Spy Room Volume 1 Chapter 2

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Coordination

On the 9th day after their arrival at the Kagerou Palace, on the hallway of the second floor—

"Are we really doing this…?"

"Of course. We don't have any other choices left."

Lily showed a rather concerned attitude, to which the black-haired girl stood strong, speaking with her usual beautiful voice. Even in the face of tension and danger, the girl's beauty would never shake. She was indeed as beautiful as ever, but her cheeks were colored in a faint red, as slight droplets of sweat ran down her neck, making her look even more sexually desirable.

Then, a transmission came from yet another girl.

'This is the rooftop. No problems here…Target seems to be in the middle of a bath. Can't properly see it because of the steam, but there's no movement…'

Lily went on to report the information she just received to the black-haired girl. She nodded, and gave the other girls on the floor, currently on standby, a thumbs-up.

"Lights, are we ready? Number lock, is everything prepared?"

After the final check, the girl fixed her hair, saying The chance is ripe, as she directed her gaze towards the bathroom. This Kagerou Palace has a large bathing space, and a bathroom, with the girls normally using the bathing space. But, they were heading for a different location. The bathroom used by the one and only man in the vicinity. From said bathroom, you could hear the sounds of someone taking a shower.

"0700, everyone, it's time to attack." The black-haired girl repeated the mission once again. "Attack Sensei while he's in the bath!"

They were the newly-formed spy team [Tomoshibi], and their boss had conducted a rather illogical training method.

The reason for this happened five days ago, the morning of the fourth day since Lily and the others arrived. The girls of [Tomoshibi] were flabbergasted, as they sat in the reception hall of the Kagerou Palace. In hindsight to the [Impassable Mission], an unbelievably dangerous and risky mission, Klaus will be teaching them—or that's what it was supposed to be, but Klaus teaching talent, or lack thereof, became apparent, bringing the girls into yet another deadlock.

As Klaus once again called the girls together, he wrote [Defeat me] on the blackboard, and walked away. This wasn't just on the level of instructions unclear. Only Lily had some faint idea of what Klaus was playing at, having gone out with him the day prior. On top of that, she was the first to realize the change on the 'Kagerou Palace: Rules for shared-living', which had received some new rules.

[Rule 28: Those told [I surrender] by the Boss can acquire a reward.]

[Rule 29: During battle, no matter the time, no matter the method, everything is allowed.]

[Rule 30: Lastly, at least one attack every twelve hours is desired.]

"The hell is this?" One of the girls let out a voice of confusement.

Yet another girl felt the same, and could only repeat the rules in awe.

"Is this the new lesson he was referring to…?"

The final silent voice belonged to a girl with her characteristic red-haired bob cut. She held a long, slender body, and was 18. With her charming body, no excessive fat to be seen, and her calm and soothing voice, she gave off a fleeting, almost feeble impression. Just like a delicate glass framework, she could break if one used a rough hand against her.

"Maybe he wants to have us practice how a real battle would turn out…Negotiations, threatening, and seduction…Creating a situation where you can freely control the target…it's all a necessity as a spy." The red-haired girl delivered an explanation.

The other girls might have sensed it unconsciously, but she was the one to finally put it into words.

"But, 'No matter the time, no matter the method', you know," the black-haired girl beautifully tilted her head in confusion. "Even if it's Sensei we're talking about, if we attack him seven on one, even he won't be able to fight back. We can even attack him in his sleep. Or put poison in his food so he won't be able to resist. Alternatively, we could find out some crucial weakness of his, and threaten him. This is a bit too easy, don't you think?"

"That is a bit rash…" The red-haired girl narrowed her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

"He is one of the best spies around, according to his own words, and what he has shown us…He perfectly knows what kind of measures another spy would use…"

The black-haired girl licked her lips, and flashed a smile.

"Ara, now that sounds interesting."

More than half of the girls had taken a positive reaction to this provocation of Klaus. But, a small portion still hadn't quite accepted this yet.

"Hold on a second. Why are you all jumping in on this so easily." The white-haired girl spoke in a commanding tone. "I know that he's a crazy good spy, but he sucks as an instructor, right? You're just going to listen to him like that? I can't trust him at all, you know. We don't even know the entire goal of our team yet, remember?"

"Isn't this pretty convenient then?"

"Hm?"

"We will attack him, tie him up, torture him, and have him say 'I surrender'. With that, he has to give in to whatever we want from him. We can interrogate him, and ask for a different boss."

"Oh, that makes sense."

In contrast to the white-haired girl, agreeing along with that idea, the brown-haired girl still was not quite convinced.

"No no no, threatening him during class like that is a bit…"

"Lily already did some threatening in real practice, you know?"

"Lily-san did?"

"Not to mention, unrelated to any class or practice."

"That's just a crime, you know?"

"I just had him shower a bit in my poison that's all…" Lily scratched her cheek.

"Seriously?" The brown-haired girl was at a loss.

Either way, after a quick tactical meeting, the girls decided to go on the aggressive. As of right now, they only knew a portion of Klaus' skill. All they definitely knew was that he had enough talent to be the boss of their group. However, if he didn't possess enough skill to be able to battle the Impassable Mission, then, just as Lily had planned, [Tomoshibi] should be disbanded.

Finally, the black-haired girl spoke up, showing an elegant motion as she lifted up her finger.

"It seems as if our plan of action has been decided. In my honest opinion, I think that this might be our chance. I'm sure that Sensei must be underestimating us. Seeing us as lowly dropouts! Let's teach him! Our own strength!" The black-haired girl raised a fist. "Let's clear this in ten seconds max!"

The other girls were equally motivated, raising their fists with an energetic Yeah!

On a side note, their first attempt really lasted only ten seconds. Right as Klaus stepped out of his room, the girls each attacked him with training knifes from the ceiling, to his left and right, as they ran towards him, surrounded him, and eventually got their legs stuck in wire. Every single one of them fell onto the carpet head-first.

"…This isn't even worth me playing along."

Klaus just indifferently turned his back to them, walking down the hallway. Ever since, nobody complained about the new training method anymore.

As Lily was busy reminiscing back to the origin of this entire situation, the lips of the black-haired girl were twitching. With a more attentive gaze, you could see traces of exhaustion even in her beautiful face.

"…Fufu, to make a fool out of me to such an extent…I will not give up…"

"Seems like you're starting to have grudges."

"Even though we're attacking him every day, he basically just plays around with us, so of course I'd get agitated eventually."

Five days had passed since the new attempt of classes had been established, but all that resulted was a consecutive row of losses on the girls' side. Klaus had shown absolutely no opening. Even as he was retiring for the night, he would rise as soon as but one girl entered the room. Even if they put up a trap in the hallway he would pass, he had always disarmed that in the matter of seconds. Even if they attacked him head-on without any pitiful tricks, he'd disarm their handguns immediately. Stalking? He would shake them off immediately. Seduction? The black-haired girl tried inviting Klaus with Sensei…won't you come enjoy yourself in my bed tonight?, but he would arrive with a chess board, and after taking care of the girls hiding in the room, he defeated her in the actual game of chess as well.

On top of that, every time the girls suffered a defeat, he would coldly announce This isn't even worth me playing along, only pissing them off even further. All this resulted in the girls' starting to feel hostility towards Klaus.

—I'll make him take back everything he said!

Not even choosing their methods anymore, they just decided to assault Klaus during his bath time.

"But, lucky for us he's just taking a bath like that." Lily was a bit doubtful.

In response, the black-haired girl pushed back her beautiful hair once again.

"Actually, I was acting like I was making coffee before, but poured it all onto Sensei."

"Ohh, that explains a lot."

"Fufu, men are simple. Right now, he must be having obscene fantasies about how to punish me for my clumsy mistake. His brain is filled with the appearance of me in a maid uniform as I apologize with 'Master…I'm sorry…', baring my chest, acting all flirtatious…"

"O-Okay? I don't really get it, but it sure sounds like a grown-up plan." Lily lost what the girl was playing at in the later half, her eyes just blinking in confusion, and a tad bit of admiration.

