Honestly, John had no desire to meet—or even speak with—Conrad, the king of backstabbers.
After all, this man was famous for his quick mind and cunning nature, in no way inferior to Dormammu.
When speaking with someone like him, John had to consider many things, or the other party would see through him in minutes.
But whether it was for that damned mission, or to use the man's status as the Prime Minister's lackey to investigate why Wolf had moved against him—
Or to use this conversation, through Conrad's hand, to send the Old Guard Party behind him an ambiguous signal that John could be won over, thereby buying himself more room to grow—
All of those factors meant John had to have a proper talk with this legendary spy.
"Please come in, Major John. Second Lieutenant Wendy, you may follow me to the reception room and wait for a moment."
At the door to the conference room, the captain leading them smiled as he spoke.
"!"
Apparently not expecting him to know her name, Wendy's pupils contracted at once. Just as she recovered and was about to ask how he knew, John, who remained calm beside her, slowly spoke under the nameless captain's smiling yet somewhat cold gaze.
"Wendy, listen to him."
"...Yes, Battalion Commander!"
Seeing John's unquestionable gaze, Wendy realized that she probably could not change her commander's mind.
So she said nothing more. As the captain turned to lead her away, she quickly gave John several tactical hand signals: "Stay alert," "Remain combat-ready," and "Support available."
After signaling that she could come to support him at any time, Wendy gave him one last worried look before silently following the captain toward the reception room.
Creak!
As the conference room door was slowly pushed open, Conrad's thin figure