—Move out! By command! Imperial Guard!
The bustle of marching and training announced the morning, and Sophien, waking from sleep, stared up at the ceiling and blinked.
Blink, blink— blink, blink—
Perhaps because her mind was strangely clear, she moved sluggishly, like a turtle.
“…….”
When she suddenly turned her head and looked out the window, sunlight blazed as if it would melt the glass. The desert heat was fierce enough to warp most steel frames, but the inner chambers of this main building were, rather, cool.
Was it thanks to that pleasant environment?
“Keiron.”
—Yes.
“I feel refreshed.”
Refreshed. The dull symptoms of exhaustion had vanished without a trace, and her condition was so perfect that she felt she could go three days and nights without sleep.
She did not know why.
Had the professor come and gone? She looked around for a moment, but there was not the slightest trace.
—I am relieved. However, they say your subjects are coming.
“My subjects.”
—Yes.
Sophien felt a throbbing headache again.
The root of all pains, that mob of subjects. The good thing about the desert was that those bastards were not here, so why were they insisting on coming again?
“……The professor.”
She asked in a deliberately indifferent tone, pretending she had no interest.
—The Chairman is searching for external threats. He said he will install mirrors throughout a three-kilometer radius and establish the area around Your Majesty as a safe zone.
“A safe zone?”
—Yes.
Indeed, if the properties of mirrors were used properly, in theory one could surveil without blind spots. Vision would endlessly refract, reflect, and continue onward.
“…….”
Sophien silently raised her upper body.
At that moment, her heart clenched.
“Again, again, this insane…….”
Thump— Along with it, there came a pain as if blades were stabbing into her chest, as if that pain were spreading through her entire head, a suffering whose source she could not fathom.
“……What a goddamn lunatic disease.”
If the emotion she felt for Deculein was love, then was this, too, which originated from Deculein, also part of love?
“Ha.”
She pointlessly pounded at her chest, which felt as if something had lodged in it, and rose.
With her hands clasped behind her back, she paced around the room in circles before sitting on the bed again—
“Ha.”
She pointlessly pounded at her chest, which felt as if something had lodged in it, and rose.
With her hands clasped behind her back, she paced around the room in circles before sitting on the bed again—
“Ha.”
……After repeating that several times.
“I feel as though I have become an imbecile.”
She came to her senses before it was too late, and changed her clothes to refresh her mood.
Today’s attire was an all-black suit presented by Yuren.
“Hm-hm.”
Clearing her throat, she sat down at the office chair with the matters of state that had to be handled. With serious eyes, she stared at the documents.
“There are documents that came up this morning.”
—Yes. The Imperial Guard is awaiting the execution of the prisoners.”
The execution of prisoners.
Remembering Deculein’s words, Sophien bit her lower lip for a moment.
“I clearly told them to kill them all.”
—Yes. However, they seem to be watching the Chairman’s reaction.
“…….”
Her eyes narrowed sharply.
Yet another unidentified emotion shook her heart, but this time, she calmly nodded.
“Fine. That idiotic bastard Deculein told me to give the prisoners a chance.”
She picked up her pen.
Swoosh— She scrawled her own handwriting across the document.
“Then I shall give it to them. This thing called a chance.”
The Emperor’s personal letter was completed in only a single sentence.
It flew away by 「Telekinesis」 and disappeared somewhere.
“This…… is the only chance I shall grant.”
The content of that nearly impossible “chance” was as follows.
[Within two weeks, present a method to make the most beautiful flower bloom in the middle of the sand dunes.]
* * *
……The Imperial Guard built watchtowers all over the desert and connected a network through equipment such as radios and transceivers. They also stationed troops at the desert’s borders, blocking passage.
In a mere three days, they had isolated the entire desert and constructed a network to surveil it all.
“They’re too fast.”
——In the middle of that desert.
Lia was walking across the sand dunes, dripping with sweat.
“It’s because of Deculein.”
When an incompetent man named Bell had become the person in charge, Lia had secretly cheered.
