Deal With Christiana

"Hey! What have you done to my brother!?"

As Christiana stood in front me pointing her sword at my neck, I thought something was wrong with her.

No, really.

Isn't this just baseless accusation? 

I was expecting the barrage of questions, but at least let me take a breath here.

Guess, I can't blame her. I still hadn't explained anything to Cecille after all.

"Calm down. Like I told before, I don't mean any harm."

"...."

"Seems like you don't believe me. So, let me explain what happened with your brother."

Afterwards, I explained the whole situation to both Cecille and Christiana.

Of course, I didn't mention anything about that lion man or the guardian beast. 

From her doubtful expression, I can tell that she doesn't believe me at all.

Surprisingly, Cecille backed my side.

"I think, what he is saying is true. So, let's head back inside for now."

"How do you know that he is telling the truth?" Christiana retorted.

"I have good intuition, you know." Cecille replied with a smile.

I have also felt this before. She catches onto everything so fast that it's almost terrifying. It also indicates that she is aware of the fact that I have omitted some parts in my story. I don't think she like to pry into each and every thing, so let's leave it at that.

Anyway, I didn't realize this before, perhaps because I was on my toes the whole time till Harald was brought back to Cecille's house, but I am too much tired. On top of that, due to loss of blood, I am feeling a little bit dizzy now.

As we all went inside her room, a familiar figure was lying on her bed. 

No, wait. He has already gained consciousness and is looking at us. That's alright then. Let's get this over with.

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked in consideration that he was almost dead some moments before.

"Who are you?"

.

.

.

This brat! How do you keep forgetting me?

"I am Chris Harrison....."

"...."

"I don't think you all have any trust in me. So think of this like an exchange of information. When I went into the deep forest to find Harald and when I picked up Christiana at the middle of night, I observed some common points and investigated the two men behind the attack. Then I found something truly surprising."

"Surprising?" Christiana asked with doubtful eyes. Probably, she is starting to believe me a little bit.

"Yes. Have you heard the name 'Drake'?"

"???!!!"

Both the Peterson siblings looked at me with bewildered eyes.

Drake was the name of one of those terrorists, who attacked the academy.

Here, the student council holds a part of administration of the academy, as it comprises of higher nobles of this continent. Moreover, for this year ,the leader of first year students is Princess Adriana followed by the top students of this year which includes these two.

During investigation of those strange individuals, a case of kidnapping was stopped by our MC.

Particularly, a female student of this academy was drugged and abducted inside the campus itself. While, the perpetrator was moving her outside the campus at night, Kevin caught him red handed and reported it first to the student council. 

After some 'interrogation' by its members, he told only one name, 'Drake'.

Then, he broke his teeth releasing some poison, which killed him on the spot. It had caused some uproar among the school officials too. Because this is not some ordinary school. This is a prestigious academy, where the students are from influential families, and such incidents were rare, especially ones involving terrorists. So, the mention of Drake's name caught everyone's attention.

"Drake, you say?"

I chuckled, watching their stunned reactions with mild amusement. 

Yes, that's the reaction I want to see.

"Yep, the one and only. Seems like our little academy isn't as safe and prestigious as everyone thinks."

Christiana's eyes narrowed skeptically. "And what does this Drake have to do with Harald's situation?"

I leaned back casually, enjoying the dramatic tension. "Oh, you know, just the usual terrorist business. Kidnappings, poisonings, the whole shebang."

Harald shot me a curious glance. "And how did you come across this information, Chris?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Just a little sleuthing on my part. You know, playing detective and all that jazz."

Their disbelief was palpable, but I didn't let it faze me. Instead, I decided to play my cards right.

"Listen," I began, adopting a more serious tone, "we can stand here all day questioning each other's credibility, or we can make a deal."

Christiana folded her arms, clearly intrigued despite her skepticism. "What kind of deal?"

I flashed them a confident smile. "You tell me what's happening inside the school, and I'll tell you what I found out about Drake. A fair exchange of information, don't you think?"

Upon hearing that proposal, the 3 of them looked at each other, and whispered something among them. Then they stared at me.

I know what they are thinking. Chris Harrison was perceived as a pathetic loser by everyone, so this was out of character for him.

Cecille questioned me, "By the way, what would you do with the information?"

What I would do? I have to assess the situation and how much this scenario has gone so far. On top of that, I have to confirm everything about Emmeline. But I can't tell them that.

For further using both of them, I have to make them believe that I am on their side.

But how?

[Name : Emma Harrison

Age : 17

Description : Elder sister of Chris Harrison and the victim of the attempted kidnapping inside the Royal Academy.]

Whenever, this damn panel lit up, it gives me useful info, but seriously?!

I have an elder sister, and I didn't even know!

Wait. The name of that victim was not mentioned in the novel.

Anyway, I will think about that later. Actually, it works in my favor for persuading them.

"Remember that attempted kidnapping incident. The victim was my elder sister."

"What?" Both Petersons looked startled.

"You didn't know?"

"No, that matter was handled by Princess and the school management. We were only told the gist of it." Harald replied.

Heh...? She sure likes to keep everything to herself.

Then, a bit of emotional acting coming into play here!

"I may not look like it, but I care about her. So I can't overlook any related incidents. Moreover....."

"Moreover?"

And a bit of foreshadowing information!

"I think there is a bigger conspiracy in work here. Maybe something big and unforeseen might happen in the academy soon. So it would be better to prepare for that in advance. I would like to keep any danger away from my sister."

How was that acting? Oscar winning wouldn't you say?

[It was too embarrassing that I would like to bury myself in the Mariana Trench.] 

Nobody asked you!

And how the hell do you know about my previous world?!

"I understand. It's a deal." Christiana replied after thinking for sometimes.

"And now you are mocking me too!?"

"What mocking?"

Oh, sh*t. I said it aloud.

"No, nothing. Anyway, you have my word. Now, let's get down to business."

After that, as I was going to ask her about the details, my limbs felt numb.

Suddenly, my surrounding became blurry. Everything around me was spinning around and gradually darkness spread around my field of vision. 

Huh? Am I losing consciousness?

This timing couldn't be any wrong.