How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 102 - Chenarus's Assassin (9)

“Sir Carl, I’m Barrelly from the Imperial Intelligence Agency. We need to confirm something, so I would appreciate your cooperation.”

Carlyn had thought it could also be dangerous. 

He’d killed everyone who’d gotten close to him. Haisen and the Empire shouldn’t know who he was.

But it was different with the devil worshippers. He had seen the mysterious figure who helped Phiri. 

The devil worshippers knew Carlyn, so he judged that his name could also be mentioned.

‘Although I can’t be certain since Duke Brusek’s man was also there.’

But he didn’t expect suspicions to be raised so soon. 

For the imperial devil worshippers to mention information about Carlyn was the same as revealing him as a traitor.

‘Are there more traitors than I thought? It doesn’t seem like it though.’

In fact, Carlyn’s thoughts were accurate. The leader thought the mysterious helper was someone Duke had sent. 

Because Phiri said the Duke’s shadow had taken the target.

The leader sensed something was amiss. That meant Duke suspected him. 

But he did not doubt Carlyn.

It was the same for the imperial side. They had put surveillance on Hepate for monitoring and protection.

At first, they thought only devil worshippers were there during the initial attack.

But soon they identified a third force, whom they thought to be Altre. 

Because Hepate had spent quite some time in Altre before entering the capital.

The sudden mention of the name Carl Schurtafen was a variable that came from an unexpected place.

“What’s going on? What do you mean confirm?”

“There was a commotion early morning yesterday. According to the agent that witnessed the scene, there was someone there with the same height and build as you, Sir Carl.”

“I don’t know what commotion you’re talking about or what you want to confirm, but are you suspecting me right now?”

Carlyn laughed drily. It was natural acting. Barrelly scratched the back of his head as if embarrassed.

“I know this must sound preposterous to you Sir Carl, but the agent who witnessed it has incredibly sharp eyes, so…”

“Just because of that?”

To Carlyn, it sounded like a ridiculous reason. It was even hard to believe it was true.

But Barrelly’s words were factual. Even with a mask on, the subordinate who saw Carlyn from afar could identify him by his build alone.

If it were another agent, it would have been dismissed as nonsense, but it was what that subordinate had said, so Barrelly had come.

Emmet, who was listening nearby, asked with an incredulous look.

“Just what was the commotion that you’re making a fuss over?”

“I’m afraid I can’t discuss the details as it’s highly classified.”

Barrelly smiled politely. Carlyn spoke firmly.

“I was here yesterday.”

“Schurtafen is right. I was on guard duty with him.”

“I see. By any chance, did you leave your post at all, Sir Carl? Maybe you went to the bathroom for a long time?”

“……No.”

Emmet hesitated because of his conversation with the princess. It was not something he could carelessly talk about.

Of course, there was a proper reason, but he would surely get suspicious looks. There was no guarantee the intelligence agency didn’t have a faction loyal to the prince. Who knew what rumors might spread.

Showing his skill as a seasoned agent, Barrelly noticed that subtle gap.

“Is that so.”

Barrelly smiled amiably. But his eyes shone as sharp as an eagle’s.

As expected. He was convinced that his subordinate’s report was factual.

In the first place, Carlyn was a person suspected of being connected to Haisen’s side.

If the third force was Haisen, then everything fits together nicely.

“Still, although this is rather presumptuous, would you mind if I just confirm? It won’t take long.”

“Confirm what?”

“There were bloodstains at the scene. If you are truly innocent, then you should have no wounds on your body, no?”

Carlyn controlled his expression. It was blood from the wound on his shoulder when Ante had stabbed him with the spear on the rooftop.

Afterward, he had stanched the wound, but at that time there was no opportunity. It was a moment of crisis.

‘This is dangerous.’

He had no way to explain the remaining wound on his shoulder. These agents were no fools.

They would be able to closely deduce when the wound occurred. The fact that it was a wound inflicted by black magic was also an issue.

“Wounds happen when sparring. Feels a bit malicious to push someone into a corner like this.”

Although Emmet argued on his behalf, Barrelly smiled back coldly.

“There are ways to determine when it occurred. And we can confirm by questioning the person who inflicted the wound.”

Carlyn spoke sullenly.

“How unpleasant. Can’t do that.”

“What part was unpleasant to you?”

“Showing up suddenly and suspecting me right off the bat. Just what do you take me for?”

“If you do not cooperate now, someone of higher rank will come soon.”

As the conversation grew colder, Emmet mediated.

“Is that really necessary? I guarantee it. Schurtafen was with me. Would a war hero cause a disturbance in the capital? And a recipient of the Imperial Founder’s Medal no less?”

“It’s not that I distrust Sir Emmet. Of course, I also know of Sir Carl’s tremendous exploits.”

Barrelly’s tone was polite but the atmosphere was not. It had been that way from the start, in fact.

Because of that, Emmet was also in a bad mood.

He had heard talks of how the intelligence agency was high-handed and lacked propriety.

But this was his first time seeing it directly. He had spent over ten years in the imperial palace. It was rudeness that he had not experienced in a long time.

“However, our job is precisely to confirm with our eyes, so please understand.”

Just then Erendil opened the door and came out.

“What’s with the fuss?”

Everyone lowered their heads at her sudden appearance. Barrelly was not surprised by this situation either.

He smiled and stated his business for coming. The princess chuckled.

“So you mean to say Schurtafen caused a disturbance early morning?”

“Well, not exactly, it’s more that suspicions arose so we wanted to investigate.”

“There’s no need. You can go.”

“Well, Your Highness….”

The princess glared at Barrelly. Her gaze was intimidating as if daring him to say more if he had something to add.

