165: The deeper you dig, the darker it becomes

"Who's this guy?"

"He's the man known as 'Black Root,' who was conversing with the former viscount of Niliani Tech, Inakaini, at the fifth facility of the Free-Form Comprehensive Training Ground."

"Right, I remember him. Such a person, huh."

I can't seem to recall his face clearly in my mind.

Well, we didn't have much contact with him anyway.

Let's see, his charges include illegal trading, illegal gambling, incitement to murder, embezzlement, human trafficking... The list goes on and on.

Still, he claims he's merely a low-level operative at the bottom of the 'Black Root,' nothing more than an enforcer.

"So that's why a bomb-laden ship was used in the spaceship race incident—intending to completely sabotage the race itself."

"That's correct. They aimed to severely disrupt the race, bankrupt those who placed illegal bets, and leave them drowning in debt."

Within the scope involving us... it was the incident during the Nieriani Potts Asteroid Belt Cup fighter 16-hour endurance race, just as Joharis said.

The cargo ship loaded with explosives, which was intended for sabotage, appears to have been prepared under this man's orders.

Naturally, the androids aboard were also part of the same plan.

Moreover, although the attempt was thwarted, it seems several other illegal sabotage acts were also orchestrated by this man.

Quite the villain, isn't he?

Incidentally, in the illegal gambling operation they were running, if a race was canceled, betting on the race being canceled would result in a loss.

Naturally, a considerable amount of money, goods, and personnel must have been involved, and even police officers and intelligence agents were drawn in to facilitate the bets... It still seems to be a chaotic situation even now.

"So, those who lost— if they look good, they become slaves; if they look bad, they're sent to remote areas as illegal laborers; depending on their attitude, they might become raw material for androids or disposable assets for criminal organizations. Quite a thoroughly black situation, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Still, I can't understand why they'd get involved in illegal gambling knowing full well it ends up like this... I just don't get it."

"Neither do I."

"We can't grasp it either."

"Note: comprehension unclear."

Also, there are legitimate organizations in the Niliani Potz system that actually operate legal gambling.

In fact, they're even publicly run groups.

Yet why do people end up drawn to illegal gambling... probably because of various factors like bet amounts, what's being wagered, odds, taxes, and so on... yeah, I just can't understand it.

Crime organizations wouldn't possibly let their clients win, would they?

"Still, Count Nilianteck really was involved in a wide range of operations. There's a lot of material here about crimes unrelated to us."

"Yes, you're absolutely right. Honestly, going through all of this would take too much time. We don't need to spend any more time on it, so let's wrap up our discussion on Lord Nilianteck."

There's still... a lot more material here.

Even within the scope of what involves me.

The identities of the attackers at the Nine Cubic Rapid Match, the extortion scheme allegedly taking place behind the scenes of the exhibition, the true identity of the assassin who was supposed to participate in the Old-Style Rifle Race.

Yeah, there's a lot going on here.

There's too much to go through, so I'll skip about half of it.

"Anyway, this whole incident with the Niliapotts system is definitely a re-education case."

"Of course. The scale was simply too vast, and it seems they were powerless against the poison of discord."

"You can't afford to fail to cooperate where cooperation is needed, now can you?"

This is about the disciplinary action against the intelligence unit.

Well, they're dividing the intelligence unit personnel into three categories—those with no issues, those with issues, and those who are criminals—and applying appropriate punishments accordingly.

Also, it seems even those without any issues will undergo re-education.

Yeah, well, given the incident with the poison of discord, it's unavoidable.

"Huh? Involvement from the Siltrilich Star System?"

"It appears the unit investigating the matter was infiltrated by agents from the Vanillageneroot noble family, who secretly passed us the documents. So please, keep the contents of this report confidential."

"Understood."

"Got it."

"I understand."

The next report appeared to come from an intelligence officer who had conducted the investigation after learning that the Siltrilich system was likely located behind Inakaini.

The target of the investigation was the facility where Inakaini had been present.

There, various machines had been used, including powered suits, servers, tanks, blasters, spacecraft, and artificial human manufacturing equipment.

Most of these machines were either stolen by the sky pirates or illegally obtained through the Blackroot trade network.

However, due to rough handling during transport to the facility, some of these illicit items were damaged beyond immediate usability.

"Items from the Siltrilich system seemed particularly well-suited for makeshift repairs and were frequently used."

"When reassembled, some of these joined components could even form nearly perfect wholes."

"There were certain joints that were especially useful as connecting parts, apparently."

"However, records of transactions involving such items were consistently and thoroughly erased, so it seems."

It appeared that the goods from the Siltrilich system were the ones being utilized for this purpose.

If you just dismiss it as being made that way, that’s all there is to it. But once you know that Inakaini likely had a presence behind the scenes, it starts to look like they were supplying the necessary components to organizations that could serve as their own pawns.

Hmm, it’s suspicious beyond words.

“Even though it’s this suspicious, we can’t act openly without concrete evidence.”

“Yes, we can’t. Each star system has its own autonomy, after all.”

"It's difficult to investigate secretly, given that the star system is physically isolated."

"I suppose so. I doubt even the Emperor and his court would be able to investigate under such circumstances."

Yet, something feels off.

There's still no definitive proof.

Even if we use parts that were supposedly stolen by space pirates, they could just claim they were taken and get away with it.

"..."

"Memo?"

At that moment, Memokshi shows an odd reaction.

It seems something unusual has occurred... It's rare to see such a puzzled expression on their face.

"Vee-sama, Sata-sama, Joharis-sama. An emergency news alert has just come in."

"Emergency news? What's the content?"

"A superluminal navigation beacon located in the Siltrilichii star system has been destroyed. The cause of the destruction remains unknown."

"..." (Silence from all three)

That was... an unexpectedly difficult news update to react to.