Everyone but Me Is a Spy - Chapter 19

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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 19
“Oh my!”
Nina let out a sharp cry and plucked a fork from the hand of a customer seated at an outdoor table.
She batted away the debris hurtling toward Natalisha.
“Are you all right, Aunt? Uncle?”
Nina worried that the frail pair might suffer a heart attack from the shock alone.
“Thank you for lending me the fork.”
Even as she spoke, she remembered to return the dented and scorched fork to its owner.
The customer, frozen solid by the blast, never even noticed the fork vanish from and reappear in his grip.
“It’s dangerous here—come this way!”
“Y-yes.”
……
Startled and unsettled by the unexpected crisis, Cheyson and Natalisha followed Nina as she guided them behind the solid wall of a nearby building.
‘Is the Informant safe? The meeting wasn’t until later—surely he wasn’t already at the Theater?’
‘Is it really just coincidence that the Theater—where we were supposed to meet the Informant—just exploded? Where did the information leak?’
Both of them were certain the Theater’s destruction was no accident.
Nina’s presence hadn’t been part of the plan, so she wasn’t the target.
This was undoubtedly a move to eliminate the Informant.
‘But blowing up an entire building seems far too conspicuous and loud for an assassination. What kind of organization works like this?’
As Natalisha mentally cycled through the great organizations she’d encountered before, Cheyson gently patted Nina’s shoulder.
“Nina, you must be disappointed about missing the play.”
“It can’t be helped. Buildings do tend to explode from time to time. At least we didn’t leave the carriage in front of the Theater.”
Cheyson looked at Nina with evident approval.
“True enough. Buildings do explode. You’re quite sensible.”
“You and your aunt must be upset about missing the performance you were waiting to see.”
Nina watched the guards rushing toward the blast site with genuine concern.
“Nina, why don’t you and your uncle go to the Tea House across the street first?”
Natalisha’s sudden suggestion startled Nina, and she gripped her aunt’s arm.
“Aunt? What about you?”
“I really ought to check on the performers. I was planning to sponsor one of the actors in this production if the opportunity arose.”
“My goodness…”
Nina nodded, her expression etched with worry.
“Then I’ll come with you. I can’t let you go alone to such a dangerous place.”
“No, no, that won’t do. Didn’t you see the guards already rushing toward the Theater just now?”
Natalisha flashed her eyes at Cheyson, silently pressuring him to cooperate quickly.
Cheyson, aware that learning the Informant’s fate was urgent, gently stopped Nina.
“That’s right, Nina. Stay at the Tea House with your uncle. My legs are aching, and the smoke seems to be drifting this way—my eyes are stinging.”
“Uncle, you’re so delicate.”
Nina sighed reluctantly and took a step back.
“Then at least take a coachman with you, Aunt. I’ll wait at the Tea House with Uncle as you said.”
“Heh heh. How considerate. Very well.”
Natalisha waved her fan languidly and took her leave.
* * *
Once out of Nina’s sight, Natalisha crouched low, arms spread like wings behind her, and moved swiftly forward.
The guards were already using Magi Devices that sprayed water to douse the flames, and nearby shops were eagerly cooperating to resupply the water the Devices needed.
Rather than approach the blast site directly, Natalisha moved stealthily up the roof of a nearby building, her footsteps quick and light.
‘I can’t afford to be careless, not for a moment.’
She seized the pendant at her throat and unclasped it—the brilliantly gleaming Pendant transformed into an elongated Sniper Rifle.
It was the weapon-storage Magi Device she carried at all times.
She took position between stacked crates and tent canopies, peering through the scope.
As the guards shouted orders, people poured out from the Theater in waves.
‘More survivors than I expected. Wait—I don’t think I see any bodies.’
Some people were being carried out on stretchers, but none were draped with cloth over their faces.
As Natalisha studied the faces of those fleeing the Theater, she suddenly sensed killing intent and swung her rifle barrel sharply to the side.
The Informant, who had approached without sound, flinched and slowly sheathed the blade in his hand.
“So it was you, Natalisha. I didn’t recognize you because of the clothes.”
“You nearly got yourself shot.”
