Spy Classroom - Volume SS2 - Chapter 3.2

Klaus and the girls continued interrogating Pauline.

The Sun Attendant Order’s goal was to commit mass suicide, and the site they’d chosen to meet their demises at was the South Pole. It must have seemed like paradise there for people who’d grown as tired of society as they had. Their plan was to take over the luxury liner in order to transport their full congregation down there.

“They’re all such idiots,” Pauline muttered mockingly after she finished her explanation. “It’s so nonsensical—what can you do but laugh?”

“It’s true that I’m having difficulty wrapping my mind around it,” Klaus said with a shake of the head, “but if they feel strongly enough about this to go to such lengths, then I find it hard to ridicule them.”

“Oh, spare me the lip service. You think they’re just as stupid as I do.” Pauline’s expression contorted in frustration. “I thought I could stop them, you know. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have even gotten on the ship. But it can’t be done. Those people are out of control. And once I knew I couldn’t stop them, then what choice did I have but to abandon them?”

“………”

“This is just their lot in life. When a bunch of losers get together and form a cult, all that awaits them is inescapable doom.”

“You don’t get to decide what is and isn’t escapable.” Klaus turned his gaze from Pauline. He’d gotten all the information he needed out of her. He turned to the Lamplight members he had present—Lily, Sybilla, Monika, and Sara—and addressed them. “We’re putting a stop to their plan. No matter what it is that’s driving them, we can’t let them see their wish fulfilled.”

Klaus had moral objections to suicide, no matter what philosophy it was that inspired it, and letting them hijack the ship was completely out of the question. Inferno had risked everything protecting the people of Din. Klaus wasn’t about to let anyone rob those people of their lives, not even the people themselves.

He started making his way toward the lower deck, and the girls followed along after him.

“Did you figure out where the High Priest is? How?” Lily asked.

“I just did.”

Klaus had gathered all the data he needed to make conjectures. Now, all he had to do was let his honed spy’s intuition lead the way.

“What should we do about her?” Sybilla asked. “That Pauline chick, I mean.”

“Leave her be,” Klaus replied curtly. “She’s not worth our time.”

They headed along a staff corridor and made their way down a narrow hallway lined with movable shelving. A couple of cultists tried to stop their advance, but Lily put them all to sleep with her poison. After descending a few staircases, they arrived at a storeroom designed to hold emergency rations. There were loud voices coming from inside. Sure enough, this was the cult’s headquarters.

“We’re low on time, so we’ll have to come in hot. We’re going to break through their line with the members we have here.”

“Yup, looks like we don’t have much choice.”

Lily and the other girls nodded and readied their weapons.

“Our target is the High Priest. I want him restrained as soon as possible.”

Klaus took the lead and threw open the storeroom door.

Throngs of cultists were gathered inside the spacious storeroom. There were nearly fifty of them in all, and they were lined up in a circle and bowing their heads to the person sitting on a pedestal in their center. Cries of reverence for the High Priest echoed throughout the room.

The person sitting in the middle was doubtless the High Priest.

Klaus and the girls didn’t want to cause any more injuries than they had to. They strode forward, ready to suppress the opposition—

““““High Priest Erinaaaaa!!””””

““““High Priest Erinaaaaa!!””””

““““High Priest Erinaaaaa!!””””

““““High Priest Erinaaaaa!!””””

““““High Priest Erinaaaaa!!””””

—but for whatever reason, the person sitting in the center of the cultists with a lifeless look in her eyes was none other than Erna.

“How unlucky…,” Erna groaned as she sat surrounded by impassioned cultists. She was well past the point of no return, and she had no idea how she was supposed to escape.

How did things even come to this…?

All she could do as she reflected on the past was look up at the heavens with regret.

After one of the cultists lashed out, the High Priest’s condition had taken a turn. All of a sudden, he started clutching his chest in pain. Fat beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. A moan escaped his mouth as he began writhing atop his bed. A couple of the cultists tried to hold him down, but he shook them off and continued thrashing.

The cultists in the storeroom gathered around the bed with worried looks on their faces, then clasped their hands together and prayed for the High Priest’s recovery. Thomas had gone on a rampage earlier, but now, even he was passionately shedding tears.

After five minutes, the High Priest’s condition stabilized. Huff, huff, he panted sorrowfully. He clutched at his sheets as the cultists helped him sit upright. “…I’m sorry, everyone. You deserve better than to be stuck with such a useless leader.” His voice was so hoarse, you couldn’t help but feel bad for him. “My body is being racked with the most terrible pain. At this point, I don’t think I can even stand anymore. I’m no good like this…so I think it’s time for me to retire.”

The believers all stared down at the floor as they tried to keep their emotions in check, and Erna gasped. Now that she thought about it, the cultists had constantly been mentioning the High Priest’s poor health. Given that he’d been staying in his bed even though they were about to start their crucial seajacking attempt, his condition must have been pretty grave.

The cultists went silent, like they were waiting for him to deliver his final testament.

“This illness of yours…,” Erna said nervously, “…is it really serious?”

“No, I just ate too much at dinner.”

“I think you probably have a bit more in you.”

“However, it is true that I’m losing steam. This is a perfect opportunity. What we need is a new, younger leader.” The High Priest—who was going to be perfectly fine in another two or three hours—gave Erna an intense look. “Ms. Erina, I relinquish the title of High Priest to you.”

“…………………………………………………………………”

What is this old man talking about? she thought bluntly. Just go to bed. You’ll feel better after you take some medicine and get some rest. Overeating is no reason to retire. Also, what kind of leader goes and gorges themselves on a gourmet meal on the day he’s going to stage a seajacking? Are you even taking this seriously?

There were a million things she wanted to tell him, but she was so baffled that she couldn’t get the words out.

