Chapter 131

“You’re a Transmigrator like me.”

At my words—

Raina’s face turned pale with shock.

“H-how…… d-did you……?”

No, truthfully, I wasn’t entirely sure.

That gaudy Macaw Makeup was so thick that it was hard to tell. Unlike a chameleon, a Poison Dart Frog couldn’t change its protective coloring based on emotions.

Anyway, staring at that face for nearly three hours, I was starting to get used to it.

Maybe it was because my Combat Module blocked mental corruption, or maybe it was for some other reason, but my urge to scream and run had long since vanished.

If I thought of her face as nothing more than a canvas for modern art, it wasn’t entirely unwatchable, so I continued speaking with a calmer tone.

“……Why are you so surprised?”

It was a pure question.

Hadn’t she already intended to reveal her identity?

She kept leaking information in front of me—information that only a Transmigrator could know—so I thought that was her plan.

I wasn’t joking, she was being so obvious about it that at first, I even suspected, ‘Is she just pretending to be a Transmigrator?’

But no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine how ‘pretending to be a Transmigrator’ would benefit Serena in any way. In the end, I accepted the conclusion that “Serena = Transmigrator.”

‘Hmm. It’s not like she didn’t know I was a Transmigrator…… Maybe she’s just shocked that the Stingray Chairman knows she’s one too?’

I decided to reassure her.

“You don’t need to worry. My father doesn’t seem to have any intention of doing anything to us for now.”

“What? Ah, no! My question was—how did you know I was a Transmigrator? What did you see in me that made you……?”

“……?”

I was baffled.

Wait, was she seriously trying to hide it?

After being that obvious?

Now of all times?

“I-I was obvious about it?”

“Yes. I was sure you were asking me for help.”

“W-what help?”

“When you asked me ‘what I thought of you,’ you said I was ‘a suitable marriage partner.’ Didn’t that mean you wanted me to accept you as an ally? That’s why I admitted I was a Transmigrator—to agree with you.”

“What? No, I said that because I truly……!”

Serena froze mid-sentence.

Then, as if she realized something too late, she replied in a trembling voice:

“Y-yes, that’s right. That’s what I meant.”

“……?”

What? Why did she keep flip-flopping?

And what was with that dejected look?

Wait, could it be…… was her “marriage partner” comment not a metaphor, but literal? Did she actually want to marry me?

‘No way.’

If she had seriously been considering an engagement with me from the start, she wouldn’t have shown up with makeup like that. I’d put in so much effort spreading the rumor through the social circles: “Aaron Stingray hates Macaw Makeup.”

Yet she still came flaunting that face. That had to mean she wasn’t interested in me. At the very least, it wasn’t an expression of affection.

No need to overthink it.

This meeting was a “conspiracy” disguised as a “marriage interview.”

Marriage and all that nonsense were just decorative fluff. What mattered was the true meaning beneath it.

So, for now……

“Let’s move.”

“What? W-where to?”

“Somewhere safer.”

This hotel was a place designated by the Stingray Chairman. Even if he already knew Serena and I were Transmigrators, there was no reason to keep having an important conversation inside that old man’s belly.

More importantly, there was someone I wanted to call.

I rose from my seat and approached Serena. Pretending to brush dust from her clothes, I whispered softly:

“Head up to Room 9013 first.”

“W-what!? T-today’s the first time we’ve met!”

“Wash that makeup off and wait quietly. I’ll be up soon.”

Hiccup.

Serena started hiccupping.

It felt like she was having some ridiculous misunderstanding, but I let it go. If I was the one who misunderstood her intentions, then I’d only be embarrassing myself.

‘I really can’t read her expressions under that makeup.’

Anyway—

That makeup was the problem.

About twenty minutes later.

“I’m here, Aaron~!”

I had called Ciel to the hotel.

It was fairly late at night, but that didn’t matter. Ciel was an Android, so staying awake twenty-four hours a day was standard.

After giving her a brief explanation, we headed together to Room 9013, where Serena was waiting.

The moment I opened the door—

Swaaaaa—!

The sound of rushing water filled the air.

[Ah, Aaron……? Y-you’re here already?]

A flustered voice came from the shower.

The instant I heard it, I realized my earlier worry hadn’t been unfounded.

Damn it.

Serena was definitely misunderstanding.

I wanted to fling open the shower door and shout, ‘Why the hell are you showering! That’s not what I meant! Just get out here!’

But of course, I couldn’t.

“……Ciel.”

“Yes?”

“I’m going to step out for a bit. You explain things to her.”

“Huh? What?! Wait, Aaron~?”

I chose to escape for now.

I left the room, but I couldn’t just sit around doing nothing while things inside sorted themselves out. I sat down on a sofa in the hotel corridor and started going over my thoughts again.

The first question:

‘What is the Stingray Chairman thinking?’

I understood that he wanted to connect me with Serena because she was a Transmigrator like me. Just as he had seen through my identity back at the G20, he must have seen right through her soul as well.

But what benefit could he possibly gain from binding Serena and me—the Transmigrators—together in engagement?

It couldn’t just be something as shallow as, ‘You two are similar, so why don’t you play nice together?’

Second question.

‘Why was Serena trying to betray the Transmigrator Alliance?’

Transmigrator Alliance.

That was the temporary name I’d given it, but I wasn’t sure if that was its real name. Serena had only said there was a group of people similar to her.

Whether the organization connected to Serena was the same one that planted mines in the hunting grounds, or the same group found in the graves, I’d have to ask more later to find out.

