†††
CITY Hall’s symbolic spire came into view as Zelaide turned off Circle Line. He parked his car in the alleyway and found the building Erica mentioned. There was no sign outside the building, but the bar was located below. He slipped inside the inconspicuous door. Several customers were seated inside the long and narrow lounge.
A staff member immediately showed him to a small private room in the back. The door opened within seconds of his arrival. Erica stood on the opposite side. Unexpectedly, she was all alone despite the late hour. There was no mistaking it was her despite the uncharacteristic clothing style and dark specs she wore. She was breathing heavily.
“You alone?” Zelaide asked, surprised Erica came all this way alone. That was not something the ruler of a powerful city with a population of five million did.
“It’s not as bad as you think. I’m sure you noticed the guards stationed outside. All of the staff and customers inside are Guardians as well. But time is against us. Tell me what you contacted me for… What happened? Does it have to do with Euphemia? Or something else?” Erica asked several questions in a row before removing her jacket.
“There’s somethin’ that’s been bothering me to the point I had to ask. It has to do with the time Euphemia was first attacked by Vermi. Who else knows about it aside from us?” Zelaide asked.
“Murakami. I told him,” Erica answered without hesitation. None of the bar staff entered the room. There wasn’t even a glass of water placed on the table before them.
“…No one else should know. Not even Mrs. Mayo, the housekeeper I hired to keep an eye on Euphemia, was informed. Also, while the police know about the Vermi murder case, I did not tell them that Euphemia was attacked. My personal circumstances required me not to make Mia’s incident public. So the only people who know about it aside from you and Mia are me and Murakami. And Murakami is my most trusted confidant.”
“He’s a strange man, but…seems trustworthy,” Zelaide conceded.
“He is my right-hand man,” Erica stated with confidence.
“I see… If you say so, then it must be true. But that man knew.”
“What man?”
“Yumi’s direct boss. That Burhardt guy…”
“Burhardt? All right. I will let Murakami know.”
Erica was convinced without hearing his reasoning. She pulled out her IHT and quickly typed up a short message. Zelaide had never seen letters like the ones she used. It was a curious writing style that made use of a combination of different characters and symbols. A reply came within seconds. Erica lifted her gaze from the screen.
“Your hunch was correct, Zelaide. Murakami narrowed down the suspect to two people and was tracking their movement. But I just received word that he was finally able to parse data located deep within Burhardt’s personal IHT concerning Chude incubation.”
“The Chude!”
That was the name of that short, serpentine Muta. The very Muta that had wiggled its way into his house through a small opening in the window. Discovering information on how to remove one of those rare Muta from incubation on Burhardt’s IHT could mean only one thing.
He’s the culprit who released that snake into my house! Zelaide realized that his gut feeling was right again.
“It seems Murakami has suspected him for a while and monitored his activity. He hacked into his personal IHT, copied all the data off, and began analyzing it. It took him a long time to crack the code, but we now have solid proof. Burhardt is Biotech’s traitor. Murakami said he’s already on his way to Burhardt’s residence with a guard unit. Perhaps he has already captured him.”
Sweat beaded Erica’s brow. She didn’t realize Burhardt was the traitor until now either.
“Your turn to talk,” Zelaide prodded. “Where is Yumi—Euphemia?”
“…She went to Romanesque City to conduct an experiment with her gerbils. A certain person suggested it and I allowed it. It’s true that I wanted to let her move her research to the next stage so she could come one step closer to realizing her dream of eradicating Nightz, but…the real reason I allowed it was to lure the enemy into making a move on her. Mia knows nothing—nngh!” Erica gagged while she spoke. In that moment, she was certain the man sitting across from her was going to kill her with his bare hands.
Murderous intent exuded from the Beast Blood.
“I am sincerely sorry about keeping this quiet after asking you to protect her. But, while I cannot fill you in on the details, the state of this city has worsened greater than I imagined. The threat sent to us this afternoon hinted at a terrorist attack involving a large number of citizens. The enemy is about to enact their final plan. But this is the same enemy who has tried on multiple occasions to make contact with Euphemia. I decided to use that against them by sending her out into the open. We are facing a powerful political figure. I was positive they wouldn’t risk their standing in front of spectators to get to her. They know that I sent bodyguards to watch over her,” Erica rattled on, almost in defense of her actions.
“Where is Yumi?” asked a graveled voice through clenched teeth.
“I last heard from her just before seven. She went to see another researcher after her experiment was a success. After that, I received a short message from her IHT saying that she was going to delay her return until tomorrow morning. The original plan was for her to take the eight o’clock flight and arrive here within the hour. I haven’t heard anything from her since. All the guards I sent with her have gone silent.”
Romanesque City was about four hours from Gothic City by helicopter.