Chapter 64

Chapter 5 Inside Out (11)

***

“Yes, yes, senior. It’s nothing. No, I’m not being threatened. Yes? A password? I forgot—”

“[#*(&[email protected]&*()*$(!!!!!]”

“Aaaa! I remember! I remember! Rocket with candy, right? I’ve told you a million times I’m not being threatened. Yes? Team 3 has already put everything down and is ready to deploy? Even the armament is loaded?”

Thanks to the professor’s desperate efforts, Ezel, who had risen with puffed cheeks, tried to understand the current situation as the professor’s words flew out like a machine gun. Seeing the sun gradually setting in the west, he turned pale, rushed to the suit, and for over ten minutes, groaned like a salaryman who had lost a contract, next to the built-in transceiver.

“Hey, Vex. What are you saying? Can you hear me?”

“Shh! I can’t hear everything because of the distance... Rocket—deployment—armament? Are you talking about this?”

“Damn, that means they’re coming! Professor! We’re in trouble! You guys pack your bags! I’ll set up all the traps on the way in!”

“If things get rough, we’ll take a hostage. I tried a hostage situation in Tobrun recently, and I think I have a knack for it.”

“I should have stopped you from cutting that rope earlier.”

“I didn’t think I’d use it again.”

While the three friends plotted their dark schemes behind him, Ezel was somehow managing to defuse the situation.

“Yes, yes. Oh, sure. A report? Well, the inspection department’s wallpaper is old, and you always said you didn’t like looking at it, so it’s a good thing. I’ll wallpaper the whole place with reports this time. Don’t worry, come in. Buy the Team 3 guys a drink with public funds. Ah, right. Of course, I’ll deduct it from my salary later. Yes, yes. I’ll return soon. Yes, come in~”

Pfft—

Ezel let down his in-ear device and sighed in relief. There were plenty of people who would have to do continuous prostrations until their faces were red, but he seemed to have successfully handled the immediate crisis.

‘The professor doesn’t seem to hate me as much as I thought.’

Anyway, if he could return safely, everything would be fine, right? If he had resolved the long-standing grudge with the BDSM leader using dozens of reports, Suji must have been hit pretty hard.

‘Right! This is actually an opportunity! With the professor’s and the spice merchant’s skills, it’s obvious that BDSM will grow bigger! If I use my friendship with the professor to advocate for my role as a bridge between the dome and BDSM, I might even get a promotion instead of a reprimand!’

If he could maintain a good relationship and BDSM was eventually recruited by the dome, the professor would also move into the dome. This could be a win-win for everyone.

“You look really happy?”

“Hiiik!”

Ezel snapped out of his happy thoughts when he saw the professor standing next to him, who had approached at some point.

“Hmm? Oh, that. The conversation went well.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, yeah. I convinced them desperately, and they seemed to understand. The problem won’t escalate from here.”

“Oh, that’s great. Hey, Vex! Put that down! The dome isn’t going to attack!”

“Huh?”

Ezel turned his head to see the old man Vex, who had approached from behind, holding a sack of rice.

“No attack? Then we don’t need to kidnap anyone?”

“Kidnap?”

“Yeah. Luckily, it turned out well. It’s a good thing, right? Isn’t it, shrimp?”

Ezel nodded frantically as he saw the professor, who was patting his shoulder and smiling brightly.

The professor was still his friend, but a very scary one. The long-standing grudge seemed to have been laughed off, but the professor didn’t know about the fresh grudge Ezel had created at the inspection department last night.

‘If that gets out, I might really end up as fertilizer in that greenhouse.’

The professor, unaware of Ezel’s thoughts, seemed reluctant to see his friend, whom he hadn’t seen in five years, leave.

“Ezel, are you leaving right now?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. I need to go now. I’m already very late, and if I’m any later, the enforcement department might get involved, not just the inspection department. The exo-suit is the dome’s asset.”

