Skepticism

0840 hours, 3 July 0145...

In this executive office, tensions were running high as Antonio glared at me like I was a convicted felon. But all I did was shoot him back with an intimidating glare. With an attitude of serious monotony, he sank into his chair and posed a question to me.

"Be honest, Tsuyuki. Do you have a feeling for Christine?"

The fact that he would ask me such a foolish question is beyond my understanding. I don't feel anything for her!

I just cannot bear to see the precious woman endure the continuous abusive relationship in which he subjected her to a breaking point! And I'd rather find her a better soulmate than an abusive scumbag like him!

I could only shake my head and answer in monotone.

"No."

However, Antonio squinted his eyebrows in response to my straightforward answers and then expressed his slight mistrust.

"Then why would you care so much about her? Since last lunch, I've been observing you constantly keeping an eye on her."

I leaned over the table and tapped on its wooden surface with an assertive voice.

"Because yesterday, she confided in me that you slapped her merely because you suspected her of straying into the heretic path, as you assume."

As he smiled in a somewhat sinister way, Antonio nodded slowly, as if he did it only to satisfy his desires. He then composed himself to talk about his past.

"I know Christine better than anyone else in the first place because our families have a tight bond. Our influential frantilos can shape the destiny of this city, whether chaotic or otherwise, with a snap of a finger."

His reasoning was like a constant flush in the toilet. But all I could do was sit there and wait for him to finish speaking.

"As a result of engaging with Christine, we could shed more light against the darkness of this city's future, better than ever before."

"But if I leave Christine alone too much, her carelessness will eventually devour her alive."

"So, I had to recall the day she fell from a tree while on her own expedition in the woods. I promptly intervened and reprimanded her."

"I trained her diligently to be a true heir of this squadron. And it's amusing how she identified me as her elder brother."

He paused, glanced at the table, and then kept speaking.

"Unfortunately, she made a huge mistake. You and your friends are to blame. Take note of how she spoke to the Pope yesterday. That is what happens when you miseducate this kind of child."

I rushed over to the table and tapped its wooden surface, because hearing him accuse Christine of yesterday's events just made me furious.

"Constantly pampering her with your psychotic discipline methods is why she's had enough of them. Then she departed for an alternative facility that offered her a glimmer of freedom."

"Minerva is a place where she could be independent and be more creative when facing unforeseen occurrences."

"But despite Minerva not always being the perfect spot for her liberation, she can better herself without your oppressive oversight and manage better in that environment."

I could tell Antonio's disagreement as he remained silent and crossed his arms with a piercing glare. However, I persisted in my assertion, tapping the table harshly while remaining silent.

"And I have no feelings for her! But I still won't let someone like you and your squadron continue tormenting her for no beneficial reason!"

It was as if Antonio had just become suspicious of my claim and probed me with a skeptical question.

"If I may ask, what's your purpose in here other than trying to keep the Pope safe?"

His inquiry is so out of the ordinary. By contrast, I made my point by tapping the table's surface with my right finger.

"If you're already suspicious of us from the get-go, there's no need to wait for us to enter this squadron's building to pull the trigger!"

But weirdly, Antonio let out a little laugh after my remark. It was as if he received it as some kind of dumb old coot's joke.

"I can already tell you're kind of unique. But not in a beneficial way."

Antonio rose from his seat and proceeded to the wine cabinet to get a bottle. After a heated argument with him, I let out a heavy sigh. He cracked open the tequila and poured each half into two wine glasses on the table.

After picking up the tequila glasses, he offered them to me.

"Wanna drink?"

But I gave a curt answer while shaking my head.

"Sorry, I don't drink."

He placed the wine glasses on the table, then sat down next to me and questioned me, which was both suspicious and playful.

"How old are you, then? And what is your belief?"

When Antonio sipped his tequila glass, I snorted in frustration and muttered a brief response.

"There's so many things I should take care of instead of getting drunk like an idiot!"

After he finished his glass of tequila, he casually glanced at me and then inquired.

"Now, may I inquire as to what exactly she's doing in Minerva? And how have you been treating her?"

Hearing his inquiry, I elaborated with a hand gesture.

"She's excelling in the medical academy she attends. I even remembered that she had treated a patient with third-stage skin cancer using her special herbal medicine. But that was when she was still 17, as an apprentice."

While I was continuing, I turned to see Antonio sipping the last of his second tequila glass.

"She adeptly utilizes Laconia's inherited frantilos to administer unconventional treatments to patients, offering unique alternatives in the medical field."

"Wanna know? The treatment she received was far superior to what all of you did to her."

"And you can see her accomplishments at Minerva Academy here."

I loaned him my phone and showed him Christine's achievements at Minerva.

I noticed his eyebrows shoot up in a nod of comprehension as he looked at my phone as he swiped his thumb over the screen.

I saw a flicker of the dawning realization on his face as he realized Christine could accomplish her aim without relying on any central orders from this squadron. And I saw a hint of regret in his eyes for the cruelty he had inflicted on Christine, as her accomplishment had plunged his doubts into the abyss.

After he handed back my phone, he commented with a hint of condescension.

"If I had to be honest, I feel terrible about the things I've done to her in the past."

"Even yet, there's no way that I'll blindly let her go. She is a fragile person who may shatter when she pushes herself to the absolute limit."

"And believe me, no matter how successful she becomes, her past will linger, leading her to recognize that I am the one who can help her emerge from its shadow."

I cut him short and argued in an edgy tone.

"You said that was no different than dunking your head in the toilet and expecting to find a shiny diamond."

But then he said something to refute my point.

"I appreciated her efforts to improve herself. But it appears you have a talent for consuming your thoughts with negativity, poisoning your own mind."

"The past is already left behind. A furious individual is no different from one who drinks poison and wishes for the death of others."

"I won't lie. It caught me off guard to see someone like you. You feel comfortable expressing your unfiltered opinions on any subject."

Like a teacher reprimanding an entire class due to the actions of a single student, his reasoning is akin to punishing the innocent for the guilty. As a result, I countered him again.

"It's funny how you accuse me of drinking the poison and cursing other people to death when in reality it was you who was doing both."

"And now that you're being hypocritical, just admit that dumbasses like you hide skeletons in the closet!" 

As I had enough of arguing with Antonio, someone knocked on the executive office's door three times before entering. I turned around and saw Pedro Alvarino, who was opening it.

I still don't understand why he walked into this executive office in the middle of our heated argument. Someone had abruptly broken the table for no apparent reason.

When he was inside the office, he addressed us.

"My apologies for the interruption. As per your instruction, Christine has eliminated all 10 infected androids. And she can prove it with the corpses."

In a hurry, I leaped off the seat and inquired with Pedro.

"Where is she right now?"

Pedro then gave a clear response.

"Still gathering up the infected androids' corpses in the garage."

After Christine completed her assignment, I wasted no time going to the garage to meet her. I wanted to talk to her about many things that Antonio had brought up during our arguments.

But before I could come forth to the garage, there was a blaring announcement across the hallway that's reverberated in a firm woman's voice.

"Attention to all units! The 8th unit has successfully eliminated 2 Supreme-Type infected androids! Alighieri's Scale ranks one of them at level 2 and the other at level 5."

And out of surprise at the 8th unit's ballsy decision to take down the 2 higher-level infected androids, I then rushed to the garage to find out the answer, whether it was literally Christine or someone else.