"Lily, don't just believe her that easily. She probably has a completely messed up view on men." The white-haired girl next to her didn't hold off a much needed retort.

To that, the black-haired girl coughed.

"What about you, did you finish your own job?"

"Course I did? Already stole it out of his pocket."

In a boastful attitude, the girl showed a key in her hands.

"Perfect~" The black-haired girl smiled. "I'm looking forward to this. During his bath, the lights will go off, the windows closed off, and three people of the opposite sex will invade the room. He will be panicking, no doubt." The girl sounded confident, as she spit out highly morally questionable words. "Ten seconds until our attack."

Together with her words, the attacking team, consisting of Lily and the two others, closed their eyes. Your eyes get used to the darkness after around 10 seconds. Right after they opened their eyes, the lights in the floor and the bathroom went off.

—Operation, start!

The girls all began sprinting towards the bathroom. With their eyes already used to the darkness, they had their eyes set, and the white-haired girl was the first to jump at the door. The door was locked, just as expected, but she had the fitting key already in her hands.

"Huh?"

But, her hand came to a halt.

"Hurry up!" The black-haired girl stressed.

"The door won't unlock…Weird, did I grab a fake by any chance?"

"Huh?"

"No helping it then. Time to break the door."

"So crude!"

The white-haired girl sent a kick flying on the door, unhooking it completely, as it fell to the ground. Not concerning themselves with the problem of having to fix it later, the girls stormed into the bathroom, with it's 10 meters in all directions.

Lily spotted Klaus immediately, standing straight with soap in hand. Luckily, it was too dark for Lily to get a closer look on his crotch. Though she was a bit worried about the short time loss they suffered, Klaus' eyes shouldn't have gotten used to the dark yet. But, it happened right as she wanted to move on to restrict him—

"Wah!" Klaus suddenly screamed at a loud volume.

With the difference of him normally talking in a calm voice, the darkness around them, and the bathroom, letting the voice reverberate until their own ears, the girls faltered. Klaus used this chance to throw the soap in his hands. With deadly accuracy, it landed at Lily's feet, making her slip.

"Ehhh?!" Lily screamed, as her body was lifted into the air, bumping into the other girls, who screamed Lily?! as they equally collapsed with her.

They realized they were lying on the floor, but said floor was slippery because of the shampoo. After bumping into the wall at some point, the three girls tried getting up, but in the middle of this darkness, they didn't even know in what position they ended up, their legs getting hooked on someone else's, and once again collapsed.

"C-Calm down, you two!" The black-haired girl panicked. "The target doesn't have any weapons, or clothes! We still have a chance!"

"—Marvelous."

With much leisure in his movement, Klaus approached the window. Through the girl stationed on the rooftop, the windows had been covered, which was now destroyed by Klaus. Now, the bright sunlight entered the bathroom, clearing away darkness.

"I do admire your persistence. However, your scheming is still lacking." Klaus turned around to face them, the sunlight illuminating his back.

Still completely naked.

"Treat your target like a wild animal. Meet it like you would be approaching a deer passing through the grasslands, observe it like you would be appreciating a squirrel making preparations for it's hibernation. You're still not at a level where you could challenge the Impassable Mission."

"…Anyway, go and wear a towel," the white-haired girl spoke up in a commanding tone.

"It's just as you can see. A trained spy will not twitch even as he's being seen naked."

"Wear a towel."

"Rather, you should stop being embarrassed, and look at your heart's—"

"Wear. A. Towel."

Thus, Klaus put a towel around his waist. For a second, Lily thought she saw a disappointed expression on his face.

"—I have several points of improvement, but the approach itself wasn't half bad. Come attack me again within the next twelve hours."

The black-haired girl let out a snicker.

"Ara, do you think you can run away? We did break the bathroom door, but the door to the changing room has a number lock on it."

"Normally, I'd be questioning you girls." Klaus walked past the girls, putting his hand on the door to the changing room. "Luckily, I have the master key."

In the blink of an eye, the lock was opened. Not that having a master key for a number lock would make any sense, but—Klaus didn't deliver any explanation, and just stepped out, only to turn around one more time.

"Also, I forgot to tell you."

"Mm?"

"I don't mind the part of you attacking me for your lessons. However, make this the last time you attack me because of impure motives."

"None of us had any motives like that!"

Whilst not knowing if he was serious or not, the girls could only sigh in defeat, as they suffered another consecutive loss.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Why can't we win against him?!"

"I-I saw…Sensei's…Ah…Uwah…"

"Hey. Let me take commando next, I'll definitely make us defeat him."

"Gathering information has utmost priority. Unless we actually gather a valid weakness of his…It's way too scary."

The girls were conversing about their next plans in the reception hall. Sitting around a table, they were throwing attack and improvement ideas at each other. They had to save as much time as possible, as they were running out. Coming up with another plan of attack during the next twelve hours was a must.

Oddly enough, Klaus' teaching style worked better than expected. Through the battle with a first-class spy such as him, the girls themselves were gradually improving.

"But, it doesn't make any sense. What was that just now? How could he open the number lock like that?" The black-haired girl magnificently tilted her head as she asked, to which another girl responded with an indifferent Hm?

"Are you talking to me1?"

The girl with her bluish-silver colored hair in absolute disorder showed an arrogant smile. From the view of the other girls, she was rather evasive and hard to grasp. She had a rather normal body stature, sixteen years old. She had proper looks, but not enough to make her qualify as an eye-turning beauty. Even with her special trait, her special hairstyle, she didn't stand out too much, seeming rather aloof.

"Don't act like this doesn't concern you…Weren't you responsible for the lock?"

"I don't know why. I put a number lock on the door. As long as you don't type in the six numbers, it should not open."

"…How about you just accept your mistake."

"Huh? Didn't the attack team mess up even more?"

"…!"

Although she was proficient in her work, she could be quite arrogant if she wanted to. As some additional information, she was the only one who opened the rare lock on their second day after moving in. Before the fight could heat up, Lily clapped with her hands.

"Alright everyone, what we need right now is teamwork, not some interior conflict. Your bonds with your comrades, you know? So let's calm down a bit. I'll give you one of the high-class financier's I bought."

"Ara…delicious!" "Oh, tastes great."

"Fufu, if you want one more, worship me as your 'wonderful leader'!"

"You sure get on a high horse quickly," someone retorted.

Though the girls didn't fully know the details, she was decided to be the leader. However, even if they asked her for the reason, the person herself—

"Yeah, being the leader sure has a wonderful, admirative tone to it. It really makes me realize that the curtains have fallen for the rise of the legendary Lily-chan, fufu."

—Just kept grinning to herself, so they gave up.

Giving off 'the world belongs to me now' attitude of Lily a sideways glance, the girls went on for another strategy meeting. It was a different problem to discuss, with no clear and easy answer anywhere close to appearing, but they at least were passionate. Of course, a big part of this passion originated from the frustration and anger towards Klaus, but there was also clear judgement found within.

A mortality rate of 90%—those numbers were terrorizing the girls. Klaus promised they would be returning alive, but they had no basis to put trust into those words.

"All we can do is deepen our coordination." The black-haired girl brought a valuable opinion into the game. "I don't think we'll be able to clear the Impassable Mission without being able to defeat a single man."

"Hmpf. Well, this is all we can do right now." The bluish-silver-haired girl let out an arrogant snort, agreeing still.

With an expression as if she had just remembered something, she looked over to the girl, sitting a bit further away from the table, comfortably on a sofa.

"Hey, you've been keeping quiet this entire time—" She called out to the girl—With her name. "Elna, do you have no opinion on this?"

Elna, the blonde-haired girl, slightly lifted up her head.

With dazzling golden hair, and snow-white skin, she almost looked like a man-made doll. Clad in a frilly dress was one of the reasons for that. On top of that, her never talking throughout the conversations made her seem even more like a doll. As a member of [Tomoshibi], she had spoken the fewest words. Being fourteen, she was the youngest. Reluctantly, she opened her mouth.

