Chapter 313: Exposed
Lacus's eyes went wide as she became excited and delighted. She hadn't expected there to be such a connection—and that they even knew Kira's identity.
Curious, she asked Nicol, "Keeping it secret is no problem, but can you tell me—how did you survive? And what kind of person is that Tolle, exactly?"
Nicol looked at Lacus with some difficulty. He felt like he was selling Tolle out more and more thoroughly, but better a dead friend than a dead self.
For the sake of his family's safety, he could only sacrifice part of Tolle's secrets. Besides, Lacus had already promised to keep it confidential—there shouldn't be any problem, right?
"Miss Lacus, is it convenient to talk here? Will anyone else overhear us?"
Lacus looked around with her usual airheaded expression and replied, "Ah, it really is getting late. Let's go back inside and talk slowly."
Then she slowly ambled off in the direction of her house.
Liza stepped forward and carefully examined Nicol for a moment, even pinching his cheeks a few times. "It really is Nicol. Put that disguise you had earlier back on and show me again."
Nicol helplessly let the nanotech armor attach itself to his face once more, turning him back into his previous disguised appearance.
Liza then quickly followed after Lacus, but turned her head and looked at Nicol, who was still standing there in a daze. "Move it. What are you squatting there for like an idiot? Stay in that disguise and follow us."
Liza was exactly the type Nicol couldn't handle at all, so he could only scamper after them obediently.
After arriving in the basement of Lacus's house, she said to Nicol, "Nicol, now you can talk. Don't worry—this place is very safe. Absolutely no fourth person will hear our conversation."
Tolle smacked his lips inwardly and thought, I'm that fourth person hearing everything. What are you going to do about it?
"Miss Lacus, what I'm about to say may sound a bit outrageous, but everything I say next is true. Please believe me—and please help me keep it secret, okay?"
Seeing how secretive Nicol was acting only heightened Lacus's curiosity. She assured him, "Don't worry, Nicol. Liza and I will definitely help you keep this secret."
Liza, standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore and said to the still-hesitating Nicol, "Are you even a man? Why are you dragging this out? Miss Lacus and I already said we'd keep it secret, so we will. Put your mind completely at ease."
Startled by Liza, Nicol, who had still been thinking about how to explain things, blurted out the final answer in one breath.
"Do you read novels? …That Tolle is a reincarnator, and he even obtained a reincarnation 'cheat.'"
Tolle's eyes twitched violently. He hadn't expected Nicol, this pig teammate, to be so good at selling out his own people and delivering free kills.
Heh. But I'm not a reincarnator. I'm a perfectly legitimate (can't see the light of day) transmigrator.
Maybe he shouldn't have let Nicol go to P.L.A.N.T alone in the first place.
Then again, dumping this burden off might actually have been the right call. If Nicol stayed by his side, who knew how badly he'd get him screwed over.
"A reincarnator? What's that?" Lacus asked, looking confused.
"What, like the reincarnators in novels?" Liza immediately lit up with excitement and answered for Nicol. "Miss Lacus, it's the kind where someone dies and then comes back to life at some point before their death. It's super popular in novels!"
"Oh? You like reading novels too?" Nicol nodded enthusiastically and agreed. "Yes, exactly like that. I never thought I'd encounter something like this in my lifetime."
Liza's eyes sparkled as she asked excitedly, "Hey, Nicol, then what's his cheat? What does it do?"
"He said it's something like high-tech from a parallel world. He even made a compressed-space bracelet for me. Wait—I'll show you right now."
Nicol immediately demonstrated the compressed-space bracelet on his wrist in front of Lacus and Liza, storing and retrieving objects from the room several times.
"Holy crap! Storage equipment really exists?!" As a hardcore novel fan, Liza immediately grabbed Nicol's arm, staring at the bracelet with drool practically dripping as she asked excitedly, "Can I try it?"
Nicol shook his head. "It's gene-locked. No one else can use it."
Hearing that others couldn't play with it, Liza said dejectedly, "Aww… why is it like that? That's such a shame."
"But if you really want one, you can actually ask Tolle later. He seems able to mass-produce them, though the quantity is apparently limited."
"That's awesome! Then let's go find that Tolle right away and ask for a few to play with!"
"So that's how it is… that really is amazing. I'll definitely go meet him if I get the chance." At this point, Lacus, who had been silent all along, spoke again with her airheaded expression. "But now isn't the right time. Let's wait until Kira has fully recovered first."
Liza immediately replied in a serious tone, "Yes, Miss Lacus."
"Nicol, did that Tolle tell you anything else about the future?"
Nicol felt like he was about to sell his teammate out again. All he could do was pray silently for Tolle's forgiveness. He then recounted the set of explanations Tolle had used to mislead him.
"Miss Lacus, according to Tolle, he has already reincarnated twice. Originally, he and I were supposed to die on the same day—each of us killed by Athrun and Kira, respectively.
…He made several attempts to change things, but the results weren't very good.
He also said that 'things come in threes,' and that he feels this might be his last reincarnation. If he dies this time, then everything will truly be over."
Nicol summarized some of the memories Tolle had given him, but deliberately left out matters involving Lacus's father, Siegel, being killed, as well as certain details.
This was something Tolle had emphasized repeatedly—this part absolutely could not be changed. Otherwise, the Lacus who could maintain world peace might cease to exist.
Listening to Nicol, Lacus's expression turned grave. "Nicol, you must never say what you just said to anyone else again.
Otherwise, it could cause enormous trouble—so enormous that it might even destroy the world.
Liza as well. Absolutely do not spread what we just heard. Otherwise, something truly irreversible will happen.
It might be even more cruel than the two futures Nicol just described."