Infiltrating the Superhuman Training Girls’ School of the Republic of China!

By the time my release procedures were finished, the sun was already setting over the western mountains. Fortunately, thanks to being fed meals in prison, I wasn’t particularly hungry. It wasn’t a delicious menu, but… I’m not really a picky eater to begin with, and given the nature of my job, it would be difficult to do this work if I had particular tastes.

When I returned to the front of the dormitory, I saw familiar faces. Shradha Bhatt and Briar Churchill were pointing fingers at each other as usual, arguing back and forth.

“She did it!”

“She wouldn’t have!”

“No, no, she definitely did it. That girl committed it.”

“Why are you talking like that about your own roommate? Weren’t you quite friendly with her? Is that how it is for a noble lady like you – no such thing as friends? A relationship where you can cast them aside and treat them as murderers anytime?”

“No, I just said she’s probably the murderer, I didn’t say anything about casting her aside!”

“That’s even weirder!”

I quietly slipped in between the two of them. Shradha Bhatt and Briar Churchill were so focused on arguing with each other that they didn’t notice my presence until I was right in front of them.

“Excuse me, what are you two discussing about me?”

“Ah, you’re here!”

“Oh, no, it’s not like that…”

Churchill and Shradha’s reactions were opposite. Churchill shouted in excitement, while Shradha was flustered at being caught arguing about whether I was a murderer or not. Let’s take comfort in the fact that at least Shradha Bhatt is a sensible woman.

“Ah, Eun-young. It was you who did it, right? The murder, I mean. Somehow you got released due to insufficient evidence, but the situation is that you did it but they let you go to avoid diplomatic issues. I can tell just by looking.”

“I-I’m sorry. We were betting… that’s true, but I didn’t mean it like that. Rather, I was angry at this woman for so blatantly suspecting you, Shin Eun-young, so I bet on the opposite side out of spite…”

“I didn’t do it,” I said nonchalantly. Churchill’s expression drooped in disappointment.

“What? Really?”

“I’m telling you, I didn’t. Do I look like someone who would go around killing people, Briar?”

“Wait a minute, let me see…”

Churchill rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a 100 pound note, placing it in Bhatt’s hand. For both Shradha Bhatt and Briar Churchill, 100 pounds would be pocket change. It seemed the two rich kids had really just bet what amounted to snack money for them.

“But hey, commoner. I’m not trying to say this in a bad way, but from what I’ve seen of you over the past month, you seemed like someone who could kill a person or two without batting an eye.”

“That’s why I’m asking why you’re talking so rudely about your own roommate, woman. Do you have no intention of forming amicable relationships, Briar Churchill?”

Shradha Bhatt raised a sensible criticism. Shradha Bhatt was one of the few sensible people in this class. The reason she constantly clashes with Briar Churchill is not only due to the emotional divide between colony and ruling country, but more fundamentally because Churchill is unreasonable and Bhatt is reasonable.

“That’s a fair point, but I’m fine with it. If I couldn’t adapt, I would have quit and left the dormitory a couple weeks ago.”

“If it were me, I really would have.”

“But Eun-young, you wouldn’t do that, right? Because Eun-young is full of thoughts of wanting to become my lover.”

“W-What? Between women?”

Now this is a sensible reaction I haven’t seen in a while. In an all-girls school like a flower garden… no, is it like a flower garden? A more apt metaphor might be, in the middle of an Amazon jungle-like girls’ school, after dealing with women who have gone crazy with desire to violate women, such a reaction feels refreshingly novel.

…But for the sake of consistency in my behavior, I shouldn’t respond too sensibly to Shradha’s sensible reaction.

“I am interested. Ms. Bhatt, you’d have to admit this too, but Briar Churchill does have quite a nice face, at least.”

“Her body’s not bad either.”

“Please don’t say such things about yourself, Briar.”

Shradha Bhatt seemed slightly confused, but she didn’t show any particularly strong aversion to that kind of relationship. It’s a world where everything is a mess. Unless there are religious reasons, there’s no clear reason to feel strongly opposed to that sort of licentiousness.

“So, you really didn’t do it? I gave Shradha the money I bet, but Eun-young, I still can’t believe your innocence. You know, you’re really the type of person who could kill someone without blinking an eye. Because a woman without that level of cold-bloodedness couldn’t possibly take the upper hand against a monster like Zhou Lizhi.”

“Hmm…”

As Shradha Bhatt continued to look confused, rolling her eyes, I fell into deep thought. Well, there’s probably no need to go to the trouble of denying even this.

“That’s right. I think I’m probably not the type of woman who couldn’t kill if necessary. Maybe I realized it after awakening my ability. Or maybe I was always that kind of person. But this time, I didn’t kill. I’m sure of it.”

“On what grounds should I believe you?”

“Because there was nothing to gain by killing her.”

“So you’re saying you could kill someone if there was something to gain?” Shradha Bhatt asked, grimacing. I shrugged.