Despite having expected this situation, Barrelly still gulped unconsciously. At a glance, she was currently the person closest to the emperor.

“We need to confirm regardless. Also, Sir Emmet said he was with Sir Carl but I felt he was lying.”

Emmet furrowed his brow. The princess had an absurd look on her face.

“You said it happened between one and three in the morning.”

“Yes.”

“So there is no need to check. Because at that time, Schurtafen was with me.”

“Huh?”

“Are you deaf? I said he was with me.”

For an instant, Barrelly was at a loss for words, unable to close his gaping mouth. Because the princess’s words were shocking.

“Duchess Lyurik sent a letter and it was to resolve problems related to that.”

Emmet hurriedly supplemented next to her, in order to prevent misunderstandings.

“Oh, I see. Is that so.”

But it didn’t seem very effective. It was what it was. Barrelly was still bewildered.

The princess clicked her tongue.

“So go already.”

Despite the princess’s words, Barrelly hesitated.

“What are you doing. Hurry up and go.”

“Your Highness….”

“Do you not believe my words now? Or could it be, are you disregarding me? Should I take that as the intelligence agency’s stance?”

“N-no, of course not.”

“At that time, Schurtafen discussed matters relating to Duchess Lyurik with me. Stop harassing innocent people and leave already.”

After about 3 seconds of silence, Barrelly bowed his head and withdrew. As he moved farther away, he furtively glanced at Carlyn.

He had a look of incomprehension on his face.

As for Barrelly, it was a difficult thing to accept. Because there was no way the princess could be a traitor.

She also had no reason to lie to protect her knight.

But his subordinate had never been wrong before, so there was a disconnect between his two beliefs.

Barrelly suddenly realized that he had made a mistake in his actions as an intelligence agent.

‘Always suspect. Even if something seems to be the truth, it may not be. People believe what they want to believe.’

Recalling the intelligence service’s adage, Barrelly reproached himself.

Up until now, everything his subordinate had said was correct, but there was always the possibility he could be wrong.

He had only reported that it seemed to be the case, as usual. It was he himself who had become convinced.

He had deliberately ignored the fact that the distance of observation was quite far. Barrelly sighed and lowered his head as he left the imperial palace.

‘Four people huh.’

Thanks to Erendil’s help they barely got through it, but it was a creepy moment. Just thinking about it made my heartbeat rise.

It was obvious since all my efforts up till now could have crumbled away in an instant.

After that, surveillance from the imperial side became stricter. The numbers were less than when I had first come to the empire, but the quality was different.

They were elites. It clearly meant they would monitor me.

Anyway, since suspicions existed, it was only natural they would need to check. This level was not an issue.

I just had to act the same as before. My Winds could not be caught by their surveillance anyway. I spread open a newspaper.

[Chenarus’s Assassin Appears Again]

The disturbance from that night did not make the news, but talk of Chenarus’s assassin still remained.

However, the figure in the article was not me.

It was about others using my name after I had stopped the assassinations.

Does the expression ‘borrowing’ sound a bit strange?

‘They’re trying to achieve their own goals under my infamous name.’

For those who wanted to kill certain people, it was the optimal timing. Suspicions would be directed at Chenarus’s assassin.

So there were many assassination incidents.

Unrelated to each other’s grudges, it resembled what I had done, so it naturally attracted attention.

This was advantageous for me.

There weren’t many others who could handle jobs as cleanly as me. They would get caught by the empire sooner or later.

‘The assassinations I carried out could also be regarded as coincidental overlapping incidents.’

I also got contact from Phiri. It was good news. She had safely returned to the branch and the target was headed towards Duke.

And from even before Phiri brought it up, I heard that Duke also suspected the leader.

Phiri said it seemed only Duke’s trusted aides knew. I thought the Chief of Intelligence was quite nasty.

No matter what, shouldn’t he warn those of us on site?

I guessed it was probably with the intention to discern the leader’s feelings through this operation.

Anyway, the gains from this operation were much larger than I had worried over at first.

The only downside was giving the devil worshippers and the empire motive to suspect me even a little.

Neither would be fully convinced anyway. Especially when even Erendil had said I was with her.

The empire would be flustered and the devil worshippers would think Duke Brusek had used me.

‘The profits are enormous.’

I had captured the target who held important intelligence and got rid of Ante who could have been a hindrance in the future.

On top of that, my Stratagem level also increased.

[You gain Stratagem experience points. Your Stratagem reaches lv11. You acquire the ‘Unexpected Accomplice’ trait.]

[You have reached Stratagem lv11. You acquire the ‘Stratagem Prodigy’ trait.]

The higher the level rose, the more experience points were required, so I hadn’t expected this. It was an unexpected profit.

Moreover, I got an additional trait awarded every five levels after the first level too.

I guessed the experience points were calculated as such because this event was more important than I had thought.

‘Stratagem Prodigy’ was a very good trait that gave modifiers to Stratagem-related actions overall.

While other traits added bonuses to a specific field like assassination or infiltration, this applied to everything.

‘It’s almost time huh.’

I checked my watch. Around three minutes left? Soon, my Winds sensed someone approaching.

The youth walked straight towards me as soon as he noticed me.

“Sir Carl?”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Carl Schurtafen.”

I stood from my seat and extended a hand towards the youth. He grasped my hand with both of his, an excited look on his face.

“I can’t believe I get to meet the Empire’s hero! It’s truly an honor!”

I had waited quite a while since coming to Chenarus in order to meet this youth, so it was a good start right from the beginning.

A smile naturally came to my lips. Obviously.

The young man before me was the best strategist I had ever seen while playing Valhǫll.