Volume 2 Chapter 3.4
A Shady Business, Secret Training, and
a Glimmering Sense of Unrest Part 4
Translator : PolterGlast
From the roof of the
building across the street, Jin observed the situation inside the dojo through
binoculars.
Thanks to Nathan, the
fake Master, who has kindly installed listening devices throughout the dojo, he
has no problem hearing Nina's and Karen's interactions.
Since deciding to
commit fraud on both Karen and Casper, Nina has been rushing to learn practical
fraud techniques, and it seems that she has already mastered them well enough.
Rusty always said, [A
talented fraudster can become a first-rate stage actor], and it seems that the
opposite is true as well.
Nevertheless, the
degree of difficulty of this operation is out of the ordinary.
In the case of
ordinary fraud, the golden rule is to carefully investigate in advance and then
take advantage of the most gullible of the victims. In this operation, they
could not choose who they wanted to deceive, and they could be suspected from
the very beginning. If Rusty were here, he would definitely tell Jin to retreat
immediately.
Not to mention Karen,
who could not even be approached without disguising herself as Kate, Casper was
a formidable opponent, even though he appeared to be full of openings.
Last night, too, the
man made an unpredictable move.
When Jin came back
from the attic, he found a red-haired boy crouched in front of his room in the
dormitory.
The intruder who was
attempting to force open the locked door was Casper Crawford, who had been
making an all-too-obvious approach to Nina.
"...... Do you
need something in my room?"
"Oi, where the
hell have you been wandering around at this hour? It's past curfew."
"Aren't you
breaking the curfew yourself?"
"You don't
understand anything, do you? I'm just doing it for love."
"......
Seriously? This guy's really too aggressive."
"I'm not talking
about you! Are you making fun of me just now!? I'll kill you!"
Jin could not help but
be dumbfounded by his personality, which was so different from the one he had
when dealing with the female students.
Is this academy full
of nothing but liars?
"Normally, I
wouldn't even want to see your face, my love rival......."
"...... Wait,
love rival?"
Jin didn't care about
what everyone thought about his relationship with Nina, but he couldn't afford
to have them get oddly jealous. Especially if the other party is a monster who
was exempted from the entrance exam, he wanted to avoid any unnecessary
conflict. Above all, we did not want to lose every chance to get in touch with
Casper.
I think I should
reassure him for now.
"Hey, aren't you
misunderstanding something? Nina is just a friend."
"Ha? Are you
trying to make me drop my guard down?"
"Of course not
...... you don't believe me at all, huh?", Jin said so while making a
bitter expression on his face. "...... Alright. Can you promise me that
you won't tell anyone?"
It's a fake reason
made up on the spur of the moment, but he can talk it over with Nina later.
"Nina and I were
childhood friends. We were in the same class for six years in elementary
school."
"Haa? That's new
to me."
"Because I
haven't told anyone about it. If this gets out, people will spread rumors that
I was able to get into this school because of my connections, and that will be
troublesome. That's why Nina doesn't tell anyone either."
"What, so that
was what it was about......"
As if his previous
hostility had been a lie, Casper laughed with cheerful smile.
"I see, I see.
I'm so relieved. Well, it's obvious that there's no way I'm going to lose to
you, but nevertheless, it's good to have fewer rivals ...... Then, from now on,
please support my love journey, will you?"
"Alright,
alright, I'll support you, I'll support you."
"Then, quick, tell
me about Nina-chan's hobbies. I'd like to have an excuse to ask her out on a
date."
Letting out a sigh,
Jin formulated a calculation in his mind.
In reality, she would
probably be in her room reading a book or going to the theater, but such a
gentle hobby does not fit her character as the <Queen of Calamity>.
Besides, he had a plan
for Casper that he had been thinking about for a while.
"...... I heard
that she's into collecting knives these days."
"Oh, what an
exciting hobby ......!"
"I heard that there
is a store around here that specializes in knives with unique designs. If you
ask her out, she'll probably take you up on it."
"I see. ......
Well, let me thank you in advance."
"No
problem."
The extent to which
this will work against this selfish monster remains unclear, but it is an
ironclad rule of deception that one should always leave a favor to the other
party. It is the principle of <repayment of favors>, and a small favor
may someday turn into a big reward.
If he wanted to get
into Casper's pocket, this would be the most effective approach.
"Then, let's do
our best."
Jin reluctantly
squeezed back the right hand that was held out in front of him.
From the outside, this
was a friendly gesture, but deep in Casper's eyes, he was not smiling at all.
This guy seems to have
a lot of openings, but at the heart of the matter, he draws a line between
himself and others. Perhaps this guy does not simply dislike men.
