Chapter 290: Negotiation With Alice

Even after they saw Latis' defeat after taking four annihilator warheads, Tsubaki and the others did not show any reaction. They knew that the battle had come to an end and went on their respective business.

"They took it down. That would mark the end of this presentation, I presume. Now then, please allow me to excuse myself."

Tsubaki declared to Haruka and vanished without even waiting for Haruka's reply.

Next, Alice smiled at Olivia and asked.

"I believe this showcase is more than enough to make your decision, or do you still need more?"

"...We have gathered enough information from this ordeal, the rest would depend on how the aftermath is handled. If there are no problems with the aftermath, I can promise that we will consider your offer in a positive light."

"Thank you very much. Well then, we can talk about the details another day."

Alice gave a light bow to Olivia before turning to Haruka.

"I have another thing to attend to, so please excuse me. Ahh, also, although it ended in defeat, you need not worry. We will still continue to support you. Until next time then."

Similar to Tsubaki, Alice immediately left together with her servants without even waiting for Haruka to reply.

Haruka then sighed exasperatedly.

"...I guess we should go back home as well...."

"Yeah yeah, just leave already, go home."

Yatsubayashi said so while lightly waving his hand as if to shoo Haruka away. Haruka sighed again, this time, it was heavier than before.

"You, come with me too."

Yatsubayashi clicked his tongue and left the area together with Haruka.

—*—*—*—

Akira was locking eyes with Alice, who had suddenly appeared. It was as if they were glaring at each other. It was because this was the only thing Akira could do. He knew that he would be killed the moment he tried to reach for his rifle.

Akira did not question Alice's intentions after she had stated she had no wish to fight him. After all, he was still alive.

He knew Alice could easily kill him if she wanted to. It was also the reason why he knew she was not lying. At the same time, he knew that she could change her mind at any point in time.

Thus, he tried to approach this problem peacefully this time.

"...So, what do you want to talk about?"

Seeing that he was willing to negotiate, Alice smiled and pulled out a white card.

"I want you to relinquish all your rights regarding this white card."

"That card again!"

Akira inadvertently frowned the moment he saw the white card, which had given him so much trouble.

"As I've said so many times before. I've given that card to Shiori. So that is not mine. If you have something you want from that card, go talk to Shiori."

"You just need to say that you've relinquished all your rights regarding this card. That would be good enough. If it is no longer yours, it would mean nothing more than ascertaining the fact that you have given it away. I believe there should be no problems with you just stating this fact."

Akira thought her argument was sound. It also informed him that she had no intention to cause him any problems. Judging from this situation, it was clearly in his best interest to do as she said.

However, if he was someone obedient, who would accept others' demands, he would not have found himself to be in this situation.

"There is no reason for me to do that just because you asked me to."

At the very least he was able to calm down and manage not to straightforwardly refuse. Even so, that was enough for Alpha to facepalm.

"Just so you know, it is Lion Steel's fault that I have a 50 billion Aurum bounty on my head and got recognized as a monster by Kugamayama city. Do you really understand what you put me through when you are requesting something of me?"

"To be more precise, it was something that the third branch did under its own discretion. It does not have any connection to me as the representative of the eastern district main branch."

In his current situation, Akira's attitude was akin to suicide - even from the point of view of those in the eastern district. There was a huge gulf between Akira's and Alices' power, whereby the other party held full control over his life and death. This was the gap between a single Hunter and Lion Steel, a large company well renowned even in the eastern district.

However, even after Akira showed an attitude against her, Alice did not show any noticeable reaction.

"I see. How about this then? We will erase that bounty as well as that monster designation. Moreover, we will also reimburse all the expenses caused by this incident. What do you think?"

Akira was completely taken aback. He was obviously confused as he questioned.

"...It's not like you will kill me if I say no, right?"

"If you want me to, then certainly."

"Ah, no thanks, I'm fine without that."

"Then, will you take my offer?"

"Eh? Ah, well, uhh..."

Akira could not understand why someone who could easily overwhelm him with power was offering such a good offer. That confusion only caused him to become suspicious. He felt that things might get worse if he accepted Alice's offer. Thus, he pondered hard over it and finally thought of something before asking.

