That was the true sickness running rampant through the Lylat Kingdom.
No matter how badly their government oppressed them or how miserable their living conditions got, all the people’s rage got directed at the Galgad Empire. It was absurd to say that anyone who criticized the government was a Galgad plant, yet the argument seemed convincing nonetheless.
After all, it was an undeniable fact that the Galgad Empire had invaded the Lylat Kingdom.
“I’m sorry,” Erna mumbled as she struck her acquaintance with her elbow.
Fortunately, there were about ten people besides Erna who’d managed to escape the lecture hall as well. Those were the Knights of Valor members who Nike had failed to win over. Numbering among their ranks was Jean, his face the picture of anguish.
The minute they tried to flee the area, two of Erna’s allies went flying.
“They call me Aion.”
There was a petite man in a suit standing in their way. The first things that jumped out about him were his thick crimson scarf and the skeleton tattoo on his right temple. He’d come bounding after Erna and the students from the lecture hall, and upon reaching them, he sent another two students flying with a dropkick.
He slid down his scarf and stuck his tongue out at Erna a little. “Don’t worry, missy. Nothing bad’s gonna happen to you.”
His voice was on the high end for a man, and his smirk was quite suggestive. There was something chilly lurking behind the gaze he fixed on Erna, and she found herself rooted to the spot.
Jean and four of the others turned tail. They’d given up on heading to the reference library and headed down a different path. However, Erna already sensed misfortune coming from their new direction.
“Don’t go that way!!”
She tried to call out, but she was too late.
When Jean’s group blindly raced across the quad, their bodies rose into the air like they’d just gone weightless. All of their legs were bound up with wire.
“The name’s Circe.”
Standing beside the wire was a woman with impossibly long hair. It reached all the way to her toes, winding around her face and body multiple times on its way down. Her hair even covered her mouth, making it hard to make out what she was saying. In her hand, she was holding a long, narrow needle.
“Would you be so kind as to stop this futile resistance? I, too, want to win Nike’s affection.”
The two of them were Nike’s subordinates. The man was a close-quarters combatant, and the woman specialized in traps.
Erna had beaten Genesis Army agents before, but these two were on a whole different level. The two of them positioned themselves to box Erna in from both sides.
As she mentally fumbled for a plan to escape her predicament, she heard a voice that further deepened her despair.
“Great going, Aion and Circe! Glad to see my little trainees doing well.”
There was no need for Erna to turn around.
Nike’s applause shook the air as she strode out of the lecture hall.
“It gave me a hell of a scare when that Black Mantis guy was killing my agents off left and right. But in the end, I guess it all worked out. You two are the newbie duo from Naval Intelligence, right?”
Behind her, Thanatos was obediently following along. “It’s all thanks to your passionate training, ma’am… Wait, why are you pinching me?”
“Oh, I was just wondering why it is that you’re the only one who never seems to improve. Got anything to say for yourself, Thanatos?”
“Unh…gh…”
“What, are you getting all hot and bothered in the middle of a mission? You know what we do to perverts around here.”
With no warning or windup, Nike gave Thanatos a swift kick in the rear. His body snapped off the ground and slammed into one of the quad’s bronze statues. He let out an aroused whimper as he crumpled, and Nike planted a foot firmly on his face.
“I’m always on the market for talented new recruits.” Her smile was downright sadistic. “I’d be more than happy to brainwash the lot of you.”
Erna felt goose bumps run across her skin.
When she inadvertently averted her eyes, her gaze met with Thanatos’s. Even with Nike trampling on his face, he made no effort to hide his elated smile. Drool dribbled from his lips, and his breathing grew ragged as his hips twitched. “Guhh… It’s so good…” His voice felt viscous in her ears. “Mistress Nike is going to dominate you… I’m so jealous…”
When his engorged crotch entered Erna’s field of view, she forced herself to stifle a shriek.
There would be no escape for her.
Before long, Erna and Annette got dragged back to the lecture hall alongside the Knights of Valor members. In the end, not a single person had successfully escaped.
Back in the hall, they joined the several dozen other Knights of Valor officers. The Genesis Army had gone and rounded up the ones staying at the dorm, too.
“I’m not going to handcuff you,” Nike said, her voice genial. “I’m trying to build relationships based on cooperation here, after all. Consider it a show of faith.”
A few of the members nodded happily, but the mood in the room remained icy. Erna wanted to call Nike out on her nonsense. The kind of psychological manipulation Nike used was simply more effective than any restraints.
As Erna hung her head, she heard the brisk sound of Nike’s footsteps approaching. Nike’s smile was no less broad than before, but she made no effort to hide the contempt burning in her eyes. “We met back at the mines, didn’t we?”
Erna was completely cornered.
She’d recolored her hair, but it hadn’t done her a lick of good.
“You must be the ones that brought Chloe along. You even dug up the truth about the strike. Impressive stuff.”
“………”
There was nothing Erna could say.
She got the feeling that if she so much as opened her mouth, Nike was going to read her like a book.
Undeterred by Erna’s silence, Nike went on in that same friendly tone. “And all that trouble the Nilfa unit ran into last month—I assume that was you, too.”
“________”
Erna had known it was only a matter of time before Nike figured that out, but she was still struck speechless at how quickly she’d made the connection. Erna had been hoping to pass herself off as just another secret society member, but apparently, that wasn’t to be.
Nike laid a hand on Erna’s shoulder. “You and I are gonna have a long conversation later,” she whispered.