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Last Embryo Volume 2 Epilogue Part 5

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Before he looked listless and disinterested, but that appearance of his was now gone without a trace as he looked at Homura with eyes filled with curiosity, and Homura returned that gesture at him, not wanting to be seen as the inferior one here.

「Even if that was the case… I would still fight.」

「That would be quite reckless. Why would you want to do that? Because of your stubbornness as a researcher?」

「No, because of my stubbornness as a proper human being.」

Unable to endure such drivel, Edward Grimnir burst out into a fit of laughter. He bend his body forward while clinging onto his sides, laughing in the face of Homura’s resolve in front of Homura himself without any reservations. While it was an exteremely rude thing to do, Homura didn’t show any signs of being moved by it, since he knew that it was a provocation.

At the rate things were currently going, the casualties would definitely exceed several million people, maybe going as far as to reach 10 million. That is how many people would either die or have their entire lives destroyed in an instant because of someone’s idiotic whim.

And the real enemy was still hiding somewhere out there at the other side of the mist, along with the truth of this entire incident. The truth which Homura couldn’t even hope to grasp right now no matter how much he would struggle. But if that enemy was someone who wanted nothing more than to see the world destroyed no matter the cost, then in Homura’s eyes, there was no reason to avoid fighting such enemy, even though in the eyes of others he was still nothing more but a brat.

Collecting himself from his earlier outburst, Edward Grimnir looked at Homura with an even more amused sight than before and told him:

「Heh! Choosing 「stubbornness as a human being」 as your sole reason for fighting, you really are one amusing child. This is priceless, truly priceless I say! If he really was such an amazing fellow from the start, then you should have recruited him much sooner, Carla!」

「Ehh, really? But I thought you were the one who was being all sulky and unreasonable, not wavering in your decision to not have hi involved until just recently no matter what I or the others try to say to you.」

「Well, what did you expect? When losing someone I respected and loved, of course even I would become depressed about it.」

Brother and sister than tried to suppress their laughter, but utterly failed. Homura, who thought that it sounded incredibly wicked wondered how could they allow themselves to expose those hidden sides of themselves in front of him like that, but since that was nothing more but a distraction that he shouldn’t get sidetracked over, he quickly shook his head and switched the topic of the talk to something else in order for his thoughts to remain collected.

「Mr. Edward, Chief Carla. Since you have apparently decided to drop your masks around me, then please answer me honestly. Are you… are you my enemies?」

「Of course not. You can rest assured, Homura, as far as this matter goes, Everything Company is completely innocent, you have my word for it, if you can bring yourself to believe me, that is.」

Picking up the envelope that he threw on the table beforehand, Edward took a file of documents from it.

「I’m sorry about how I acted before, but I had to see and judge for myself whether or now you were our enemy or not, but now I am certain that we will become great allies who would mutually benefit one another.」

「So now you’re saying that you want to become my allies? And what do you mean mutually benefit one another?」

「Please, never mind that for now, you will get to know it in due time. If there is anything else that seems to be troubling you, then please, do tell us about it without holding anything back, and we will make sure to give you a helping hand without fail. Fortunately enough, our enemies happen to be one and the same, but we shall talk about that particular matter some other time. For now, let us discuss the thing that should be of great interest to you… the handsome reward that you would receive for your efforts.」

「O… Okay?」

This sudden change in attitude made Homura lose his aquired momentum. Edward looked like he was greatly enjoying it, but it didn’t mean that he could allow himself to become too negligent. Looking at Homura who was more than a little confused, he opened the envelope and took out a m=bunch of documents out of it.

「Then with your permission, I will also not hold anything back from now on. You might want to know that the 『Enviornmental Control Tower Project』 was moved into action phase behind the scenes since quite a long time ago, and the current situation in the world only served to boosts it even further. I can understand why you would doubt Everything Company, but rest assured, the company is also looking for the traitor in our midst even as we speak.」

「And since we are all getting so brutally honest here, then know that you have been moved to the top of the traitors list when you disappeared without saying as much as a word, Homura!」

Homura felt a chill running down his spine when he saw how Carla smiled just now. Well, he did took the only 『Origins』 samples they had in the lab, so he couldn’t do anything about the fact that he has been suspected of being a traitor.

「However, you have nothing to be afraid of anymore, because with Lady Ayato vouching for you with her word, any suspicions we had towards you have been about 90% cleared, with the last 10% being left to us to determine. Only when we would determine that we ciuld truly trust you were we ordered to pass these documents onto you. The documents regarding the interest rates of the Star Particle Bodies.」

「Interests?」

「Yes, that’s right. Rights, we mean rights! From this day forward, you are entitled to 0.75% of the total profits made by the Star Particle Bodies!」

When Carla informed him about it, Homura became so shocked that he had to stand up with his eyes widely opened.

「0.75% of the total profit?! D-Do you even realize what an astronomical amount of money that is?!」

「Yes, we do realize. That is our way of tying you down to us, but also a way to reward you for all your efforts, since apparently the CEO of the company and his wife are quite fond of you, and they are expecting even bigger things from you.」

Edward told him with an unpleasant smile, but right now he didn’t care about it all that much. Instead, Homura diverted all of his brain power into calculating the total yearly interest money he would get, and when he was done he became quite dizzy due to the amount he arrived at.

Even at their current stage, where they were only directed towards their medical usage, he would earn million if not billions of yen in just one year! And if the Star Particle Bodies were to be truly completed, that number would have probably increased, well… many-fold! That much money paid every year would be enough to make sure that the orphanage would be able to keep operating for many years to come, and he would still have many more to spand however he saw fit! Moreover, he would be able to reconstruct it from scratch and add more space and furnishings to it however he would see fit without having to worry about not having a TV or any other kinds of entertainment!

As the two siblings gazed upon his reaction in amusement, they handed out the rest of the documents to him.

「To elaborate on the Enviornment Control Tower, it is close to what you have guessed. The specifics have yet to be decided as that would be a matter for a distant future, but generally it has been agreed that it is going to be constructed on the Equator line.」

「Right now we have selected 24 potential places as candidates, so we would like you to look over them when you will have the time.」

That made Homura regain his senses.

「24 possible locations? On the Equator line?」

「That’s right. Anything wrong with that?」

「No, it’s fine.」

He replied ambiguously. 24 places? Remembering the incident that happened in Little Garden, there was no way that this bit of information was not going to catch his attention.

(The Great Gift Game where players compete with each other for 24 Sun Authorities… don’t tell me…its reward is…)

Homura swallowed his saliva while looking over the interest papers. If his thinking was correct, then this matter and the 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority might actually be connected in some way. Grasping the papers tightly, he exhaled a heavy sigh. If only he could get his hand on such a reward, then…

(Alright, let’s do this thing!)

Clenching his fists, his eyes shined as if he turned back into a little kid.

It might have been naive of him to have such expectations, but for now he should be allowed to think that much, because the fact that this situation would later escalate to become a battle that would end up changing the entire

world… that, was something they would discover in a far more distant future.