Chapter 229: Above the Cloud 4
Stopping in front of the meeting room, Naomi felt a familiar Esper’s pressure that she wanted to forget inside the room. The pressure belonged to the freak that changed her into a boy.
She was about to storm inside the room to kill the freak, but then she felt the others’ Esper pressure too. They belonged to Rekka, Chi, Melaine, and Hyun-Woo. Naomi also felt Bel’s energy inside. She also felt another presence that she guessed belonged to her mother.
At that moment, she became a bit confused.
‘Why does my mom and the other let that freak inside the meeting room? Melaine also sat beside him on top of that.’
She then adjusted her ears to eavesdrop, only to hear something ridiculous from Melaine talking inside the room.
“… wanted to become the king of his world by saving it.”
Naomi’s lips twitched a bit. She couldn’t understand what Melaine said because she lacked some context, but she was sure she was talking about Avos.
‘What a madman. He wanted to become a king? This is a modern era, not medieval era. Indeed England still has a Queen, but that's their tradition that goes back to the past.’ She thought.
Because she couldn’t handle the truth, Naomi held her head and sighed. ‘So that’s why he asked me that question? He thought that I wanted to become the ruler of the world by attacking his organization. Bullshit.’
After she thought of facing him seriously, she found out that his goal was to become the king? Melaine also said that he wanted to become a king of his world by saving it.
After thinking for a while, she arrived at a conclusion that Avos’ reason for creating the Esper Association was to rule them. His reason was non-existent, much more like her.
‘And he got angry when I told him I attacked his organization because I was bored. Of course, I am a hypocrite, but isn’t he worse?’
After discovering Avos’ reason for starting the Esper Association, Naomi’s determination to end the war as fast as possible becomes firmer.
She sighed a little before opening the door of the meeting room. When she opened the door, the eyes of everyone in the room suddenly focused on her.
“Princess…” Hyun-Woo muttered. “W-Why are you here, Princess? Aren’t you still resting?” He asked.
“I have enough rest. Anyway, I heard everything.” Naomi said, walking toward her usual seat between Rekka and her mother.
The others were looking at her nervously, except for Melaine and Mizuki.
“Do you have enough fun?” Mizuki asked as Naomi sat on her seat, smiling.
“Yes. I have enough rest and fun with Mischa.” Naomi answered the smile back before turning to Melaine. “Now I can concentrate on the war.” She said.
“Lady Naomi…” Melaine muttered, feeling a bit guilty as her eyes looked down a little.
“Don’t feel guilty for hiding Avos’ goal, Melaine. Whatever his goal is, I don’t care about it. We need to stop him all the same.” Naomi said with a firm tone.
Melaine looked up, staring straight at Naomi’s eyes. “Yes.”
Naomi nodded, satisfied, then looked at Angella, who sat beside Melaine at the table. His appearance was different from before. He was dirty, and the luster of his hair had been covered by dirt and mud.
“You. Angella, was it?” Naomi asked, her voice was low and cold.
“Yes, indeed. First of all, please let me offer my apologies for attacking without telling you the general plan that I have with Melaine. I need to avoid Darika’s vision so Avos wouldn’t be suspicious of me.” Angella nodded, explaining his reason.
Naomi was surprised inside. ‘What plan?’ She asked inside her mind.
However, it seemed like they were having a conversation before she arrived. From what Angella said, Naomi could somehow guess how the conversation went.
‘So Melaine planned something behind my back, and this guy is her collaborator? Knowing Melaine, I know she only wanted to have fun by asking this guy to turn me into a boy. That girl, I will have a private talk with her later.’
Naomi was by no means knew about Angella’s real ability. And she certainly didn’t know what change it brought to her body. She only knew that her senses become sharper after turning back into a girl, but that was it.
Seeing that Angella was actually Melaine’s friend and seemed tamer than the others from the Esper Association, Naomi brushed him off and decided to forget about what he did. Of course, she didn’t forgive him for suddenly turning her into a boy, but she beat the crap out of him, so she at least allowed him to stay.
The others didn’t seem to mind Angella’s presence, too, as they brought him to this room. If, by chance, she found out that Angella was a spy sent by the Esper Association, she would show him why he should never mess with her or the Moon of Akasha.
Her subordinates were talented individuals, and surely, they would have no problem facing Angella, whose ability could now be countered by the rings they developed using Esper's blood.
“Forget about that,” Naomi said, turning to Chi. “Chi, give him a room in the base, but ask Hanz to monitor him.” She ordered.
“Yes, Princess. I will do so.” Answered Chi.
The atmosphere turned serious suddenly. The topic of the conversation also changed from Angella to War, ignoring the fact that Angella was still in the room.
Naomi was confident that Chi’s subordinate would monitor Angella. So she deliberately showed Angella how their war preparation was, in case he actually reported back to the Esper Association, to intimidate them with their power.
“Alright.” Naomi nodded, turning to her mother this time. “What about the weapon for the non-Esper combatant, mom?”
“That’s done. Hotaru and Luna help a lot in transporting the materials. The research about the Nuke that attacked us on the day of the press conference is almost finished. I believe we can get the result tomorrow.”
“That’s good,” Naomi responded. “Next, Melaine.” She called out, looking at Melaine.
“Yes, Lady Naomi!” Melaine answered with a high spirit. No one would ever think that she was someone who talked with a serious expression earlier.
“Do you know where Avos’ base is?”
Melaine shook her head, “To be honest, I don’t know. He always used his ability to go to his base. That’s why I can’t find Darika too.”
“The executives also don’t know about his base.” Angella chimed in. “We only gather in the Executive meeting room whenever we have a conversation with Avos.”
“Oh?” Naomi let out an amazed voice. She finally got a clue about where the rest of the Executives were. “And, where is this meeting room located?” She asked, staring at Angella.
Angella gulped under Naomi’s gaze but managed to utter the location of the Esper Association’s Executives meeting room. “It’s located in the Esper Association’s main headquarters, an underground room in Antarctica.”