Chapter 96: Perfect Acting
Soviet Union, ten years ago.
In less than a month, numerous child abduction cases occurred, resulting in at least a hundred children vanishing as if they had evaporated from the face of the earth. To this day, the families of the victims have never found their children; some of the kidnapped children were orphans with no families to speak of at all.
This was because they had all perished in the inhumane "Demon Project" of a certain syndicate.
This gang was once the most powerful criminal organization in the Soviet Union. Later, it was dismantled by the Soviet military with lightning-fast, ruthless efficiency, as the gang had grown powerful enough to threaten military interests. The military suppressed them without hesitation. While the military discovered detailed records of the "Demon Project" at the gang's headquarters, they never went public with them—mostly because the records involved classified secrets the military wished to keep hidden.
The so-called "Demon Project" was, in essence, a "Gu-style" survival program. They forcibly made hundreds, even thousands, of children form contracts with various devils. They cared nothing for the cost of the contract or whether the children lived or died; some devils who were unwilling to form contracts simply slaughtered the children.
The children were forced to kill one another in a massive, prison-like facility. Only one person was meant to emerge alive from each round of this "cultivation," and that sole survivor would become a powerful asset for the gang.
As fate would have it, just as the first round was nearing its end, the Soviet military decided to strike. When they breached the "prison," only one girl out of a thousand children remained alive. She was eerily calm, expressionless, and her hands were soaked in blood.
The girl was later adopted by the military. After several years of training, she was deployed to the Leningrad Military Department. Since she was "airdropped" into the position, replacing the original Captain of Special Operations Unit 1, the former captain and his subordinates naturally refused to accept a "pretty-boy" rookie. The conflict ended with those men dead or crippled. Shingetsu established her authority through that battle, and despite committing such a taboo act, she was protected by the military high command.
This girl was Shingetsu. Her name was actually the codename given to her by the gang during the project. Being an orphan, she had no name, and since she hated the codename from that period, she chose a new one for herself: "Tsar."
For years, Shingetsu spent her life either fighting or in solitude. Labeled as the "Strongest" and dismissive of the weak, she was undoubtedly lonely. Her worldview had been forged in the crucible of that project: the weak did not even have the right to survive.
That was, until a guy named Otonashi Chiya appeared. He shattered the life she had led for years and even caused her, a person of absolute self-confidence, to feel bewildered.
"I can't go on being this confused..."
Recalling her past, Shingetsu's heart suddenly turned firm, and the tightness in her chest eased significantly. She now had to admit a certain fact: she cared about Otonashi Chiya deeply—so much so that it was love. Once she identified the cause of her discomfort, she actually felt better. At least she had a clear goal now instead of being lost.
Chiya was currently taking Reze on a tour of the entire Leningrad Military Department. He didn't put much thought into it; he simply showed her around the same way Ian had shown him. The order was the same, and even the explanations were nearly identical. After all, it was just an act.
"By the way! I don't think I've introduced myself properly to Master yet."
Reze suddenly spoke up. "I am the eldest daughter of the Loffiel family. Master can just call me Reze~"
"Miss Reze," Chiya replied.
He didn't know who the Loffiel family was, nor did he care. It was likely some prominent Soviet family—a background the high command had manufactured for her.
"Ehhh~~~"
Reze pouted slightly, appearing dissatisfied. "Just call me Reze. Adding 'Miss' makes us sound like strangers." Her expression suggested that if Chiya didn't change how he addressed her, she'd be upset with him.
"Alright then, Reze."
On the surface, Chiya acted as if he were being led by the nose, but internally, he marveled at how her acting was truly flawless.
If it were any other guy, they would have already been wrapped around Reze's little finger.
"Master, Master! What's that place over there?" Reze suddenly asked with great curiosity.
Chiya looked in the direction she was pointing and replied, "That's the swimming center."
The military department had an outdoor swimming facility. Ian had introduced it to him last time, but Chiya had never visited because he wasn't particularly interested in swimming.
"A swimming center? I want to go in and have some fun!" Reze seemed very enthusiastic, grabbing Chiya's hand and running toward the building.
Chiya had no choice but to indulge her; otherwise, it wouldn't fit the persona he was portraying. As Reze led him into the facility, Shingetsu followed closely behind.
"Master, I've never been to a swimming center before. What should we do next?" Reze asked.
"This is my first time here too, so I'm not really sure," Chiya said honestly. This time, he wasn't acting; he truly was visiting the facility for the first time.
"Alright then~" Reze immediately went to find an employee. "Excuse me! We don't have swimwear. Can we rent some here?"
"Yes, of course. Please follow me, you two," the staff member said.
"(๑‾ꇴ‾๑) Okay!" Reze pulled Chiya along as they followed the employee.
"You're planning on swimming in there?" Chiya couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah. Is that... not allowed?" Reze's face suddenly took on a pitiful, vulnerable look.
"It's allowed. Of course it's allowed," Chiya said with a smile.
"Wonderful! Master, you're the best!" Full of joy, Reze leaned in and gave Chiya a light peck on the cheek.
The blush on her face deepened, and she lowered her head shyly as if she were genuinely embarrassed.
Shingetsu, who had just entered the building, witnessed this scene with her own eyes. Her brow furrowed instantly.
"You..."
Because Chiya's acting wasn't quite as masterful as Reze's, he couldn't force a blush to his face. Instead, he just stared at her blankly. However, he truly was a bit shocked by Reze's boldness.
In the span of just thirty minutes since they met, Reze's every word and action had been designed to flirt; a normal person would have fallen for her long ago. Especially that last move—under normal circumstances, no teenage boy could withstand that. It was a finishing blow.
Chiya admitted to himself that if he didn't know this was a plot by the Soviet high command and that everything Reze did was an act, he would have found it hard to resist such a temptation. If he had met her without knowing anything, he might not have been hopelessly devoted yet, but his heart definitely would have been racing.
Reze then said bashfully, "Don't keep staring at me like that~ I'm shy, you know..."
AN-Reviews yall
Enjoyyyyyyy