“Ms. Shradha Bhatt. Your company actively supports Indian independence, right?”

“…Always through peaceful means.”

“There were also forces trying to achieve independence through violent methods. How do the Indian Congress and various Indian independence activists evaluate them? If this Briar Churchill here were a very cruel British governor, and it was said that eliminating her would save the suffering Indian people, would you not step up to kill her?”

Shradha Bhatt gulped at my words.

“I think Briar Churchill is unpleasant, but not that bad of a person…”

“I’m glad you say that, Shradha! I think you’re a good person too!”

“Get your hand off my shoulder, Churchill. Don’t suddenly act friendly.”

“How cold. So cold. So what do you think, Shradha? Do you have the confidence to kill me if necessary? Would you kill this Briar Churchill with that nano-machine metal arm, if needed?”

“I don’t think I would do that.”

Shradha Bhatt lowered her head.

“Because after all, this rascal of a woman is my classmate. Even if she’s a noble from the conquering nation that I despise, I’m not the type of person who can kill someone I’ve formed a connection with just because it’s necessary. That’s also why I didn’t join the military in India and came to China instead. I’m not here as a cadet, but as part of a diplomatic issue. Because I know China is trying hard to remove British influence from India.”

“What an honorable person we have here.”

Churchill said. The content of her words seemed mocking, but her voice was serious.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tease me like that, Briar Churchill. I’m not saying this to be recognized as honorable by someone or to claim that I’m moral. It’s just that I’m the kind of person who can’t do that. No matter how unpleasant a person you are, if told to kill you, I couldn’t do it. It’s not particularly that I can’t kill people, or anything like that. It’s just that I’m that weak. It’s that I can’t do it. I respect and honor the many armed fighters who raised the flag of rebellion against your England. It’s not that all forceful methods are immoral, it’s just that I myself am a person who can’t do such things.”

“It wasn’t mockery, Shradha Bhatt.”

Churchill said in a calm voice.

“I wish I could say it so confidently too. That I’m a woman who doesn’t know how to kill. But many people can’t assert that so definitively.”

The conversation ended there. Shradha Bhatt said she wanted to stay outside the dormitory a bit longer, so Churchill and I entered the building side by side and got on the elevator.

Briar Churchill leaned towards me and asked.

“So, you’re really not the culprit?”

“I’m not. How many times do I have to say it for you to believe me?”

“Hmm, but it’s strange. Even if you’re not the culprit, to release you like this? Think about it. If you’re not the culprit, wouldn’t the Chinese military police be more anxious? Rather, Eun-young, if we assume you are the culprit, your release makes more sense.”

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“No. From the perspective of law enforcement, the scariest thing is not knowing the identity of the culprit. Releasing someone they know isn’t that scary, right? Because they can keep them under surveillance. If you were the culprit, we can make a simple assumption…”

“What assumption?”

“That you sold your body. You made a deal to sell your body to that homosexual pervert major and got released. Assuming the dead person was an insignificant individual, and that deal worked. What do you think of my deduction?”

“The part about me killing her is wrong, but regarding the circumstances of my release, there is some truth to it.”

“…What did you say?”

At that moment, Churchill’s expression froze. I ignored her attitude and spoke nonchalantly.

“I’ll be staying out on Wednesday night. Don’t wait up, go to sleep first.”

“…You really went that far…”

“Don’t misunderstand, Briar. Do I look like someone who would agree to such a deal under coercion?”

The elevator stopped. Briar Churchill stood still, staring at me, not thinking to get off even as the doors opened. I took the lead and walked out into the dormitory hallway, looking back.

“What are you doing, not getting off?”

“You seized the opportunity, didn’t you?”

“Yes, that’s right. I was going to sleep with Zhou Lizhi once anyway. Maybe more than once. Churchill, it’s not your business. There was something between us, but it was really just something. You never even confirmed that you wanted to embrace women yourself, did you? Let alone that it would be me, specifically.”

“…”

“If you had been harboring feelings, consider this a rejection.”

“You’d sacrifice the possibility with me? Is entering that libertine’s bedroom that attractive? Or is it your nature as a prostitute awakening?”

“You’re assuming I’ll act like a prostitute.”

“Kaiser Wilhelm asked a prostitute to tie him up and whip him, they say. Does the prostitute stop being a prostitute just because she’s going to trample the Kaiser? You’re the same.”

“Hmm, let me answer your question.”

Churchill got off the elevator just before the doors closed, following me.

“If you really want me, whether or not I sell my body to Zhou shouldn’t affect how much you want me at all. It means the possibility with you would still remain open. How about that?”

This was a provocation. A provocation to see whether Briar Churchill was treating me as a joke or if she was determined to have me.

Churchill took the bait. The daughter of the Duke of Marlborough pushed me against the hallway wall and brought her face close to mine.

Just as I was about to open my mouth to protest against her—

Briar’s lips blocked mine. She had chosen to take me.