Chương 280: Catching Up With The Fluff

Our conversation truly started once we got to Leou's office, and no one else could hear us.

"Mara! It's been so long since we last saw each other!" The snow leopard grabbed my hand tightly, but quickly let it go as her tail started swinging around uncontrollably. She produced the fakest cough I had ever heard and retreated behind her desk, pulling her chair as close to the desk as possible to conceal her restless, fluffy tail.

"Aherm… Was… Was the mission a success? Were you able to retrieve one of the Unwanted Presences""I suppose–se that they will do their best in Aesther to conceal what happened, but I actually abducted all three of them–em""All three?! That's fantastic, Mara! You outdid yourself again. At this point, you should straight-up be a member of the organisation with your track record""No need–eed. My track record is your track record, Leou…

They were taken to a separate space by surprise and have no idea that it was me who did this–this, I'll act like I have freed and brought them to a more secure location. That–hat it a good story because they know that they are being targeted by the System Fundamentalists""As long as the organisation is wi–willing to play along, they shouldn't resist or seek any escape""I see… You've really surpassed yourself this time, Mara. This was a difficult mission, but you completed it magnificently! And all things together…

You did it in a rather short amount of time… It seemed long to me, though…" She spoke that last part under her breath, but I heard it clearly.

"In any case! I'll speak with the others at the organisation to get you a great reward. Is there anything in particular that you would want?"

"Do give me a piece of paper and a pen" Leou tilted her head slightly, as it wasn't like my oversized, murder-specialised hands could hold a pen, but she nonetheless handed me what I asked for.

"Also, don't get spooked" I summoned a ghostly hand. A spectre I created with the sole purpose of writing things for me when I needed it to. This thing had mostly been just an experiment to see how far I could modify the shape of ghosts, but I think that it turned out to be quite a useful tool. By doing so, I also revealed my affinity with ghosts to Leou, who was definitely surprised, as she pretty much only knew about my appetite and my affinity with curses.

The hand gave her the piece of paper back once it was done writing. She read through it carefully, silently muttering things to herself, until she reached the last part. Fluff She tried to act embarrassed about the fact that she would have to let her fur be touched again, but she couldn't conceal her smile. This girl was definitely, undoubtedly in love, and not just a little. How can I handle this situation, exactly…? I have an idea Nara, don't put your nose in your big sister's matters, pretty please.

Be a good girl instead of a little rascal. I am more of a good little rascal… You certainly are, Cutie Pie.

"What is the ma–matter with Lunovis? Did he bother you a lot?"

"He's been showing up every day for more than two weeks at this point. Some time ago, some information about you circulated, and using this, he managed to convince the king to lift the restrictions placed on him in the name of 'investigation', and considering your association with the Nightmare Plague, it worked, and he has been harassing me since then, convinced that I was hiding you or something""He hasn't gotten ov–over Hulil's disappearance, has he?"

"Not at all, and he is still convinced that we are responsible. He isn't incorrect, but I find it quite baffling that he is so certain of it despite the fact that you left no traces whatsoever. All he has is that I investigated his nephew, but I investigate a bunch of people all the time, it isn't rational to latch onto us as suspects…" She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Dealing with a freaking high noble who has convinced himself that his mindless idea is the truth is rather… Stressful, especially when he can't help but show up in front of my tower every single day!" I tapped my finger against the lower half of my maw.

"I can kill him, if you want. I am stronger now than be–before. He may be powerful, but he isn't invulnerable" If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The snow leopard seemed to consider it for a few moments, but quickly shook her head in disapproval.

"No, that would be way too suspicious. Why would anyone other than us kill him when he has total tunnel vision on us? Any other enemies he might have would logically let him waste his time with us instead of trying anything, especially since his only enemies are people his surveillance group hasn't yet caught. There should be no deep hostilities… The people who have something against him have either not yet been caught, are dead, or are rotting in prison" She made a good point.

Unless someone lacked intel, they would immediately suspect Leou as the prime suspect. She is the only one who would benefit from killing him at the moment. Every other potential suspect would indeed be better off just letting him waste his time elsewhere instead of spending resources trying to kill a guy this strong. … How annoying.

"Well, I feel quite con–confident that I can deal with Baron Hyotrask Devilblood now" Now that I owned the 'Gynoid Form', I could take on the form of a person and fool my way close to him. All I would need is a way to replenish my batteries, but with the Gravescape being capable of quietly bringing Mari with me, I should be able to get her to install something to recharge once I get there.

