Early morning.
The lobby of the Lamprempe Hotel.
“Hmm.”
Templet, who was seated on a sofa set aside in a corner of the lobby, chewing gum, opened his mouth.
“Are they all here?”
At Templet’s words, Furman, sitting across from him, nodded.
As usual, he was wearing a wool beret on his head.
“All but one are present.”
“Huh? Who’s the one?”
“Bilbosel.”
At the mention of Bilbosel, Templet furrowed one eyebrow after a brief silence to recall who he was.
“Isn’t he the one who tailed Daniel Steiner yesterday? The guy who told us Daniel Steiner entered the Lamprempe Hotel?”
“That’s correct. However, this morning when I tried contacting him, he didn’t pick up.”
“Didn’t pick up?”
Chewing—chewing—
After chewing gum for a while, Templet raised his hand and scratched his cheek.
“It’s one of two possibilities. Either he fled because he values his life, or he got all riled up trying to kill Daniel Steiner on his own and got his neck sliced off.”
Templet blew a bubble with his gum.
Pop! The bubble burst, sticking to his lips, which he then licked clean.
As Templet resumed chewing the gum, Furman, looking flustered, spoke up.
“If it’s the latter, shouldn’t we not be so calm? If Bilbosel exposed our plans, we could be headed for a horrible end…”
“Hmm. I see it differently.”
Templet shrugged.
“You know as well as I do that this hotel has no back exit. To leave, they must pass through this lobby. Even if Bilbosel did expose our operation, it wouldn’t change much.”
“But…”
“Right. Daniel Steiner could call for backup. So what then? We just go shoot him in his hotel room before they arrive. That’d be it, wouldn’t it?”
Even if Daniel Steiner were hiding in another room, it wouldn’t matter much.
Among the spies gathered here today, there were some adept at seduction.
Of course, some of the company guarding Daniel Steiner might also be staying here, but this isn’t a battlefield; it’s an indoor fight.
And in indoor combat, the gathered spies are several times more skilled than soldiers.
There was no feeling that they would lose.
“Furman, right? Don’t worry too much. The people I’ve brought here are at least the best in their respective fields…”
Ding—
The mechanical bell signaling the arrival of the elevator interrupted Templet’s speech.
The attention of the other spies, who were pretending to read newspapers while sitting on the sofas or chairs in the lobby, was also heightened.
Everyone was placing their hands on the pistols inside their coats, ready to fight.
In this tense situation, when the elevator door opened, none of the spies drew their guns.
Because it wasn’t Daniel Steiner who emerged from the opened elevator, but rather his aide-de-camp, Lucy Emilia.
Lucy crossed the lobby with the click of her heels, and the spies merely watched.
After all, their target was Daniel Steiner, not his aide-de-camp.
“…”
Templet, exchanging glances with the spies, raised his hand to signal them.
— Just let her pass.
The spies, agreeing with the signal, nodded, and Lucy walked over to the hotel reception desk.
At that moment, Harom, a spy disguised as a staff member, greeted Lucy with a smile.
“Major Lucy Emilia. Good morning. Did you find your room to your liking? If you’re checking out, please come with Colonel Daniel Steiner. If not, feel free to go out.”
Lucy didn’t respond but stared at Harom intently.
Finding it uncomfortable, Harom continued, maintaining a business-like smile.
“Ah, if you’d like to know any tourist spots in Erecestiom or want to do some shopping—”
“Stop acting.”
At Lucy’s words, Harom’s smile faltered.
He was still smiling, but the atmosphere had changed.
“What do you mean by ‘acting’? What are you talking about?”
“The eagles soaring high in the sky never understand the matters beneath the earth.”
Harom’s hands trembled.
Startled, because the other party knew the cipher used internally among the intelligence agents of the United Nations.
After a moment of silence, Harom dropped his smile.
“Are you a comrade? If so, help us carry out our plan. We’ve gathered here to eliminate Daniel Steiner.”
“I decline.”
“Why is that?”
“You’re violating the principles that intelligence agents of the United Nations should uphold. All actions must be taken based on orders, but you’re thinking and acting independently.”
Harom glared at Lucy and gritted his teeth.
“Since the Palencia Branch collapsed, our communication network fell into the hands of the Empire. Naturally, headquarters is avoiding communication to avoid interception.”
