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Mira peered on their faces, but it was too dark to make anything certain out, making it impossible to Examine their names.

Asking them directly was the next best thing. Even if they were not Johann’s wife and daughter, they were still Chimera Clauzen’s hostages and could give a lead to other people being forced to help them. And in the off-chance they were actually members of Chimera Clauzen, they could still provide valuable information.

Mira glanced towards Sasori to make sure they were on the same page, and once Sasori nodded she gently rocked the woman’s shoulder. Mira moved her body once, two, and three times, then by the fourth the woman finally began opening her eyes.

「Mmm… Anne? What happened?」

She muttered half asleep, looking at the bed next to hers and seeing her daughter fast asleep. Cocking her head in confusion, having thought the child had woken her up, the woman eventually decided she had just dreamed it.

「Over here.」

The woman had started patting her daughter’s head when Mira spoke to her as gently as possible to not startle her. But considering the situation there was only one possible outcome, as soon as she heard Mira’s voice, the woman tensed up and her back twitched in fright.

「Huh..?」

Afraid and hesitating, the woman slowly turned around until she could see Mira. The dim light entering the room reflected on Mira’s hair, making it shine like silver threads, while her white translucent skin captured the rest of the light, looking like the ephemeral image of a beautiful girl floating in the darkness.

The way she looked under that light was just like the manifestation of an angel. That sight left the woman breathless, even though she was in such a confusing situation. But that lasted only for a short while, as the woman quickly noticed Sasori’s cat eyes glowing in the darkness behind Mira.

「Nghuh!」

As her eyes began to wide and her mouth opened, Mira instantly put her hand to the woman’s mouth to silence her. Worthramble was keeping the room quiet, but it was faster to keep her quiet and explain everything to her calmly.

「Are you Angelique? Johann’s wife?」

Mira looked straight into her eyes while checking if she was the person they were looking for. They had already heard her call the girl Anne, which matched one of the names provided by Johann. And just as they thought, the woman nodded affirming their hunch.

「Your husband asked us to rescue you. We’re not your enemies.」

Mira explained trying to not startle her too much, to which Angelique replied with another nod and Mira slowly pulled her hand away.

「Umm… is my husband safe?」

Mira took a step behind as Angelique spoke at the brink of tears, her trembling hand clinging onto Mira’s shoulder as if trying to find something to support herself on.

「Yes, nothing bad happened to him. You can rest easy.」

Mira spoke with a gentle voice, like she was comforting a child, and softly petted Angelique’s head.

Angelique managed to calm down shortly after and they were able to converse about many things. She had been told very little of her current situation, not knowing why she was really there. They had told her one of Johann’s experiments had failed and that it might have adverse effects on her and her daughter, so they had to quarantine them there. They were held there for almost five years now.

In response, Mira explained in broad terms exactly what had happened. How a criminal organization known as Chimera Clauzen had joined hands with the Melville Trading Corporation, and that Johann’s father had developed something important for them.

But when Johann’s father passed away, he read through his father’s notes and learned what he had researched. Once he knew his father had been producing a material that greatly harmed spirits, he refused to work on it.

With his father gone, however, he was the only person who knew how to produce the material, so they used underhanded tactics to force him into working for them. As a result, Angelique and Anne were taken hostage while Johann was forced to constantly make more of the material.

「That was the story he told us himself. We decided to trust him and came here to rescue you.」

Mira took a step back after explaining everything, only adding, 「You don’t have to worry now,」 with a prideful look. Mira was smiling brightly, looking oddly confident in herself, if a bit arrogant. Seeing her, Angelique once again felt like she was in front of an angel, which made her feel at ease.

「Mommy, what’s going onn?」

While the two bonded, Anne also woke up. Slowly sitting on her bed, she eventually noticed Mira too. It could get messy if she began making noise, but Mira also hated the idea of covering a child’s mouth. Not knowing what to do, Mira decided to simply force a corporate smile and appear natural.

「Too stiff.」

Anne was still half asleep, only glancing at Mira for a second before she rolled over into Angelique’s arms and returned to dreamland.

「Alright… time to escape.」

Mira had a hard time forcing a smile on command like that, and Anne’s blunt review bore a hole through her heart, but she forced herself to recover while planning their next moves.

First she explained Worthramble’s powers in broad terms. What Complete Suppression did and its effects, as well as things that would break the concealment. When Mira reached that last part, Sasori kept averting her gaze.

The plan was simple, first they would use Complete Suppression to get out of the warehouse facility, then they would go to Johann in the mansion, get him out, and transport the entire family to a shelter where they could stay until things blew over.

「It’s a pretty sticky situation, so you’ll have to bear living secretly for a while longer before things go back to normal. I’m sorry.」

Angelique had been sheltered there for many years already, and now she was being taken to another hideout. It was a harsh fate for them, but for Mira and the Fifty Bells that would be enough to cripple Chimera Clauzen, so they had to do it.

「I don’t mind. It would’ve been far easier to get rid of us and still gain an advantage, so I’m thankful you chose to rescue us instead.」

If all they wanted was to stop Chimera Clauzen, Mira and Sasori could have taken Johann while ignoring his family. But they chose not to, so Angelique was thankful from the bottom of her heart as she bowed to them.