Me - "At the moment I don't know, but that's why I put myself in the group with her. That way I'll have the next six months to figure out whether or not she lied to me or plans to betray us later."
Kana - "So, what are you going to do during all this time?"
Me - "For now, I'm going to do what you all do and just train. But as time goes on, I'll force her to admit to me whether or not she's planning to betray us."
Nomiko - "But how can you be sure that she will tell you the truth?"
Me - "I don't know yet, but that's my business.
Angelo - "So you told us this only to warn us that the girl you're bringing back may have already betrayed us, even though the war hasn't started yet?
Me - "Yes, more or less. But by revealing this to you, I especially want to make you understand not to trust anyone, even if they seem very nice at first."
Angelo - "Don't worry, we already knew that. Except that at the time, it was you who trusted a girl you had just met. "
Me - "There is a difference between trusting and accepting an exchange. I simply accepted her as a member because she was able to pay us €200,000 in cash. And if what she says about her past is true, then she will know her way around several countries very well. Unlike us, who have never left Karroé."
Kana - "It's true that she could potentially be a risk if she knows all of our actions, but as you said, I think it's a risk worth taking given the knowledge she can bring to us."
Angelo - "Yes, I also think we can accept her with us. Just be careful not to reveal too many essential things to her, you can never be too careful."
Me - "Nomiko, Shiro, what do you think?"
Nomiko - "I would go with the answer you choose, so either way I won't mind."
Shiro - "I think she'll be useful even if she might be with enemies."
Me - "Since everyone seems to agree, I'm not changing our plan. Except if you have something to say, I'm done.
No one answered, so I took this silence for granted.
Me - "Well, then we'll meet here at 11 o'clock with the others.
And with these words, I left, in the main room where a good number of groups were still present.
In my opinion, it must have been around 6 or 6.10 p.m., which leaves me almost 3 hours free before finding Sonia and explaining the rest of the plan to her.
That's why I have to go to a quiet place to think about the instructions I'm going to give to Sonia to make sure she gets out of this without being spotted or arousing suspicion.
And it seems to me that the place where I am likely to be the most calm at the moment, is my room.
Once I was lying on my bed, I was finally able to think, with a clear head, without hearing the incessant chatter.
[ 08/07/499 ?? H ?? ]
I woke up with a start.
And the first thing that surprised me was to see Alia's head resting on my chest.
I didn't remember seeing her when I fell asleep earlier.
Alia - "Sorry, did I wake you up?"
Me - "Nah nah don't worry about it, it's not your fault."
Alia - "Phew, that makes me feel better."
Me - "You weren't there when I fell asleep?
Alia - "Oh no, sorry, I was looking for you and you were asleep so I put myself with you. Do you mind?"
Me - "Now that you're here, I'm not going to tell you that you're bothering me. And you were looking for me for what?"
Alia - "I wanted to talk to you about the place where we were going to establish our base."
Me - "Oh yes the base... Er wait, before that, can you tell me what time it is?"
Alia - "It's 8.30 pm, why?"
Me - "I just wanted to know how long I've been asleep."
8.30 pm means that I have about 20 minutes left before I have to leave to join Sonia.
Which is plenty of time to talk to Alia about the location of our base.
Me - "So, about our base, what did you want to talk about?"
Alia - "I suspect you already have an idea of where you want to put it, but I also have a place to suggest."
Me - "Indeed, in my plans, I have already thought of a place where we could be, but as long as you don't agree with this choice, the choice is not yet final."
Alia - "Well, in that case, the place I was thinking of was Luron Forest."
Me - "Well, I'd like to say that it's a good idea, but the only problem is that I have no idea where this forest is, I've heard of it before so I know it's not too far away, but to say where it is, I have no idea."
Alia - "Pff, you're infuriating me, Yù, you're going to win a war without having the slightest idea of the position of a forest in the region where you live. Luron's forest is the second largest in Karroé, I'm not telling you anything here. It's more or less 40 km northwest of your village and it stretches almost to the ocean.
Me - "Really? It's that big?"
Alia - "Yes, I'd say it's about 40,000 km² in area".
Me - "But compared to Karroé, is it big or not?"
Alia - "If I'm not mistaken, the country of Karroé is 5,000,000 km², so it's not very big.
Me - "OK, I think I've more or less understood. We'll discuss it again tomorrow when the other groups have also made their choices.
Alia - "Yes, no problem, but don't feel obliged to do what I tell you, if it completely contradicts your plans, don't listen to what I've just told you.
Me - "Nah don't worry about it, it's a good idea, I'm glad you told me, I just need a little time to be able to study the pros and cons."
Alia - "Great, thanks. Well I'll let you get some rest. See you tomorrow."
Me - "Thanks, see you tomorrow and have a good rest too."
To be honest, I didn't expect her to ask me on her own where we could have set up our base.
But for her to come and tell me now is both good and bad news.
The good news is that I now have an idea of where she wants to go.
The bad news is that if she really is a spy, she might have posted some of her allies and I'd rather not imagine what will happen next, because after all I'm not sure of anything.
Anyway, she's given me one more job for tonight. To find out as much as I can about the Luron forest.
Even if my priority for the moment is not really this forest, but to get ready to go and join Sonia in the hotel where we have an appointment.
Besides, our appointment is only a few minutes away, so it's time to get ready.