Spy Classroom - Volume 8 - Chapter 1.2

Amelie’s agent returned to the room Klaus was being held in and reported that Sara and the others had captured Annette. They’d just finished taking her back to the hospital.

“Good, they managed to stop her. Magnificent.”

Klaus had little doubt that it was Sara who’d pacified Annette. Considering her ability to establish emotional bonds with animals that literally couldn’t speak, all she would have needed to deal with Annette was a little courage.

As he breathed a sigh of relief, Amelie’s expression soured.

“So everything went just as you planned, then, did it?”

She was a bit sore that her prediction had been off the mark.

“Not at all,” Klaus said with a shake of his head. “And besides, you were absolutely right. I did fail as a teacher. I should have given Monika more of my attention.”

“So you actually admit it?”

“Of course. But that doesn’t mean that everything I ever did was a mistake.” Klaus absolutely had some regrets about the ways he’d treated his subordinates, and his ineptitude still haunted him to this day. However, it was impossible to deny that the girls had grown tremendously. “And those girls are going to prove my worth as an educator.”

That, he could say with confidence.

Klaus took pride in his role as their teacher. He was painfully aware of his own inexperience, but he always did the absolute best he could, and he knew better than anyone just how much those girls put into their training. Now they were going to go out and demonstrate the fruits of his tutelage.

Amelie adjusted her posture in her chair to compose herself. “You say that,” she said, shooting him a stern look, “but as I mentioned before, I have some serious doubts about whether they’re actually going to be able to defeat White—”

“It won’t be easy, for sure. But aren’t you overlooking something?”

Amelie blinked at him in confusion, and Klaus went on.

“I plan on putting White Spider in the ground, too.”

He wasn’t just going to idly sit around and leave all the work to the girls. That man had hurt Monika, he’d hurt Avian, and he’d hurt the girls, and Klaus was going to make him pay for it.

Then they heard a set of footsteps coming down the hallway, along with the jangling of jewelry clinking against jewelry. Klaus turned his gaze over to the door.

“And I imagine the CIM feels the same,” he said. “Don’t you want to take down the man who killed your prince?”

A response came from outside the room.

“Naturally. We at the CIM have no intention of letting Serpent off the hook.”

After Amelie’s agent freaked out for a moment, the door swung open.

“Mr. Nathan, sir!” Amelie said, hurriedly straightening her back.

Nobody had expected him to arrive quite so quickly.

The man standing there was in his midthirties and completely decked out in accessories. His hair fell all the way down to his waist, and between that and the bangles practically covering his arms, he made for a truly bizarre picture. The bangles had large jewels set in them, and every step he took caused them to let out a jarring cacophony.

“It’s been a long time since we last met like this, Lone.”

Hide was the group that controlled the CIM, one of the foremost intelligence agencies in the world—and “Cursemaster” Nathan was one of its members.

“Ah, so elegant…”

Klaus had no idea the man had found such success. “That was just the alias I was using at the time. Nowadays, I go by Klaus.”

On hearing their exchange, Amelie’s eyes went wide. “You and Bonfire know each other, sir?”

“We…ran into each other on a mission once. Some four years ago.” Nathan rattled his bangles. “He was more violent then, and more beautiful.”

“He’s still plenty violent, I can assure you of that.”

“No, he was far more unruly back then. Like a divine beast dispatched by God himself.”

Four years ago, back when Klaus was working with his mentor Guido, they and a CIM team had gotten into a quarrel when they ended up going after the same target. Nathan and Inferno had fought alongside each other during the Great War, though, so they were able to settle the matter peacefully.

“I was sorry to hear about Hearth, Klaus. She and I met on a number of occasions. Her talent was so beautiful, it seemed like magic, and every time, I found myself captivated.”

“Now’s not the time to be bonding over the past.”

As Klaus shook his head, the corner of Nathan’s mouth curled upward. “No, I suppose it isn’t.”

At long last, Klaus finally had a chance to talk to someone in charge.

“Amelie,” Nathan continued, “I’m sorry to ask this, but would you mind giving us the room?”

“…Of course. As you wish.”

“I do apologize for the inconvenience, but I need you to get started on the thing we talked about.”

For a brief moment, it looked like she was about to complain about being excluded from the discussion. However, she thought better of it and swiftly left the room.

The conversation they were about to have was highly confidential—enough so that they might need to fool their own agents about it.

As soon as the door closed, Nathan went on. “Now, this is you we’re talking about. I take it you already have a plan in mind?”

“I have two,” Klaus replied. “There’s the excellent plan that’ll be easy to pull off and requires next to no effort, and there’s the terrible plan that’ll be next to impossible to pull off and carries nothing but risks and costs. What one would you like to discuss first?”

Nathan’s bangles jangled as he smiled. “How elegant.”

Sara and the others saw Annette all the way to the hospital.

They couldn’t afford to cause any more of a fuss than they already had, so calling an ambulance wasn’t an option. Instead, they took whatever quiet back alleys they could find to transport their sleeping problem child. Miné handled the arrangements with the CIM.

Sybilla was the one carrying Annette on her back, and midway to the hospital, she spoke up. “You really sure about this?”

“Huh?” Sara replied from beside her.

“Y’know, all that stuff you said to Annette. Dunno how well that’s gonna end…”

Sybilla was worried about what Sara had just said—that Annette didn’t have to change, and that Sara would accept her no matter how bad she was. Assuaging Annette’s fears had successfully ended her rampage, but thinking back now, those were some dangerous promises to make.

“O-oh no, I got carried away and accidentally said something outrageous, didn’t I?!”

“You mean you didn’t even think it through?!”

