Everyone but Me Is a Spy - Chapter 29

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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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Episode 29
“……?”
Nina rubbed her forehead and looked up, nearly crying out in surprise.
“J-Joel!”
“Nina. Did you come out because you were restless?”
“Well, it’s just that…….”
Joel merely gazed down at her with unwavering eyes, yet she found herself wanting to make excuses for no reason she could understand.
As Nina faltered and twisted her hair between her fingers, Joel stepped aside and led her somewhere.
“As it happens, this is convenient. There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“Oh? Really?”
Nina was glad she’d decided to leave the room and followed him willingly.
‘This time I absolutely have to be useful. I’ll show him the full extent of a maid who was favored by her mistress.’
With such resolve in her heart, the place they arrived at was a small tea table.
Nina sat across from Joel as he led her, breathed in the flower fragrance from the vase, and took a sip of the tea he’d expertly brewed.
It was truly fragrant and exquisite tea. And yet…….
‘The full extent of a maid who was favored by her mistress…….’
Rather than being helpful, she found herself simply staring at the tea Joel poured for her, which struck her as strange.
The tea table sat alone before a large window on the second-floor hall.
It didn’t seem like a spot originally arranged for tea time, and unlike other places in the Townhouse, it held no Magic Devices and had the feel of a library.
Perplexed, she merely fidgeted with her teacup, when Joel spoke first.
“How is your body feeling?”
“Great! Actually, I have a question for you. I’ve always been strong and healthy.”
He observed her as she answered without hesitation, then nodded.
“I see. Then, do you feel any resistance—even the slightest—to words like ‘experiment’ or ‘research’?”
Nina pondered for a moment before answering.
“Hmm. Not at all.”
“Not at all?”
“Right. I never participated in experiments or research even when I was at the Earl’s Residence, so I never developed any resistance to them.”
“You’ve never participated?”
Joel’s voice dropped even lower.
Nina tilted her head with a confused expression.
“Why? Should I have?”
“No.”
Joel seemed to deliberate before pulling a device the size of his palm from his pocket.
It was flat and rectangular, with faintly visible blue circuitry—clearly a Magic Device.
“Are there any gaps in your memory?”
“Well, I can’t remember things from when I was very young, naturally. But I don’t have anything like that.”
“You’ve never been ill enough to need an injection?”
“Right. Like I said, I’ve always been strong and healthy.”
“I see. Don’t you find my questions strange? You’re answering very readily.”
“Huh? Were those strange questions?”
“…….”
At Nina’s innocently wide-eyed question, Joel found himself averting his gaze.
Judging by her reaction when the needle touched her, she certainly seemed to have experienced something related to experiments, yet she was saying she knew nothing of it.
“Would you put your thumb on this?”
As Joel held out the rectangular Magic Device, Nina reached for it—then hesitated.
He had withdrawn the device.
“Can’t you do something called doubt, Nina?”
“Of course I can. I’m careful and cautious about everything, just like all maids are.”
“Yet you’re answering my questions and complying with my requests without any hesitation. That’s not careful—there’s no suspicion at all.”
“Ha. That’s a funny joke. You’re my first neighbor, after all. Why would I doubt you when you’ve only ever been kind to me?”
“…….”
Joel looked at Nina, who was smiling brightly, then extended the Magic Device again.
This time too, without suspicion, she reached out and pressed her thumb against the marked spot.
Zzzt!
An electric current surged through her entire body and vanished.
“Ah!”
Nina flinched and withdrew her hand, tucking it into her pocket, and Joel jolted to his feet.
“Did it hurt?”
“No. It just startled me.”
“Ah, yes. There must have been a spark—gave me quite a jolt.”
Joel found himself absurd for overreacting when he knew perfectly well that this Magic Device caused no pain.
It was true that a flawless device could leave one dumbstruck and amazed enough to make careless mistakes one wouldn’t normally make, but to show such amateurish behavior in front of his subject—it was unbecoming.
He steadied his nerves and examined the device.
“What sort of Magic Device is that, anyway?”
“……This is to check whether there’s anything I need to consider in my research on Nina.”
It was an interrogation tool used to determine whether a captured assassin or spy had been subjected to Brainwashing.
If Brainwashing had taken place, a red light would illuminate; if not, a green one. The light that appeared now was a clear, steady green.
