Chapter 86
The airborne vehicle we were on was returning to the capital, Akbaran.
It took quite some time before Barbara, who had regained consciousness, could fully communicate with us.
Barbara was using someone else’s full-body prosthetic. An ordinary person wouldn’t even be able to move properly in that state.
Creak, creak.
Barbara tried to push her cybernetic eye into place with her finger to fix its position. However, its focus quickly drifted again. And it wasn’t just an issue with the focus.
Errors kept occurring because Barbara’s brain’s nervous system wasn’t fully compatible with the full-body prosthetic.
“I-I’m already at m-my limit.”
Barbara muttered as she leaned against the wall. Her limbs twitched intermittently, as if no longer under her brain’s control.
I crouched down in front of her to meet her eye level.
“Your body is over there. At least you’re still alive.”
I extended my thumb backward, pointing at ‘Nedder Along wearing Barbara’s shell.’ He was still unconscious, as if in deep sleep.
“You, you can just discard that. A body you’re born with… i-it’s meant to be used and thrown away.”
“So, you already have another full-body prosthetic prepared?”
“More importantly, you look great, Lu-Luka. At first, I d-didn’t even recognize you.”
Even in her muddled state of consciousness, Barbara dodged the question and changed the subject.
“What I did is nothing compared to what you’ve done.”
“Hu-hu. Is that a compliment?”
The corners of Barbara’s lips struggled to curl up.
“No. It’s contempt, body thief.”
“But are you sure it’s okay… to keep me restrained like this? You know what my role is, don’t you?”
Barbara brought her lips close to my ear. Her raspy voice was dreadful.
‘Barbara is a spy the Empire planted in Nemesis. Ilay and Giselle must not find out about this.’
Once the conversation was over, I would have to release Barbara. Giselle and Ilay would question my decision. I needed to come up with a plausible reason in advance for letting her go.
“This is a deal, Barbara. Tell me everything you know about the people involved in Nikolaos Custoria’s assassination. Then I’ll let you go.”
At the mention of letting her go, Giselle and Ilay reacted in surprise. However, I quickly raised my hand to stop them from voicing their doubts.
“Hu, huhuhu, haha, I see. So that’s what this is about? That’s what you wanted to know? No wonder—you really got me good. The noble lords of Custoria.”
“I knew you’d target Giselle.”
“So that’s why you used Giselle as bait? Look at this, my dear Giselle, Giselle, Giselle. Even your own family treats you as a tool. So come to me. I can truly cherish you. We were such good friends, weren’t we?”
I didn’t bother checking Giselle’s expression or reaction. The trauma she had regarding Barbara was something she had to overcome on her own.
“Cut the nonsense and just answer the damn question.”
I grabbed Barbara’s chin, forcing her to look at me.
“Alright, I lost this round. I’ll admit it. Come closer…”
Barbara whispered just softly enough for only me to hear. I engraved her words into my mind as if recording them.
Once she finished delivering the information, Barbara let out a heavy, murky breath before continuing.
“…That’s all. If you want to dig deeper and interrogate them, be prepared for a hell of a time.”
“That’s none of your concern. You’re not lying, are you?”
“This whole situation is personal—for both me and your side. If we can end it here, that works just fine for me. Handle my biological body however you want. Might as well take this opportunity to erase my identity completely.”
I got to my feet.
“Understood. The deal is done, Barbara. I’ll drop you off wherever you want.”
“A-a scrapyard will do. Just dump me anywhere. I’ll take care of the rest.”
I followed Barbara’s request.
The outskirts of Akbaran had multiple abandoned scrapyards. With no proper disposal or maintenance, the landscape was a desolate mess.
Vrrrr—
We brought the airborne vehicle to a steady hover at an appropriate altitude. The thrusters pulsed at regular intervals, keeping the craft in place.
I shoved Barbara, wrapped in a blanket, out of the vehicle. To an outsider, it would have looked like I was discarding waste.
‘Carry on with your mission for the Empire, Barbara. But remember—if your madness consumes your purpose, the one who’ll come to cut you down will be me.’
I gazed down coldly. As Barbara fell, she shrank into a mere dot in the distance.
Thud.
She landed on a heap of scrap metal with a dull crash. If it was her, she’d survive and make her way back to Nemesis somehow.
I turned around. Giselle and Ilay were staring at me, demanding an explanation.
“…I know you’re questioning why I let Barbara go, but this was the best course of action. Barbara isn’t someone who would break under torture. She probably had a few trump cards hidden away as well. A deal was the only option.”
Whether Giselle and Ilay understood or not didn’t matter. I couldn’t tell them Barbara’s true identity.
Besides, what I said was mostly true.
‘Barbara underwent a high level of training and education to become an imperial spy.’
Handling another person’s full-body prosthetic wasn’t something one could do with sheer willpower alone. Barbara had to have an extreme tolerance for pain as well. If she were someone who would break under torture, the Empire wouldn’t have sent her to infiltrate Nemesis in the first place.
“Luka, does that mean the mission is complete?”
Ilay set aside his complaints and asked only about the results.
I nodded and peeled off the makeup, which was practically a disguise. The hardened gel came off along the contours of my face, leaving a slight stinging sensation on my skin.
“Yeah, it was a successful mission.”
As I spoke, I glanced at Giselle.
She was staring at me with displeasure. Unlike Ilay, a soldier who accepted results at face value, she wasn’t convinced by my explanation alone.
One of the key principles was to never seek information that wasn’t provided by the higher-ups.
But I… didn’t always follow that principle.
