After Rose's concert, Tirna regained stability. If you say this, you might ask what nonsense this is, but there was also an undeniable truth. The message Rose Melody conveyed through her song touched everyone's heart.
Rose's song is not a simple transmission of emotion. Her wishes transform into arrows that pierce through the very center of people's hearts. People naturally come to empathize with her opinions.
It's similar to brainwashing but different in nature. Rose only suggests that such a path exists; she doesn't force the choice. Choice and judgment are ultimately decided by one's own will.
'Right. The fact that protests have subsided like this is also ultimately due to that influence.'
People regained their reason thanks to Rose's performance. The madness that had been overflowing until then had considerably diminished. Of course, it hadn't completely disappeared.
'There are still many people trying to incite madness. Because there are people who can only survive when things are chaotic. For them, peace is poison.'
For instance, gangs, crime firms, or PMC mercenaries.
Peace. What a nice word. The message of not fighting is morally right. However, how each person accepts it differs.
A person who says fighting is bad probably has never been properly exposed to violence in their lifetime. A person living in the world of true violence, even knowing it's not right, has no choice but to willingly commit it, because if they don't comply, they die.
Pursuing peace is the same. Can someone who has no food to eat today and might starve to death live peacefully just because they receive a message to live peacefully?
Would a boss who usually withholds daily wages suddenly give extra money saying "you worked hard" just because of one word about having hope?
Before pursuing goodness and ideals, what always torments them is the cruel reality. And those who cannot resist such reality, the so-called ones who give up and fall behind, spend every moment powerlessly.
'Then naturally, the dark emotions that accumulate and fester reach out to others.'
Those who harbor evil turn their arrows toward good people. More precisely, they commit evil acts against easy targets. This is also why Rose Melody receives death threats. She is a beautiful woman. In their eyes, she was just someone who was born pretty and has talent to sing well.
So they keep targeting her, and therefore Rose is always exposed to danger.
And what is she doing?
"Huff! Huff! Whoa!"
She was earnestly building her physical strength. I thought she would never come again after being worked hard the day before, but whether some stubbornness had developed, she came to the training ground as if nothing had happened.
Then she began to devote herself to training like other members. There were intense gazes toward Osian from time to time, but she didn't speak first or anything. Something like a kind of stubbornness could be felt.
'She has quite the guts. Even though she's in disguise, she might be discovered by paparazzi or anti-fans who are constantly tracking her movements in real time.'
Nevertheless, the fact that she came all the way here must mean she had realized something too.
'Still, it's fortunate that I have less to worry about. If she's here, at least nothing dangerous will happen.'
Who are the people gathered here? Starting with Asmer, they are the first-generation knights that he personally trained. Even if all the nearby gangs united and rushed at them, they could never be defeated.
Rather, what to worry about would be overtraining and damaging muscles or joints. Of course, that too could be prevented through Rose's own ability, healing.
'She said she has a performance next week.'
It's not as large-scale as a comeback show, but she plans to continue performing while periodically touring the regions. Danger follows each time, but Rose wasn't someone who would quit because of that.
Osian now fully understood what kind of personality Rose had.
'Rather, I'm on the side of supporting such a choice.'
Rather, if she had quit saying it was dangerous, even if he understood it with his head, he would have been considerably disappointed. Osian thought this and let out a chuckle inside.
He had thought that only knights were enough to commit crazy acts, but seeing someone else do the same thing, far from stopping them, he would cheer them on.
'My head must have gotten messed up somehow. No, I couldn't do this kind of thing without that happening.'
Osian watched the new members' training and then left the training ground. Loraine and Diolan took his place.
"Please take care of Rose if anything happens."
The two had made a promise the day before. While he was away, they would take charge of Rose's security. Loraine, being a fan, naturally liked it, and Diolan, having spare time, didn't particularly refuse either.
"Where are you going?"
Loraine asked. She had quite sharp senses. She knew that Osian wasn't simply leaving without reason.
"Something came up."
He showed the pager that came from Ronan.
"...Even if things have stabilized a bit, Tirna is still precarious. Right now, we've just bandaged the visible wounds."
"I know. What has festered deep down hasn't been healed yet."
"Right. In such a situation, secret contacts and requests come in. Frankly speaking, it won't be ordinary business. It might be dangerous."
"How can we do this job without being prepared for danger?"
It was a statement that penetrated the core of being a fixer.
Loraine opened her eyes wide, then soon nodded.
"I said something unnecessary. Just think of it as worried advice from a senior."
Osian waved his hand appropriately and left the two behind.
When he arrived at Violet Fox, Ronan was waiting. Besides Ronan was a familiar person he had seen before. It was Adela, the female civil servant he had met during the flood recovery request. And Adela was with Plimene.
'I didn't expect those two to come.'
A request from a Tirna city government official meant the work waiting this time would definitely not be ordinary.
Osian naturally sat at the table.
"Since we all know each other, we can just skip the introductions."
The two women nodded and handed Osian a document envelope. Osian, who received the contents and unfolded them to read, twitched his eyebrows.
"Is this really true?"
When he asked about the authenticity of the contents written in the document, Plimene nodded. Osian stroked his chin with his hand.
"Hmm. The Red Liberation Army is hiding in District 44, and there they've joined hands with heretics."
The Liberation Army alone is troublesome, but together with heretics. Osian thought of Lukai. If it was him, with his enormous hatred for the wealthy, he would be prepared to join hands even with demons.
