Chapter 278: Unexpected Intervention
"You almost caused a big problem, you know that, right?"
Auric nodded. "I know. That’s why I’ve been careful with my words."
Lunaria let out a long sigh. "Well, that’s good. I don’t really plan to lecture you or anything. After all, it’s true that the military was the one that made the mistake. So, I guess you intend to get the dividend from this place?"
"No." Auric shook his head calmly. "I give it to the Relesha family completely."
"What?" Lunaria raised her eyebrows.
"It’s just... if you could hear me for a second..."
Lunaria frowned. "This is the reason I chose to marry into the Relesha family. Scheming is not really my cup of tea."
Auric scratched the back of his head. "I plan to give this to the government."
"Wouldn’t it be better to just give it to the military?"
"No. The military made a mistake. Instead, the Relesha family could gain something from the ruins." Auric raised one finger. "A full pardon for the Relesha family as well as my teacher. Expunge everything from Teacher Maya’s record."
"!!!" Lunaria widened her eyes in shock. She definitely didn’t think of this plan. Auric actually let go of such a treasure for Maya. "You, kid..."
Auric just smiled, as there was no need for more words.
"Thank you." Lunaria just hugged Auric.
Lunaria might have accepted the fact that she was Edward’s second wife. His first wife had passed away. She had a good life with three beautiful children.
However, Lunaria came as the second wife and gave birth to the third son, William, and the youngest daughter, Maya. In other words, she was Maya’s biological mother.
Even though she didn’t treat the other children differently, her affection for her biological children was still higher.
For Auric to give up a treasure to erase Maya’s record was something that words couldn’t describe.
Auric smiled. "I hope you can convince the rest of the family, Madam. I’m not entirely sure how to convince the rest since the Relesha family can use this for other, more useful purposes."
"We prioritize family, so you don’t have to worry about that. Besides, Madam is too distant. You can call me auntie... No, you can call me mother." Lunaria smiled. "What do you think about our Maya? If you want, I will give you more pictures of her. Maya in her uniform? Cheerleader uniform? Or—"
Auric was taken aback. His mind was shouting aloud. ’More? So, you were the one who slipped that picture in?’
...
The award ceremony proceeded smoothly, albeit in such an awkward atmosphere. In the end, they couldn’t say anything because the Relesha family had already taken Auric away. In addition, Auric had been the one doing the talking.
In the end, the Night and Day team took first place.
On the other hand, Jackson was completely devastated. At one point, people didn’t even remember that he existed anymore.
Others were more focused on what Auric had found. Besides, this incident wouldn’t look good on him. His track record would have such a huge stain that people would think twice whether to recruit him or not.
Of course, Auric sold the artifacts to the Relesha family. He asked Ellia to take them out and left only a few pieces that he had singled out behind. He intended to use them either for research or for other things.
However, this incident caused quite a stir. After all, for the first time in 22 years, the record that Joker held had finally been broken in such a spectacular way.
But it couldn’t be compared to what was going on behind the scenes.
Evolution Association.
Chief Lucas raised his head and heard a knock. "Come in."
Two men entered the room, each of them possessing strength that couldn’t be underestimated.
"What are you two doing here?" Chief Lucas asked.
"Chief Lucas, we are delivering you a letter." The man on the left came forward and took out a letter.
"..." Chief Lucas frowned and took out the letter. His eyes turned cold as he read it. "Are you really going to do this?"
"Please understand the situation, Chief Lucas."
"If you touch even a single hair of this kid, this will mean war against the Evolution Association!"
"Chief Lucas!"
"Shut up!" Chief Lucas slammed the table. "This is my final warning. And I’m doing this for your own good, you ingrates! Tell Samuel that this is the last time I’m saving his ass!"
The two of them were speechless.
Chief Lucas gritted his teeth, cursing in his mind. ’I’m saving you. Isn’t the military planning to use the gathering techniques as a supplementary energy? If that kid dies, you can’t even use it. The Relesha family is going to protect that kid with whatever they’ve got, and it’s impossible for you to kill him in a single assassination. If you fail, it’s all over.’
Chief Lucas wanted to say it aloud, but he had promised Auric that he wouldn’t blabber his secret.
"Do you think I don’t know what is going on? The military was completely outplayed by a terrorist organization, and people were already trying to figure it out. And instead of fixing your own problem, you actually planned to use this kid as a scapegoat? Is this truly the stance of the military?!"
The two men panicked.
Chief Lucas got even more annoyed. "I’ll pretend I’ve never seen this. You bastards. Get out!"
...
Mathias sipped his tea and said, "The military is playing a very dangerous game right now."
"..." The president glanced to the side with a grim expression.
The army chief of staff, Samuel, looked at Mathias with a cold expression. "This is not a game."
"You should tell that to your subordinates."
"You should tell that kid that there are things that shouldn’t be spoken out loud. If he wants to settle this problem, he should have done it quietly and fixed the system internally."