“I know that.”
“Then this should make things easier for you. Should we just sit idly by and wait? I believe it’s right to take independent action for the sake of the United Nations.”
“An individual’s thoughts are not important. The important point is that you’re acting independently and my role is to punish those who do so. However, currently, I am questioning the United Nations. If you cooperate appropriately, I don’t intend to harm you.”
“Cooperate?”
“Abandon the operation to eliminate Daniel Steiner and disperse immediately. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to take forceful action.”
Harom chuckled quietly as he observed Lucy calmly.
He thought Lucy was absurdly unrealistic.
“We have nearly thirty intelligence agents gathered here. Most of them are veterans who’ve killed before. Are you seriously suggesting you’ll take them on alone?”
“That’s what I’ll do if necessary.”
“There’s no cure for stupidity, they say.”
Smirking, Harom pulled out a pistol from beneath the desk.
“The others don’t even need to intervene. I’ll kill you myself with my own hands.”
At the same time, murmurs rippled among the spies.
Templet urgently shouted at them.
“Halom! Stop this at once! You’re not in your right mind!”
“Shut up! It’s a necessary action for the greater good!”
Halom yelled at the spies, then sneered at Lucy.
“Hey, you miserable woman. Any last words you want to leave behind?”
“I think it’s you who needs to leave behind some last words.”
“Even in the end, you’re being cocky! If you have something to say, I’ll hear it. Farewell.”
Halom pulled the trigger.
Bang—
It was a natural enough event.
Halom had been pointing the gun at his own temple all along.
As Halom’s head exploded and his body collapsed to the floor, a heavy silence enveloped the hotel lobby.
One by one, the spies, tense and watching Lucy’s back, stood up.
Templet, rising from his seat and swallowing hard, shouted to those around him.
“Optical illusion! That woman is using hallucination! Under no circumstances make eye contact or speak with her!”
Templet shouted again at the hesitant spies.
“What are you doing, you fools! Shoot! Shoot now!”
Realizing this, the spies pulled their pistols and began firing one by one.
The gunshots rang out in succession as dozens of bullets flew.
But—
Pop-pop-pop—
The bullets that flew sank into a blue barrier and either stopped or fell to the ground.
It was a high-density mana shield that blocked all the bullets coming from every direction.
“How…how is this possible!?”
They could understand if it were just a few bullets, but blocking all the dozens of bullets flying around wildly from every direction was an incomprehensible phenomenon.
If such a thing were possible, the very existence of guns would have no meaning.
And yet, Lucy was handling it effortlessly.
“What the hell is that woman?”
Terrified, Templet switched his magazine just as Lucy turned around.
In her hands was the dagger that Bilbosel had affectionately used.
Just as Templet raised his pistol to pull the trigger, Lucy’s figure blurred and vanished from sight.
“Is she even using heightened sensory perception?”
Techniques that anyone could master well by mastering just one at a time, Lucy was using them in succession.
Templet, who was trying to warn as he turned his head in shock, widened his eyes.
“What…?”
Trails of blood burst forth from the spaces where Lucy’s afterimages had passed.
An agent who lost an arm screamed, while another whose neck was severed fell to the floor, foaming at the mouth.
The agents, terrified and firing their guns out of reflex, caused the bullets without a target to ricochet off the ceiling and walls.
“Aaaaargh!”
“My arm! My arm!”
“Help! Please, help me!”
Every time Templet blinked, the number of dead agents increased exponentially.
Blood was splattering everywhere, and severed body parts of the agents were floating in the air.
They wanted to resist, but they couldn’t track the speed at which Lucy moved with their eyes.
Thus, Templet, standing helplessly, slowly raised his hand to point the pistol at his own head.
It wasn’t because he had succumbed to Lucy’s hallucination.
He simply judged objectively that he couldn’t win against that woman.
He realized that the woman they called the “Red Sand” among the spies was indeed a legend.
What’s more, Templet knew that Lucy was of the “test subject” origin.
“Damn it. What kind of monsters have they created…”
Templet, filled with self-mockery, placed his finger on the trigger.
“…It’s not balanced. United Nations, you bastards.”
With his final words, Templet pulled the trigger without hesitation.
