Naomi woke up by the sound of a commotion. Their sound was so loud that it even reached the flying island. Furthermore, her holo phone had been buzzing non-stop since earlier, vibrating inside her pocket.
When she opened her eyes, she first saw her beloved face, breathing softly with closed eyes. She immediately knew why no one woke her up when there was so much commotion. It was because Mischa was also sleeping with her.
‘She’s cute.’ Naomi thought as she smiled softly. However, she had no time to appreciate her beloved sleeping face.
Moving gently to avoid waking Mischa up, Naomi raised her head from Mischa’s lap and took out her holo phone. There were around 5 missed calls, all of them from Melaine. Frowning, Naomi thought about what was wrong with Melaine, calling her so many times.
Looking at the screen for a second, she finally decided to take the call, thinking it might be an emergency. But, as soon as she picked up the call, Melaine’s panicked shout was the first thing she heard.
[Ah! You finally answered the call, Lady Naomi!]
Judging from Melaine’s tone, Naomi immediately knew that something was wrong. The commotion below had stopped for a moment. By adjusting her ears, Naomi managed to gain some information from the conversation below.
Some of them were about the War and the Esper Association’s attack in a week. The sound was mixed, so Naomi couldn’t find out what actually happened.
However, she knew that it was serious. So, putting on her leader's face and tone, she answered Melaine.
“What’s wrong, Melaine?”
[It was my fault, Lady Naomi. But… our prisoner has been killed. Possibly by the spy.] She reported.
“What?!” Naomi couldn’t help but raise her voice as she rose from the couch.
‘The prisoner? It is that sand guy, right? How? Why? And more importantly, who is this spy? I never thought the spy would kill the prisoner. I have underestimated this whole thing a lot.’
Mischa was stirred awake by Naomi’s voice. She rubbed her eyes and turned to her, “Naomi?”
Naomi turned to Mischa and put her hand on top of her mouth. Mischa instantly understood that it was not the time to ask after she saw Naomi’s serious face.
“Melaine. Tell me about what happened and where did everyone go at that time. In detail. We will find this spy before the Esper Association launches their attack against Germany.”
She swore she could hear a gasp from Mischa’s direction.
‘Oh right, I have yet to tell her that.’ Naomi thought. But for now, this spy situation was more serious. Thankfully, once again, Mischa was someone who could read the air. So she just waited without making a sound.
[Yes. The situation is like this…]
***
Inside a dark room in the United States, a shadow of a girl wearing a suit instantly appeared in the middle of it. The man who had been inside the room for who knew how long raised his head.
“You’re here.” He said.
“Yes. I brought the food and drink as you requested. There is also some medical kit inside this bag. Use it to tend to your wound and your subordinates.” The girl answered and approached the man, giving the man sitting on the floor against the wall the paper bag in her hand. “Well, I can only do this much because I can only teleport here and there. I am sorry I can’t help much with this situation.”
“Please, don’t say that. Princess has given you the task of going around because she trusts you with that, no? To be honest, you’re really helpful because you did the early inspection to find the best spot to infiltrate the Esper Association’s HQ, Hotaru.”
“Hehehe, I can only do that much. Besides, I only teleport here and there with a body camera. You and your subordinates were the ones who played a big part. Deciphering the path and finding the most optimal one to infiltrate without being found out.”
“In the end, we still got injured. Anyway, I won’t hold you for long. Thank you for the medical kid and the food.”
“You’re welcome. In that case, I will excuse myself.”
Saying so, Hotaru turned around and teleported away. Hanz couldn’t see it from where he sat, but he noticed something a bit strange around Hotaru. The air around her was familiar, which made Hanz narrow his eyes.
“Is it part of Princess’ plan? I can’t say much. But… to think that this girl hides such a side. She reminds me of someone… Right. She’s similar to someone who worked on this side, the dark side of information gathering.”
He looked down, staring at the paper bag in his hand. Inside, there were varieties of food and medical kit, as Hotaru had said.
“Anyway, if that girl is truly part of Princess’ plan, then Princess is surely one hell of a scary, crazy girl. I am quite glad that she’s our ally.”
***
In the luxurious office room inside the Esper Association’s HQ in the United States, Avos was looking at his holo phone, reading some reports from his subordinates to make himself get busy.
“Hmm…” He let out a little hum sound as he read the report. “That little girl has some interesting subordinates.” His lips curled up into a small genuine smile, which would make the others who knew him question their sanity.
Avos had hardly ever smiled genuinely. It had been a long time since he did that.
“As expected, that girl is similar to me. We shared a dream. Unfortunately, she chose me as the villain, and she became the villain for me. If only we met in a different condition. Maybe… just maybe. If I met her instead of Melaine, what would happen?”
He put his holo phone on his desk and leaned his back against his soft, comfy chair. Looking at the ceiling, he closed his eyes.
“Isn’t that so, Abel? No, should I call you Hotaru now?” As he said that, he opened his eyes and saw a girl sitting at the desk, looking at his holo phone.
“My, you noticed me.”
“It’s hard not to notice. So you went to that side, after all?”
“Yes, unfortunately for you. I have helped you a few times, like when in Paris. But I won’t help you anymore than this. I swore to myself to help her to achieve her dream. Ah, I did take care of Andrew to repay my favor to you for saving me at that time. Please don’t worry about him.”
“What a shame. I lost another friend of mine. It can’t be helped. Does that mean you are going to stop being a double agent?”
“That’s what I implied.” Hotaru put the holo phone back on the desk and hopped off.
“Then, can you tell me one last thing before we part ways?”
“Hmm, sure. Do ask me.”
“Is Akasa Naomi's dream the same as mine? She told me that she only got bored, but I don’t think that is the case anymore, right?”
“Ah, that? So you’re really curious. Well, how do I say it.” Hotaru put her index finger on her chin and smiled playfully. “I will leave that to your imagination. Cya~” Then she teleported away, leaving Avos with widened eyes of surprise.
“Well, well. That confirms my question, silly girl.”
RaizarP
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