Spy Classroom - Volume 7 - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Glint and Scarlet Leviathan

The unrest in Hurough continued unabated.

When the CIM team that had barged into the Conmerid Times office marched back out the front door, the people swarming by the entrance immediately realized that something was off. Upon hearing the agents shouting angrily into their radios, they discovered that Editor in Chief Raymond had vanished.

Between the strange newspaper company reporting on the assassin and the disappearance of the editor in chief who leveraged his authority to get the article printed, there were mysteries aplenty, and that was before news came in about the bombing a few buildings over. According to eyewitnesses, the person responsible was none other than the cerulean-haired killer depicted in the article.

It was clear to everyone that a storm was coming. However, they had no idea what form it would take, so there was nothing they could do but panic.

For several days running, activists had been making speeches in front of the train station lambasting the CIM for its failures. There were people handing out flyers saying that the whole thing was a conspiracy by the United States, and there were other people accusing the first group of being Galgad spies and beating them up. The city was in complete turmoil.

Over by the large clock tower that held the Houses of Parliament, there was a massive protest. The protestors had decided that all the chaos had been the work of spies, and they were demanding that any foreigners be rounded up. “Lock ’em all up and press ’em till they talk,” they shouted as they held portraits of the late Prince Darryn. There were over three thousand of them marching, and the police ultimately had to step in to break up the demonstration.

As unrest overtook the city, one girl watched it all play out with visible glee.

From her hiding spot up in a building just off of Queen Clette Station, the girl chuckled to herself at the chaos spreading below. She was Green Butterfly—the person who’d orchestrated the madness. She was holding a radio, and information poured in through it from the many Worker Ants and other underlings who answered to her. At the moment, she’d just been informed of the result of Monika and Klaus’s battle.

“Perfection.”

By the time she finished listening to the report, a broad smile had spread across her face.

“Beautifully done. Gee, to think that she didn’t just wound Bonfire, she even lived to tell the tale.”

The wound she’d dealt to Klaus’s left leg was more than Green Butterfly had dared to hope. If she’d cracked a bone, it would take him two or three whole months to be back at peak form. Until that happened, he wouldn’t be able to bring the full extent of his strength to bear.

They’d just taken a definite step toward putting the man down for good. And what’s more, Green Butterfly still had Monika as a pawn in her arsenal.

Bonfire will have his hands full with her for the next little while. How much will she be able to wear him down, I wonder?

Monika had put in more work than Green Butterfly had ever imagined she would. She still didn’t fully trust Monika, but for now she was going to continue expecting great things from her.

Honestly, considering how bad she messed up Bonfire’s leg, can I just go ahead and count her as a genuine ally? Or is that just me being a sucker?

Was it safe to dismiss the possibility of Monika being a double agent? Bonfire was the Din Republic’s strongest spy. There was no way it was worth taking out his leg just to win Serpent’s trust.

I guess I shouldn’t let my guard down yet, but it’s probably safe to assume she has no plans of returning to Lamplight. Gee, depending on how things play out, maybe I could tell her what Serpent’s goal is.

Green Butterfly let out a long exhale and stepped away from the radio.

After all, it’s not like anyone could disapprove of Serpent. Not after finding out why we exist.

That was how it went for Green Butterfly, at least. She’d once been a Fend spy who wished for nothing more than her nation’s prosperity. However, the global intelligence community had yet to grasp just how deep the world’s despair ran, and when Green Butterfly learned the truth, it felt as though the ground had just crumbled beneath her feet. That was when Serpent recruited her.

She looked at the clock and discovered that it was already evening. She needed to report in as part of her Serpent duties.

They never used radios for sharing critical information. Instead, she learned meeting sites via cryptograms hidden throughout the city. Then she would go to the spot at the designated time and leave a dead drop.

In Green Butterfly’s opinion, the whole thing was a pain in the ass.

“It’s ’cause you’re still so naive, Green Butterfly. Don’t forget that.”

As if she could forget a message delivered so condescendingly.

“Kill me now,” she said, clicking her tongue as she reached for her coat.

As she extended her right shoulder to slide it through the sleeve, a sudden jolt of pain ran through it. She clamped her left hand down on it and fought to keep her footing.

“_______”

It had been over ten months, but the wounds still stung. By all rights, they should have healed by now, yet they tormented Green Butterfly on the regular like she’d been cursed.

The wounds in question were scars—two of them, etched down her shoulders like lightning bolts.

Green Butterfly loved to dance, so having scars on her arms like that was a massive burden. Ever since she got them, she’d been forced to wear outfits that covered her shoulders and upper arms every time she set foot in a dance hall.

Oh, go to hell.

She clicked her tongue again as the memories resurfaced.

You wretched hag… You keep finding ways to make me hate you, even from six feet under.

