Everyone but Me Is a Spy - Chapter 26

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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 26
Nina, who had been sitting in a daze without understanding what had happened, suddenly snapped to attention and examined Joel’s hand.
“Are you all right, Joel? I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that.”
“It’s fine.”
Joel checked the condition of the syringe and nodded.
“I meant your hand—is it okay? Let’s try again.”
Nina hesitated for a moment, then extended her arm once more.
Thinking it natural enough given that this was her first syringe, Joel moved his hand even more slowly than before.
As she watched him, her heart began to race again, and cold sweat trickled down the back of her neck.
Smack!
Once more, Nina knocked his hand away just as the needle was about to touch her skin.
“Oh…!”
Nina, even more startled than Joel, bit at her fingertips, uncertain what to do.
“I-I’m sorry! This is really strange. Why am I doing this?”
Though this was her first time with a syringe, she’d never had a reaction like this to anything similar before, so even Nina couldn’t understand her own behavior.
Joel set down the syringe and rose to his feet.
“There’s no need to force yourself. I wanted to study you, Nina—not cause you distress.”
His hand, struck twice now, was swelling red.
‘This is really upsetting.’
Nina genuinely wanted to help Joel.
Each time she tried to repay him, she only made things difficult for him instead, so she wanted to help in any way she could.
This would be the last time, after all.
“Maybe I’m just afraid because this is my first needle. So this time, I’ll keep my eyes closed and try.”
Nina shut her eyes tightly and extended her arm out again.
“……”
Joel glanced at the syringe with a hesitant expression.
He agonized over whether it was truly all right, but seeing Nina’s resolute face, he finally nodded.
“…Very well. But if you show signs of resistance again, we’ll stop the Blood Draw here.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Nina’s response was spirited.
But the moment she felt the needle touch her skin.
“…Ah!”
A sharp sensation made the hairs on her head stand on end, and Nina let out a cry.
At that cry, Joel pulled the needle away without even piercing the skin and reflexively caught Nina as she tilted to one side.
“Nina?”
Her body went limp. She had lost consciousness and collapsed.
“Nina. Nina!”
Heart sinking, Joel abandoned the syringe and rushed upstairs to the first floor, cradling her in his arms.
“Doctor! The target has collapsed. Examine her at once!”
At his cry, the doctor who had been waiting nearby rushed in urgently.
Nina’s ashen complexion and cold, clammy body were heartbreaking.
* * *
Nina’s eyes opened again soon afterward.
Though Joel had quietly pressed the doctor about why she’d suddenly collapsed, she regained consciousness in just ten minutes.
“Nina. Can you hear my voice? Can you see clearly?”
“…Joel?”
Tousling her tousled hair, Nina sat up and paused as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings.
Now that she thought about it, she was sitting on an unfamiliar bed beneath a quilt.
“Joel. Where is this?”
“My townhouse guest room.”
“Ah.”
Now Nina recalled what had happened.
A sudden, tremendous shock had made the hairs on her head stand on end, and then her vision went black.
It wasn’t dizziness that made her collapse—it felt as though the power to her body had been forcibly cut off.
‘What on earth was that?’
As Nina tried to get out of bed, Joel gently pressed her shoulder down.
“Please stay as you are. The doctor who came to examine me happened to have a look at you as well.”
“Ah, I see. But why did that happen to me?”
“…It’s nothing serious. You’ve been under a lot of stress lately, and exhaustion can make it harder for your body to accept something new, that’s all.”
“Really? That’s a relief.”
“Yes. The doctor said it’s probably temporary.”
Joel replied casually, but his mind circled back to what the Doctor had said.
<Wait? She said she’d never used a Syringe before? That’s odd. Just from her reaction, it sounds like she has some bad memory tied to needles.>
Nina didn’t seem to be lying, but Joel found himself wanting to understand what was really going on.
Still, that would have to wait until tomorrow.
Even a well-crafted Magic Tool could break if you kept poking at it without reason.
“Why don’t we resume learning about Nina tomorrow? There won’t be any needles or Blood Draw involved.”
