Chapter 92
“You didn’t know it was a trap?”
Arietta asked coldly. The Black Tiger’s dogs couldn’t have missed his solo actions. They were seasoned searchers.
Benjamin just blushed weakly, as if he had no idea.
Isaac’s assessment seemed all too accurate.
She wanted to abandon Benjamin right then and there. But Arietta had nowhere else to turn.
She looked at him with her cool, colorless eyes, followed by an overt sigh.
For a moment, she felt dizzy. Leaving was harder than she thought because of this unexpectedly foolish young man. Arietta felt the vast gap between the earth and the sky once again.
Still, she couldn’t give up here. She began to think, facing Benjamin.
If she couldn’t leave everything to Benjamin, she had to take action herself. Arietta thought deeply.
Then, an idea came to her.
A completely sealed, airtight place.
Perhaps…
“As I mentioned before, the chances of remains being left on the ground are almost nil. The soil here corrodes everything. However.”
“However?”
“There’s a swamp where the Sky City’s foundation rose. A swamp filled with pollution. It’s different there.”
Benjamin listened intently to Arietta.
“I don’t know if Isaac told you, but sometimes things that sank long ago resurface there. It seems that if the pollution density is too high, it actually preserves things better. Items found there retain much of their original form.”
Of course, Marquis Tigra hadn’t told her about the swamp’s properties. The Sky City’s remains investigation team hadn’t thought to examine the swamp, even after 26 missions.
Meanwhile, as Arietta spoke about the swamp, she thought of Seia. Would her mother’s remains ever surface?
“If we have the equipment, it would be worth drilling there. But if you came to the ground without considering that place, you probably don’t have what you need.”
Arietta looked calmly at Benjamin.
“Ask Iji. The plant should have the equipment. Cooperation between the Sky City and Downstream is part of our agreement. Iji wouldn’t be able to refuse outright.”
Benjamin looked at Arietta with admiration. Seeing his expression, Arietta couldn’t hide her disdain.
Idiot.
But he was the hand she had to hold. She tried her best to compose herself and looked away.
“I want to go up to the Sky City. That’s why I’m telling you this… Make sure I can go up there with you.”
“I will.”
Benjamin became docile in front of Arietta. She wondered what she was going to do with him.
It didn’t matter. Her goal was to ascend, search for traces of Seia, and solve the mystery of her bloodline before returning to the embrace of the earth.
She would crumble with joy in her final moments.
“Tell General Soluten about this idea. Say you heard it from me.”
Arietta reached out and took Benjamin’s hand. It was their first physical contact. Benjamin looked at her with slight surprise, his cheeks flushing a bit.
“We need to make him think I’m someone who can be helpful here. That way, it’ll be easier for me to go up with you. Understand?”
Arietta said sternly, making Benjamin promise.
He nodded repeatedly. Arietta sighed inwardly.
She had boasted to Isaac, but this young man was too hard to handle. Without the affection and longing she had felt for Isaac in their youth, she lacked the motivation, making it even more daunting.
At least Benjamin was docile toward her.
He didn’t seem to mind being so blatantly used.
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