Chapter 64: Armed Johnson Ltd.
Armed Johnson Ltd. was a firearm manufacturer founded by Harold C. Johnson several years after The Fall.
At the beginning, the company was one of many countless others that tried to jump on the train to assist Britain’s military against the Predicament.
But that changed when the founder later handed over the company to his son, Neuman C. Johnson, before his death, which was the greatest decision he could’ve made.
Despite Neuman being young and somewhat inexperienced in the business industry, he was able to build further on the foundations of his late father.
He took on heavy risks and ambiguous gambles to expand the company, which, as a result, allowed him to turn it into what it is today.
A giant among others, and one of the few companies in Britain that the GOHG relies heavily on to manufacture its gear, so that they could focus on more troubling matters.
Neuman was said to be one of the greatest firearm dealers of their time.
And that same Neuman was rumoured to have a daughter, one he pampered immensely, much to everyone’s dismay.
’Though rumoured might be rather inaccurate,’ Hilda thought, resting the side of her face in her palm. ’For a company as large as Armed Johnson Ltd., it’s difficult to hide things as important like a having daughter from the press.’
From time to time, Hilda would see news of Neuman’s daughter, and even words from people in both the LRM and POR about her.
And from what she gathered was that the woman was very... spoiled and bratty.
She didn’t enjoy spending time around areas she considered "poor", and neither did she enjoy spending time around the people in it.
’I’ve also heard she’s somewhat of a clean freak, which seems to be true to an extent from what I’ve seen.’
Though Hilda couldn’t really blame her much, considering most people would react more or less the same if they were covered in dust.
’She was also said to have several charges of oppression and bribery. But I doubt any of them actually stayed with her, with the help of her father.’
The fact that Beatrice belonged to an extremely wealthy background allowed her to do a lot of things with consequences. And it was this fact alone that surprised Hilda when she realised that the daughter of a wealthy CEO was taking part in the exam.
’Usually, when the child of a wealthy person awakens their Heart, they would have it covered up und hidden by their family in an attempt to prevent them from being forced into conscription. But that didn’t seem to be the case here...’
Hilda wondered if something happened between Neuman and his daughter, or if something else was at play.
After all, she doubted a pampering parent would willingly allow his child to go somewhere dangerous, even if it would toughen them up into a capable soldier.
’Maybe they were caught,’ She mused.
Hilda didn’t know. Nor did she care very much.
All she knew was that Beatrice was a much easier person to predict, due to all the information she had on her, and because of that... Hilda was certain step two of her plan was going to run smoothly.
’I’ve already predicted that she wouldn’t cross the rubble, with the idea that she didn’t want to get dirty again. But now I need to think about which of the two groups to go after~...’
She glanced at the group Beatrice was leading, then at the other group.
And after she made her decision, she smirked and leapt off the ledge she was sitting on with a single thought in mind.
’Time to touch up on my sculpting skills~...’
...
"UGH! Where in god’s name are they!?"
Beatrice stomped her foot, visibly frustrated. They had been wandering around the area for roughly half an hour, yet they hadn’t spotted a single one from their group.
"Didn’t I tell them we’d meet up on another street? Why haven’t we seen each other yet?!"
"Uhm, Miss Johnson, you didn’t specify which street—"
"Who asked you!?"
After silencing the person who spoke up behind her, she snorted and continued walking. But she did reflect on the person’s words. Maybe it was her fault, to an extent, but that shouldn’t explain why they haven’t heard of the other half in the slightest!
They hadn’t heard a single person’s voice from the other group, nor anything that could hint in their direction. It was like they had completely gone utterly quiet!
’Wait, they couldn’t have just decided to take a nap somewhere, could they? It would explain why they’re unresponsive...’ Beatrice thought before sneering, ’Honestly, if that’s true, then they’re really just a bunch of good-for-nothin—’
BOOM!
"What hell was that!?"
Beatrice’s body immediately tensed up at the loud noise.
She hurriedly turned towards the direction of the noise and noticed a small pillar of smoke rising over the buildings.
Beatrice was taken aback.
’Did something explode?’ She wondered in startlement, ’... From where the smoke is rising, it doesn’t seem like it’s very far from here.’
It was at least fifteen to eighteen metres from where they were.
Could it be the other half of their group?
’Maybe they got tired of trying to find us and decided to set up a smoke signal!’ She speculated in surprise, not having expected them to have the intelligence to come up with this plan.
’But there’s a downside to this...’
By creating a smoke signal, they wouldn’t just be attracting them, but also Predicaments!
’We need to hurry!’
After forcing someone to carry her on their back, they all hurried towards the location of the explosion.
And when they arrived, they stumbled upon the edge of a scene covered in burns and char.
Naturally, the sight of this unnerved them, but they continued onwards, moving further into the site that was in partial ruin.
Slash marks on the ground, broken walls, and more burns... it was clear that a battle had taken place here or something of the sort.
’What on Earth happened...?’ Everyone thought.
With hesitation clear on their faces, they continued moving further in.
And when they reached the centre of the area, they discovered a massive bonfire that was the source of the smoke, along with a woman in an all-black uniform, who...
Was standing over the bodies of the other half of their group.