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    In cult societies, the position of Knowledge Manager holds a significant status.


    The role of a Knowledge Manager is to assist the captain in ensuring the safepletion of the ship''s missions.


    To carry out their duties, they acquire extensive knowledge across various fields. In addition, they learn psychic techniques that allow them to exchange knowledge with other Knowledge Managers.


    Although the Cult possesses strong psychic powers, bing a Knowledge Manager is no easy task. One must dedicate years of effort to earn the honor of performing such a sacred role.


    As a result, the position of Knowledge Manager is considered highly prestigious, despite being lower in rankpared to the captain or the leader of a warrior squad. In terms of stature, they are not inferior to those leaders.


    Charas, a Knowledge Manager affiliated with the Auro Star System''s Monitoring Bureau, was highly respected by the ship''s crew. Thanks to her, the ship had escaped from danger more than once.


    However, contrary to the crew''s perception, Charas did not attach great importance to her role. To her, being a Knowledge Manager was just one of the many stages she would pass through in her long life.


    Her ultimate goal was to be a member of the Imperial Council.With no factional support and only ordinary goat horns, the only way for her to reach that goal was through this path.


    ‘It''s not much longer now.’


    After joining the elite fleet of the Monitoring Bureau, Charas had made notable contributions. Because of that, a few months ago, she received an offer from one of the prominent factions on Verzan02, the Providential Faction.


    They had asked if she would join them, suggesting that if she was interested in the future of the Empire, they could align their goals.


    ‘The Providential Faction isn''t a bad starting point.’


    After the leader of the Providential Faction, Jason, was ousted for his responsibility in the ‘Sacrilege 08 Incident’, the faction suffered a significant blow. However, recently, as discussions about the Great Invasion of Outspacers started in the council, the Providential Faction began regaining power.


    The Core ideology of the Providential Faction is that to serve Providence and protect the Empire''s security, strong military force must be actively used. They are in direct opposition to the Reformist Faction, which advocates for disarmament, and the less stable the Empire bes, the stronger their faction grows.


    From Charas’s perspective, the future of the Providential Faction looked quite promising. In fact, the information she had gathered while performing her duties as a Knowledge Manager indicated that not only the Empire but the entire universe was on the brink of turmoil.


    The destruction of the Megacorp space city, the Star Union’s military provocations, and the recent ‘Kesha Arma’ crash incident. In such a short time, unprecedented events were unfolding.


    The key point is that as space bes more chaotic, the Providential Faction, which advocates for implementing Providence through force, gains more power. It seems highly likely that the Providential Faction''s dominance will continue for some time.


    ‘This is beneficial for me, a neer who needs a meaningful political career.’


    She briefly indulged in thoughts of a rosy future before returning to her duties.


    Currently, the ship she was aboard was waiting at a location where an unidentified maic field had been detected. This was to quickly check for any further anomalies.


    Aside from the mission assigned to her, the Monitoring Bureau had given Charas a different task. She was to continue organizing and sending information rted to ‘the Three-Headed Demon’, a connection she had sent earlier.


    After hours of continuous work, her task was finallyplete. The organized information was sent to the Monitoring Bureau through a transmission technique only Knowledge Managers could use.


    ‘Should I go out for a drink?’


    Perhaps due to the excessive use of psychic power, she felt a throbbing headache. A Verzan02-style cocktail would be perfect for this.


    Charas imagined the sweet taste of the cocktail as she left her room. She had no attachments to the ship, except for one thing—the delicious cocktails served at the onboard bar.


    Passing through the corridor adorned with geometric decorations, she arrived at the unmanned bar and ordered her favorite Verzan02-style cocktail.


    Was it the exhaustion from the workload or the headache? She drank more than usual, and as a result, she left the bar feeling light-headed rather than in pain.


    Now that her headache was gone, the only thing left to do was return to her room and sleep.


    ‘Ah.’


