15 Such A Drama Queen

Yuka swiftly and quietly settled back into her seat.

Kenji, diverting his gaze, picked up the microphone that had tumbled to the floor. He addressed the crowd, "Please remain seated, don't panic, stay quiet, and wait for the Alliance Army to arrive."

Standing before the stage, his back to the light, his face obscured, his tone and authority gradually calmed the initially agitated audience, though they remained tensely huddled in their seats.

Yuka heard Ayoi, who was stuttering from the side, take a deep breath.

On the other side, Alex's face was ashen, unable to utter a word. Ayoi whispered to Yuka, "Yuka, are you scared?" Yuka paused, her eyes lowered, her eyelashes trembling as she replied pitifully, "Terrifying, I was so scared I jumped."

Ayoi, initially as nervous as a frightened bird, found unexpected courage upon seeing the beautiful Yuka scared.

Patting her chest, she promised Yuka, "Don't worry, I'll protect you!" Yuka, touching her chest with a hint of guilt, felt a sudden pang from her conscience.

Vivian, in the front row, collapsed into Donny's arms, who comforted her softly. 

Minutes later, the doors of the theater were opened, and the Alliance Army, clad in blue uniforms and armed, entered.

The leader went straight to Kenji and saluted, "Admiral Kuba."

Kenji nodded, briefly explained the situation, and the leader's expression grew serious. He ordered his soldiers to bag the body of the boy and seal off the stage before exiting.

The performers were escorted out by the Alliance Army, their faces a mix of unease and panic, emotions that also affected the seated audience.

Kenji nodded to the leader, then turned to the crowd, "You can leave now..."

"Wait a minute," interrupted another group of the Alliance Army entering from outside, their shoulder insignias slightly different from the first group.

The new leader, with blond hair, gave Kenji a casual salute and said cheekily, "Admiral Kuba, we can't just let everyone go like that."

He turned, his demeanor changing, and coldly told the audience, "We'll be questioning you shortly. Stay put. Starting from the first row, the guy with glasses on the left, stand up and come with me."

The boy shakily stood up, casting a pleading glance at Kenji.

Kenji raised his voice, not only calming the nervous boy but also offering reassurance to everyone: "It's okay, it's just a questioning. You just need to answer what you know, no need for anything extra. Once it's over, go back, rest well, and don't miss class tomorrow."

After speaking, he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and walked out with the leader.

The habitual class-skippers had mixed feelings. For the first time, they almost wished they could attend class tomorrow instead of being taken away by the Alliance Army. 

Ayoi's anxiety was growing. She fidgeted in her seat and, unable to hold back, leaned towards Yuka and whispered, "Yuka, did you see..."

"Shh—" Yuka raised her slender finger to her lips and gently said, "Saw nothing. And you didn't see anything either, got it?"

Ayoi paused, then quickly nodded, understanding Yuka's intent. She couldn't help but glance at Yuka's exquisite profile. Yuka, seemingly unchanged, radiated a fragile beauty, making it hard to even speak loudly to her. Yet, there was an indescribable sense of reassurance about her, as if her mere presence guaranteed safety.

The people questioned by the Alliance Army didn't return, and someone boldly asked about the whereabouts of the boy, learning he was already back in his dorm.

The crowd relaxed as the questioning sped up, leaving Yuka last.

Vivian and Donny had already left, as had Alex and Ayoi. Yuka followed the Alliance Army, feigning the appearance of a delicate girl, biting her lip, nervously clutching her clothes, and walking with her head down.

The questioning took place in a recording studio next to the theater. Yuka sat down at the table and saw Kenji, who had been standing behind the glass partition, speaking and then entering with the blond-haired leader.

Yuka averted her gaze.

The butler spoke to Yuka in her mind: "There's a signal jammer in the room, I've come out of the opticomputer."

The blond-haired leader, removing his hat and whistling, said, "Pretty cute, huh? A freshman, which department?"

Yuka, head down, softly replied, "The Combat Department."

Kenji, noticing her timid demeanor, raised an eyebrow.

The leader chuckled, "Oh, The Combat Department, huh? Did you see anything unusual just now? Like that boy's neck..."

He didn't finish his sentence, noticing the girl in front of him shivering slightly. The next moment, a few droplets of water appeared on the table.

