OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 143: A Blackmailed Double Agent

Nathan stared blankly at Emir, not knowing how to react.

Although he agreed with the rumors going around that Emir was in cahoots with Amanda, he never expected them to confront him together so openly.

His doubts were valid, if only them being in the Liberation Army was taken into account, of

course.

Contrary to his expectations, they wanted him to be fully on board, and that meant having him sign a binding contract with his life on the line, and they knew that if they pushed him too hard before gaining a semblance of trust, he would activate his death protocols, whatever they may be.

for now, they wanted to appear as friendly and authoritative people that he would rather gain as respected allies rather than enemies.

Chuckling at Nathan's absent-mindedness, Emir spoke, ending the silence:

"You figured me out back then, I am suspicious. Though it doesn't take a genius to reach that conclusion..."

As his dark eyes locked onto Nathan's green ones, he continued:

"But before we eat the main dish, let's get the starter first."

With a simple gesture from Emir, Lyra brought forward a small circular hologram projector and placed it on top of Nathan's desk.

Gently tapping it with his finger, it sounded a buzz, and an image appeared above his hand. It showed a body-less head, of the same assassin that attacked Emir many months ago. Pointing at it, he asked, "Remember this guy?"

He paused for a moment, acting as if it was deliberate, as he asked Lyra:

[What was the name of their gang again? They're so forgettable...]

Sounding a chuckle, she answered:

[Rattlers.]

Nodding inwardly, he continued, "I brought you his head way back then. You told me he was a part of the Rattlers... Were you lying?"

The answers to these questions didn't matter much to Emir nor Lyra, this was all an act to ease Nathan into talking with them, relaxing before getting to what truly mattered.

Their true objective in coming here today.

Seemingly composed, Nathan replied, not bothering to address or welcome Emir as he used to before:

"I spoke the truth. We, however, noticed that his memories experienced a certain degree of manipulation, so there is something more to the story that we don't know of."

Not needing Emir to ask her, she said:

[He isn't lying. We can assume our guesses to be correct.]

He nodded once to both of them while in thought: ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

'So there is a high chance of them being a third-rate hound that is under one of the big three, aiming to be Magnus's lap dog...'

'But there is no way to confirm this without getting it out of one of their members, but I'll hold off on these guys for now, I'd rather not give them another reason to lock me up... And I don't have time for them either.'

"I see. Thanks for being honest with me, Nathan..."

Emir paused once again, slowing down time only for a fraction of a second.

All of what he had just done was to focus on Nathan's expression.

And seeing that Nathan's face visibly relaxed after he registered Emir's words, he continued:

"Look... I didn't want to do you like this, but the Order forced my hand. I won't apologize, but instead, I would like you to join us."

He then waved his hand over the hologram, which switched to an image of a paper with simple sentences that read:

{Party A: Nathan.} {Party B: Emir and his companions.}

{1. Party A shall never directly or indirectly cause any harm, be it physical or mental, to Party B under any circumstances. Party A shall diligently safeguard Party B's interests, acting as their unwavering shield, except in cases of legitimate self-defense.}

{2. Party A shall respect Party B's right to privacy and confidentiality. Without Party B's explicit and prior consent, Party A shall refrain from divulging or alluding to any matters concerning Party B.}

{3. Party A is obligated to act in the best interests of Party B, recognizing Party B's welfare as their primary concern.}

{4. During the duration of this contract, Party A shall exhibit exceptional responsiveness to Party B's requests, displaying a profound commitment to their satisfaction.}

{5. This binding contract shall remain in full force indefinitely until both parties mutually agree to nullify it.}

"As you can see, this contract wouldn't harm you in any way, unless you blabber about us, of course. And since you're a celestial, that would announce your end..."

"But no worries, I'll give you more than enough time to read through it. Lyra made it simple enough for you to understand quickly, so please go ahead and read it." Emir concluded, gesturing towards the hologram once more.

This was the break-or-take moment, as both Emir and Lyra did all they could to ease him into it, so now it was up to Nathan to decide if he was ready to involve himself with the shady characters that they appeared to be.

But surprising them both, Nathan only glossed over the contents of the contract and raised his hand to the hologram to sign it.

Emir's instinctive reaction was to rush and grab his hand, but he stopped himself while

thinking:

'Well... if he is so eager, who am I to stop him?'

They watched as Nathan waved his fingers silently, and moments later, the hologram brightened until it fizzled out from the projection, appearing as if it was absorbed into the

space around it.

Emir and Lyra glanced at each other and then looked back at Nathan, their eyes showing obvious interest in his actions.

Retracting his hand, he relaxed and leaned back in his seat.

"Am I terrified of you? Yes. Do I trust you? No. But do we have the same goal? Yes, we do..."

Turning his gaze to Emir, he continued:

"Your companion, Amanda, or whoever her real name is, scares me quite a bit. But she never once treated me unfairly. Though some might think that blackmail is just that. Unfair. But I

beg to differ."

"You two had to do it to stop me from talking, maybe you enjoyed it, I don't know, but that doesn't matter to me. What matters is that you would go to greater lengths to fight back

against the Order."

He switched his gaze to Lyra.

"She allowed me some leeway to check into her background, and I've noticed some inconsistencies. At first, I thought that this was all a ploy by the Liberation Army to get more dirt on the UEF. But then it dawned on me that it might be on purpose, to lower my guard..."

"Maybe even gain a bit of my trust."

"But, now I'm more inclined to believe that it was all for this one moment, everything you did to me was for me to accept this contract..."

"You needed an inside man in the UEF, a man who appears clean on the surface but has the

will to dirty himself to fight against the Order. Otherwise, you would've gone after a higher-

ranking agent."

"With that in mind, I believe signing the contract would be a win-win for me and my vendetta against the Order. You cherry-picked me for a reason, after all."

Emir and Lyra stayed quiet, letting Nathan rant all he wanted until he finally posed the

question that they'd been waiting for:

"So... What have you come to me for?"