How many times was it, she wondered, that she’d bit her lip to choke back that same feeling of revulsion?

Ten months ago, Green Butterfly met an Inferno member in their final moments.

That member’s name was “Firewalker” Gerde.

The briefing said she was old and decrepit.

That was what “Torchlight”—or rather “Blue Fly” Guido had told her after switching to Serpent’s side. A faint glimmer of sadness passed through his eyes, after which he went back to talking and polishing his trusty sword.

“But hey, that’s what happens when you’re seventy-two. She’s a regular old granny now. Her golden days came and went a looong time ago. She’s been withering away, especially this past decade.”

Upon hearing that, Green Butterfly volunteered to be the one to kill her.

On Guido’s recommendation, that was what they were doing—assassinating every last member of Inferno. Just as Purple Ant had beaten Hearth over in the United States of Mouzaia, Green Butterfly had been tasked with killing Firewalker. The Fend Commonwealth was Green Butterfly’s home turf, so she was the logical choice.

Thanks to Guido’s intel, luring Firewalker to the designated site was a piece of cake. There was a dance hall under Green Butterfly’s patronage out in the Hurough suburbs. It was normally a place for high society types to hobnob, but Green Butterfly picked a night when it would be empty to summon her target there.

Right as midnight rolled around, an old woman marched in.

“Hmm? And what’s this, then?” The woman took a look at Green Butterfly, who was sitting on a chair in the middle of the hall. “Here I was thinking Guido called me out here, not some young whippersnapper. Did that numbskull leak our code or something?”

Despite being an old woman, Gerde certainly didn’t look the part. She was wearing military cargo pants and a tank top that left much of her upper body exposed. Her arms were far more packed with muscle than should have been possible for a woman her age, and they gleamed as they reflected the hall’s lights. If she went out in public looking like that, she would draw all sorts of attention.

That was her. The invincible sniper who’d spent over half a century roaming the battlefield. Green Butterfly had heard the legends, and she couldn’t help but get nervous. “…Care to negotiate, ma’am?”

“Hmm?”

“Your teammate ‘Torchlight’ Guido betrayed you and switched sides to the Empire.”

Gerde’s expression didn’t so much as twitch.

Green Butterfly assumed that her composure was feigned. She went on to prove her claim. “He told me about the Heat Haze Palace rules. Rule fourteen is, no forcing the other residents to drink. Rule fifteen is, no using gunpowder in place of an alarm clock. Those two were written for you.”

“Yeah, that they were.” Gerde’s stony expression broke, and she let out a cheerful laugh. “In my defense, the gunpowder thing was to teach Little Klaus some manners. Ah, the boss really had my hide for that one.”

For some reason, Gerde seemed amused. As Green Butterfly stared at her in confusion, Gerde sauntered over to the chair across from hers and sat down with a little grunt.

“So Guido betrayed us, did he? Well, I can’t say I’m surprised,” she said nonchalantly. “Ah, so that’s why he sent Little Klaus off on his own when he did. Even Guido is scared of the kiddo, huh?”

“You don’t seem upset.”

“Sorry, missy, but situations like these are old hat.” Gerde began bending her fingers down and counting. “At this rate, the boss is a goner. That idiot Lukas is liable to get himself killed even if you don’t lift a finger, and Wille will probably follow his brother to the grave. As for Heide, dying once might do her some good. And Little Klaus… Well, he should be fine, so long as he handles himself well.”

After folding her fingers down one after another, only one remained. “Well, at least there’ll be one survivor. That’ll do,” she said with a satisfied nod.

Green Butterfly couldn’t help but notice that Gerde hadn’t factored her own survival into her calculations. She leaned forward in her seat a little. “I could kill you whenever I wanted, you know.”

“………”

“I’d love some intel, if you don’t mind. I mean, gee, you know things, right? About the Nostalgia Project? If you give me the lowdown, I’m prepared to spare your—”

Before she could finish her sentence, her whole world shook.

It took her a moment to realize she’d just been punched in the head. It had happened so suddenly she wasn’t able to comprehend it, and she toppled over backward without so much as getting a chance to break her fall.

In Gerde’s hand, she was clutching what looked like a black rod. When Green Butterfly fixed her prone gaze on it, she saw that it was the barrel of a rifle. Gerde must have been keeping it hidden beneath her clothes. The old woman quickly took her concealed rifle parts and began reassembling it.

By the time Green Butterfly was able to regain her footing, Gerde had already finished putting the gun together and pulling the trigger.

Two shots roared out, and blood exploded from Green Butterfly’s shoulders. The bullets had carved deep into her flesh. The pain was so intense it was maddening, and Green Butterfly could feel her mind going numb.

“You really ought to give me more credit, missy. You think you can force me to negotiate?” Gerde had spared her on purpose. If she wanted to, she could have just as easily sunk those bullets into Green Butterfly’s skull. “You know, I think my hearing’s been going as of late. Would you mind running that by me again? What did you say you could do to me whenever you wanted, again?”

