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"W-What? How did you recognize me?"
"It's all too obvious."
"Tch."
The old woman craned her neck to the side, peering at the people sitting in the living room on the first floor.
"There are faces I don't recognize?"
"They're all trustworthy friends. It's okay."
"Is that so?"
Without being given permission to enter, the old woman stepped into the house.
As she entered the living room, her hunched back straightened.
"Ah, so stuffy."
The old woman raised her hand and peeled off her face.
"Eek!"
Startled, Bellus nearly dropped the tray of drinks.
Bonita, who was beside him, quickly swung her scabbard to catch the tray.
An incredible reaction speed.
"Ah, don't be too surprised. I'm not peeling off my skin, it's a mask."
After peeling off the face, a beautiful face in her early twenties appeared.
It was Sophie Mare, a spy from the Marino Empire.
Hic.
Bellus started hiccuping this time.
"D-Davian oppa's... hidden lover. An incredible beauty and older woman... hic."
Sophie threw off the sackcloth she had been wearing for the old woman disguise.
Tight-fitting leather clothes were revealed.
"E-Even her figure is perfect... hic."
Sophie looked at Bellus, who was hiccuping.
"Who's that kid? I've never seen him before. But why is he like that?"
"He's a junior who will be entering next year. Don't mind him. But what brings you here? It's dangerous. Weren't you meeting Mons separately on a regular basis?"
"I am. By the way, where did Mons go?"
"He's in the backyard. Overseeing the construction site. What's the matter?"
Sophie plopped down on an empty spot on the sofa.
"Are you sure everyone here is trustworthy?"
"I told you they are."
Sophie patted the sofa next to her with her palm.
Davian went and sat next to Sophie.
Sophie lowered her voice even more.
"A new directive arrived last night."
Davian, who had been leaning forward and concentrating on Sophie's words, leaned back on the sofa again.
"I thought it was something else. You can talk to Mons about that. It's dangerous to come all the way here."
"That directive is about..."
Sophie lowered her voice even more.
"...Hitting this place."
"What? I can't hear you."
Sophie's voice grew louder again.
"Ugh! Hitting this place! Your house!"
"Hitting this house? When is it?"
"The date hasn't been set yet. It seems like a few more people are coming over from the Empire. I'm supposed to join them and plan the operation. I guess they want me to guide them since I was here first."
Davian slowly nodded.
"They're planning to take care of it outside the academy before the vacation ends."
"That's right. They'll be coming over soon."
"You don't know how many are coming? What's their skill level?"
"I don't know anything either. I'll have to meet them to find out. And everyone has received basic spy training, so you can't immediately grasp their skills just by meeting them."
Davian put his hand on his forehead.
"Aish. We haven't even moved in for long."
Sophie stared at Davian with a dumbfounded expression.
"Ha. Is that what you're worried about now? Your house getting ruined when you haven't been here long?"
"Then what should I be worried about? We even have you, Sophie, a double agent, on our side."
"Who knows when I might turn around and hold a knife to your neck."
A firm voice was heard from the door connected to the backyard.
"Then you'll die by my hand."
"Ah, Mons. Hello."
"Hello, Sophie. That better be a joke."
"It is a joke. Ahaha. I was just saying it. Come and sit down, Mons. We need to come up with a counter plan."
Davian also gestured to Mons.
"Yeah, come and sit down, Mons. Someone is about to invade our house."
"Who are you talking about?"
"The Marino Empire bastards, who else."
At that moment, a vein popped out on Mons's temple.
"Those dog-like bastards. Tell them to come, however many they are. I'll crush them all."
Davian looked around at his friends.
"You guys will help too, right? You said this place is spacious, comfortable, cozy, and safe. Someone is invading such a hideout. We have to combine our strength."
Bonita raised her scabbard and shook it.
"Of course. We can't let those who mess with us get away with it."
"They're coming to get me, not us."
"T-That's right. We're a team! The Gray Bear Expedition Team."
Liber chimed in.
"Right! Those who mess with our expedition team are enemies of us all!"
Latia slowly ran her fingers through her blonde hair.
"Well, I was just starting to get attached to the interior of this hideout, so if someone's invading, of course we have to kick them out."
"Good! Then let's make a plan!"
Centered around Liber, the Gray Bear Expedition Team began to devise a plan to defeat the enemy.
They say it's a plan, but they're quickly laughing and joking, discussing who has a more important role.
Davian Naone watches that scene.
Of course, he didn't ask his friends for help because he was afraid of the Marino Empire people invading.
'Practical experience is important.'
Practical experience is important to make these friends stronger.
'They'll be suitable opponents.'
The opponent is a spy organization.
Even in a visible battle between organizations, opponents are matched according to their skills.
You don't use a knife for slaughtering cows to catch chickens.
Moreover, the opponent is a spy organization.
No matter how large the Marino Empire is, there can't be many spies with outstanding skills who are unknown to the world.
