I had to weigh my options. If I say the truth that Himeno is accusing her of doing some human experimentation, Raynevere might kill me! No, Raynevere is not like that. Even if it was true, she still needs me to win the Battle Fiesta to regain her corporation. She will not dispatch me just yet.
If I say a lie, then that just means I will be adhering to Himeno's accusations. I don't know if she's to be trusted. For all we know, she is our rival. To win the corporation over, Himeno will do some underhanded tricks.
I will just say a piece of the truth and keep half of the vital information a secret. Just to be safe.
"Himeno… She said that Treenity Innovations is conducting illegal human experiments. She accuses your grandfather of kidnapping people and using them as guinea pigs." I muttered.
There was silence. I raised my head and looked at her expression, which is quite blank. She is just keeping her poker face, and I don't know if she's trying hard not to act surprised at all. Finally, she spoke.
"There are rumors like that all around me. I know I should be siding with my Grandpa, and I love him. But there's a part of me that is clouded with doubt. I only confirmed it when the Cyberdemons attacked my village. Cyberdemons are caused by the incompatibility of the mystical nanomachines on a person's body, so it's not farfetched that those Cyberdemons who attacked us are those people who hold grudges."
That's what I thought too, but I don't want to tell her that. I should be limiting my words. Instead, I should confirm some things by asking her too.
"So you do not know of this?" I asked.
Raynevere shook her head. "Nope. Just had a hypothesis. All multi-million dollar corporations have their deep dark secrets, and Treenity Innovations is probably one. But since it was my family's business, I always choose to side with it even if I have doubts. I have never seen those human experimentations with my own eyes, so I chose to believe that it didn't occur."
"But your Grandpa might be a bad person," I muttered.
Raynevere did not react even if I told her what I'm feeling about her grandfather. But she still had this cold glare in her eyes.
"What else did she tell you?" Raynevere changed the topic.
I will have to bet another piece of information from Himeno if I wanted to learn more. Raynevere might know more about it.
"Himeno said that her father was one of the lead researchers of your grandfather. That is why she knows a lot about this human experimentation."
"That, I will not deny. Hiro Yuusha is the Nanomachine Research Department Head. I heard that her father suffered irreversible injuries during one of those top-secret experiments." Raynevere said.
"What is this top-secret experiment?" I asked.
Raynevere shrugged. "I have no idea. My Grandpa and his trusted companions only know some things by their heads. But we might uncover something once I become the President of the corporation."
"How?"
"There is a keycard that only the president can access. This keycard leads to the archive where all secrets of the corporation can be unveiled. Too bad, the keycard was also encrypted with a password and biometrics, so stealing it will not do us good."
"So there's one more reason to win the Battle Fiesta." I scoffed.
Raynevere still has this serious expression, and it makes me uncomfortable. I'm feeling like a husband being interrogated by his wife for some reason. Well, we will be marrying each other one day so there's a first time for everything. I'll get used to this.
"There's still one more thing you're not telling me, right?" Raynevere finally smiled.
"W-What? You can tell?" I shrieked.
"I know that you're not fully trusting me at the moment because of our past quarrel. You fear betrayal by me. Again."
Raynevere changed her cross-legged position from right to left, which made me glance at her panty. It made me blush a little. But when I looked back at her face, I was surprised that she has pushed closer as if she was staring at my soul!
"So, what is it?" Raynevere finally regained her jolly aura, but something is wrong. I can't just point it out.
"W-Well, it's about you being a monster of some sort."
I had no choice but to spill the bean.
It took three seconds before Raynevere reacted. She leaned back and sighed a breath of relief.
"I already know it. She calls me a monster because she accuses me of being the head of the human experimentation department. She often shouts at me in the corporation hallway, bullying me until I burst into tears. That's nothing new."
I just forced a smile. I thought she will be angry about it, but I was wrong.
"So it was a regular occurrence, eh?"
"Yes." Raynevere sobbed.
"Ahahaha." I forced a laugh while scratching my head.
There was an awkward second of silence while Raynevere crossed her arms again and went into deep thought. She looked at the surroundings while my eyes focused on her upper body and resisted the temptation to look at her legs.
My betrothed finally talked after a few moments.
"It was weird taking up this human experimentation topic. I just remembered something. I have dreams of seeing a dark lab in the corporation warehouses. Only that I am seeing it from inside the glass tube."