"So, do we have this clear?"
"And about our flank, I'll watch the left as before."
"Okay, Ella, remember, your cooperation is crucial for this strategy. Are you ready?"
Amelia and I made it to the last strategy meeting before the main battle on time. And might I add, I was bored to death.
Sighing and occasionally yawning, after a few minutes, I decided to reveal the traitor's identity.
"There's a traitor among us."
"....."
"....."
"....."
As soon as I dropped the bombshell, the meeting, which was very lively before, fell silent.
"Ahh- Lucas, what did you say?" Nero looked at me in utter confusion.
"Oh, wasn't I clear?" I said, "There's a traitor among us."
And everyone felt silent once again.
"I thought about this," William touched his chin and commented, breaking the silence. "After all, someone added a whole sector in our map just to mislead us."
"It was obvious from the start, you fools." the one who made that rude comment was Quinn. And he had a point.
"So wait, who is this traitor you speak of?" Ella asked. "Do you know their identity?"
"Yes, I do," I nodded and answered calmly. "And before you ask, it took me this long to reveal this to you all because I have been collecting proofs and connecting dots to draw a solid conclusion."
"...I see," Ella frowned. Her question was answered before she could even put it into words. "So, who is it? Tell us. Or are you trying to create suspense?"
"Yes, Lucas Morningstar," right then, the girl with blonde hair sitting right beside Ella spoke up. "Do tell us, who is the traitor?"
Of course, it was Grace. She was trying to sound threatening with a furious smile, but I could see right through her act.
She was terrified.
Why wouldn't she be? In her mind, she has already suppressed me.
Tsk, poor girl.
"You are," dramatically pointing my finger at her, I answered. "You are the traitor, Grace Goodwill."
pαпdα-ňᴏνêι·сóМ Silence once again descended in the room. All that could be heard was the sound of Grace hissing and puffing.
She was gritting her teeth in rage. Nerves bulged out on her forehead and her face contorted.
God, I didn't know she could get any uglier than she already was.
Bam—!
Slamming her hands on the round table, she got up from her seat. With her face red in wrath, she burst into a rageful yelling.
"Me? You're accusing me of being the traitor?! I fought on the front lines while you sat here and did nothing but bark orders! I contributed to this–"
However, before she could continue on, I made a few taps on my smart bracelet and played a recording.
-[Yes, they only plan to engage in battle long enough for their Task Force to empty the supplies and blow up the shops there. Yes, yes. Yes, I haven't aroused any suspicions yet. No, they don't know. They don't even have a clue about what you're planning to do. Nero will be behind our vanguard along with Quinn, and William and Ella will command the left and right flanks while Anastasia will watch our backs. No, you won't have to rely on him to sabotage us. Just carry out according to my information and you'll win.]
Beep—!
And with that, I cut the recording.
For a moment, a look of disbelief washed over Grace's face as everyone present in this room looked over at her. Some were curious, some were relishing this, and some were concerned.
Under the gazes of everyone, Grace tried to make her last-ditch attempt to get out of this situation.
"It's obviously doctored! That's not my voice! You must've got someone to voice like me beforehand and then—?!"
And just like earlier, before she could present her argument, I tapped on my smart bracelet once again, and a picture projected out of its screen.
It was a picture taken precisely outside the entrance of an apartment complex, with two people clearly visible in it. From the looks of it, they were exchanging words.
Yes, you've guessed it. They were Grace and Alberto.
"What about this? Is this edited too?" with a smug smile, I asked.
I could legit see her alluring pale face contorting and getting redder every second. It looked like she was about to burst.
And that added to the smug smile on my face, which had now been turned into a grin instead.
Oh come on, she really didn't envision this happening?
I told her what I would do beforehand. In the time that I gave her, she could've at least come up with a counterplan.
Or did she think threatening me and hoping I would not reveal her was the best tactic? That's just wishful thinking, and I really like trampling those.
"That's ridiculous! We are in the same friend group! Even I meet up with Alberto sometimes but that doesn't mean I'm a traitor!"
Ella, Grace's childhood sister-like friend, tried to defend her. And by 'Friend group' here, she means the group Young Elites.
Oh, and in Ella's defense, she really didn't know Grace was the traitor here. Her friend told her that after the virtual war was over.
"No, meeting up with a member of their class doesn't prove you're a traitor alone, but in acquaintance with that recording earlier, the circumstantial evidence points towards Grace."
The one who raised that point was none other than Anastasia.
"I–"
Grace tried to retort and come up with some kind of an excuse, but before she could even put words out of her mouth, I spoke up.