"That is actually a great offer for me, but... Is that because you want me to give up on Chloe?"

He had put off dealing with Chloe only after his new equipment from Sakashita arrived. Naturally, it did not change the fact that he would still kill her if he got the chance. Thus, his suspicions made him question if Alice offered such a deal to peacefully resolve the situation relatively cheaply. This was after considering the damage he could cause when he assaulted anything that housed Chloe after he got his front-line weapons.

Although he was the one who came up with this possibility, for some reason, he was not that fully convinced of it. After all, he understood if Alice had planned on protecting Chloe, it would have been better for her to just kill him. He had no clue as to why Alice did not take that option.

After she heard what Akira said, Alice tilted her head as if she was pondering over something. It took a short while before she immediately made her decision.

"Chloe, huh? Very well, please wait here for a bit."

After she made her request, her group moved away, leaving Akira there, waiting. Meanwhile, the one waiting seemed more perplexed than wary.

"Alpha... What's going on?"

"No idea. But it seems like they seriously have no desire to fight against you. That's why, don't get too emotional and stay calm alright, Akira?"

"Y-yeah."

Not too long after, one of Alice's servants returned with Shiori and Kanae in tow. Both were obviously as perplexed as Akira.

Then, another group of maids came from the direction of Kugamayama city. They stopped beside Alice, bringing with them two particular people, Chloe and Reina. Both were perplexed, but unlike Reina who seemed troubled, Chloe was smiling victoriously.

Unfortunately, both their reaction did not give him any clues as to what was happening; thus, he was even more confused than before.

—*—*—*—

After Akira killed Latis, Elena's team immediately tried to contact him. However, for some reason, they could not reach him. Although it seemed strange, they believed the annihilator warhead might have caused disruption to the communication line. Therefore, they decided to go to where Akira was instead.

But before they could reach him, two maids suddenly appeared in front of them and signaled with their hands to stop Elena's group.

"My deepest apologies. Negotiation with our company is going on. Please refrain from coming any closer."

The maids then politely bowed to Elena and Sara.

Elena tensed up. She knew just how powerful the maids were judging from their current attitude and equipment. She glanced at Sara, signaling her not to make any sudden movements.

"Just a question, you are from Lion Steel company, right?"

"Indeed, we are."

"A Hunter and a friend of ours by the name of Akira should be over there. When you said 'negotiation', is your company negotiating with him?"

"We're really sorry, but we can't answer that question."

Elena frowned and sighed. She then glanced at Shiori and Kanae, who should be also from Lion Steel, like those maids. She wanted to ask if they knew anything about this. But she quickly noticed that both looked even more worried than Elena, herself.

"Shiori-san?"

Shiori was snapped to reality when Elena called her name. However, her stern expression did not change.

"...My apologies. But I also don't understand what is going on. As such, I can only give you my rough hypothesis."

Shiori explained to Sara and Elena that those maids were affiliated with Lion Steel company's eastern district main branch. They were strong enough to kill everyone here in a blink of an eye. With those maids out here, it meant that the negotiator would be someone of a high position. Thus, she warned Elena and Sara with a grave expression.

"So, please be extra careful with your actions. In the worst-case scenario, it might be interpreted as a hostile action against the main branch."

"...Okay."

Naturally, Elena had no desire to pick a fight with the Lion Steel company as she gave a firm nod.

Shiori then hesitated for a second before stepping forward.

"I am Suzuhara Shiori affiliated to Lion Steel company eastern district fourth ward branch. I heard that my master, Reina Rylard Lorentz-sama, is under the main branch's custody. If I may, would you please tell me-"

"Silence!"

One of the maids snapped at her. There was no amiability in her expression. Not even if it was directed to someone from inside the company.

"Don't get in the way of our duty!"

It was a warning from the maid, stating that she would see Shiori's actions as a disturbance and deal with it accordingly the next time she did that.

"...I'm really sorry."

Shiori deeply bowed and stepped back. Kanae's face turned pale as she whispered to Shiori.

"Ane-san... Isn't this..."

"It is as you might fear... Just what is going on here..."

