Chapter 40 Chapter 40: W's Mission
Chapter 40: W's Mission
"What about Scout and the others?"
Kevin found it a bit strange; he hadn't seen them for a while now.
Within Babel, there weren't many people he could chat with. Fiammetta was one, Theresa was one, the Doctor was one, and then there were those elite operators and the current Thorns...
...So, without even realizing it, he already had this many people he could call friends?
He couldn't help but feel a little dazed. Thorns didn't notice his expression and just continued to add:
"They were probably transferred to the plains area. I heard the situation there has been very tense recently."
In fact, Thorns's description was already quite conservative. The situation there could no longer be described as just "tense"; perhaps "brutal" would be more fitting.
"I see."
Kevin nodded. As elite operators, this was precisely the duty they should be fulfilling.
Babel was short-handed; it was normal for one person to be split into two.
Casually tossing the water bottle back to Thorns and nodding to her in thanks, he effortlessly pulled the greatsword out of the ground. With a shake of his right hand, sand and gravel rustled down, leaving not a single speck behind.
After placing the greatsword, which looked as good as new, back on the weapon rack, he paid no further attention to the trainee Guard operators lying all around on the ground.
After nearly half a month of training, although they were far from meeting Kevin's standards, he understood that Sarkaz had strong recovery abilities. In this situation,
they would lie on the ground for at most ten minutes, let out a couple more howls, and then be able to get back up again.
"Kevin, finished with training?"
W seized the opportunity. Seeing Kevin free, she immediately greeted him enthusiastically, her two strands of red hair trembling slightly. Her eager demeanor clearly indicated she was up to no good.
"Do you need something?"
Kevin preferred getting straight to the point. His calm gaze rested on W, putting a lot of pressure on her.
"It's... there's a mission."
"?"
"Ehehe, it's just... the difficulty is quite high. I was wondering if I could get you, Kevin, to be my safety net."
Circumstances forced her hand. W had carried out quite a few Babel missions these days; if it were an ordinary mission, she wouldn't have brought this up.
Logically speaking, this mission wasn't particularly difficult either—it was just assassinating a diplomatic envoy sent by the Military Commission to contact certain factions. However, the opponent's guard force was surprisingly large this time, and her helpers this time... were mercenaries hired locally on a temporary basis.
As for the skill level and moral standards of freelance mercenaries, W, having once been one of them, was undoubtedly all too clear. Calling them "unable to be helped even if propped up" would be overpraising them.
But there was no other way. Babel simply couldn't spare any more personnel and had to resort to this. Otherwise, it would be hard not to suspect that the Doctor wanted her to go to her death.
In her desperation, she thought of Kevin! Wasn't there still a safety rope here?
Having witnessed Kevin's strength, W couldn't help but feel it was a waste for Babel to keep such a thick thigh here just as an instructor.
But what she didn't know was that it wasn't that Babel didn't want to use Kevin; they simply couldn't deploy him. They couldn't just leave the frontlines open, allowing Theresis's army to drive straight to their core, and then use Kevin as the final line of defense, right?
Her Highness Theresa must have her considerations, right?
Convincing herself with this reason, W turned her gaze to Kevin, awaiting his answer.
"......"
"Come on, don't think about it so much. Don't you think staying here every day would make anyone moldy? It's quite necessary to go out for a change of scenery occasionally... See? Here's a ready-made opportunity right now."
W patted her ample chest and blinked, putting on an expression that said "you're getting a great deal."
"At most, I'll split the mission bonus with you—"
"Alright, I'll do it."
Before W could even finish saying "a bit," Kevin agreed, so readily that W found it hard to believe.
"What about the bonus issue?"
"......No need."
Kevin gave her a strange look. Why did she think that pitiful bonus would be the reason prompting him to agree?
W clearly sensed the meaning in Kevin's gaze and couldn't help but curse herself inwardly. Damn it, how could a rich guy who could casually take out 10kg of Originium Ingots possibly care about her bonus?
"Ah, got it! So we depart tomorrow afternoon?"