Mathias crossed his arms. "He gave you a chance to fix the mess without making it too big. If not, the narrative will become like this. The terrorists have led the military by the nose, and the military is too busy to make an innocent victim a scapegoat."
"Both of you, that’s enough." The president sighed. "I’m not here to listen to you bickering with each other. Samuel, it’s clearly the military’s fault. Chief Adjudicator Arnie went there personally to warn everyone about the situation and request that the event be postponed."
"He should have fixed this problem internally. If he wants me to apologize, I will apologize personally. But this is already making a mess. The trust in the military is dropping!" Samuel protested.
"Haaa... This is pathetic. This generation of the military has declined. If Yoh were still alive, he would be too embarrassed to even call himself the General of the Army." Mathias sighed. "The kid truly wanted to handle this mess quietly. He even intended to use me to deliver the information about the ruins to the government through me, but now... I’m considering it."
"So, he..." The president turned to Mathias.
"Yeah. If it weren’t for the military making a mess of this, I would have come to tell you that. Then, you can just tell the media to spread the news, saying, There’s been a misunderstanding, and it has been resolved or something. The proof is that the ruins have been given to the government with his permission. Done. But now..." Mathias facepalmed. "Now, I’m itching for a fight."
Samuel clenched his fists.
"Well, that’s enough." All of a sudden, they heard a voice that didn’t come from the three of them.
Samuel and Mathias instinctively rose from their seats, as if ready to attack.
The president, on the other hand, had a clearer view as to who had just entered.
"You..."
"This is rather embarrassing. I’ve heard there is a brilliant young man who has just broken my record, so I return here. Now, I feel like covering my face out of embarrassment."
Samuel’s body shook. "Joker..."
"Chief of Staff Samuel. The military is clearly in the wrong. Shut up and deal with it. Even a baby can cry to let others know they don’t like something. It’s the adult’s job to figure out why the baby is crying."
The moment Joker entered the room, the situation changed completely.
Joker simply took a seat and asked, "After I die, this country might not even have another rank 7 human. No, even before I die, this country might not have a rank 7 human anymore."
"J-Joker!" The president panicked as he couldn’t ignore the statement.
"What? I know that the country is corrupt. Corruption exists everywhere. How severe it is, I don’t personally care. As long as the seven deadly sins exist, it’s impossible for humans to be free from corruption. I know, it’s in our blood.
"However, I like competition. Competition allows people to clash. The biggest development in the world came from competitions. And someone is trying to destroy that spirit.
"Say, Chief of Staff. You like to solve the problem quietly, don’t you? Okay, fine. Let’s do this. I have a problem with this country. Let’s see... if you were to kill yourself in front of me right now, I won’t leave this country. What do you say?"
"W-What? T-That’s..." Samuel’s body trembled.
"No? Don’t you like to solve it quietly? Come on, I want to solve this problem quietly. Simple, right? Slit your throat and this is over." Joker crossed his arms. "What’s wrong? You can’t do it? In the end, that’s the kind of person you are. Excuses, excuses, excuses.
"What next? You’re going to say that people need to be loyal to their country when they’re being mistreated like this?
"What if you ask someone to dedicate their life to the country and that person demands that you kill yourself or step down? You don’t want to? This is for the country. You ask someone for something that you don’t even want to give." Joker extended his hand, gesturing for Samuel to speak.
"Come on. I definitely don’t have the sharpest mind. You might be smarter than I am, so give me the solution to my problem."
What Joker said couldn’t be ignored. It might have been excessive, but in the end, it was a hypothetical situation.
"J-Joker. How about we settle this in the original way? The government will step in and receive the ruins. People will know it’s a misunderstanding." The president tried to stop Joker.
"That was what I intended to do, but after hearing the arguments..." Joker frowned. "I have to rethink my decision. I don’t want to interfere with the government, but I expect the government also respects me."
The president took a deep breath. "How do you intend to settle this, Joker?"
Joker narrowed his eyes.
...
One day later.
News had been released.
[The Relesha family has reported the finding of the Mysterious Cave Ruins to the government.]
[There was a misunderstanding prior to this matter, and it has been resolved. The Relesha family has reported the finding with Auric Elfe’s permission.]
In the military headquarters, the soldiers were whispering to each other.
"Did you hear it? I heard that Chief Samuel is retiring."
"Did the military really make a big mistake like this? The timing was simply too suspicious."
"Ssshh... Don’t say anything or you won’t have a peaceful life in the military."
The two soldiers suddenly stopped, moved to the side, and saluted.
General Marcel—or perhaps he could no longer be called that—walked across the hallway. The two soldiers noticed that something was missing.
On General Marcel’s chest, there were only three stars instead of four.
The two soldiers didn’t say anything as they just looked at each other, knowing that something big had happened.
In Thunderer City, Maya silently read the messages from her grandfather.
He had actually sent her a document about the full pardon. It showed that her record had been cleared. With this, she could return to serving as an adjudicator or travel anywhere she wanted.
[You’d better thank your husband for this.]
[*your student.]