Hearing Christina muttering beside him, Cid was struck by an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.
Suppose, and this was purely hypothetical, that Christina was the righteous protagonist of a classic novel. Then what was happening now would be the transitional scene where the protagonist had just entered the main storyline and been rescued.
She had been drawn into an enormous conspiracy by what initially seemed like an ordinary little incident. Her enemy was the Thirteen Nightblades, the vast darkness hanging over the entire Kingdom of Midgar. During an assassination attempt, she encountered Shadow, one of the legendary strongest beings in the world. The deeper she investigated, the more dangerous things became, until a mysterious figure saved her at the critical moment and revealed the truth of the world to her.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
Cid's heartbeat sped up, and the corners of his mouth curled into an excited smile.
Just imagining that kind of plot made his heart pound as though it were about to leap out of his chest.
Christina might not be a true protagonist, but Cid thought...
She could be.
"I can't get anything out of her at all. Did we really come all this way for nothing?"
Christina complained in frustration as she continued pestering Zeta with questions while Zeta took photographs.
Zeta simply ignored her and went about her work, giving off the unmistakable impression of, I already warned you. If you still want to get yourself killed, that has nothing to do with me.
As for physically grabbing her and refusing to let go...
Setting aside the fact that Zeta had just saved their lives, Christina didn't think she was stupid enough to try that.
"I don't understand. We know more things now and have more information than before, so why have the number of questions only increased?"
Christina muttered dejectedly after once again coming away empty-handed.
She had also tried searching the surroundings the same way Zeta did, but unfortunately, she wasn't a professional.
She couldn't even compare to Zeta when it came to basic support work.
Yes, yes.
It's getting even more convincing.
Cid's breathing gradually quickened.
The deeper Christina dug into the truth, the more confusing and mysterious the whole affair became.
Even her lines sounded exactly right.
Of course, the actual truth wasn't nearly as complicated as Christina imagined.
It was simply two factions hacking away at each other because killing the other side meant gaining more benefits.
Still, Cid felt there was room for a conspiracy here.
His gaze discreetly swept across the surroundings.
The ground was littered with black-clad corpses whose hearts had been pierced, along with one headless body.
Other than those, there were only crates full of supplies.
Meanwhile, Christina was staring around with a troubled expression, desperately trying to find even the slightest clue.
If she really found nothing, then they might actually have no choice but to leave as Zeta had told them.
Then the main storyline would be cut short...
How could he allow that?!
Come on, Cid.
Put that superbrain of yours to work.
Think about those classic heroic stories. How do protagonists usually obtain new information?
Rumors circulating among ordinary background characters...
As an extra myself, I could probably fill that role.
Okay.
That solved one problem.
Now, what about the other?
Cid's gaze sharpened as he looked at the corpses on the ground.
At this point, he should probably pin everything on the Thirteen Nightblades.
But...
They were almost completely wiped out already.
Even Conan couldn't have the FBI discover and destroy the Black Organization in the very first episode.
There'd be nothing left to write afterward.
Which meant the Thirteen Nightblades couldn't be the final boss.
At most, they could serve as pawns.
That left only one choice.
His trusted scapegoat for everything.
The Cult of Diablos.
Yes.
This was obviously another Diablos conspiracy.
Princess Iris might not believe it, but that didn't matter.
He only needed to fool the people who could be fooled.
Whenever something went wrong, he could just blame the rumors circulating among the public.
Having made up his mind, Cid walked over to the man who called himself Dark Spider, crouched down, and began examining the corpse carefully.
"Cid, what is it? Did you find something?!"
The instant Cid moved, Christina noticed and hurried over to question him.
"No. A few theories just occurred to me, but I'm not sure whether I should say them."
Cid spoke hesitantly, making it sound as though they truly were nothing more than idle guesses.
But he was certain Christina, whose mind was already drowning in conspiracy theories, would seize on any possible lead and press him for answers.
At the same time, Zeta, who had shown almost no emotional reaction until now and had simply been investigating the surroundings on her own, suddenly paused.
The two cat ears atop her head perked up.
"Go ahead, Cid. No one is going to blame you. If you're wrong, I'll take responsibility."
That was exactly what he had been waiting to hear.
"Just so we're clear, Christina-san, I'm actually on Princess Iris's side. But someone this powerful has remained completely unknown until now. Doesn't that suggest there might be some powerful organization behind the Thirteen Nightblades that we don't know about?"