“I was desperate to calm Miss Annette down!” Sara replied with a nod. “B-but I’m sure it will all turn out okay.”

As she said that, her hawk flew down from overhead and alighted on her hat.

Sara took off her cap and stroked the hawk’s plumage. That was Bernard, her trustiest sidekick.

“You wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but Mr. Bernard can be a pretty naughty boy. When he gets mad, he’ll attack people even if I try to stop him. But he’s still my partner.” Next, she turned and stroked Annette’s back. “That’s why I know we’ll find a way to handle Miss Annette, too, as long as that’s what she wants.”

“So she gets the same treatment as your animals, huh? But yeah, you’re right. That’s what you’re so great at.” Sybilla nodded in satisfaction and gave Sara a friendly pat on the head. “That’s a good goal, bein’ Lamplight’s guardian. Knowin’ you, you’re gonna ace it.”

“I’ll be sure to do my best!”

Sara knew she was the one who’d said it, but hearing her own words again was still kind of embarrassing.

As she and Sybilla shared a smile, Lily piped up from behind them. “I still have one big question, though,” she said, tilting her head and giving Annette a quizzical look. “How’d she manage to escape her hospital room in the first place? Wasn’t she all tied up?”

“She most certainly was, ah-ha-ha!” Miné said. She was keeping a watchful eye on them all from the group’s rear. “And why are you all acting like the case is closed? She gave us the slip and escaped our surveillance—that is a massive problem! You owe us.” Her smile was the same as ever, but her eyes burned with rage. “I was right. We should’ve just kept you all locked up!”

She glared at them almost mockingly.

That was enough to drag the girls back to reality.

Nothing about their situation had changed. They still had no idea where White Spider was. They also suspected that he was an expert at getting people to turn traitor, but even if they wanted to work around that, the CIM was never going to let them go off on their own.

They needed more strength.

Now, to make matters worse, Miné was trying to restrict their freedom even more. She stomped over to Sybilla and began aggressively shaking Annette. “All right, out with it! How’d you escape the hospital? Answer me!”

Sybilla frowned and jumped away. “C’mon, don’t wake her up.”

However, the shaking was enough to rouse Annette from her slumber. “Hmnh…?” she grumbled, glaring at Miné in irritation.

Then she let out a barely coherent mumble.

“The Avian mask dude helped me break out, yo.”

“““What…?”””

That was the last answer they’d expected, and the girls’ eyes went wide.

“South Wind” Queneau stood outside Annette’s hospital room.

Queneau was a large man wearing a white mask. He was an Avian member who, while taciturn, had remarkable technical skills. During spy missions, he mostly aided his team from the shadows through sabotage and assassinations. It was a role similar to Annette’s.

After sneaking into the room, he quietly looked down at Annette atop the bed.

Annette was in pain. There was fury burning inside of her, and she lashed out in search of a target for it. The chains keeping her restrained clanged against each other. She couldn’t undo them. She screamed and rolled onto her side. Try as she might to close her eyes and get some rest, though, the image of Monika manhandling her rose back to the forefront of her mind and sent her into a rage all over again.

“…Aye.”

Queneau stared calmly at her agonized form.

“I ask you, chained Bloodfolk. Do you want to give in to your fury and destroy everything?”

He ran his hand over her chains.

Then, with a small nod, he pulled a scrap of metal out of his pocket and laid it on her pillow.

“Then go.” He sounded a little forlorn. “This, too, is a ritual to aid your transformation…”

“Avian?”

The girls froze, their eyes still wide.

“South Wind” Queneau had given Annette a hand?

If they took her words at face value, that was what they implied. However, that was impossible. The man was gone. He’d died when Belias attacked his team.

Unsurprisingly, Miné burst into laughter. “Well that’s obviously not what happened! Ah-ha-ha. We know perfectly well that everyone on Avian aside from Cloud Drift is dead and…dammit, you, don’t go back to sleep! Get up!”

Having used the last of her energy, Annette returned to dreamland. She clung peacefully to Sybilla’s back, undeterred by Miné’s blustering.

Considering who they were dealing with, it was possible Annette had just been talking gibberish. Either that, or perhaps she’d been intentionally messing with Miné as revenge for having woken her up.

That was the logical explanation. It was the only explanation. The fact that Avian’s members were dead was something that Lamplight had to accept.

However, Annette’s nonsense gave Sara a clue.

A creature of legend sprang forth within her mind.

“…The phoenix.”

Lily gave her a puzzled look. “Hmm?”

“Remember what we painted on the Heat Haze Palace wall? That symbol of Lamplight and Avian…”

A month prior, on the final night of Avian and Lamplight’s shared honeymoon, the lot of them had partied until the wee hours of the morning, then painted a big picture on one of Heat Haze Palace’s walls.

It was a picture of a phoenix.

One of them had suggested it, saying that it represented the unity of Lamplight and Avian. The phoenix was an immortal bird out of myth, and they’d depicted it in the hopes that none of them would die, either. Strictly speaking, though, phoenixes weren’t immortal. As the legend went, they charged into flames of their own accord when they reached the ends of their lives in order to be reborn.

That was what phoenixes really were—birds that came back to life.

“Look, what we’re doing… This is the first and final joint mission between Lamplight and Avian. If we need more strength, all we have to do is borrow theirs!”

Fortunately, Miné’s attention was focused on Sybilla and the girl on her back. When Sara explained her plan to Lily, she took care not to let Miné overhear.

“It’s on us to resurrect Avian.”

That right there was how they were going to beat White Spider.

The Lamplight girls were powerless, and Avian were the only ones who could lend them a hand. So it was time to accept some help—even if that help was coming from their fallen brethren, whom they would never get to speak to again.