And the third question.

This was less a question and more a worry.

‘What happened to Evangeline?’

She was supposed to have a private meeting with the Stingray Chairman today—what on earth did the Chairman plan to do by calling her in? Was he going to perform some strange experiment now that he knew she was a “witch”?

If that happened……

‘I’d storm in and shred him.’

I’d assumed we would eventually be at odds with the Stingray Chairman, but not yet. At least until I cleared a few more episodes, it made more sense to bow my head and gain the advantages that came with being the son, rather than openly oppose him.

But if he suddenly changed his attitude and started harming me or the people around me, there would be no reason to keep playing the dutiful son.

Even if the result of that fight was my head being taken by the Chairman’s direct Stingray ninja squad, I was prepared to blow up the entire Stingray Tower with him still inside.

‘I hoped nothing happened to Evangeline.’

I was finishing that prayer and wrapping up my thoughts when a scream came from Room 9013.

About five minutes later, there was a clack, and Ciel appeared somewhat pale and called to me.

“Y-you may come in…….”

“All right.”

When I stepped inside, Serena sat on the sofa with a clean face. Her makeup gone, her face was raw-red like a beet.

She looked as if her mind was in turmoil, but I didn’t need to point that out in such an already awkward atmosphere. For now, not having to look at that damned makeup was a victory.

I sat opposite Serena, and Ciel stood beside me with her hands politely folded. It seemed to be a habit ingrained from being an Android, so I pulled her hand and sat her down next to me.

Serena, who had been watching that whole process, opened her mouth as if to say something, then stopped.

“…….”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Then silence again.

Both of them except me seemed so uncomfortable that they couldn’t even meet each other’s eyes. If I didn’t step in, that strange quiet would just continue to hang in the air.

No choice.

I had some responsibility for this mess, so I had to clean it up.

“……I’ll explain first.”

I let out a short breath and began.

First, I laid out the situation.

I explained, in order, that all three of us were Transmigrators, that Serena had asked me for an alliance, and that the Stingray Chairman had arranged this marriage interview.

Next, I set the objectives.

I bluntly shared the things I’d been thinking in the corridor: the Chairman’s unclear motives, Evangeline’s situation, and the Transmigrator Alliance.

Finally, I proposed concrete plans.

“So my thought for now is—”

“W-wait. Hold on!”

Serena suddenly interrupted me.

She cried out in an excited tone.

“I can’t follow this! What are you even talking about right now?”

“What part don’t you understand? Ciel, was there anything you didn’t get?”

“Hmm~?”

Ciel tilted her head.

Serena, however, shook her head and shouted.

“Everything from one to ten! What do you mean the Stingray Chairman? What about Evangeline? How did you even know about us!?”

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

“I-I said that too?”

“……?”

They were really weird.

She’d told me everything herself and now acted like she hadn’t.

Although she hadn’t said it outright, her tone suggested she had some knowledge of my actions since becoming a Transmigrator; there wasn’t anything I couldn’t understand.

As I thought that—

“Uuuuuuu…!”

Serena suddenly clutched her head and writhed in agony, screaming, “I’m crazy, I’m crazy!” and banging her head, too.

After a long while, she calmed down and, with an expression that was more sullen than composed, opened her mouth.

“A-Aaron……”

“What is it?”

“Could you… start from the very beginning and explain again? This feels completely different from what I know.”

…….

A bad feeling crept up, like I’d made a mistake, but it was too late to turn back now.

So I had no choice but to tell Serena everything—from the prologue up to the end of Act 4 of Part 1, and even the recent fight with Araya—down to the details.

“N-no way.”

“What do you mean, ‘no way’?”

“I-That’s completely different from what our group figured out! Wasn’t Aaron the one who killed the protagonist?”

“He wasn’t.”

Shade’s bastard had tried to change the original story on his own and died for his trouble. How much of a nuisance had that idiot caused me…!

Ah. My blood boiled again.

But I held it in.

What good would complaining about a dead bastard do?

“I thought Aaron was the one who killed Evangeline.”

“No, the culprit was Araya. And Evangeline was reborn in the form of a child.”

“So that attack was real? It wasn’t a staged incident by the Stingray Group?”

“I should be asking that. With an obvious culprit, why would you think it was staged?”

“Because we judged the group we’re connected to to be a dying cult that wouldn’t have the power to carry out such a terror. And in the original work, you were a notorious killer, so naturally—”

Sigh.

I sighed deeply.

In short, it was prejudice.

“Aaron is a bad guy!”

Therefore everything that made him look good in the news was a play he’d put on alone! That kind of thinking.

I could understand the sentiment, but wasn’t it too one-dimensional? Were the people in Serena’s organization really so stupid they couldn’t make that basic deduction?

As I inwardly thought how pathetic that was—

“B-but ‘that person’ said it though! Their words have never been wrong.”

“‘That person’?”

When I asked that, Serena frowned as if she’d realized she’d said too much, but then, as if there was no turning back, she continued.

“I don’t know the exact name. But they lead the organization I belong to. They gathered other Transmigrators, and they always provided funds and connections so we could operate.”

“You don’t know who it is?”

“I don’t. But I have a guess.”

“Who?”

“Ah, seriously. If I say this I can’t take it back…!”

Serena, who looked like she regretted it the moment she spoke, looked at my face, blushed, and answered.

“Omega Investment.”

“……What?”

Serena repeated herself.

“The Motherboard of Omega Investment. That transcendent AI!”

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