Chapter 72: Ch 72: The Governnt’s Desperation - Part 2
Selene and Ethan walked through the bustling city streets, their pace asured yet purposeful.
The governnt building lood ahead, its cold gray walls and glass panels reflecting the overcast sky.
As they approached the entrance, Selene’s expression remained impassive, but her mind was anything but calm.
With a subtle breath, she activated her Insight Skill which has leveled up to be level 3. This was the reward she had gotten after she gained exp.
She could have chosen other abilities, but her Insight skill was what helped her out the most.
Her vision shifted as she peered through walls and structures, her mind mapping out the building’s interior.
The conference room lay three floors up, near the center of the building, and unlike their previous etings, this ti it was packed with unfamiliar faces.
She halted, her feet pausing just shy of the marble steps leading inside.
Ethan, always attuned to her moods, raised a brow.
"What’s wrong?"
Selene’s eyes narrowed, her Insight still active.
"Unexpected guests."
She murmured, her gaze distant as if she could see through the very stone and steel.
Ethan’s posture shifted, his muscles coiling like a predator ready to strike.
"Want
to clear the room? It won’t be difficult for
to do."
His voice was soft, but the danger beneath it was palpable.
Selene’s lips quirked, a hint of a smirk.
"No need. Just stay close, and keep your eyes sharp. I want to see what ga they’re playing."
Ethan nodded, his expression smoothing into a neutral mask, but the way his hand hovered near the hilt of his weapon was a silent promise.
They entered the building, and as soon as they did, the official who had spoken with Selene on the phone approached, his gait brisk, but his nervousness palpable.
His eyes widened as he recognized Ethan, the muscles in his face tightening as he forced a polite smile. His spine straightened, his previous arrogance dissolving into polite caution.
"Miss Benefactor, Mister Ethan,"
He greeted, his tone overly warm, the sweat on his temple betraying him.
"It’s a pleasure to have you here. Please, follow ."
Ethan’s eyes remained cold, his stare unblinking.
"A bit crowded, isn’t it? You did not tell
that we would have company."
His voice was a low rumble, and the official flinched, his step faltering.
"N-not at all. I assure you, this is rely a... a precaution. There was a mix-up, and, uh, a new friend decided to join us."
He stamred, his words spilling over each other.
Selene’s bad feeling solidified, the pit in her stomach hardening. She knew that look, that hesitation. It ant trouble.
As they approached the conference room, the door slid open, and the hum of conversation inside died to a sharp silence.
Selene stepped inside, her gaze sweeping the room, and her bad feeling turned into icy certainty.
Sitting at the center of the room, surrounded by a cadre of well-ard guards, was Valeria Clinton—the Vale family’s special field agent and, in a future Selene knew all too well, an A-class veteran.
Valeria’s presence was like a storm front, her cold blue eyes sharp, and her posture casual as if she owned the room.
She wore combat leathers, her dark hair pulled back, and her fingers tapped rhythmically against the table’s edge, the only sign of her impatience.
Selene kept her expression neutral, but her mind raced, her Insight skill flashing with details.
[Na: Valeria Clinton
Current Rank: 1568
Class: C-Class Potential Class: A-Class
Affiliation: Vale Family
Skills: Enhanced Agility, Throwing Mastery, Poison Specialist]
’To think that Valeria is already C-class. She is a terrifying woman indeed. However, it is a sha that she is the Vale family’s loyal dog. There is no future for her in that family.
Valeria’s eyes t Selene’s, and in an instant, the air changed.
A flicker of motion, a flash of silver, and a knife whistled through the air, its blade aid directly at Selene’s face.
Ethan moved like a shadow, his arm snapping up, his fingers closing around the blade’s handle, the tal biting into his skin, but he didn’t flinch.
The room tensed, hands moved, and weapons half-drawn, but no one fully committed.
Ethan flipped the knife, its blade a blur, and drove it into the table before Valeria, the tip sinking deep, the wood cracking.
"Is this how you welco guests?"
Ethan’s voice held a lethal edge, his eyes never leaving Valeria’s.
Valeria’s expression remained calm, but a muscle in her jaw tightened.
"I was testing your reflexes. Congratulations, you passed."
Selene moved forward, her steps light, but her presence commanding. She sat opposite Valeria, her expression serene, as if they were eting for tea and not in a room filled with ard soldiers.
"I didn’t realize the Vale family was interested in governnt affairs. Didn’t you always say how you are ’superior’ to everyone else? Surely, this lowly eting did not attract you."
She said, her voice smooth, each word a stone skipping across a dark lake.
Valeria smiled, but it was a knife’s edge, thin and sharp.
"We’re interested in many things. Especially when unauthorized individuals gain access to classified information."
Selene tilted her head, a picture of innocence.
"I was invited, actually. Perhaps you should take it up with your governnt friends."
The official who had escorted them in paled, sweat trickling down his temple.
Ethan leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table, his hands clasped, but his aura radiating danger.
"If you throw another knife, I’ll return it—and I won’t miss."
The room went still, the guards exchanging uncertain glances, the balance of power shifting in the space of a breath.
Selene smiled, her eyes never leaving Valeria’s.
"Now, shall we begin? I’d hate for this eting to devolve any further."
Valeria didn’t respond imdiately, but the standoff ended when she leaned back, her posture relaxing, the danger receding.
The official, caught between two storms, cleared his throat and fumbled with his notes, the tension easing just slightly.
But Selene knew better.
This was just the opening move. The tension had not lifted up yet.
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