"Carl Marcus! I knew you'd come! How long has it been!"
Ganesha Tripathi welcomed me.
It was a bit much—his reaction bordered on overwhelming.
"Been a while."
"I kept wondering when you'd finally come find me... and now you do. What a heartless friend you are."
Ganesha Tripathi treated me as if he were meeting an old friend of ten years.
["Why is he acting like you two are so close?"]
Esther, standing beside me, muttered. But I didn't bother to react.
"Ah, no need for thanks. It's nothing between friends, after all."
"Thanks?"
"Haha, no need to say it. Although I must admit, it did put me in a bit of a tight spot. But better that than leaving a comrade in trouble, wouldn't you agree?"
"What are you talking about?"
What thanks? What trouble?
Ganesha Tripathi continued speaking in a way I couldn't quite follow, then, as if he finally noticed something was off, he asked:
"...Hm? Don't tell me—you don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Wasn't it about the issue at the last Line Assembly—when I buried the proposal to form a punitive force against the Turncoat Pawn?"
A punitive force against the Turncoat Pawn?
This was the first I'd heard of it.
"...That happened?"
"Yes! Not just 'happened'—it was this close to being approved! I had to eat a ton of dirt to kill that proposal, and you're saying you didn't even know...?"
"..."
Ganesha Tripathi bowed his head, looking genuinely hurt.
Ark isn't run by fools.
If they were organizing a punitive force, that meant they were preparing a strike force powerful enough to take out their target.
In other words, if they had really mobilized one for Von, I'd have been in a serious mess.
'I might've been in real danger.'
Even though I'd grown exponentially stronger compared to before, there were still plenty of people in Ark who outmatched me.
If any of them had joined the punitive force to go after Von as a team, there's no telling what might've happened.
"Thank you."
"I didn't do it to be thanked. I simply did what had to be done."
"You say that, but you seem a little sulky."
"'Sulky'? What do you take me for?"
Esther chimed in.
["He's definitely sulking."]
Of course, Ganesha Tripathi didn't hear that, but inwardly, I agreed.
"...Anyway, what brings you here?"
"I need a favor."
"What kind?"
Though he might've felt slighted earlier, as soon as I mentioned a favor, Ganesha Tripathi was ready to listen.
"You've heard about the recent assault in White Line, haven't you?"
"You mean the incident where an unknown group infiltrated White Road? I heard it was suppressed, thankfully…"
"Yes, that's the one. You must also know that one of them was identified."
"Yes. Sophia Belov. She's a member of the Belov family, and the niece of capo Anton Belov, if I recall."
As expected of a member of the Rose Line, Ganesha Tripathi had a solid grasp on the situation.
"That makes things easier. At the next Assembly, I want you to support the Navy Line."
"...Supporting the Navy Line—do you mean helping deny any connection between Sophia Belov and the Navy Line?"
"Exactly."
Ganesha Tripathi narrowed his eyes.
"...It's not a difficult request, but may I ask why?"
"Because we can't afford to split Ark in two."
A brief silence followed.
And that short pause was enough for Ganesha Tripathi to understand my point.
"I see... Understood."
Finishing his solo tea time, Ganesha Tripathi rose from his seat.
"I'll take my leave. It seems I've got to get moving quickly."
"Right."
I got up as well.
With Ganesha Tripathi on the move, there was no reason for me to linger here.
["Where to now?"]
'Not sure.'
I hadn't really thought much about my next step.
'For now... heading back to the Orange Line seems right.'
And while I was at it, I might as well swing by the adjacent Red Line to see Maybell Pilgrim.
'Let's go.'
I started walking.
* * *
Nikolai Ivanov couldn't hide his anxiety.
It was understandable.
He was about to face the true ruler of the Navy Line—the capo of the Belov family.
"Come in."
With guidance from Boris Belov, the capo's right-hand man, the heavy leather door opened.
Thanks to its maintenance, the door opened silently, ushering Nikolai Ivanov into deep darkness.
"The capo is...?"
"He's inside."
Swallowing dryly, Nikolai walked down the corridor lit only by a single candle.
How far had he gone?
