Everyone but Me Is a Spy - Chapter 34

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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 34
[I, Rikita Josephina Bonds, bequeath all my assets to Nina Bonds, my sole direct descendant.
The inventory of assets is as follows.
– The Bonds Townhouse in Soltem, a free nation, and all
the
contents therein.
– The ducal castle in the Ilite Kingdom currently used as a museum, and all
the
contents therein.
– Bank accounts established under the name ‘Rikita,’ vaults, and all
the
contents therein.
– Clockwork Jugglers and their ownership.
– The swing in the back garden.
– The right to burn all of these things.
– A Short Sword entrusted to the butler Flo Ben.
That is all.
※The Short Sword need only cut what has already been severed.
……]
* * *
After the notary public and my grandmother’s butler Flo Ben had left, the inheritance was settled swiftly.
The ducal title of the Ilite Kingdom, which could not be inherited, was replaced with a suitable compensation and transferred, and all of Rikita’s assets, including the townhouse in Soltem, passed to Nina.
“My goodness! Is, is all of this—how much is it?”
Nina’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head at the astronomical figure stamped on the documents.
“To amass this much money on a maid’s wages……!”
Heavens, it would be impossible even if she were reborn twice over.
Though she had become the heir to a vast fortune overnight, Nina had no confidence she could wield this wealth wisely.
So she decided to follow Flo Ben’s suggestion and keep things as her grandmother had long been doing.
Sponsoring childcare facilities and small schools in Soltem, modest hospitals, investing in research and development of mana-stone mining equipment, and so forth.
Nina discovered, belatedly, that her grandmother had been moving money through diverse channels all along, whether Nina had known or not.
Flo Ben had been overseeing all of it, and had made an agreement with her employer, Rikita, to continue doing so even after stepping down as butler.
‘Even so, there’s far too much money I can use freely.’
Nina brooded deeply on how best to handle an inheritance that made her heart race just thinking about it.
First, it seemed wise to raise the wages of the servants as she’d promised, and send gifts to the Sejaek Count’s Estate.
Perhaps she could send local specialties from Soltem to the count’s family and her fellow maids, as a way of sharing news and repaying their kindness.
And after that…….
‘Should I just keep it in storage? There’s so much money that I don’t even know what to do with it.’
With a heavy sigh, Nina twirled the Short Sword she’d received from Flo Ben and wandered the corridors.
Though she was now an heir, she felt little had truly changed.
Perhaps it was because she had already undergone the greatest transformation of her life by meeting her family.
‘Or perhaps it’s because I became the protagonist even before inheriting the estate.’
As Nina roamed the townhouse trying to open doors that had been shut, she pursed her lips in frustration.
‘I thought I’d receive a master key or a bundle of keys once I inherited the estate.’
The townhouse had quite a few rooms that remained firmly locked and which she had never been able to open.
When she’d asked her family about them, they only said those were rooms only her grandmother could open and they didn’t know much about it, so Nina hadn’t pressed further.
Yet even now that she owned the townhouse, there was no way to open the locked rooms.
She’d inherited everything inside the townhouse, but couldn’t even open the doors—something felt off about that.
So Nina decided to reconsider her approach.
‘Maybe the entrance is through the windows in the first place?’
It was possible, truly. During her days as a maid, hadn’t she traveled more by window than by door at night?
Nina promptly went up to her room and gathered some rope.
Then she secured the rope to the balcony railing and climbed down the outer wall without hesitation.
But the locked rooms had their windows sealed tight with Magic Devices. Even striking them with a stone produced no sign of cracking.
The locked rooms could not be entered through door or window.
A disheartened Nina hung limply from the rope.
‘My grandmother is quite the riddle. So is Flo Ben, for that matter.’
As a butler, he must have known about the locked rooms, yet Flo Ben had given her no hint of them.
Just then, she heard Natalisha’s voice from nearby.
“……is tonight, then? Summoning me on such short notice-.”
“Aunt.”
At some point, Nina had slipped through Natalisha’s window and called out to her with a cheerful smile.
“Aaaah!”
Natalisha, startled out of her wits, hurled the walkie-talkie under the bed and spun around.