"—That's not it."

Those were her first words.

"Elna was constantly thinking about Lily-oneechan's words."

"Hm…?" Lily tilted her head in visible confusion.

"Talking about bounds and connections is just lip service. Elna and everyone else are spies. You shouldn't trust anyone that easily."

It was a harsh, yet straightforward way of phrasing it. In one motion, the other girls stared at Elna as a result. They couldn't guess as to why you would bring words like these, able to destroy their entire team, at a timing this crucial. Their eyes filled with criticism and doubt.

"U-Um, do you want to eat a financier?" Lily forced out a bitter smile, feeling the tense atmosphere.

"Elna doesn't want any." Elna just got up from the sofa. "Taking a walk now, bye."

Elna announced that she wasn't planning on participating in the meeting. The group was now split between those members who stared dumbfounded, and those who were clearly displeased with this. In the midst of that was Elna, not stopping to bother with them. Not until Lily called out to her.

"Elnchan, please put some trust in your comrades. That is what it means to be a team."

The girl abruptly stopped, and turned around.

"If you trust someone, you lose. That's what it means to be a spy." Her eyes emitted a freezing-cold gaze.

After she was gone, a heavy silence filled the room.

Elna snuck out of the Kagerou Palace, walking through the city at twilight. It was just an ordinary walk with no distinct goal in mind. Looking down at the steam locomotive from the bridge she passed, she was showered in smoke. Buying a crepe at a stall lined up in front of the train station, she rested her body in front of a street musician. With the 6 o'clock bells ringing at the church, her shoulders twitched out of shock, and she dropped the crepe by accident. The music box she wanted to put on for a change of pace swallowed the coin, but nothing moved, and she had to give up after hammering on it with no effect. It really was a walk with no apparent goal.

In this world, two types of people existed in this world:

[The type who is sufficient after separating from people]

And.

[The type who regrets their actions after separating from people]

Needless to say, Elna belonged to the latter group.

Elna said too much…

She was acting all depressed on her own. Separating from the front of the train station, she walked down a small path.

All Elna wanted to say was that [Spies should doubt everything], so why did it end up sounding this harsh…She completely ruined the atmosphere…

Lamps were lined up on the sides of the main street, but as soon as one set foot away from that, one would be wrapped in darkness. All that illuminated the surroundings was the faint, dimmering sunlight. With dropped shoulders, Elna kept walking.

At this rate, Elna will be isolated during the mission…

She might have looked calm and cold from the outside, and in the eyes of her surroundings, but the owner of this personality was quite the sensitive person. On the same side, she had a weirdly high amount of pride. As a spy, being isolated inside the team was the same as inviting death. She understood that inside her head, but—

On top of that, Elna ran away because it got too awkward…

The walk was nothing but an excuse. She was too afraid of anyone talking back, and ran away.

Elna has to hurry back and apologize…Apologize to Lily-oneechan…But, if Elna forces herself, that will get wrapped up in it…

She very much knew the needed plan of action, but because of her communication disorder, her thoughts always run behind her mouth.

"What misfortune…" Elna muttered, saddened.

And, with that timing—

"Hey, little girl. Stop for a sec."

"Eh?"

Someone called out to Elna, to which her feet stopped. Turning her face towards the voice, two ominous delinquent-looking men, covered with tattoos, glared at her. They spread their legs apart as they approached her, sealing off any possible escape. Without her realizing, she had walked all the way to the port. She heard that the public safety was rather nonexistent in the area where the harbour workers lived. The scent of alcohol and trash filled the air, as homes lined up along the pavement, looking about to collapse.

She had the information in her head. That a small group of runaway harbour workers formed in the area, and these men were most likely a part of that.

"Those are quite the bourgeoise clothes you have there. We'd love to look at them for a sec, so could you come with us to the back alley?"

"No…let go."

She tried backing off, but another man appeared behind her, a group of hunters, probably. Elna cursed her own carelessness. To think she would be surrounded before she realized.

"Don't go resisting now. Just think of it as some good-willed help. Let's be friends, okay?"

—Friends?

Elna unconsciously opened her mouth to that word.

"Hey, Mister…How are you planning on becoming friends…?"

"Hm? Gotta show you by force, all there is to it." The man took out a knife from his chest pocket. "Look, little girl. You want to be friends with Mister now, right?"

The tip of the knife gradually approached Elna. For a young girl like her, this should have been enough to terrify her.

"What misfortune…" Her nose moved just an inch.

"Hm?"

"…Back alley…is this fine there?"

As Elna started walking domestically, the man showed a disgusting grin.

"See, we're perfect friends now…just like I said."

"………"

Though it was absolute chaos, there was also some truth in the man's words. Humans are an existence easily attracted to strength. In order to determine trustworthy comrades. Finding a person they can feel at ease around.

—In order to get closer and become friends, you have to show your own strength.

Once one realized, it was such a simple idea. It makes perfect sense. There was no easier method to it. Clear up the challenge your comrades were struggling at, that would take care of it all.

"Say, what's your father's name? Is he some company president? The member of a parlament? If so, do you think you could maybe introduce me to him?"

"………"

"Don't go quiet on me now, okay? You wanna lose those pretty clothes right here or something?" The man spoke up, interrupting Elna's thoughts.

She was now completely surrounded by the three men. She came to this back alley out of her own, and now she had no place to run away to.

"What misfortune…" She softly muttered. "Really, this is how it always goes in Elna's life."

She named herself in carelessness, but the men were too busy ogling her that they didn't even pay attention. Hence, Elna continued her words—to buy the time until that crucial moment. Her nose twitched again as it moved.

"Always get wrapped up in it, making their rounds. Accidents, screams, calamity."

"What are you mumbling to yourself—"

"But, Elna is slowly starting to understand. She can faintly grasp it. The places and time this misfortune occurs."

The time—arrived. Elna's sense of smell told her so.

"Codename [Gujin2]—It's time to befriend and kill." Elna looked up at the sky.

The men around her followed this in a jest. Right after that, they trembled in fear.

—A rain of bricks came down on them.

Multiple tens of bricks in number, coming down like rain droplets. As the men were swallowing their breaths, not sure how to react, Elna already moved. At the one corner they were at, buildings made out of bricks stood, all of them old. At times, caused by wind and rain, bricks would fall down from the outside walls—Elna had caught onto this omen, whereas the men's legs weren't moving.

Hence, she arrived at the nearest safe space first, only to turn around towards the men, about to be swallowed up by this deadly rain.

"Goodbye, Mister."

She sent them a final gaze of contempt.

The moment Elna returned back to the Kagerou Palace, Lily raised a scream.

"What's with all this dirt?!"

Elna's entire body was covered in dirt in just these few hours she had been out. The hem of her skirt had been ripped here and there, revealing her white thighs. She didn't seem to have suffered any wounds, but she was still in quite the horrible shape. As the exact opposite of the worried Lily, Elna couldn't be more calm.

"The same as always happened."

"Even if you keep it that simple, this is just…"

Before Lily could mutter her next words however, Elna muttered.

"Leave the next attack to Elna."

"Eh…"

"Elna is counting on your support."

Just leaving these few words behind, Elna went up the stairs, disappearing. All Lily could do was watch that lonely back from behind.

"Is she going to be fine…?"

It was only meant as a mutter to herself. However, at her feet—

"It's not fine at all~!"

A voice was raised. As Lily's spine straightened in shock, she looked down, only to be greeted by a small girl. She seemed happy, as if her prank had succeeded, as she showed a sincere smile. Her hair had a strong ashen-pink tone. Just as Elna, she was the youngest age with fourteen. Having her hair in waves, she constantly had a pure and innocent look to her. She had the lovableness of an angel if you turned her into a painting.

"The great me3 went to the same institution as Elnchan for a while! That is why I heard the rumours! That she's an incredibly unlucky girl." The girl jumped up as she explained.

Almost as if she was urging so much to tell someone about what she knew.

"Unlucky? Quite unscientific don't you think?"