He finally stood before a massive door.
Knock knock—
"Come in."
A heavy voice from inside.
At the sound, Nikolai felt his knees buckle instinctively.
"Capo…"
He almost wanted to drop to his knees right then.
But he couldn't.
Not out of lack of respect or fear—but because his body had frozen.
"Sit."
That voice prompted Nikolai to nearly collapse into the chair before him.
"Speak."
"Y-yes…?"
"You came here for a reason."
"Ah… yes! Yes, Capo!"
Suppressing his trembling heart, Nikolai explained why he was there.
"Capo, I need your help."
"Help… This must be about the incident in White Line."
"Y-yes, Capo!"
Anton Belov's eyes swept over him.
The overwhelming pressure felt like a predator sizing him up.
Nikolai nearly fainted but managed to steady himself.
"This incident has put the Navy Line in a very precarious position. There's even talk of internal inspection teams from the White and Red Lines."
"How amusing."
"I-it is, but we can't ignore it. The inspection teams are just a pretext—the White and Red Lines are using this to expand their influence into the Navy Line. It's outright interference!"
Indeed, the playbook was predictable.
Apply public pressure through the Line Assembly, send in inspection teams under that justification, and when those teams arrive—game over.
They'd drag up real and imagined corruption, strike at the Navy Line leadership, and pick them apart like hyenas.
"What do you want me to do?"
"We need allies in the Line Assembly who'll back the Navy Line. Capo, we can't just sit back and take this."
"No need to worry about that."
"...Sir?"
Anton Belov said,
"A representative from the Tripathi family came to see me. They offered to support us."
"Th-that's… really true?!"
The Tripathi family.
A powerhouse that essentially rules the Rose Line and holds sway across the front lines of Ark.
If one of their members was supporting the Navy Line… this was an opportunity not to be missed.
"But should I accept their hand?"
Anton Belov's question made Nikolai feel his heart sink.
"Sir? W-what do you mean? If someone offers help, surely it's best to accept…?"
"Who knows… I know the ruling class well. They're not the type to miss a chance like this."
Anton took a puff of his cigar.
The smoke curled thickly into the room and Nikolai's lungs, but he didn't speak.
"But I've decided to accept."
"...What?"
"I'm going to take their hand, just like you wanted. Surprised?"
"N-no, not at all!"
Even though it was the obvious choice, Nikolai couldn't help but think it wouldn't have been strange if Anton had turned it down.
"Thanks to that, I'll finally be able to leave this place. A sealed room like this isn't somewhere you stay too long."
"What do you mean…?"
Only then did Nikolai realize—they were in the Belov family's security vault.
A facility so secure it could survive even a nuclear strike from White or Red Line.
In other words, Anton Belov had already been preparing for the worst.
"No need to look so scared. Just a precaution, that's all."
Nikolai felt a chill down his spine.
If the Tripathi family hadn't stepped in… he could only imagine what choices the Capo might've made.
'The BelovFamily…'
He was only now beginning to understand the weight of that name.
* * *
Isabelle sensed something was going wrong the moment she caught wind of the Tripathi family's movements.
'Why are they moving now?'
A titan with influence across the Rose Line and the front lines of Ark, the Tripathi family didn't act lightly.
Yet their response to the White Line attack was conspicuously active.
'Something strange is happening.'
If Esther were here, gathering and analyzing intel would be much faster.
But right now, she could only rely on the intelligence of the Shadow Order and Sart's network.
She didn't have the full picture yet, but one thing was clear.
'Carl Marcus visited the Tripathi family. And after that, they began to move.'
In short, Carl Marcus was once again interfering with the Shadow Order's plans.
"Commander, is it really okay to leave Carl Marcus alone like this? I think it's about time we consider eliminating him."
Nameless was right.
Leaving Carl Marcus unchecked any longer was becoming a real problem.
But Isabelle couldn't make that decision lightly.
Not because of personal feelings—but because of the words Carl Marcus had spoken before.
"Commander?"
How much time had passed?
Finally finished thinking, Isabelle rose from her seat.
"...I need to meet with Carl Marcus."