'It makes sense. A place like the 40s districts with poor security and where the city government's eyes don't reach well would be suitable for the Liberation Army to hide. The same goes for heretics. They're experiencing an unprecedented crisis right now, so they'd want to hide even more.'
He thought District 44 would be a sufficient place for that.
'And they're plotting something in District 44.'
The city government wants to stop this.
"But why did you specifically call me? For this level of matter, wouldn't it be right for the city government to move directly?"
He asked Plimene, but Adela answered instead.
"First, please understand that this information is not yet perfect."
"You mean the investigation is insufficient."
"There's that too, but it's closer to being mixed up here and there. Especially recently, corporations have been watching the Liberation Army's movements a lot."
She says a considerable amount of this material was created by corporations. From the corporations' standpoint, they had no choice but to pay attention to the Liberation Army.
"They seem to have caused quite a bit of trouble."
"Yes. Especially during this protest, quite many factories closed down."
From the 30s to 40s districts. Breaking machinery inside factories, or stealing things or money left inside. That level is rather gentle. There were cases where things were completely destroyed beyond possible full recovery.
"Is it the work of protesters who turned into rioters?"
"We're viewing it as the Liberation Army's work. There are eyewitness accounts of red scarves, with Lukai commanding."
"So they're practically one body."
"Didn't you notice something heterogeneous about this protest?"
It seems like a probing tone, but they seem confident that this side would know.
Osian chuckled and shook his head.
"How could I not know? I just saw such a sight recently."
There was a force that deliberately poured oil on general protests to make them turn into violent protests. Osian met them directly and even fought with them. They moved thoroughly. They were definitely not third-rate rabble who committed acts emotionally in a fit of anger.
'If that was the Liberation Army, it makes a little more sense.'
Osian thought of Lukai. If he was a man calculating enough to freeze blood, the possibility was quite high. No, it was overflowing.
"The city government is also doing its best to gather information. However..."
Adela hesitated to answer. Osian felt something unsettling in her attitude. Why? The reason she doesn't have confidence in her attitude even after giving this material is.
"...You don't trust the corporations."
Adela nodded.
"There's something people misunderstand. That the city government has a close relationship with corporations. This is actually different. The city government is rather on the side of keeping corporations in check."
"That would be so."
Didn't Battle Trench show what unchecked corporations do? They even secretly committed such acts despite all sorts of regulations. Now, because of those excessive evil acts, they're practically dismembered and the corporation is destroyed.
Would there really be only one corporation like Battle Trench in Tirna? It just hasn't been revealed yet, but there would be even worse ones. Osian was confident of this.
"We value coexistence. If workers disappear, that's a problem, and if corporations collapse, that's also a problem. The city government's position is to not lean toward either side."
"So you can't trust corporate information because you can't judge by looking at only one side's position."
Especially at times like now when corporations' ill feelings toward protesters have reached their peak, they have no choice but to pay more attention to the authenticity of information.
"So you want me because you need to go directly to District 44 and confirm whether the corporate information is correct."
"Yes. That's exactly right."
"For that, even if not me, there should be excellent agents belonging to the city government."
"It's not that we didn't think about that. But not everyone in the city government moves with one heart and one mind."
Plimene, who had been quietly listening beside them, spoke up.
"Opinions are divided even within our departments. More precisely, those who receive corporate lobbying are moving. Corporations want to thoroughly organize traffic at this opportunity."
"So if city government agents are moved in this state, it could reach corporate ears too."
There's no way to know if the colleague next to you is someone who received corporate money. In other words, it's a situation where colleagues can't be trusted.
'From the standpoint of not knowing what corporations are trying to do, the city government can't move carelessly.'
Just because it's the city government doesn't mean they can do anything they want. They wield a strong iron hammer only when there's a clear justification, that is, when the laws they set are broken. Otherwise, what corporation, what people would want to live in Tirna?
The city government taking this watching attitude is a result of mutual consultation. They heavily maintain their position and watch the situation. Then they move the moment someone tries to cross the line. They move big when they move once, but that requires a lot of time.
'But that doesn't mean the city government does nothing.'
Cases like putting in separate requests like this were such. Because fixers are individuals not belonging anywhere they become the free eyes and ears of the sluggish city government.
'Of course, fixers have less responsibility as they are free, but famous fixers in the industry have an extremely low probability of that.'
Putting in a request to a fixer with some acquaintance like now was for such reasons.
"We need your help."
"You tried to make me a hero, and now you're treating me as a fixer?"
At Osian's sharp point, Plimene smiled bitterly. She bowed her head toward Osian.
"I'm sorry about that part. But we had no choice."
Osian knows the reason Plimene goes to such lengths.
'It must be for Basilio.'
If Osian hadn't taken all the attention at that time, sparks would have definitely flown to Basilio. And someone who would notice Basilio's strangeness, big or small, would have appeared.
'The power of love is truly great.'
Would there be a case where a high-ranking civil servant of Tirna bows their head to a mere fixer while asking for a favor? There's even a subordinate employee together beside them.
Looking at Adela's reaction, she respects Plimene. She's a success story who climbed to that high position with a woman's body. It was natural to take her as a life role model.
Naturally, Plimene would know that fact too, and would try to look good to Adela. She wouldn't like breaking someone's admiration either.
'Nevertheless, she bowed her head.'
Osian placed the documents on the table.
"Don't forget. I'm not a hero. I'm just a fixer."
Creak. He pushes the chair and stands up from his seat.
"So, you'll need to prepare proper compensation."
Somehow I don't have the intuition that this job will just end simply.