Chapter 198: Confrontation
Zetto being in danger was the last thing they wanted. But it happened, and the three of them had different ideas.
One was trying to make the situation work in her favor.
One was feeling annoyed.
And the last one was feeling a sense of liberation that wasn’t quite clear.
It was Yuri who broke the silence in the room.
“I’ll protect Zetto. Is that clear?”
“Protect him?”
“It’s simple, I’ll kill every assassin that comes after him, right?”
“How can you?”
“…Why are you arguing all of a sudden?”
Yuri glared at Aizel, who was talking in a sarcastic voice.
“Cadet Yuri… Could it be that Cadet Aizel is trying to say that it’s too much for cadet Yuri to stop by herself…?”
Kaen said, holding out her palm in a gesture to calm down.
“No, I’m just saying that I’m more than enough on my own.”
Aizel quickly corrects Kaen.
“Why are you saying I can’t?”
“How many assassins are out to get Zetto’s head, and how many do you think you can take out even if you stop them? Four? Five? Numbers don’t matter unless you remove the underlying ’cause,’ and the problem is that Zetto’s life is in constant danger.”
“The underlying cause…? The client?”
“That’s right.”
“But it doesn’t say anything about the client…?”
“Of course it doesn’t, but there’s always a ‘bank’ between the client and the assassination guild.”
“Banks” is a slang term for the giant intermediary organizations of the underworld.
When a bank receives a job, it connects it to a specific person or guild.
In many ways, the bank is an organized system, with three organizations working together in a balanced way.
In the underworld, it was common to use a bank because it was easier and more convenient to do business with them, as it was risky to take on dirty jobs directly.
Of course, in a case like Zetto’s, it’s important to note that the requesting party didn’t entrust the job to a specific guild or person, but rather a “white letter of request” that anyone could access the information.
Aizel was quite familiar with the inner workings of the information guild, Black Hand, as she had been hanging out with them often.
“That’s why I’m the only one who can protect Zetto.”
“…Ha.”
Aizel’s voice was firm but Yuri laughed in disbelief.
“Isn’t this too dangerous for you to do in the first place, and is there any reason why you, the precious young lady of a famous family, should do it?”
“Because I said I would protect Zetto.”
“You don’t have to. Zetto has me.”
Aizel, who didn’t like the fact that they were having this conversation in the first place, snapped.
“Oh, so that’s why Zetto went looking for you…”
Yuri trailed off and at the same time, the sound of teeth grinding could be heard.
“…Keep talking.”
Aizel’s eyes had lost their light as she spat in a high-pitched voice.
“Why? Isn’t it true? You already failed to protect Zetto once…Now you’re too insecure, so you have a problem with me protecting Zetto myself?”
Yuri eventually touched the bomb and the war of words became more intense.
“Zetto and I…!”
We love each other, so don’t talk to me like I’m nothing to Zetto.
Aizel’s words are interrupted by Kaen’s soothing voice.
“Now, now… We don’t need to get into a shouting match, do we…?”
“”……””
“Anyway… You guys aren’t planning on telling Cadet Zetto about this, are you?”
Kaen continued to play dumb, recapping the situation step by step. It looked like she was just recapping, but she was conveying the message that Zetto shouldn’t know about this.
Because that’s what she wanted.
“You know Zetto’s personality. He’ll probably try to handle it himself. That would put him in more danger.”
At Yuri’s reply, Aizel thought to herself.
‘As if she knows anything about Zetto…’
Kaen continues to calmly guide the conversation since cooperation didn’t seem like the right word to use in this situation.
“I agree with you that it would be dangerous for Cadet Zetto to be out and about as usual.”
I wouldn’t mind if they didn’t cooperate, but I needed to get things in order.
“But we’re going to the East soon, and we’re going to be out and about… inevitably. Even if they don’t know the academy’s schedule, if we run into assassins…”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to kill assassins in front of Zetto.”
“I see… Should we inform the instructors of this as well…?”
