Everyone but Me Is a Spy - Chapter 40

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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 40
When Nina returned to the Townhouse, she was startled to discover people stacked up outside the front gate like cordwood.
“My goodness. Kathari, look at this. What message do you think this artwork is trying to convey? I’ve heard that in some distant countries, people walk around towers like this while making wishes.”
“Even if such a thing existed, you wouldn’t build a tower out of people, would you?”
Kathari quickly surveyed the unconscious assailants’ attire.
From the patchwork of black and green tactical fatigues, holsters, and goggles, it was clear they were all mercenaries.
‘The different designs of their fatigues and shoe models suggest they might not be from the same unit.’
The pockets of their utility belts had already been thoroughly emptied—apparently by some of the other fake family members who’d finished their search.
‘But why would they stack them so conspicuously like this?’
The principle of this mission was to hide anything that might reveal their spy operations.
Normally, if intruders appeared, the surveillance Magic Tools and traps she’d had installed beforehand would have neutralized them quickly—but since Nina had disabled all of those, the fake family members had been forced to handle them personally.
Looking at the tower of people stacked with such perfect precision, Kathari found it hard to believe they’d built it themselves.
As she stood there, Nina circled the human tower a few times, then turned back to Kathari with a suddenly serious expression.
“Sister. I don’t think this is artwork at all. Is it?”
“For you to catch on like that. You…….”
She’s not as hopeless as all that, Kathari thought, swallowing the rest of her words.
‘She may be Likita’s granddaughter and a bit scatterbrained, but she follows me like a blood sister—I can’t help but look after her properly.’
As Kathari was making this resolution, Nina bolted into the Townhouse.
“Oh! That’s right—what happened to our family members……!”
When she’d been responsible for keeping the mansion clean, she’d only seen intruders lying scattered across the floor—she’d never seen them stacked like a tower, so she’d been slow to grasp the situation.
“Uncle! Aunt! Brother!”
The moment Nina reached the Lobby, she ran into Juggernaut Number 4.
“Juggernaut! What happened to the family?”
「Welcome back. Some uninvited guests paid a brief visit, but it was quite a peaceful time, I assure you?」
At Juggernaut Number 4’s composed words, Kathari’s eyes swept toward the interior of the Lobby.
There stood the fake family members, their faces concealed behind fans and hats.
“Juggernaut protected the family! How brave you are! Thank you so much.”
Nina spotted them too, squeezed Juggernaut’s hand tightly, then rushed toward them with delight.
“Uncle, Aunt, Brother. You’re all right, aren’t you? Hmm? But why are you all covering your faces?”
Juggernaut clicked over with a whirring sound to answer Nina’s question.
「You had a very heated discussion with the guests, and then suddenly changed who you were speaking with. You continued your very intense conversation even while I was building my magnificent tower. You were quite the war. Ri. Ors.」
“Warriors? What does that mean?”
As Nina tilted her head in confusion, Natalisha hurriedly denied it, waving the fan she’d been holding.
“No, no, that’s not it! Juggernaut took care of everything, and we just…….”
“Fell over, that’s all. We were startled when we saw the intruders.”
“Yes. Nothing happened at all.”
Cheyson and Exie both quickly removed the hats that had been covering their faces.
“Good heavens!”
Nina’s eyes widened in shock when she saw the dark bruises blooming around her family members’ eyes and cheeks.
“How badly did you have to fall to end up looking like this……!”
“Ow! That hurts. My mouth’s bleeding—please don’t press on my cheek.”
Exie let out a groan of pain when Nina reached up to examine his face.
As Kathari watched Nina gnaw on her handkerchief in distress, she clicked her tongue with disdain.
‘Doesn’t look like the intruders did this. Looks like they ended up fighting each other midway through.’
Cheyson and Natalisha, uncomfortable under Kathari’s skeptical gaze, quickly hid their striking hands behind their backs.
* * *
‘When on earth am I going to bring this up?’
Nina had been keeping the Mana Stone Key with her at all times, wanting to tell her family about what she’d heard at the bank.
But the right moment never seemed to come.
