The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4733

"...So that's it?" Ves furrowed his brows as he visited Calabast's underground again. "The only useful and relevant intelligence that we have managed to gain are a bunch of non-critical messages from the comm of a general who happened to be committing adultery!"

Calabast smirked as she sat behind her desk while stroking Lucky behind the ears. "That is not all. Your cat also managed to record the exchange of words between the general and the wife of a business executive of a major company."

Ves took another glance at the text log of that 'conversation'. He had no desire to listen to the audio that Lucky managed to pick up with his ears.

"I don't know about you, but the only information that I am getting out of this exchange of words are claims that the general satisfies his lover a lot better than the husband of the woman in question!"

The spymaster shook her head in disappointment. "That is true, but you are not examining them deep enough. Let me select a handful of excerpts that happen to provide us with vital clues."

She pointed her arm and caused the projected text log to magnify and highlight a few sentences spoken by the general of Davute's armed forces and his lover.

[...Enjoy this moment, babe… because I won't be coming back in the following weeks…]

[Why? … You always come in time…]

[...Extra shifts…]

Ves crossed his arms. "What's so special about this? It is not unusual to work overtime to guarantee the security of the founding ceremony and the festival that follows."

"That is true, but we have looked up the gentleman in question. General Declan Urillian is not in charge of one of the many mech units that are tasked with guarding and securing this planet and star system. He is actually in charge of a military department that is responsible for studying Karlach's territories, identifying targets of high strategic value and military planning. He is responsible for helping Davute's military forces strike the right targets."

"Okay… I see why that might be important, Calabast." Ves said as he thought about it more. "That doesn't necessarily mean anything, though."

"That is true. On its own, this does not constitute proof that anything further is happening, but that is why we tried to combine it with other notable intelligence. Take the man's schedule for example."

The woman projected a calendar that showed the man's itinerary for two different weeks.

In the week before the founding ceremony, the general scheduled plenty of meetings and events. The man not only held regular meetings with other public officials, but also maintained an active social life.

Absolutely nothing about this looked out of place for a man of this position.

It was the agenda after the founding ceremony that looked odd.

Aside from obligatory work-related meetings that had been scheduled in advance, the calendar showed that the general did not intend to catch up with any friends and acquaintances!

This not only persisted during the week-long festival that should be the perfect time to deepen relationships with other people, but also the month that followed!

"Okay…" Ves slowly said. "This shows that the general anticipates that he will be incredibly busy, but that matches what he has already said to his lover."

"It is different. The man's agenda contextualizes his words. His verbal statements in the meantime also clarifies the noticeable absence of meetings planned after the date of the founding ceremony. Let me show you a third clue. This is taken from a brief exchange of text messages between the general and a military advisor that is working directly under Prospective President Yenames Clive."

The projection changed to show an excerpt of the log of the messages transmitted over two months ago, making it rather old and easily overlooked.

[Amiyan Metal Trading is playing hardball again. I wish I could pull out my service firearm and shoot that sniveling **** between the eyes.]

[Amiyan?]

[I do not know what Y is thinking when he thinks he can turn Amiyan into a serious investor.]

[I remember now. Amiyan's seats have recently been reassigned to block E.]

[Ok.]

This exchange of messages looked rather strange to Ves. By itself, it did not seem suspicious, but if Calabast found it important enough to direct his attention to it, then there might be more to the story than he realized.

"What am I looking at?" He asked.

"From what I have gathered, Amiyan Metal Trading is a large resource wholesaler." Calabast explained. "It is a large company that is expanding rapidly throughout the Red Ocean. It has established branch offices in both Davute and Karlach and does not see the need to pick one over the other."

"I see. That must be frustrating to President Yenames Clive."

Calabast nodded. "It is the latter sentences that peak my interest. 'Block E' can only refer to the seating arrangement of the founding ceremony. Block A is where the representatives of the founders and main investors of Davute are seated. Its security is exceptionally high as it will be covered by an ace mech at all times, likely the Indemeon piloted by Saint Yorvick Clive."

"That makes a lot of sense." Ves remarked. "The biggest bosses of Davute have all gathered in the same place, so it deserves full-time protection from the most defensive ace mech in the colonial state. Where are we seated, by the way?"

"We have been assigned to Block L."

"Does that make us more or less important?" Ves scratched his head.

"Neither. All of the other invited parties have been randomly assigned to the remaining seating blocks. The Glory Seekers are assigned to Block B, the Boojay Family are in Block G, the Cross Clan is in Block M and the Adelaide Third Fleet is in Block R."

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