"But, it seemed to be true? A friend of the great me even got into an accident. Because of that, Elnchan was sent to another institution!" She spoke quite gleefully of such a heavy topic.

This seemed to be the reason why Elna was treated as a problem child. Lily herself knew exactly how it felt, unable to help her comrades, just staying as a failure.

"Mmm…sounds pretty sad…"

"What does?"

"Eh, wasn't this the point of the conversation?"

"Just listen to me!" The pink-haired girl jumped at Lily, whispering into her ear. "…If you spend time with Elnchan, you will get wrapped up in an accident. This doesn't make her a murderer, but more of a caretaker using accidental deaths. Isn't this the ultimate type of assassination?"

Lily's eyes opened wide at the girl's explanation. It was so unscientific, but yet the cold truth. She calls forth misfortune, giving it to others—if that was actually the case, it would make her the perfect assassin. Not using any weapon, not leaving behind any traces, making it look like a chance encounter—and taking care of the target. With these thoughts, a cold shiver ran up Lily's spine.

"An accidental calamity specialist—that is what Elnchan is!"

The girl's words were less assuring, more scary than anything. Just what exactly would she be able to achieve if she used this strength for her own desires—

That day, Klaus had stepped out of the Kagerou Palace. According to the information the girls gathered, Klaus living patterns became more and more clear. Right after waking up, he would build up a sweat in the training room, followed by a shower. Once breakfast was done, he would basically spend the rest of the day reading suspicious documents and so on until the sun was setting, sending telegrams to the Spy Headquarters. After that, he would either step out, or draw paintings in his room. During the times he was out, he would be going on missions to clear them, in various locations. Fundamentally, he was cooking his own food, using the Kagerou Palace's kitchen, and then eating it in his own room. Once every few days, he would go out into town to buy ingredients and any other necessities. Elna tailed Klaus, and called out to him at a shop for art supplies.

"Sensei, what a coincidence…"

"Yeah, you're right." In Klaus' hand shook the plastic bag he was carrying. "Last evening, Lily tripped over my paint, and ruined everything, so I had to buy some new supplies. Are you alone?"

"It's Elna's turn to go shopping. The other members are busy planning for the next attack."

"Is that so, I'm looking forward to it."

"Yes…"

"……"

"……"

"……"

"……"

So that's the end of our conversation…

Even more than the silent Elna, Klaus had always been the untalkative person. Hence, it came off as no surprise that no proper conversation was born even as the two of them walked next to each other. According to the plan Elna came up with, she had to invite Klaus on a walk through town. But, the simple words 'Come with Elna on her shopping trip please' wouldn't come out no matter what. A crucial skill of a spy was seduction, but just negotiations like this were a huge step for her.

—At this rate, the target will go home, Elna panicked a bit—

"And what are you buying?" Klaus spoke up first.

"Eh?"

"You were sent out to buy things for the girls, right?"

Urged by Klaus, Elna had to speak.

"I-Ingredients. After that, some soap, and an alarm clock. Since the curtains were ripped a bit, some fabric as well. If she finds anything cute, maybe even a pyjama for Elna."

"Must be hard carrying that all on your own. Let me help you."

To think the target would offer a helping hand. Elna was grateful for this sudden development, and they walked down the alley.

But…Elna is sorry. From here on out, Sensei will be wrapped up in her misfortune.

Though she didn't feel too comfortable to use his kindness like this, it couldn't be helped. For someone living in a world where deceiving and being deceived was a daily occurrence, he wouldn't call her despicable.

At the same time, Elna's nose twitched, as she realized that [Scent]. This misfortune tendency—actually originated from a psychiatric diagnosis. Ever since she was a young girl, she was plagued by continuous misfortune and unlucky events. She was born into the upper caste of the aristocracy, but the residence was wrapped up in a fire, to which she lost both her parents.

If she rode on a train, it would derail, and if she walked down a pathway, she would be attacked by ruffians. Even a lightning strike almost grazed her before. Still being alive might just be the greatest luck she has. However, after being hit with such misfortune and unbelievable events, Elna had become able to sense this misfortune. With scent—rather, her sense of smell. Though she didn't know what kind of logic worked behind it, she could sniff out the timing when the misfortune would activate.

Elna will overwhelm the undefeatable Sensei. Mess him up. Then, she will be respected, praised, and finally, be able to become friends with everyone—achieve her dream.

Leading the target without his knowledge, Elna softly smiled.

Codename [Gujin]—It's time to befriend and kill.

It happened as they arrived at a bigger street. A single jet-black car drove towards them at insane speed. Most likely a runaway vehicle. Having felt a premonition before this, Elna promptly jumped back. Even if she was constantly wrapped up in some sort of misfortune, she could avoid anything fatal if she had her skills as a spy.

What misfortune…Elna thought to herself. Elna was wondering what would happen, but to think it would be a runaway car like this. Maybe she went too far…

Even if she received an omen before the actual happening, she couldn't read the exact details of what would happen. The car didn't slow down at all, just driving on the sidewalk. Because of the sudden tragedy, Klaus most likely was unable to react, not moving at all. Instead, they both heard the screams of the other pedestrians. To that, Elna closed her eyes, trying to endure them. The car and Klaus crashed into each other—and his body was thrown into the air. She heard the sound of something bursting open. After the car collided with Klaus, it spun, coming to a stop away from the sidewalk. The black prints of the tires were burned into the sidewalk, telling the story of this clash. At the same time, Klaus' body was still flying high up in the air, rolling around without any strength, until—

"Mm, that was dangerous."

He did a perfect 10/10 landing.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm????

Elna couldn't believe that sight. The man, having been run over by a runaway vehicle hadn't taken any wounds. No blood leaking anywhere, no exterior wounds, not even frightened in the slightest. Klaus just clapped his hands together, approaching Elna.

"You hurt anywhere?"

"S-Sensei, are you okay?"

"I wonder. He shouldn't have suffered any grave wounds. Though I'd like to give him an earful, let's leave it to the police. Spies like us shouldn't stand out too much."

"Elna was referring to Sensei, not the driver!"

"It's just as you can see."

Just take a look at me, Klaus probably meant to say, as he calmly walked on ahead. Rather than any wounds, there was not a single grain of dirt to be found on his clothes. The second he would have gotten run over by the car, he probably leaped off the bonnet of the car. If he had messed up his timing even a second, it would have been instant death.

Elna gazed over at the car. Just why did it spin out like that? What was that explosive sound that ran out at the second of the contact.

"I gave it a flat tyre." As if he sensed Elna's doubts, Klaus started explaining. "If it kept going like that, it would have resulted in casualties, no doubt."

"In that moment…?"

"You want to know?"

"Elna is fine, thank you."

"Just have to go bang at the tire, that's all."

"Elna didn't expect anything and was still let down."

As the two of them exchanged idle talk, Elna remembered why they were even here. The man next to her was a monster, greatly differing from any normal human being. Even being almost run over by a car like this, he wouldn't take any damage.

B-But, the scent of misfortune is still here…!

It wasn't the time to start feeling guilty just yet. Maybe a row of misfortune events could eventually hurt the man—

Elna's assumption was correct. Everywhere they went, Klaus avoided any impending misfortune.

As they walked down the alley, a pot of burning hot water fell down from a stall. Elna managed to dodge it thanks to her premonition, but Klaus was too late. Instead, he used his leather coat to form a lid and caught the pot. Barely any water dripped out of the pot.

Once they reached the residential district, they ran into a ferocious large dog. Though they didn't know what they did to anger it so much, as soon as it met eyes with Elna, it bared its fangs, leaping at her, and the chains holding it back broke. With a speed clearly surpassing that of a running human, it would soon arrive at her.

"What an energetic dog."

Klaus just softly pushed the palm of his hand under the jaw of the dog, which led it to become all docile. Luckily, because Elna didn't even have the time to run away, as her legs were shaking in fear.

Walking through a back alley, an equal event occurred to the previous day with the ruffians, as the bricks of an old building fell down. To that, Klaus—

"Not good."