"Suppose, just suppose, that such an organization exists and possesses this level of military power. For now, we can follow the rumors circulating among the public and call it the Cult of Diablos."
"If that theory is correct, then Christina, your suspicions would also be correct. In that case, could the Thirteen Nightblades merely be a shield the Cult of Diablos pushed forward to take the blame for them?"
"Personally, I still don't believe the Cult of Diablos actually exists. After all, there isn't any real evidence. We'd have to ask Princess Iris about that."
"I see..."
After listening to Cid's analysis, Christina sank into thought.
In truth, with only a single line of reasoning available, there wasn't much point in thinking about it.
When only one path existed, no matter how much she considered it, her thoughts would eventually circle back to the same conclusion.
There wasn't even anything else to cross-check it against.
While Christina was thinking, Zeta turned her head and cast a puzzled glance at Cid.
Here came the important part.
Cid knew that no matter how convincingly he spun the story, Zeta standing right in front of him was an obstacle he couldn't simply ignore.
After all, Zeta knew the actual situation.
Cid could only return her gaze with an expression that conveyed both certainty and a silent request.
Please play along.
At the very least, help me fill in some of the setting.
Is she the newcomer Master has chosen?
Zeta's scrutinizing gaze swept over Christina from head to toe.
Frankly, she couldn't see a single thing about Christina that made her superior to any of them.
But...
Christina was still someone Master had chosen.
In that case, as Master's cat, Zeta naturally had a duty to help resolve his troubles.
Hmm...
Master was restricted by his current identity and couldn't reveal information in too much detail.
Then she would help Christina learn the parts she ought to know.
That was what Zeta thought.
Even so, a faint trace of disappointment still rose in her heart.
Cid keenly noticed it.
The smile on his face stiffened slightly, and his eyes shifted to the side.
He knew what he was doing wasn't exactly right.
Making up childish Chuunibyou settings at a time like this was admittedly ridiculous.
But killing the Thirteen Nightblades had still helped Gamma and the others, hadn't it?
Did Zeta really have to look that disappointed in him?
"His guess is basically correct. The Nightsword Society in your country is nothing more than a shield pushed forward by the organization behind them. Aside from the man who just died, the rest were nothing but insignificant expendables."
The mysterious Therianthrope, who had remained silent ever since telling them to leave when she first appeared, finally spoke.
And her first words confirmed Cid's theory.
Christina instinctively let out a sound of surprise.
But she quickly calmed down and immediately caught the odd phrasing in Zeta's words.
Seeing that Zeta was finally willing to speak to her, Christina seized the opportunity to ask what she had wanted to know all along.
"Your country? You're from abroad, aren't you? From the Therianthrope Kingdom? Or are you part of that mysterious organization rumored to have been created by Shadow, Shadow Garden?"
"Shadow Garden? No. I really am from the Therianthrope Kingdom. As for why I came here, you could say I'm investigating something."
"?"
That answer was completely unexpected.
Judging by Zeta's response, the mysterious Therianthrope in front of them seemed to be in a situation somewhat similar to theirs.
Someone who had become involved while investigating something else.
"So you really are from the Therianthrope Kingdom. Then could you tell me why you came here...? And how much do you know about the terrifying organization you mentioned? Please tell us. I'll pay whatever compensation is appropriate."
Christina bowed her head and pleaded with her.
Zeta did not answer immediately.
Instead, she looked toward Cid, wanting to know how much she was allowed to tell Christina.
You decide, Zeta.
Cid badly wanted to make up a mountain of lore on the spot and dump it all on Christina.
But considering the disappointment Zeta had just shown toward his childish behavior, and wanting to avoid pushing her until she refused to cooperate entirely, he did his best to reassure her with his gaze.
"The reason I came here... You know about the disappearances that have been causing such an uproar in your country lately, right? People vanishing without a trace under their real identities. That isn't only happening here. Similar incidents have occurred in other countries as well."
"How is that possible?! No... Are you saying all of it was done by the terrifying organization hiding behind the Thirteen Nightblades? If that's true, then the Thirteen Nightblades really are just a shield. How many people have disappeared?"
Christina instinctively wanted to deny it.
But she immediately forced herself to accept the possibility.
Zeta's words indirectly confirmed that this terrifying organization really existed.
The Thirteen Nightblades might be powerful enough to dominate the Kingdom of Midgar, but even they weren't capable of abducting people from countries all across the world at the same time.
