Everyone but Me Is a Spy - Chapter 46

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 46
“Nina. Why are you doing this? I’m your sister……!”
Kathari’s eyelashes trembled, unable to hide her hurt.
Nina offered a wry smile even as she answered firmly.
“I haven’t had a proper look at the room yet. I don’t know what dangers might be lurking where, so I need to examine everything thoroughly.”
“There’s idle labor here. We can finish quickly if we all look together.”
As Exi spoke with confidence, Natalisha smoothly stepped forward and asked.
“……So you think there are dangerous elements in this house. Will you tell me why?”
“That’s…….”
Nina hesitated, recalling the room that had been crammed with dust and weapons.
Once I’ve finished savoring my own shame in solitude, I hope this room burns to the ground.
A single spark would erase everything, and nothing would happen beyond this room.
It was surely a message left by my grandmother, Likita Bonze.
The family knew nothing of the locked rooms in the Townhouse.
That meant they didn’t know what was inside them at all.
The moment Nina stepped into that room, she’d had a thought that made no sense.
It was so ridiculous that she’d only lingered on it briefly before forgetting it.
But when she retraced the thought now, it didn’t seem entirely impossible.
‘Could Grandmother have actually been a maidservant in the Dotchen Kingdom?’
If that were true, everything would fall into place.
The fact that she’d received a Marquessate Title yet settled in the Free Nation after leaving the kingdom.
The fact that she could only hire servants who were exceptionally alert and resourceful.
The fact that one room in the Townhouse was filled with Maidservant’s Essentials.
The fact that she’d dressed the clockwork dolls in maidservant uniforms.
If she’d hidden from her family the fact that she’d once been a maidservant, couldn’t she have seen that dusty arsenal room as shameful?
Nina suddenly remembered the traces of her family rummaging through her wardrobe.
They seemed especially displeased by the Maidservant’s Essentials kept there, and Natalisha in particular.
If Grandmother had treated her past as shameful, she would surely have shown aversion to the maidservant items too.
The nieces and great-nieces who grew up alongside such a grandmother couldn’t help but be influenced by that attitude.
Perhaps even if Grandmother had learned that she herself was a maidservant, she might not have left her inheritance to a direct granddaughter.
As that thought settled over her, Nina suddenly felt depressed and turned to face her family.
They were all watching her, their eyes seeking an explanation.
Natalisha, her patience worn thin, asked once more.
“Nina? Come now, tell us. Did you find something in that locked room that could be called a danger?”
“……There might be Maidservant’s Essentials hidden away that you all find objectionable. Such things are far too dangerous and frightening to you, after all.”
There was something forlorn in Nina’s reluctant voice.
While Cheison and Kathari found themselves rolling their eyes, wondering if they’d somehow done something wrong, Natalisha and Exi were thinking something else entirely.
‘Is she saying this because she discovered something?’
‘Those rooms wouldn’t open no matter what we tried. I wouldn’t be surprised by what’s inside.’
Observing her family’s reaction, Nina quickly added.
“Ah, I think we could look at the room with the Projector and Film together.”
“You mean one of the locked rooms contains a Projector and Film?”
“It hasn’t been locked away all this time, has it? I’m curious whether the Film is still in good condition.”
At Cheison’s and Natalisha’s narrowed-eyed questions, Nina’s own eyes brightened as if she were sharing something interesting.
“That room was so clean it was strange, but apparently Juger Number 2 has been maintaining it.”
“Juger……Number 2……?”
Natalisha’s expression hardened, and she turned to look at Juger Number 4.
“The helpful clockwork doll Juger Number 2’s cleaning skills are truly excellent. I would even recommend her myself.”
“…….”
So Number 2 existed in addition to Numbers 4 and 3. Then that meant Number 1 truly existed as well.
Moreover, it had been maintaining a locked room.
The false family members felt their spines grow cold at the realization that clockwork dolls they’d never seen before were secretly moving through the Townhouse.
Misinterpreting their silence as anticipation, Nina added regretfully.
“I can’t show it to you right now. The Projector is broken.”
She decided not to mention her plan to ask Joel whether he could fix it.
She’d thought to ask Joel since he seemed knowledgeable about Magical Artifacts, but he’d said it was merely a hobby, so he might not be able to take on repairs.
She didn’t want to watch her family’s disappointment if she raised their hopes for nothing.
Nina took one more look at the towers made of uninvited guests, then went upstairs to the Balcony to call for Joel.
Unaware that four people were watching her departing figure intently.
And those four people were equally unaware that Juger Number 4 and Juger Number 2, peeking out from a gap in the ceiling, were watching them all just as intently.
* * *
“Guu, GuGu-urr?!”
GuGu had just returned from delivering the encrypted message when he caught sight of Joel’s workshop and froze in alarm.
The workspace had always been cluttered, but never in such a state of absolute chaos.
Papers of every description, fragments of Mana Stones, and scraps of Magical Artifacts covered the floor entirely.
Stunned, GuGu stood with his beak hanging open before surveying the scattered debris around him.
Similar yet subtly different Magical Gun blueprints were strewn about haphazardly, alongside half-finished Magical Gun Parts.
Joel was the sort who would finish calculations in his head, then sketch a blueprint in one fluid stroke and manufacture Magical Artifacts with remarkable speed.
Yet here he was, having drawn dozens of identical Magical Gun blueprints and crafted dozens of identical parts.
Bewildered by this unusual state of affairs, GuGu waddled over to Joel’s side and fluttered his wings.
“Gurr! GuGu-uu!”
“GuGu. Didn’t realize you were back.”
Only then did Joel notice the presence; he set down the saw embedded with Mana Stone and removed his protective gear.
Though a cold-radiating Magical Artifact hung from the ceiling, beads of sweat dotted Joel’s forehead.
Joel wiped the sweat away hastily with his work sleeve and held up the Magical Artifact he’d been crafting.
“Wondering what I’m making? I’ve been working on a Magical Gun—one I’m going to give to Nina. Since only she can use it, you could call it a custom piece made just for her.”
“Guu……?”
Not content with having already gifted a Magical Gun to his target, now he was talking about custom work too.
Even a pigeon would find this absurd—yet here was Soltem’s finest Magical Artifact developer doing exactly this.
“If I combine it this way, it’ll be a bit heavier, but given Nina’s strength, this configuration might actually feel more stable for her. The problem is…….”
Joel’s pleased expression faltered; he set the unfinished Magical Gun on the workbench and exhaled heavily.
“Something doesn’t feel right, but I can’t figure out exactly what. There’s definitely something missing…….”
He stared at the blueprint pinned to the wall with dissatisfaction, then reached out.
Rip!
The roughly torn blueprint landed on the workshop floor.
With unflinching purpose, Joel’s hands also dismantled several components of the unfinished Magical Gun, which clattered to the ground.
Clang! Clang-clang!
“Guu!”
GuGu nimbly dodged the falling components that scattered across the workbench.
Then a pink Flower Petal Pattern flickered across the workshop panel, shimmering with a crystalline chime.
Joel, who had been disassembling the Magical Gun as ruthlessly as a potter shattering ceramics, suddenly stopped and rose to his feet.
His hurried departure from the workshop carried both urgency and anticipation.
So rushed was he that he didn’t notice the towel he’d hastily wiped and discarded falling onto GuGu’s head.
“GuGu-wak!”
The Flower Petal Pattern that had appeared on the panel was Nina’s signal—she was looking for Joel on the Balcony.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————