Nick just kept thinking about telling Aria about his power.
'I just have to tell them,' Nick repeated inside his mind.
'Just tell them.'
'If you tell them, everything you have done will be repaid.'
'Just tell her.'
Nick started to grit his teeth, and Aria kept looking at him with a contrasting mixture of understanding and disgust.
On the one hand, she could understand that Nick was completely beside himself since a Fallen had said that Nick was its target.
But on the other hand, Nick had been working with Specters for years, and he was even a Chief Zephyx Extractor.
Someone in such a position should be able to distinguish between rational and irrational fear.
Obviously, Envy wasn't targeting Nick. After all, he was only a John.
Aria expected that someone like a Chief Zephyx Extractor would be able to keep their cool in this situation.
For several minutes, none of them said anything.
'Just do it!' Nick thought with gritted teeth.
'Do it!'
'Tell them!'
'Stop being such a pussy!'
'Stop being so selfish!'
Ding!
Then, the door opened, and Nick looked over.
There were two people entering the Containment Unit.
One of them was the governor.
The other one was a man who looked to be in his thirties.
The man had bright red hair, which resembled a burning flame.
He wore a white uniform that looked very different from the uniforms of the Zephyx Extractors.
There was an emblem on his uniform, which depicted a shield with seven stars inside of it.
Nick could tell who that was, and he took a deep breath.
The man with red hair walked forward and looked at Nick with a serious expression.
"You saw the relay?" he asked.
"Relay?" Nick asked.
"The stone circle," the governor elaborated.
"Yes, I saw that," Nick said.
The man nodded.
"My name is Simon Francium. I'm a Protector from Aegis," he said.
'Just as expected,' Nick thought.
"Tell me what happened after you came into contact with the relay," the man ordered.
Nick nodded and complied.
As Nick narrated his encounter with Envy once again, Simon just kept looking at him.
Nick told him everything except for the thing about the Eternal.
Everything became quiet after Nick was done narrating his story.
Simon just kept rubbing his chin in thought as he looked downward with furrowed brows.
"Alright, you may leave," Simon said.
Nick's eyebrows rose in surprise.
He could leave?
Just like that?
"I hope I don't need to mention that all of this has to be kept a secret," Simon said.
"Eh, no, sir," Nick answered.
"Good. Then, go," Simon said, gesturing to the door.
Nick just looked at the table in shock.
'Right.'
'I'm just a John.'
'These things are far beyond my level.'
'There is no reason for them to talk to me or include me in the investigation.'
'I'm just someone that reported a crime.'
'That doesn't mean that I will immediately join the investigators.'
"If you're worried about Envy's words, don't be," Simon said after noticing that Nick hadn't left. "Envy lies all the time just to cause confusion and panic."
"While Envy is definitely angry that you uncovered his little undercover operation, I doubt that he will actually come here."
"Right now, Envy is stuck in a secret place with several Protectors besieging it."
"Trying to escape right now would be dumb and dangerous."
"He might have even told you that he would destroy this city just to lure one of us away from a different battlefield."
"At this moment, Envy is practically contained. While he is not contained within an actual Containment Unit and while we can't work with him, he can't leave his current location."
"As long as nothing significant happens that frees Envy, there is no chance that he will appear here, and even if he somehow manages to attain freedom, he won't come here."
"He already told you that he would come here, which means that Aegis keeps an eye on this city."
"Chances are that, if he comes here, he will just get surrounded again, and this time, he might even truly get suppressed."
"There's no reason for you to worry," Simon said calmly.
Nick took a deep breath.
While some parts of Simon's speech calmed him, other parts only made him more nervous.
Envy actually truly had a reason to appear here!
Once more, Nick's heart rate spiked.
Seconds passed.
"I said you can leave," Simon said with some annoyance.
Nick gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
"He said that you should leave," the governor said as he walked around the table to grab Nick by the arm.
The governor pulled lightly, but Nick refused to move, which made the governor furrow his brows.
Was Nick truly only scared?
He had shown a lot of fear until now, but it was starting to get ridiculous.
"Nick," the governor said with a low voice.
"Is there something that you are afraid of telling us?" he asked.
The other two looked at Nick with furrowed brows.
Was there more?
If so, didn't he know that keeping things secret in this situation could endanger everyone?!
Nick's body was shaking.
It was like he was standing in front of an abyss.
He had to jump!
He had to jump!
He had to jump!
If he didn't jump, the Protector would leave, and all of Crimson Fungus City would get destroyed as soon as Envy managed to escape.
Even worse, what if Envy somehow managed to tell one of the other Fallen or even its superior about Nick's ability?!
Sure, Envy was occupied, but another Fallen might decide to capture Nick and absorb his power.
The next moment, Nick grabbed two fistfuls of his hair while his arms shook, his eyes exposing an internal conflict of monumental proportions.
By now, the present people could see that something was going on.
"Leave the room."
The governor and Aria looked at Simon with surprise.
This time, Simon had addressed them instead of Nick.
"And cut the power to the Containment Unit," Simon added. "I don't want any of this to get recorded."
Aria and the Governor looked at each other with uncertainty, but Simon just threw a serious glance at them.
"Of course," the governor said.
He and Aria threw a glance at Nick before they left.
Some moments later, the sounds coming from within the Containment Unit's walls fell silent, and Simon sat down in a chair in front of Nick.
"Tell me what you're so desperate to say."
