching me just now?”
“I wonder if you came here to help me properly carry out my first request.”
Lorraine’s eyes widened at the correct answer coming out of Ossian’s mouth.
“Did you know?”
“I had a vague idea.”
Although Ossian had the ability to see and shoot bullets, the ability he possessed and the experience he could use in actual combat were completely separate things.
In real life, even people with great talent die the moment they let their guard down.
Rather, if it were Ronan’s position, it would have been normal to have stopped him when he said he would do the request right away.
Nevertheless, Ronan granted Ossian’s request.
This is because there were safety measures in place to prevent any unexpected situations.
“… … Huh. This is really it. I got hit.”
Lorraine was astonished at the unexpected insight Ossian displayed.
Ronan said that he was a guy who had just arrived in Tirna.
Judging from the way he speaks, doesn’t he seem like a veteran who’s been rolling around for years?
“Actually, Ronan didn’t say much, but he came because he wanted to see me. Now that I think about it, it seems like I wasted my time.”
“There’s something else I want to ask you. Did you happen to see the suspicious duo running away just now?”
“Suspicious duo?”
“They are guys wearing masks and coats.”
“Oh, I saw it. It broke the glass window and disappeared in an instant. I just left it there since it wasn’t a gang.”
“I see.”
Lorraine asked with a hint of concern in her voice.
“What? Did something happen?”
“It’s nothing.”
“What happened?”
“There was a suspicious group behind the Black Snake Gang. When we ran into each other by chance, they tried to kill me to destroy the evidence. When that failed, they ran away.”
“… … It’s not like it’s nothing special?”
Lorraine stared at Ossian in bewilderment.
“What is its appearance? Or have you confirmed its identity?”
“I don’t know. They were wearing masks when they fought, and they didn’t even try to talk to me. But I do know one thing. One of them was a machine in human form.”
“A machine? Oh, it was an automaton?”
Ossian nodded.
Lorraine recalled the sight of the two men running away.
The huge creature jumped around the rooftop of the building like a zoo monkey, and since it was an automaton, its movements made sense.
“Wait a minute. But didn’t that guy have one arm?”
“I took it off. It broke when I applied some force.”
“… … I can’t say for sure because I didn’t look closely, but that guy wasn’t your average automaton, was he?”
“It was my first time seeing an automaton, but it seemed ordinary. The only thing that happened was that the detached arm exploded separately.”
“… … That’s definitely not an ordinary automaton.”
Lorraine muttered as she looked Ossian from top to bottom.
There was no sign of explosion anywhere on his neatly dressed attire.
But it wouldn’t be a lie.
She also heard the sound of the explosion clearly.
The arm that was detached exploded. If that’s the case, it’s not an ordinary automaton. It’s probably a special product that was made with all its heart.
It’s amazing that Ossian was able to subdue it single-handedly, but how did he emerge unscathed from the explosion?
Lorraine ground her teeth inwardly.
‘Ronan, you crazy bastard! Who the hell is telling someone to watch their back? There was no need to do that in the first place!’
In fact, Ronan had stopped Lorraine from leaving, and instead, it was Lorraine who came without permission, but she blamed Ronan.
If Ronan had heard this, he would have been very upset.
Of course, Lorraine was eager to see the new recruit at Violet Fox.
No matter what anyone says, isn’t that the person that Ronan personally approached and proposed to recruit?
Ronan is a guy who always has his eyes wide open and a smile on his face, but he looks like he’s really dirty.
Still, he was a man whose vision was acknowledged in this world.
I thought that Ronan must be quite capable and promising as he was a rookie who was getting quite nervous.
Isn’t this a different level?
“Wait a minute. What about the Blacksnake gang inside?”
“I took care of everything.”
“Oh, yeah. I see.”
It wasn’t that surprising anymore.
Before I came here, I heard a tip from Ronan. He said that the new recruit named Ossian could deflect incoming bullets with his sword.
Judging from the fact that he even noticed that I was watching from the rooftop, it didn’t seem like it was all a lie.
‘Are all mutants like this?’
Lorraine had met a few mutants, and had fought them as enemies.
At least in her memory, there was no mutant as agile and sharp-sighted as Ossian.
“Anyway, this is a bit more of a headache. I can’t believe there were some weird guys involved in this.”
“Then it becomes dangerous?”
“It’ll be okay for now. Just be careful.”
“Are there any guys who are guessing?”
“None. It’s not that I don’t know, but rather that there are too many suspicious people, so I can’t tell exactly who they are.”
Lorraine said, retrieving the sniper rifle she had installed.
“There are many different organizations in Tirna. There are also many powerful people. Surprisingly, there are too many people who control the gangs from behind the scenes using special automatons.”
After hearing those words, Ossian realized once again how huge this city was.
It’s a shame that I ended up encountering those guys right from my first request.
I couldn’t tell if it was good luck or bad luck.
“I see. Anyway, the request has been successfully completed, so I will go first.”
“Huh? Oh, oh. Okay. Good work.”
Lorraine nodded bewilderedly at Ossian’s words.
I’m your senior in the industry, and I didn’t say anything like, “What on earth is that weird way you speak?”
Originally, in this industry, the strong were the seniors and had the upper hand.
“Oh, and.”
Lorraine found herself shuddering.
Ossian snickered at the sight of Rain like that and pointed to her waist with his chin.
“That thing of the waist. I praise the judgment that doesn’t pull it out.”
Ossian left those words behind and jumped down the alley.
Lorraine, left alone, was momentarily speechless at Ossian’s remark.
‘I noticed that earlier… … ?’
