LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 222
It turns out the old man had a bunch of names. Old Burgundy, Hans Mueller, and so on. But not many people knew that he had all those names.
To the old man, those names were just like disposable paper bags—used once and tossed aside. That’s why they were all so lazily crafted.
After all, he didn’t plan on using them for long, so he mixed some random words together just to make them sound decent.
Even if the folks around him raised eyebrows, it didn’t matter since he wouldn’t be sticking around with them for long anyway.
At least so far, the old man’s judgment had proven correct. The people he’d presented those names to usually ended up dead before too long.
Recently though, among the Liberators he had been with, there were still two definite survivors and one who was kind of iffy. But he completely ignored the duo since they posed no threat to him.
At least until the Intelligence Department decided to dig into some old experiment.
This was an experiment the old man had led.
All the work had been done by his underlings, but the old man had come up with the idea and secretly arranged the facilities, so it was still somewhat acceptable.
After multiple attempts, there was a single success, but that success upended the facility and was claimed by the Liberators.
At first, the old man merely thought they were trying to catch something to expand the Intelligence Department’s influence, and he brushed it off.
The Heros Company’s Intelligence Department seemed determined to uncover everything in the world, so he figured it was just a curious endeavor.
However, as the Intelligence Department’s fingers began to stretch towards him, he felt a sense of unease.
No matter how blinded the Intelligence Department was by promotions and performance, they couldn’t be foolish enough to bite the hand that feeds them.
Why were they so boldly coming after him? He was puzzled.
Initially, he wondered if the bad directors from another faction were conspiring to turn on him.
But that wasn’t it. The old man figured out they were still too busy keeping their own plates full.
So was he really just losing his sanity and ready to implode? He tapped into his own dark network to find out, but that wasn’t it either.
What he could uncover was that they were investigating under the orders of the Third Returner.
There was no need for a roundabout approach; the Intelligence Department was so brazen that they weren’t hiding any intentions or information, leaving him with nothing more to ask.
Why was the Third Returner looking for him? He briefly wandered through options, until he finally recalled that she had the only successful result from his experiments.
‘Is she planning to turn me around by the inside of the arms?’
The old man could easily grasp that she was orchestrating a meeting between the success and the one who had initiated the experiment, hoping that the success could exact some revenge.
He was unexpectedly snagged at a time he hadn’t anticipated, but the old man wasn’t too shocked. Instead, he thought it was about time something like this happened.
He was sure that any successful subject would eventually come chasing after him. Consequently, he agreed to the Returner’s invitation without hesitation.
It wasn’t like he could avoid it, and it was the Returner’s proposal—that left no choice but to comply.
Most of it, however, was due to his own beliefs.
—What if they didn’t show up? What if they turned the tables, or worse, what if he got spooked and offed himself? He thought. Even with the authority of the Returner backing them, these guys didn’t seem like pushovers.
If they had enough clout, they might have had a means to escape or even gracefully bail out.
But no, they didn’t run. The master said they were almost there, so they’d meet soon.
“What’s going on? It seems like none of my guests have come to visit. At this rate, I can’t even tell who the owner is—the owner with no one to invite is worse than a servant.”
The master was teasing me with a smirk during the brief pause.
“That’s…”
“Alright, don’t try to make excuses. It’s just because I didn’t invite you. Think about how you’ll handle that guy.”
“…Thank you for your consideration.”
“No problem. Just reflecting on you. You know, seeing someone who gets into trouble for just minding their own business reminds me of my younger days.”
Altera looked pretty youthful, even if she said that. But… she must have meant mentally.
Though I tried to offer some lip service like “You still look so young”, she just laughed, coughing, and seemed to enjoy it, saying I could see right through her.
“Yeah… that last one was a bit funny. Thanks. Now that we’re almost there, let’s get ready.”
Regardless of the intent, they were hosting a guest, so I meticulously checked to ensure nothing was missing or messed up.
There was nothing, so while we were waiting for the guest, who appeared… was Butler Grandpa.
Flustered and just gaping, the master welcomed Butler Grandpa for his long journey.
“Haha, why such a big welcome? I doubt that was why you called for me.”
“This is why I can’t stand old folks; they’re lackluster when it comes to fun, yet sly like raccoons, so you can’t fool them. Yeah, I’m talking about you.”
Butler Grandpa sat down, sipped tea, looked at me thoughtfully, and then mumbled slowly.
“You’re here for revenge, aren’t you? Right, Blanca? Or should I call you something else now? Success?”
Since Altera smartly stepped back, I was left dazed for a moment until I finally got enough sense to ask Butler Grandpa.
“Butler Grandpa? Why are you here…”
“Hmm? What’s this? Is that really it? I see, you had no clue at all.”
Butler Grandpa, or rather, the director of the Heros Company experiment, revealed his true identity and calmly stated he had led the experiment.
“It’s me. I was the mastermind behind that experiment. The reason you suffered so much is also my doing.”
His demeanor was so bold, showing he wasn’t even trying to hide this, I was rendered speechless, unsure of what to say.
At least I could tell it was definitely not an apology.
After staring blankly at him for a while, the only forced word that escaped my lips was “Why?”
“…Why would you do something like that?”
I wanted to know what twisted resentment made him commit such a disgusting act.
Was it racism, or was he just a madman who enjoyed tormenting others? Did he want to harness Abilities Users like some kind of army?
Once he began to speak, a floodgate of questions opened up.
My emotions intensified, but I still managed to keep some restraint. I wanted to know why he had done such a thing.
The old man said he would answer everything slowly, so to give him some time.
“You asked if it was racism. No, it wasn’t. I picked the most easily obtainable and least troublesome subject.”
“…So, are you saying you’re just a piece of trash?”
“Haha, not at all. Would I do something I enjoyed? Absolutely not. It was just a necessary task.”
“Then why the hell did you do it?”
I created a blade of slime right up to the old man’s neck, but he still wore a calm face as he kept talking nonsense.
“Look at me, Blanca. What do you see?”
“You crazy old man…”
“That’s right. I’m an old man. Materially and socially, I have everything I could want, but before Abilities Users, all of that is just useless.”
“…”
“Humans, humanity. From the moment our distant ancestors discovered the first flame, nothing has changed. Our intellect gazes up at the far-off skies, yet our bodies are barely any different from the primitive men roaming the savanna.”
Listening to the old man talk, it started to click for me.
“…About half a century ago, the Gates opened, and a small part of humanity underwent rapid evolution. But that was just the story of a minority. The vast majority of humanity remained unchanged.”
“So… the reason you did it was…”
“To evolve humanity. I wanted to raise bodies that were equivalent to modern times, which were no different from the primitive men roaming the plains. Immanuel, that young man once agreed with my ideals.”
…So the reason the Boss created the Liberators was because of this crazy old man.
“Don’t drag that heavenly name into your filthy mouth.”
“I’m just speaking the truth, that’s all.”
Even while hurling accusations, I found myself shouting that he was the root cause of all evil, but the old man maintained a confident demeanor, insisting it was always going to happen.
“If it wasn’t me, someone else would have brought it up. Humanity is far too weak. At some point, our bodies became chains for our species.”
“You’re insane.”
“Maybe so. But isn’t that humanity? Isn’t it true that it’s the unveiled minority ideas and thoughts that have driven humanity forward?”
…Somehow, it looked like there was no way I could tackle this crazy old man with just words.
I raised my tendrils…