Perhaps this guy, in
essence, does not trust anyone.
─This kind of opponent is the most troublesome.
Jin stared at the
guy's figure as it moved away from him, bitterly cursing inwardly.
While Jin was skimming
through his memories of last night, Nina and Karen came out of the dojo.
From what he could
see, the two of them seemed to have grown closer than strangers. They were
chatting and laughing together.
A driver emerged from
the black car parked in front of the dojo a short while ago and respectfully
escorted Karen toward the car.
As far as Jin could
hear from the conversation through the listening device, Karen had to attend a
social party at her parents' house. Rich people sure are busy.
[See you, Karen.
You'll come back next week, right?]
[Who knows, it depends
on how I feel.]
Karen got into her car
with a curt response, but information obtained from Detective Heath revealed
that she attended the dojo every week without fail.
Earlier, Karen had
told Nina that she used breathing techniques for <conditioning> to enter
a state of high concentration. Although it would be better if she could do it
in her room, perhaps she was trying to remind herself of the sights and smells
of the dojo each time she performed the breathing techniques. Master would
never have imagined it, it seems that his sham business is actually useful for
this monster.
As the car carrying
Karen drove away, Jin also made his way to the dojo.
After handing over the
hush money to Nathan, he and his accomplice, who assumed the appearance of a
nonexistent girl, walked out into the night. The two of them walked through an
unpopular residential area to the nearest bus stop, and their footsteps were
the only sounds that could be heard in the silence.
Walking side by side
like this, He could see that Nina's steps had become much heavier.
Even after removing
her red wig and colored contact lenses, her nervousness still seems to be
present.
"Well, how shall
I put it? Good work, Nina."
"I'm so
exhausted, you know. I've never been Kate for such a long time
before......"
"I knew there was
a certain amount of risk involved."
Method acting.
A high-level technique
to blend oneself into a role and create a completely different persona. It is a
technique commonly used in the theater world, but Nina can perform it with near
self-brainwashing precision.
When she tricked
Bennett before, Nina was merely adjusting her values and her mental behavior
based on herself, but when she becomes a completely different person, it must
be very draining.
"But, it did
allow you to get closer to Karen, didn't it?"
"Only as Kate,
though......"
"There are some
things you can talk about because you have nothing to do with the
academy."
"But I wonder if
I can get her to tell me that she's working as a spy for the headmaster."
"Don't worry,
I've prepared a trump card as well."
"Eh, what is
it?"
"I can't reveal
it yet. For now, I want you to concentrate on your own task."
"There it is,
Jin's secretiveness."
Nina pouted but did
not ask for more details about the trump card. This is proof that she trusts
Jin as an accomplice.
Before they knew it,
they had reached the main street. They were almost at the bus stop when Nina
seemed to notice something.
"T-That
billboard."
She pointed to a huge
outdoor billboard with a beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman on it. She
was holding a small pink bottle in her hand.
"It's the perfume
you gave me earlier. <Glow Citrus>, was it?"
"Yeah. I decided
to buy you one when I saw the billboard."
"...... Thank
you, Jin. I'll definitely repay you."
"You don't need
to worry about it. I don't even know my own birthday."
"How is that
possible?"
"Look, I've been
living on the street for as long as I can remember, you know? Of course,
October 13th was written on my fake ID, but it's a day I don't have any special
feelings about."
"...... In that
case, let's make that day an important one from now on, shall we?"
Nina went on using a
tone of voice that seemed to summon up all of her courage.
"I'll make it a
big celebration for you. Jin, be prepared, okay?"
"...... Well, if
I can survive until that day."
Jin scratched his
cheeks, feeling a little itchy.
He had a feeling that
whatever he said would all be wrong, so he had no choice but to surrender in
silence. After walking for a while, the bus stop came into view, and Jin
decided to forcefully change the subject.
"Let me change
the subject, Nina. Can I trust you with another important task tomorrow?"
"...... Don't
tell me, is it Casper?"
Nina made a blatantly
displeased face, but Jin continued regardless.
"Tomorrow
morning, he's going to ask you out on a date."
"A-A date!?"
"I gave him information
that you walk around the girls' dormitory on Sunday mornings, so I'm sure he'll
try to make contact with you under the pretense of a coincidence. When he
contacts you, tell him that you want to go to the restaurant on this piece of
paper."
"...... Umm, are
you up for it, Jin?"
"Well, this is a
great opportunity after all."
"Yeah ......
figures."
The paper Jin handed
her contained the address of a dangerous establishment such as a knife
workshop.
After making sure Nina
had skimmed through it, Jin told her of his plan.