“Everyone, I have something to tell you—”
「Warning! Warning! Intruder alert!」
Every time she opened her mouth to broach the subject, uninvited guests came crashing through the door.
“Move fast before those other bastards beat us to it! Sweep them all away!”
“Sweep what? Juggernaut, go get the broom right now and sweep up those dirt footprints.”
「I’ll begin cleaning immediately. Rest assured. Even the Cleaning. Service. Company would be jealous of my work.」
Nina gripped her Magic Gun firmly and chambered a round.
“How incredibly rude. No one lays a finger on my family!”
And then she pulled the trigger for the sake of the Townhouse’s cleanliness.
Even as she watched the guests crumple to the floor with each impact, her hands didn’t stop.
‘Ah. Because I’ve become the Heir, my family is suffering too. But if one of the others had become the Heir instead, it would have been far more dangerous.’
Nina, her expression sad, spun like a ballerina and fired her Magic Gun in rhythmic bursts.
Even as she pursued the Mercenaries fleeing outside, she moved with such grace that she resembled a magnolia blooming slowly into being.
Click. Click.
Joel, hanging from the Balcony and capturing the scene on camera, nodded with satisfaction.
‘Excellent indeed. I’ve grasped her Combat Pattern well enough now—time to arm her with Magic Tools tailored specifically for her.’
Then he noticed one of the fallen Mercenaries reaching toward Nina’s ankle.
“You dare study her ankle? I haven’t even finished mapping it myself. Not a chance.”
Joel set down the Binoculars and Camera, then immediately fired his Bazooka.
Boom!
Whoooosh. Bang!
The rocket erupted with a thunderous boom, its flames shooting skyward in a perfect line, painting the heavens beautifully.
“Oh my.”
Nina, leaping through the air to dodge the explosion, blushed as she beheld the radiant flames.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it.”
Nina didn’t forget to wave back at Joel, who was gesturing to her from above.
Joel threw down the Bazooka and hurriedly snapped the Camera shutter again and again.
Nina firing her Magic Gun with the fireworks blooming across the sky behind her—it was a sight not to be missed.
The fake family could only stand awkwardly by the Townhouse windows and watch Nina in her element.
‘Going to such lengths for us…….’
‘If only we’d dealt with those Mercenaries connected to Likita beforehand……!’
‘She truly is Likita’s granddaughter. And she treats me like a real sister.’
‘This feels wrong. I’m not sure this is right.’
Days of such commotion had been piling up.
With her anxiety reaching a peak, Nina convened a family meeting in the Dining Room.
“We can’t go on like this. We can’t ask the security detail to stand guard in front of the house all the time.”
Exie, who had been nodding in agreement with Nina’s words, suddenly hesitated and spoke.
“I still don’t understand why this tin-can robot is here at all.”
At that, Juggernaut Number 4’s eyes lit up brightly as it turned toward Exie.
「Did you have something to say to me?」
“Pleased to meet you.”
“I, I’m pleased too……!”
Kathari, who felt the same way as Exie, flushed with embarrassment and waved her hand.
「I’m pleased as well! Truly delighted. What a wonderful. greeting. How. lovely.」
Juggernaut Number 4’s mouth moved stiffly and unnaturally as it laughed.
Natalisha asked while waving her fan gently.
“But we don’t have any clear solution at the moment, do we?”
“True. If we make a big fuss for nothing, we’ll only draw more attention.”
Cheyson nodded in agreement as well.
The two of them worried that Nina might pull off another unthinkable stunt, like when she’d completely stripped the Townhouse of all its surveillance equipment.
Lost in thought, Nina suddenly locked eyes with Juggernaut Number 4.
‘Now that I think about it, Juggernaut has been a great help in dealing with the Uninvited Guests I hadn’t fully accounted for.’
Juggernaut seemed to understand the structure of this Townhouse far better than she did.
“Juggernaut, is there anything that might help maintain the cleanliness of the Townhouse?”
「Maintaining cleanliness is very important indeed! If you wish, shall I introduce you to Juggernaut Number 3?」
At Juggernaut Number 4’s bold answer, Cheyson and Natalisha’s faces went pale.

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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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