* * *
“Moria, I’m sorry, but could you excuse us now? From here on, it’s a conversation for the members of [Integra].”
“Ah, yes! I’ll take my leave, then!”
At Hoaphilen’s polite dismissal, Moria fumbled to gather her documents, bowed, and hurried out the door.
Once they heard the door close behind her, Hoaphilen leaned forward from where she’d been reclining.
“[Integra] received the order to hunt Roilnia, didn’t it? May I ask for your cooperation? I’m not shameless enough to ask you to bring me her head. I’ll handle the end myself.”
“You sure have a roundabout way of saying ‘hand her over nicely.’”
Though Hoaphilen had placed special emphasis on the word end, Haimar responded with a kind, mocking smile.
Even without saying anything, Ben could read Haimar’s agreement in the silence.
Her intentions were clearly conveyed through the unspoken language of thought.
“I—”
“You already have a pretty good idea of what she wants to do. So why do you want to ask, huh? You just want someone to say it out loud because you’re scared like some cowardly brat?”
The curt, clipped speech—cutting off even the endings of her words—was proof that Haimar wasn’t just speaking out loud.
She was talking directly in her mind, as if the rest of them didn’t exist.
Hoaphilen felt mentally drained just by making eye contact with the woman, but she kept her composure.
“…You’re right. I don’t believe Roilnia would let herself remain one-armed forever. I see that as an opportunity.”
Ben didn’t have any mind-reading abilities, but his lifetime of reading the room paid off here.
He quickly pieced together the situation based on the information they had.
Given Roilnia’s personality, she wouldn’t accept the loss of an arm without doing something about it—
In short, Hoaphilen was planning to set a trap.
To regenerate a lost limb, a basic healing ampoule wouldn’t do the trick.
She’d need a top-tier regeneration ampoule—something rare as rain in a drought.
Even a drug-obsessed person like Roilnia was unlikely to have one of those on hand.
So Hoaphilen was going to bait her with one.
“We’ll handle everything on our end. [Integra] won’t be burdened financially.”
On paper, it wasn’t a bad plan.
Roilnia’s teleportation ability made it impossible to track her down.
In that case, luring her to their chosen location—like a flower drawing bees with its scent—might be the only real chance they had.
And Hoaphilen, having finally found a lead, wanted to make this chance as secure and foolproof as possible.
That’s why she was swallowing her pride and making this plea to Haimar.
“I refuse. I don’t like being used like a pawn.”
Despite her efforts, Haimar cut her off coldly.
She lifted her head from Ben’s shoulder, leaned back lazily on the sofa, and crossed her legs.
Hoaphilen, who’d been trying to maintain her calm, faltered for the first time.
“Since when? What’s different from everything you’ve done up to now?”
[You kill. You hunt. So what reason do you have to run now?]
Verbal stabs flew from all directions like a vortex.
Hoaphilen barely kept her smile in place, though her words dripped with sarcasm.
It was pointless to try to appeal to Haimar, but she showed her raw emotions anyway.
If Xenon hadn’t looked so uncomfortable, the tense moment might have lasted even longer.
“Uh… um… I…”
“If you’re just here for some pointless power struggle, I’m leaving. Our baby’s getting scared.”
Eli sighed and waved her hand, clearly exhausted.
Ben agreed completely. Haimar alone would’ve been enough here.
Even without any pointed glances, he’d felt awkward from the start.
With two women spitting venom at each other while smiling, there was nothing he could do but silently suffer.
“…Is that all you had to say?”
Hoaphilen Legius already knew that no matter what she said, she wouldn’t be able to change the man’s decision.
Even so, she couldn’t easily let go of her resolve—because this was something she absolutely couldn’t give up on.
Hoaphilen calmed her increasingly anxious heart.
She wanted to grab onto the hem of his pants and beg, but now wasn’t the time for such desperation.
She clenched her trembling fists even tighter.
‘Not yet. I don’t want to expose everything to him just yet.’
Getting swept up in desperation usually ruins things, even when they might have gone well.
Even if she’d been trained, it wasn’t easy to hide her true intentions in front of Haimar, who had already undone two control devices.
It was just a temporary veil—like shielding a candle from the wind.
If he decided to pry, he could uncover everything, strip her bare.