"Remember the
terms when Karen offered you an alliance? She demanded that you investigate
Casper's psychic abilities. And besides, we, for our part, would at least like
to know the abilities of the person we're going to deceive as well. ...... So I
devised a plan to use on the day of the date."
"There your
wicked face again......."
"There's a small
burglary gang that's based in this area. The informant who is in touch with the
leader of the gang happens to be an acquaintance of mine - more specifically,
Mr. Heath. I asked him to pass on some information to the gang."
"Don't tell me
you're planning to have those people attack the store? To force Casper to use
his abilities?"
"Of course, the
store itself is also fake. I had Gasta-san and his team renovate an old
abandoned store that had long been vacant, in hopes that someday I could use it
for something. Now they are putting knives on the shelves at a rapid pace. The
store is also currently staffed by Gasta-san's employees, so safety measures
are perfectly in place."
"...... That
doesn't make me feel safe!"
Jin, who would even
use criminals as pawns for his goals, is clearly insane.
Jin is aware of that
much, but it is time for Nina to get used to it.
If anything, she
shouldn't have any more energy left to argue with him.
"...... So, what
do you want me to do then?"
"Oh, you don't
have to do anything."
The corners of Jin's
mouth curved up in amusement.
"Say something
like, "Let's see how you handle it", or something along the lines of,
"I'm not interested in weak people", and leave Casper to deal with
the robbery. I'm sure he'll want to show off his good side to you, and he'll
definitely use his psychic abilities."
"I don't know,
wouldn't that make him think that I'm a very bad-natured girl?"
"He's the type of
person who is infatuated with anyone who tries to push him around. So I want
Nina to play the part of a devilish woman through and through. And make him
totally in love with you."
"I-In
love......?"
Hearing this, a deep
shadow appeared for a moment on Nina's face.
Jin did not miss this
change.
"...... Huh, you
are not in it?"
"No, that's not
it. For the sake of our plan, I don't have a choice, do I?"
"If you make him
fall in love with you, he might tell you some important information someday
...... huh, you seem to be a little bitter, after all."
"I'm not bitter
at all."
A perfect, impeccable
smile.
Even with that calm
expression on her face, Jin could see that Nina was hiding something.
"...... I'm not
demanding you to do any seductive techniques, you know?"
"You don't have
to worry about it, it's fine."
"Then what are
you upset about......?"
"Jin" Nina,
with a perfect smile on her face, closed the distance between them. "Let
me slap you just one time."
"Ehh!?"
A palm accurately
struck him in the cheek, and a dry sound traversed across the night air.
"......What the
heck?"
Nina, who looked
satisfied, walked to the bus stop at a speed that made her look as if she were
fleeing, leaving Jin stunned with a burning sensation on his cheek.
＊
She was lost in
thought as she walked down the street at night toward her dormitory, where
there were no streetlights.
In her job, she has no
qualms about walking in the dark. Rather, she does not need the information
that sight provides in order to dive into the sea of thoughts.
She is thinking about
the uncertainties that could threaten the school.
Combining all the
information she has obtained so far, there is no doubt that there are some
troublesome rats in the school. There are also several suspicious individuals.
All that is left is to find the evidence that will lead her to the rats.
Sensing the presence
of someone in the distance, she ducks into a nearby bush.
Looking closely, she
sees that two of the suspects happen to be walking together. They appeared to
be returning to the school after finishing some errands right now.
Nina Stingray and Jin
Kirihara.
In fact, their
movements were certainly strange.
Although they had
defeated Bennetts Lohr right after they enrolled at the school, the number of
<duels> they have had since then has been extremely low. They even seem
to be avoiding fighting.
Considering that Nina,
who possesses powerful psychokinesis and is also known as the <Queen of
Calamity>, and Jin, who can nullify psychic abilities, aren't they a bit too
passive? Is it too much of a stretch to think that the two of them are working
behind the scenes for some other purpose?
─What to do? Should I just get rid of them now?
She even constructed a
concrete image of a surprise attack, but she had not lost her composure.
If she were going to
do it, she needs to wait until all the evidence has been gathered.
Her purpose is to
protect the order and secrecy of the academy, not to eliminate everyone who
gets in her way.
After all, the
school's headmaster, Jill Will Weiser, is a very busy man.
He is also a member of
the <White Knights> and is said to be engaged in exterminating spies from
various countries who have infiltrated the empire. He cannot afford to be
bothered with a half-baked report.
Even if there really
were other rats, she had confidence in her ability to find and kill them.
─It's okay, I have plenty of time.
If it becomes a
long-term battle, those who are hiding their secrets will eventually be
exposed.
With sharp eyes like a
predator blending into the night, she keeps on following after them.
End of Chapter 3
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