481 Who's the Mastermind?
I've come all the way here to resolve this issue. I reminded myself. After hearing the circumstance from Chief Raie, I understand just getting rid of the griffon won't do.
"I'll do something about it. Let's start with the griffon. So, do you have anyone in mind that might be the mastermind?"
Chief Raie reacted to me with a 'Eh? Wha?' like it came out of the left field.
"What are you saying? And what is a 'mastermind'? If by that you mean the culprit then I have quite a lot in mind. In fact, some of our employees might as well be. We already investigated several among those who left. But none of them seems plausible enough to be the one who erected such an elaborate plan."
Apparently the word 'mastermind' doesn't exist in this world.
But I don't get why they're letting those employees be if their investigation was that thorough.
My face seemingly showed my thought, Raie spoke.
"It's all the same everywhere, you see. This Waking Grass environment. It's not like our site produces the most nor do we have a special production method. There's nothing here that warrants such a specialized infiltration effort. So we let them be. We have no idea about our opponent's goal to begin with. Hence, letting them swim free. But we could never find out who was behind them despite knowing their suspicious activity early on. I mean, we were short on manpower, and they did do their job well. We never caught them red handed doing anything suspicious in the end."
"Did they never go in the woods? What about investigation on that point. Like perhaps, they were here to secure a spot to land the griffon on?"
I threw her a simple question. If those people were employed to do basic tasks, perhaps they never did anything that would warrant suspicion in the first place.
"Oh I never thought of that. You're right. There wasn't anywhere spacious enough for that giant beast to stay in the woods initially. A blind spot. I was sure they were just trying to improve the environment there when they started felling trees. Ah, they got me good."
Looks like those former employees did that right before the griffon landed.
Everything clicked now.
And now to plan things out. Though first I gotta ask one thing.
"Can we trust the employees that are still working here? Any chance those three are working for the culprit, and part of the ploy?"
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"Those three aren't like that at all. I hired them personally. They also revere me. They won't do something as unjust as this."
"What if they had been planning to take over the site before you hired them?"
I threw a slightly cruel inquiry. I mean we haven't the foggiest idea about the mastermind. We got to eliminate all possibilities now.
The scale of shock that comes with the revelation later differs depending on how much you knew beforehand.
The bigger the shock the more you hesitate on your next move. Which might create a fatal opening.
It might prove fatal later if you don't prepare yourselves for the smallest possibilities here.
I do think I'm being harsh to Chief Raie but it's something that must be done.
She remained silent at this.
"...I want to believe them. But yes, you're right it all might have been an act... however, I choose to believe them. They've been with me through thick and thin. They even stayed with me even after things came to this point."
She's what you'd call naive. But I suppose anyone would if they were in her shoes. I'm not going to pursue on the matter further.
"So now let's talk about what to do. I'll take care of the Griffon before more mercenaries come back. The culprit might hire them and use griffon extermination as a pretext to push their way through."
Raie was shocked at my reasoning.
"No they can't! They can't do that without my permission, you know!? And even if they make the demand, they can't enter without my consent."
"But what if an outside party hired them? Saying that they're afraid the griffon might harm them one day if left alone for too long. They won't care if the 'person in charge' of this site gives the permission or not."
Raie was agape at this. This pattern is an annoying one.
She might refuse them because the site is under her supervision but since the mercenaries are hired by an outside party, they don't care about all that formalities and force their way in.
Using the possibility of the griffon causing damage to this outside party in the future as a pretext.
"Terrible news, Chief! Those mercs are here again! They're demanding us to let them in and exterminate the griffon!"
Looks like we were a step too late. Chief Raie took a deep breath before speaking loudly.
"I'll go talk to them. Tell them to wait for me."
The employee was startled at her loud voice before running back outside in a hurry.
"I'd like to borrow your power, I don't care what it is. You told me earlier. Can I put my faith in you?"
Looks like she's made the resolve despite my unknown background. It must not feel good to rely on an outsider. But she doesn't have the luxury to mind that now.
I can't avert my eyes either now that I'm involved in this mess. Heck, I'd like to get even on this mastermind.
Cause it's like they're making a fool out of my favorite Waking Grass.
"Guess I'll let you see a glimpse of my seriousness."
I joked a bit to relax the shaking Chief if only for a tad.
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