However, Deculein’s influence was still strong, and he had chosen a method of tightening his grip on the desert.
Of course, Bell had looked extremely displeased about it.
“How did he even think of blocking the groundwater?”
A plan to use the Malia tribe, who were skilled at finding water veins, to block every underground waterway.
Squelch— Squelch—
That was why Lia was stubbornly walking through these dunes, where the sand was deep enough to swallow both her legs.
“Hoo…… Is this the place?”
The destination she finally reached.
She lifted the map and checked once more.
“Yup. Underground outpost.”
It was an underground outpost of the Jeokgwe she had visited back when she lived as an adventurer. There was also a fairly close named individual here.
Lia scanned the surroundings, double-checking for any possible tails—
“Who are you?”
Before she could, a chilling voice rang out.
Whoooooosh——!
Feeling a presence wavering within the sandstorm, Lia smiled for a moment.
“It’s me. You know me, don’t you?”
“……!”
Then the cloud of dust instantly settled.
From within it appeared a man wearing a turban.
“……Wait?”
The man’s eyes widened as he looked at Lia.
He asked in a bewildered tone.
“Aren’t you Lia?”
“Yes. It’s me, Mr. Kaisel.”
Kaisel.
He was the nephew of Karixel, who was currently confined in Rohalak, and a named Jeokgwe responsible for the desert’s front lines.
“Nice to see you.”
As such, Lia had connections among the Jeokgwe, and the reason she had come looking for him was naturally because of the main quest.
“……Why are you here?”
“Take this.”
Lia held out a document to him.
It was top secret information, containing Deculein’s plan, the locations of the watchtowers, ambush sites, and more.
“……?”
Kaisel, who was looking at it, was dumbfounded. The most important secret was glittering before his eyes, yet he only blinked and did not take it.
“Take it. I’m trying to help the Jeokgwe and the desert tribes.”
A so-called double spy.
Lia was fully willing to take on such a dangerous role. The destruction of the Jeokgwe and the desert was not at all positive for the main quest. No, in fact, it was extremely harmful.
Kaisel said,
“……This is bewildering. You suddenly come here and give me something like this…….”
“Would you believe me if I said I deliberately approached Deculein for this?”
Of course, that wasn’t why I approached him.
But, while I’m at it.
You all know the saying, “having no plan is the plan,” right?
“Deliberately?”
Kaisel asked back. Lia answered energetically.
“Yes. People are being massacred. Simply because they’re Jeokgwe, everyone, children and the elderly alike.”
“……But—”
“The Empire is even trying to massacre the desert tribes. That’s not right. So.”
She held out the confidential document again.
“Take it.”
“Ah.”
Kaisel awkwardly placed it inside his clothes, but his complexion was not good.
He spoke worriedly.
“But Lia. Think about what you’re doing right now. If you get caught, it’s the death penalty, without question. No, beyond execution, your whole family—”
“I don’t have any family anyway. You just need to keep it secret, Mr. Kaisel.”
“……I will, of course, protect that secret even with my life. Even if this information is not true, I will believe you—”
“It’s true. It’s information I stole from Deculein.”
Kaisel’s eyes widened once more. Looking at his face rippling with shock, Lia beamed.
“From Deculein, that bloodless, tearless professor? How?”
“They say I look like Deculein’s former fiancée.”
“……Ah.”
Kaisel flinched in surprise.
Some subtle thought seemed to form in his head.
Still, seeing as he did not ask much more, it seemed to be a surprisingly famous rumor.
Well, the Jeokgwe must have studied and analyzed everything about Deculein.
“So it was surprisingly easy. Also, this too.”
Lia took out a crumpled, folded piece of paper from her pocket.
“Take it. This is correspondence paper.”
Correspondence paper. A magical paper that came as a pair of two sheets.
The words written on one sheet would be transcribed identically onto the other.
“From now on, if I obtain confidential information like this, I’ll bury it in the ground. I’ll mark the location on this correspondence paper. Mr. Kaisel, you go find it.”
“…….”
“I’m a double spy.”
