Everyone but Me Is a Spy - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 15
Natalisha hurried to open the wardrobe before Nina returned.
It was supposed to be Kathari’s job to search the closet, but she had just now climbed over the balcony railing and was catching her breath in heavy, rasping gasps.
Watching her with disdain, Natalisha clicked her tongue and turned her attention back to the wardrobe.
‘Talented with Disguise Mastery, that’s all she’s good for. Useless as she is otherwise. Can’t have her in the same space as Joel Smiler.’
If she’d left it to Kathari to bring Nina to the Reception Room, none of this would have happened.
Exci shook out the crumpled clothes and peered into the Duffel Bag he’d been searching.
“Couldn’t even search one bag properly.”
“Well, you spent the whole time hiding under the bed. What did you expect?”
To Natalisha’s cold retort, Exci shot back with conviction.
“I’m not dying like a dog down there.”
He shuddered, remembering the Throwing Blades that had whistled through the air above his head every time he’d tried to crawl out from under the bed.
‘Kathari’s agile movements are impressive enough, but that Soltem fox who sent her flying out the balcony is no small threat either.’
Joel Smiler played the role of a sickly young master, but he was undeniably a member of the Intelligence Agency.
More than that—he was a Soltem Intelligence Operative, the kind of operative who even desk workers had to complete basic espionage training.
You could gauge Soltem’s military prowess just from watching a Magitech Engineering developer match Kathari, a Field Operative, while wearing nothing but a Robe and no Magical Devices at all.
If it hadn’t been for the Robe’s exposed areas bothering him, Joel would have won overwhelmingly without breaking a sweat.
Kathari seemed to sense it too, and was now glowering at Joel’s house while grinding her teeth.
“Once this mission is over—no wait, it doesn’t matter if it’s not over yet, as long as we don’t get caught. That damned Soltem fox, I’ll just……!”
“Kathari. Stop thinking stupid thoughts.”
Natalisha’s voice was ice-cold, chiding.
“As long as this Townhouse is in Soltem, can’t you grasp the simple idea that you mustn’t lay a finger on anyone from Soltem during the mission?”
“I don’t need you stirring the pot too. I’m already about ready to bite someone’s head off. If you’re going to nag, just shut up.”
“No wonder you’re from Rujein—reckless as they come.”
“What did you just say?”
Kathari bristled and strode toward Natalisha.
Rujein was a nation of commercial cities.
Naturally, loan sharking and collusion ran rampant, and prejudice against outsiders had taken root—so much so that people from other lands often dismissed Rujein as frivolous and shallow.
For Kathari, who was from Rujein, it was an insulting thing to hear.
As their sharp glares clashed, the atmosphere in the room grew suddenly brutal.
It looked like things were about to explode, but Exci didn’t have the nerve to intervene, so he simply hurled a Bead straight at Kathari.
Boom!
Purple smoke bloomed, and Kathari’s movements froze in an instant.
“Wh-what the hell? Have you lost your mind?!”
Realizing she’d been hit with Paralysis Toxin, Kathari snarled, and Exci shook his head slowly.
“You have anger management issues. I’ll refer you to a therapist.”
“What you should be referring me to is a poison strong enough to send that washed-up hag in one hit!”
“That’s what they mean by all mouth and no sense.”
Natalisha let out a scoffing laugh, closed the wardrobe, and left Nina’s room entirely.
Seeing her go, Kathari was thoroughly enraged and ground her teeth together.
“After that Soltem fox, that woman is next. I’m dead serious.”
“Whatever you decide, just promise to do it when I’m not around.”
Exci took a step back from Kathari and grimaced.
Then, while he was restoring the Duffel Bag to its original state before Nina returned, he discovered something.
‘This is… suspicious.’
He started to show Kathari what he’d found, then quietly stuffed it into his pants pocket instead.
Seeing her still glaring at the door and grinding her teeth, it didn’t look like she’d listen to reason anyway.
‘I’m the only sane one here. Nothing but sighs.’
Cracks were forming in the spy team masquerading as Nina’s family.
* * *
After Nina left, Joel looked at his reflection in the lobby mirror and frowned.
No matter how beautiful one’s face or fit one’s body, being half-naked like this would be unsightly to anyone.
Joel fled from the mirror and changed into fresh clothes, then turned back to look in the direction of Nina’s Townhouse, his hand pressed to his chest.
