Chapter 114: CH 106

「They actually refused to take over this place.」

Jenny muttered while sporting dead-fish eyes.

They were having a meeting inside the combat command center of the Aristides.

「But it’s still a valuable Fortress Area. How about we defend and manage it ourselves?」

「Mercenaries aren’t obligated to do stuff like that, right? And firstly, how will we handle the POWs?」

Even Rick was taken aback by the Mercenary Association’s unreasonable decision.

「They said they’d take in the POWs for treatment.」

Many of them were deprived of their free will by nanomachines and could only move as instructed.

So those had to be removed by medical treatments.

Jenny sighed at the Association’s ridiculous response.

「Actually, they subtly insinuated that we exchange the Silhouette Base for Fortress Area P336.」

「Oi, oi……」

Robert frowned in displeasure. The Association was really pushing it.

「It can’t be helped. Let’s just run this place ourselves.」

「Oi, Kou. Aren’t you being a bit too unreasonable!?」

Barry couldn’t help but exclaim. He thought they probably would be able to prepare enough weapons, but providing the necessary personnel to run the place was a different story. The latter would be impossible even if they made use of trading companies to recruit.

「Hear me out, guys. You’re familiar with Oscar-san who’s currently working as part of the Aristides’ maintenance crew, right? Actually, that person was the former area administrator of Fortress Area D516. Actually, I’d already consulted him about serving as an area administrator again if needed when we were in the middle of planning the recapture operation.」

「That sullen old man! Before you know it, he already made a move!」

「He’s an excellent person. He also has a strong sense of responsibility. Actually, he sold away the A-Carbuncle of their former base and shared the money from the sale to the rest of the refugees as living funds. I think he’s pretty trustworthy.」

Oscar was a man who wasn’t ostentatious but did his job well. He did seem reluctant at first, but he knew how difficult it was to administer an entire Fortress Area.

Kou told him that he’d be needed only in case Metal Iris was pushed to take over management of the recaptured Fortress Area.

Oscar only had one condition to agree to Kou’s request. It was for Kou to allow Kurt Maschinenbau to re-establish itself again.

The figures of the company’s employees who fought to the end to protect him and the other evacuees were burned into his mind. If he were to make a comeback, it should be together with them.

Fortunately, Kou wished for that as well. Each man confirmed the other’s intention and concluded their discussion on a positive note.

「That uncle did stick it out with Kurt’s company until the end. He was together with the former employees even after the evacuation.」

「If we can secure a Development Engineer who’s C-Class or higher and start a transferee company, we can use that place as an industrial base.」

The two were impressed by Kou’s foresight. Barry also agreed that it could be done if they really did convert the place to an industrial base.

「We will reestablish Kurt-san’s company. And I already have prospects regarding the Development Engineer. I have two close friends. One is a B-Class and the other is a C-Class. You guys can rest assured.」

「Close friends?!」

Barry yelled in surprise. He kept being surprised by everything he heard today. He’d never known that Kou actually had close friends.

Aki, who was standing behind Kou, displayed a gentle smile. It looked like their visits really did prove useful to Kou.

「Right now, the two of them are still with Kelly-san’s Skunk Technologies. I’ve already talked to Kelly-san and the two of them. The two said they would like to go independent, and the matter was approved.」

「Oh, it’s those kids! I also know them. A really cute girl and a very pretty boy.」

「He’s still a boy! But, Shadow Boss, you sure are amazing…… You even managed to secure human resources like it’s nothing.」

Jenny remembered the ones Kou was referring to. Robert was thoroughly impressed by him.

「Aki, I’d like to recruit more Therianthropes for our reestablishment of Fortress Area P336. Is it doable? I think we’d be able to prepare an additional 100 worker-type Quattro Silhouettes.」

「We’ll get flooded with applications for sure. There’s no problem.」

「Dike, notify Okeanos. Fortress Area P336 will become an independent Silhouette Base cooperative district. Have all rights to it transferred to Metal Iris.」

『Understood. Application complete. Approved.』

「Well, that was fast.」

『It can’t be helped since the Mercenary Association has already given up control. It seems that Okeanos is currently lecturing the Association regarding the abandonment of their responsibilities. It’s become a big mess over there.』

「Abandonment of responsibilities huh. Well, that’s true.」

The Mercenary Association was the only organization with jurisdiction on military forces in this world without any actual nations.

Therefore, they were obligated to assist in the recapture and restoration of bases. Because there are no other organizations that will undertake such duties.

Throwing all responsibility to a single Underground Force was a gross breach of duty.

