at_corporates_trenches

 Now inside the garden, Hisa returns to watering her exotic plants. While doing so, she explains

“The Yakuza have come a long way to reach here. They sent me to install the clan in Britannia, as the Imperator himself wanted our influence by petition. Although confused by the request, the higher ups accepted.” She hands me a flower with its petals closed. When it interacts with the heat of my hand, it sprouts an eye-catching interior. It starts to flourish, going through all of the stages of its life cycle until it crumbles to a feeble state in which I can even crush the flower with seamless effort.

“Hayami told me that you needed my help. What is it, especifically?” If the Yakuza are like the vision in my head, as soon as they helped me, a debt was created.

“It is of mutual benefit. Your chip inside you, they gave access to me for unknown reasons. The file name of it is ‘Project_Verne_Candidate’. Recently everyone in the world knows what the Verne Project is all about, but there seems to be more to it. I tried digging through their database to uncover what it's all about. Fruitless, as their most important archives are stored in analog devices.”

“Hmm, I see where this is going. Infiltrate their facilities and see what the Verne Project is really about.”

“My only concern is that I don’t know what their chip actually does. Aren’t they capable of hearing our conversation right now? They have talked to me with voices in my head many times before.” What is the extent of this parasite in me?

“I already took care of it. Rather, Hayami did. She inserted a counter device in you to send them fake data. My reverse engineers are outstanding, you should thank them in another time.”

What the…!? “W-When?” With a slight sigh from the girl in question, and my dumbstruck attitude accompanied by eyes open like a plate, Hisa answers.

“When she slapped you. Although the methods were questionable, she did what I told her to do.” Smiling all throughout this sentence, Hisa comes close to the grinning Hayami and stomps on her foot.

“Ouch! I’m sorry, okay! I just don’t see him as worthy of the Kingslayer title. He is a murderer, Hisa!”

 Well, she is not wrong in judging me. My way of entering Laurelya could have been more peaceful. But I can’t change that, nor her opinion of me. Despise and wishes for my death will be a common occurrence once the streets see even the figure of my shadow.

“Everyone has mistakes, even Hoover himself. Don’t venerate him that much young lady, because you lack much context. He was far worse than everyone in this castle” Hoover, the Kingslayer. While I’m thinking about my predecessor, Hayami sprints out of the room as she is too embarrassed and startled. That’s my guess, at least.

With a heavy sigh, she then proceeds. “Excuse Hayami. Ever since Hoover went missing she has been more… rebellious.”

“No problem, Miss. I understand her situation, more or less.” It would be like losing Murph. He is a father to me, so devastation and just an explosion of emotion would ensue his death. His freedom is dead, though. Maybe that is why I was -well, still am- upset about his pills.

After that, she kept on explaining what she wanted from me.

The Innsperta Association is a renowned organisation here in Neo-Tokyo. They centre around the development of technology from all sorts of fields. From quantum teleportation to farming equipment and fertilisers, they look to be pioneers in many areas of engineering. In their search for talent, they even have whole academias sponsored by them to find candidates to hire.

Ultimately, they have been keen on data transferring; methods of exchange of information from one place to another through quantum tunnelling. That is why Leonard asked them to develop the software in the chip that allows me to control Lorentz and the GSE Glove.

They have strong ties with the Imperator itself. In fact, the space exploration program is directed by them. Which is why Hisa has her eyebrows up high of confusion. According to many sources, they are not actually developing the rockets, suits, or anything regarding the Verne Project. Of course, one could assume that they were given the honour to supervise the project because they are a well known institution and have already worked for the Imperator numerous times.

That is why Hisa wants me to infiltrate their ground and uncover what is going on. For it, she is developing a team of four people for this operation. All of the pieces were waiting for my awakening for me to join them. Because the data will probably be encrypted as it is written in actual paper, the team is composed of one agent from Rhetoria and the other from Gramma.

“They owe me some favours, so I spent it on them for this. The rest of the information will be given to you through your sunglasses. Oh, and here is your gear. Some upgrades too, as a sign of good faith.”

“Now you got me excited.” For a few minutes, she disappears to then unveil a cloth sack with everything inside.

 The clothing is all the same. Patches in the dark blue formal shirt denote the repairs that it had from Green’s attack. Regarding the glove and the katana, only Lorentz has changed. The back of the blade has a tube across its length.

With all my original equipment on my hands, a hoodie inside the sack that I hadn’t noticed grabs my curiosity.

“It is something you will require for travelling through Neo-Tokyo and the Innsperta terrain. You were in every news outlet for many weeks. Videos about your actions, both in favour and against plague the Internet. This will make you unrecognisable.”

Grabbing the cloth sack, I ask for some time to re adjust my body and then I'll be able to execute the mission at hand.

“Of course, Julian. Your room will be the one you were kept at. You can do some sparring with my men if you’d like. Even Hayami would accept, since she wants to see if you are capable of handling the Kingslayer legacy.”

Saying goodbye to Hisa and exiting the garden at the top, I go downstairs to my room to get changed.

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Now with everything equipped, venturing through the castle in search of Hayami is my next move.

Proto-Japan is not a place I have been to a sufficient amount of times to say that my knowledge of the empire is to be admired. Hence, the furniture and the structure of everything is just delightful. Oak wooden floors with cherry red and sunset orange walls invigorate the chambers of the castle near the sky.

Going to the entrance floor, some of the shinobi on guard prompt me to battle against them for practice.

“It is an honour for us that the new Kingslayer is a katana bearer, sir!” Once again, they all bow to me. How flattering, except for the fact that it is all a coincidence and that I didn’t use Lorentz in ‘sword form’ at all.

“Please, just call me Julian. No sir treatment, I’m not that old.”

“No, sir! We are ruled to call you sir at everytime! Hoover’s orders! Sir!” Why does he talk so hurriedly? It feels like we are running a marathon while he is explaining a movie to me.

“Whatever. Can I practice outside for a bit? I want to be prepared for what’s to come.”

“Sparring is always done outside, sir! The outer area is narrow but sufficient, sir!”

“O-Okay, thanks.”

What did Hoover do to these poor men? Some sort of ego trip he had.

Walking outside, the floor is filled with gravel and stones. Some gardeners attend to the massive bushes with forms of dragons and spirits. Such precision and devotion is only awe-inspiring.

The howling winds don’t get here as walls protect the contour of the whole castle. Some windows allow its acces, though. The view is filled with surrounding structures with shrines at the top of the buildings. At the main gates, the heavy door leads to a bridge to a shrine in the construction in front of the castle.

My exploration comes to a stop as I see Hayami practising with a katana. Her movements against the training dummy are immaculate and executed with outstanding precision. Now that the wooden target is cut in half, she redirects her bloodlust towards the metal practice target.

By the pressing of a button on her sword, that orange glow from the samurai statues infuses her blade. After that, she starts circling the human-looking chunk of metal with her katana in a certain stance. Then, in a blink of an eye, she starts sprinting towards her prey.

Her sword then slashes through the metal like butter. The metal practice target upper half falls down to the floor, with a cut that left the steel red hot.

As a response, I start to slowly walk up to her and clap at her clean chop. “What a performance, Hayami. I’m really impressed.”

Shocked by my showing, she barks at me “Shut up, stupid.” What an attitude.

“Maybe a sparring between us would convince you that I’m not, in fact, stupid. What do you say? Or are you perhaps… Scared?” A slight twitch in her face makes it clear. Ego is high with this one.

“Hah! Come then, Kingslayer. Prove me wrong.” With a firm pose, and her hands on her hips, she accepts my duel.

This will be fun.