"Oh, and if you all still don't believe this, you can check the recent contact list on her smart bracelet. There will be a contact under the name of C. Specter, which is actually Alberto's contact info that she has saved under a false name."
"Hah! You're wrong!" Ella exclaimed as she stood up. "Alberto's contact details aren't saved under that name in her contact list. If you don't believe me, you can check and see for yourself. That will prove your accusations are totally unfounded!"
She was half-right. But prior to logging into her VR pod, Grace changed Alberto's name in her contact list.
How did I know that? That scene was briefly shown in the novel.
".....?!" Grace was completely petrified from shock, with her mouth agape and her eyes about to pop out of her sockets any time now.
Her reaction was understandable. No one should've known what name she changed Alberto's contact to.
Then how did he know? – Is probably what she must be thinking.
"Grace, show them. Do it and prove him wrong." Ella grabbed Grace's hand and shook her, urging her to show us her contact list but the blonde girl remained frozen.
Even though Ella was a member of Young Elites, a group of rich and bratty troublemakers, she always upheld her personal morals.
Ella the virtuous.
The goddess of truth and righteousness.
The just warrior.
These were the nicknames given to her in the novel.
Even in the story, when Grace told her she was the traitor after the Mock War and how she framed Lucas to take the fall in her stead, Ella almost broke her friendship with her, a friend that she valued like a sister.
In fact, in the later parts of the story, Ella was the reason Grace's heart changed, and she saved Anastasia from a threat that could've very well claimed the female lead's life.
And now Ella had to face the truth. The truth that her own friend was lying to her too all this time.
"Yes, go on, Grace," the grin on my face only widened as I said that. "Show us. Prove me wrong. Please, I'm waiting."
I loved this~!
After today, when I reveal her in front of everyone, she will have no friends or allies.
And if everything goes according to my plan and she does what I had predicted, in the future, no one would like to associate with her either.
She will be all alone. Then, and only then, I'll play the bigger man and lend her a helping hand.
She'll be vulnerable and helpless. A girl like her, who knows only how to cling to a strong person, will have no choice but to take my hand.
After that, I'll slowly break her both mentally and physically before I'll finally make her all mine~!
That's the easiest way to manipulate someone– make them dependent on you. Do whatever you have to do. Take away their friends, gaslight them, or literally any number of things.
And after they lose their mind in solitude, help them. Make them feel comfortable and slowly groom them to your liking.
Hah! Poor girl has no idea what's about to happen to her.
"Tsk!"
But that future was not here yet. Right now, I should be focusing on the present.
Grace shook herself out of her daze and clicked her tongue. The furious look that she had before returned to her face.
"Grace, what are you doing?" Ella kept shaking her. "Show them–"
"Ella," Grace cut her off. "I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
Kuwussh—!
Right then, Grace quickly jerked her friend's hand off her. She imbued man into her smart bracelet until the hidden runes on it glowed and summoned her rapier.
Without any delay, she willed mana into her legs and jumped on the table before dashing in my direction at inhumane speed.
"So that's your last effort," without a worry in the world, I kept standing there. A malevolent grin still plastered on my face when I asked, "You wish to take me down with you?"
How obvious could she be?
Swash—!
Jumping from the edge of the table, she lunged at me while simultaneously thrusting her rapier at my heart, intending to kill me in one blow.
Sak—!
Sak—!
But right then, just before her rapier was merely an inch away from my chest, two arrows whistled through the air and hit her.
One of them stabbed her in her right shoulder blade from behind, making her drop her rapier, while the other one pierced the side of her right calf, bringing her down to her knees.
"Arghhaaaaaa!" she let out a scream filled with agony. She must be experiencing some serious pain to be shouting like that.
Well, she really disliked pain in the novel too.
Two archers fired those arrows, one from behind her, Anastasia, and the other who was standing beside me, Amelia.
Nero hurriedly got up from his seat, his left leg still aching ever so often, and stormed toward us.
Without even speaking a word, he brought a sword out from his dimensional storage and swung it down at Grace, cleaving her head off and killing her in an instant.
Like a fountain, her blood spewed all over the place, and I, who was standing right in front of her, got showered in most of it.
Without a shred of remorse or sadness or disgust or any other feeling like that, I simply said:
"Grace must've leaked our strategy to them last night. So now we'll have to rework it all."
"...."
"...."
Why were they looking at me like I was some kind of a freak?
Anyhow, the first task at hand was cleared with this. One traitor had been eliminated.
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