“Oh my. I’m so sorry. Did I frighten you?”
“N-Nina. What on earth are you doing up there?”
Natalisha could scarcely believe her eyes as she saw Nina dangling from a rope.
‘Surely she’s not spying on people right now? She didn’t overhear the radio transmission, did she?’
Unaware of Natalisha’s anxious thoughts, Nina simply beamed as she perched on the windowsill.
“I was checking whether you could enter a room that won’t open any other way through the window. Turns out it’s locked tight too.”
“Well, yes. I suppose it would be.”
“The way you say that makes it seem like those rooms really were only for Grandmother to use.”
Nina tilted her head thoughtfully, then broke into another smile.
“Aunt, but what kind of person is Flo Ben?”
“Well, I… The butler was close to your grandmother, but we didn’t really have any dealings with him.”
At Natalisha’s evasive reply, Nina’s smile faded.
“It’s all such a mystery.”
“At any rate, Nina, wouldn’t it be better to let go of that rope? It’s dangerous.”
“Oh, but I have the rope. Why worry about danger? You’re such a worrier, Aunt.”
Nina, who had grown momentarily despondent, now gazed at Natalisha with an amused smile.
It was a look Natalisha hadn’t received since her days as a junior spy, and her pride stung at the condescension.
“Nina. You’re a proper young lady of the Bonds Family now. What will people say if they see such a grown girl swinging about on ropes?”
“W-what will they say?”
“……Regardless, they’ll speak ill of the Bonds Family.”
Natalisha, who hadn’t thought that far, made an exasperated face.
Seeing this, Nina’s eyes went wide as she glanced toward the street.
On the opposite side of the street stood more townhouses. Had those unnamed neighbors all this time been mocking your grandmother and the Bonds Family?
Understanding at last, Nina took Natalisha’s hand and spoke with grave determination.
“Don’t worry, Aunt. If the neighbors speak ill of the Bonds Family, I’ll send the Clockwork Juggler to them.”
“……Are you saying you’d send it to kill them?”
“Oh my. How could you say something so savage and awful? Kill the neighbors? Aunt, you sound just like an assassin.”
Nina trembled in alarm, and Natalisha, startled by her reaction, trembled in sympathy.
“Ah, an assassin. That’s scarier than what I meant. I wouldn’t dream of such a thing. How dreadful.”
“Phew. I’d send the Clockwork Juggler to their servants and give them a warning that way. You see, it’s better to communicate through the servants rather than confront the principals directly.”
“……What do you mean by that?”
“Hehehehe.”
Nina fell silent, remembering the thrilling skirmish she’d had with the maids of another estate.
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
“Going? Nina, you’re not going to use that rope agai—!”
Before Natalisha could grab her, Nina had already leapt from the sill and begun climbing back up the rope with deft, practiced movements.
As she climbed, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
‘Some things are easier to see from outside than from within the house, after all. And look—I’ve even gained a neighbor!’
Nina sprang back onto the balcony in moments and, having decided to call on her neighbor, turned toward the adjacent balcony.
“Jo—!”
Their eyes met at once, and Joel’s widened in surprise.
“Joel? Were you waiting for me?”
“You mean me? Well. It’s just that the weather is nice, so I stepped out to look around……. I’m not entirely sure.”
The more Joel turned the question over in his mind, the more peculiar it seemed, and he rubbed the back of his neck.
Fair, clear weather had no real connection to Magic Device development.
Yet today the sky seemed so bright and welcoming—like the perfect spring day—that he’d felt drawn to the balcony.
‘Was the spring I’d been waiting for more than just good weather?’
Joel, muttering a question even he couldn’t quite understand, lifted his head.
Nina’s gleaming gaze had begun to feel sharp and penetrating.
The moment their eyes met, Nina spoke.
“Joel. Actually, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“If you’d like to talk, why don’t you come over?”
Joel gave the rope connecting the balconies a light snap with his fingertip.
“Shall I?”
Nina was already scurrying across the rope with quick, confident steps, landing neatly on Joel’s balcony.
As she did, she noticed something she hadn’t seen before, and her face lit up with delight.
“My goodness. When did you prepare this?”

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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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