Orcs.

and a family that has the ability to insert someone into the Astarte Legion as an auxiliary.

Carlil tapped his fingers on his desk, his expression flat. The lightning lines still flickered and flickered like breath. In a way, it helps.

At least the lights don't have to be turned on in the office.

He tapped silently on the table, turning what had been a monotonous and tiresome affair into a constant job. He didn't add rhythm or more fingers between strokes, only the index finger kept going.

Lift, fall. Lift, fall. Repeated, clock-like. Eight flags fluttered around the room, and a brilliant light flashed through the porthole.

A huge nebula swirls in the distance, with countless other scattered stars next to it, like a giant canvas. The room was silent, except for the monotonous percussion.

Until a certain point, until an ancient smell from a scroll fills the room.

The chair was dragged, and an old man in dark green robes held his scepter and sat across from Carlil with a mortal-sized chair. His expression was serious, but there was something strange in his eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Makado-sama?" Carlil asked without looking up.

"Nothing, Lord Carlil." The old man leaned his scepter against the wall, still shaking his head solemnly. "It's just a matter of puzzling that you can bump into wandering orcs on a mission."

"Don't forget who gave this mission." Carlil finally looked up at Machado. "Considering your psionic powers, it's hard for me not to think of this as a glimpse into your future."

"I can't see the future." Machado replied with a straight face. "Like him, we are all blind, and we are blind people who don't even have a guide stick, and we can only grope our way forward in the dark."

Carlil didn't answer, just looked at the scepter leaning against the wall. Machado sighed, reached out and grabbed it, throwing it away as if he were throwing something. The scepter vanished, as if it didn't exist.

The instructors of the Nightblades laughed.

"How?" He asked with a smile. "Is this going to be taken seriously? The orcs were clearly trained, and they could even defy their instinct to try to yell in battle. This is not something that can be explained in a few words. ”

"Someone else will take care of this." Makado said. "I suggest you focus on the matter at hand, and in five years at most, you will officially join the Great Expedition. I've spent a lot of time buying you this time, so make sure you put it to good use. ”

"Unless you send me a Robert Killman, I don't think we'll have much more in five years." Carlil shook his head. "Five years. There's always too little time and too many enemies. ”

"That's what makes it interesting." Macado replied blandly. "The greatest ambition in the galaxy should be able to do the greatest feat humanity ever done in this environment. That's good, that's right. ”

"He's probably going to disagree with you."

"I don't care what he thinks anymore." Machado grimaced and spoke in a voice that didn't quite look like his normal tone.

"His laissez-faire attitude has turned his sons into monsters that give me headaches and bad sleep for months on end, like Perturabo. Do you know how many complaints I received about him and his legion? ”

Carlil couldn't help but laugh: "No, I don't know. ”

"yes, that's why you laugh." Makado replied with a blank face. "In short, my job is not simple. The same goes for you, although the problem of the orcs is solved, the problem of the Dark Angel Legion auxiliaries is still there. ”

Carlil raised his right hand and gestured. He didn't ask questions, and he didn't need to.

Every word that the person who holds the seal says after talking about his work must have something to say, which is an inevitable problem for people like them. Since Machado talked about it, it means that he will definitely not let this matter stay at the level of 'talking'.

"The Dark Angels are a large legion, and due to the special nature of their work, they also have a great voice within the Empire. I'm not going to mention the weapons and technology they've confiscated, after all, I'm not worried about anything going wrong with the members of the Dark Angels. ”

"But I'm worried about the people who work with them, the more special the work, the more power they have. Not everyone can resist the temptation of money, and besides, our supermen probably don't care much about the internal affairs of the auxiliary army. ”

Macardo said, a grim smile suddenly appeared on his face: "After all, Leon Al Johnson, the father of their genes, is not a man who cares much about these things. ”

"I still have reservations about what you say about them." Carlil sighed. "I still believe that seeing is believing."

"Even after you've seen Perturabo with your own eyes?"

"You're sharp, like a debater." Carlil shook his head, still looking calm.

"I know your assessments are mostly accurate, but I won't let them influence my judgment of them. Each of these supermen has terrifying powers, but, so far, I haven't seen any of them who don't have psychological problems. ”

"Even if it's Roger Dorne?"

"Even Roger Dorn - always honest, always upright in a way, don't you think that is in itself a self-sacrificing plot?"

"I don't judge, I like Rogge a lot. He was different from most of his brothers, especially the red-skinned kid. ”

Makado straightened his face again, his old but majestic countenance did not appear to be flabby when his face was expressionless, but rather made people feel a sense of physical discomfort. Carlil raised an eyebrow: "Is that Magnus?" ”

"Yes." The Palm Printmaker replied in a tone of hatred that iron does not make steel. "I've never seen a Primordial so naïve about the world as he is."

"Naive?" Carlil asked incredulously. "I've thought about a lot of comments, but I didn't expect you to describe him like that."

"You'll understand if you've seen him." Machado bowed his head slightly, letting his hood hide most of his expression, but his voice remained clear. There was a palpable revulsion in his voice, but it was not directed at Magnus.

"And what I don't understand is why he was so lenient with Magnus. An army of psykers, a naïve boy who spends his days fascinating the study of subspace and ancient mystical texts."

Machado looked at Carlil and asked solemnly, "Is he really unable to see the consequences of this?" But he just wants to let them go. ”

Carlil didn't answer, just listened.

Machado was silent for a moment, and when he looked up again, his expression had returned to normal.

"No, maybe I'm wrong - he's not just tolerant of Magnus alone, he's tolerant of all of them. So tolerant that he doesn't want to seriously correct the problem even if he sees it, he just wants his sons to find out for themselves. What a doting father. ”

The palm printer snorted coldly: "Then make our work more difficult." ”

Carlil looked at him sympathetically and sighed, "Do you know a lot of your complaints?" ”

"Of course he knows, but I'm the one he works with." Macardo suddenly sneered. "So we basically never talk about things that are too human."

"Maybe you should talk to him." Carlil said euphemistically.

"No, there's no need for that, it's for the best."

"But did you ever think about one thing, Machado?"

"What?"

"Your attitude is the root cause of his decision not to talk to you about this."

Carlil spoke slowly, his voice calm.

"You and I both know that the emperor of all mankind is essentially a man with a thousand faces, and can put on a different face to anyone. In other words, he will face you with the way you are adapted. And if he only talks to you about business, will it be because."

The palm-printmaker's face visibly trembled, and he jerked to his feet and walked away without saying a word. The smell of books immediately dissipated, and silence returned to the room. A moment later, a chuckle rang out.

"Job," Carlil sighed and rubbed his cheek after laughing. "Work."

He stood up, walked to the porthole, and began to look blankly.

(End of chapter)