Liberi Reader

Papa, the lackeys told me to tell you all the preparations are complete.

Is that so?

Hm? Papa, you don't seem very happy.

Mhm.

How come? I thought you've been waiting for this day for a long time.

Candela's a lot more difficult to deal with than you imagine. We mustn't let our guard down until the very last moment.

Rafaela.

Hm?

If things look like they are about to take a turn for the worse, you make sure to get out of here with Ernesto.

Eh? I want to stay with you, Papa.

Be a good girl and do as I say. You should never have been part of this.

If Old Pugh found out he entrusted his daughter to me only for me to make her go through all this, he'd probably dig his way out of his grave and kill me.

As for that brat Ernesto... Hmph...

What about him?

He thinks I can't tell how he feels, but of course I can.

He's not trying to betray us.

I know, and we won't see this through without him.

But he doesn't actually want to do this himself.

Why is that?

Who doesn't want to just eat well, sleep well, and worry about nothing else?

Okay, be a good girl and bring me my pipe. I need some time alone.

Okay...

Miss Ch'en, there you are.

Where's Miss Lin? I thought you two would be together.

Dropping the act already?

Now that we've come to this, there's really no reason to keep up the facade any more, is there?

I really didn't think you two could break out of my shop, though.

I guess I didn't give you enough credit.

I'm curious, though. How did you find out?

Lin Yühsia spotted your men setting up bombs during the first round. We didn't tell you, though.

You were already suspicious of me at that point?

As a precaution.

And our suspicions were confirmed when we found the same explosives in your store.

I see.

I didn't expect the fight to be over that soon.

So what will you do? Will you put up a struggle, or will you turn yourself in?

I just want to say one thing, Miss Ch'en.

Perhaps you'll come to have a different opinion about all this after I'm done.

I'm listening.

Miss Ch'en, how familiar are you with Bolívar's history?

Can't say I know much.

Right. You studied abroad in Victoria, and Victoria hasn't really meddled in Bolívar's affairs that much. If you haven't ever gone out of your way to look into our history, I can't fault you for not being familiar with the subject.

Before Iberia discovered this place, it was nothing more than a plain called Bolívar.

The Iberians found many Originium veins here, and that's why they decided to stay and turn it into a colony.

Then, one way or another, Iberia's rule here came to an end.

After a period of chaos that lasted 130 years, the Leithanians came.

And that's how Bolívar became a Leithanian dependency.

About two centuries ago, Bolívar evolved from a dependency to a vassal state. That's the Singas dynasty.

You could say that was when Bolívar became the Bolívar we know, although the Singas dynasty's subjects never called themselves Bolívarians.

Then, during the Witch King's reign, Leithanien tried to stir up civil unrest in Columbia through Bolívar.

But not only did their efforts fail, Bolívar was actually invaded by Columbia, and that was when the Coalition government was established.

And from then on, Bolívar was split between both Columbia and Leithanien.

Leithanien didn't really care about Bolívar that much, and while Columbia was teeming with ambition, Bolívar was too big for it to engulf at once.

And that's how this tug-of-war started.

Then, unable to bear the situation any longer, the Bolívarians chose to take up arms.

They formed a resistance movement and called themselves True Bolívarians, and they swore they would make Bolívar a real country one day.

Unfortunately, things only took a turn for the worse. True Bolívarians's establishment only dragged Bolívar into even deeper waters.

In the end, this is the mess that Bolívar has found itself in.

The Coalition government, the Singas dynasty, and True Bolívarians. The three sides are in a perpetual war with no end in sight.

Not only that, but this city Dossoles emerged out of the chaos.

Under Ms. Candela's management, not only is the city well-liked by all three governments, but all three of them even owe Ms. Candela many a time.

That's because this city has resources that they can't just ignore, and Ms. Candela also has the power to defend this city.

And so, the city has become a place that all Bolívarians set their sights on.

Every Bolívarian who's fed up with war dreams of saving up enough money to come here for a vacation, or even get a fresh start here.

Miss Ch'en, you and Miss Lin are good at heart, so I am sure you both are well aware.

Aware of what kind of a place this city is.

Let's say the three governments are still intent on uniting all of Bolívar. That's something that would never cross Ms. Candela's mind.

To put it bluntly, Miss Ch'en, this city's prosperity was built on top of the pain and suffering of all Bolívarians.

And the more prosperous it is, the less hope this country has.

This is a fact that many of those who truly love Bolívar cannot accept.

And you are one of them?

I am.

There should not be a city like this within Bolívar's borders.

Your goal is to destroy it.

No, that would be a waste.

Our goal is to sow terror.

So you're telling me all this to try to talk me into helping you?

Hardly. I'm not so confident that I can persuade someone to join our ranks with just a few words.

But I am hoping you and Miss Lin could stand by and not get involved.

I am sure you can see. You can at least see how this might be justice, Miss Ch'en.

......

As long as the two of you stay out of this, I can guarantee you that our men won't do a thing to you.

You are strong. Having fought alongside you in the championship, I am well aware of that.

Fighting you would cause us a lot of unnecessary losses.

I am hoping you and Miss Lin would consider this proposal of mine.

Ernesto.

Please, go ahead.

Not long ago, I found myself caught in a conspiracy far more complicated than this one. The only thing I got out of it was the realization of my own weakness.

But, at the very least, I still dare to say this: There is no justice in spreading terror.

......

Besides, you aren't telling the truth.

I am not sure I follow, Miss Ch'en. I'm admitting to being the mastermind.

No, you aren't.

We're locked in your shop. That's pretty suspicious.

Effective, but also very rash, and I doubt you didn't consider the possibility that it was going to blow your cover.

So I was thinking you might still have a trick up your sleeve.

But suppose you are the mastermind behind all this, I don't think any tricks up your sleeve could make up for your cover being blown.

Then I figured it out. If your was never that important to begin with... In other words, if getting your cover blown never mattered to you in the first place...

Then it all starts to make sense.

Your thinking is that, it would be all the better if you managed to stall us, but even if that didn't work out and you ended up getting your cover blown, all that would lead to is this situation that we find ourselves in now.

I would see you as the one behind all this, unable to get a glimpse of what's behind you.

......

And even now, you're still playing us like a fiddle, aren't you, Ernesto?

If you were truly being played, you'd never say as much, Miss Ch'en.

We don't have enough information. I know this might be a setup, but it is one that I have to jump into.

Yet with what little clues you had, in just one short week, you almost got to the bottom of this plan we've been working on for years.

Miss Ch'en, you and Miss Lin never fail to impress.

Really, quite a lot of people tell me I'm blowing this out of all proportion by making you two my primary enemies.

But I'm really glad I did. Otherwise, if I'd been just a little careless and let slip just a little more, you would already have it all figured out.

Too bad. You failed.