He let out an odd voice of humiliation, but…

"I happened to miss one."

It really wasn't that big of a deal. Of all the fourteen bricks falling down, he didn't manage to catch all of them—but that was the only failure. He even had the leisure to protect the girl clinging to his waist.

This man…really is a monster…

Elna glared up at him, but Klaus' expression was as calm and collected as always.

As time went on, Elna started to get a bit depressed, whilst her target was as energetic as ever. Rather, he didn't even bother to complain he was wrapped up in this consecutive spectacles of misfortune, as he went on to help with Elna's shopping. He should have been limited with all the luggage he was carrying, but that barely had any effect.

At the same time, Elna had to become aware of a certain aspect again. That her own power was disgusting and repulsive.

Elna really is a scary person…

Normally, she wouldn't perceive a scent of misfortune this consecutively. On top of that, whenever she would smell it, running away was that natural choice of events.

It wouldn't have been weird for a normal person to get heavy wounds after all what happened…

Every time she encountered this misfortune, she would fall into a hallucination, and she heard whispers directly in her ear.

—This tragedy occured because of you. You are the one doing this.

This time she was lucky because she had a monster right with her. However, what if it was a young girl like her instead? A member of [Tomoshibi]? Would they still want to be friends with her? No, what if this man found out about her own power? Would he just leave her side?

Maybe just giving up on becoming closer with anybody might be the better choice…

'You're better off not approaching that girl'

At the educational institution, who was it who spread rumours like that? And, how long would it take until the others of [Tomoshibi] started spreading them…?

"Alright, this should be the end of the shopping trip."

As Elna was lost in her thoughts as they weighed down on her, Klaus spoke up, bringing her back to reality. All the things she had to buy were already in the bag, and Klaus was about to step out of the store, holding detergent in his arms—Even though she hasn't given her target any hard work yet.

"Y-Yes. But, there is still one place Elna has to vis—"

"Can we stop with the acting already?" Klaus stopped his feet.

As Elna lifted her head in shock, her eyes met with Klaus, as he gazed down. She could feel a chill run down her spine, cold sweat on her entire body.

Eh…

An insane amount of pressure hit her, as she unconsciously let go of the shopping back she held, dropping it to the ground.

"Elna, I heard about your ability from the instructor of your previous educational facility. 'A girl capable of attracting misfortune', right?"

"…!"

"I finally understand it. The truth behind that warning."

He had known this entire time. All his actions so far were pure acting. He had already seen through Elna's attack plan. Most likely, he was just playing along to test her true ability. And now, he turned towards Elna, stretching out his hand.

The scenery of Klaus throwing away the girls of [Tomoshibi] filled Elna's head. Reflexively, she closed her eyes.

—This is the end.

"You're just being misunderstood by everyone."

The exact opposite of Elna's assumptions occurred. Klaus just started stroking her head.

"This is your true misfortune. A girl with such resident talent doesn't receive her proper evaluation."

"H…uh…?"

Unable to comprehend the situation, Elna let out a dumbfounded groan.

"Well done."

In front of her eyes, Klaus showed a dearest smile.

"You are—the luckiest out of everyone."

Those words vastly passed Elna's ability to understand. Under this soft, warm hand, she remembered the words of a certain psychiatrist.

[Alright, little lady, I'll give you the results of my diagnosis now]

[Misfortune tendency…let's call it like that for convenience, but such an unlogicial tendency doesn't actually exist]

[Rather, it is closely linked to an intropunitive desire, I believe]

[The fire at your residence…I remember that. The only survivor of that was none other than you]

[As a result, you have this idea in your head that 'Me being the only one who survived is unfair', see]

[That is why you long for punishment. Unconsciously]

[People with this intropunitive desire often cut their wrists in this way, maybe closest in this case. Just how these people tormenting themselves with self-injuries to not commit suicide immediately, you also give yourself this repetitive punishment, but you won't receive the ultimate punishment, death. It is but a measure to give your mentality relief. You have an intropunitive desire, but you're not suicidal]

[Having survived this tragedy, I can save even more people than were lost that day…From an outsider's perspective, that wish alone is quite intropunitive]

[You can't keep blaming yourself. Because that will bring forth this intropunitive desire]

[However—You will most likely keep repeating that cycle]

That was probably a logical explanation to Elna's ability. She heads towards misfortune herself. She seeks for this misfortune unconsciously, pushing her reason towards that. Unconsciously, she seeks misfortune to punish herself, realizes this, and heads there.

He told her not to blame herself, but something would be off if she didn't. If she was only hurting herself, it'd be a different story. However, during these unfortunate events occurring around Elna, she constantly pulls the people close to her into them. Even if the person next to her was as kind to her as could be. Hence, she always thought of herself unsightly, as dirty. How would anyone like her be able to make friends at the educational institution?

With all these facts in her mind, she still couldn't comprehend why the man in front of her would pat her on the head this kindly.

"Thanks to you, a lot of people had been saved. If we weren't there, the car might have run over the other people. If we didn't walk through that alley, the pot with boiling water might have burned the people walking below. Same with the dog, an innocent child might have been in our place, getting mauled to death, or a woman suffering from the rain of bricks.

"Eh?" Elna let out a flabbergasted voice.

Most prominent reason for that was the man's words. All the events that occurred today would have happened even if Elna herself hadn't been present. If Klaus hadn't countered them, there would have definitely been victims. Under Elna's guidance, Klaus was saving people. It certainly didn't sound bad in her head, but—

"T-That was just all coincidence!" Elna tried to resist however. "A side product! Elna was guiding Sensei in order to damage him! Get him exhausted, so that the others had a better chance of defeating you! Saving people just happened in the meantime!"

She blurted out the entire plan, without even knowing why she had gotten this agitated.

"Elna is being riddled with misfortune, sinister, someone being hated! Not someone you'd pat on the head and treat like a kid! The only one standing next to you is a devil, giving people misfortune for her own benefits!"

"I was not once wrapped up in any misfortune though?"

"That's…"

"Mm, you have some dust on your hair."

With his usual carefree attitude, Klaus brought his hand down on Elna's head yet again.

Why can he just touch Elna like this…without any hesitation at all…?

Panicking by this hand, she shook it off.

He went through so much misfortune, and still is this considerate of Elna! He knows of her strength, of her evil intentions, and just stays calm like always! As if any ridiculous person like that would—

"What happened, Elna?" Klaus asked. "—Are you crying?"

"…………ing."

"Hm?"

"Ing!"

"Ing?"

"E-Elna is not…crying…!"

"I see." Klaus had enough sympathy to not point out the actual truth.

Realizing that herself, Elna had this warm feeling inside her chest.

"Anyway. Your luck, your fortune has saved the people of this country. I will give you a reward. Is there any place you want to visit?"

Elna shook her head sideways at Klaus' question.

"How would Elna know that!"

"I'm asking about your desires though?"

"It's…her first time." Elna whipped the inner corner of her eyes. "Going on a date with someone, Elna never did that in her entire life…"

"…I see. Then, I'll be your escort."

Not declining the date, Klaus started walking. He had completely forgotten about the attack.

The cake referred to by Klaus as 'There is no better cheese cake in the entire Republic of Deen' had quite the particular taste. At first, Elna was a bit anxious at this underground membership system restaurant, but once she stuffed her mouth with the aforementioned cheese cake, her expression took a complete 180. Even while she was still living as the rich daughter of a noble family, she had never eaten such delicious sweets before. Before she even realized it, she had gulped up the entire piece. After Klaus had finished his own, he ordered another.

"…When I was still young, I was taken here by my teacher. As a reward."

It was rare for the man to speak of his own past. And even a mysterious individual like him had someone he referred to as 'Teacher'. Feeling oddly happy about this, Elna started speaking as well.

"Really, Elna had to go through a lot of trouble! The first day she came to the Kagerou Palace, the locomotive got wrapped up in an accident, which led her to miss the next bus, and when she finally got on the right one, it got a flat tyre!"

