How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 208 - Temple (2)

I didn’t jump down after him. Instead, I used all my strength to move the winds and pull Denif’s body back up.

Along with a few snowballs that had fallen when Denif jumped.

“W-What are you doing?”

A confused Denif looked at me with wide eyes. Instead of answering, I pushed Denif’s body down.

It was only a momentary movement, but someone below seemed to sense something amiss and glanced upward briefly.

It meant they weren’t easy prey. I deliberately created strong wind in the area.

With the sharp sound of wind, the surrounding trees shook. Snowballs on the cliff above rolled downward and snow piled on leaves in the area scattered.

“Is something wrong?”

“…No.”

I could hear the exchange between them. Still, we got away with it. Even in the rush, I had controlled my power as much as possible.

As they started moving again, Denif whispered to me.

“Hey, why did you pull me back up? You scared me.”

I found his words ridiculous. A laugh escaped naturally.

“I’m the one who’s dumbfounded. How can you just jump down without saying anything?”

“I told you we were going to jump.”

“You call that telling me? That was a unilateral notification. We should have agreed on it first.”

I frowned and looked down at Denif. Denif was also looking at me with a puzzled expression.

“What if they didn’t speak at all when we suddenly jumped down?”

“No. Even if they don’t speak, there’s that guy over there.”

Denif pointed to the person overseeing the slaves.

He seemed different from both the group leading them and the slaves themselves, though closer to the slave side if I had to choose.

I thought he might be in a position like an overseer. Should I say he was chosen from among the slaves to manage other slaves?

Denif meant that even if the devil worshippers didn’t speak, we could get information by roughing up that guy.

“What if he was one of the slaves who was just brought in this time?”

“Hmm.”

“Even if the path is cleared, we don’t know where it might branch off.”

Although the branches along the path were broken as if they frequently traveled this way, we couldn’t predict how far it would continue.

This was definitely Denif acting without a plan. Should I say he was too easygoing?

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Denif couldn’t properly refute my words. But Denif wasn’t finished speaking.

“I was confident.”

“Confident about what?”

“About making those guys talk.”

“The devil worshippers?”

“Yeah.”

I shook my head. Even if Denif had properly learned torture, this wasn’t an easy task.

Haisen wouldn’t be unaware of this either… I felt a slight logical discrepancy.

“I’ve made a devil worshipper talk before.”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

Denif nodded confidently. In fact, this was an impressive feat. It’s not easy to make devil worshippers talk.

“That’s not easy, how did you do it?”

“Well, cut here, poke there, spread…”

It was a brutal description, but I could guess what “here” and “there” meant. Still, I wonder…

I didn’t mean to belittle Denif’s achievement, but I thought that guy probably wasn’t a high-ranking devil worshipper.

“Maybe that guy’s willpower or faith was weak? You know it’s difficult to make them talk.”

In fact, the difficulty of making devil worshippers talk is limited to the upper echelons.

The ones below don’t have proper information anyway.

Those who know somewhat meaningful information are mostly fanatics who have undergone torture resistance training.

And even if they try to talk, the darkness they’ve accepted destroys their body before that.

Hmm…

Thinking about it again, I realized Denif’s information about devil worshippers might be different from mine.

Denif was in another kingdom after catching the empire’s eye and chased after me after I killed the empress.

Although we had met by chance, he wouldn’t have much information about them.

Duke Brusek wasn’t the type to open up all information just because it was Denif.

I knew a lot of information because I had played the game for a long time. There were also things I hadn’t told Denif among what I knew.

“Hmm.”

Denif expressed his displeasure with a groan. It was more of a look asking if I didn’t trust him rather than what I had pointed out.

“Denif, I just thought of this. I think you know less about devil worshippers than I do. There’s a lot I haven’t told you.”

“…You’re not wrong. I haven’t really dealt with them properly. I heard most from you.”

Denif admitted frankly. He usually liked to fight but didn’t boast confidence in other areas.