Although these maids here were from the main branch, they must be of a lower position. They were posted to watch the area instead of being allowed to be present during the negotiation. However, even when Shiori was being careful with her words, that reply was rather harsh. This hinted that even the maids were on edge, which would only happen if the negotiator was someone of an extremely high position. Kanae and Shiori believe only representative Alice could cause the maids to react in such a manner. Thus, they believe Alice had come directly to meet and negotiate with Akira. This was extremely abnormal.

Soon, another maid appeared. Judging from the attitude of the two maids posted as watchmen, the new maid was of a higher position than them. She walked towards Shiori and Kanae before ordering.

"You two, come with me."

Shiori and Kanae frowned and seemed troubled. However, they did not have a choice. They had to do as they were told. When they reached the premise, they did not expect Alice to be really there, especially with Reina and Chloe.

Chloe was surprised to see Akira there too. However, she quickly came to a conclusion when she saw Alice was in the midst of negotiating with him and smiled.

[I won...!]

She was delighted, believing that she had made the right decision and won her bet. Naturally, she hid her excitement from her expression.

Back in Mihazono ruin, Alice had given Olivia some information regarding the current Lion Steel company. However, for the old Lion Steel company, the new Lion Steel company was a completely separate entity and any information provided from Alice's side had been deemed to be without credibility. Thus, Olivia decided there was a need for an investigation.

All these incidents that were started by the white card were part of Olivia's investigation. It was to show the old Lion Steel company that the current Lion Steel company was indeed a large conglomerate just like Alicia had stated. The bigger the incident got, the better it was to show how powerful and large the current Lion steel company was.

That was the reason why Alice gave such a vague order to those in the area - to deal with the matter regarding the white card on their own. If she had preferred not to cause any more incidents, she would have given precise instructions. She would have told Shiori, who had the white card at that time, to obey the head of the third branch, Beltram.

And as Alice had planned, Chloe went on a rampage, which triggered a chain reaction. It ultimately led to a huge battle next to the city's inner wall, where an officer from one of the five big companies, Sakashita Heavy Industry, was located. Alice believed that she had demonstrated enough power of the company to Olivia. Thus, the next thing she needed to do was show that she had the power to bring the chaotic situation under her control.

It was not like Chloe knew Alice's whole plan. However, she had guessed it to some extent. When she saw Alice negotiating with Akira, she believed it to be whether he would surrender or get killed. Chloe believed that eventually, Alice would deal with the source of the incident, Akira, to show Lion Steel's might to both those inside and outside the company.

[Now that we're going into the cooling-off phase, there's no need to cause any further incidents! This means, there is a good chance that negotiations between Olivia and the representative Alice went well! There's no doubt that it is all thanks to my contribution! Since I'm the one who helped smooth the deal with the old-world Lion Steel company, it won't be strange for me to be promoted to the main branch! I did it! I won my bet!!]

Although she had to cross many dangerous bridges, all those dangers she faced only added to how great her achievement was. Chloe was drunk, imagining what kind of bright future awaited her.

Alice then stood in front of Chloe and swung her hand. The shockwave from her hand hit Chloe head-on, turning her into minced meat in a blink of an eye.

After Alice killed her, she then looked at Akira, who was thunderstruck by the sudden change of events. She smiled at him, with the same smile she had since the start of the negotiation.

"Will this be good enough?"

Akira snapped back to reality. Although he was still as confused as before, there was a slight tint of reproach in his eyes.

"...Isn't she supposed to be on the same side as you?"

"That's exactly why we took care of it ourselves. To not cause any more trouble, and to show that we are sorry for what had happened. It is much better for us to take care of her ourselves."

Akira thought that Alice made a good point. If he was the one to kill Chloe, it might become a seed for another conflict with the Lion Steel company. However, if Alice was the one who did it, this would simply end as the company taking care of its own internal problem. Thus, it was a very convincing way for Alice to show that she was apologetic to him.

Even so, Akira still felt that it was a bit of an overkill.

Seeing Akira's troubled expression, Alice then continued.

"Was that not enough? In that case, should I also do the same to this side as well since they're the ones responsible for getting you involved?"

Alice then directed her arm to Reina's group.

Shiori and Kanae quickly stepped in front of Reina. Although they knew that it was futile, that they would get turned to dust along with Reina, they still could not sit still and stay silent.

