“Ah-choo!”
On the other side, Eleanor sneezed cutely.
She was hiding in the grass, rubbing her nose as she complained.
“Who’s talking about me again?”
To that, Spark said, “There aren’t many people who would talk about you, so I’m guessing it’s Anderson.”
Given Eleanor’s personal relationships, Spark really couldn’t think of anyone else who’d remember her so deeply.
After eliminating everyone one by one, wasn’t the only one left the Anderson who’d been chemically castrated by this worthless assassin?
“Then I bet he’s planning how to catch me again right now.”
Eleanor laughed mockingly.
“Well, once I get the key, this alternate identity won’t be necessary anymore.”
According to Eleanor’s plan, the love letter she’d written had already been placed in Anderson’s room.
If Anderson saw it, even if he had no feelings for her, it would still stir some ripples in his heart.
A boy like him was way too easy to toy with.
By showing just a little bit of goodwill, his resolve would probably waver, right?
While he was busy thinking about how to explain himself or how to reject her, wouldn’t it be fun if she pulled a big surprise on him?
Eleanor’s eyes gradually turned very mischievous, like an old fox plotting some cunning scheme.
“Honestly, I kind of feel sorry for Anderson.”
Spark pretended to be scared.
“It’s the unluckiest thing in his life to have provoked a bad woman like you.”
“How could it be? I’ve been good to him, haven’t I?”
Eleanor laughed.
“A lot of boys never get a love letter in their whole lives. Anderson probably got his first one too, right?”
“I dare say you put some real feelings into that love letter.”
Spark knew Ainola too well. She definitely had some fondness for Anderson, she just never admitted it.
But even when Spark called her out, Eleanor didn’t blush. Instead, she said plausibly,
“The best lie is half true, half false. If I didn’t add some genuine feeling, how could I make Anderson know that ‘I’ like him?”
As for whether that “I” meant Ainola or Eleanor, Spark couldn’t tell.
“You’d better not get yourself caught in your own trap.”
Spark complained helplessly, then got back to the point.
“Let’s find the Shrine’s location first. I can’t use magic here—the Temple Knights might detect me—so I’ll have to rely on you.”
“Don’t worry, I can handle it on my own too.”
Eleanor said confidently, then slipped toward the core area of the Temple Knights.
Trying to sneak in with a disguise wasn’t realistic.
There were too many devices here that detected magic, and Eleanor was using Disguise Magic, which altered her appearance with magic power.
If those devices scanned her, it would easily trigger an alarm.
To be safe, she had to cancel the magic and revert to looking like Ainola.
But because her body had shrunk, the nun’s habit no longer fit.
She had to find a restroom, change into a different set of clothes, and then continue sneaking forward.
“The Chief Justice just issued an urgent order saying we need to guard the Shrine tightly. I wonder what’s going on.”
“Maybe some assassin wants to break in? Who knows what those assassins are thinking—coming to the Temple Knights to steal something. Isn’t that like a thief sneaking into a police station?”
“Exactly. I wonder which assassin would be that stupid.”
“…”
Two Temple Knights chatted back and forth, gradually disappearing from Ainola’s sight.
Spark analyzed, “Looks like Anderson knows your target.”
From what Spark observed, the current setup clearly wasn’t to guard against the Moon Shadow Society.
To the Temple Knights, the Moon Shadow Society wasn’t worth such a big deployment.
Only Ainola deserved that treatment.
“He’s not an idiot, so of course he could guess my target. But that was also part of my plan.”
Ainola calmly watched the patrolling knights, then slipped through one line of defense after another like a nimble cat.
These well-trained Temple Knights were nothing before Ainola.
With their abilities, let alone catching her, even noticing her was extremely difficult.
Thus, Ainola made it into the core forbidden area of the Temple Knights without any trouble.
This area was one that Eleanor, in her usual nun identity, could never have entered.
Only elite knights and a few high-ranking personnel could move around here.
If Ainola showed her face here, whoever saw her would know she was an intruder.
So she could only hide in dark corners and observe the outside situation.
“A bit troublesome.”
Compared to the outer core area, the guards here were even tighter.
It wasn’t ordinary Temple Knights standing watch—Vanguard Executive Officers were leading the teams, basically one Vanguard Executive Officer plus two Temple Knights per group.
What made it worse was that these Vanguard Executive Officers all carried instruments that detected whether any other life forms were active in the vicinity.
If those instruments found her, she’d be in big trouble.
“Looks like… the Shrine is nearby.”
Ainola thought to herself.
At the same time, she felt the urge to retreat.
Exploring this far today was enough; being greedy and rushing forward wouldn’t be wise.
So, Ainola carefully made her way back the way she came.
***
Meanwhile, Anderson, who had been busy all day, also returned to his bedroom.
He let out a sigh and rubbed his temples.
Ainola’s movements were too unpredictable. It gave him a headache.
Even knowing she would act within the week, Anderson was still very worried that she could break through all the defenses and enter the Shrine.
Others might not know, but Anderson had stayed in Hail City and knew what Ainola was capable of, so he had to be cautious.
She might have already infiltrated the Temple Knights and was looking for weaknesses here.
To her, even the slightest gap could become the key to her infiltration.
So he had to be prepared.
“After I take a bath, I’ll go check the core area again.”
After sighing, Anderson noticed that on the table lay a pink letter.
A beautiful rose was also stuck on it.
With a hint of doubt, Anderson picked up the envelope and carefully read the contents.
Then his expression turned startled, and there was a trace of confusion in his eyes.
“A love letter? Written by Eleanor?”
Anderson had never encountered such a situation.
He never expected Eleanor to write him a love letter.
Combined with what Sikira had said earlier, he couldn’t help but speculate,
“Could it be… she really likes me?”