Without a shred of mercy, she stomped down on Green Butterfly’s head as the younger spy crawled ignobly on the ground. However, the pain in Green Butterfly’s shoulders meant she was in no state to fight back.

That bearded bastard! You call that “decrepit”?!

Guido was the one who’d given her that intel, and she cursed him for it.

Anyone with eyes could tell that the old bag is still one of the strongest spies in the world!!

Guido hadn’t been lying to her, not intentionally. The part about Gerde having withered away had been true. However, the simple truth was that even with her golden days long behind her, Gerde was still monstrously strong. Inferno’s standards were just so deranged that her current strength was decrepit by comparison.

Green Butterfly felt a hard sensation of a gun barrel pressing against her head. Above her, she heard Gerde’s voice bristling with hostility.

“Best get talking, missy. Where did you hear the term Nostalgia Project?”

Green Butterfly realized she’d been squeezing her fists tight without meaning to, and she relaxed her hands and steadied her breathing.

Ugh! Every time I remember it, it creeps me out all over again!

For Green Butterfly, her current mission was one of revenge. Gerde had humiliated her, brought her within inches of literally having to beg for her life, and that made the elder spy her mortal enemy. Much as Green Butterfly wanted to kill her, though, the crone was already gone. Instead, Green Butterfly was going to have to settle for going after the man who Firewalker had been so sure would survive—“Bonfire” Klaus—and proving the old woman wrong.

All that time, Green Butterfly had been laying the groundwork.

Klaus had been worn thin in both body and mind, and even now he was still rushing about in pursuit of Monika. Rather than giving his wounded leg time to heal, he was undoubtably still doing intelligence work.

It wasn’t Green Butterfly’s job to finish him off. She still had plenty of schemes in the tank to push Klaus to his limit with. Then, once he was well and truly exhausted, she was going to meet up with her Serpent teammates who were currently on another op, and they were all going to rush him down at once.

Green Butterfly was just one step away from completing her mission.

But gee, if there’s one thing that gives me a bit of pause…

She finished putting on her coat as she sorted through her thoughts.

…it’s that Conmerid Times article. I can’t for the life of me figure out what they’re up to.

The article that morning had come completely out of nowhere.

THE BLUE-HAIRED GIRL WHO KILLED PRINCE DARRYN

Even now she still couldn’t make heads or tails of the article. How did that newspaper company get their hands on photos of Monika? Who fed them the article? And to what end?

She tried asking Monika about it, but the only answer she got was “Hey, beats me,” and Green Butterfly had no way of verifying whether she was telling the truth. The whole thing seemed fishy, but that alone wasn’t reason enough to cut Monika loose. There was a chance it was some scheme of Lamplight’s. For the time being, she’d ordered her people to keep digging.

They should be getting their results in any minute now…

Right as the thought crossed her mind, she heard footsteps by the entrance. Their owner announced himself with the prearranged code, then came into the room Green Butterfly was in.

“Ma’am…”

It was one of her Worker Ants, a timid-looking CIM agent in his twenties. He’d clearly come in a hurry, as he was out of breath.

Impressed by his excellent timing, Green Butterfly ordered him to give his report.

“Raymond Appleton is still missing, but the CIM was able to track down some information on the man. Apparently, he’s spent the last few days staying in close contact with an underworld group called the Fires of War.”

“The Fires of War? I’ve never heard of them.”

“They’re a newly formed organized crime group. They’ve grown in influence rapidly, and they claim they’re going to save the nation.”

“Oh?” Green Butterfly replied. There was no small number of sketchy activist groups operating out of Hurough, and it sounded like the Fires of War was one of them. However, that still didn’t explain how they’d gotten those photos of Monika.

At that point, the man frowned in hesitation. “I’m afraid there’s more…”

“Out with it,” she urged him.

“Twenty minutes ago, a different newspaper put out a special edition. We suspect the Fires of War was involved.”

As he spoke, he handed her a copy.

A chill ran down Green Butterfly’s spine. She knew this was going to be bad, but she fought the sense of foreboding and read the report. Long story short, it was a follow-up to the Conmerid Times’ article.

As warriors fighting to bring salvation to our nation, we bring you information on Prince Darryn’s killer.

• Her code name is Scarlet Leviathan.

• She’s sixteen years old.

• She’s a member of the Galgad spy team Serpent.

• She has blue hair and is 4’11”.

• She’s hiding somewhere near Hurough.

If you’ve seen her, please contact us.

“What……?” Green Butterfly gasped.

The article had been published alongside a photo of Monika’s face, and it listed her both as Prince Darryn’s killer and as an Imperial spy.

“Nooooooooo, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!”