Natalisha clicked her tongue and converted the Sniper Rifle back into a Pendant, draping it around her neck once more.
The Informant’s clothes were singed, but he appeared to have no serious injuries.
“Was the explosion an accident?”
The Informant let out a hollow laugh at Natalisha’s question.
“You know it couldn’t be otherwise. The explosion happened precisely so that the light fell on my exact position. If I hadn’t gone to check the exit out of caution, I’d be dead.”
“As I thought…….”
Natalisha, who had drawn the canvas curtain to prevent anyone in the opposite building from seeing in, continued.
“The arrangement was supposed to be that you’d visit the Townhouse and give me information while posing as my guest. Why change the location so suddenly?”
“There was a report that a maid from the House of Earl Cheyson had entered Soltem.”
“Besides Nina? When?”
“Someone came in yesterday. I discovered her and was tailing her, but now her whereabouts are unclear.”
Natalisha flinched at the Informant’s words.
“She evaded Soltem’s surveillance network? For an ordinary maid, that’s suspicious. What kind of training do they give their servants at that mansion, anyway? Is there anything else I need to know?”
“There’s an order to keep the Signal Device active at all times, since the Countess of Rilei is also in Soltem and may bring new information at any moment.”
“……Both a maid from the House of Earl Cheyson and the Countess of Rilei arrived in Soltem on the same day?”
Before Nina appeared, the most troublesome adversary for the spies of the Allied Victory Nations had been the Earl of Rilei.
The intelligence agencies of the Allied Victory Nations had ceaselessly pursued members of the Defeated Nation Remnants.
While there was no direct evidence that the Earl of Rilei was one of them, everyone they’d captured thus far had had some connection—large or small—to him.
‘Publicly he’s known to collect art and patronize struggling artists…… but is that truly all there is to it?’
She shouldn’t jump to conclusions about what relationship the Earl of Rilei might have with the House of Earl Cheyson, yet the circumstances were undeniably suspicious.
That was the extent of what the Informant had told her.
“Wait.”
Natalisha stopped the Informant, who was about to leave quietly, and lowered her voice.
“I have something to tell the higher-ups in confidence.”
“What is it?”
“Cheyson needs to be removed from the operation.”
“……The spy from Ilite?”
“Yes. He’s beginning to feel sympathy for the target. His impulsive actions are becoming a hindrance to the plan.”
“So it’s come to that. I’ll pass it along.”
The Informant didn’t probe further and vanished into the darkness.
Natalisha suppressed her troubled expression and headed toward the Tea House where Nina and Cheyson were.
Yet she kept turning over the Informant’s news in her mind.
Especially about the maid from the House of Earl Cheyson.
Of course, it was likely nothing remarkable that a mere maid had entered Soltem.
She’d yet to uncover any meaningful intelligence about the House of Earl Cheyson, and Soltem, with its fine weather, was a popular destination for travelers.
Natalisha recalled Nina’s behavior from the street today, turning it over carefully in her mind.
Nina seemed lost in wonder at her first glimpse of new places, looking about with a delighted expression, yet she carefully attended to Natalisha as they walked side by side.
In places where the sunlight was strong, she naturally guided her toward the shade; when carriages passed, she checked for loose stones on the ground that might scatter.
These weren’t conscious actions but rather habits so ingrained they appeared second nature.
‘So it seems she really was a maid…….’
Yet recalling each detail only made her more confused, for there was nothing suspicious about it—nothing that didn’t fit an ordinary girl.
An ordinary girl wouldn’t possess a Harpoon Gun, nor would she have such a profound resistance to sleep toxin.
‘Nina. What on earth is your true identity?’
Natalisha’s eyes glinted with fierce resolve as she made up her mind not to let the girl’s youthful appearance lower her guard.
* * *
Nina stood before the Tea House, which resembled a grand piano, her eyes glistening as she gazed up at Cheyson.
“Wow! Uncle. This place is so beautiful too. I’m so glad we came out together. Thank you so much for suggesting we go out even though I’m new to everything, and for being so kind to me. I really mean it.”
And watching her, Cheyson pondered seriously.
‘……Couldn’t even an ordinary person own a Harpoon Gun?’

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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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