Miss Assassin is heavily addicted

Chapter 65, Section 22: I suspect there's a traitor among us.

—Narcissus Street, Seagull Bookstore—

His eyes turned.

At 8 p.m., the night view of Greenley was as usual.

On the street of Narcissus Street, a man in a trench coat with graying hair walked into Seagull Bookstore, just like any other ordinary customer.

He looked a little melancholy, with a newspaper tucked under his arm, looking somewhat like an insurance salesman—the young man working at the front desk thought to himself that subconsciously identifying the identities of the customers who came in was one of the few pleasures he found at work.

After a few seconds of eye contact, the white-haired man in the trench coat asked:

"Hello, do you have a restroom here? I'd like to use it."

It seems I just came in to relieve some fatigue.

The shop assistant pointed listlessly and said:

"It's in the 'Children's Fairy Tales' section. Just walk straight in and lift that curtain."

Then the young clerk stopped paying attention to him. He yawned and counted down the hours to go home, completely unaware that the boss, who was in the recliner, had already frowned.

Mark saw Duncan's visit.

As the captains of two spy teams, they were on good terms, but they shouldn't meet casually at this juncture—the other must have something important to discuss or some doubts with them.

Coincidentally, Mark also had a problem in his mind.

He was holding a letter that He Ye had left not long ago. The letter was concise and to the point, inquiring about espionage. Recently, their intelligence department had been investigating a girl named Mia from the College of Arts and Sciences. She was from Country B.

The police officers there suspect she's a spy, or rather, that investigating her might lead them to catch a spy.

Mark wasn't sure if the grammar school had any of his own people. Duncan, who was in charge of that area, should know more than he did.

We'll have to ask that.

A minute or two later.

Mark stood up from the recliner, lazily stretched, and walked into the bookstore. The young clerk noticed the boss leaving and breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to take a break for a while, and flipped through his treasured comic books.

Everything is normal inside the Seagull Bookstore.

Mark then lifted the curtain and came to the back.

They didn't go to the restroom because Duncan wasn't there; it was just a pre-arranged code for them to meet.

Next to the washroom is a storage room, filled with brooms, rags, and old junk. But as they say, hidden corners often hold a different kind of charm.
Enter the storage room, go to the bookshelf, and then open the door to the dark room.

The interior was furnished in a familiar way.

A candle was burning on the table. The soundproof walls would cut off all communication between the outside world and the inside. Duncan placed a newspaper on the table and was looking at it with a frown until Mark came in and closed the door to the dark room.

He turned to look.

“I told you you should change the code word for our meeting, otherwise I only have three or four minutes to stay here.”

"Why?" Mark asked, puzzled.

"Because I was in the restroom," Duncan complained upon meeting. "I can't just squat there for ten minutes, or I'd have to pretend my legs went numb."

"Haha." Mark chuckled and brushed it off. His old friend's teasing had no other meaning; it was just a casual remark.

"Alright, alright, what brings you here? We only have three or four minutes, so we need to hurry up and talk."

Mark sat down opposite him.

Duncan pushed the newspaper in his hand in front of him and said:
Have you read this report?

"what?"

"Regarding the riots in the southern Rosenborg region."

South Rosenborg is a border region within Country B, adjacent to Country A. This area has abundant energy resources, including natural gas and coal mines, and a large number of laborers, many of whom are from Country A.

After all, ten years ago the Rosenborg region was not divided into north and south.

The above report contains the following content.

On the evening of April 12th, a riot broke out at the Kebler steelworks in the South Rosenborg region. Approximately 500 angry steelworkers stormed the factory management office building to protest "wage arrears" and "deteriorating working conditions," which subsequently escalated into a violent demonstration against the government.

Skip over lengthy, irrelevant reports.

The following report details the domestic measures taken to deal with the riots.

"1. Under the pretext of 'preventing infiltration by foreign forces,' Country B blocked the B7 and B9 highways leading to Northern Rosenborg."

2. Martial law will be imposed within 5 kilometers of the border.

Mark frowned as he read the report. This was not good news, even though his country had only blocked roads, a minor violation of a treaty between the two countries.

But without a doubt, this is the beginning of some kind of signal.

What do you think those people in country A will think?

Duncan rubbed his temples and sighed, "They should be able to guess the intention. It's like the old men are eating salami, preparing to nibble away little by little without a full-scale war... at least not right now."

"If Country A condemns South Rosenburg, it could be seen as supporting 'violent demonstrations' and interfering in the internal affairs of another country. If it does nothing, it would be tacitly condoning the militarization of its borders—in this light, those hawks are indeed much more dangerous than the sheep."

"Furthermore, I have received another piece of news."

Duncan's expression turned serious as he said, "In the middle of next month, at the birthday banquet of that bald king, Congress B will send a delegation to make amends."