"W-wait!"

Akira inadvertently tried to stop Alice. Although she turned toward him, her hand was still directed at Reina's group. Thus, Akira continued to try to calm her down.

"...They helped me quite a lot. So, you don't have to kill them as well. It's already good enough, so just stop here."

Alice lowered her hand and smiled at him.

"Will that be everything then? If yes, if you may, please."

Akira realized that by saying that, Alice had basically successfully steered the conversation. It was as if he had accepted the offer that she had made. But on the other hand, since he was the one who stopped Alice, he felt that it was not right for him to state that he had changed his mind at this point. Therefore, Akira simply gave it up and heaved a huge sigh.

"I relinquish all my rights regarding that card... Is that good enough?"

"Thank you very much! Now then, please let me excuse myself. I look forward to working with you in the future if the chance presents itself."

Alice tucked the white card back and activated her camouflaging device to immediately vanish. The other maids and butlers also did the same afterwards. Although Akira was still able to detect them retreating from the area through his information-gathering device, their signals vanished soon enough.

Akira immediately let gravity take control of his body and collapse to the ground with a thud.

"Just what in the world was that...?"

And as expected, no one there could answer his question, which came from the depths of his heart.

After Alice and her servants left, the isolation of the area was immediately lifted. Not too long after, Elena, Sara, and Carol appeared in front of Akira. They were so glad to find he was still fine. They did try to ask him what had happened, but Akira was just as confused as they were. Therefore, for now, they decided to return back to Sheryl's base together with Reina's group.

Once Akira returned, the area was under a strict watch from the city defence squad. Their excuse was to maintain the safety of the area. When news of Latis' attack reached the inner wall, as expected, City Management could not afford to ignore it any longer. Although they did not go as far as to arrest Akira and the others, the group was advised not to go outside of Sheryl's base. After all, their main goal was to maintain neutrality. It would be counter-effective to arrest Akira, Though, thanks to their presence, Akira's group need not worry about another attack for the time being.

Personally speaking, Akira wanted to bathe. However, Alpha warned him not to. After all, he was too exhausted and would most likely relax too much, enough to drown. Thus, he had no other choice but to take a mere shower. After he finished showering, Akira threw himself on top of the bed in a room that he borrowed from Sheryl. The moment he relaxed, fatigue assaulted him. He allowed it to take full control and lull himself to sleep.

—*—*—*—

Inside a certain meeting room within the inner wall of Kugamayama city, Inabe slammed his fist on top of the table.

"Goddammit!!"

It was amazing how he was able to hold himself back until all the officers from the Lion Steel company had left. However, because of how much he had bottled up, the moment he let it out, it was powerful enough to dent the table.

All the city officers of Kugamayama city, including Inabe, were informed by the Lion Steel company. They were all told that everything that had happened, the chains of incidents, the strange monsters that appeared near the city, and even the attack from the mutated Latis that hit buildings within the inner wall, were all not the will of the company.

This was a humongous incident. It was created from the combination of multiple factors. There were two main ones, namely, one of their servants went on an insane rampage after the death of her coworker and the unexpected effects of the medicine used during the battle. Overall, it was just one large accident, and the company did not mean for it to happen. That was the formal statement provided by Lion Steel.

As expected, Inabe and the others did not believe this to be the truth. It was impossible for such an incident to occur if some parts were not pre-planned or agreed upon. Thus, they already knew that part of it was completely intentional. However, they had no other choice but to accept it. If they declared this statement to be false, it would spark a war and the opponent would be the Lion Steel Company Eastern District Main Branch. Kugamayama city had virtually zero chance to win.

Lion Steel was willing to take responsibility for this incident and offer the city payment for the damages that they caused. However, that would make it no different than sweeping everything under the rug for money! The situation whereby the city could do nothing but accept was extremely humiliating, causing Inabe to be livid.

One of Inabe's men tried to calm him down.

"Chief! Please calm down. Most do chalk this incident up as rude treatment by the Lion Steel company to Kugamayama city. Also, the matter with Akira has come to an end with this. Although it was not publicly declared, it could be seen as him forcing Lion Steel to withdraw the 50 billion bounty placed on him. Recognising a connection with someone like that, your influence will greatly increase. And Akira's reason to attack the city has completely disappeared. This could be seen as a resolution that was achieved due to your contribution."