“Oh. Tomorrow?”
Nina looked troubled and covered her mouth, while Joel simply shrugged.
“If you have plans tomorrow, the day after or the day after that would be fine. Come visit whenever it’s convenient for you.”
After all, since the Target lived right next door, he could see her again anytime he wanted.
But Nina hesitated, her fingers fidgeting with the blanket.
“Joel. Actually, I… I’ve decided to leave Soltem.”
Crash.
The sound of breaking glass came from next door. Apparently the Fake Family spies were fighting again.
With that sound, as if his heart had been shattered along with it, Joel asked quietly.
“Leave? Leave Soltem?”
“Yeah. I think I need to go back to Iliter. That’s where I belong.”
Nina smiled weakly, her entire demeanor deflated and melancholic.
“Once I help with your research, I’m planning to leave right away. I’ve already packed a Luggage outside this Townhouse.”
“…….”
Joel immediately checked outside the Townhouse entrance and came back.
Sure enough, there was a Luggage leaning against the wall, sitting alone and forlorn.
‘Did those worthless research subjects already expose their covers?’
His hands clenched into fists with displeasure before he forced them open and asked casually.
“Isn’t the new house to your liking?”
“That’s not it at all. Grandmother’s house is wonderful, and the family is too. They’re all so kind and affectionate, but……”
Nina waved her hand and smiled sadly again.
“I feel like I’m disrupting their peace. Since I’m the cause of the family discord, if I just leave, everyone will be able to live happily again.”
Joel only half understood what Nina was saying.
But one thing was certain.
‘Nina is trying to leave Soltem.’
He hadn’t even finished analyzing her properly, and she was going to disappear. That couldn’t happen.
“But Nina, I’m afraid you haven’t heard the news.”
“Huh? What news?”
“The road to Iliter is closed.”
“What?! Since when?”
“Just now.”
Joel pressed a button on the Radio he carried behind his back, sending out a signal.
The Soltem Intelligence Agency received that signal and moved swiftly.
They placed an immovable Sign that read “Under Inspection” in front of the bridge leading to Immigration Control.
The carriages rushing toward the bridge saw the Sign and cried out in frustration before turning back with resigned expressions.
Nina, hearing Joel say “Under Inspection,” had the same reaction.
“If it’s under Inspection, there’s nothing I can do about it……”
Of course. No one could ignore a Sign that read “Under Inspection.”
“I’ll have to fly out on the Hang Glider.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Joel hadn’t expected her to have a Hang Glider, and his desperation grew.
“No, Nina. Don’t do that. I have a better idea.”
* * *
As a heavy cloud passed in front of the new moon, the dimly lit room fell into complete darkness.
“…….”
Through the window, an Assassin in black combat gear from head to toe slipped inside.
‘Sleeping soundly.’
The Assassin crept silently toward the bed where Nina lay.
Then, without hesitation, the blade pierced straight through the bulging blanket—at the spot where the heart would be.
But the sensation felt wrong.
“I believe you’re looking for this. Let me return it.”
“……!”
Startled by the voice suddenly at their back, the Assassin spun around, blade raised.
The small object Exci hurled through the air shattered against the blade and clattered across the floor.
It was a tiny Transmitter that had been hidden in Nina’s Duffel Bag.
“You must have thought this was Nina’s room because of the signal this thing sends, but you found the wrong one. This is my room.”
…….
The Assassin leaped toward the window to escape, but crashed headlong into the sill. His legs wouldn’t obey him.
Exci stepped out from the shadows, chuckling softly.
“I hid Poison in the pillow. Thanks to you tearing it open with your blade, I didn’t have to lift a finger.”
…….
The Assassin, glaring at him with murderous intent, felt his body stiffen from the Poison. He toppled sideways with a heavy thud.
It was alongside the other spies that they examined the completely unconscious Assassin.
Exci, who had quietly summoned his Fake Family to his own room, removed the mask from the Assassin bound to the chair.
When Cheyson and Natalisha saw the face that was revealed, they both started visibly.
“What the——!”
“This person……!”

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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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