‘She hasn’t been brainwashed. Her memories haven’t been altered or erased either.’
If she had been brainwashed, at least her reaction to the needle would have made sense. But this made matters more complicated.
It seemed something that ought to be present in Nina was missing, yet he couldn’t fathom what.
Nina herself seemed vaguely aware that something was amiss, though she didn’t appear particularly anxious about it.
If anything, she took an active interest and asked whether there was anything else he wanted to examine.
“If it’ll help the research, check whatever you need to. I’ll do my best to cooperate. We could even start the full examination right now if you want.”
“Really? Right now? Are you certain?”
“Yeah. I’m bored stiff with nothing to do anyway.”
Nina laughed shyly, and Joel rose, extending his hand to help her up.
“Then let’s go. There’s quite a lot I can analyze without a needle.”
Aside from the fainting episode caused by the needle itself, Nina was exactly as she’d claimed—remarkably robust and in excellent health—so there was no reason to waste the opportunity.
* * *
Tap.
Nina leaped high and snatched a balloon from the air, landing lightly on the floor.
Joel reread the densely packed figures on his clipboard several times over.
Reaction time, hang time, estimated muscle strength—all of it was impossible, absurd.
“Would you like to try once more?”
“Sure.”
Nina grinned broadly and tossed the balloon upward.
“I think I can jump even higher this time!”
Joel said nothing and repositioned his pen.
The walls of the Second Research Laboratory were marked with fine lines for measuring height.
He’d initially thought to begin with a light fitness assessment.
He was being cautious—uncertain where Nina might develop another adverse reaction.
And yet……
“One, two—”
Nina bent her knees and spread both arms out behind her like wings.
“Three!”
And she launched upward.
The height seemed less a jump and more as though she’d simply floated up into the air.
Tap!
She plucked the balloon deftly from midair and touched down with barely a whisper, both arms raised in triumph.
“Well? That was higher, wasn’t it?”
Joel, who had been standing motionless as if malfunctioning, set his pen in motion again.
“Yes. Much higher indeed.”
He had to write down a number larger than the previous one.
Nina beamed with pride, cradling the balloon.
“See? Practice makes perfect. When I first became a maid, I had no idea I could move like this.”
“Why would a maid practice something like that?”
“Hmm?”
Nina’s eyes widened as if she’d heard a question she’d never considered.
“So I can run my employer’s errands properly and maintain the cleanliness of the estate.”
“I’m curious what you mean by maintaining the cleanliness of an estate.”
“You don’t need to worry about such dirty work, Joel.”
Nina answered in the tone one uses to soothe a child, chuckling softly as she released the balloon.
“Anyway, was I helpful?”
Joel decided not to press further and pointed to the opposite wall.
“Certainly. Next, let’s try Marksmanship.”
Nina stepped toward the target as if she’d been waiting for this.
A Pistol that fires standard bullets lay on the tray.
“Not a Magic Weapon?”
“No. It’s difficult to get accurate measurements with a Magic Weapon.”
“I see.”
Nina answered without concern, and the moment she picked up the pistol, she loaded it with practiced ease, took aim, and pulled the trigger.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
All four shots struck dead center.
“Want me to try again?”
“…Yes.”
Click.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
Again, every shot hit the bullseye.
Nina turned back, her eyes gleaming.
“Well? Is this enough?”
“Of course.”
More than enough, actually. Excessive.
He didn’t mention it to Nina, but that pistol was one Joel had heavily modified—a weapon so weighty that an average adult man would need both hands to lift it.
The gun itself and its trigger had been made several times heavier, yet Nina had fired it with one hand as though it were nothing.
Joel’s gaze traced the delicate lines of her wrists and shoulders.
He’d sensed it even when she’d held him as they crossed the rope, but the strength she displayed simply couldn’t come from a frame so small.
‘Training alone couldn’t account for this.’
He ordered his thoughts methodically.
‘A Human Body Modification Experiment?’
He’d considered that possibility at first, but there were no visible signs of modification on her arms or shoulders.
The results of the Human Body Scan that had activated when they entered the Second Research Laboratory told him the same thing.
‘She’s human, no question about it…’
Joel gestured to move forward to the next stage, his mind churning.
The more information he gathered about Nina, the more enigmatic her existence became.

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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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