As such, I could fool the demon properly and worm my way into making him trust me enough that I would be able to strike him down by surprise.

"Really? That's a big piece of news! He has been a real thorn in our side! The blood ocean beneath his territory is of great importance to us, and since we have consistently failed to evade his notice in the past, getting him out of the picture is pretty much our only option at this point, especially since the blood ocean will not give us what we want immediately. We'll need to work for it" After talking about missions and the like, we began simply catching up.

While I hadn't been isolated from what was happening throughout the continent, as per usual, Leou knew more than most. Apparently, Beelmart had really risen from the ashes since the change of leadership there. With the assistance of her allies, Balayal Azt Mastras completely rebuilt the economy of the nation from the ground up. It was quite clear that she did not give a damn about the slaves themselves. The only reason she got rid of it is simply that it wasn't, and hadn't been an effective method for decades.

It was purely a matter of efficiency. Which was to be expected, if keeping slaves was the optimal method, everyone would be doing so. Currently, it is merely that many had felt like acting like saints for getting rid of something they would gladly partake in hadn't it been a burden on the development of their nations… Meanwhile, Rootriska was still the most mechanically advanced nation of the continent, and certainly of the world as well.

My brother was introducing absolutely groundbreaking stuff regularly these days, but despite this, the overall skill of mechanists was still low, so if Leton ever came to pass away, then no one would be able to properly maintain or recreate what he has brought into this world. As for Malkazert, it was also doing just fine from what Leou was telling me. Especially since it was the place least affected by those self-generating tapes that could inflict the Nightmare Plague.

I still had no idea what that was about, but apparently, they had even begun appearing without people around, just playing on their own to the random beasts and monsters that passed by… That explained what I had been seeing in the Dreamscape lately, actually. That place had gotten overwhelmed with a lot of trials taking place at the same time. Though Gilepre was still going strong, he might actually beat the pre-final trial at this rate, which was fine.

There was always the final trial afterwards, where I would be able to eviscerate him with my own two hands.

"By the way, Leou… I never–er bothered asking until now, since it seemed like secretive stuff, but what exactly is the goal of the organisation?" The snow leopard shifted in her seat.

"I… I can't really explain any of the details, but basically… Our goal is to build our own nation. That's all I can say without getting in trouble, don't worry, though. I assure you that our objective is completely worth it""Alright. I honestly thought the goal was to–to resurrect some ancient evil or invite some banished deity into this plane, you know? The ingredients you guys need scream nefarious activities of this kind""Oh, I thought the same at first, to be honest.

But after doing my own research, I found out that the ingredients were indeed the ones required to do what I just told you. I do suppose that the result could be used nefariously, though, but we've all signed a binding contract to proceed with the plan as agreed upon, so all is well" Huh, I suppose that's why all these odd people who don't seem to have anything in common besides being shady are so trusting of one another.

They all signed contracts that guarantee that they won't be able to stab each other in the back… For all of them to agree to something so restraining, the goal they are aiming for must indeed be bigger than simply starting a new nation on the continent. Oh well, I would like to know more, but I wasn't going to agree to sign anything just for this, but since Leou seemed to believe in this plan… Then it had to be a good one.

"By the way–way, let me show you how I can infiltrate Devilblood's residence" I stepped out of the room for a few moments and transformed into my 'Gynoid Form', choosing a very specific appearance to show to Leou. I stepped back into the room.

"Tada""This… Aherm… This is indeed quite the convincing disguise, Mara…"

"Leou" I beckoned her to come over, and we soon stood in the middle of her office.

"I am Mara Maeve Maya Nebulo. My brother is Leton Nebulo, the genius inventor, and I used to be human–What you see right now is what I used to look like, and the clothes I used to wear when I was just a bourgeois girl with a strong talent for becoming a knight""I am the Silent Knightess. I am the master of the Nightmare Plague.

Xlown is my daughter, who was created from my negative energy and an old suit I used to wear, and I have several ghost sisters""This isn't all, but it is the main stuff that you should know about. I would apologise for hiding stuff and lying to you, but I know that you just think that it is perfectly natural for me to do so" Leou seemed a bit confused.

"Why are you telling me all of this now?"

"For one, I trust you, and second of all, I strongly believe that it is important that you are aware of who I was, what I am, and the many things I have been keeping secret before I proceed with what I am about to do""... What are you going to do?" Nara, shut off your senses until I reach back to you. Aww… Alright… Once this was done, I pulled Leou up against me and kissed her.