Juuto couldn’t say that he was fully on board with Akitomo’s plan. However, it wasn’t as if he had any better ideas. So this was what the two of them were going with.

This plan seemed kind of odd to him. At least the part that was told to him was. First off, he needed to make his daily meeting with Marie as usual. Though this time, he was going to be wearing an earpiece so his ally could listen along. As well as feed him some things to say in order for the boy to gather the information he needed.

What he wasn’t big on was that Akitomo refused to tell him what it was he was waiting for. For some reason, that boy stated that he had an ace over her, but didn’t want to mention to him what exactly that was. That didn’t fill the man with a lot of confidence as he sat alone at the table where they always met.

“Can you hear me?” A voice loudly rang into his ear. In anger, Juuto ripped the earpiece from his ear and yelled into it.

“Yes, I can hear you!” With that, he placed it back in.

“All right, all right.” Akitomo lowered the sound on his end. “That better?”

“Better.” He replied with a softer voice. “She should be here in a couple of minutes. Are you sure this plan of yours is going to work?”

“I can sense the doubt in your voice.” Akitomo responded. “Don’t worry, I took care of all the variables. No matter what happens, just play along.” While he said that, it wasn’t as if Juuto was privy to what the entire plan was supposed to be. The only part that Akitomo made sure to mention was that he needed the man to have his usual meeting with the woman.

Why was he trusting him? Even if he seemed to hold disdain for the woman, it couldn’t have been that long ago since they were partners. More importantly, they both held a common enemy with Rame. Surely someone like him would be willing to put aside a grudge to take out someone they believed to be evil.

“This better work.” Juuto muttered, but he had to quiet down as the woman walked up to him and sat down in front of him. “Hello.”

“It’s nice that you still have manners despite your current situation.” She had on a grin that he would’ve loved to clean right off. “Let’s get down to business, shall we?” As always, she was the one to begin the questioning. Yet just as the same, he always had the same answers for her.

“Look, nothing new’s happened since we’ve started.” He explained. “She’s just been putting in good work at the store ever since you moved in.” In fact, Juuto was aware that she had asked for extra hours for either early in the morning or before the night shift as well. Considering their prior conversation, he was certain it was because she wanted to be recognized as the employee of the month again.

“Perhaps this is her plan all along? To lure us all into a false sense of security.” She responded. Was this woman attempting to pit him against his own friend? Then again, it wasn’t as if someone could just easily change from what they used to be. Especially considering what everyone from Enatis had told him about her.

So it would seem that those seeds of doubt had already begun to take hold. “So when she’s working these extra hours, you’re not aware of her actions?”

“Not entirely.” That was true, but it wasn’t as if Juuto couldn’t talk with the other manager about her. “That said, there hasn’t been a complaint about her with the day shift.”

“She’s a deceptive individual, so it comes as no surprise to me that she can fool them. In fact, I’d say that she’s fooled you too.” Juuto wasn’t a fan of this kind of talk. She had been like this every time they had met, and he always disagreed with the assessment. Yet at the same time, it wasn’t as if the man could provide a counter argument other than, Rame had always been kind since coming here.

“If you’re trying to turn me against her, it’s not going to work.” He informed her. “Last time I checked, she’s never threatened me like you have.” Marie’s response to his declaration was to chuckle and take a sip of her tea.

“I’m only saying this to protect you. That girl will cause a lot of trouble if she’s left to her own devices.” With that said, Akitomo took this as his cue to make Juuto turn this conversation around.

“Juuto, ask her why she’s doing this. I’m assuming this has to do with her employer.”

“Why are you doing this?” Juuto asked her, making an abrupt transition in their conversation. “I mean, if she’s really as evil as you say she is, then why not just kill her already?”

“My my, looks like someone’s decided to get some bravado.” She grinned, noticing the change of his usual demeanor. “But believe me when I say this. If I could kill her, I would’ve already done so well before moving in here.”

“So why haven’t you?”

“I’m surprised to hear how eager you are to wonder why I won’t kill your so-called friend.” The way she was speaking. It made Juuto wonder if they had already been figured out. This woman was not to be underestimated, both in power and in knowledge. “Let’s just say that there are a lot of people who would love to take her power for their own desires.”

That statement sent shivers down the spine of both Juuto and Akitomo. The former because of her tone, and the latter because he knew exactly now why she was here, and who sent her. “But you already knew that. Right, Merlin?” Marie was about to expose this entire operation were it not for an unexpected guest.

“So funny running into you two.” Rame walked up to them, speaking with the world worst acting anyone had ever seen. “I didn’t know you two knew each other.” She was accompanied with her loyal servant, Mifuru.

“What are you doing here?” Juuto asked in a hushed tone. Obviously this wasn’t just some silly coincidence, nor was any of this actually a surprise to her. So why was she here?

“Well uh.” She took a moment to respond, as if needing to find an excuse. “Actually, Asaga invited us here.” He looked at her in disbelief. How dumb did she take him for?

“It appears he has yet to arrive.” Mifuru commented. Of course he hadn’t arrived yet, he thought. That man wasn’t going to be showing up at all.

“This is quite an interesting time to be meeting with you.” Marie was dismissive toward the pair. She had no love for either of them, regardless of the environment they were in. “I had been getting rather impatient with all this beating around the bush.”

“Of course, I understand.” Rame responded, unaware of the situation as the woman reached into her bag. “You wanted to get to know all of us, so you came to my boss because you’re a little shy…” While she was talking without any regard to her surroundings. Juuto heard another message from Akitomo.

“Something’s bad about to happen.” He told him. “That woman, she’s about to do something to that devil!” Juuto’s eye’s widened as he saw Marie put on those gloves again. He couldn’t be certain what she was going to do as time slowed in his mind.

“...Honestly, if you’re interested in my boss. Just know that…” Rame continued to speak, oblivious to what was about to happen to her.

Marie lifted up one of her hands, and rushed to grab Rame’s body with it. He had to think fast, and act even faster.

“Rame, watch out!” He shouted, and pushed the girl away from the table. As a result, the woman grabbed his arm. There was no sensation of pain, yet in mere seconds he found himself falling to the ground.

What was this feeling? Nothing was hurting, yet he felt as though he just ran a marathon. Thanks to his outburst, some people that were enjoying their lunch turned their attention towards them.

“What a bother.” Marie said, unimpressed with this display. With a snap of her fingers, the immediate area froze as if time had stopped. “You really can’t stop protecting such a vile creature, can you?”

“Huh?” Rame was in disbelief at what she had just witnessed. Her neighbor just produced magic that very few on Enatis was capable of. That meant that…

“Sorry it has to end this way.” Marie stood up from her seat. She ensured her gloves were fit on her hands tightly. “But I can no longer allow this farce to go on any further.” With those words, she reached her arm out towards the defenseless girl.