She sounded almost enraptured, and a small smile played at her lips.
“There’s only one person who can protect our country—and that person is Nike.”
“Did someone say my name?”
Everyone gasped at the sudden voice that came from the very rear of the lecture hall.
Someone had come in the back door. She’d sneaked in, undetected and unheard, while Chloe was distracting the whole audience.
The woman embodied beauty so perfectly, it was like she was from a whole different world. Her eyes flashed with elegance and dignity in equal measure, her hair gently fluttered like lace curtains, her full chest was brimming with maternal affection, and her legs were perfectly supple from calf to thigh.
It was the Lylat Kingdom’s hero and ruler—Nike, head of the Genesis Army.
The crisp sound of applause echoed through the hall. Clap, clap, clap.
After brazenly coming in from the back, Nike strode to the center of the room with a warm expression, like she was commending them on their brave efforts. She clapped her hands as she smiled at Chloe, and beside her, at Jean.
“That was some fine work, arriving at the truth like that.”
A lifeless gasp escaped Jean’s lips. “Nike…”
None of the officers in the hall moved an inch. All of them knew exactly what Nike looked like. Even if they hadn’t, the raw power she exuded would have made it easy enough to deduce who that gorgeous woman was.
Following after Nike, her assistant Thanatos gave a modest bow as he came into the hall as well. Just like before, there was something unsettling about him and how dull his eyes were.
The Knights of Valor members gawked in disbelief at the two intruders.
“Did Chloe call for you?” Jean was the first to collect himself, and he stomped toward the woman at the podium. “No one else would have leaked the meeting site. You people set this all up—”
“I’ve never met her in my life,” Nike said, waving him off with a toothy grin. “I knew about you kids from the get-go. I just figured you were harmless, so I never bothered doing anything about it.”
She was beautiful enough to transfix friend and foe alike, and that gentle voice of hers was all it took to neuter their malice. Erna was a girl, and even she found herself captivated by the allure of Nike’s smile.
Jean lapsed into a dumbfounded silence.
For Erna’s part, though, the logical part of her brain was screaming at her.
She’s bluffing.
There was no way Chloe and Nike actually had nothing to do with each other.
The timing was too perfect. It took serious training to deliver a speech the way Chloe just had.
Chloe Perche was a Genesis Army operative.
Jean had probably deduced the same thing, but he was too flustered to say a word. After Nike’s sudden appearance, and after the close-up look he’d gotten at her beauty, his gaze was darting every which way.
“What…? What do you want…?”
The words that eventually dribbled from his mouth were terribly feeble.
Nike sucked in a deep breath, then did something unthinkable.
“I’m sorry.”
She apologized.
She bowed low, leaving the back of her head completely defenseless and exposed. Then she did it again. She folded her body to demonstrate how sorry she was, first to Jean, then to the rest of the officers in the hall.
After leaving her head lowered for a full three seconds, she lifted her face and furrowed her brow in contrition.
“I’m afraid I’ve caused a massive misunderstanding. When I heard you had brought in a worker from the Bertram Mines, I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to come clear the air.”
Once again, she was the picture of modesty.
Thanatos was standing beside her, and he frantically waved his hand. “M-ma’am, there’s nothing you need to apologize for—”
“Shut up,” Nike said as she kicked him with the tip of her heel.
“Hungh!”
Thanatos let out a cry of ecstasy and went quiet.
No matter the situation, their relationship remained unchanged.
The buffoonish, out-of-place exchange only served to worsen the confusion among the Knights of Valor. They stared in tense silence, like a field of whimpering scarecrows.
“…A misunderstanding?” Jean gave her a perturbed frown. “What misunderstanding? Care to elaborate?”
Over in the back, Erna bit her tongue.
You’re playing right into her hands!
She shot a pleading look at him, but Jean never glanced her way.
Everything about Nike’s performance had served to set the stage. Her unexpected arrival, the way she’d flaunted her beauty, her sudden apology, her silly exchange with her subordinate—everything.
Now she was in complete control of the conversation.
Erna wondered if it wouldn’t be best to just throw a spanner in the works.
However, any overt moves she made would draw Nike’s attention. She couldn’t lift a finger.
The enemy had fully seized the initiative, and all she could do was watch what they did with it.
“Everything that woman said was true. The Galgad Empire was behind the Bertram strike.” On Jean’s urging, Nike began casually explaining herself. “That’s why the government had to cover it up. ‘Galgad spies have carried out a number of successful acts of sabotage.’ If the truth got out, it would embolden the Empire and stoke our people’s fears. Suppressing the news was necessary for the good of the nation.”
That was pure sophistry, and Jean still had enough wits about him to see through it. “That’s bullshit…!” he roared, slamming the podium. “One of our comrades disappeared in the Bertram Mines. You people killed him! Just like you killed all the miners who—”
“You mean your friend Dice, the one whose real name is Gilbert?”
She said it with such nonchalance.
When Jean gasped in shock, she gave him a warm smile. “There’s nothing to worry about. Come on, you don’t really think the Royal Guard would kill our own citizens.”
Nike gestured to the doorway with her chin, and a new Genesis Army agent brought in a young man.
The man looked to be in his midtwenties, somewhere around Jean’s age, with short brown hair and just a hint of childlike innocence in his face. He was wearing a clean shirt, and he let out an apologetic mumble. “…Hey, Jean.”
Upon seeing the man’s features, Erna intuited who he was.
“Gilbert…,” Jean said, gasping.
It was him—the very Knights of Valor agent who’d gone missing in the Bertram Mines. There wasn’t a scratch anywhere on him, and his skin was downright glossy.
“…Everything Nike says is true.” Gilbert walked to the center of the hall and weakly addressed the crowd. “Nobody actually died at the mines. Galgad spies manipulated us into going on strike. That’s how I know. The only people the Royal Guard killed were Imperial operatives. All the workers are safe; they’ve just been holding us for questioning.”