Spy Classroom - Volume 2 - Chapter Ep

Epilogue

Daughter Dearest

When Klaus was first told about the mission’s details, he grimaced.

Its requirements were twofold.

“Capture the assassin—and capture their accomplice at the same time. Both of them are skilled, so if you try to capture them one after another, the second one will likely go to ground.”

In terms of raw difficulty, it exceeded even their last big mission.

Capturing both of them on his own wasn’t really feasible.

He was going to need someone to keep the accomplice busy while he captured Corpse.

Should I send all eight of the girls after the accomplice while I take on Corpse alone? No… Considering how dangerous Corpse is, it’d be best if I took at least some of them along with me…

He was torn between his duty as their boss—and his duty as a spy.

In the end, it was Grete who offered him a lifeline.

“I want to help lighten your burden, Boss.”

It would be a gamble. Not only would he himself be gone, but he would have to take the team’s best and brightest with him to keep Corpse in check.

But despite all that, Grete stated confidently that she would take the lead, come up with a plan, and handle their second foe—so Klaus decided to take that bet.

And sure enough, she completed her ordeal with flying colors.

Thanks to her efforts, they were able to complete both their requirements at once.

Uwe stood across from Olivia in his study.

She had served as his head maid for several years, but he had never gotten to know her all that well, and he admitted that some of the orders he’d given had been selfish. Now he regretted that.

He had always just assumed that she’d be with him until the day he died.

“And you’re sure I can’t talk you out of resigning?” He had a pretty good idea of what she was going to say, but he had to at least try.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Appel. I’m afraid my fear’s gotten the better of me.”

She gave him an apologetic bow. She was already dressed in plainclothes.

“I drove the killer off with my gun, didn’t I?”

“Maybe, but they never found a body. I’m heading to a friend’s place for a while to take it easy. Take care of yourself, Mr. Appel.”

Uwe shook his head in denial.

He knew it was pointless trying to stop her. She was a young woman. Even without this whole business about a hit man, it had been foolish of him to expect her to stick around forever.

As an older gentleman, though, he had a duty to at least send her off with some words of wisdom. He started with a question.

“This person you’re staying with… Is it a man?”

Olivia’s eyes went wide. “Oh? Did I ever tell you I had a boyfriend, Mr. Appel?”

“You take me for a fool?! I can put two and two together, I’ll have you know!”

“…I shouldn’t have expected any less of you, sir.”

“You’re damn right. And as someone who’s been around the block a few times, I have some advice for you.”

Uwe lowered his voice, knowing full well he was meddling with affairs that were none of his business.

“That man is bad news, Olivia. Every time you get back from one of your vacations, you reek of ill intentions.”

“………”

“I don’t believe for one minute that he truly loves you. He’ll win you over with pretty words, maybe, but once he’s done using you, he’ll toss you by the roadside. You deserve better than that.”

Olivia froze with her mouth hanging slightly open.

That wasn’t what she’d expected at all. She was probably taken aback at how harsh he was being, but she had served him well, and he didn’t want to see anything happen to her.

Uwe went on in an uncharacteristically warm tone. “If you don’t believe me, go see for yourself. Ask him to tell you how he really feels, and pay close attention to his answer. That’s the one last piece of advice I have for you.”

Olivia stewed over his words for a moment.

Uwe had been afraid that his warning would go in one ear and out the other, but it looked like it hadn’t. Deep down, she must have already sensed it, too.

However, Uwe had no idea what she was thinking right then.

“…Let’s say I did.” She gave him a strangely jocular smile. “What if I asked him to say something, and he replied, ‘Help’?”

Uwe replied with a hearty laugh. “That’d be something, all right! I’d tell you to dump that loser on the spot!”

After a few more laughs and a generous parting gift, Uwe sent Olivia on her way.

“Phew…”

After Olivia—or rather, Grete wearing a mask of her face—left the mansion, she let out a sigh.

Talking to a man for that long had taken a toll on her, but she managed to keep him fooled through to the end.

She would have liked to tell Uwe the truth, but doing so would have meant exposing her own identity as well. Uwe knew her face, as well as Lily’s and Sybilla’s. If they wanted to avoid the risk of having their information leaked, keeping him in the dark was the best option.