"You sure can speak freely right now."

"Y-You pointing it out makes it only more embarrassing."

"No, I understand what you're talking about. In front of people I'm close with, like family, I can speak like an open book."

"We're comrades!"

As the two of them were having a comfortable conversation, Elna felt a strong stimulation in her nasal cavity.

—The scent of misfortune. A strong one.

Klaus realized that something was off, and asked. "Something happened?"

"N-Nothing…" Elna hesitated.

If Elna tells Sensei, he might go there…

All the girl was able to was sense, or rather, smell where there would be some sort of misfortunate event happening, but she didn't know the exact details. Just this sense that it might happen to her. Normally, this [scent] had a rather irritant odor, something she would never approach out on her own.

But…it should be fine with Sensei, right…?

She wanted to test it. If the person right in front of her eyes was a person who would stay by her side. It was a selfish and childish thought, she knew. But, the desire to test if Klaus was a person she could trust was even stronger.

—In the end, he might separate himself from Elna. If not, she wants to find out as quickly as possible.

Elna cut her thoughts, and brought her body forward.

"Sensei, there's a place Elna wants to visit."

The two of them headed to an empty alley, storehouses belonging to the port lined up. The time of day had passed greatly, as the sun had set, the marketplace of the town closed, only the waves splashing against the wharf could be heard. The sea, which already had a dark blue tone at noon, looked even more ominous now at night. All the containers that didn't make it into the warehouses were stacked outside, building a shadow akin to a castle.

Elna held her nose with both her hands. A very distinct [Scent] assaulted her, the scent of misfortune only she could pick up. Her heart was beating so hard she thought Klaus would be able to hear it. As long as there rose no need for it, the girl would never approach misfortune by her own desire. She had no idea what would happen from here on out. When she started holding her breath, Klaus stopped his feet.

"Elna, I'm sure you already know—" He opened his mouth. "But we're surrounded."

She hadn't realized at all. At the same time, several men appeared from the shadows of the warehouse. To be precise, they were eight men in number, all carrying handguns. All of them with fierce expressions on their face, not looking like a nice group of people to chat with.

"Who are you?" Klaus tightened his expression.

One of the men, a tatoo on his face, spoke up in a deep, threatening voice.

"Don't move. We have a hostage."

"A hostage?"

"I know who you are. You are the rich daughter of this district's congress member, and her bodyguard, right?"

Klaus slightly tilted his head in confusion. "A rich daughter? You must have the wrong person."

"Ha, I thought you'd say that. But, I already looked into it."

The other men around them let out ugly laughs.

"The daughter of a Congress member wouldn't run away to leave a citizen to die, right? No point in playing dumb. I have all the information I need on you."

Apparently, this hostage was a certain citizen. Elna didn't grasp what was happening, so she asked Klaus.

"What is going on?"

"I don't know. Must be a misunderstanding…But it doesn't look like they're going to hear us out."

Truly, from the looks of it, these men were only trusting their own information. Fearful, Elna pushed her body against Klaus'.

"…Sensei, can you take care of them?"

"……"

"Sensei?"

Klaus let out a sigh.

"Yeah, not happening."

"Eh?"

"It looks like the part about the hostage was serious. We can only give in now." Klaus' voice immediately cooled down.

Elna's vision turned dark. She hadn't anticipated this. This was too unfortunate. All on her own, she wasn't able to resist, and Klaus equally raised his hand, showing no intent of fighting back.

"Tie them up with the chains," the man with the tattoo spit. "Their entire bodies, put a lock on it, and solder it."

At the same time, Elna didn't miss a faint breath leaving Klaus' mouth. The chains the men brought out were around one centimeter thick. Tearing them off was impossible, no doubt. On top of that, they put a padlock on them, making the key unusable. Was it possibly just pure coincidence these men used the perfect anti-measures against Klaus?

Pure misfortune—Elna only looked up at the sky.

All their belongings got stolen, and the two of them were forced on a car. After a two-hour drive, they arrived at a small shack away from the town. This would most likely be their hideout. No matter how they screamed, nobody would hear them. Klaus kept quiet just as the men asked, not showing any signs of rebelling.

"You stay here until the Boss comes."

They were into the storage room of the shack, and the door was locked from the outside. Once they both sat down, they realized it was quite the narrow, confined space. With no windows, it was pitch-black. Next to Elna, Klaus started moving his body, to which a guard gave a threatening scream.

"Move and you're dead meat!"

This storage room had a very small opening, too small for a window, where one man glared down at them.

"Opening up myself won't work, huh," Klaus muttered. "I can't properly move my body, no window to escape from, and the guard has a handgun. Some communist belonging to a revolutionary most likely, but their handiwork is too good. Who are they?"

Apparently, he tried unlocking the padlock, which turned out to be a failure.

"What about the other members? Your plan was to assault me when I'm falling victim to fatigue, right?"

Elna shook her head.

"They took away Elna's communication equipment. She can't inform them now."

"I see. What a bother."

"Sensei, Elna is sorry."

What left her slightly shaking lips was an apology.

"This is all Elna's fault…Because she was guiding you…"

"Not quite. The men out there are at fault."

"Elna always brings misfortune to the people around her…Wrapping some up in her problems, hurting them…That's why she wanted to save as many people as possible…But in the end, she couldn't even get anyone to help her."

"………"

"Elna really would be better off all alone…"

This time, Klaus got wrapped up because of her. Out of shallow anxiety, she wanted to test him. She bit her lip. She mentally prepared herself. No matter what she had to endure, she wanted Klaus to come out of this alive.

"…………"

Klaus still stayed silent. Even as she gazed at his profile, she could not grasp what he was thinking about.

"You self-torture yourself too much. Let's break out of this situation."

"…Do we have any methods of doing so?"

"I wonder. I still don't quite know who they are." Klaus let out another big sigh. "Well, I'll just use my master key. This situation is grave danger at all," Klaus muttered, as he began moving.

Waiting for a short while, the door to the storage room opened. They were guided to the main headquarters of this base. At this wide open space, another ten dangerous-looking men were lined up. Right in the middle of that was a man sitting on a chair, having his subordinates serve him. He must be the boss of this group.

"Yo, been a while, hasn't it, little girl."

The face of the man was oddly familiar to Elna.

"You are from yesterday…"

He was the man who took Elna to that back alley. Now, his body was wrapped in bandages. From the looks of it, he suffered some grave wounds, but he was able to get out of it alive.

—What misfortune.

She had underestimated him to be just another small ruffian, but to think he was the boss of a group with more than ten people at his command.

"I heard you're the daughter of some important person around here? I was planning on just slaughtering you to show you how it's done, but kidnapping turned out to be an even better option, so we quickly changed our plan."

"That runaway car was…"

"I put out the order to kill a shitty grade school brat. But no worries, alright? I found some information, so I stopped trying to kill you. Rather, we'll be holding ya for ransom. We can perfectly use that to fund the revolution."

The wounds apparently still tormented the man, as he stood up with a pained expression. He did say he wouldn't kill her, but his eyes were still burning strong with revenge against Elna. All strength left her knees. As the man reached out with his hand towards Elna, Klaus hissed at him.

"Do not touch that girl."

Even as his entire body was contained by chains, Klaus' attitude didn't change. He was calm and self-possessed, but he was emitting high pressure.

"Give it up. If you release us right now, I'll overlook it this time." He sighed, as if he was bored. "You're some small group of fries the police doesn't even have any information on, right? Not even worth bothering with your childish plays."

Klaus' attitude greatly angered the man.

"Don't go playing cool now!"

He let out an irritated scream, hitting Klaus in the face, who let out a groan, collapsing on the floor. From how Elna saw it, it looked like he had turned his neck to dampen the impact, but she couldn't tell for sure.

"We got plenty information of you as well, you know? Some crazy strong bodyguard, were you? But, being tied up by chains, the keylock even soldered, what will you do now huh? You're nothing more than a sitting doll now." The man kicked Klaus. "How pitiful. But, don't blame me for this. Weren't you quite enjoying your life as this girl's bodyguard? As the dog of the bourgeois!"

