Chapter 397: Who... Who are you?
The SUV was moving in a convoy, and there was intense silence inside.
Katie, who was driving, felt the atmosphere in the cabin change dramatically when Esma, who was in the back, addressed all three girls using the Soul Force.
"How did you find out about this?" Irene asked Esma.
"You know who I am and that my current Golden Rank is not my true strength," Esma replied. "I immediately noticed the strangeness as soon as I saw these two. Although you can define their rank as Golden, I clearly felt that their true rank is Platinum, and only the suppression of the world makes them seem Golden."
"Besides, their presence is different from all of you locals, and I immediately realized that they are not people, but completely different creatures masked as you," Esma added.
Yulaya and Hazel silently listened to the conversation between Esma and Irene using their Soul Force. From this conversation, they realized that Esma is not who she claims to be.
"Who... Who are you?" finally, unable to stand it, Hazel asked, looking into Esme’s eyes. Esma immediately noticed disbelief and a little sadness in her gaze.
"Esma is an outsider," Irene said, deciding to take responsibility for revealing Esma’s identity to her friends. "But don’t worry. Esma is not from some distant world, she is from Junonia."
Upon hearing that Esma was from Junonia, Yulaya and Hazel felt some relief. Over the past two years, Junonia has become a second home for them, the Awakened Ones.
"So you’re from Junonia? What continent are you from? And how did you get into our world?" asked Hazel curiously.
"I come from the Celestial continent located in the world of Junonia," Esma said proudly.
"As for how I ended up here, I’m sorry, I can’t tell you without my younger sister’s permission," she apologized.
Yulaya and Hazel immediately turned to Irene, looking for an answer to their question.
"It’s not me," Irene waved it off. "Esma is talking about another person. The one who dropped her off and asked me to keep an eye on her."
"Hey!" — Esma was indignant when she heard Irene’s words.
Hazel, being the most cheerful of them, quickly came to her senses and, seeing Esma’s indignant look, could not hold back her laughter.
"You’re not human, are you?" — asked Yulaya, hesitating a little.
From the very first meeting, she noticed Esma’s unusual appearance and even began to envy her a little. Although she, Hazel, and Esma were almost the same height, Esma surpassed them in her beauty and attractiveness. Knowing that Esma came from another world, Yulaya immediately suspected that perhaps Esma’s beauty lay in the fact that she was not human.
"Yes, I’m not human," Esma confirmed. Then, proudly raising her head, she said:
"I’m a Valkyrie. The Water Valkyrie."
Upon hearing Esma’s confession, Yulaya and Hazel were even more shocked than when they found out about the true identity of the two outsiders.
"Va... Valkyrie? The legendary Valkyrie from the world of Junonia?" asked Hazel with a tremor in her voice, not believing her ears.
Yulaya’s condition was no better.
"Yes, I am a real Valkyrie," Esma said proudly, getting a strange pleasure from the way the girls reacted to her words.
Yulaya turned to Irene with an indignant look:
"How could you hide such a truth from us, your close friends! You’re familiar with the real Valkyrie, and she’s right next to you!"
Irene was stunned by Yulaya’s outrage and couldn’t find the words. She just didn’t know what to say.
But then, looking at the three girls, who were of the same height and build, but one had long white hair, the other brown, and the third sea—green, Irene couldn’t help but smile.
Suddenly, a lively conversation broke out between the three girls. Hazel mostly asked Esme questions about her life in Junonia, and Esma responded enthusiastically. However, she could not give a complete answer to all the questions, sometimes evading or bluntly saying that she could not answer until she received permission from her younger sister.
Julia and Hazel were very interested in another mention of Esma’s younger sister.
"By the way, I had my own store in Junonia, and I was just about to open a store in this world," Esma suddenly said, which greatly alarmed Irene.
Irene was already aware of Esma’s actions and knew about her unusual character. Therefore, when the conversation turned into an undesirable direction, she decided to intervene.
Irene didn’t want her two close friends to fall under Esma’s influence and go down the wrong path.
"Ahem, — Irene coughed, drawing attention. "So Alistair and Arianna are outsiders?"
"I’m one hundred percent sure of it," Esma confirmed. "I told you this because, Irene, you said yourself that most outsiders are enemies. When I heard that, it became a little unclear to me. If you consider outsiders to be enemies, then why are you, led by outsiders, going in search of other outsiders?"
Irene, Yulaya, and Hazel were confused as they pondered over Esma’s words. Their thoughts were filled with perplexity, but they were even more worried that these two outsiders had somehow infiltrated the ranks of the Awakened Association.
"I wonder how they did it?" wondered Irene. "Maybe someone helped them? And does the top leadership of the Federation know about them?"
Yulaya and Hazel frowned upon hearing these words.
"What if the Federation is aware of this?" asked Yulaya. "What if they colluded with outsiders?"
"Heh, — Hazel chuckled when she heard Yulai’s concern. "Why guess? It probably is."
Irene and Yulaya looked at Hazel in disbelief.
"The Federation Council has long sought to take us, the Awakened Ones, under its control, but has so far failed to achieve its goal. They even created an Awakened Association for this task. And it was into this Association that these two entered," Hazel replied. "I don’t think it’s just a coincidence."
Esma listened to their conversation with great interest, but did not show much concern. Although she was starting to like this world, the only thing she cared about was her own interests and those of Arabel and Idan. Everything else seemed unimportant to her.
"I can assume with some degree of suspicion that the current raid is probably a showdown between outsiders, and you were just dragged into it," Esma suddenly said.
All three of them—Irene, Yulaya, and Hazel—turned their attention to Esma.
"And as I mentioned, the true strength of these two greatly exceeds yours, so I strongly recommend that you be more careful," she added.
Hearing this, the three of them became worried.
Irene and Yulaya, as the leaders of their respective guilds, felt much more anxious.
"Ahem, — Esma coughed, drawing attention. "If you recognize me as an older sister, I might consider helping you."
Irene narrowed her eyes and stared at Esma. The latter, noticing her look, immediately added:
"You don’t have to recognize me as an older sister, Irene. I’ll help you anyway. Just stay close to me, and nothing will happen to you and your people."
Hearing this, Irene smiled and nodded, pleased with Esma’s words. Unlike Yulai and Hazel, she trusted Esme and believed that she would protect her.
Irene was aware of Esma’s true strength and background, but most of all, she trusted her younger brother and future sister-in-law, with whom Esma was related.
Idan and Arabel made it clear to Irene that besides accepting unknown potions and items from Esma, she could be completely trusted.