Just now when Ossian was behind her.
Lorraine let go of the sniper rifle and immediately reached for the gun in the holster on her waist.
The reason I didn’t do that was purely due to an instinct that ran through my mind.
-If you pull out your gun here, at least one arm will fly off.
Lorraine took her hand off the gun at that moment and immediately made a sign of surrender.
That decision turned out to be correct.
‘How could it not be seen from that angle?’
Lorraine was wearing a camouflage poncho.
Of course, from Ossian’s position, there was no way he could have spotted Lorraine pulling out her gun.
Yet the fact that Ossian noticed it meant that his senses were sharper than Lorraine had expected.
Lorraine couldn’t help but feel grateful that she had trusted her instincts.
‘Ha, shit. This is not going to save face as a senior.’
Lorraine let out a small sigh.
I was delighted to hear that the youngest had finally come in, but now I’m being treated like a brat.
*
After clearing out the gang, Ossian immediately returned to Violet Fox.
Ronan, who was waiting in the lobby on the first floor, saw Ossian and greeted him happily.
“That’s surprising. I didn’t think you’d finish and come back so quickly.”
“You knew I was coming, didn’t you?”
“Haha. That’s impossible. I just happened to be taking a break on the first floor.”
Ossian laughed at those words.
It was as if he was asking who would believe such nonsense.
‘It’s true.’
Ronan was wronged.
Why don’t people believe me even when I tell the truth?
“Then, is this the one you sent that girl too?”
“You met Miss Lorraine. I originally tried to stop you, but Miss Lorraine got mad when she heard that a new employee had arrived.”
Ossian recalled Lorraine looking at him awkwardly.
Judging from the thorough preparation, it wasn’t a forced reaction that someone had forced.
Did you really want to show off your cool side as a senior in a moment of crisis?
The problem is that instead of helping, they were caught watching in secret, so it must have been quite embarrassing for the person involved.
“Come to think of it, there must be other problem solvers here besides me.”
“Yes, of course. There aren’t that many, but there are quite a few people who are quite capable.”
“Is Lorraine one of them?”
“He may be a bit of a brat and a bit self-centered, but he’s an excellent sniper. He’s also a former military man.”
“I see.”
“We are all busy now, so it’s hard to see each other, but someday we will meet the others. We are all good people, so we will be able to become friends.”
Ronan smiled faintly and then got straight to the point.
“It seems like you completed the request properly, but judging by the response, it seems like something went wrong?”
“Do you know that too?”
“I thought you wanted to say something. Oh, and I apologize if I was rude.”
Ronan bowed his head slightly and apologized.
Ossian chuckled at the sight, shook his head, and then explained what had happened to him at the gang hideout.
When the story ended, Ronan put his hand to his chin in confusion.
His expression was still squinty, so it didn’t show at all.
“There was a group controlling the gang from behind. And if they were using that many automatons, it would be on a larger scale.”
“Are there any guys who can guess?”
Ossian asked with some anticipation, thinking that Ronan might know something.
Ronan shrugged.
“I don’t know either. I guess there must be one or two places.”
“I see.”
“You seem blatantly disappointed. There are too many organizations in this Tirna. I don’t know everything.”
However, Ronan continued speaking.
“There are cases where guesses are possible.”
“A guess?”
“Yes. Looking at the situation, that unidentified organization was said to have been supporting the Black Snake Gang behind the scenes. Naturally, some companies suffered damage.”
“That’s right.”
Ronan clapped his hands as Ossian nodded.
“Actually, I heard this vaguely, but the companies that placed orders with us received an acquisition offer from another company. It was a month before they placed orders with us.”
“A takeover offer?”
“Yes. To be frank, it was a big company trying to grow its power by swallowing up small companies. Of course, I refused. In the first place, the client had no vision to work with. The acquisition fell through, and then the incident happened.”
“Does that mean the company they were trying to acquire did this out of resentment because their offer was rejected?”
“That’s right. In fact, this kind of thing happens a lot in Tirna. The various businesses in the city are desperate to eat each other.”
Although Tirna was a developed city, its interior was so fierce that it reminded one of a wild jungle.
Most companies are looking for opportunities to not only keep their own positions but also to take over others’ positions.
But that doesn’t mean I can do anything that crosses the line.
If we do that, we will be met with a hammer blow from the city government.
As a result, the fight between companies had no choice but to become more secretive and mean.
Just like this time.
For example, controlling a gang from behind the scenes to cause material damage to an opposing company.
‘This is a mess.’
After hearing the explanation, Ossian was surprised by the city’s more barbaric appearance than he had expected, but he eventually came to understand.
“Corporations sometimes secretly support criminals to carry out their own illegal activities. Or they even raise them themselves.”
Ronan elaborated that some of Tirna’s notorious private military companies (PMCs) were created by big business to do what they wanted.
“I think the people Mr. Ossian encountered were probably people secretly working for the company.”
After hearing the explanation, Ossian chuckled.
“You said you didn’t know, but you know everything.”
“It’s true that I don’t know. This is not a certainty, it’s just a guess based on the circumstances and clues.”
Although he said so, Ronan looked half-convinced.
“Then isn’t it dangerous? Because we’ve turned our backs on the company.”
“You don’t have to worry so much. I don’t think you’ll hold a grudge against Mr. Ossian, the problem solver.”
“Even though you tried to kill me?”
“But Mr. Ossian won. Then they will take a different approach.”
“Another way?”
Ronan rested his chin on his clasped hands.
A sharp glint flashed inside his narrowed eyes.
“I’m putting the request directly to Mr. Ossian.”