“I think Ms. Erina would be a great person to take over as High Priest!”

“Yeep?”

After the first cultist spoke up, the others piled on in agreement. “Ms. Erina, your speech just now really moved me!” “Considering how much she’s already done for us as X, she’s kind of the obvious choice.” “Heh, I guess that means our Quadrumvirate is going to be a Triumvirate now.” “Witness the birth of High Priest Erina!” “Long live High Priest Erina!” “We’re going to be a whole new Sun Attendant Order!” “Please, High Priest Erina, grant us your guidance!” “High Priest Erinaaaaa!”

There was no stopping the cultists’ enthusiasm, and in the end, Erna found herself being hoisted up and carried to the middle of the storeroom.

“““““……………………”””””

Klaus and the girls stood frozen in their tracks.

Cheers of “Ms. Erina!” “Ms. Erina!” filled the storeroom without pause. The cheers were so enthusiastic, it was making the floor shake. Tears streamed down the cultists’ faces as they offered deep, reverent bows to Erna. The passionate, spirited shouts they were letting out hardly seemed like they were coming from people contemplating suicide.

“What am I even looking at?” one of the spies mumbled, and nobody had an answer for them. They were all asking themselves the exact same question. Erna was being extolled as a high priest, and there was nothing the Lamplight delegation could do but stare at her in silence.

“Hey! Who goes there?!”

At that point, one of the cultists finally spotted them. Without missing a beat, the cultists all drew their weapons and moved to protect Erna. “Look out, Ms. Erina, intruders! Let’s get ’em!” “We have to protect Ms. Erina!” “It’s time for the Triumvirate to show just what it’s capable of!” “Crush the fiends who dare stand against Ms. Erinaaaaa!”

Their adoration for Erna was downright fanatical.

Surrounded by the fired-up cultists, Erna mouthed the Lamplight members a message with tears in her eyes.

H-E-L-P!

Once again, misfortune had found its way to her.

“…So, uh, what should we do here?” Lily asked, cutting right to the heart of the matter.

Klaus took a moment to try to process the situation. He didn’t know how she’d gotten there, but now that Erna was in charge of the cult, there was no danger of them taking over the ship anymore. She would make sure to nip that in the bud. “Looks like everything wrapped itself up nicely,” Klaus concluded.

“In that case, we should probably scooch our butts on out of here,” Lily replied.

At that point, the cultists realized that something was off. They looked back and forth between Erna and Lamplight, then tilted their heads in confusion. “…Huh? Are you acquaintances of Ms. Erina’s, perchance?”

“““““Nope, never met her.”””””

“YEEP?!”

For once, Klaus and the girls were on the exact same page.

Upon being denied her one lifeboat, Erna rose to her feet and shouted, “Y-you must have something, though! Something you need my counsel for!”

The cultists were getting conflicting information. “Ummm…,” they said tentatively, “did you have some business with Ms. Erina?”

“““““Not that I can think of.”””””

“Don’t just abandon me!”

“““““We got the wrong room.”””””

“Nobody’s going to buy that excuse!”

“““““Long live Ms. Erina.”””””

“That reply doesn’t even make sennnnnse!”

With a quick “sorry for bothering you,” the Lamplight girls bowed to the cultists and left the storeroom. They wanted to get as far away from there as possible, and the seajacking had nothing to do with it. Erna watched in teary shock as her teammates abandoned her.

Perhaps they were being a little unfair to her.

“…You know what, Ms. Erina, perhaps it’s destiny that’s brought us together. Allow me to offer you a few words.”

After pretending that he didn’t know her, Klaus strode through the cultists’ ranks and made his way toward Erna. Several of them tried to stop him, but he slipped past them with effortless movements before ultimately reaching the center of the storeroom.

“T-Teach, you have to get me out of here…,” Erna whispered.

Her eyes were swimming with a heartfelt desire for him to save her. However, there was something he needed to tell her, and it wasn’t that he was there to help. “You did good, Erna. Now, make sure you wrap it all up with a bow.”

“YEEEEEEEEEEP!!”

Her scream rocked the storeroom.

However, the fact remained that there was no solution for her except for the one Klaus had just presented.

With that, the attempt to hijack the Eccletnuk luxury liner ended before it even began.

From that point on, the reborn Sun Attendant Order continued revering High Priest Erina, and what’s more, the tap-dance routine it was said she once performed became hugely popular among its members. Its jaunty rhythm lifted up the cultists’ spirits, and before long, they were holding guerrilla dance performances. Considering the bizarre speed with which their tap dancing spread throughout the ship, one could say they managed to successfully hijack it after all. A famous movie director heading back to the United States even spotted what they were doing and offered to give them roles in an upcoming musical.

All that caused the cultists to sing Erna’s praises even more, but the girl in question actually vanished shortly before the Eccletnuk arrived at the Mitario harbor. The cultists decided that she must have been a divine messenger, and with hope in their hearts, they grew into an acting troupe whose work sent waves through Mitario’s film scene.

Klaus nodded in satisfaction at the way it all went down. “Not only did you infiltrate a cult, but within two hours, you’d reached the top of its ranks. Not even I could have pulled that off. When I told you to show me how much you’d grown, I had no idea you would rise to the occasion quite so splendidly.”

However, none of his praise really landed with her. She was dead drained. “How unlucky…”

As soon as they arrived in Mitario, she ended up sleeping for three days straight, but considering all she’d achieved, that seemed like a small price to pay.

After no small amount of embellishment and dramatization, her miracles and the name High Priest Erina would end up etched into the annals of history. Even later, people would suggest that she was somehow connected to Lillian the Devil, the woman who struck fear into the heart of Mitario, but the two stories were likely unrelated.

Ah, Ms. Erina, your glory knows no bounds.