Tears slid down Yuka's cheeks, gathering at the tip of her chin before dropping onto the table.

With a sobbing tone, she said, "No... when he, he was bleeding, I couldn't bear to look..."

Internally, Yuka was unaffected, thinking to herself how tiring it was to fake crying, and how much more convenient her helmet was.

She wasn't worried about the blond-haired leader suspecting her. The butler had informed her there were no cameras in the theater, and since she sat in the back corner at that time, apart from Ayoi and Kenji, no one knew she had stood up and watched the deceased boy for a long time.

Yuka quickly lifted her face, giving the two men a pitiful, tearful glance, briefly meeting Kenji's eyes before quickly looking down again.

That brief look was enough for the blond leader to make a judgment. "Alright," he said, softening his tone as he handed her a napkin from the table behind him.

"It's okay, don't be scared. We, the Alliance Army, will definitely solve this problem. Do you want me to have someone escort you back?"

Yuka shook her head, taking the napkin and softly saying, "Thank you, but no."

As she stood up, she even staggered a bit as if her legs were weak, steadying herself with the table, taking her act to the extreme.

Kenji watched her leave without a word, thinking silently: 'What a drama queen. She's really good at this.'

He didn't expose her, though, perhaps due to his opposition to the blond leader, his protective instinct towards students, Yuka's pitiful crying, her convincing performance, or maybe some other unclear reason that even he himself didn't know.

Kenji stood up and left the recording studio, heading in the opposite direction from Yuka.

Once outside the arts department, Yuka threw the napkin she had been holding into a trash bin. She breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was a close call. She had even prepared for Kenji to expose her, but surprisingly, he didn't say a word.

The butler, who had been silent all this while, suddenly spoke up, "Master, why didn't you tell them the truth? A lady shouldn't do that."

Yuka responded indifferently, "I've lied plenty of times before, why didn't you say anything then?"

"It's different," the butler insisted. "This involves everyone's safety. A lady should care about others, be kind and just."

"I am just," Yuka retorted while walking. "Do you know who that blond ruffian is?"

The butler searched on the interstellarnet, "He's a captain of the Third Legion of the Alliance..."

The butler fell silent.

The Third Legion of the Alliance was notoriously infamous, led by the least capable and most disreputable among the twelve major leaders. He was a staunch royalist, openly placed within the Alliance Army by the royal family. His troops, like him, were a bunch of ruffians, often abusing their power to harm civilians. 

If Yuka had told the truth earlier, the blond-haired captain would have surely taken her away. She didn't believe she would fare well within the Third Legion.

Moreover, they wouldn't seriously address the issue as the captain had claimed but would instead use the incident to attack Kenji. Given that Admiral Kenji symbolized the Alliance Army to some extent, even though the incident was unrelated to him and he had prevented it from escalating, it had happened under his watch. The Third Legion would latch onto him like rabid dogs.

The royal family, seizing the opportunity to criticize the Alliance Army, wouldn't let this go easily. It was uncertain how the Alliance Army would retaliate.

"Kenji will probably be busy dealing with this situation. In that case," Yuka pondered as she took out her opticomputer, "will he be able to attend Thursday's mecha operation class?"

As she was about to close the class schedule, a notification popped up on her opticomputer.

Interstellarnet Headline: Headless Corpse Found at UUA! Join Us for the Details!

Yuka sighed and clicked on the notification, skimming through the content.

The article was released by the Alliance News Department, prompt and succinct, without exaggeration beyond the headline. They explained the boy's death as an "accidental contact with space pirates, who installed a human bomb in him."

Yuka recalled the two legs protruding from the boy's neck, which were clearly insectoid forelimbs. Not many people at the scene would have seen it, and apart from those in the Combat Department, even fewer would know what it was.

Yuka reopened her textbooks, turning to the Insectoid Atlas, flipping to the page about parasites.

Professor Pickle had described the parasites as almost transparent, with just a hint of color. The textbook also explained that even after maturing inside a human host, the parasites wouldn't change color, so black forelimbs were unlikely.

Continuing her search through the atlas, Yuka couldn't find any insectoid with black forelimbs capable of parasitizing humans.

'Is this a mutation, or I may be wrong, and it wasn't an insectoid at all?'