The moment he finished his words, he sent another kick to Klaus' face. Another painful-sounding groan escaped his mouth. It might actually not just be acting.

The man continued to kick Klaus. Everytime, Klaus grit his teeth.

"Just keep it down now. I'll seriously kill you off if you show any signs of resisting."

The man must have gotten tired, as his shoulders were moving up and down with heavy breathing. Giving Klaus one last kick, he directed his body towards Elna.

This time, it had to be her turn. Realizing that, tears started building up in the corners of her eyes. But, right as the man took one step towards her, a forceful voice yet again filled the room.

"—I will say it one more time." Klaus pushed his body up under great trouble. "You…someone like you…has no right to touch that girl."

The man had a tired expression on his face, as he looked towards Klaus.

"Do you even understand in what situation you're in, punk?" He sounded irritated for good now. "Change of plans. I thought of using you as negotiation material, so I wasn't planning on killing you, but I'm done."

"…Where did you even get incomplete information from?"

"Got nothing to do with your ass!" The man screamed, taking out a handgun from his cleavage.

His subordinates around him called out Boss! in an attempt to stop him. However, he didn't. Instead, he pointed the muzzle at Klaus. Even so, Klaus' expression didn't break.

"Is your source of information…a girl?"

"…!" For a second, the man's face twitched, unrest filling it. "I'll kill you" He put his finger on the trigger.

"Sensei!" Elna screamed.

Following that, the sound of a gunshot rang out, and Klaus' body softly shook. The men around them bent their bodies backwards in shock.

"—Marvelous."

The bullet had been repelled by the chains, binding his body. While still being restrained, Klaus lifted up his body. The men of the crime organization were watching this unfold with their mouths wide open, completely frozen. Nobody must have expected this.

"Right now, I am deeply moved. How many years has it been since my chest was pounding like this…"

Unlike what he was announcing with his words, Klaus was as expressionless as ever.

"This is way too perfect to be a pure coincidence. For being just a mere mistake, you had perfect measures against me."

The boss of the group seemingly got a bit anxious, as he fired a second, and third shot. However, Klaus blocked them with the chains yet again. Once all the bullets were used up, Klaus spoke up again.

"Let me try guessing. Having failed to kill the girl with the car, let's see, you met a silver-haired girl, from whom you received information about the two of us in rumour form. You believed that, and decided to kidnap us instead. For the hostage…I'm assuming you picked a black-haired girl? And you heard the places we'd be visiting from a white-haired girl. I'm correct, aren't I?"

"Why do you…"

Apparently, Klaus hit bulls-eye. The eyes of the boss opened wide.

Klaus breathed out.

"I see, now that's something. In just ten days, you've greatly surpassed my expectations." His voice turned quiet, so that only Elna could hear. "Really, you're going this far? For one class—Just to catch me, you made a crime organization dance around in the palm of your hands? No wonder I didn't realize it earlier. These people have an actual hostage, seriously threatening us. What a wonderful method." Klaus said. "There is limitless potential sleeping inside of these girls. It seems like my judgement really wasn't off."

Unable to hold back anymore, the boss fell into a rage.

"What are you just muttering to yourself?! I'll kill you for real!"

He seemed to have given up on the gun, and instead took out a knife, approaching Klaus with it.

"I just wanted to let you know." Klaus just watched this with a bored expression. "—How long do I have to play along here?" He spit out.

Those words were the signal. The window in the shack broke at once, to which the men of the crime organization screamed in confusion. The ones who entered through the broken window were the girls of [Tomoshibi]. The silver-haired girl had a disrespectful grin on her face, running her fist up the jaws of the men. Following that, Lily tossed her poisoned needles at the men, all of them entering their world of dreams. The red-haired girl slipped through the battle like a dancer, hurrying to where Elna and Klaus were located.

"I'm sorry, Elnsan…" She spoke with a quiet voice.

The girl took out giant scissors, cutting only the chains around Elna's body.

"You brought about even more fortune and good luck than anticipated, and after the first accident, we did a quick change of plans…"

Following those words, Lily and the silver-haired girl spoke up.

"Ah, I tried to stop them, okay? Didn't want Elnchan to go through any sad happenings!"

"Don't just cunningly exclude yourself like that."

Klaus cast his eyes downwards in a fed-up manner.

"Hurry and fight them off. Suppress them within two minutes."

With these words as trigger, the girls once again scattered throughout the room. The silver-haired girl beat down the remaining men with astonishing speed, to which Lily gave them the rest with her sleep poison. The girls must have been stationed outside as well, as Klaus could hear gunshots and male screams. But, that quieted down in the blink of an eye as well.

Elna just watched the crafty handiwork of her comrades.

"Seems like I gathered quite the stubborn group of members, huh." Klaus shrugged. "Elna, you should work together with your surroundings."

"Eh."

"[Tomoshibi] and I are the same. We won't die from a level of misfortune that you attract."

By the time the time limit of two minutes was passed, every present member of the crime organization was put to sleep, and tied up.

"I found illegal drugs underground!" shouted the pink-haired girl as she carried a big bag.

If they handed this group over to the police now, they would get arrested for sure. Now, the next problem was—

Still being restrained with chains, Klaus was surrounded by the girls. In the middle of that, Lily puffed out her chest.

"Now Sensei! This time it's our win!"

"To think you would go this far. I was about to be killed there."

"You won't die from a handgun, right~?"

This must be the entirety of the plan. The girls had to have caught on to Elna about to be run over by the car, realizing that this crime group was aiming for her life. Thus, they pulled a change to their next plan. After Klaus was restrained by the group of men, they planned to take care of their group all together. Ethically and morally, it was completely messed up, but it was clever as well. Right now, Klaus was restricted by thick chains, not able to move.

"Now, Sensei. A police officer should come here within the next five minutes."

"So you already reported this. Quick handiwork."

"Hehe, at this rate, Sensei will also be taken with them. A spy being questioned by his own country's police, isn't that really lame~? Well, if you accept your defeat, and lick my feet as you call me 'Lily-sama', then maybe—"

"Now then."

A cracking sound like something breaking reverberated inside the room, leaving all the girls in confusion. As Klaus softly shook his body, the chains fell to the ground, freeing his body. Flabbergasted, Lily picked up the broken part of the chains. With it's one centimeter in thickness, it was beautifully broken in two.

"Um…these chains were made to hold back a fierce wild animal…?"

"Then prepare ones that can hold back a dinosaur next time." Klaus cracked his knuckles and bones, directing his gaze at the girls. "You still are no enemy for me."

What happened after deserved no need for explanation, so Elna just closed her eyes. as the sounds arrived at her ears. The girls managed to resist for at least twelve seconds before they were all sent flying.

That night, inside the reception hall of the Kagerou Palace.

"What do you mean we can't defeat him after all that?!"

"The great me is also greatly dispirited! It was quite the dafty operation!"

"That is our boss for you…Next, we probably have to involve the police, or else we will never beat him…"

The girls of [Tomoshibi] were sitting together, carrying out their almost daily reflection meeting. Slapping their hands on the desk, they discussed. This time, the focus was on the plan that even had Klaus surprised, and how it still ended up in failure right before the finishing touch. They managed to tie him down perfectly, but he just broke their confidence like it was nothing special. The argument grew heated even further.

"It seems like we have to rethink the very basis." The black-haired girl argued with her beautiful-as-usual voice. "Capturing the target proves to be impossible. So does just attacking him. We have to find some sort of secret to threaten him with."

"We decided from the very start that this won't work?" The silver-haired girl let out a snort. "Not even your seduction showed any results, heh."

"Ugh…! That was just a misunderstanding! There exists no man able to resist my—"

"You gonna play some midnight chess again?"

"It was outside my expectations! Coming to his room with 'I can't sleep…' he invited me for some chess, to my 'Let's enjoy ourselves~' he brought the chess board, and 'Should I spoil you a bit~?' he gave himself a handicap for the game! Just who is that man?!"