Kaisel silently nodded. With a solemn expression, he accepted the correspondence paper.
“Thank you, Lia. You are—”
“You don’t need to thank me. I’m going to count this as an adventurer mission too. A double spy mission.”
Lia added with a small smile.
“And, Mr. Kaisel. Later, once all the misunderstandings are cleared up and the Jeokgwe are recognized…….”
“I swear on the future of my clan that I will reward you.”
At the same time as Kaisel’s vow, a quest appeared.
[Main Quest: The Future of the Jeokgwe]
◆ Upon Jeokgwe independence, Mana +500
“Yes. I’ll trust you!”
Lia answered vigorously.
…….
After Lia left, at the Jeokgwe’s underground outpost.
Kaisel was speaking to someone through a crystal ball. About the incident just now.
—Lia came to you in person and said that?
“That’s right.”
—How?
The other person’s voice also sounded as though she found it utterly difficult to understand.
Of course, no matter how capable an adventurer was, Deculein’s secrets were not something that could be obtained easily.
“You said it yourself, Lilia. That Lia resembles Deculein’s former fiancée.”
—…….
“It seems Lia approached him deliberately. The Red Garnet Adventurer Party also does not wish for war.”
At Kaisel’s words, Lilia Primienne—the former Deputy Director of Public Security and current warden of Rohalak Prison—fell silent for a moment.
She remained silent like that for quite some time.
—Then again. From Reccordak onward, the way he looked at Lia was unusual.
“Otherwise, there would be no reason for Deculein to take Lia in.”
—True.
Primienne agreed as well.
—In any case, if that child becomes a spy for us, she will be a great strength. She is at the heart of the Imperial Guard.
“Confirmed.”
—…….
“And?”
And.
Kaisel asked, but Primienne’s next words had nothing to do with the Jeokgwe.
—For that professor to leak secrets. His former fiancée must really have looked like Lia.
“……Yeah.”
—I’m hanging up.
Click—
Primienne ended the call.
Hoo—!
Kaisel also blew out the oil lantern.
* * *
The temporary Imperial Palace erected in the desert.
As I was walking along the first floor, I discovered a familiar face.
“So cool……”
Lia was sitting on the sofa in the lounge. Perhaps she had gone somewhere and returned, for her clothes were soaked with sweat, and she was swaying with an utterly languid expression.
In her small arms was the theory of 「Elementalization」 I had given her.
“Cool dolphin……”
“Lia.”
I called her name.
For some reason, her appearance was strangely suspicious.
“What is it?”
“What were you doing?”
Lia glanced this way, and her expression looked exactly like “ㅡ.ㅡ.”
“I was training. Training in the heat, so…….”
Flop—
She twisted her head as though playing dead and avoided the conversation.
I sat down beside her.
“Lia.”
“…….”
“Answer me.”
“……Ah, I’m sleepy.”
“Before I kill you—”
“Talk to me later.”
She spat out bluntly, fiddled with her own dark circles, and got up first.
“Ah——!”
At that moment, a voice rang out from the far side of the corridor.
“Isn’t that Chairman Deculein—?”
It was General Bell.
His dignified appearance, with his entire faction in tow behind him, did indeed provoke murderous intent, but I greeted him calmly.
“General Bell.”
“Yes, Chairman— I have something to tell you—”
“Speak.”
At that, Bell’s brow furrowed slightly.
For some reason, he seemed displeased with my tone.
“Yes, well…… In any case. I hear the location has been identified—?”
“The location?”
“Yes. A Jeokgwe hideout. This ‘Volgen’ here found it.”
Bell praised the male knight standing right behind him and laughed heartily.
I said,
“We will wait for now. Surveillance takes priority over advancing.”
“No, no—”
Bell shook his head.
“No, no— That’s not right, not right—”
Side to side, side to side, side to side.
After shaking his head like that about seven times, he spoke as if sneering.
“I have already received an order from His Majesty—?”
“……An order?”
“Yes.”
Ahem. Bell cleared his throat and folded his arms. Then, as if he had any right to, he lowered his voice.
