'Adrien Chase… it all makes sense now.'
As Rey's thoughts trailed, he wondered why he never pieced together all of the information beforehand.
'Back then, when I first saw him standing behind Scylla… I instantly knew he was involved. I just didn't know why…'
However, now that they were standing opposite each other, Rey had a good idea of what was going on.
"Did you manipulate the events thus far? Pretending to be a part of the Criminal Underworld… acting like someone you're not… just to gain all the benefits?"
Rey thought along these lines because they were the kind of things he had done and would do in order to get what he wanted.
What were the chances that Adrien had a similar thought pattern as him?
'He has been controlling Scylla without her knowledge. He probably wants all the resources of the Underworld for himself.'
This was an elaborate way to set things up, but he was able to orchestrate the events thus far.
'Or am I the one overthinking it?' Rey thought to himself.
"No, you're not overthinking things."
The moment Rey heard Adrien's voice and saw the boy move, Rey instantly took an offensive stance.
"Relax…" Adrien reached for his mask and began to pull it away.
"… I don't want to fight."
As Adrien revealed his face to Rey, it precisely matched the smiling boy who turned back back then.
His black hair swayed as his blue eyes gleamed with some sort of hidden motives.
He instantly got shivers when he remembered that event, but [Dead Calm] suppressed everything in an instant.
"I know what you're thinking, and you're not completely wrong… but you're not completely right either."
Rey still maintained his offensive stance as Adrien began to advance forward.
"I indeed orchestrate these events, but it wasn't wholly for personal gain. I mean, look at the results? The Black Market, the Mercenary Gang, and the Slave Union… they're all in shambles."
"And?"
"I mean… isn't this the perfect conclusion?" Rey narrowed his gaze as he listened to Adrien speak.
He didn't believe a single word the boy uttered.
"That's because I was here to ensure whatever plan you cooked up didn't work."
In response to Rey's words, Adrien chuckled.
"It's funny how you think I didn't account for your presence at today's event."
"What?"
"I mean… you're the main player today, Sir Ralyks."
Rey didn't know what to believe any longer. Adrien was skirting around the issue, or perhaps he was being straightforward.
"I only set the stage for you."
"To what end? If you truly wanted to reap the maximum profits, you wouldn't have involved me." Rey narrowed his eyes as his glare deepened.
"True. But, like I already said, I did all of this for a good reason."
Rey's skepticism was obvious in his silence.
"The Black Market and this entire Criminal Empire that the Triumvirate founded is stupid. It'll only get in the way of the Alliance's progress in the long run." Adrien drew even closer, until he got to the place where the head of Scylla landed.
"They were a cancer eating away at this Nation's resources and potential. They're a detrimental force… an overall liability to the mission."
Adrien stepped on Scylla's head and instantly turned into a bloody paste.
"That's why I had to cut them off."
'So he did this for the sake of the Alliance?' Rey had already had the exact same thought about the Criminal Underworld some time back, so he knew Adrien wasn't lying about that.
The wealth of the Underworld would be best distributed to the Alliance in order to improve its economic state and ensure better social welfare.
Goods and special items would be more helpful in the mainstream market—especially in times of scarcity and warfare.
Of course, those profiting from it would disagree, but if the Underworld kept hoarding things from the mainstream, it would lead to the overall detriment of the Alliance.
Slave Trade was also incredibly vile, and the Mercenary Gang also committed atrocities for the other branches of the Triumvirate.
This created an entire cesspool of wealth that would eventually burn itself out and eat itself up.
It was just as Rebal said.
'The entire enterprise isn't sustainable.' Rey agreed on all of that.
However…
"Do you really expect me to believe that you did all of this for altruistic reasons?"
Summoning a blade from seemingly nowhere, Rey pointed it towards Adrien.
'I can't be an idiot and just accept whatever he says.'
If he could pretend to be a heartless killer as Ralyks, then it was possible for Adrien to act as a concerned philanthropist.
"Haha… you really have such a low opinion of me, huh?"
'Yes. Yes, I do.' Rey gritted his teeth and glared.
Anyone who could orchestrate a scenario to frame a classmate, steal from them, cause someone else to die in their place, and so on… deserved his full skepticism.
There was no way he would let Adrien off the hook just from hearing a few words concerning his selfless deeds.
"Believe it or not, I'm not an enemy. I'm not even the villain here; the Dragons are."
Rey found his blade wavering a little.
"I'm also very much against the Dragons, just like you. Just because I do things a little differently doesn't mean our interests do not align." Adrien added.
"By differently, you mean creating a bloody mess by messing with people, don't you?"
"Says the guy who killed all those people. You're welcome, by the way." Adrien casually shrugged as he spoke.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm just efficient is all. If you want to get rid of the Dragons, then you'll have to be prepared to do anything necessary to achieve that goal."
Rey couldn't disagree with the words Adrien was saying.
In fact, he found them to be alike in a lot of ways.
But… there was something about Adrien that made Rey feel a sense of repulsion.
"The difference between us is that I'm willing to do whatever it takes to win, but you still hesitate…"
As Adrien said this, he smiled at Rey.
"… For now, at least."