    There was just one thing left to do.


    ‘Didn’t they say it was struck by a meteorite?’


    She had heard from the situation room earlier in the afternoon that a meteorite had hit the outer wall of turret 15, causing a malfunction in the protective shield. She had forgotten about it since there had been no report from the crew member responsible for that turret.


    ‘How annoying…’


    By this time, the onboard engineers had likely already taken care of it, but it was still best to verify. No disturbances should arise before she entered the Providential Faction.


    She turned her steps toward the ‘Shield Management Office’, which oversees the ship''s protective walls and shields. If the warrior squad is responsible for fighting enemy boarding parties, then the Shield Management Office is in charge of protecting the ship itself.


    Walking down the corridor leading to the Shield Management Office, she moved with slightly unsteady steps.


    As with the bar, the corridor was devoid of crew members. Most of them had already gone to sleep.


    "......"


    The corridor appeared no different from when she had walked toward the bar earlier. The only difference was the geometric patterns on the walls, but otherwise, it was the same corridor she always walked down.


    However, she couldn''t shake the growing sense of unease creeping up her spine.


    As a Knowledge Manager, she knew every corner of the ship. Hidden within the unique patterns on the corridor walls were cameras.


    She was aware that the situation room was monitoring the ship in real-time. Still, the unexined sense of foreboding felt like a sharp needle poking at her mind.


    Beyond the brightly lit corridor, something dreadful seemed to be lurking.


    As the thought crossed her mind, it felt as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over her, sobering her up instantly.


    ‘Something’s wrong.’


    Charas, being a member of the cult, had learned various psychic techniques. She knew that this feeling couldn''t have arisen for no reason.


    She immediately reached out to trace the pattern decorations on the wall. With a click, the pattern shifted, revealing a smallmunicator. This device was directly connected to the ‘Onboard Surveince Unit’ managing the ship’s corridor cameras.


    “This is the middle of the corridor leading to the Shield Management Office. Is there anyone else in this corridor?”


    “This is the Onboard Surveince Unit. Currently, you are the only one in the corridor. No one has passed by here for thest two hours.”


    “Two hours, you say?”


    “Yes. Is there a problem?”


    “No, it’s fine.”


    “If you’re unsure, we’ll continue monitoring closely.”


    “Thank you for your consideration. Have a good night.”


    Only after hearing the confirmation from the Onboard Surveince Unit that no one else was in the corridor could she finally rx. As long as the cameras in the entire corridor hadn’t malfunctioned, their words were most likely true.


    Though the sense of unease had subsided, a new problem began to trouble her.


    ‘What is that smell?’


    A smell unlike anything she had ever encountered in her life was spreading through the air.


    It was indescribably strange—like intangible insects trying to burrow into her body, the foul odor clung to her nose and mouth.


    As she drew closer to the Shield Management Office, the stench grew more intense.


    ‘...I need to check this and get back.’


    Now that the alcohol’s effects had nearly worn off, she half-ran toward the Shield Management Office.


    Fortunately, aside from the smell, there was no other sign of abnormality. She arrived at her destination safely.


    Upon opening the door, the lights inside flickered on as they detected a new visitor. Just as the Onboard Surveince Unit had said, the technicians had all left two hours ago, and the office was empty.


    She hurried to check theputer systems. Quickly reviewing the shield and protective wall statuses, there didn’t seem to be any issues. It appeared the technicians had handled whatever had gone unreported by the turret operator.


    ‘Whoever it was, they''ll be reprimanded tomorrow...’


    Having endured extra trouble because of turret 15''s operator, Charas was about to shut down theputer.


    At that moment, a sound reached her ears.


    “!”


    Startled, she quickly turned her head. Under the bright light, there was nothing but inactive cult-styleputers.


    "I must have... heard wrong... Huh?!"


    Just as she tried to convince herself it was nothing, the sound came again. This time, it sounded like small metal skewers ttering against the floor.