“True. The raptor has technical personnel too, though not as capable as the dome. Once a minor copy of the exo-suit is made, it’s over.”

“That’s why it’s designed to self-destruct if the registered user’s heartbeat stops and isn’t re-registered within 15 minutes.”

Squeak— Click.

Before leaving, Ezel, who had climbed into the exo-suit, decided to ask one last question.

“Professor, can I ask one more thing?”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“About Sector 45. How did you know and prepare for it?”

The dome had an informant in Sector 45 and was always monitoring the raptor’s conflicts, so they could prepare quickly. They obtained the bunker’s blueprint based on past information about the building owners, prepared the most suitable equipment and personnel for a complex and prolonged battle, and rushed them in. However, the professor had been struggling in GG until two days before the conflict in Sector 45 escalated. How did he know and prepare?

“Oh, that? It’s not that impressive. I was going to 43 Sector to get a refund, and I met this little guy who said there was a great treasure in Sector 45. I thought it would be more profitable, so I went in. The big guy, I met inside.”

“So... you didn’t thoroughly prepare and go in, but just teamed up with people you met on the way and went in and came out?”

“Hmm... in summary, yes?”

“Hahaha! I didn’t expect to meet a customer in that chaos. And not just any customer, but one coming for a refund.”

Rattle—

Ezel was seized by fear again as he saw the shotgun in the professor’s hand and the chuckling group.

He had just looted a place that the dome and raptor had fought over fiercely, treating it like a casual neighborhood visit.

“Hmm? Why are you sweating so much again, Ezel? Oh, you said you have hyperhidrosis, right?”

“Eh, eh, eh! Y-Yes!”

“Phew. You’re lucky to live in Sector 47. If you lived in a water-scarce sector, you wouldn’t have lasted long. Take this and drink it.”

Whoosh!

Ezel barely caught the water bottle the professor threw and awkwardly smiled as he said goodbye.

“I’m really leaving now?”

“Oh, right. I have one question too.”

Click!

Ezel was sure his heart had dropped to his kidneys. What now? Did he notice something? Did he figure out I changed my name?

The professor, scratching his head and approaching, spoke in a low voice.

“You said you’re 22 now, so you were 17 five years ago. What were you doing then?”

“Eh? I was in school? The dome tries to provide an environment as similar to the old days as possible for its citizens. The subjects are different, but there are elementary, middle, and high schools.”

“Really? Hmm... then it’s not related to that. Got it. Be careful. Drop by if you’re in the area. Oh, and if possible, only say good things about our ‘Big Dream Caravan.’”

“Y-Yes! No problem! See you in the chat!”

Beep— Beep—

After a meeting that felt like an eternity, Ezel finally broke away from the professor’s group and started running back to the dome at full speed.

‘To enter a sealed space, between the dome and raptor, the most powerful combat groups in the wasteland, without any information, and to casually walk in with a few people and come out without any casualties? Is he human? We’ve underestimated them. Whatever they did, HIV is a much stronger group than the dome currently imagines!’

And Ezel had just set fire to the tail of that monster last night. The moment the professor’s caravan starts external activities, his actions will be exposed.

‘Ah, karma. They say all the sins you commit in life come back to you like a boomerang. I’ve committed so many sins...’

Ezel, with a swollen face, arrived at the inspection department’s armory, pushed aside Kimi, who was asking what had happened, and started writing a report. Soon, he completed a heartfelt report and immediately submitted it to the director.

The report, titled [BDSM Caravan Risk Assessment and Response Manual], was filled with concerns about how powerful this group was and the potential damage to the dome if they were treated like a regular caravan.

***

“He was a strange guy.”

“He was a strange guy.”

“Let it go. He’s always been like that.”

After the chaos, while Vex and Ian were cleaning up the mess, the professor approached Corduro’s drone and turned the voice device back on.

Ding—

“Phew! I thought I was going to suffocate, Master! If I could speak, I would have resolved that minor misunderstanding right away