Sara’s sudden arrival in the lecture hall earned her an annoyed scowl from Nike. “Looks like we’ve got us a party crasher,” Nike said as she let out a long sigh and gave Sara an icy look.
Nobody else had any idea what to make of the situation. The Genesis Army agents brandished their guns at the trespasser, and their wary reactions caused the Knights of Valor to gawk in confused fright.
Nike combed her hair back. “Who even are you?”
She’d stopped midway through reaching for her weapon to shoot a glance at Sara.
“I’ll have you know, I was in a good mood. I was about to get to watch a fun splatter flick about human bombs.”
Nike carried herself with the animus of someone with a fly buzzing around their face. There was no fear in her expression.
All at once, the emotion that had been swelling up in Erna receded.
Big Sis Sara…
She was happy that Sara had rushed to her aid, but Sara’s opponent was the head of the entire Genesis Army. This wasn’t the kind of situation that a single person could deal with. And that wasn’t even considering the fact that Nike was accompanied by a host of hand-picked Genesis Army operatives.
Still perched on the windowsill, Sara fixed her big eyes on Nike and her agents.
Nike had asked who she was, and Sara answered plainly.
“I’m the one person you’ve been desperately trying to find.”
Erna had no idea what she meant, and she wasn’t alone in that. The Knights of Valor members looked more confused than ever, and the Genesis Army just kept on quietly observing her.
After leaving an ample pause, Sara flashed Nike a taunting smile. “That should tell you everything you need to know, Nike.”
“You’re not making a lick of sense.”
Nike cocked her head to emphasize her confusion.
Sara had seen that reaction coming. She smiled. “At a glance, I would say that makes two of us.”
“What?”
“The Knights of Valor are so insignificant, they’re barely worth mentioning. Sure, they’ve been breaking the law and engaging in some petty sedition here and there, but they don’t pose any real threat to Lylat.”
Sara’s voice permeated every corner of the room.
The moment she’d captured the attention of everyone present, she went on.
“There’s no reason for the Genesis Army’s leader—the ruler of the Lylat Kingdom—to come deal with them herself.”
As soon as she said it, Erna realized just how right she was.
Nike’s arrival had been so world-shattering that the question never had a chance to cross Erna’s mind. Nike herself had mentioned the large number of spies that had infiltrated Lylat’s borders, and her former subordinate Momus had alluded to how busy they were crushing the nation’s many secret societies. Nike could have easily left a gaggle of college students like the Knights of Valor for her subordinates to deal with. If all they were doing was locking the students up, Nike’s presence was unnecessary. She could simply have had the relevant members brought to her after the fact if it was really that important for her to meet with them. Yet Nike had gone out of her way to come to the lecture hall herself.
Why was that? Why was she so worried about the Knights of Valor?
“Well, that’s a nasty thing to say.” Nike arched her shoulders to express her indignation. “I’ll have you know it’s a testament to how much I value them.”
“What, the incompetent secret society that folded like a wet noodle?”
Sara let out a dismissive scoff. There was a coldness to her expression that hadn’t been there a year prior.
The Knights of Valor bit their lips in chagrin, and Sara continued squaring off against Nike without so much as glancing their way. “No, you came here for something else—that much is easy enough to deduce.”
“Look, I don’t have time to stand here listening to the ravings of some lunatic.”
Nike waved her hand in annoyance.
As soon as she did, one of the Genesis Army agents dashed forward. He nimbly leaped from a desk and bounded toward Sara’s windowsill at full tilt.
His movements were swift. He was clearly a well-trained spy.
Erna could already envision Sara getting run through, and she very nearly screamed.
“You really thought I came alone?”
Sara didn’t flinch.
After firing off a quip at her incoming opponent, she drew her knife. “I’m code name Meadow—and it’s time to run circles around you.”
As the man braced himself for Sara’s attack, a swift blur of movement came leaping from another window.
The man reacted fast to the two-pronged assault. He held Sara’s frontal attack at bay with his knife, then fired his gun at the enemy behind him. However, his shots failed to find their mark.
The person who’d just leaped to Sara’s aid was no person at all—it was a white cat.
“Nice assist, Ms. Aurelia!”
After weaving between the bullets, the cat dug its claws into the man’s face. It was a dual attack—because right as the cat struck, Sara slammed her knife’s handle into the side of the man’s head.
The whole maneuver had been planned out perfectly. By making her opponent think they were under attack from a human, Sara was able to use her animals to launch deadly surprise attacks. It was a form of deception all her own—Rearing × Anthropomorphizing.
Sara had bested her foe, and in an overwhelming fashion. She tossed him onto a desk and stuck her gun in his mouth.
Nike frowned in disappointment. “Way to let your guard down, dumbass.”
Erna could hardly believe her eyes.
Is that really Big Sis Sara…?
The person she was looking at bore almost no resemblance to the timid, cowering girl from Erna’s memories. Not only had she matched Nike argument for argument, but surprise attack or not, she’d successfully warded off a first-rate spy.
“You want to keep going?”
Sara placed her finger on the trigger and laid on the pressure. Her cat, Aurelia, sat dignified and menacing atop the man’s head.
Sara had herself a hostage.
“Is shutting me up really so important that you’d sacrifice a highly trained agent just to do it?”
“……………………”
Nike went quiet. A hint of weariness slipped into the stony look of disinterest on her face.
Erna was in awe of the situation Sara had engineered.
Now Nike had no choice but to engage on Sara’s terms.