"So... what exactly is this thing?"
Geno stroked his chin, staring at the motionless statue, his mind whirring at top speed yet never arriving at an answer. Before long, a wisp of gray smoke curled up from the top of his head—clearly his CPU was running a little hot.
"Stop wracking your brain. Fry it any harder and I'll be the one who has to save you all over again."
The Filth lay sprawled on the ground, one hand scratching at its rear, urging Geno to quit struggling in vain.
"Seriously, could you NOT use my body to do such crude things!"
"Hm? You say that like you're some paragon of elegance yourself."
The Filth turned its head, eyes brimming with contempt, then—as if to provoke him—started digging around in its nose.
Naturally, it came up with nothing.
"Hey! You're getting more and more out of line!"
Watching the Filth's antics grow ever more brazen, Geno was thoroughly displeased—but soon the Filth dropped the childish behavior and flopped back down again.
Seeing this, Geno let his anger subside, and instead grew all the more curious about the Filth's present condition.
"So what's your deal now, exactly? Don't tell me you've given up on finding the Progenitor?"
At first the Filth couldn't be bothered to pay Geno much mind, but the moment he mentioned the Progenitor, even its butt-scratching hand froze for a beat.
"...Not anymore. Because there's no point."
"No point?"
Seemingly figuring that if it didn't get Geno off its back he'd keep pestering it like this forever, the Filth scratched its hair in irritation, then rose to its feet and walked right up in front of Geno.
"Let's get one thing straight first—I tell you what you want to know, and after that you stop bothering me. Got it?"
Seeing that the Filth was finally willing to talk, Geno nodded his agreement, and so the two inhabitants of this pure-white space began the very first proper conversation in their shared history.
And while Geno and the Filth were having their friendly little chat—'Lycaon and Geno having their friendly little chat' too—
Hartman, for his part, had arrived at another location within the Hollow to pay a visit to his dear nephew.
Stepping out onto the building's rooftop, Hartman didn't entirely understand the choice of venue, but since Hugo had insisted they meet here, he said nothing about it.
And upon laying eyes on Hugo, the first words out of his mouth were:
"Did you get it?"
"Of course. There's nothing the Mockingbird wants that stays out of reach."
As Hugo spoke, he dangled the Beast-Specter Core—now fashioned into a necklace—from his hand, holding it up for Hartman to see. Seeing that Hugo had indeed retrieved the thing, Hartman felt a weight lift from his heart, and the corners of his mouth curled upward a few degrees.
"Truly my worthy nephew. Well then—hand it over to me now, won't you?"
With that, Hartman strode briskly forward a few paces, but just as he was about to touch the core, Hugo drew it back.
"What's the meaning of this?"
"My dear uncle, haven't you forgotten something rather important?"
Hugo's face still wore that hollow, hypocritical smile, but the greed and vicious malice flooding his eyes were dreadfully intimidating. Catching on, Hartman moved to soothe Hugo's temper.
"Hahaha, look at your uncle's forgetful memory! Starting today, you—Hugo Ravenlock!—shall officially become my heir! When I am gone, you will inherit everything the Ravenlock family possesses!"
As he spoke, Hartman signaled a lackey at his side to bring forward the contract documents, and without hesitation he signed his name upon them and pressed down his fingerprint.
Hugo hadn't expected Hartman to be so swift about it, and was momentarily stunned—then, seeing the document that genuinely laid out the relevant clauses and bore the signed name, it all felt like a dream.
But he quickly composed himself, signed his own name on the document, and handed it back.
Hartman let a faint, meaningful smile surface—but he concealed it so well that not a soul caught sight of it.
Right after, he took the document back and once again demanded the Beast-Specter Core from Hugo.
"So, my dear nephew—can you hand that thing over to me now?"
Hugo chuckled softly, then casually tossed the core through the air.
Watching Hartman fumble and scramble to catch it, he couldn't resist a jab.
"Uncle, with legs like those, maybe you ought to just get yourself a wheelchair."
Now that Hugo had become the next heir of the Ravenlock family, his tone had hardened considerably. The underlings off to the side, reading the room, wisely bowed their heads and fixed their gazes on their own noses, minding their own business.
Hartman, meanwhile, was busy examining the Beast-Specter Core in his hand, his eyes brimming with smug satisfaction, paying Hugo's words no mind whatsoever.
"Go. Deliver this to our good ally—and under no circumstances are you to lose it along the way."
"Yes, Head of the Family."
The subordinate took the core and then withdrew. Hugo, hearing Hartman mention the word "ally," couldn't help but knit his brows and press him on it.
"An ally? Uncle, since when did the Ravenlock family acquire some major ally I've never heard of?"
Hartman could tell exactly what this was: Hugo angling to insert himself into his connections and into real control over the Ravenlock family.
After all, until now Hugo had been half an outsider, unable to touch the family's inner core; his desire to get involved now was only to be expected.
But as far as Hartman was concerned, he would never permit anyone to meddle with his interests and his power.
"Heh. Nephew, take a word of advice from your uncle—you're still young, the waters here run far too deep for you to handle. Just leave it all to me."
Hearing Hartman flatly refuse his bid to take part in the family's inner workings, Hugo's face fell in an instant.
"What is that supposed to mean, uncle? Are you brushing me off? I am the next heir of the Ravenlock family now."
Hugo was acting exactly like some young upstart who'd only just brushed against power and already begun to lose himself—and seeing it, Hartman laughed all the more merrily.
"Hehehe, good nephew, look at you—impatient again. Your uncle isn't brushing you off; I'm telling you the plain truth. Your standing is still lacking, and if you were to provoke our great ally, it would be a loss far outweighing any gain. Wouldn't you say?"
Spin it. Go on, keep spinning your tales.
Hugo wouldn't believe half a word of what Hartman said. The most idiotic bosses on earth all use this sort of tasteless rhetoric to deceive their employees into slaving away like beasts of burden on their behalf.
Hugo dismissed it with disdain and tried to haggle with Hartman once more.
"Fine. Then at the very least, let me know who this good ally of ours is. What if one day I carelessly offend them—wouldn't that spoil everything?"
At this, Hartman's smile turned rigid, and a sliver of dangerous light flashed from the depths of his eyes—but it was neatly masked by that affected pair of sunglasses of his.
With that, Hartman silently drew his hand behind his back, made a gesture somewhere Hugo couldn't see, and only then spoke to Hugo in a mysterious, secretive tone.
"The ally of our Ravenlock family... is—"
"The—Ex—al—tists—!"
Splurt! Blood! It stained the sky red!
____
👻🔥P-a-t-r-e-o-n: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Zenless Zone Zero: Rewriting Fate in New Eridu — new on The_Mikudayo
📚 40 chapters ahead over at Walnut-chan — your support is what pays for the translations
Help us hit our targets:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 free chapter for all