Everyone but Me Is a Spy - Chapter 65

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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 65
Nina’s fingertip traced across the neatly shelved films, and she was certain now—she hadn’t been mistaken.
‘The films have increased.’
The number of films in the cabinet had grown since before. She could tell just by looking at the labels without counting each one individually.
When she had first entered this room, the film at the very end had been labeled number 120.
But now it had grown considerably—to number 131.
Nina withdrew the last film and examined it from every angle.
‘The others are clean enough, but this one really looks brand new. The label can’t have been affixed long ago—the edges are still sharp, and there’s a faint smell of fresh ink.’
She then lifted her head and found the familiar lighting fixture.
“Jugger! Jugger Number 2! You’re up there, aren’t you? Come on out.”
“You have summoned this one?”
Jugger Number 2 dropped straight down from the ceiling and landed with a soft thud.
“The films in this room have increased. What happened? Tell me who shot this one.”
Nina held up the most recent film, and Jugger Number 2 pointed to his own eyes.
“This Jugger Number 2 filmed and stored it with these very eyes.”
“You did? So that’s why you were moving across the ceiling.”
Nina was somewhat surprised, but she soon recalled how Jugger Number 2 was always hanging from the ceiling like a surveillance camera, and she understood.
“When was the most recent film shot?”
“Just yesterday—it’s still warm from filming.”
“Yesterday? Do you film every day?”
“Not every day, but whenever something catches my eye, I record it. I have been faithfully continuing the tasks my previous employer assigned me. Would you prefer that I cease the filming and film storage duties?”
“No. If your grandmother asked you to do it, there must be a reason…….”
Even as she said this, a fear different from anything she had felt before crept over her.
Riquita had sternly warned her to watch the second film onward only by herself.
Could it be that Riquita, who always spoke in riddles, was trying to send Nina a message?
‘What was Grandmother trying to show me? ……Is there something I absolutely must see?’
Over the past few days, Nina had learned much watching the films alone.
Riquita mainly explained things as if conducting a lecture about the war led by the Dothen Kingdom, but there were so many difficult terms that she understood barely half of it.
Beyond that, there were puzzling remarks—overly detailed descriptions of unknown locations and other confusing things—but what most unsettled Nina was…….
“I encouraged you to live with the people beside you now, but it also feels like something you shouldn’t have to do.”
“Sometimes I wish you were wicked instead. Then at least the matter would be easier to resolve.”
“I’m not sure if bringing you here was the right choice.”
These were words that suggested her grandmother Riquita regretted having brought her granddaughter back to her family’s embrace.
Nina smiled awkwardly as a wave of loneliness washed over her, and asked.
“Jugger. It doesn’t matter what order I watch the films in, right?”
“Of course not. Please enjoy them in whatever order the master and employer of the Townhouse desires.”
Jugger bowed respectfully and returned to the lighting fixture on the ceiling.
Nina took a deep breath to steady her nerves, threaded the film into the projector, and started it.
The image that began immediately showed something different from what she had seen before—Riquita was not there.
‘Well, of course not. Grandmother is gone.’
Instead, in a dark corridor, Natalisha and Kathari began fighting with blades in hand.
Chayson stood a little apart, trying to stop them, while Excy hugged a corner, hidden, observing the entire scene.
Nina was taken aback by the unexpected footage.
‘They’re, they’re fighting so intensely. Why are they quarreling?’
But the longer she watched, the more something seemed wrong.
Kathari’s movements appeared far more nimble than when she faced the thugs in front of the bank, and Natalisha was deflecting attacks with fluidity and experience.
There was no way to guess how either of them could move like that.
‘Did Natalisha start Combat Training after Kathari?’
The short footage ended there.
Nina rewound the film and watched it from the beginning again.
The calmest and most composed figure on the screen was none other than Excy.
It seemed best to ask Excy what had happened.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t really talked much with Excy.’
Seizing the opportunity, she resolved to put into action something she had only been contemplating so far.
Nina looked up at Jugger Number 2, hidden in the ceiling as a lighting fixture, and spoke.
“Jugger. Gather the other Juggers. I need something.”
* * *
The next day.
The Fake Family had never been as uneasy since this mission began.
It only deepened their anxiety that they couldn’t know what Riquita had hidden in the films.
Even amid all this, Chayson and Kathari were cobbling together the contents of their regular reports, carefully doctoring each submission.
“Doesn’t that overlap with last week’s report?”
“Just change a few words and send it.”
“The Masters aren’t idiots, are they?”
The two of them, huddled in a corner of the corridor, noticed Jugger Number 4 knock on Excy’s door.
“A member, not the employer. The true master of the Townhouse and the only stakeholder wishes to summon you, I do say.”
At the peculiar tone of Jugger Number 4’s speech, they both furrowed their brows.
“He’s still doing that.”
At some point, Jugger Number 4 had started speaking in an odd manner, as if he were broken.
“He never used to talk like that, ending everything with that ‘I do say’ business…….”
“It’s not a pleasant way to talk, either.”
Natalisha had arrived at some point and now stood watching Jugger Number 4 and Excy alongside the others.
As Excy descended the stairs following the wind-up doll, the three exchanged glances and hurried after him.
With no thought of discretion, they trailed openly behind Excy, earning a bewildered glance from him.
“Nina called for me alone. I don’t understand why all of you are following.”
“Wait, Jugger. Did Nina specifically say to bring only Excy?”
“She made no such specification, I do say.”
Jugger Number 4 replied respectfully to Kathari’s words and descended past the first floor into the basement.
At a door below, Nina stood waiting, her eyes wide with delight.
“Excy! My goodness, you’re here with the other family members?”
“They all came along since they had nothing better to do.”
“We happened to run into each other in the corridor, and we were curious about what you were up to.”
Despite Natalisha’s effortless lie, Nina’s eyebrows rose with what looked like genuine emotion.
“Oh my. Is that so? I’m afraid I’ve been neglecting all of you lately—lost in my work at the Projector Room…….”
As the strength drained from Nina’s voice, Kathari asked brightly.
“Come on, these things happen! So why did you call for Excy?”
“Oh, well. I’ve had a chance to talk with the other family members, but not with you, and I regretted that. It’s been weighing on my mind. I prepared a gift for you.”
Nina flashed a smile at Excy and opened the door to a basement warehouse.
“……Gasp!”
What spread before them inside was a cluttered chemistry laboratory.
Excy felt dizzy with a sudden rush of joy.
“You’re the best sister. I am your brother. I am Excy Bones.”
Nina laughed shyly as she caught and steadied him.
“I remembered how hard you studied chemistry. I set up a small private research space for you.”
“A private research space!”
Excy, whose only personal workspace at the Agency had been a single desk in the shared laboratory, cheered aloud.
“I collected things we found in Grandmother’s warehouse, but I didn’t know what most of it was, so I couldn’t organize it properly.”
“Splendid. Even better. Arranging it to my taste is where the gift begins.”
He dashed in eagerly, his face alight like a child standing before an amusement park.
The rest of the Fake Family could hear, clear as day, the sound of Excy’s carefully constructed defenses crumbling.
Chayson and Kathari smiled warmly, while Natalisha pressed her throbbing temple and muttered.
“Ah, my head. I thought he’d be worth something, but that bastard turned out to be the weakest link of all.”

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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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