“I’d like you to follow my words this time. It’s hard to make those with information talk. You’ll see after we find their hideout.”

“Alright. If you say so.”

Denif nodded and accepted. I saw a bit of stubbornness too. I thought he meant he would show off his torture skills.

“But what if I can make them talk after we find the hideout?”

“Three more sparring sessions added.”

“Huh? Okay.”

“Only for those with proper information.”

“Of course.”

Denif agreed with a bewildered face. He didn’t seem to expect me to offer it three times.

Honestly, I don’t think I’ll lose. Even for Denif, making them talk isn’t an easy task.

In the game, even skilled torturers couldn’t get proper information.

After reaching a brief agreement, we quietly followed behind them. The leader-like figure among the devil worshippers occasionally turned his head sharply to survey the surroundings.

He still seemed suspicious about what happened earlier. But of course, there was no way we’d get caught.

We were moving outside their visual range to begin with.

As long as I had my winds, I could pursue them anytime even if we fell behind a certain distance. Denif envied this.

“Wow, we can go like this? This is unbelievable.”

This was possible because of my winds again. Usually, you shouldn’t lose sight of them.

You have to take detours while paying attention to concealment and cover. Of course, it’s different on a snowy mountain path with no people like this.

“Stop whining.”

“Whining? Does this sound like whining to you? You should know you’re blessed. Have you ever done work this comfortably before?”

I frowned deeply.

“You should pay attention too. You can do it now too, right?”

“My mystic is sand, how can I?”

“Even if they walk on snow, aren’t they stepping on the ground? Focus on the ground. On the sense of the earth. Don’t you feel anything?”

“Oh… Are you a genius?”

Denif marveled.

“You just realized that?”

“Hmm.”

Denif furrowed his brow as if concentrating for a moment.

“It’s true? I can feel what we’re stepping on. But I can’t feel them. Maybe because the distance is too far.”

It’s probably because he hasn’t had Mystic Power for long. It’s not just the difference between winds and sand.

When I first used winds, I couldn’t imagine having the current detection range either.

“Shall we move forward a bit?”

“That would be good.”

We increased our speed a little like that. After a while, Denif suddenly turned his head.

“Oh! I can feel it. Should I say it’s like a vibration? Since there are many people, I can clearly identify it.”

I thought it might be a way of feeling subtle vibrations by focusing on the ground, the soil below the snow.

I’m not sure exactly since I’m not Denif.

“I think I’ll be able to feel it properly if we get a little closer.”

“For now, focus on your current sense. It’s important to expand the range.”

“Is that so? Well, it’s convenient to have someone who learned mystic first.”

“If you understand, serve me well. You can’t utilize it well now.”

Denif glared at me silently. I shrugged my shoulders.

“What?”

“It’s annoying because it’s true.”

I answered with a snicker. Denif concentrated hard without joking around.

We followed behind them like that, honing Denif’s Mystic Power.

***

We pursued them for 2 more days like that. They didn’t head towards a city. They turned north after 5 hours of pursuit.

2 days. It might feel long, but it was faster than I expected.

It means we luckily met them near their destination. This kind of pursuit could take over a month in the worst case.

Even if this group was heading towards the northern border, I was thinking of dealing with them midway.

Anyway, the place they arrived at was near the foot of a snowy mountain. They fumbled around a snow-covered area at the base of the mountain.

Even from a distance, I could tell it was magically treated. And a cave appeared.

‘It doesn’t seem to be a stronghold.’

It wasn’t past the northern border, but it was quite far north. It could be considered practically their territory.

I didn’t think they needed to make a stronghold like this in such a place.

The opened entrance closed automatically as soon as they entered. Then magic worked to gather snow from the surroundings and cover the entrance again.

For now, it was clear that entering would be difficult. It was magically treated after all.

If Orhen were here it might be different, but with just me and Denif, it would be hard to force our way in without getting caught.

