Chapter 102 - Confession (2)

Nonetheless, Janet recovered immediately, allowing that change in her to escape Aldrin's notice.

She then scrutinized the seriousness in his expression and deemed it necessary to hear him out while thinking, 'If it comes down to it, I can just reject him and comfort him right after. He needs to flush that out of his system or it'll be dangerous for their group tomorrow. I still need him to be the best so the old man will stop giving me this hassle of a job. Who knows how many trainees have the same thoughts as this guy?'

Janet then coughed twice to calm herself down. "Alright, go ahead, I'm listening."

With that go signal, Aldrin sprang up on his feet and stepped forward, closer to Janet. He then intentionally locked gazes. "Thank you, elder sister! The truth is… I'm the whistleblower."

"You know Aldrin, you're a fine man but I cannot respond to your feelings—Wait, come again?"  As if she had a predetermined answer, Janet replied only to be shocked in the end, her jaw dropping in the process. Soon after, embarrassment followed. 

And due to that, Aldrin finally got the gist that they're not on the same page. 'Oh! This elder sister of mine. She thought I was about to confess to her. How the hell did she arrive at that point?'

While his thoughts ran wild with that, he also noticed his blunder. He got so occupied that he failed to notice the signs.

"I guess it's my fault. It's not that kind of confession, elder sister. I'm talking about something different. Though I also believe that you're a fine woman on your own and someone will surely be in luck to date you."

Aldrin added a save in the end, however, it was all too late. The woman had already been critically hit. Janet reached her boiling point.

With her whole face flushed crimson, she let her body fall down on his bed and buried her face on its softness, as a way to escape. She thought of knocking Aldrin out, actually. However, it might disturb the whole place and they found out that she's inside his room. That would be worse than their current situation.

Aldrin, on the other hand, was reminded of that night upon seeing that unusual womanly reaction from her usually rough Instructor.

'No matter how strong or how playful she is, in the end, she's still a normal human who can be embarrassed. I already apologized so… I better continue on the main topic and spare her the embarrassment. I'll be relying on her for help and she has already helped me a lot.' Aldrin shook his head as he thought of that.

A few seconds later, he took a step back and coughed twice, to clear the air before opening his mouth again.

"Elder sister, I'll repeat this then. I'm the whistleblower, the one who provided the audio recording to the Mayor about the true nature behind the disaster in the Southern District. If you have no idea about what it is about, I can explain it to you."

After saying that, Aldrin stood straight and watched the woman roll around his bed until she returned to normal.

Soon enough, Janet acted as if nothing happened and Aldrin played along with it, returning the calm in the room.

A while later, Aldrin found out that Janet was truly unaware of the connotations of what he confessed. So, he narrated to the woman what he witnessed and everything that happened following that until reaching the current day.

As she got infected with Aldrin's seriousness, Janet keenly listened to him and even commented a few times.

Since there's no more trace of the embarrassment and the awkwardness of the earlier situation, it didn't take long for Aldrin to finish his narration.

As he had expected, Janet asked for the evidence that could prove what he's claiming. With the audio file still on his phone, Janet got access to it easily.

"Alright, I got the gist of the situation. But let me say this first, Aldrin…"

"Go ahead, elder sister."

"You big idiot! Do you want to die?! Catch him yourself?! Do you think just because you're the most promising trainee, you have a chance against someone near late Stage 2? Don't be so full of yourself! You…" Janet continuously lashed out at him until she's out of breath.

Although he had expected that kind of reaction from Janet, Aldrin was still overwhelmed. However, amidst those reprehensions from his titled elder sister, he picked out her concern over him. Furthermore, she's right at everything she said.

Even if he's near the late Stage 1 Energy Refiner, that's an entire stage lower than Carlos. Saying that he wanted to capture him was akin to suicide in an expert's eyes.

However, Janet was unaware that he had other means in his arsenal. The Guardian Ants and Spider Sentinels that he could summon using Essence. His Dimensional Clones and if that's not enough, there's the Essence Grenade.

That middle-aged man isn't a Champion. He's a lot weaker than one. But since he's not sure if he could apply the multiplier to himself or even to his Dimensional Clones once he dived inside that Dimensional Rift, he estimated that fighting Carlos was close to fighting a Champion in the Small Insect Colony.

"I understand the sentiment, elder sister. But I still want to try… I confessed this to you because I don't plan on dying. If the worst comes to worst, I will be relying on your help."

"Then why don't we capture him right here and right now? Don't bother risking your life. You identified him for how long already? Four days? That's too stupid, Aldrin. You know? I'm close to disowning you as my little brother." Janet was also adamant. She didn't believe that Aldrin had any chance at all.

Unfortunately, Aldrin was also stubborn.

"It's foolish, I know. However, elder sister, when I found out that I was close to death once again, a certain emotion welled up inside me. I wanted to retaliate."

That's a lie. Of course. He didn't feel any sort of emotion. For him, it's a challenge. But Janet didn't need to know that. As long as he could get her cooperation, Aldrin believed that his chances of emerging victorious would raise.

That's why Aldrin grabbed Janet's hand and leaned closer to her as he stared straight into her eyes. Since he found out that the girl still had that bit of shame, he's intentionally using it now against her.

His gamble succeeded. Janet became lost as her eyes focused on her hands that's fully enclosed inside Aldrin's palm.

Janet's time stopped ever since her brother got trapped inside a Rift. Unexpectedly, the man in front of him that she selfishly took in as his little brother for fun was shaking the belief that her time would only run again upon her brother's return.

Aldrin had no idea what's going on inside Janet's mind, obviously. He relied on the woman's minute reactions to determine that it's effectively working.

"Y-you stubborn little brother. Tell me your plan, quick! I'll determine if that's plausible.. If not, then I will capture that man tonight and be done with this foolishness!" Janet blinked her eyes and shook her head to not let another streak of red run on her face. 'I'm the Tyrant Princess, dammit! Why am I moved by this fool?'