“…” Mark understood the implication in his words.

Becoming friends? This juncture is probably not so simple. Even if it's a birthday party, the fact that such ordinary yet 'special' news has been leaked beforehand is very incongruous.

"This information is just what I've learned recently...it's probably just dessert, nothing really metaphorical."

Duncan let out a long sigh and changed the subject, tapping the table with his finger as he said:
“CORE has given me two more tasks: to get the architectural maps of the National Opera and the Royal Restaurant in Madrid… Yesterday our team narrowly escaped a disaster in the Cobolo district, and William almost got caught in there. They really don’t let us rest.”

“We are too…” Mark recalled the endless telegrams and instructions, his eyes filled with melancholy.

"Then I'll talk about the purpose of my visit."

Duncan coughed, seemingly revealing his true intentions:
“I saw Leon on Makang Street this morning. He was wearing a police uniform and on duty. Although he was just an assistant officer, the officer next to him was a sergeant.”

"This is an undercover spy you deliberately planted, right? So, I'd like to ask you, would it be alright if Leon could get two sets of architectural blueprints?"

Mark realized after listening that Duncan was asking for help.

Although he hadn't expected He Ye's death to be related to undercover spies, since Duncan had brought it up, he naturally wouldn't say much, just scratched his head:
"Um...may I ask?"

Duncan nodded: "Just give me an answer tomorrow or the day after."

After Duncan finished speaking, he pursed his lips, his eyes fixed on the flickering red candle, a heavy worry weighing on his heart.

After much hesitation, he decided to speak up.

"Then comes the last one, which is also my personal discovery," Duncan said slowly, his eyes deep.

"What?" Mark looked over.

“We have a traitor among us,” Duncan said.

Mark coughed, breaking out in a cold sweat.

"traitor?"

Duncan nodded: "It's just my feeling."

This was an extremely sensitive issue. The two exchanged a glance and decided not to continue the conversation. Duncan didn't actually have anyone to suspect. He only said that to warn Mark not to trust too many people.

Even if they are from the same organization.

The atmosphere became unusually heavy, with only the candlelight flickering slightly.

I glanced at my watch; it was getting late.

"Alright, I have nothing more to say." Duncan stood up, straightened his trench coat collar, and looked tired. "I'll be passing by here these next couple of days. Just leave the code word as usual." With that, he prepared to leave, tearing off a few pieces of the newspaper before he went and tucking them under his arm.

Mark then realized that so much time had passed, and that he had forgotten to ask a question.

“Oh, right… there’s something I forgot to ask you. Do you know anything about the grammar school?” Mark asked.

"The Faculty of Arts and Sciences?" Duncan turned around.

Mark frankly said, "Leon's message is that the intelligence department of Country A is recently suspicious of people in the grammar school, including a girl named Mia and another man named Sir Humphrey. Do you remember these two people?"

Duncan murmured the two names to himself, then gently shook his head:

"I don't recall. There shouldn't be any of our people in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; it's only for government-sponsored students. That kind of status is the easiest to arouse suspicion. How could there be a spy among them?"

Duncan patted the back of his neck, spoke earnestly, and slowly turned around again:
"Even if there really is a spy, it shouldn't be one of ours. So, is there anything else, old friend? If not, I really should go. It's been five minutes."

"Well... goodbye." Mark gave a wry smile.

Duncan was taken aback. He remembered that when they met just a month or two ago, they could chat and drink with peanuts, relaxed and carefree. Back then, there were no heavy tasks or life-or-death crises, only tranquility and laziness.

We may never be able to go back to the carefree days of the past.

Even whether we'll see the sun tomorrow is a question.

"Goodbye."

Duncan pushed up the collar of his trench coat, looking tired.

……

—Seagull Street. Upscale Townhouses—

At 10 p.m., the streets were already sparsely populated.

Lorice parked the police car on the side of the road. She had just returned from the archives office not long ago, and there were two piles of documents on the back seat. Because it would take too long to drive back to the station, she hadn't driven the police car back.

Apart from photocopied documents, her car contained only photocopied documents.

There was another person in the car.

"Haha, thank you Rose."

The chestnut-haired girl in the passenger seat smiled and said that she had pigtails and was wearing a police uniform that was different from the spy department's uniform—this was the security department's uniform.

The Security Department is the top choice for wealthy young men seeking a prestigious education. Their job responsibilities cover a wide range of areas, including security at town hall buildings, highway checkpoints, and prisons, where they are responsible for assigning personnel.

They will also support other departments when needed.

"I told you not to call me Rose."

Lorice said irritably, unbuckling her seatbelt. "I've told you so many times, Nitil."

"Haha." The chestnut-colored girl just smiled, and her twin ponytails swayed lightly as she closed the car door.

"Are you angry?"

"What do you say?"

