Bel Hackerson was a high-level engineer.

He was well-versed in design and development, and had a high level of understanding and application skills to fix any defects found in any complex machine on site.

The fact that he became the head of a company's chief development team at a young age and gained a reputation as a rising star in the industry was because he was backed by such innate talent.

Although he had been kicked out broke, he was confident that he could produce results that exceeded the money provided wherever he went.

It was a confidence guaranteed by his track record, not by bluff or recklessness.

...But even for him, the contractor's ignorance was beyond his imagination.

"Damn it! I'm!"

Thump! Thump!

"Not! A person! To do! This kind of! Menial work!"

Thwack! Thwack!

"I'm not!"

Bel's mouth didn't rest.

While pulling out the weeds rooted near the crops.

Even while sweating profusely from the hard labor and groaning from a sore back, his grumbling never ceased.

When he was panting and catching his breath, he looked back resentfully.

Allen was enjoying his leisure, sitting comfortably in a rocking chair he had brought from somewhere and reading a newspaper.

"I'll make you anything if you just prepare the materials! Why the hell are you making me do this kind of work!"

Although Bel was an engineer, he had no connection with the physical labor of a harsh site.

When he gave an order, his assistant would do the work, and he would only touch the parts that were not to his satisfaction.

Working under the scorching sun, hot as it was, was the worst experience.

Simple labor that didn't utilize his talents was more terrible than he had imagined.

"I'm! Done!"

But the end was bound to come.

Bel, who had finally stuffed the last weed into a sack, cheered.

What followed was the employer's on-site inspection.

"Well, this is acceptable."

Bel was choked up by Allen's evaluation, which he had spat out after a quick glance while strolling over.

Unfortunately, the one holding the knife was the other party.

If he kicked him out now, Bel would be kidnapped, confined, and forced to labor by Delight Conquem.

'Huh? It's not that different from now, is it?'

For a moment, that question came to mind, but there was a crucial difference.

The top of his head, where the scorching sun was directly shining without any cover, was stinging.

It was because he had been tormented by Delight Conquem to do marketable research.

He couldn't handle it if his hair became any thinner.

"Then it's time to start pruning in that area."

"Pruning... what?"

"Pruning. I won't ask you to do anything difficult since you don't have the skills. I've already set the shape, so you just need to cut the dead branches and leaves."

At some point, a pair of scissors was in his hand.

It was a pair of well-maintained, sharp blue scissors.

Bel was dumbfounded.

"No, why are we doing this?"

The question he had been holding back popped out of his mouth without him realizing it.

If it were productive labor, he would at least feel a sense of accomplishment.

This was just torture.

"Farming is a strange hobby, but what's going to change by doing this?"

It is the technology and secrets of large corporations, including fertilizers, that influence the growth of plants.

As Bel sent a gaze mixed with genuine curiosity rather than anger.

"The plants grow well."

Allen's tone was as if Bel's question was absurd.

"Aren't they just going to melt away as they grow? What's the difference between this and praying?"

"Can't you tell by looking?"

"...It's a little different. I admit."

Bel knew how to admit what he had to admit.

The plants Allen had grown were different.

The color of the leaves was a fresh green, full of life, and the flowers and fruits exuded a rich fragrance.

"Is this the effect of the torture you ordered?"

"Torture? It's a scientific management method."

Bel was confused by the pitiful gaze.

No, it was strange that such a clear difference would occur from such simple labor.

If this were the case, wouldn't the technology development departments of large corporations be a den of swindlers?

When he calculated it with common sense.

'He must have used some special method.'

He was a strange human with a plant stuck in his arm instead of a machine.

There must be a secret.

'Could this really be the secret?'

The temptation of money was like a drug to a contractor who moved for money.

If it were true, he would have already started a big business and made a fortune.

The fact that he hadn't meant that it was a feat that could never be achieved with such menial work.

"Anyway, I'm not doing it! I can't do it anymore!"

Bel lay down flat on his back.

He was tired.

His mind and body were at their limit.

He had even run away after being caught secretly developing an android because he only wanted to do what he wanted to do.

He had done this much of what he didn't want to do, so in his own evaluation, it was his best.

"Get up."

Of course, it was a situation that others would not understand.

Bel flailed his arms and legs in time with the rhythm of Allen tapping his side.

"Ah, I can't! Just give me something else to do! Others are dying to make me work, but why are you only making me do this kind of thing?"

"...Alright, then tell me what you can do."

As if his appearance, like an overturned bug, was quite unsightly, Allen took a step back.

It was a victory that left only scars, but a victory was a victory.

Bel finally answered cheerfully.

"Design, development, repair, modification."

"Not needed."

"..."

It was a firm answer that left no room for argument.

As he opened and closed his mouth, Allen asked with a sigh.

"Then can you do housework? Things like cooking, washing dishes, grocery shopping, cleaning."

"No."

"...Then what can you do? You're no different from a freeloader."

"I can do everything else!"

The reality of being denigrated like this was unfair.

Bel, a top-level engineer recognized in the industry, felt like he was about to cry at the relentless devaluation.

"I have no choice."

"Whoa!"

Bel was startled and had a fit as his body floated into the air.

A stem extending from the floor was lifting him up.

"I'm not a philanthropist."

Cold eyes, as if he were about to make a decision at any moment.

"Get out."

The wriggling stem tried to push him out of the fence.

Bel clung to a pillar and shouted with all his might.

"I'll, I'll do it! I'll do it!"

It was a fight where the winner was decided from the beginning.

The defeated Bel fell to the ground and cried his heart out.

"My fate, to be saved by such an ignorant bastard!"