「They were probably aiming for Metal Iris to come up and beg them. Their plan backfired huh.」

「They probably didn’t expect we’d handle the recruitment of personnel ourselves too.」

「Humans are selfish beings. That’s why I have to watch myself as well. If I’m going to act selfish, then it better be with those I have a close relationship. Fuyuki-san, quickly get in contact with Benshin.」

「Right. This is practically a completely intact Fortress Area. They should be willing to invest in it.」

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Kou sighed.

「I’m glad we still had a Plan B. Alright, everyone. Let’s proceed with the Fortress Area Revival Plan.」

「Shouldn’t we have planned for this right from the start?」

「That’s not the case. We didn’t fight to obtain another Fortress Area for ourselves. We retook this place so that humanity will have more bases to continue the fight.」

「It’s just as Kou said. I really don’t know what the Mercenary Association is plotting.」

「It’s probably to gain an excuse to decline when we request for them to participate in further Fortress Area recapture operations in the future. Organizations like them operate on such precedents.」

Barry seemed to have an opinion of his own regarding the Association’s actions. Kou nodded in agreement.

「Kou, rather than the Mercenary Association alone, you actually don’t trust humans themselves?」

「No. That’s not the case, I think. Maybe I just lack complete confidence in them right now.」

The Mercenary Association was an organization that provides military forces to humanity. Of course, by ‘humanity’, they also include the Stones. If so, then there might be some of them who think from the perspective of the Stones, or even of the AI.

That’s why it was best to be vigilant when dealing with them.

「I’m just making assumptions here, but I think the Mercenary Association is ultimately an impartial organization. And due to that nature, the number of people on the side of the Stones has increased exponentially.」

「Perhaps that really is the case. They’re pretty proactive when accepting requests from the Stones as well after all. But even if they’re neutral, they’re still supposed to be an organization meant for serving humanity.」

「They were originally founded to manage previously non-existent military power, right? So it’s premature to conclude that they are on the side of humanity. And besides, the Stones are actually former humans too.」

「I’ll keep your words in mind, Shadow Boss. They do make sense.」

Jenny acknowledged Kou’s points. Looking at the Mercenary Association as an organization allied with humanity might have been wrong from the start.

Rather, perhaps they were an organization meant to manage all they considered ‘human’.

「But you can’t make a lot of stuff using the facilities here, you know? You can probably manufacture work Silhouettes, but that’s it.」

Their industrial strength was directly linked to the importance of Fortress Areas and Defense Domes.

The location of Fortress Area P336 was important from a geopolitical standpoint, but its overall importance was still low due to the small scale of the Area’s industrial facilities. That’s one of the reasons why its defenses were so half-baked.

「With Asia’s authority, the industrial block will be enlarged and remodeled into a fortified heavy industrial complex capable of manufacturing various Silhouette and weapon models.」

「That’s possible!?」

「She did say it’s fine, so it probably is.」

「Do you realize you’ve just said something even more ridiculous, Shadow Boss?」

Robert muttered while dripping in a cold sweat. He had never heard of such a thing as remodeling the entire industrial block of a Fortress Area.

Rick tried his best to hold back his laughter. Kou really was unaware of how unprecedented the matter he just blurted out was.

「As soon as it’s ready, let’s leave Asia’s data fragment to the control center of P336. That’s why I’m stationing Therianthropes and Quattros here.」

Currently, Asia’s data fragment was staying inside the second Aristides-class amphibious assault ship Pericles. She complained that it was pretty cramped.

「This place does seem easily defensible.」

「This guy definitely doesn’t trust humans, does he!?」

Rick acknowledged the merits of the topography when it comes to defense, while Barry noticed the seriousness of Kou’s distrust of humans and bitterly smiled.

It was true that P336 was the Fortress Area closest to the Silhouette Base.

If something happens, it would be easy for the two bases to cooperate.

「Alright. Let’s move on to today’s main topic.」

「The stuff from before wasn’t even the main topics?」

Robert displayed a bitter smile as well. All the previous topics would be more than enough for him to collapse over for a week.

「Nyanta, bring that thing over.」

「Understood nyaa.」

Nyanta brought over a big box.

And then, she brought out the thing inside it. It was a rectangular monolith-like object. It shone with light from time to time.

Its base color was gray.

「This is a Kaleidolithos! I don’t have any good memories regarding it, but it can sell for a huge sum on the black market.」

「This sample was taken from the equipment installed behind an Antique Silhouette’s rear seat unit. The one on my right was from the place we rescued Asia. The lithos on my left was recovered from the Antique guarding this place.」

Jenny lowly muttered. Her eyes were devoid of light. Kou was worried about her condition, but he still continued.

「Black market? The one you told me about before, Fuyuki-san? Then we’ll buy these from there whenever they go on sale from now on.」

「Why? What do we need these things for?」

「I’ll be explaining that now. It’s a very important matter Asia directly told me about.」

After hearing Kou’s words, everyone tensed up.

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