The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

Chapter 336: Boss Quan (17) - Truth has the power to draw people's hearts in. Philip, an agent belonging to the Management Bureau's External Affairs Division, had a strong sense of justice and a highly patient personality. "External Affairs Division? Is there even such a department?" Even when he heard remarks like that, he was patient enough not to just fly into a rage, but to calmly explain things to the other person. "The External Affairs Division is the department responsible for coordinating smooth cooperation and preventing conflicts whenever the management bureau needs to carry out cooperative work with organizations or individuals outside the bureau." At this, most agents just nodded along and accepted it. But without fail, those with bad personalities, poor judgment, or lacking in intelligence would ask this: "Huh? But is there really such a thing as an 'outsider' who'd cooperate with the management bureau?" Every time he heard that, Philip would grit his teeth. Because it was hard to refute what they were saying. The management bureau was, in the world related to supernatural powers, espers, and anomalies — commonly called the 'Underworld' — the strongest, greatest, and largest organization, without question or rival. The strongest, the oldest, and the largest in scale. So much so that when ranking organizations, it wasn't just fixed at number one — it was excluded from the ranking altogether from the very start, treated as beyond comparison. Far from the combined strength of the 2nd and 3rd place organizations coming close to 1st place, even if you combined the management bureau versus everyone else, the only thing the latter could win at was sheer numbers. Beyond that, in funding, know-how, social connections — the management bureau could beat everyone else in every category, so there was nothing to even seek in the way of cooperation from outside forces in the first place. In the past — say, several decades ago — this wasn't the case. Even back then the management bureau was the undisputed number one, but there were still plenty of formidable esper organizations around. But Queen. Because of what that Special-grade Anomaly did while rampaging through the underworld, the whole board was overturned. Queen actively made use of her characteristic predation and learning abilities to target outstanding espers, and such espers were usually affiliated with powerful organizations. But once Queen infiltrated the leadership of such an organization, devoured their brains, and burst out through their chests to escape, the organization would collapse. Even organizations Queen had never infiltrated collapsed, tearing themselves apart with internal strife out of fear that one of their own might secretly be Queen. Queen was eventually struck down by the Anomaly Slayer, but with the exception of the management bureau, every esper faction had been reduced to nothing but small fry. And the External Affairs Division, too, was ruined like a dog. After all, there had to be some outside force worth managing — that is, worth cooperating with — for them to have any work to do at all. In a world where the only things passing for "outside forces" nearby were biker gangs and barbarians, the post of diplomat had become about as meaningful as a "professional deep breather." Because there were still occasional negotiations with the surface society — those who weren't espers — the department didn't disappear entirely, but its scale shrank to less than a tenth of what it once was. And in that same vein, the mission Philip had been assigned this time stirred up truly complicated feelings. "An esper who holds a fragment of Queen, and that esper's boss, is it." "That's right. A mission entrusted directly by none other than the Director herself." At the words spoken by his direct superior, the Division Chief of the External Affairs Division, Philip's mouth twisted this way and that. The fact that it was a duty entrusted directly by the head of the management bureau made it extremely important. Still, the fact that this particular collaborator happened to be a "holder of a Queen fragment" left a thoroughly uneasy feeling. Wasn't the downfall of the External Affairs Division caused by that very Queen in the first place? As if understanding how Philip felt, the Division Chief added. "Yes, it's very suspicious. Which is exactly why we need to be all the more thorough. Keep allies close. Keep enemies closer. Understand?" "I'll keep that in mind." From that very day, Philip immediately began investigating the "cooperation target." Of course, it wasn't Philip himself running around gathering intel — he was merely reading what the intelligence department had already compiled — but wasn't that exactly what cooperation meant? "Quan. Began operating in earnest a year ago. At the time, he built up a fortune through various illegal activities, then got into a conflict with the Gumi Faction, who were trying to extend their reach into the Underworld, beat every last one