There was still one other possibility, though.
Perhaps only a very small number had vanished in other countries.
That was why Christina pressed for a number.
"I don't know. The other countries are all pretending not to see anything. It could be several million. Tens of millions is possible too. Reaching a hundred million is less likely, but I can't rule it out."
Zeta spoke casually.
Christina's entire body froze.
"You're joking... right?"
"I already told you, I don't know the exact number. You'll have to ask those kings who are pretending to be blind."
It was a simple answer, yet Christina didn't even know how to respond.
She wanted the number to be false because it was simply too horrifying.
But at the same time, part of her wanted it to be true.
Because if Zeta was willing to tell her something so serious, that meant she genuinely intended to communicate with her.
"...So the reason you came to the Kingdom of Midgar was to investigate this?"
"Yes. Every clue I found in the Therianthrope Kingdom pointed here without exception. But there's one problem... Your country isn't large enough."
Yes.
It wasn't large enough.
Based on the number of missing people Zeta had already uncovered, there was nowhere in the entire Kingdom of Midgar capable of concealing that many people.
And even if there were, they would still need food, water, and places to handle basic daily necessities for days on end.
That was why Zeta believed the possibility of the number reaching a hundred million was relatively low.
After giving Christina a certain amount of information, Zeta returned to her previous taciturn demeanor.
Clearly, she thought this much was enough.
"Can you tell me your name? I think we should get to know each other. You're investigating that organization, aren't you? We're doing the same thing. Why don't we work together?"
Christina could tell that Zeta had finished taking samples and gathering evidence and was preparing to leave.
She stopped worrying about whether asking was appropriate and hurriedly spoke up.
"...We'll talk about that the next time we meet."
Zeta had wanted to refuse outright.
But after glancing at Cid, she ultimately left the possibility open.
With a light push from her feet, Zeta leaped upward like an agile cat and landed on a window dozens of meters above the ground.
Just as she was about to leave, she paused.
Then she turned around and pointed toward a corner.
"I'll leave that one to you. How much information you can get out of her depends on you."
Cid and the others all followed the direction of Zeta's finger.
Eliza, who had heard the commotion, cautiously stuck her head out from the corner where she had been hiding.
Her eyes met theirs directly.
By some incredible stroke of luck, she had actually stumbled during Zeta's earlier attack and happened to avoid the fatal blow.
Only her shoulder had been injured.
"...Hey. What are you planning to do? Don't tell me you're actually going to listen to the nonsense of that lowly Therianthrope and do something to me? Let me leave now, Christina, and afterward I might still consider sparing you."
"Um... Christina-sama, what do we do now?"
Kanade asked hesitantly.
As far as she was concerned, even Christina surely wouldn't really kill the heir of a noble House just because some mysterious Therianthrope told her to.
"Kill her, obviously. Perfect timing, too. I was too busy before and ended up ignoring her. Now I can finally settle the score."
Christina spoke coldly, drew her sword, and walked toward Eliza.
"Cid, aren't you going to stop her?"
"Why would I? If Christina doesn't kill her, I will."
Cid calmly watched Eliza make a complete fool of herself in the face of death and answered without concern.
Kanade's eyes widened.
She leaned close to Cid's ear and whispered.
"If Christina-sama really kills her, there's no going back for us."
"Get lost, coward. Do you seriously think we can still go back?"
Cid stared at Kanade in shock.
No matter how he looked at it, this went beyond ordinary conservatism.
This was pure cowardice.
"Hey, Cid, Kanade. I left her barely alive. Do you two want to take a stab at her too?"
Up ahead, Christina had already crippled Eliza with ease and now called the two of them over.
"Wait for me."
Cid jogged over to Christina, took the longsword from her, and stabbed downward.
"Ah!"
A scream rang out.
Christina merely turned and looked at Kanade.
"Ugh... Fine! I don't care anymore! Yah!"
The psychological pressure kept mounting.
In the end, Kanade shut her eyes, snatched the sword away, and swung it down with all her strength.
"Kanade, you... did well!"
Christina looked at Eliza, who was now thoroughly dead, fell silent for a moment, then praised Kanade.
"Uuuugh..."
Even though she had just been praised, Kanade couldn't bring herself to smile at all.
"All right, stop crying. She should be gone by now. We should leave too."
Christina glanced toward the window Zeta had used to leave, then walked over to the passage they had entered through.
She pried open the alloy cover above it and called to the two behind her.
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