There was no harm in being cautious.
“…Yes. Let’s leave it at that. I value my life too, after all.”
Hoaphilen stepped back, sparing a glance at Ben, then pushed away the last flickers of turmoil in her heart.
As soon as she signaled the end of their business, Ben hesitantly rose to his feet, and Haimar also stood, brushing off his seat cleanly.
“Ah… G-goodbye then…”
“Excuse us…”
Ellyn gave a polite bow, while Xenon and Ben offered awkward farewells.
Hoaphilen didn’t even make the pretense of walking them out; she simply watched their backs as they left—long, for quite a long time—before finally picking up her smartphone.
∗ ∗ ∗
“Excuse us…”
It hadn’t even been a few hours since he’d last said those words.
Repeating the exact same phrase, Ben found himself in the exact same room, in the exact same seat—facing the Director of Eternita Central once again.
The only difference was that the farewell had now become a greeting, and this time, it was a far heavier, private meeting.
According to the schedule, Ben and Haimar were supposed to return straight to the officetel after finishing their errands.
Following the latest incident, Ben’s time in Division 8 had been suspended, and recently, he’d been told to remain on standby near Haimar—the Esper—at all times.
As a result, the two had practically been inseparable.
At first, Ben hadn’t even known he’d be meeting Hoaphilen.
Moria had suddenly appeared, saying she had a personal favor to ask, and called Ben over.
She’d claimed it would only take a moment, so Ben told Haimar to head back first.
But as they were walking, Moria got a phone call—and that led him straight back to Hoaphilen.
‘…Moria probably didn’t see this coming either.’
If she had been acting under Hoaphilen’s orders, there’s no way Haimar wouldn’t have caught her.
Most likely, she really did have another task at first to avoid Haimar’s detection, then revealed her true purpose the moment Ben was alone.
He should have realized the moment Moria got that second call and started fidgeting like a dog with crap on its tail.
Still, she was a victim in her own right.
If anyone was to blame, it was Hoaphilen, who had shamelessly used her.
So Ben said nothing.
The fact that she’d gone this far made it clear—Hoaphilen had been hoping he’d come without Haimar.
But… what could she possibly want to say to him, instead of Haimar?
“If you don’t mind tea made from a teabag, would you like a cup? My throat’s a bit scratchy from only having walnut pie, hoho.”
Hoaphilen greeted him with a breezy smile, set water in the coffee pot, and pressed the button.
Ben didn’t have it in him to be as blunt as Haimar, so he simply watched as she tore open the teabag and placed it in the cup.
No matter how he looked at it, there was only one reason he could think of for why she’d called him here alone.
Haimar had refused her offer to cooperate—so maybe now she wanted his help to persuade him?
But Ben wasn’t so sure Haimar would budge just because he asked.
Maybe she just needed help in some other area—any hand would do, even a cat’s paw.
“I never expected Haimar to agree easily.”
‘There it is.’
Whether one way or another, it seemed his guess hadn’t been far off.
When the kettle finished boiling, Hoaphilen poured water into the teacup, the gentle sound of water masking the awkwardness in the room.
“But I want to make it so Roilnia can’t help but show up. If the item we need is there, and our final goal—Haimar Elec—is there too, wouldn’t that make for the perfect bait?”
‘Bait?’
Ben’s eyes narrowed at the unpleasant choice of words.
He was her subordinate, sure—but that didn’t mean she could be this careless with her language.
Was she doing it on purpose?
Or was this just the kind of person she’d always been?
Ben didn’t know her well enough to say for sure.
“He’s not someone you can sway with persuasion, and you know that better than anyone.
More importantly, I can’t in good conscience throw him into danger like that—as bait.”
“Danger… huh. What a word. Doesn’t suit him at all.”
Hoaphilen repeated the word in a low murmur, then carefully placed her teacup onto the saucer and set it down on the table.
The steam from the freshly boiled water tickled Ben’s chin as he continued.
“Besides, Roilnia isn’t the type to rush into a fight with Haimar without healing from his wounds.
So why is it so essential that Haimar be there?”
Even though his tone had grown a little pointed, Hoaphilen remained unfazed, gently swirling the teabag in her own cup.
Steam rose from Ben’s cup too, the faint color of the tea slowly bleeding into the water.
* * *