Unable to hid her panic, Green Butterfly began yelling. She scanned back through the article, hoping in vain that she’d misread it.

“This is deranged!!” she shouted. “How did this ever make it to print?! Have they lost their minds?!”

She couldn’t even begin to fathom what their goals or motives were.

The company that put out their special edition was a newspaper with the fifth-largest circulation in the country. It wasn’t like they were some fly-by-night hack shop. It was unthinkable for a company their size to be blasting out misinformation on such a large scale. Going ahead and publishing a report on the suspect without waiting for the government to make an official statement was an act of utter lunacy.

“The CIM believes that the people’s distrust of the government, especially in the wake of the crown prince’s assassination, has given people from the underworld outsize influence.”

“Sure, but even so!!”

“It all goes back to the the Fires of War’s leader,” the man declared. “She was the one who took all the battling organized crime groups and brought them together by brokering negotiations. By stirring up their mistrust of the government, appealing to their senses of chivalry, and giving all those frustrated people structure, she was able to take complete control. We believe that she was the one responsible for winning over the newspaper’s decision-makers and getting them to put out that special edition.”

Green Butterfly started crushing the newspaper in her hand. Under normal circumstances, there was no way a journalism company would stick their neck out like that.

I underestimated what an impact losing a member of the royal family would have. We’ve got chaos begetting chaos out here. At this point, just about anything could happen.

Serpent had known that shooting Prince Darryn was a risky move to make, of course. They were well aware that doing so could very plausibly end up starting a war. Extenuating circumstances had forced their hand, but at least they’d done so with eyes wide open.

Now no one could predict which way the winds would shift, and amid all that turmoil, someone out there was starting to pick up momentum.

“Just who is this leader? And where did she get her intel on Serpent?”

“We don’t have any details. The closer people are to her, the harder it is to get anything out of them,” the man said in frustration. “All we’ve heard is that hero of salvation…is supposedly a beautiful girl.”

“A girl?” Green Butterfly asked. Now, that was an unexpected morsel of information.

Right as the words left her mouth, she heard a voice rich in elegance and charm.

“Goodness. You wouldn’t happen to be talking about little old me, would you?”

Over by the doorway, there was a dark-haired girl wearing a gentle smile.

Green Butterfly knew that girl. She’d spotted her a handful of times while Lamplight was conducting their mission in Fend. It was “Dreamspeaker” Thea—a spy blessed with an alluringly curvaceous body and a voice that was pleasant to the ear.

The moment Green Butterfly saw her, it all clicked into place. So this was the leader. Green Butterfly had known that Lamplight had a girl who specialized in forging relationships, but the level of talent on display was beyond anything she’d anticipated.

“I take it you’re Green Butterfly? It’s so nice to meet you.” Thea’s heels clicked as she sauntered on in.

How did she find this place? Did the Fires of War track it down, or could it be…?

Green Butterfly cast aside the coat she had just put on, leaving her arms bare and exposed. “What do you want? You’ve caught me in a very bad mood.”

She had a million questions she wanted to ask Thea. It was nice of her to save Green Butterfly the trouble of having to track her down.

Green Butterfly shot a glare at her subordinate. “What are you just standing there for? Catch her. You don’t want Purple Ant to torture you again, do you?” she threatened him. The man went pale and drew his knife as fast as he could.

Thea narrowed her eyes in displeasure.

Purple Ant had lent Green Butterfly a dozen Worker Ants, and while she only had one of them there with her, his assassination skills were a force to be reckoned with. The man was a first-rate CIM agent, and he already had fourteen kills to his name.

“Ha-ha,” Green Butterfly laughed. “Go beat that girl within an inch of her life.”

The Worker Ant charged. Despite his timid expression, his movements were ferociously swift. He bore down on Thea in an instant and, with a battle cry, thrust his knife at her. There was no way Thea could possibly defend herself. She made no effort to ready a weapon, and she wasn’t even looking at the knife.

“Protect me.”

The moment the words left Thea’s mouth, a swarm of arms reached out from behind her, twelve of them in all. The Worker Ant was horribly outnumbered. The arms grabbed his hand holding the knife, his head, his neck, and his legs one after the other, pinning him in place in the blink of an eye.

Before Green Butterfly knew what was happening, six unsavory men and women had appeared in front of Thea. After containing the Worker Ant and knocking him out, they turned their glares on Green Butterfly as though locking in their next target.

Those were the Fires of War mafia members. Thea had brought muscle with her. “Much appreciated,” Thea thanked them, then elegantly strode her way over to Green Butterfly.

“Gee, you look like a cult leader.” Green Butterfly chuckled. “You think this makes you a hero?”

