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Last Embryo Volume 2 Epilogue Part 4

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

(Christ almighty, what am I even thinking about? I guess Little Garden must have rubbed off on me as well, huh?)

Even though it was only for a few days, it would appear that his common sense has been warped by his trip to another world. Shaking his head with a wry smile, he proceeded with his self introduction.

「Nice to meet you, Mr. Edward. My name is Saigo Homura, the Star Particle Bodies researcher at Hoei Academy’s 3^rd Research Center.」

「Hmm, quite a courteous one, aren’t you? Almost as if you were quoting a previously prepared introduction from memory. I have to say, such a bland greeting certainly lacks any kind of appeal.」

Still sitting with his legs crossed and without even bothering to introduce himself back, the man looked at Homura with eyes that were utterly void of any kind of interest. That high and mighty attitude of his irritated him, but at this point he was used to it and to the fact that everyone was looking down on him.

Under normal circumstances. It would be impossible for someone of Homura’s age to be working on a top-secret project at a cutting-edge laboratory. Many times he was faced with an arrogant, condescending attitude towards himself and the work he was doing. However, things were slightly different with the person that was now before him.

Rather than being jealous of him, he was literally not interested in him at all, and in the same uninterested manner he picked up an envelope and threw it on the table in front of him.

「Let’s just drop pointless flattery and attempts at haggling, shall we? From the business standpoint, we are both equal, after all.」

「I don’t think that attitude of yours has anything to do with equality, but alright. So, what exactly is this business that you want to do with me?」

「Right to the point, I like it. Anyway, I was asked to explain the current state of the affairs to you. The virus released by 『The Bull of Heaven』 – known by the general public as Typhoon Nr.24, 『Taurus』 – turned out to be much more dangerous than it was initially expected, spreading rapidly throughout the world. Fortunately, our company’s Star Particle Bodies have been appointed as the primary method of handling the situation. Is there anything you would like to ask in regards to that?」

Homura’s eyebrows visibly twitched. This guy had the nerve to tell him that 「He came here to explain the situation」, and yet he was now asking him if he 「wanted to ask about anything in regards to that」?!

Logically speaking it was the right thing to ask, but in reality it was the exact opposite. This was supposed to be an exchange in order to find out what was Homura’s thoughts on the matter and what observations did he make with his own eyes.

To put it bluntly, this man was here today in order to appraise how much was Saigo Homura, the only youth capable of unraveling the mystery of the Star Particle Bodies, worth.

(I think it would be fine if I just ignored him… but something about this whole thing makes me feel incredibly uneasy, I just can’t pinpoint what it is, exactly.)

What was the real reason this man came to meet with him today? And why was he saying thing that made it oh-so-painfully obvious that he was testing him? Maybe he should do some light prodding himself, just so that he could see if he could uncover at least some of those reasons?

Holding on with replying to him for a bit, Homura sat on the sofa opposite of Edward Grimnir and then continued.

「Questions, huh? And you will answer them indiscriminately, regardless of what the are going to be? In that case I will ask without holding anything back.」

「Of course, go right ahead.」

「Then let me start with this one, without beating around the bush: Was the entire 『Bull of Heaven』 matter self-orchestrated by Everything Company?」

「Uwaoghhh!!!」

Chief Carla made a very strange noise, as if she was choking on something. As cheerful and easygoing as she might have been, even she must have thought that asking about such a thing from the get-go must have been a little bit over the top.  Edward Grimnir also had his eyed opened widely. With the corners of his mouth ever-so-slightly raised, he sharpened his gaze as he looked back at Homura.

「I see. Now, may I know your reasoning for thinking this?」

「Oh? So you’re not going to deny that this incident was caused by human hands?」

「It would seem that I should have start my explanations from there. I said that right now we are both equal, and that is what I believe. And yet, you asked that question while still being doubtful about me, so you should have voiced your own opinion first.」

「Is that so?」

He simply shrugged his shoulders and continued.

「There is nothing that could be called grounds for argument here whatsoever. At first I though that it would be strange for Everything Company to be the only party that would benefit from an incident of such a global scale, but when I started thinking about what was the point f that incident in the first place, there were only two plausible explanations that came into my mind: increasing the fame of the Star Particle Bodies and gaining international authority.」

「I see. Could you elaborate some more on that, please?」

「By having 『Taurus』 doing something that could not have been done under any normal circumstances, i.e cross the Equator, it has been demonstrated just how dangerous it can be, and the research of the way to stop it had been connected to the propaganda of the final goal. After all, whenever there are talks about building a breakwater in order to prevent the same kind of weather incident from happening twice, the equator line, with its universal climate that is unchanged all year long is always the first thing to be proposed. And then I remembered another thing, a plan that Lady Ayato’s father spoke about a long time ago.」

「The Enviormental Tower Control Project, right?」

「Yes, a plan to build a giant tower meant to spread Star Particle Bodies all over the world in order to improve the planet’s environment and fix the problems such as global warming, air pollution, desertification and control the natural disasters such as droughts, earthquakes and typhoons. If it would become possible to build such a thing, then humanity would have truly dominated the world we live in in the truest meaning of the word possible. And wouldn’t that be a dream come true?」

Then Homura took a moment to take a breath and quickly gather his thoughts again. Until that matter has been explicitly brought to light, Homura well and truly believed that completing such a grand project was nothing more than a dream that was impossible to realize. But the appearance of the 『Bull of Heaven』 became an unexpected game-changer.

「That being said, I do not believe that the entirety of Everything Company was involved in that matter. And besides, after seeing what it is capable of doing, I can clearly say that 『the Bull of Heaven』 is something far too advanced to be a product of our current technology, and I am sure that some external influence was also at play here. The leak of information, or maybe the existence of a Star Particle Bodies thesis that I was not aware of, or perhaps an entire organization working from the shadows? That much, I’m afraid, is something that I do not yet know.」

That is why he was cutting straight to the point, since he was still on the fence regarding whether or not he could place his trust in Queen Halloween’s and Scathach’s side. Right now, the only people he could unconditionally put his trust in were Ayato, Suzuka Izayoi and Tokuteru. And as for the man who was sitting in front of him, he needed to ascertain whether he was his friend or his foe.

Edward Grimnir wanted to appraise him, but now that he realized that the same thing was being done to him, he smiled faintly. Maybe now he was starting to take Homura a bit more seriously, because he asked him with a noticeably brighter voice:

「Let me ask you: what would you have done if Everything Company turned out to be your suspected culprit indeed?」

「Then I would fight you of course, all the while searching for a method of successfully multiplying the Star Particle Bodies and protecting them from anyone who would dare to abuse them for their own gains.」

「So a deterrent, huh? Very well. Then tell me, what would you have done if your enemy turned out to be someone else completely, someone beyond you imagination and comprehension? What if all of that was a conspiracy of international proportions with the most powerful of the countries of the world involved?」

He asked while casting his overbearing atmosphere around him.