"The sun will set soon. There's no dinner until you finish, so if you slack off, it's your loss."

"You devilish bastard! When are you going to work!"

It had already been three days since he had come here.

During that time, Bel had never seen Allen work properly.

He had said he understood after hearing the request details.

He suspected that it was just an excuse to make him work like this.

"I am working."

"Where do you see that!"

Vroom!

A vibration rang out from Allen's pocket.

"A call just came in."

He held up his phone and shook it.

The words 'Broker Cromwell' were displayed on the screen.

***

"This is the information on Delight Conquem you requested. Jack worked hard on it."

I received a document from Cromwell.

It was a report that detailed the latest trends of Delight Conquem.

"As I recommended to you before, it's a company that has been growing rapidly recently. Their credit and fundraising ability are also excellent, enough for Madhouse to have made a move."

It was a story I had heard in passing when I received the request to subdue the Race Lizard gang in Sylvester's District 16.

"However, even a company that was doing so well is collapsing after failing a big gamble."

Cromwell said, pointing to a part of the document.

The recent performance, which was an unofficial announcement, was drawing a downward graph.

"It's because of the City Government request you succeeded in. They said they were aiming to switch to a military company by betting on the outbreak of war."

"It seems quite a few companies have been hit hard."

"The stories I've been hearing among entrepreneurs recently are unusual. They even say a chain of bankruptcies is scheduled."

Just as the transformation after the outbreak of the previous war, the opposite situation also seemed to have a great impact.

However, the big difference was that the former was the development of Centrim, while the latter was the advance of Sylvester.

"Anyway, as you mentioned, the internal situation of Delight Conquem is a mess. The core development personnel have escaped, and they've released the hounds to chase them. This area will be busy for a while."

"Hounds... how long do you think it will last?"

The key personnel that the company was chasing were working at my house.

First of all, losing the unpaid, diligent, all-purpose part-timer that the guy had offered as a reward was a problem.

Furthermore, if they rummaged through my house to catch the guy, that would be an even bigger problem.

"Well, I haven't heard any good news, and since they've turned their internal security personnel, they won't be able to maintain it for long. It'll be a week at most."

A week.

It was a short time if it was short, and a long time if it was long.

"That's strange. The core development personnel have escaped, but they're only obsessed with it that much?"

"Their situation is not good, so what can they do? With bankruptcy just around the corner, they have no choice but to give up quickly."

Is their situation that bad?

From the collapse of a future company that would have prospered by signing a business agreement with Centrim, I realized the ripple effect of the results I had brought about.

"...Of course, the story I heard from an insider was different."

Of course.

Cromwell smiled as if it were a twist and lowered his voice.

"They said they're going to make something interesting with the various materials the core technician left behind."

"Something interesting?"

"A complete android."

I stopped my fingers, which had been tapping the bar table.

"If they succeed, it's a great research that will overcome the crisis of bankruptcy and even re-evaluate the company's value in the stock market. Several companies that have already heard the story are trying to get involved."

Cromwell handed me several more documents.

"Or they're aiming for this."

A private request.

The clients were different, but the contents were similar.

Steal the blueprint, seize the machine if it exists, and in the worst case, destroy it even if it means collapsing the research institute.

'It wasn't nonsense.'

He had said it would be a loss even if he added the request reward to the price of his life.

An objective evaluation was right in front of me.

If it was becoming such a hot potato in the industry, it was the truth as it was.

'This is troublesome.'

I thought it was a treasure that only I knew about.

But when I opened it, it was a famous restaurant.

It became impossible to steal it secretly.

Even if Bel was safely protected, if the reward was not recovered, it was a huge loss of an investment.

"I hear that Nano Bio Company is also aiming for a show of force for the first time in a long time."

Nano Bio Company, a medical company founded mainly by alchemists.

Although it was still at a crude level, it was a leader in the industry that had even succeeded in developing the first-generation nano medical devices.

'That side's research is mainly focused on biological experiments, so they would be crazy about an android.'

Although it was a quiet place that didn't cause any major accidents due to the alchemists' unique gloominess, a large corporation was a large corporation.

The weak Delight Conquem, which had failed to switch to a military company, did not have the capacity to handle it.

"Similarly, Centrim is also aiming to participate."

They were guys who never missed a famous party.

There were already two megacorps that had drawn their swords.

It didn't seem like there was any time to be complacent.

"The situation is unusual, so if I'm going to take a request, I have to decide quickly."

"But you don't have to decide so hastily."

"?"

"Delight Conquem seems to have put their life on the line. They've hired Madhouse again. It must be a connection they made from a previous request."

"...It's going to be a bloodbath."

Even Madhouse, the top mercenary group.

A small breeze caused by a single technician who had run away due to embezzlement, breach of trust, and sabotage had now become a typhoon.

"On the contrary, you should be careful. They're not easy opponents."

This made it impossible for the talentless people to even dare.

The reward would naturally be higher.

The difficulty also rose exponentially.

'It's not something to get involved in just because I'm greedy for a slave.'

At present, it was fifty-fifty.

I was greedy, but did I really have to take the risk?

If it was a worker, even if I wasn't satisfied, if I just made Bel stay...

"Since it's a matter you've shown direct interest in, take a good look at it first. The conditions aren't bad. A nominated request related to it has also come in, so you can just pick and choose."

"A nominated request?"

Just then, the phone rang.

After checking the message, I was able to decide.

"Let's do it with this one."

A nominated request form.

Client: Sylvester.

[There's a request I've nominated you for, so take a look if you're interested.]

The sender of the text message was Claire Sylvester.

(End of Chapter)