“I think it’s best to let them know, just in case. I don’t think they’ll be willing to tell Zetto, who’s the real culprit.”
“So it’s that big of a deal…”
“Don’t worry, Kaen. I’ll keep an eye on him somehow. All you have to do is hold on to him.”
“…Then I’ll make sure to hold on to him.”
Kaen smiled faintly because things were going as she had hoped.
At that moment, Aizel, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between Kaen and Yuri, stood up.
“I have no intention of working with you.”
“So be it.”
“Ah, Cadet Aizel…!”
Kaen chased after Aizel, who quickly opened the door and left the room.
“Cadet Aizel…”
After following her down the hallway, Aizel stopped in her tracks.
“…”
Aizel’s golden eyes glowed in the dark hallway as she looked at Kaen.
“Kaen.”
“…What?”
“Why are you acting like such a fool?”
“What, acting…?”
“Ordinary support for a friend in danger. Did you want to act like that?”
“…What are you talking about, Cadet Aizel.”
Kaen made a dumbfounded face as if he didn’t understand Aizel’s words, which made Aizel grin wryly.
“Funny. On the subject of wearing Zetto’s clothes.”
“Cadet Zetto’s clothes…? This is just a regular shirt.”
Kaen said, holding up her own shirt, which was indeed an unremarkable shirt.
Aizel nuzzled her face into Kaen’s chest and sniffed.
“That’s his scent. Zetto’s scent.”
There was no way Aizel would forget it.
In Kaen’s room, she’d been unsure, but now she was certain.
It was Zetto’s scent.
Zetto’s body odor.
Zetto’s clothes.
Zetto.
It was all hers.
And to think that another woman, someone other than herself, was taking it, coveting it, made Aizel feel so uncomfortable.
“If you’re going to act, do it right. Wearing Zetto’s clothes and saying such things gives away your intentions, doesn’t it?”
“Puhhh…”
Suddenly, Kaen let out a sinister laugh.
“…I guess I can’t fool Cadet Aizel after all.”
She stopped pretending and Aizel grinned wickedly as Kaen revealed her true colors.
“It’s too bad you picked up an assassination order on a walk in the first place. You met the assassin who came for Zetto today, did you kill him?”
“Yes, I killed him, not Cadet Aizel.”
“I’m sorry… I’ve been busy, too. Granted, I wasn’t dealing with some lowlife with an assassination order in his pocket, but… ”
“Ah, I see.”
Kaen replied in a nonchalant voice.
Eisel decided to cut to the chase and went straight to the chase.
“…Get your dirty hands off Zeto.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because he doesn’t love you anyway, and it’s me he loves, not you.”
“You sound so sure of yourself.”
“Yeah, I’ve already confirmed it.”
Aizel had seen with her own eyes that his curse had disappeared since Zetto had kissed her.
Of course, there was no way to prove it now that the curse was gone, but it was clear in her memory.
Aizel’s confidence is shattered, however, by Kaen’s next words.
“…Then Cadet Zetto must have been the kind of man who could lock lips with someone he didn’t love.”
“What do you mean?”
Aizel’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
At the sound of kissing, Aizel’s golden eyes flashed and he growled.
“Cadet Zeto and I have kissed before, once, he first. Another time, I did.”
“You’re lying…”
“…Though it’s easier on me if you believe that.”
Kaen smirked.
Soon, a horrible aura leaked out of Aizel, who repeatedly muttered something along the lines of “Zetto wouldn’t do that.:
“…”
Kaen didn’t give in to this, either.
In fact, all her plans had long since been thrown out the window.
Yuri had also been listening to their conversation.
“I’m the only one who can protect him.”
With that, Yuri, her eyes blank, left them alone and disappeared into the darkness at the end of the corridor.
Kaen clicked her tongue at the sound of Yuri’s footsteps behind her.
Since the three women’s goals had been the same from the beginning, there was no picture of Kaen having Zetto all to herself.
It was chaos and not even they knew where it would end.
However Kaen hoped that at the end she would end up by Zetto’s side.