“I mean, you’ve certainly made proper villains of yourselves.” Thea extended her arm and thrust her index finger at Green Butterfly. “Listen up! That girl is with the group that assassinated Prince Darryn! She’s one of the Serpent members who’s been working with Scarlet Leviathan to plunge the world into chaos!”

The six pairs of eyes darkened.

Thea barked out her order. “Capture her.”

On her signal, the mafia members charged.

Green Butterfly whirled around and made a beeline for the window behind her. Dammit, I need to get out of here! Her gun only had fourteen bullets in it. If she tried picking a fight, she would run out of ammo before she knew it.

As the sun set on Hurough, Green Butterfly smashed in the window, dove out into the city, and landed on the adjacent building’s roof. The jump had taken her from a fourteenth-floor window to an eighth-floor rooftop, but she ignored the shock to her legs and landed with ease.

“Uuugh, this sucks.”

She aimed her gun upward and fired two shots into the air. That was her signal to the nearby Worker Ants that there was an emergency. There was a march happening on the street directly below, and the protestors screamed when they heard the gunshots. As they began scattering every which way, the situation at ground level descended into absolute bedlam. The police who’d been clashing with the protestors were at their limits just trying to keep things contained.

Thea and her followers showed no signs of giving chase.

At the end of the day, they’re just glorified gangsters. Green Butterfly looked up at the building she’d just jumped out of. It’s not like they’ve trained to leap from rooftop to rooftop or anything. Maybe escaping will be easier than I thought.

It was a talent that any spy around could pull off, but these were no spies. There was nothing Thea’s mafia goons could do but stand by the window and look down powerlessly at Green Butterfly.

Time to get out while the getting is good, Green Butterfly mused. She was optimistic about her chances—right up until the bullet grazed her cheek.

“_____!”

She whirled around to discover she was surrounded by mafia members with their guns trained on her. The roof of the building she was on, the roofs of the surrounding buildings, and the upper-floor windows of the taller buildings were bursting at the seams with gunmen. All told, there looked to be about a hundred of them. Were they all members of the Fires of War?

How did she get so many people so quickly?!

Green Butterfly was forced to admit that she’d underestimated Thea. If she hadn’t been certain she needed to get away earlier, she sure as hell was now.

The mafia members opened fire without a moment’s hesitation. Fortunately for Green Butterfly, though, these were mere street thugs, not soldiers with proper marksmanship training. Their aim was mediocre at best, and she managed to dodge their entire initial salvo. However, the problem was their raw numbers. In order to escape their siege, she had no choice but to use every smoke bomb she had on her.

As she hid herself in the fumes, she took two hand grenades and tossed them out in random directions in an act of indiscriminate terrorism. She had no compunctions about dragging civilians into the fight.

Screams rose up from the ground and threw off the Fires of War’s chain of command. Green Butterfly charged out of the smoke screen, wove her way through the panicking gunmen’s ranks, and descended to the street. A random man walked beside her, and she knocked him out with a punch and stole his coat.

I used up most of my getaway gear back there. All I can do now is go to ground.

She put on the coat and scanned the surrounding area to see if there was anywhere she could hide. Luckily, it didn’t take her long to track down an abandoned building. She used the fire escape to get up to the second floor, then smashed the lock with her gun. From there, she tied the coat in a special knot around the railing in front of the door. It was a signal to her Worker Ants so they knew where to find her.

With a little prep, I should be able to get to safety. All I need to do is buy some time, and—

She froze midway through her thought. She’d assumed the building was empty, but as soon as she went in, she sensed someone’s presence.

“Well, well, well. You certainly got here quick.” That someone was Thea. She’d been waiting for Green Butterfly with a smile just as triumphant as before. “With how many locals I have on my side, circling ahead of you was child’s play.”

Everything had played out just the way Thea planned.

Green Butterfly’s face grew hot when she realized she’d been manipulated, but she quickly collected herself. There was no denying it—Thea was good, and she’d devoted a whole lot of effort and resources toward choking out Butterfly’s life.

“It’s so wild that it almost makes me wanna laugh,” Green Butterfly said, sticking out her tongue to taunt Thea. “I mean, what’s up with all your fanboys? Dunno if you forgot, but you’re one of the spies ravaging Fend, too. You must’ve fed ’em a whole load of lies to get them to follow you, huh? Gee, that was a pretty messed up thing to do.”

Considering how loyal the mafia was to her, they must have actually believed the yarn about Thea being a hero who was going to save the country. That was one hell of a con Thea had played on them.

Thea cast her gaze downward. Green Butterfly hadn’t expected Thea to take the verbal jab quite so hard. After letting out an anguished exhalation, Thea shook her head to the side. “You’re right. I did lie to them. I never once told them that I was a spy, too.” She raised her head. “But when I said I was going to save this nation, I meant every word of it. We all want to rescue Fend from Serpent’s noxious clutches. That objective we share is the truth.”