"...You're right."

Inabe took a deep breath, trying to regain his calm.

"...Send a request to the other departments. Get everyone to calculate the total damages incurred. Include the expense from dispatching the defence squad and the damage to the lower district as well. Just include everything, and I mean everything you can find."

"Right away!"

His men gave a light bow and quickly got to work. Seeing them leave, Inabe also tried to change his mood and got back to his own duties. However, due to a specific person, his expression was still tinted with irritation.

"...But still, to think that he didn't even attend the officer meeting just now. Just where is he now?"

Although he was a very important person who could manipulate Kugamayama city to his will, Yanagisawa was nowhere to be seen during the city officer meeting.

—*—*—*—

Inside one of a room under the area owned by Sakashita Heavy Industry, located in the upper district of Kugamayama city, Sugadome, who was a high-ranking officer from Sakashita Heavy Industry, was listening to the explanation regarding the recent incident from the branch manager of Lion Steel company third ward branch, Beltram.

"...Very well, I understand that this was an accident. Our company has no wish to say anything regarding the matter if both Kugamayama city and Lion Steel company are fine with this conclusion."

"Thank you very much!"

"But still, about the medicine that you mentioned before, would it be possible for us to get the data as well? If it's possible, I also want to know how you managed to lay your hands on such a medicine and why you have it stockpiled. I want to know everything."

Beltram, who was conversing with a polite smile, froze for a moment.

"...Is it something really necessary?"

"Yes. If such a medicine that could cause such a huge accident were to be found in our possession, it would be extremely dangerous, no? So, in order to prevent something similar from happening in the future, don't you think it would be wise to share this piece of information?"

Beltram once again went silent. He then thought about what might happen if he refused. After considering the gains and losses for the Lion Steel company, he then said with a smile.

"...Very well. But the data is under the possession of the main branch. As such, I cannot send you the data right away. I will have to contact the main branch and the process would take some time, would that be alright?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Thank you very much, we shall send you the data at a later-"

"Also, if it's difficult to send the data to us since it is highly confidential, I don't mind receiving the data through another method."

"What do you mean?"

"I've actually sent a request for anti-rebuild personnel, you see. You can deliver the information through that request. They are affiliated with the Corporate Government and we have some of our men among them as well. Naturally, the main aim is to prevent the rebuild. So, even if you conveyed a corporate secret on such a platform, there would be no need to worry that it might leak to Sakashita. After all, it is under the strict watchful eyes of the Corporate Government. Would that work for you?"

Beltram's amiable smile vanished for a second since that suggestion completely came out of the left field. However, he quickly returned back to his usual smile.

"Personally speaking, I don't think there's any need to go that far, but the one to decide would be the main branch. I will at least convey that suggestion to the main branch."

"I see."

Beltram and Sugadome looked at each other with mutual respect as fellow high-ranking officers from their respective companies and ended their conversation there.

As soon as Beltram ended the meeting and left the room, Sugadome quickly made a call to Kuzusuhara ruin. He ordered with a solemn expression.

"It's me. Investigate why representative Alice from Lion Steel came to this place right away."

"Hasn't it been confirmed that it was for the sake of negotiations with the old-world Lion Steel company...? We have also confirmed that is the reason why Kugamayama city was dragged into the recent incident. Considering that this even warranted representative Alice to come here as well, I believe there is no need for any suspicion."

"Redo the investigation. There's a good chance they are hiding something behind that seemingly perfect excuse."

"Very well. If I may ask, what is the basis of this suspicion?"

"The head of the third ward branch reacted when I mentioned the anti-rebuild. Furthermore, the assault group that attacked the city came from their facility in Higaraka residence ruin, which was built right before the incident regarding the white card."

"...Which means that they may have planned to attack the city even before the matter with the white card came up?"

"It's just to be safe."

"We will redo the investigation right away."

Sugadome then ended the call with someone by the name of Matsubara. Judging from his tone, it seemed like Matsubara was able to understand the gravity of the situation.

Sugadome then sighed with a frown on his face.