    Charas immediately recognized it as the sound of something with sturdy legs crawling across an alloy te.


    She saw it. A creaturerger than the Cult’s head, with long legs, slinking through the spaces between theputers.


    ‘No, I must have seen wrong.’


    Swallowing hard, she focused her psychic power into her hands, preparing to fire if the creature appeared again.


    "……!"


    At that moment, the sound came again. A shadow with multiple legs swiftly passed between theputers.


    ‘It’s… it’s getting away!’


    Not every Knowledge Manager excels inbat skills. Charas knew this better than anyone, so she quickly ran toward the door.


    But just as she neared the door, aputer nearby inexplicably toppled forward. Without hesitation, she unleashed her prepared psychic technique, ‘Psychic Impact’, toward the fallen machine.


    With a sharp pop, the air exploded as the psychic impact dissipated in midair. Simultaneously, someone appeared behind theputer, both hands raised.


    "Pl-Please don’t shoot!"


    Charas nearly screamed when she saw the cult man unexpectedly appear.


    "Who are you?"


    "I-I’m the gunner in charge of the cannons."


    "Are you... number 15?"


    "Yes! Yes, I came in earlier to finish things before you arrived. I had just finished and was about to leave when the... the administrator..."


    The Cult member, identifying himself as number 15, was wearing the uniform of a cannon operator, just as he said.


    "You didn''t even file a proper report and decided to handle things this way? Are you out of your mind?"


    "I’ve only just be a gunner, and I was inexperienced. I’m sorry."


    "Apologies won’t help. You’ll be facing disciplinary action first thing tomorrow morning..."


    Before she could finish her sentence, a bizarre creature''s sound echoed. Both Charas and number 15 turned toward the source of the noise simultaneously.


    "W-What was that sound? Did you hear it?"


    Perhaps because of the colleague''s presence, Charas'' thoughts shifted slightly.


    ‘If I handle this situation well...’


    Instead of contacting the Onboard Surveince Unit, she decided to use this inept cult member to solve the problem.


    Since he had secretly entered the area, he couldn’t im any credit for himself. That meant whatever merit he had earned would belong to her. She’d be gaining another victory before entering the sect.


    "There’s an unknown creature somewhere here."


    "Eh?"


    "Help me handle this for now, and if you do a good job, I might consider lowering the severity of your punishment."


    "Ah, okay! I understand!"


    His flustered appearance gave her little confidence, but at least as a gunner, he had basic military training. In terms of sheer force, he would likely be better than Charas.


    "The sound came from the tool room."


    As Charas had said, the door to the tool room was slightly ajar. The lights seemed unresponsive to the creature, and inside, only dark shadows could be seen.


    "Can you create light?"


    "Uh, I’m not very good at that..."


    Without asking further, Charas used her psychic power to create light, illuminating the inside of the tool room.


    The floor inside was littered with tools that had spilled out from broken boxes. However, there was no sign of the monster that had wrecked the room.


    "If you find the creature inside, kill it immediately."


    "Understood."


    "Stop yelling like an idiot, like before…"


    "Why do you say that?"


    Charas stopped mid-sentence. Through her conversation with number 15, she realized something was off about the situation.


    "You said you can’t make fire, right?"


    "Uh? Yes."


    "When I came in here, the lights were already on. But before that, how…"


    Number 15 had just imed he couldn’t create light.


    This meant that, inplete darkness, he had been manipting theputers.


    Even if he had turned off the lights secretly to operate theputers without being seen, something didn’t add up.


    The Onboard Surveince Unit had said:


    Nobody had entered this hallway for two hours.


    So, for the past two hours, what had number 15 been doing in the dark, along with the monster?


    "Aha. The lights."


    As if he hadn''t thought of it before, number 15 spoke.


    No.


    It wasn’t number 15 who spoke.


    It was it.


    The creature in the Shield Management Room wasn’t just one.