"Maybe just someone who likes chess?"

"Do you have any other ideas then? The target opened your number lock, and even broke the chains made for a wild animal, you know? How should we restrain—"

"Okay okay, no more fighting please!" As the discussion started to turn into an unfavorable direction, Lily clapped her hands, stuffing some baked sweets into their mouths to soften their moods.

"What's important right now is teamwork. Bonds with your comrades. Take some special financiers."

"Delish…"

"It really is delicious…"

"Phew, another job well done as the leader~" Lily sighed at her own success.

Next to her, the red-haired girl spoke up.

"Still…in order to win against that person, capturing him would be the most efficient method."

"You're not wrong, but…"

"Quite problematic…if we can't even capture one male person, I can't believe we will be able to clear the Impassable Mission…"

With these words, showing the direness of their situation, the reception hall was filled with a heavy atmosphere. Nobody had any words on how to proceed. Lily was the only one with a positive comment, but that didn't change the fact they were hitting a wall.

"U-Um." With a beet red face, Elna lifted her hand. "There was a reason he could tear off the chains!" She was left unable to control the volume of her voice.

As her lips were shaking, she continued her words, carefully.

"…W-When he was restrained, Sensei spit out some gem or jewel he was hiding in his mouth, and bribed the guard. Had him weaken the chains with the gun."

"Ah, he did say something similar back in the bathroom. Like a squirrel preparing for hibernation…"

This probably came closest to an attempt of simplifying Klaus' explanation. There were a lot of spies who hid weapons or jewels somewhere inside their bodies. He used such to bribe the guard, provoked the boss, and weakened the chains. Having him shot the same spot several times, even that thick chain would break eventually. And of course, Klaus didn't forget to retrieve said jewel after the entire act.

"Jewels or resources, something to bribe with. A master key to open whatever lock you need open."

"Master key…" The silver-haired girl spoke up.

"Most likely, the method is relatively similar to how he opened the number lock. He bribed one of us, finding out about the numbers before the act."

"S-So one of us is a spy?" Lily was the one letting out a confused voice towards Elna's voice.

Albeit soft, gazes of suspicion and distrust passed through the rows of [Tomoshibi].

"Everyone here is a spy, you know," the white-haired girl pointed out.

After this, the girls grew silent again. It was a matter they had to get investigated immediately.

"That reminds me," the black-haired girl spoke up. "There was always one person meditating when we were fighting over the key."

"Yeah! 'Only trust your comrades' and 'The bonds with your comrades', she emphasized the entire time!" The pink-haired girl continued with a pure voice.

Following that, the silver-haired girl showed a mischievous grin, as if she had seen through everything.

"Hey, Lily? I have a question…"

"Heh?"

"Where did you even get these financiers from?"

Lily stiffened up. Sweat ran down her forehead, and with a shaky voice, she muttered "What's important right now is our trust in our comrades…"

"""""""……………"""""""

Naturally, not a single girl present was naive enough to believe in that. Seeing this, Lily backed off, as the other members approached her, but she soon hit a wall, and started pleading with shaking lips.

"I-I just…ehmm, you know? I was asked by Sensei. To have a lesson where I would be the 'Lying one', with everyone doubting each other, see. Of course, I gladly accepted that! I mean, a situation where your supporter suddenly double-crosses you is pretty plausible in an actual battle, right?! That's Sensei for you! And praise me for going along with his idea! The self-sacrificing leader, ready to be hated for the greater good! I-It's not like I only did it for the crazy delicious sweets or anything?"

"…………"

"All I told him were the numbers, okay? The bathroom attack failed completely unrelated to that! I didn't betray you enough to be scolded for it, I say!"

"………"

"Let me repeat Elnchan's words! 'If you trust someone, you lose. That's what it means to be a spy,' right! Ehehe~"

The girl's quickly exchanged glances, wondering what kind of punishment they should bestow upon her—

"I have an idea." The silver-haired girl acted as the representative as she spoke up. "How about we use Lily to our advantage? The target still thinks of Lily as an ally, right? We will use that against him."

"R-Right! A two-fold spy! Now this feels like a real special lesso—"

"How about we carry that out right now?"

Lily's expression froze up.

"U-Um…it'll probably end up with me being beaten to a pulp by Sensei though…?"

"Go get them tiger."

"C-Come on, there has to be a better way of using this advantage, right? I won't betray you anymore, so…"

"…Hurry up, will ya?"

"………Be right back." Lily dropped her shoulders in defeat, leaving the reception hall.

A bit of time passed, until voices could be heard from above them.

"Sensei! I heard some new valuable information! Look at this protocol, come on, a bit closer…Ha ha! An opening! Prepare yourguho?! Paint inside this maiden's noseeeee!"

The girls showed a satisfied nod.

"Elnchan!"

There, the pink-haired girl jumped up with purity filling her eyes, dashing towards Elna's side. Delightfully grabbing her hand, she brought her face closer. With this innocent smile, Elna was a bit flustered.

"W-What…?"

"You're amazing!"

Elna was flabbergasted for a second, hearing these words. As she raised her gaze, she spotted the other girls all giving her warm smiles. Holding back her tears, she muttered an embarrassed "…Of course."

Time passed, and Elna made her way to Klaus' room. The first thing she spotted was Lily, tied up with string as she laid on the ground.

"Elna." Sitting across the canvas, Klaus spoke up. "Could you take out that small fry for me? I'd rather not put my hands on her."

Just as she was told, Elna started rolling Lily, to which she started pleading furiously.

"Sensei! Please! I'll do anything! If I can't have any more of your financiers, I'll go crazy!"

"You're betraying us again?!"

"Hurry up and get her out," Klaus waved his hand.

Elna felt the same, and gave her one last push out of the room, closing the door.

"Do these sweets have some poisonous ingredients?"

"Of course not." Klaus took out a plate.

There were several financiers, all radiating as beautiful as a gem.

"You want a taste? I'd like another 'Master key'."

"No thank you."

"They're quite delicious, you know?"

He brought the plate closer to Elna's nose. The intense scent of sugar assaulted her brain cells, and she couldn't hold back to grab one. The financier broke up inside her mouth, a sweet taste filling her mouth.

"Elna will betray her comrades."

"That was a joke," Klaus said, as he handed her the plate. "Distribute them to the others. Disrupting the group won't help for the classes."

Klaus might look rather plain on the outside, but he was a man of many hobbies. Chess, cooking, even watercolor painting.

Elna approached said Klaus, and gazed at the oil painting he was working at. The entire canvas was splattered with red, revealing no proper progress. The only part sticking out was the title [Family] in the bottom right.

"You're not going to finish your painting, Sensei…?"

"Well…I did go out to buy some new paint, but the brush won't move properly."

A faint glimmer of sorrow resided in Klaus' eyes. Although they weren't exactly acquaintances yet, the girls were constantly planning on attacking him, so they had a good grasp on how he was showing emotions.

"The precious residents of the Kagerou Palace, Sensei's family…?"

Klaus' breathing stopped. Quite the rare, extreme reaction to see from him.

"To think you figured it out this quickly."

"There were many hints."

"How much have you figured out?" Klaus crossed his legs, gazing at Elna.

To that, she started explaining her reasoning.

"There were previous residents in this Kagerou Palace, and Sensei must have been a member of that spy team. Since they aren't currently living here, the team must have been disbanded—or even suffered annihilation. Most likely, this Impassable Mission [Tomoshibi] will challenge is—"

"I see, that is enough." Cutting between Elna's words, Klaus nodded. "Your guesses are mostly correct. However, we're not at the stage where I can talk yet."

"Hm…?"

"Don't worry. I will reveal it in twenty days. I have no doubt that you will arrive at the truth."

Elna was doubtful why exactly twenty days, but Klaus wasn't quite done yet.

"And then, we will challenge it. The Impassable Mission waiting for us."

1 Using Boku, the male version of I

2 Fool

3 She uses a very pompous way of referring to herself. I'll try to implant that as much as possible.

Chapter end