Dreamland Maid Café.
Private room.
Wearing a T-shirt with the slogan 'I ♡ Humanity' and holding a beer bottle, Nia Honjo grinned at the silver-haired girl before her:
"Hey, if it isn't little Maria! Come here, let big sis give you a hug and see how you've grown~"
Faced with what was essentially harassment, Maria Naruse showed no sign of nervousness. Her petite face even looked somewhat exasperated:
"I never thought someone like you could join the SDS."
"At this rate, the Hidden Management Department must be on the verge of collapse, huh?"
"Mariaaa, you're so mean~" Nia pouted, putting on an exaggerated 'I'm hurt' expression. "Don't judge me like this! I used to be a very proper girl, you know?"
Maria rolled her eyes, her face full of disbelief:
"Then why don't you go back to how you were before? If all you can do is sexually harass people verbally, are you impotent or something?"
In response, Nia cheerfully replied:
"If I actually laid a hand on you, a certain someone at home wouldn't be very happy~"
"Huh?" Maria Naruse's expression turned to one of shock. "A woman like you actually has a boyfriend?"
In an instant, Maria's face completely changed.
"Don't look so utterly devastated and questioning your life like that!"
Seeing Maria's reaction, Nia Honjo said irritably:
"I'm not exactly bad-looking, am I?"
"Well, that's true..." Maria nodded in realisation before suddenly bursting into laughter. "So you basically tricked some guy with that face of yours, right?"
"But then again, if you just stayed quiet and acted mute, you probably could attract some male attention."
Nia's eyebrow twitched at those words as she forced a smile and said:
"Keep criticising me like this, and I'll get angry, you boyfriend-less succubus~"
"Since when do succubi have to have men?" Maria sneered dismissively. "Having such outdated stereotypes about non-human races will land you in big trouble!"
"Talking as if little Maria is so strong..." Nia muttered under her breath before adding quietly: "Weren't you the one who invited me here to get the Hidden Management Department's support for your takeover of the Desire Faction?"
Hearing this, Maria flushed slightly and couldn't help but argue:
"What support? It's mutual benefit - something your Director personally approved."
"Little Maria says mutual benefit, yet you don't even have Luo Shu's contact details, do you?"
Nia blinked her large, innocent eyes and said:
"Other than me, you can only reach Utaha, right? And Miss Utaha seems rather indifferent to you, too. Let me guess - you're not contacting Utaha Kasumigaoka because you know you can't persuade her to be your intermediary?"
"You're really..." Maria gave Nia an exasperated look before sighing. "As annoyingly perceptive as ever."
In response, Nia simply smiled and calmly sipped her drink:
"In principle, we absolutely support you becoming the Desire Faction's leader. But you understand the price of such an arrangement, don't you?"
"A spy within Truth Astronomy?" Maria easily deduced the SDS's intentions, which only made her want to laugh:
"Don't tell me Truth Astronomy doesn't have its own moles among you?"
Nia smiled without responding.
Mutual infiltration between organisations was practically an open secret.
If one really looked into it, even the SDS's most classified project - the space city Copernicus - hadn't been free of spies.
They'd just been tightly controlled and rooted out through Utaha Kasumigaoka's Mind Reading before leaking much information.
If even the heavily guarded Copernicus Project was vulnerable, other operations fared no better.
Perhaps the only SDS division truly free of spies was the Hidden Management Department, kept secure by Luo Shu's power.
With that thought, Nia shook her head before asking Maria:
"How did you report the Desire Faction's destruction to Truth Astronomy before?"
Although Nia Honjo had already learned about this matter through Raziel, she still deliberately asked.
And to this, Maria Naruse's response was somewhat guilty:
"I didn't respond to the internal parliamentary inquiry. I just had someone take over the Desire Faction's assets in Europe and, incidentally, leaked a little information..."
At this point, Maria Naruse paused. "Basically, I released some intelligence to corroborate that I had previously provided the Hidden Management Department's information to the Desire Faction."
"And in fact, I did indeed provide the Hidden Management Department's basic information to the Desire Faction at one point. The councillors within Truth Astronomy are well aware of this."
"Of course, among those who know this... also includes your Director Luo."
In truth, all the intelligence about the Hidden Management Department circulating externally had been deliberately disseminated by the Intelligence Department and various peripheral forces under Luo Shu's instructions.
So the Hidden Management Department had always been fully aware of the information Maria Naruse leaked.
And now, Maria Naruse had taken advantage of this to manipulate the situation.
"Honestly, this move of yours is quite cunning in a way."
As she said this, Nia Honjo's expression turned peculiar:
"You're trying to frame the Desire Faction's downfall as you secretly feeding them false information, then borrowing the Hidden Management Department's blade to stab your allies in the back, right?"
"But you, girl..." Nia Honjo didn't quite know how to put it.
Though Maria Naruse was a succubus, her methods leaned towards lawful good.
Playing tricks on people might come easily to her, but murder, arson, and backstabbing felt somewhat out of character.
To this, Maria Naruse's justification was surprisingly bold:
"In Truth Astronomy, only those who master the art of backstabbing can truly fit in."
"If I want to master the power of the Desire Faction, how can I suppress those mad witches without some impressive achievements to my name?"
"I'm not saying you can't do these things, but stealing credit for achievements requires someone's approval first."
Maria Naruse's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help but ask:
"Someone? Then tell me, who exactly?"
Just then, a voice came from behind Maria Naruse:
"She's talking about me."
As the words fell, Maria's expression froze slightly.
That male voice... it sounded somewhat familiar?!
Could it be... him?
This can't be happening...
Maria gulped nervously, her thoughts racing.