This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

If Bea had a brain it'd probably be overheating right now.

Aside from Kain sleeping on a couch, the only other living creature in the laboratory was Gabriel. However, Gabriel's identity was quite sensitive and he couldn't be seen. Moreover, he couldn't exactly leave the lab that had an array to suppress his spiritual power—unless he wanted to explode, that is.

Bea once again entered Kain and managed to trigger the release of Aegis, Queen, and the guards. Immediately, the previously spacious lab was filled to the brim. But what could she do? She didn't have enough fine control to selectively release a few of them, so out they must all go.

After relaying the situation to the others, Aegis and the Vespids all headed towards the arena that would be the site of the re-ranking while Bea was carried along with them.

When they arrived at the arena however, their advancement was stopped by what appears to be a teacher.

It seems like their troop of spiritual creatures unaccompanied by a beast-tamer had raised some alarm bells.

How could they explain that they were here to participate? Bea had never wished more than now to have a mouth of her own.

And this teacher was at least a 6-star beast tamer, she wouldn't be able to perfectly control him enough to allow them through without leaving any traces or raising any alarm bells and getting Kain into trouble.

Thankfully, right at that moment, a low-level staff member happened to be passing by and she took the opportunity to have one of her splits enter him.

His figure stagnated, and his expression shifted into one of confusion before returning to a perfect blank.

The controlled body walked towards the group of spiritual creatures stopped by the teacher, and the teacher looked at him in confusion at his approach.

Does he know where these strange and unknown spiritual creatures came from?

He's definitely not their contractor, since she could sense this low-level staff responsible for cleaning up the arena was only a 2-star beast-tamer, these green grade spiritual creatures are impossible to be bound by him.

The man marched somewhat stiffly towards the front of the group until he faced the teacher.

"I am Bea." He said, while waiting expectantly.

"…."

"I am Bea." Perhaps the message isn't getting across? Usually, when Bea controlled a target's mind in past Black Missions, Kain was next to her telling her what to have them say word-for-word. Now that she was alone, perhaps it was stage fright, but she really couldn't think of how best to diffuse the increasingly tense situation.

"I am—"

"Bea, yeah I got that. I am certain you aren't a student of our college nor is there a Bea scheduled to fight today, so please take these spiritual creatures away."

If Bea had tear glands she would probably be in tears right about now…

'Why is talking so difficult?!' She felt like she was juggling too many things at once!

"I…am…" Bea hesitated. 'What else can I say? What would Kain say in this situation? Something that gets my purpose across…'

"…a representative for Kain Newman!" she finally blurted out through the man, the words stiff and halting.

The teacher raised an eyebrow, her gaze shifting suspiciously between the spiritual creatures and the possessed staff member. "A representative? Kain Newman? Are you telling me the owner of these creatures is too important to show up in person?"

Bea internally panicked. The teacher's tone was dripping with sarcasm. 'Oh no, is that bad? Did I mess up? Maybe I should've said I was someone else! No, wait… that would've been worse!'

The possessed staff member awkwardly cleared his throat, his movements unnaturally robotic. "Yes! He is…very busy…doing…something!" Bea forced the man to fold his arms confidently, though the result was closer to a wooden mannequin attempting a power pose. However, at least that time her speech was smoother! 'I'm getting the hang of this!'

The teacher's frown deepened. "If that's the case, where's his proof of authorization? You can't just waltz in here and claim to represent someone without credentials."

The gears in Bea's metaphorical brain ground to a halt. 'Proof? Credentials? Oh no… Humans have so many unnecessary rules!' She briefly considered possessing the teacher to force her way in but immediately discarded the idea. Even a faint trace of her influence could leave evidence that Kain would have to clean up later. 'No, no, I need another plan…'

Her attention flickered to Aegis, standing stalwartly behind the group. An idea sparked. She made the possessed staff member turn to gesture dramatically at the spiritual creatures.

"Look at them! They are his contracts that appeared during the National Tournament. Do you think someone without Kain Newman's approval could control these beings?" The staff member waved wildly toward the massive stone form of Aegis, and buzzing Vespids. All of them were species unique to Kain, so they must belong to him. "They are here for the re-ranking, under his orders!"

The teacher glanced at Aegis, her expression faltering slightly. "That…doesn't explain why Mr. Newman isn't here himself."

Bea clenched her metaphorical fists in frustration. Why are humans so stubborn?! "He's…sick!" she blurted through the man, desperate now. "He caught…a terrible illness… Likely the flu—I mean, poison. Vomit and diarrhea everywhere."

Bea almost tripped up by mentioning an illness she'd heard Kain mention in his 'past-life' —whatever that is. But quickly remembered that no such thing existed now, and that there are 'practically no contagious diseases in this world, unless you count the undead.'

The teacher stared at the possessed staff member with a mixture of skepticism and disgust. "And he sent you instead?"

"Yes!" Bea replied eagerly. "Because I am the trustworthy and competent BEA!" These words sounded very convincing, if she must say so herself. 'That ought to convince them!'n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The teacher sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. They weren't fully convinced, but were tired of this conversation. All else considered, this strange 'Bea' was correct in saying that these were Mr. Newman's contracts. "Fine, fine. Just…keep them under control. And if there's any disruption, you're all getting thrown out. And you can explain to Mr. Newman why he was disqualified from participating."

Bea barely managed to stifle a whoop of triumph. She had done it! Somehow, she had actually managed to talk her way through.

Guiding the staff member into the arena followed by the other, she made him smile awkwardly to the spiritual creatures and muttered through him, "Good job, team."

Aegis didn't move. Queen's antennae twitched. Bea could almost feel the silent judgment radiating from the group. Okay, okay, maybe the plan didn't go as smoothly as expected, but it worked, didn't it?

She had survived this round. Now, all she had to do was make it through the actual re-ranking. Easy…right?