* * *
Two days had passed since the contact mission with Barbara.
I was currently at the Custoria estate, walking toward the annex with Hemillas. The Custoria estate had a separate residence called *Silver Moon Pavilion*.
‘The residence of the family elders, Silver Moon Pavilion.’
Aside from the head of the household, no one was allowed to enter freely. Even the attendants here weren’t human but androids.
I had visited the Silver Moon Pavilion once when I was officially adopted.
This was my second visit. Entry to the pavilion was a rare privilege, and upon hearing about it, Juppe had seethed with jealousy and grown even more wary of me.
Lately, Juppe’s excessive hostility had been exhausting, so I had been avoiding actions that would draw attention.
But this time, I had no choice. The matter at hand could only be discussed inside the Silver Moon Pavilion. It was an extremely critical report.
Even Giselle, who had carried out the mission alongside me, wasn’t allowed to be here.
‘The number of secrets shared only between Hemillas and me is increasing.’
Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, I couldn’t say yet.
‘If I’m the only one holding so many secrets…’
That meant eliminating me would be enough to keep those secrets buried. I was always considering the worst-case scenario.
“How was Barbara’s body handled?”
I asked from the first-floor hall of the Silver Moon Pavilion.
“It was disposed of.”
“…I see.”
“For the record, that means Nedder Along is dead.”
“I’m aware.”
Nedder Along died trapped inside Barbara’s body. I had wanted to save him if possible, but there had been no other way.
To minimize unnecessary risks, Nedder Along had to die. There was no reason for us to take on additional danger just to save him.
An innocent Nedder Along.
But he was weak.
And that was why he died.
Hate me if you want. But I was in the same position as you, Nedder Along.
‘If I had been weak and without value, I would have been silenced long ago.’
To the left of the first-floor hall in the Silver Moon Pavilion, a corridor led to the reception room. The door barely opened, as if it hadn’t been used in a long time.
Step, step.
With every step, thick dust stirred in the air, swirling around us.
“Sit. This might take a while.”
Hemillas and I sat across from each other with a table between us. As I adjusted to the stale air, I began to speak.
“There’s no way to know for sure if Barbara made it back safely. If… something happened to her, then we’ve lost a valuable imperial asset.”
“There’s no need to worry about that. This morning, Nedder Along’s full-body prosthetic was found. The head was crushed, but the registration number confirmed it was his. In any case, Barbara seems to have returned. That woman probably had another full-body prosthetic ready to switch into.”
I methodically reported what had happened at the Autonovus exhibition.
“Giselle still doesn’t know that Barbara is an imperial spy. Ilay might have figured it out, but he won’t go around talking about it.”
“You handled the mission more cleanly than I expected.”
“That’s thanks to Barbara handing over the information more easily than I anticipated.”
Hemillas smirked slightly, his lips twitching.
“In the end, Barbara is one of ours. She set up the trap to ensure a natural contact. Once that was achieved, she wasn’t going to be uncooperative.”
“Her obsession with Giselle is another matter, though. From what I saw, it’s at a very dangerous level. We need to pay closer attention to Giselle’s safety. It may not be my place to say this, but… I believe we should send Barbara a warning through the higher-ups.”
“That, as you said, isn’t your concern. But I’m aware of the issue.”
This time, I pressed him boldly. This was something that needed to be addressed.
“If we only act after something happens—like with Nikolaos—it’ll be too late. Just as it is now.”
For a brief moment, Hemillas’ expression hardened, turning deadly serious.
“I didn’t expect you to bring up Nikolaos’ name here. I already told you—I’m aware of the situation. This isn’t the same as what happened with Nikolaos.”
Hemillas’ tone was sharp, pressing down on me. He was telling me to drop the subject.
Normally, I would have taken that as my cue to shut up.
But not this time.
“I’m not speaking as a cadet of the Imperial Guard right now… I’m speaking as a member of the Custoria family, just as *Father* would. I saw Barbara’s obsession with my own eyes. I can say with absolute certainty—one day, Barbara *will* try to get close to Giselle. And when that happens, neither I nor you may be there to stop her.”
Hemillas was a fair man. I believed that. If I laid out my argument rationally, he wouldn’t dismiss it.
“…Then let me make this clear, right here and now, with my name on the line. As long as Giselle is within Akbaran, Barbara *will not* lay a hand on her. Trust me. I’ve already taken precautions. What happened with Nikolaos will not happen again. Do you understand, Lukaus Custoria?”
“Yes, sir.”
I met Hemillas’ gaze head-on and nodded. To be honest, my nerves were beyond rattled—my heart nearly pounded out of my chest.
To put it bluntly, I had *talked back* to Hemillas.
It seemed he wasn’t entirely devoid of emotion, as he glared at me for a moment before letting out a sigh. Then, he pulled a small, flat flask from his coat.
“Luka, for the record—not just Giselle, but Nikolaos and Juppe as well… none of them have ever confronted me like this. Don’t think I’m letting this slide just because you’re my son.”
He took a swig from the flask, exhaling the scent of strong liquor before tucking it away.
“…Now, let me ask again. Are you *certain* that the one who orchestrated Nikolaos’ assassination was Bao Zakanan? It’s not that I don’t trust you. I want you to review your memory carefully. This is an extremely important matter.”
There was a reason Hemillas was asking so cautiously.
Even when I had investigated Bao Zakanan myself… there had been a moment when I wondered if Barbara had been messing with me.
‘Bao Zakanan.’
He had been Nikolaos’ direct superior.