I was bored so I made a secret organization

“I am sorry about shouting earlier, Her Majesty.”

They moved to a new location, a private room inside Buckingham Palace, after the Queen and Hotaru dropped the bomb that Mizuki and Melaine had never expected.

Hotaru being Abel, the suspected spy, was something that Mizuki had never expected. The girl had been with them before the Moon of Akasha became famous. She also helped Naomi in her work when she was acting as the Manager of Akasa Inc.’s Japanese branch.

So she was a trustworthy individual. Never had they thought that she was, in fact, Abel, the most notorious informant? Especially with bubbly and airheaded air around her.

More than that, even Melaine would never expect that Hotaru was the Queen’s secret daughter. Though Hotaru was adopted, according to the Queen, that meant she had a rather considerable amount of power and wealth in England.

“Please raise your head, Mizuki. No one except the three of us knows about Abel, so it is understandable that you were surprised by what I said earlier.”

Paul and Philips nodded. Paul was sitting on the couch beside the Queen while Philips stood silently behind them.

“Even so, I am sorry for raising my voice.” Mizuki bowed once again before finally raising her head. She was sitting on the couch across from the Queen. The room was luxurious, and the couch that was decorated with a red pillow and golden rim was soft to the butt.

Melaine had kept her silent since earlier. She still stopped the time around them and only looked at Hotaru, who sat on the sofa on the side, cautiously.

For some reason, the ponytailed girl was eating a candy that she took out of her pocket. When she realized Melaine was staring at her, she turned to her.

“This is my last one, you know? I bought this when I sent food to Hanz.”

“I don’t really care about it. Just… how did you fool us all this time? And how far did you tell Avos about our secret?” Melaine replied. She ignored the Queen’s presence and daringly confronted Hotaru. As expected of SSS-Ranked Esper, maybe.

Mizuki sweated. She didn’t want to offend the Queen, but from her perspective, she knew that Melaine was a bit angry at Hotaru. She glanced at the Queen, and Her Majesty only nodded a little, giving them a little time to ask Hotaru.

“Ah, about that?” Hotaru opened the wrapper and put the strawberry-flavored candy into her mouth.

“I don’t tell Avos anything except for your trip to Paris with Naomi. I just repaid my debt to him for rescuing me that one time. Oh, I was the one who killed Andrew. But you won’t need that guy anyway. I will tell you everything about what I know about the Esper Association!” She puffed her chest proudly, still the same old Hotaru.

“So the spy was really you?” Melaine’s tone was lowered by an octave. It was chilling, and she narrowed her eyes dangerously. “Do you want to die, Hotaru? If Lady Naomi knows about this, she will be really disappointed and sad.”

“I know about it.” Hotaru smiled weakly; a hint of sadness was clear on her face. “That’s why I cut my tie off with Avos with the last favor of killing Andrew. I grew attached to Naomi too, you know? After spending two years with her, I came to cherish her like a little sister.”

And I always wanted a sister. Added Hotaru as she glanced at Queen Elizabeth. There was something latched in that word, whether it was, making the Queen sad.

“Let’s forget about that now. Are you sure that you didn’t send any important information to Avos?”

“Yup, I didn’t. But I often left some clues here and there for the Moon of Akasha and them to clash every so often. I also did some pranks to lead Her Majesty to meet Naomi in Germany.”

“Prank? Wait… Could it be those papers?” Paul immediately took out the same paper that was distributed almost everywhere around the police stations in England in just one night. “You were the one who distributed this?” He raised his hand and showed it to Hotaru.

“Yes! I was tired of playing triple agent, so I wanted to settle down on one side. But I still want to be with my own family, so… I think, why don’t I make the place where I want to stay and my family allies so I can become a simple agent instead of playing the role of triple agent? And we arrived at this situation.”

Hotaru explained things as if she was joking, but she appeared to be serious. The Queen only sighed a little while smiling. Philips face-palmed, but the one who had the greatest reaction was Paul.

“Abel! Tell me something. You… You didn’t use my artifact to print these papers, no? Tell me that you didn’t use it.”

With a playful face, Hotaru stuck her tongue out and said, “Tehe~”

“Nooo!!!!”

Paul's anguished scream resounded inside the room. The previous tense atmosphere was gone, replaced by a somehow funny one.

Melaine sighed to calm herself down.

‘If she didn’t tell me any important information about the Moon of Akasha, I am still willing to forgive her. But, she said that killing Andrew was a way of repaying something to Avos. What is it? And whose side is she on right now?’

She glanced at Hotaru, who was talking rather casually with the Queen and Paul. For some reason, Melaine wasn’t able to guess what the bubbly girl thought. The Queen and Paul especially looked like they trusted her.

‘What should I do in this situation? If I make the wrong decision, then Hotaru might even be our enemy and spread our information to others. But then… Argh, it is so hard!’

The urge to ruffle her hair began to surface in Melaine’s mind. She wanted to avoid this situation the most, having the spy be someone with them all this time.

As if she sensed Melaine’s inner turmoil, Mizuki nodded slightly and said, “Melaine, leave this to me.”

Then she turned to Hotaru and called out to her, “I am sorry to interrupt, but can I ask a question, Miss Hotaru?” She didn’t even use her usual polite language. Mizuki was also a bit angry.

“Yes? Please ask anything.”

“Was my decision to put you by my daughter's side incorrect? Because at that time, I judged you to be trustworthy to be put by Naomi’s side. Because I believed you would eventually become a valuable friend to her.”

A mother’s worry. That was what Mizuki felt. Even though her daughter was someone hailed as the strongest Esper, she was still her cute little Naomi from the past. She even carefully chose Naomi’s secretary from a trustworthy source two years ago, but it turned out that Hotaru was actually someone who worked in the dark.

“No, Lady Mizuki. Thanks to that, I chose to throw away my fun and worked earnestly. You see, I’ve always loved doing detectives and agents. I dream of becoming something like a bald agent who uses numbers as his codename. That’s why I am doing this double agent and triple agent stuff, but I enjoy my time with Naomi and Mischa more. They are fun to be around~”

That answer gained a nod from Mizuki. It seemed like her judgment over people hadn’t dulled yet. So, she made a decision.

“Then… to prove that you are on our side, can you tell me something that we don’t know about the Esper Association?”

“Ah, that’s easy.”

Crunch!

Hotaru exclaimed as he bit the candy inside her mouth, creating a loud crunching sound.

“Avos’ house, where he is always staying, is located on the moon. The dar–.”

Before Hotaru could finish her sentence, six people in white suits suddenly appeared behind her. Five of them were white-haired girls in twin-tails, who looked like Bel, and one of them was a man with a handsome feature.

They appeared without any notice. The man’s hand was on Hotaru’s head, gripping it as he said.

“That’s enough information for them, my friend.”

“Oh my…” Hotaru let out a rather playful voice, but she was clearly scared as her voice cracked a little bit.

Everyone moved swiftly after that. Melaine threw Mizuki behind her as he gave her a holo phone that was already booted on, and Philips jumped in front of the Queen.

Seeing the man, Melaine gritted her teeth dangerously as she muttered.

“How did you find us, Avos?!”

Contrary to Melaine’s angry figure, Avos raised his free hand and casually greeted, “We meet again, my love.”