CHAPTER 71 - THE MONSTER'S FRUIT

My head is boiling due to anger. I've heard Himeno calling Raynevere a monster a dozen times already, but her saying it right in front of my face grinds my gears. I clenched my fists, fully suppressing my urge to punch her.

"How dare you," I mumbled.

"The nerve! Do you mean you have no idea? Raynevere is a monster!"

"Are you so desperate to be the president of Treenity Innovations that you're doing underhanded tactics like this? You want me to stop being her Kaiser and concede the tournament, right?" I said with my shaking voice.

"That's part of it, alright. At first, I thought that you're just that monster's lackey who says yes to whatever garbage her mouth says. But I realized that you're just a naive ignorant bystander who just got mixed up in this."

"What are you implying?" I asked.

"It's exactly what you said earlier. I want you to stop being that monster's Kaiser. It's for your own good too, not just for the company." Himeno flicked her hair.

"I thought you wanted to fight her. That's why you suggested in the elections that the entire presidency will rest on the result of the Battle Fiesta." I said.

"I changed my mind. As much as I want to fight her, I wanted it to end in a much more peaceful way. Too many plebeians have already suffered because of that monster. Even bystanders are already getting killed because of her fault." Himeno said in a serious tone.

"What are you talking about?" I curled my eyebrows and gritted.

Himeno made a long deep sigh. And then her crimson eyes looked at me with disappointment. "You have no clue, do you?"

I shook my head. The wind blew once again, emptying the sakura blossoms on the higher branches of the tree. A chill went down my spine because of the cold breeze. The purple cat stood tall and crossed her arms.

"Do you even know why Treenity Innovations is getting bankrupt for the past years?" Himeno asked.

"It's because of the Treenity House's incompetence?" My answer is a form of the question since I'm not sure. But I've been hearing it a lot ever since my family lost their equities in the company.

"That's part of it, but no," Himeno answered.

"Then why?" I asked.

There was a three-second silence before Himeno answered. It seemed to me that she was hesitating to give me an explanation, but she gave up anyway.

"Human experimentations."

"Come again?"

"You heard it the first time. I'm not going to repeat it. It might backfire on the company if that information leaks. I don't want Treenity Innovations to file for bankruptcy the moment I sat on the president's seat." Himeno exposed her bravado that somewhat masked the grim truth I just heard.

"I don't buy it," I said.

"Treenity Innovations is a company that specializes in researching and improving mystical nanomachines. Don Gawainus Treenity, the founder of the corporation and Raynevere's grandfather, is the root of all these things. He did all sorts of unspeakable things in the dark, and all his experiments made them excel in medicine, the military, and even the entertainment industry. You can say that it is a necessary evil for mankind to advance, but still." Himeno said in a sad tone.

"How can you say that?" I asked.

"Because my grandfather was one of his lead researchers. The early Treenity Innovations used humans for the improvement of mystical nanomachines. They abducted undocumented foreigners. They bought kids on the streets. They executed contracts with people who are terminally ill. All of it is done in secret. It's downright worse than slavery or trafficking."

"If your grandfather is involved, doesn't that make you a monster too?" I bravely smirked.

"You don't get it. I am not my grandfather, and I hate him for doing that. But Raynevere, she idolizes his grandpa." Himeno said.

"Just because she idolizes him doesn't mean she is a monster too."

"But she is. She is way worse than her grandpa. If Don Gawainus is the root, then that monster is the fruit. She was the head of the Human Experimentation Division on mystical nanomachines. About fifty people, children and old people, were killed due to her monstrous acts. It was just covered up by her father who was the current president at that time."

"That's just a rumor," I said.

But Himeno continued her bizarre story.

"Even those Cyberdemon attacks have traces on Treenity Innovations. The plantation attack a few months ago was a subsidiary company of the corporation. The Treenity Village massacre speaks for itself. And the raid at the Hospital a few weeks ago was to assault the patients who are about to become whistleblowers against the corporation."

I was frozen. I felt like my whole body just got frostbite.

Himeno's words make sense, but it doesn't add up. She does not know the existence of the Masked Kaiser who wants to destroy Raynevere's life. All those attacks are meant to sabotage Raynevere's life, and now it's taking fruit.