"Don't be angry, let me hug you~"

As she spoke, the girl named Nitil hugged Loris tightly, rubbing and sucking her—she smelled so good, although she had a slight sweaty smell from work, it wasn't unpleasant, and she was petite and cute, the more she hugged her, the more she liked her.

Lorice pushed her away impatiently: "Go away, I have things to do."

"Wait a minute, is this how you treat me after all this time we haven't seen each other?"

"I shouldn't have been so kind as to pick you up on the way back..." Lorice sighed.

The two have been friends since childhood and were colleagues for two years at the police academy. Their deep friendship is beyond words. If one were to list the number of friends, she would probably be one of the few friends that Loris has.

We just belong to different departments, so we haven't seen each other much lately.

"You've been in the spy department for two months now, haven't you? How's work going?" Nitil looked at Loris holding the documents in the back seat and reached out to help her.

Loris was silent for a moment, then said, "It went very smoothly."

“You’re definitely just being stubborn,” Nitil retorted as if she knew perfectly well, taking the documents from Nitil.

Loris remained expressionless and didn't say much. She simply carried a bunch of things to her front door and took out her key with her other hand to insert it into the lock.

Soon, the door opened.

The golden retriever rushed out, wagging its tail enthusiastically to welcome Lolis back, just like before.

"Haha, Brooke is still as big as ever," the chestnut-colored girl said with a laugh.

"Woof woof!" The golden retriever came to Nitil's side, clearly indicating that the two were old acquaintances.

The two walked into the living room and placed the documents on the table. Nitil looked around at the decor, noticing uncovered strawberry jam on the table, what appeared to be unwashed plates in the kitchen sink, and a faint sense of emptiness—the place felt somewhat deserted.

She lives here alone.

"Alright, this is none of your business, you can leave now."

Loris calmly ushered the guests away. She still had a lot to do, because she needed to check the people in the grammar school tomorrow. So she made copies of the student files for Miss Mia's class, as well as the exchange student files from the past two years. She planned to finish reviewing them tonight so she could be more efficient tomorrow.

Nitil observed this, then pulled out a chair and sat opposite her, resting her chin on her hand as she spoke:

"I think I'll stay a little longer, since I'll be alone at home anyway."

"Didn't Daly come with you?" Loris knew that was the name of her personal maid.

“Uh…” Nitil was speechless, then sighed, “Why did you have to undermine me? I just wanted to find an excuse to stay and keep you company, since you seem a little lonely.”

Loris was silent for a moment, then feigned an unfriendly expression and said:
"Unsolicited concern."

"Is there anything fun to do in the spy department?" Nitil asked patiently. "It's so boring without anyone to talk to. It's all men and women there, no spirit of exploration or dedication!"

This sentence triggered Loris's memories, and the memories of the past two months quickly flipped through her mind to the most recent ones, which were ordinary yet somewhat difficult memories.

Even now, when I think back to what happened tonight, although it's embarrassing and I don't want to remember it, it was definitely different from usual.

And ultimately—

"No."

Lorice said with a calm expression, "Thinking about it carefully, that new auxiliary police officer is just causing me trouble and is not easy to get along with at all. He has caused so many embarrassing things... Damn, why am I thinking about him at this time?"
The girl raised an eyebrow, feeling frustrated, but then decided to calm down and continue reviewing the files.

Seeing that Lolis was engrossed in her work, Nitil realized that talking to her would be a disturbance, so she got up, looked around, patted the golden retriever's head, and paced back and forth in the room with her hands behind her back.

Loris ignored her.

Okay, it's really getting late.

Before leaving, Nitil kindly helped her clean the dishes in the sink, tidied up the strawberry jam on the table, played with Brooke's bouncy ball for a while, and straightened the picture frame and radio antenna.

Then they waved goodbye happily.

"Bye-bye-bye," Nitil said.

“…” Loris, who had been ignoring it, spoke up at this moment, “Remember to close the door, there are three steps at the door.”

Nitil smiled gently: "Okay."

He pretended to be working hard before, well, maybe he really was? — But when it was time to say goodbye, he still took the time to remind everyone about the number of steps at the door, worried that the light might be a bit dim at night, so that they wouldn't fall.

Nitil has known Loris for a long time, so she knows her personality well. She likes her "childhood sweetheart" very much. Although she is not frank, she has her own kindness, even more so than most people.

Nitil, who had just reached the door, suddenly stopped and then ran back to launch a sneak attack on Loris, who was sitting in a chair!
The intimate hug startled her, causing her to scream! Meanwhile, Nytil, satisfied, laughed and ran away.

"Haha, goodbye! I'll have sweet dreams tonight!"

Loris gritted her teeth, her face flushed, and yelled, "Don't ever come to my house again!"

"Wang Wang!"

(End of this chapter)