Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 927: Ill-Fated Connection II

CH0927 Ill-Fated Connection II

***

Alpha raised an eyebrow.

Alex smiled. "You are too good to be true. It is strange that someone of your calibre would end up with a young organisation like ours. You put yourself on our radar yourself, which means you had a goal. However, I can tell that said goal isn’t harmful to the organisation," he explained.

"When I asked you about your goal when we met, your response planted another trigger in my mind. A trigger which clicked when I heard Udara’s backstory from her.

"You are a veteran intelligence operative. You no doubt understand the power of words and how to use them carefully. You clearly wanted me to figure things out eventually.

"And here we are." Alex shrugged.

Alpha nodded.

She stared at Alex’s face for a moment and noticed something.

"You didn’t call me here just to call me out. You are worried about something," she stated.

Alex confirmed with a nod.

"The organisation that we suspect Alric is working with... I am worried about them," he said.

"The attack on the research facility... is it possible that this unknown organisation had a hand in it?" he asked.

Alpha frowned. However, she didn’t respond immediately.

Instead, she asked, "Why do you think that is a possibility?"

Alex heaved a breath, then leaned back into his seat.

"Providence," he said.

Alpha raised an eyebrow in confusion. Fortunately, Alex didn’t keep her guessing for too long, as he explained immediately.

"Providence is said to comprise Fate and Fortune. Considering how much I have achieved at this point in my life, I believe it is fair to say that I have a strong amount of Fortune—ergo, Providence.

"However, Fortune is only one side of the coin. When I think of a Fate that rivals the Fortune that I have, I can’t help but think about this unknown organisation.

"Almost every difficult trial I have ever faced seems to be related to this organisation. I can’t help but feel I have some ill-fated relationship with them. Now, I seem to see their shadows all around me."

Alpha didn’t know how to react to Alex’s admission. However, she didn’t take it lightly.

"Today, I can’t help but see their shadow in the backstory of my wives," Alex continued.

"House Frost... I find it suspicious for a monarch House to suddenly fall to having only one scion in a relatively short period of time. Even if the House is known to have problems with its Bloodline, this problem only shows itself the purer the Bloodline is. By the laws of the Natural Order, only a few members of their progeny would inherit the level of purity that would make this problem significant. Aside from this, there is no overt reason why the House should fall so suddenly. It is only possible if an external party targeted them.

"Of the groups and organisations that can attack and have something to gain from it, House Frost already has marriage ties with the bulk of them, placing their members in such prominent positions that it would be relatively impossible for them not to notice a plot against their House.

"That leaves an organisation that no one knows or looks towards..."

’I see... That sounds logical,’ Alpha thought to herself.

"Then, for Udara and EVE... the research project she was a subject in was created with the goal of uniting the major factions in EVE.

"Although on the surface, it makes sense to think that the project was shut down because one or more of the factions involved didn’t want it to succeed, as it would potentially put the faction the survivor of the project came from ahead of the rest of them, I don’t think that is the truth of the matter—or at least, the full truth.

"If it were me, I wouldn’t allow such a project to begin without all the factions having reached an agreement and compromise that would secure their interests regardless of whose representative succeeded in the project. To clean out the project... doesn’t make sense," Alex explained.

Then he added, "Plus, sentimentally, I don’t want to believe that Udara’s family suddenly decided to throw her away."

Alex’s words hit Alpha hard. She shut her eyes as she recalled the events of that chaotic time. Soon, her eyes slowly opened.

"You are thinking this unknown organisation is involved somehow?" she said.

Alex nodded.

"You mentioned the organisation’s actions lead to anarchy. What if their intention isn’t simple anarchy or chaos, but disunity?" he said. "In my experience with them, it seems as if they are acting to break unity or cause disunity somehow. Re-examine the cases you suspect are connected to the organisation. See if they cause discord or break the unity of a group somehow," Alex suggested.

Alpha thought back to the cases she had linked to the organisation. And as Alex suggested, she looked at the incidents from another lens.

Soon, her eyes shuddered slightly.

"65%," she said.

"Fair enough." Alex shrugged. "So, the answer to my question?"

’The attack on the research facility... is it possible that the unknown organisation has a hand in it?’

"It is possible..." Alpha replied.

—

A few minutes later, Alpha left the office with secret orders. Although her face revealed nothing, her mind was not as calm.

Back in the office, Alex remained seated at the desk, tapping the table with his index finger.

The reason he gave Alpha for suspecting the organisation—Providence—wasn’t exactly true. A major reason why he suspected them was... cliché.

In many novels from his previous life, an organisation that is widespread like this is often involved in the major events that happen in the world.

This unknown organisation gave Alex the same feeling.

He would have liked to reveal this to Udara, however, that would mean poking at wounds better left untouched for now. It was best to bypass her for this particular matter.

Alex sighed, then stood up. He walked back to the window again, looking out at the world outside once more.

Not too long later, someone entered the room, but Alex didn’t react. The person walked up behind him and hugged him silently.

Alex stood there quietly with Udara’s arms around him. For this moment, he decided to let everything go.

***