“……………”

Suddenly, a puddle by the side of the road caught her attention.

She could see Olivia’s face reflected on its surface. She hadn’t had much time to put the mask together, but her craftsmanship was impeccable all the same.

Her performance ended in a success, too. However, there was something still weighing on her—Uwe’s warning.

Did Corpse really not love Olivia?

Grete hadn’t considered that possibility.

Olivia had acted so confident about it that Grete had just automatically believed her. Now, though, she wondered how Olivia had felt when she heard him plead for her help.

“Perhaps she and I were more alike than I thought…” Grete took one last look at the puddle, then spoke solemnly. “Good-bye, Olivia…”

She tore off the mask and stuffed it into her bag. Then she changed out of the plainclothes, as well.

With that, Olivia was well and truly gone.

They’d handed her and Corpse over to another team earlier. Grete knew they were going to be interrogated, but she didn’t know what would become of them after that.

As she recalled, though, this had originally been an assassination mission.

Ultimately, the girls continued working at Uwe’s for the full duration they were originally scheduled to.

As they continued playing the role of loyal maids, they dug up what more they could on Olivia’s true identity and investigated to make sure she wasn’t working with anyone else. In doing so, it became clear that she’d occasionally been offing maids who began suspecting her of stealing information and assets from Uwe and aiding an assassin.

Meanwhile, Sybilla began subtly guiding Uwe to make sure the next batch of maids he hired were on the up-and-up.

Once they finished background checking their replacements, their work was finally done.

In the end, Sybilla seemed almost reluctant to leave, and Uwe was disappointed to see them go as well.

“Thanks to you lot, I feel better than I have in years,” he told them. “And it looks like my bill might finally pass. That’s a lot of children we’re going to be able to help, Sybilla.”

Sybilla gave him an appreciative nod. “That’s my Mr. Appel for ya. I’ll be comin’ back to hang out someday, so make sure you don’t go kickin’ the bucket on me before I do.”

“Ha! This world couldn’t get rid of me if it tried!”

And with that final exchange, the girls left Uwe’s mansion for good.

When the girls arrived at the station, they were greeted by Sara, Klaus, and an unexpected third guest.

““Bernard!””

Sybilla and Lily excitedly rushed toward the birdcage.

A fierce-eyed hawk stared back at them from inside it. Saving the girls’ lives was about as distinguished as service came, and to them, he was nothing short of a hero.

Grete breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh, I’m so glad he survived.”

“It’ll be a little while before he can fly again, but he pulled through,” Sara replied.

Both of Bernard’s wings were bandaged from base to tip. His wounds were serious, make no mistake, but thanks to Sara’s diligent care, he was still with them.

He was brave, smart, and an irreplaceable member of Lamplight.

Sybilla and Lily played around with him for a bit, but their gazes then turned to the bored-looking man standing beside them.

“Hey, Teach. Long time…no see? It doesn’t feel like it, but I guess it has been.”

Klaus gave Lily’s greeting a nod. “That it has. I’ve been in a whole different city than you.”

“By the way, where’re the others?”

“There were a few loose ends to clean up on the Corpse matter, and after they were done with that, they were planning on doing some sightseeing before they came back.”

The four absent girls had undoubtably gone through a mission just as hard as theirs. Even with Klaus by their side, going toe-to-toe with a master assassin was easier said than done.

Sybilla snapped her fingers. “Then hey, sounds like we’ve got us an excuse to have some fun on our way back, too.”

“Yeah! My maid wages are burning a hole in my pocket!” Lily cheered.

The girls immediately starting gabbing about all the places they wanted to visit and all the tasty food they wanted to eat. They’d been working for the past month straight, and even their days off had been consumed by their spy duties. In other words, they had a full month’s worth of slacking off they needed to get out of their systems. Sara had had the foresight to bring along a guidebook, and they oohed and aahed over each of its pages.

Once they’d settled on an itinerary, Sybilla called over to Klaus.

“Hey, you’ve got the day off, too, right? How about hookin’ us up with some wheels?”

“…That’s not a bad idea. I’ll go find a rental place.”

It seemed only fair that he reward his subordinates for their hard work.

“This is gonna be awesome!” Lily shouted cheerily. “All five of us, going for a drive together!”

