act11mini

This whole deal with pawning my life off to them... The more time passes, the more I see things clearly.

The knights are commodities they hoard inside their warehouses. The assassins are weapons they wield. And what of public opinion? It's their best tool for manipulation, and they've studied it thoroughly.

Money and power. In Kazimierz, these two things are often inextricably linked.

Hey, I'm not saying you have to become a tycoon or anything, but look, if you want to live a better life, you have to rub shoulders with those people.

Most people are fine climbing over others, one rung at a time. But when will you ever be free from someone else's control?

So just don't think about it too much. If you're privileged enough, just try to live a better, more comfortable life.

At least now, I won't be asked to take someone's life over the phone anymore. If something goes wrong, getting hurt is the least of our worries. We'll need a good excuse to pull the wool over the boss's eyes, right?

Alright, you can open your eyes now. You look fine.

...Nngh...

If you keep stroking your face like that, I'm going to make you need another one.

Egads, Monique. I shudder at the thought.

Having bandages all over my face is... Hmm, how should I put this, new and exciting?

Donna. Donna Tyrell. And you're Joel Tyrell.

You'd better not mess it up again after the doctor comes back.

Oh right, our titles have changed too. We're husband and wife now, right?

Oh, are you blushing?

Did they carve out your eyeballs?

No need to be so hostile. While this arrangement might be a bit... Mm, well, it's fine.

Oh, and don't worry, you're just as easy on the eyes as before.

...So they definitely carved out your eyeballs.

I see you're awake now. How are you doing?

You chose to go with the accelerated program. Though Originium Arts can speed up the process so you won't need multiple surgeries, there are still corresponding risks.

You won't be able to remove the bandages for a while, and I'd suggest returning for a follow-up once a month to ensure the most stable results.

Thank you. I feel great already.

But I don't think the follow-ups will be necessary.

Urk...

We'll figure something out on our own. Thank you for your hard work, doctor.

That was sudden. You're gonna have to figure out how to get rid of the body on your own.

I didn't have a choice. Nobody can be allowed to know about this. I could've chosen my words better, but I meant what I said.

Dead men tell no tales.

By the way, did you hear about what the General Chamber did to a group of Infected knights who had been following the Blood Knight?

I ran into one of 'em last night, just to make sure.

I've heard a thing or two. But it's none of my business.

And I suggest you keep your shiny new nose out of it too. Don't forget, we've got nothing to do with the Armorless Union now.

Heh, I suppose you're right.

It's none of our business now.

Alright, then we're about to start a brand new chapter of our lives. What's the plan? If we're going to sell stuff... are we really going to run a business?

Even if you wanted to, Darksteel would never let you.

It'd already be a miracle if you didn't scare off all our customers.

Please, do I even have the talent to mess anything up? We have everything we could ever want now, but I still need something to kill the time.

You've got time to kill?

Kind of. You in the mood to go hunting, just the two of us? We can go buy a villa out in the countryside. I'll teach you how to hunt fowlbeasts—nobody's better than me.

Ha, hunting for sport. Never could've imagined that back when I was scraping by in the woods.

I've simply never had the free time. But now I've got nothing BUT free time, so I might as well treat myself.

Seems like all that free time fried your brain then. You can go by yourself.

I'm going on vacation, preferably some place nice like Dossoles or Siesta. You won't catch me dead in the boonies.

Seriously, after all the work it took to make this day possible, you're just reminiscing about your childhood?

What are you planning?

...Honestly, who knows?

If I can live a better life, I'll try to do exactly that. No need to sweat the details.

...If your brain malfunctions and you decide to go live in a cave or whatever, you might as well transfer all your assets to me first. I'll send you my bank account number when we get back.

Haha, if something happens to me, you'd inherit everything I own anyway, just from our legal status.

Good point. Might as well speed up the process then.

How cruel. Anyway, enough of that. After I tie up some loose ends, how about we go on that vacation I suggested? Give it a thought, alright?

Wherever you decide to go, why not make it a team effort?

It's already 10:30, and you still want coffee? You still have time to worry about coffee?

Move your ass away from the coffee maker and put it in front of your desk where it belongs.

*cough*...!

How are you doing with the revisions from the feedback we got last time? There's not much time left until the 3 o'clock meeting.

I already updated the proposal. Here.

The feedback from the last meeting was pretty clear. We basically got a few solutions handed right to us, and incorporating them was a simple matter.

The speech is ready to go as well.

There's not much time left. We've got three days until the weekend, and we need to have the proposal finalized by then so the other departments have time to implement it.

Be extra careful. The mayor's been very clear about his intentions, and this isn't like before.

Volcanoes don't wait for anyone. And I'm not joking around when I say that.

Yeah, yeah. I know.

Let me take a look at what you've written.

Here, it's this one. The speech is attached underneath.

Um...

What?

...To be honest, when I was drafting this proposal, it felt like there was one issue that couldn't be resolved internally, so that needs to be brought up at the meeting for the boss to discuss with the mayor.

Which issue?

It's hard to say, but let me explain first.

You see, we proposed a plate-by-plate migration model for this relocation, with the key technical and managerial personnel for each plate going first.

Their numbers are small enough for us to manage, and they've already completed the move. Once they assume their posts in the core sector, we can start preparing to move the rest of the population.

The fixed demand treats each plate as a unit, with each unit moving in sequence. However, all the proposals made so far fail to provide enough transportation capacity, even if we bring in external logistics companies.

I see. So?

Ideas on their own are worthless without plans. How are you going to deal with this issue?

I hope you're not planning to bring it up at the meeting just to let the Bureau of Administration and Transport worry about it.

A few logistics companies alone won't be able to provide the capacity we need.

The professional transport management capability of a cutting-edge logistics company, hmm...

Hello?

This is Siesta City Hall. Mayor Herman speaking.

Apologies for the interruption, Mr. Mayor. I'm here to confirm today's itinerary with you.

Please take a look here.

This portion of your schedule has been arranged beforehand.

I need your input though, because I just received a phone call from one of our logistics partners, who will arrive in Siesta around 1 PM.

Your original itinerary has a 3 PM meeting with various departments to discuss the relocation efforts. With so many departments each having their own schedule, delaying it isn't an option, and it is unlikely that it will be cancelled either.

Shall I serve as your proxy at the meeting then?

...No. Come with me to meet our caller. Have another secretary start the meeting.

Make sure he takes the minutes and have him turn them over to me after it's finished.

Understood.

Do we need to let the other departments know that we've been in talks with logistics partners?

...You can go ahead with that.

But only mention that we may be cooperating with foreign logistics companies. If all goes well, we'll consider introducing a new logistics management model and bring that up at the meeting.

Alright. I'll be going then.

...Yes, that's the current situation.

The mayor will be discussing things with our clients this afternoon, and the meeting will pertain to the subject matter I just mentioned. Please refer to this document.

This message comes straight from the mayor. Any questions?

None from me. Appreciate the heads up.