W chuckled slyly. Kevin's vehicle was still parked at Babel. Those engineering department operators were eyeing it covetously, but without Kevin's permission, no one dared touch it.
She had driven it herself! It was simply way better than theirs!
That feeling of adrenaline rush—once you experienced it, you could never forget it.
"Fine."
"What about our transportation?"
W rubbed her hands together and asked tentatively.
"Is this your real purpose?"
A hint of suspicion appeared in Kevin's eyes. It was hard for him not to suspect that W invited him for the sake of the Fire Moth Type-53.
"Hey~ How could that be~"
W somewhat guiltily averted her eyes, but her demeanor really didn't inspire much trust.
"We'll take that one."
"Great, great! It's settled then! No backing out! Kevin, if you go back on your word, I'll go tell Fiammetta later!"
W clapped her hands delightedly, afraid Kevin might change his mind.
This attitude further confirmed his suspicion. W really is just after the car, isn't she?
But it didn't matter. Going out for a walk was fine too. Kevin didn't mind W's little schemes.
*
Scritch scritch scritch—
The sound of a pen tip gliding across paper harmonized with the click-clack of a typewriter, resembling a light and cheerful piece of music.
Completed manuscripts were neatly stacked on the right side of the desk. Fiammetta wrote quietly while Kevin watched silently.
Occasionally, he would offer Fiammetta some guidance based on his memories and experience, mostly regarding writing philosophy and ideas. Even so, she was already very happy.
Moreover, some of the ideas Kevin provided were indeed quite useful and novel—perspectives she had never encountered before.
Most importantly of all—Kevin was becoming more and more like a person!
Perhaps saying it this way wasn't very respectful, but Pozëmka indeed felt this way. Before, there seemed to be a sense of distance between Kevin and her... no, between Kevin and everyone.
But now it was different. Kevin was even willing
to actively communicate with her. In the past, Fiammetta never had such a precious opportunity.
"...In the next few days, I'll be going out for a while."
Kevin gently flipped through Fiammetta's manuscripts while casually mentioning this as if by accident.
He thought it was necessary to tell Pozëmka about this. Otherwise, what if this poor pink-haired Lupo thought she had been abandoned? She'd probably be very sad.
"Oh? On a mission?"
"W's invitation. Also to go out for a change of scenery."
"Then take care of yourself, Kevin."
Fiammetta said softly, not making any willful demands like asking him to take her along.
She knew that with Kevin's personality, him taking the initiative to tell her was already an expression of caring about her.
"Alright."
He didn't think anything could threaten him. But under Fiammetta's gaze, he still nodded in agreement.
Their conversation was as plain and natural as a wife reminding her husband who was about to go on a trip.
However, neither of them seemed to think there was any problem with this way of speaking.
*
*[Event - Regarding Kevin · Part Two]*
"Closure, I need some information regarding Yan."
"Huh? Kazdel is such a mess right now; where am I supposed to find..."
Closure waved her hand while preparing to indicate she couldn't help either.
"This is the deposit."
Thud! When heavy Originium Ingot blocks were neatly stacked on the table, Closure admitted her psychological defenses were shattered—shattered back and forth several times over.
Her expression gradually became dazed. Closure.exe has stopped responding.
"So you really can't do it?"
Kevin frowned and was about to take back the deposit.
But then a certain Vampire burst forth with unprecedented speed in her life, shielding that small pile of Originium Ingots like a Liberi protecting its young.
"I can! I can!"
She hurriedly shouted, an extremely ingratiating smile appearing on her face.
"So what did you mean by waving your hand earlier..."
"Waving my hand wasn't refusing you, Brother Kevin! It was telling you that there's no need to say more—two horizontals and one vertical mean 'do'! Two slashes and one stroke mean 'handle'!"
"You just watch how clearly your little sister here handles this for you!"
Closure swept away her shady merchant aura and patted her chest with heroic fervor.
This is my benefactor! Forget just a little information about Yan; as long as the money is enough, she'd even make up some palace secrets from Yan for you.
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