of them down, and killed their boss. After absorbing the entire organization under himself, he began his supernatural business in earnest. ...Is this all there is?" Philip clicked his tongue. There was not a shred of explanation for where Quan came from, or where he'd gotten his knowledge and power over anomalies and esper abilities — information that should ordinarily have been there as a matter of course. Even accounting for the fact that the intelligence department upheld the principle of "speculative information is not recorded in documents" as a countermeasure against meme contamination, this was an absurdly small amount of information, considering that even middling criminals could have the color of their socks investigated if someone really set out to dig. "A man with no past. Did he just fall out of thin air or something?" Philip let out a hollow laugh. Of course, only his mouth was laughing — his eyes weren't smiling at all. After all, the fact that even the management bureau couldn't grasp his past meant that much more that this was a dangerous and suspicious individual. Philip looked over the investigation materials on the next person. "Qiana An. ...Now this is quite the extraordinary young lady." Both her father and mother were social elites. And not self-made ones, either — a wealthy, powerful family at the very level of dynastic lineage. Qiana herself had been a model student since childhood, the type who never once failed to take first place in practically every exam. Her interpersonal relationships were extremely smooth as well, with not a single trace of the school bullying incidents that children of such privileged families were prone to getting entangled in. Which made it all the more bizarre. Why on earth was a young lady like this under the wing of a suspicious man like Quan? "The rest, I'll just have to dig up myself." Steeling himself with deep resolve, Philip rose from his seat. And a while later. "Hello. ...I'm Qiana An." Upon meeting Qiana, Philip couldn't help but be startled — in two different senses. One was because Qiana was beautiful. No, it wasn't that he hadn't known she was pretty. Even looking at her photograph, he'd thought she was a woman beautiful enough to be admired. But that was all. It wasn't as if Philip had lived his whole life without seeing beautiful women, and besides, if you spend a few days poring over human muscle models, you stop caring so much about a person's looks. After all, underneath the skin it's all just a lump of red meat. He could handle it with perfect composure, any day. At least, in theory. And then Philip realized that theory was completely useless. She was pretty. Just, pretty. He understood intellectually that what lay beneath that skin was nothing but muscle and bone, but the visual stimulus he was receiving, on a purely "emotional" level that ignored all of that, was overwhelming. Would anyone believe him if he said that merely facing her was enough to leave a person momentarily entranced, staring blankly? And the second thing that startled Philip was Qiana's expression and the air around her. It wasn't that she was putting on an exaggerated display of welling tears or a sorrowful look. If anything, her expression was so restrained it almost felt composed. But Philip, who had dealt with plenty of people, could tell. Right now, Qiana was grieving. That was an expression that only someone who had taken sorrow and despair fully into their heart, forcibly suppressed it, and given up, could ever wear. Naturally, Philip's attitude couldn't help but become extremely courteous. Whatever plan he'd had to press Qiana with a somewhat businesslike yet intimidating manner had long since evaporated from his mind. "If something is troubling you, please tell me. Miss Qiana An. Our management bureau is an organization that exists to protect humans." At Philip's words, Qiana turned her gaze away. Then, with a faint smile, she shook her head. "No. I'm not human. Here, look." After saying that, Qiana raked her fingernails hard across the back of her own hand. "Wha— what are you doing!?" Startled by the sudden action, Philip jerked upright. The back of the hand is an area where the skin is very thin. When she raked her nails hard across it like that, a wound opened up instantly and blood came pouring out. But that lasted only a moment. Soon the wound healed at a visible speed, as though nothing had happened at all. To the dumbfounded Philip, Qiana gave a smile. It was an utterly self-deprecating smile. "This is Queen's power. This is what my body is." Almost out of habit, Philip glanced toward the window outside the interrogation room. It was a special pane of glass that could only be seen through — past its coating — with the special lenses Philip wore over his eyes. There, where a lie detector built with the management bureau's technology was set up, a fellow agent sent a signal. That Qiana had not told a single lie. "How could someone like me possibly call myself human?" "Please, calm yourself. From what I can see, Miss Qiana, you don't