Cora froze for a moment, then her expression changed drastically.
"Wh-what do you mean?!" she stammered.
"Elliot can't die, at least not now. We don't need him to do anything. We just need him to be here on the Expedition Frontline. Even you could do that."
"Do you understand?"
Michel's idea was simple: have Cora appear before others disguised as Elliot and keep them fooled for the time being.
"Sidney and I will keep searching for Elliot. He couldn't have vanished into thin air like this. The shallow zone is all our territory. He might well have survived and be hiding somewhere!"
"And you only need to deal with Duke Sterling. You might not even need to do that. Just buy us some time to find that damned Elliot!"
Cora shook her head frantically, covering her face with her hands, on the verge of tears.
"Cora, if Duke Sterling discovers Elliot is missing, Sidney and I will have some trouble at most. But you will definitely die!"
"Do as we say, though, and you'll still have a chance to survive! Do you understand?!"
Michel crouched down, forcibly pulled Cora's hands away, and made her meet his eyes.
Cora bit her lip and kept sobbing, great drops of tears rolling down her face.
She had only wanted a job, one that would let her support herself. All she had hoped for was to save some money to help her father repay his debts.
She had worked so hard, desperately seizing every opportunity. She hadn't done anything wrong.
Yet now she was about to lose even her life.
"Michel! Stop forcing her!"
Sidney let out a low shout, pushed Michel aside, and glared at him angrily.
Michel looked at Sidney in exasperation. He lowered his voice, but couldn't suppress his anger. "Sidney,