“You’ve gotta be joking. The Commonwealth isn’t even your country.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“I don’t get it. What does a Din Republic spy get out of saving some foreign country?”

“That’s not what it’s about,” Thea replied with a proud laugh. “My goal is to become a hero who saves everyone, even my enemies.”

Green Butterfly couldn’t begin to make heads or tails of that, but there was something unsettling about the confidence in Thea’s expression. “Well, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Green Butterfly spat.

After all, Green Butterfly had no way of knowing. She had no way of knowing about the heroic aspirations Thea had nurtured ever since she was saved by “Hearth” Veronika, and she had no way of knowing that Thea had sublimated that intense motivation into a new power.

There was a fighting style for spies the Lamplight girls had learned from Avian—liecraft. It was a way to beat powerful foes by taking their innate talents and combining them with a synergistic form of deception. Thanks to the training she’d gotten from “Feather” Pharma, Thea had been able to master the technique. Her ability to peer into people’s hearts made her a master at forging connections, and she’d used that talent to fool an entire organization into worshipping her as a hero.

Negotiation × Idolatry = In Praise of Folly.

There in the Fend Commonwealth, Thea’s ludicrously powerful liecraft had come into full bloom.

Green Butterfly might not have known what Thea’s power was, but she recognized that the girl standing before her was her enemy, and she began carefully observing the situation. Thea may have circled around and gotten the drop on her, but she wasn’t carrying any weapons to speak of. What’s more, her right arm was badly injured. Even further, the building was deserted. All it had were big, empty rooms.

Why did she rally all those underlings, then come here alone?

Thea was practically radiating confidence. She was carrying herself like she’d already won, and that rubbed Green Butterfly the wrong way.

…Is she underestimating me? Is that it?

If so, that was awfully conceited of her.

Green Butterfly pulled out an ice pick. Conventional bladed weapons had a habit of getting caught on bone, so if you knew how to aim directly for the heart or the carotid, ice picks were far more reliable. She aimed its point directly at Thea. “Just so you know, I can hold my own in a fight just fine.”

“Oh, I can see that.”

“And plus, my pawns have arrived.”

The sound of footsteps came from the door Green Butterfly entered through as Worker Ants began filing into the room. Purple Ant had brainwashed them into training, day in and day out, and their skills put mafia members to shame. It had taken them barely any time at all to come to Green Butterfly’s aid, and now a full half of the Worker Ants she had undercover in Hurough were there with her. Oddly enough, there were six—the exact same number as the mafia members who had been surrounding Green Butterfly earlier.

Now the tables were turned.

Green Butterfly brandished her ice pick and cackled. “Gee, you’d better hurry up and call in whatever little mafia friends you’ve got waiting outside. Wouldn’t want you dying alone, now, would we? Ah-ha-ha-ha! I’ll tell my Worker Ants to blow themselves up and have them run your goons down!”

The Worker Ants gulped, but if she gave the order, they would carry it out without question. They’d long since been stripped of the willpower to fight back.

Thea’s fists trembled with rage. “I’m not going to let that happen.”

“Hmm?”

“My plan was never to have the mafia actually fight for me, you know. I just asked them to lend me a hand luring you here.”

“It’s pathetic, how much of a soft touch you are.”

“It’s fine. The Fires of War was always meant for one purpose—controlling the media.”

Green Butterfly felt a chill, and she let out a confused grunt. An overwhelming desire for bloodshed had just filled the room. It was so intense she could practically envision a starving beast snapping at her throat. All of a sudden, the situation was becoming clear to her. Now she understood the goal behind those articles.

“I hear you threatened to pin the blame for Prince Darryn’s assassination on Lily,” Thea explained. “Now, though, I’m afraid that won’t play. The whole world believes Monika did it, and Monika went so far as to show herself in public and bomb a building. With all that stacked against you, do you really think anyone’s going to give you the time of day if you tell them Lily did it? The truth has already been decided.”

However, that “truth” was wildly different from the one Green Butterfly had been expecting. And what’s more, the new culprit had been falsely painted as a Galgad spy.

“There’s no way you’ll be able to paint Lily as the killer anymore. She’s completely safe.”

As Thea smiled, another girl strode out from the pillar behind her.

“I’ve freed Monika from your control.”

There Monika was, with revolver in hand.

So that was where that foreboding bloodlust had been coming from. Green Butterfly retreated and kicked one of her Worker Ants in the back.

With that as their signal, the six Worker Ants sprang into action. As four of them opened fire with their guns, the other two got in position to intercept Monika’s assault. It was a beautiful bit of coordination and more than enough to kill a single spy.

The four bullets flew straight at Monika, and they all should have landed direct hits. Right before they did, though, Monika’s body blinked to the side. All the bullets zipped past her left flank.