seem to be particularly fond of your body's current condition. And yet the reason you make use of that power — could it be connected to a person named Quan, by any chance?" "……." Qiana did not answer. But her eyes trembled greatly. Philip sensed it instantly. This was the answer! "Please, tell me. I will do everything in my power to help." Qiana showed an attitude of hesitation for a long while. "That man is truly strong, and competent beyond measure. The story might leak out, somehow." "That will absolutely never happen." "But….” "Please trust us, Miss Qiana. Only then can we help you!" In the end, Qiana opened her mouth. What came out of it was shocking, plain and simple. "…Before we'd even properly exchanged names, I was shot at. I had to run and keep running just to survive. In the end, I signed a contract. No pay, no days off, and the work itself was entirely up to that man's whims. It was unreasonable, but I had no other choice." What a vicious man! Both Philip and the other agents listening in from outside the interrogation room were aghast. It was truly hard to believe that not a single word of what she'd just said was a lie. No, good grief — didn't this mean that this man named Quan had shot Qiana, threatened her, and forced her into an unreasonable slave contract! 'So that's it!' Philip felt every piece click into place. Why had a woman like Qiana, who lacked for nothing, been risking her body dangerously under the likes of a man like Quan? Why had Qiana, who'd been an utterly model student maintaining wide-ranging relationships all through her school years, suddenly cut off all her existing relationships at some point? 'Among the investigation materials, there was a note that Miss Qiana had fallen into a coma for a certain period. That was probably when she obtained her first fragment. And somehow, Quan found out about it and threatened her by force into signing a coercive contract!' Even though the Underworld had no legal basis whatsoever, there existed contracts that could exert real, practical binding force so long as there was a signature or consent. Qiana, too, must have signed just such an unreasonable contract, and so had no choice but to be exploited by Quan like a subordinate. "Rest assured, Miss Qiana. That man is currently in discussion with the Division Chief, but if he really is such a dangerous individual—" "—No, don't! You mustn't touch him! Absolutely not!!" Contrary to Philip's intention of reassuring her, Qiana practically clung to his knees, trying to stop him. Flustered, Philip tried to calm her down and ask for the reason, but Qiana only trembled and couldn't bring herself to voice the reason aloud. A threat. A weakness. Or some kind of binding effect from the contract. There was no need to hear it from Qiana's own mouth, in any case. Philip and the other agents knew that the vicious criminals of the Underworld loved to use such methods as a matter of course, so even without Qiana speaking the "truth," they could easily guess the reason. Philip, with his strong sense of justice, made a proposal to the Division Chief, who had returned from finishing his discussion with Quan elsewhere. "We need to punish that bastard Quan immediately! We have to force him to confess what exactly he's done to Miss Qiana!" The Division Chief shook his head. "He's not someone to be trifled with. He smiles and grins his way through answering anything, acting all cooperative, yet oddly enough he keeps his mouth shut about the core details." "Then we should just torture it out of him!" "Don't say something so stupid! Have you forgotten that man is also our 'collaborator' to begin with! More than that, if we resort to that kind of coercive action and he retaliates by exploiting some hidden means to harm that woman Qiana, then it's all over!" Philip slumped into his chair in frustration. To that Philip, the Division Chief said. "Relax. That Quan fellow will be thoroughly monitored and investigated. We haven't yet been able to confirm the spiritual link between the two of them, whatever cunning contractual method he might have used, but once we do confirm the link, all we have to do is cut it!" "Oh, Chief! I knew I could count on you!" "Yeah, yeah. So just treat that young lady well, you hear. Looks to me like she's a victim being exploited. She might be called a 'collaborator' on paper for the management bureau, but in practice she's basically been dragged in like a criminal — how frightening must that be for her." "You can trust me with it." The Division Chief did not know. That the contract between Quan and Qiana was, in the first place, nothing but a mere scrap of paper — so no matter how much anyone searched, whether spiritually or through anomaly-related means, it would be useless. Philip did not know. That in about a week's time, a swarm of people just like him, resolving "I'll be the one to help her!", would keep multiplying one after another. That was how powerful the strength of truth could be. ...Or perhaps it was merely the power of plausibility granted by a pretty face.