"I hope that it's nothing but unfounded fear."

The 'rebuild' referred to in the 'anti-rebuild' was the reconstruction of civilization. And the first phase of the reconstruction process included wiping off existing civilization first. Basically, the rebuild meant completely destroying the current civilization and forcing it to join a part of the old-world. The anti-rebuild was formed to prevent this from happening. It was one of the rare occasions in which the 5 biggest corporations in the eastern district, who were hostile against each other, were willing to work together.

Although the current Lion Steel company under Alice was focused on trade across the eastern district, it still was deeply related to the old-world. After all, it was led by Alice, who originated from the old-world. If the need ever arose, Sugadome was concerned that she would initiate the rebuild without hesitation.

Furthermore, with Shirou's escape, everything seemed to be connected in Sugadome's mind.

—*—*—*—

After Beltram left the inner wall, he made a call to the main branch from inside the car. Inside his augmented vision, he could see Alice and Flip, the branch manager from the fourth ward branch.

"Beltram, Flip, report!"

After listening to both reports, Alice lightly nodded and declared.

"Very well. I will prepare the data to be sent to Sakashita. Regarding the fact that he mentioned the anti-rebuild, let's ignore it for now. Whether it's a bluff or not, does not matter. Continue with your usual duties."

Inside the virtual space, Beltram and Flip bowed. After they exchanged a glance, Beltram then asked.

"Representative Alice. Personally speaking, we both agree that Reina and Chloe did very well for the sake of the company. Especially Chloe's contribution toward the company. It is enormous. but you've killed her, was there some kind of mistake in how we evaluated Chloe's achievement?"

As the branch manager of the third ward branch, he had to be careful with how he treated those from the same faction as Chloe. With Alice eliminating her, it would definitely affect that faction. Since Alice's evaluation seemed to deviate from his, there was a need for him to fix his evaluations.

However, Alice did not deny Beltram's opinion.

"No, they both did very well. Give their group and faction the reward that they deserve."

Chloe was already dead. Thus, Alice was suggesting they take her death as her sacrificing her own life for the sake of the company. In which case, the faction to which she belonged would reap the reward for what she did.

"Understood... If I may, in that case, why did you kill her?"

"Because there was a need to."

After Alice had demonstrated the power of the current Lion Steel company to Olivia, the only thing left was to deal with the aftermath. Alice thought that using more power to calm down the situation would only lower Olivia's evaluation of her.

The reason why she had Akira give up all his rights regarding the card was because it was the source of all the conflicts. It was also Alice's way to put out the fire of the conflict. Moreover, she wanted to have someone in her own company have ownership rights for the card.

Normally, once the original owner of the card had given up their rights, the card would be simply returned. However, Akira gave that card to Shiori, and although it was not through the correct procedure, Shiori did accept it. With Akira relinquishing his rights, as per protocol, the ownership of the card had transferred onto Shiori.

Although the death of the owner would also free up ownership of the card, Alice did not kill him. The reason being her main goal was to calm down the situation. Otherwise, she would have killed him.

With that goal in mind, Alice decided to kill Chloe so that Akira would agree to relinquish his ownership of the card. If necessary, she would have killed Reina's group as well. As a matter of fact, Alice took Reina and Chloe under her custody in case they were needed as sacrifice.

Naturally, Alice did not care whether Chloe lived or not. If Chloe had somehow managed to survive or Akira somehow got killed, there was a good chance that Chloe would have got promoted to the main branch due to her achievements.

However, Akira survived, and he mentioned Chloe during their negotiation. Thus, Chloe's death was set in stone.

After Alice gave an explanation, Beltram nodded deeply. There was no need for him to fully understand Alice's reasons for why she did what she did. The most important thing for him was to be in line with her way of deciding reward and punishment.

Chloe was able to accurately predict Alice's will, but she made a mistake in the very end.

Even if Chloe won her bet, even if she was able to leave a great achievement inside Lion Steel, that did not guarantee that she would be spared. She would indeed be greatly rewarded had she been alive. However, that was all there was to it. For Alice, making the deal with the old-world Lion Steel company was worth more than preserving the life of the Lorentz family.

Alice made her decision based on her priorities. That was all there was to it.

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