When Klaus came back with the rental car, he found Grete waiting for him alone.

“……………”

Lily, Sybilla, and Sara were nowhere to be seen.

Their luggage was gone, too.

“Just for the record, where are the others?”

“…They all got on a train, and they seemed very excited about it.”

“That girl lies like she breathes, doesn’t she?” Klaus sighed.

What he wouldn’t give to pick Lily’s brain about precisely what emotions she felt when she said, “All five of us, going for a drive together!”

Not that he hadn’t seen it coming, mind.

This was their way of being thoughtful. Toward Grete, he assumed.

Either that or perhaps toward him.

“Well, it would be a shame to waste a perfectly good car. Would you like to go for a drive, just the two of us?”

“…It would be my pleasure.”

Grete got in the passenger’s seat, and Klaus took off along the coast. The weather was perfect for gazing out at the deep blue sea.

The whole time, Grete said nothing. From the look of things, she was as tense as a bowstring.

Klaus had assumed that she would try coming on to him again now that she had him alone, but apparently that wasn’t the plan. Seeing him for the first time in a month had her nerves on edge. Her fists were clenched tight, and she was as stiff as a board.

“Grete.” Klaus decided to get the conversation started. “You’ve been on my mind a lot over this last month. I’ve been thinking about how to respond to your feelings, both as your boss, as the Greatest Spy in the World, and also, as a man.”

For him, this was uncharted territory.

It wasn’t the first time someone had ever been in love with him, but most of the time that only happened on missions. To him, romance was simply a tool to manipulate his target with. Once he’d gotten what he needed out of them, he washed his hands of the whole matter.

However, this time was different. He wanted to treat Grete’s feelings with the respect they deserved.

“And do you have your answer…?” Grete asked hesitantly.

“I do.” Klaus pulled over by the side of the road. “I decided to forget all my duties, responsibilities, and ideals and simply open my heart up to you as a man.”

He got out of the car, and Grete followed his lead.

As they stood atop the scenic overlook, Klaus turned to face her head-on.

She wasn’t going to run from his answer anymore. She pursed her lips and returned Klaus’s gaze.

A gust of wind blew past. Her hair fluttered in the breeze.

Klaus waited for it to die down, then spoke.

“I’m going to be candid with you, Grete—I don’t see you in a romantic light. I can’t reciprocate your feelings.”

“…I see.”

“However, I don’t want you to misunderstand me. I’ve never harbored romantic feelings toward anyone. My inability to become your lover has nothing to do with some deficiency in you; it has everything to do with me. I’m simply not interested in that kind of love. At the risk of sounding crude, I don’t have much in the way of a libido.” He went on. “The kind of love I want is familial love—the kind of relationships that get forged in both the harshest parts of missions and the most peaceful times out of them.”

It was his teammates who had lifted him up out of solitude and despair and accepted him into their lives.

That was the warmth that had carried him through to that day.

“That’s why I can’t respond to your feelings in kind. I can’t love you as a woman, and if you end up wanting to give your heart to some other man, I won’t stand in your way.”

“………”

“But if you’re willing to stay by my side as part of my family, then I would be all too happy to love you.”

The wind picked up again.

Grete’s hair flowed across her face, covering her expression for a brief moment. When the wind stopped and her cheeks came back into view, they were wet with tears.

“…Can you…do something for me…?”

Her voice was small and ever so frail.

She reached up and slowly peeled off the mask covering her face.

Her scars came into view, as did her flushed-red cheeks.

“Please, tell me… How do you really feel about me now…?”

“There’s only one thing I have to say to you, Grete.”

Klaus reached for her scars and gently stroked them.

“You’re beautiful.”

Her expression contorted as though something inside her had just snapped.

At first, she only let out a quiet moan, like she had something caught in her throat. She pursed her lips and clamped her hands over them to try to hold back the waterworks, but the dam eventually burst. Tears poured from her eyes, and a sob spilled from her throat. As her tears tumbled to the ground, she leaped into Klaus’s arms and bawled like a child, louder than anyone would have imagined her to be capable of.

Klaus reached his arms around her and gave her a gentle hug.

Her code name was Daughter Dearest.

At first, it had come across as ironic.

But in that moment, Klaus couldn’t think of a single name that would have suited her better.