In order to deploy them for more important missions in the future, it is efficient to select spies who can complete the mission with minimal skills.
For example, they wouldn't use a card capable of assassinating the head of the Cirims Magic Department to kill a first-year student at the academy.
'They've already failed several times, so they'll be careful when sending them, but that doesn't mean an absurdly strong person will come.'
Davian is still a chicken.
There's nothing as foolish as taking out a knife for slaughtering cows to catch Davian.
Even if they succeed, they won't even break even if their identity is exposed.
But there's something they still don't know.
'The chicken on this side happens to be a fighting chicken.'
A week later.
Sophie Mare's cabin.
Knock knock.
It was late, but the sound of knocking on the door was heard.
Sophie Mare, who was lying in bed enjoying her leisure time, got up lightly.
"Who is it? At this hour. Have the Marino Empire people already arrived?"
Sophie went to the living room and opened the front door.
Creak.
"It's been a while, Sophie Mare."
"Y-You're here...?"
"Why, are you surprised?"
"No. Come in. I just can't believe you came all the way here just to catch one academy student."
Led by the man who greeted Sophie, three more men entered.
Sophie, wearing a forcedly calm expression, guided the men to the sofa.
The man sitting on the sofa thumped his foot.
"Is it under here? Where you've hidden your treasures."
Sophie was inwardly startled, but she barely maintained a calm expression.
"I can't fool your eyes, after all. Obsess."
Obsess.
A man in his mid-50s with a thin body.
Dark hair and black eyes contrasting with his white skin.
He was wearing a long robe, and only bones were visible on his wrists and the backs of his hands outside the robe.
His long nails were pointed at the ends.
He didn't look like a warrior who used weapons.
The man called Obsess smiled and gestured.
"I'm thirsty after coming a long way. Bring me something to drink?"
"Ah, yes. Wait a moment."
Sophie Mare's fingertips trembled slightly as she headed to the kitchen.
Obsess didn't miss that.
"Are you still nervous and afraid when you see me?"
"W-What are you talking about? We've been colleagues for a long time now."
"Is that so? We're already colleagues, so you shouldn't be afraid of me anymore."
Unlike the emaciated Obsess, the three men who came with him were burly.
They were all carrying large weapons and shields on their backs, as if showing off.
They didn't look like assassins or spies at all.
Sophie, who had gone into the kitchen, came out with four glasses of grape juice.
Obsess, who had been slowly looking around the cabin, opened his mouth.
"By the way. Sophie, you said that earlier, didn't you? You can't believe I came all the way here just to catch one academy student."
Sophie put down one glass of grape juice on the table in front of the sofa.
"I did. I never thought a big shot like you would come."
Obsess snapped his fingers.
"Bingo. That's right. I thought so too. At first, I thought about grilling the guy who came to deliver the order form."
Sophie's spine tingled.
"Y-You could do that."
"But when I read the order form in detail, there was a very welcome name written at the bottom. Your name, Sophie Mare."
Obsess picked up the grape juice and took a big sip.
"Only then did I realize the intentions of the higher-ups... Sophie, you failed the last mission, didn't you? That mission was to kill the guy I came to kill now."
"I-I took care of it for sure! I don't know how those guys got out."
"Anyway, that guy is still alive, so the mission failed. So, in my opinion, the intentions of the higher-ups are probably..."
Obsess leaned down and placed his finger on the table.
It was a hand with thin fingers and long nails with all the bones exposed, making it look particularly unpleasant.
"Maybe they sent me to check if your mind has changed. What do you think? Sophie."
"C-Change? What do you mean. Even if my mind changes, my family is still being held captive, so what can I do."
"Is that so? You're a good Sophie Mare."
"I'll go to the bathroom for a moment. Make yourselves comfortable."
"Okay, okay. Sophie Mare."
Sophie barely held on to her legs, which were about to give way, and came out of the cabin.
"Hoo, hoo."
As soon as she came outside, her breathing became more labored and her heart pounded.
"Obsess... that demon."
Even in the fear that overwhelmed her, Sophie gritted her teeth.
The memories of that day, which she had barely forgotten, came to mind.
No, she had never forgotten it for a moment.
She had just forcibly buried it in her heart.
The day the village burned down and people died.
The only survivors were Sophie and her family.
The reason why the Marino Empire bastards burned Sophie's village was absurdly simple.
They coveted the unique magic bomb technology that Sophie's father possessed.
Her family was all taken hostage, and Sophie's father was taken to the Empire and forced to research and manufacture magic bombs.
And Sophie, who was only thirteen years old at the time, was taken somewhere else.
That was the organization she now belonged to.
And that day.
The one who killed all the villagers, threatened her father, and took her family hostage was the one.
Obsess, who is now in the living room drinking grape juice and relaxing.
Tears streamed down Sophie's eyes.
In her tightly clenched fists, her nails dug into her flesh and blood dripped down.
"Someday, I'll definitely kill you... Obsess, you demon bastard."
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