“So this is not a discussion, but a notification. Chairman Deculein.”
“…….”
Not a discussion, but a notification.
I looked at Bell.
Without a word, without any reaction.
Merely indifferent and dry.
“……”
“……”
As the silence dragged on, Bell seemed a little flustered as well, but—
“Ahem. In any case.”
Instead, the bastard strongly urged on my death flag.
“From now on, such indiscriminate condescension makes me rather uncomfortable. A relationship of mutual respect—I believe that would be best, so do keep it in mind—”
Heh-heh-heh.
Bell walked down the corridor, laughing like a rat. Dozens of Imperial Guards followed after him like parasites.
Lia, pretending not to, watched from this side.
“……Ha.”
She squeezed her eyes shut again and lay back down on the sofa.
“……”
I walked down the corridor in silence.
Bell. There was no need to get angry over a worm like him.
I was going to kill him anyway.
Even if I were to die in the near future, I would kill him before that.
[Private Room: Deculein]
And so I arrived at my private room.
The moment I placed my hand on the doorknob—
Crackle—
Some sort of “trace” shot up like a spark.
“……”
Creeeak──
I quietly opened the door and looked around inside.
In truth, sneaking into this room was easy. Copying or taking the confidential documents neatly arranged in the drawers was easy as well.
It was a space I had deliberately set up that way.
“……However.”
A thief had certainly been here.
I examined the room closely with 「Naked Eye」, but the faint trace left behind belonged to someone unexpected.
“Lia.”
Why her?
* * *
Bell advanced as though committing acts of tyranny. However, there were clear results.
Everything Bell discovered was a “Red Casket encampment,” and because he had captured a real Red Casket member as a prisoner, Sophien also commended him.
On the other hand, every time Deculein mobilized, he came up empty-handed. Whether information had leaked or he had been predicted, his plan to “block off the groundwater” also failed due to a surprise attack.
As a result……
—Rumors are rampant that His Majesty intends to cut Deculein off.
Deculein’s standing in the desert weakened.
Enough for even Keiron to be concerned.
—How long do you intend to humiliate him like this?
“Hmph.”
Sophien glared at Keiron and clenched her teeth.
“What is it to you? Besides, it is true that the man is failing at his duties, is it not?”
—You know, do you not? That the Red Caskets are deliberately giving Bell achievements.
“……”
He was right.
Bell was running wild like a fish in water, and the Red Caskets were throwing him all manner of bait.
They wanted Deculein to fall from power and the incompetent Bell to succeed him.
“It is my will. So shut your mouth and begone.”
Shoo, shoo—just as Sophien waved her hand.
Keiron spoke as if he had made up his mind.
—Your Majesty. If you continue, you may truly come to be hated.
“……What?”
In an instant, Sophien’s face stiffened.
“What did you just say? Who would be hated by whom—”
—Since that day, Deculein has not come to see Your Majesty.
“……”
For a moment, she was at a loss for words.
As if a blade had been driven into her throat.
—Do you perhaps hope that Deculein will come first and bow his head? That he will say he was wrong, and once again stand together with Your Majesty?
A sharp pain gripped her throat, and her heart burned as though set aflame.
It was an agony far too strange.
—You know that is impossible, do you not? He may obey Your Majesty’s orders, but he is not a man who bends his convictions.
“……”
—Moreover, Deculein is a “true noble” who values face above all else.
Keiron continued.
—Yet Your Majesty is now trampling upon his pride.
“Shut that mouth of yours……”
—You are committing the act he cannot tolerate most.
The thing Deculein could least tolerate.
Hearing those words, she felt somewhat wronged.
—I am merely curious.
When Deculein had already done what I could not bear, when he had torn through my heart as though wreaking havoc.
—Whether Your Majesty is abandoning Deculein.
When that man had uttered countless lies before my very eyes.
When he had trampled upon me, saying he acted only for Yuli.
And yet why……
—Or whether Your Majesty is the one being “abandoned” by Deculein.
……Why does Keiron say such painful things to me?