Monika closed in on the Worker Ants before they had time to fire a second round of shots, and from there, her movements flowed into each other without so much as a single wasted turn.

She started by shooting one of the Worker Ants in the shoulder. One down.

One of the women came at her with a knife, but Monika crouched down and dodged it. Then she scooped up the gun the first Worker Ant had dropped and shot the man and woman to her left and right simultaneously. Two and three down.

That left the enemy formation in shambles, and Monika had no intention of giving them a chance to regroup. She shot a fierce, high kick at one of the remaining men, right in his jaw, to knock him out. Four down.

That left two men standing, and they charged at her from both sides with their knives. Just like when she dodged the bullets earlier, though, she evaded with footwork so swift it was like she’d vanished entirely. Then she took her dual pistols and smashed them into the men’s shoulders to take them out of commission. Five and six down.

Once she was finished, Monika tossed aside her stolen gun. She looked almost bored.

Green Butterfly shuddered as she watched it play out from the side.

How did she take them out so fast?!

Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t believe what she’d just witnessed. She’d always known that Monika’s skills were the real deal, of course. She herself had placed a fair bit of stock in that fact. What Monika had just done, though… That blew Green Butterfly’s wildest expectations out of the water. But as for what surprised Green Butterfly most of all…

…That was the same footwork as Firewalker’s!!

That movement was so blisteringly fast it was easy to mistake it for teleportation, and Green Butterfly had experienced it firsthand. Its user could be stationary one moment, then zooming at top speed the next, allowing them to dodge bullets with ease and obliterate all comers. It was a huge part of why Firewalker had been hailed as invincible, and no matter how Green Butterfly sliced it, what Monika had just used was undeniably Firewalker’s technique.

Thea laughed, clearly impressed. “Those were certainly some fancy moves. Did Vindo teach you those?”

“More like he beat them into me. I still haven’t quite mastered them yet. He and Klaus could still run circles around me.”

“At this point, I’ve just about given up trying to tell who’s faster than who.”

Upon seeing the two of them chat like that, Green Butterfly broke out in a cold sweat. The conversation she was witnessing was giving her chills like she couldn’t believe.

This feeling… It isn’t possible!

There was a girl who wound the masses around her little finger and reshaped the world as she saw fit. And beside her, there was a girl who accompanied her and mowed down those who opposed them with peerless might.

Green Butterfly’s logical side was screaming at her that she was wrong. The girls standing before her had shown some glimpses of talent, but they certainly weren’t on par with the best in the world. The notion was unthinkable. Yet even so, Green Butterfly’s brain couldn’t help but draw the comparison. It saw something behind Thea and Monika, something vast and terrifying.

In Green Butterfly’s mind’s eye, she saw their faces overlap with those of “Hearth” Veronika and “Firewalker” Gerde—the duo who once ruled the world through the shadow war!

Who are these people?!

First off, the girls’ plan was deranged. Not only had Monika intentionally painted herself as the criminal who’d offed a royal, she’d even gotten her ally Thea to pressure the papers into reporting it. No one in their right mind would go to such lengths.

All that time, the two of them must have been communicating through some method that had escaped Green Butterfly’s notice.

That photo in the paper—the one of Monika killing Mia Godolphin—was a forgery. The corpse was probably a fake. It would appear that someone on Lamplight—Grete, if Green Butterfly had to hazard a guess—was a master of disguise. The girls had asked her to make a mask so they could dress up some other corpse as Mia.

Right as Green Butterfly finished deducing that, Thea took a step forward. “A little bird told me you wanted to become Monika’s partner. Don’t make me laugh,” she said forcefully. She glared down at Green Butterfly with a look of utter contempt. “People like you need to know their place. There’s only one partner in crime for Monika here, and it’s me.”

Monika frowned for a moment like she wanted to say something, but she certainly didn’t dispute Thea’s assertion. She held her gun tight and kept watch in case Green Butterfly tried anything.

Green Butterfly took another look back over at her Worker Ants. Monika had shot out their joints, leaving them unable to stand. Their wounds weren’t fatal, but there was no way they were going to be able to fight Monika in their current state.

Green Butterfly let out a big sigh. “Hey, Monika.”

“What, not calling me Scarlet Leviathan anymore?”

“Yep, and it’s a shame. Gee, I really was looking forward to working with you. We would’ve got to split our despair. But I can see you’ve made your choice.”

“You say that like I give a damn about what you wanted.”

“Eh, it’s fine. I won round one, and I guess round two goes to you. I get it, I get it, I really, totally do.”

Green Butterfly squeezed her ice pick and gave her two foes a grin.

“Let’s start up round three, shall we? I’ll show you just what Green Butterfly is capable of.”

The moment she flashed her jagged teeth, the room’s windows shattered. Bullets went flying as a group of armed assailants stormed inside. Monika and Thea immediately put some distance between themselves and the windows.

