Venomous Fang

When Milena and Seira arrived at the Free Merchant Guild, Marks— who had arrived earlier— was talking with Lina.

"Ah, Ms. Milena, Miss Seira. I just heard the general situation from Marks a moment ago... Where is Shinnosuke?"

Lina's expression was unusually stern.

"Lord Shinnosuke has been arrested by the military police."

Milena hands Lina the Master data of Fuuki while informing her of Shinnosuke's arrest.

Marks nods upon hearing this.

"Indeed, as expected. Just as the Master had foreseen."

Though Marks normally lacks emotion, he shows no sign of disturbance upon hearing of Shinnosuke's arrest.

By the time Shinnosuke ordered Marks to act independently, both of them had likely anticipated this outcome to some degree.

Meanwhile, upon hearing Milena's words, Lina looked desperately toward Celica, and when Celica silently nodded, they loaded the Fukibi and Tsukikage data submitted by Marks and Milena onto the terminal to review their contents.

...I see. I had thought it odd that Shinnosuke would send navigation data in advance. I understand now—I've made my decision! I'll share the data received from Mr. Marks and Miss Milena with relevant agencies such as the Coast Guard, reporting to the Union leadership afterward. There's no doubt this will cause friction between the Union and the Space Fleet, and I may even face disciplinary action. But that doesn't matter. If I get fired from the Union, please hire me at Shinnosuke's trading company.

In those eyes burned anger, determination, and the flame of resolve.

At that time, at the Second Fleet Headquarters of the Space Force, Lieutenant Colonel Selica Cruise of the Intelligence Division had arrived to report to Admiral Allenbal, Commander of the Second Fleet, regarding Shinnoke's arrest.

"So, the former Lieutenant Kashimura has been arrested... "

Admiral Allenbal listened to the report without appearing particularly surprised.

"Yes. A unit of the military police force linked to Colonel Langlitt has moved."

"Colonel Langlitt truly is an exceptional man. I didn't realize he had operatives even within the military police. Still, for a cautious man like him, this move was rather forceful."

"Yes, the colonel must have been under considerable pressure this time. Thanks to the colonel's hasty actions, we've finally gathered enough evidence to hold him accountable for this overreach and wrongful arrest. This could be the breakthrough we need to expose the colonel's misconduct."

Upon hearing Lieutenant Cruise's words, General Allenbahr shook his head.

As for the colonel, he might be held accountable for this incident, but going further could prove difficult. More pressing, however, is the likelihood that Major Kasimura was murdered.

"Yes. No matter how forcefully we proceed, it's impossible to formally charge Mr. Kasimura with wrongdoing based on this wrongful arrest. Most likely, they're planning to detain him and then have some kind of unfortunate accident occur later... That's precisely why we've decided we must act with some degree of force to save Mr. Kasimura."

However, General Alenbal did not accept this suggestion.

"Unnecessary. Leave the former captain Kasimura alone."

"You're not seriously saying you'd abandon him, are you?"

General Allenbarl chuckles, shrugging his shoulders in response to Lieutenant Colonel Cruise's rare angry glare.

"No, that's not it. What I mean is, he'd handle things himself. Lieutenant, do you remember what I once compared Major Kasimura to?"

Yes, a venomous snake hiding its fangs...

"That's right. General Langlitt truly made an enemy of a venomous snake. Even without the lieutenant's interference, he'd have destroyed himself."

"Did the general step on the tail of a venomous snake?"

Allenval grins broadly.

"He stepped on the tail of a venomous snake. It's a commonly used metaphor, but it's not something so simple. Yes... the colonel didn't realize it was a venomous snake and grabbed it with his bare hands, even going so far as to put it in his pocket. That's the situation. He'll be bitten in the throat by its powerful fangs."

General Allenval was certain that Colonel Langlitt had already set foot on the path to ruin.