‘…Something feels odd.’
The thought of having shown Nina such an unseemly side of himself made him feel oddly restless.
When he thought about it again, it was certainly embarrassing—something to regret—but why did he feel so unsettled…?
Unable to fathom the reason, he was standing blankly in the Auxiliary Workshop when he heard raucous laughter from behind him.
“You earlier—what kind of state was that? Even funnier up close.”
It was Ryan, his senior from the Intelligence Agency.
He’d apparently witnessed the whole scene of Joel being carried by Nina while wearing only a Robe.
The moment Joel saw Ryan, his unease evaporated so rapidly that he mistook his earlier anxiety for nothing more than imagination.
“Here again? If you’ve no assignment and are bored, perhaps you should help train the recruits.”
Joel picked up the Mana Stone Wrench and settled himself at the workbench, whereupon Ryan began thumping him soundly on the back.
“Ah, thank you for the entertainment. Who would have thought Joel Smiler could find himself in such a state?”
“I’ve told you before—don’t touch me when I’m seated at the workbench.”
Joel set down the wrench and took up the Taser Gun, prompting Ryan to ease himself back at once.
“Normally you wouldn’t even hear such remarks, but today your response is rather amusing?”
He retreated well back, positioning himself with his shoulder nearly touching the Auxiliary Workshop door, and laughed to himself.
Joel found himself unable to refute Ryan’s observation, which surprised him somewhat.
Even if Nina were a perfect embodiment of Magitech Engineering itself, that was all there was to it.
As long as his identity as an Intelligence Operative remained hidden, what did it matter what face he showed?
‘I’ve only ever presented myself as a sickly young master—why would today be any different?’
Yet the thought made him more anxious still.
That he had been showing Nina nothing but an incompetent version of himself. Could that truly be acceptable?
‘What could possibly be wrong with it? I don’t even understand what I’m worried about right now.’
Joel, bewildered by the persistence of his unease, ran a hand through his soft, loosely bound hair, disheveling it.
At the sight, Ryan clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
“Still, even for you, it must have been embarrassing. I’d wager you’re the only one who’s ever been afflicted with such a humiliating punishment and had it reported back to Nina Bonze.”
“……Only me?”
“Who else would have suffered such an indignity? Perhaps you ought to use this opportunity to overhaul that supposedly brilliant operational design of yours.”
At Ryan’s teasing remark, Joel fell into thought for a moment.
“Hmm. So I alone was……?”
Suddenly his mood lifted, and he turned to face Ryan with a lighter heart.
His expression had grown considerably more at ease, which puzzled Ryan, but Joel paid him no mind.
He simply moved forward with his report.
“I believe I should undertake a study of Nina Bonze.”
“Huh? Nina Bonze is a person, isn’t she? Wait. She’s not some wind-up doll, is she?”
At Ryan’s startled reaction, Joel’s expression turned grave.
“What are you saying? Nina Bonze is of course a person. Have you lost all sense of discernment?”
Ryan was too flustered to even manage his indignation properly.
“……You’re going to study a human being?”
“Don’t phrase it as studying humanity—it sounds worthless and leaves a bad taste. I am studying Nina Bonze. Not humanity in general.”
At Joel’s firm declaration, Ryan’s jaw went slack with shock.
“You’re not actually……”
Then he let out a hollow laugh and waved his hand dismissively.
“No. You’re even more wind-up doll than an actual wind-up doll. There’s no way. What foolish fancy am I entertaining.”
The more he considered it, the more absurd the suspicion seemed.
“Information on Nina Bonze is never in excess, so whether you research her or court her, just dig up whatever you can find.”
“Research subject and romance in the same breath. Spare me such vulgar talk.”
Joel looked at him as one might regard garbage, and Ryan raised his fist as if to strike before lowering it again.
“Tch. Don’t you go spouting such insolence.”
He checked his watch with a air of resignation, and Joel glanced at his own timepiece before asking.
“Where are we bound now?”
“The neighboring city. There’s a violinist performing there—the target for this assignment.”
“…….”
Ryan, who specialized in Honey Traps and had suddenly bristled with offense, kicked the leg of Joel’s chair sharply.
“If you don’t say it aloud, you think it doesn’t count? Your eyes are screaming vulgar judgments right now. Look away!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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