“The CIM?! What are they doing here?!”

Sure enough, the newcomers were a Fend Commonwealth intelligence unit.

Green Butterfly stepped back as well, then locked eyes with one of the agents to indicate that it was Thea and Monika they wanted to attack, not her.

“Monika, we need to get out of here!” Thea cried. “You don’t want anything to do with the CIM right now!”

Monika followed her lead and began retreating. She fired one frustrated parting shot at Green Butterfly, but all Green Butterfly had to do was tilt her head a little to dodge it.

“Stubbornness! Killed! The cat!” Green Butterfly shouted, pointing at Monika as the latter fled. “You made the wrong choice, you incompetents. Tremble in fear at the ruin that awaits you—and perish in agony as the jet-black nightmare takes you!!”

The point she was making was clear—this was where the real battle began.

After bandaging up his wound and taking Grete to the hospital, Klaus returned to Queen Clette Station with Erna, Sybilla, and Lily in tow. He was pretty sure Thea was at the same location, and immediately after they began their search, they heard shots being fired over by the west side of the station.

By the time they got there, the entire area had already descended into panic. There were mafia members firing shots from the rooftops, and while Klaus caught a brief glimpse of a girl with scars on her shoulders matching Green Butterfly’s description, she quickly vanished behind a smoke screen. He thought about pursuing her, but he hesitated. The girl had just thrown grenades down at the masses walking in the streets.

Foreign citizens or not, Klaus wasn’t about to stand by and let a bunch of civilians die. “Sybilla,” he said to get the attention of the one girl capable of handling a coordinated maneuver with him.

Sybilla gave him a confident “Way ahead of ya!” and the two of them took off in unison. After snatching the grenades out of the air, Sybilla tossed them over to Klaus, who popped open a manhole cover and hurled them into the sewer. Flames gushed up from the opening, and the thunderous boom caused the people around them to scream even more. The situation was getting out of hand, fast. A couple of civilians still got hit by stray bullets and collapsed. Now that Green Butterfly was gone, Klaus and the girls had little choice but to prioritize treating the wounded.

After they’d been waylaid for a good long while, they spotted an unexpected face.

“Teach?!”

It was Thea. Based on her reaction, she hadn’t expected them to be so close by.

“Hello, Thea,” Klaus growled. “You’ve had a busy few days. Did you have fun, putting together the Fires of War?”

“No, I promise, it’s not what you…” For a moment, it sounded like she was going to try to deny it, but she soon shook her head in resignation and offered Klaus an apologetic bow. “…I’m sorry. Once we’re through here, I’ll take whatever punishment you want to give me. I was acting on Monika’s orders, though. She said I absolutely couldn’t tell you what was going on.”

There were a million things Klaus wanted to scold her for, but there would be time enough for that later. Thea had once tried to help Annette’s mother, a foreign spy, escape. Monika had helped her with that, so much of what Thea had done those past few days had probably been her way of returning that favor.

Right now, though, there was something Klaus needed to confirm. “And? Where’s Monika now?”

“Huh………?” Thea gave him a blank look and looked over her shoulder. However, Monika was nowhere to be seen. “What? But why?” The blood slowly drained from Thea’s face. “It doesn’t make sense. She was just with me. Where could she have gone?”

Monika and Thea had been separated.

As Thea tried to make sense of it, the other girls started gravitating their way. Mournful tears were streaming down their faces.

Klaus dispassionately continued his line of questioning. “And what did she say the plan was?”

“She told me we were going to join back up with Lamplight… That the way things were going, she was liable to get blamed for the assassination, so we would need you to help her hide…” The further Thea got into the second sentence, the frailer her voice became. Her fingers trembled, as though she could sense that something was terribly amiss. “Then we were all going to fight the CIM together so we could prove her innocence…”

“So she tricked you, too.” Klaus couldn’t bring himself to scold Thea. Monika had been putting everything she had into conning Thea, and seeing through something like that was a tall order. As a matter of fact, Klaus himself had been deceived in much the same way. He hadn’t figured out the full truth until just recently. “I was operating under the same assumption—that Monika joined Serpent as a double agent and was always planning on returning to Lamplight. I was fully prepared to stand against the CIM to protect her from the false allegations.”

Monika’s defeated smile flashed back through Klaus’s head.

He let out an exhale. “However, I underestimated her resolve.”

Klaus and Monika had never been on quite the same page, and because of that, he hadn’t been able to stop her.

Klaus had already told his theory to the other girls. They all had stared at him in horror, and some of them had even broken down in tears. None of them wanted to believe it was true.

“Monika never had any intention of clearing her name or of returning to Lamplight. Her plan is to continue presenting herself as the Galgad spy who assassinated Prince Darryn, to lure the CIM after her…”

Klaus’s voice was solemn.

“…and to die.”