Still, I wasn’t worried. This entrance probably wasn’t the only one.

‘Originally, these tunnels have backdoors made for dangerous situations.’

But there was also a problem after entering. Judging by the magic surrounding the outside, this wasn’t an ordinary place. Although it’s a cave, it would lead to underground tunnels.

It means we have to go underground. Our movements will be restricted and the chance of getting caught increases because the paths are narrow.

Of course, entering was the only way to find out what they were doing inside.

The worry was how to enter and how to observe them.

“What should we do?”

Denif seemed to have the same thought as he asked me.

“I’ll check the inside first.”

“Should I do it too?”

“No, I’ll do it.”

I moved my winds. Even if the entrance was magically treated, there were tiny gaps.

Air has to pass through.

And where air passes through, my winds can enter without any harm. The winds that passed the entrance head inside.

Deep tunnels and people. The spreading winds sweep through the interior. I’m not sure exactly what they’re doing.

Inside, there were people locked up and people digging the ground with pickaxes. It seemed like they were looking for something.

It took some time to thoroughly examine. The winds inside the tunnels were cautious.

Near the power of the devil in this place, someone strong enough might be able to sense my winds.

This was also why I dried Denif’s sand. Denif is still inexperienced, so you never know.

After a moment like that, I was able to grasp the number of people inside and the internal structure.

“Just a moment.”

I took out paper and a pen from my pocket. It was to show Denif what I saw as well.

Drawing was quick. This was one of the things I learned at the duke’s mansion. How to express it is more important than aesthetics.

“This is the internal structure.”

Denif quickly scanned the paper.

“Three entrances? These two here are back doors, right?”

“Yeah. This is the entrance over there.”

“48 people? Not a small number.”

“You don’t have to worry too much. About 40 of them, including the people who just entered, are slaves. 2 are high-ranking and 6 seem to be guards? I’m not sure. There could be some hiding among the slaves.”

We had to count about 10 devil worshippers. We also had to consider the existence of those mixed in among the slaves.

For example, they sometimes plant people thinking of cases where they luckily survive attacks like this. It’s a method sometimes used by intelligence agencies as well.

Judging by the number of people and what they were doing inside, this wasn’t their stronghold. They were up to something, but.

We’d have to go inside to find out what it was.

‘How should we enter?’

This was the north and close to their territory. If we enter carelessly, things could get big.

I couldn’t sense anyone hiding nearby in the winds I felt right now, but that’s not everything.

They might have means to contact the devil directly, like the magic tool searching for my Devil’s Blood, so we could get isolated in the north if we’re not careful.

As I was pondering, Denif looked around and pointed at the map.

“Carlyn, this is a warehouse, right? With no one guarding it.”

“Yeah. The slaves are below to begin with, so it’s not structured for them to come up.”

Denif pointed somewhere at the base of the mountain.

“Is this warehouse in that direction?”

“Huh? Why?”

“You didn’t draw this map accurately, right?”

“Roughly. It’s not exact.”

“This part, how long is it exactly?”

What is it? He seems to have a reason for asking, but I couldn’t think of it right away. Instead, I focused on the winds.

“About 9m in that direction?”

“Hmm, if it’s that much…”

At that moment, I think I understood Denif’s thought. Denif uses sand. He had a different perspective from me.

“How about it, can you make a path?”

“Yeah.”

Denif answered with a grin.

“If it’s all soil over there. If there are rocks in between, well, we can just go around them.”

He’s quite clever. He was thinking of creating another entrance to their tunnel using sand.

Actually, entering itself isn’t difficult, but entering secretly is important.

Moreover, if we enter through this warehouse, we can move in any direction since it’s centrally located.

We could strike their leadership directly.

“Let’s check first.”

And we confirmed that it was all soil in that direction. With this, our entry route was decided.

“When should we enter?”

“2 AM. How about it? Any later and you’ll be tired, right?”

It was Denif’s consideration. Usually, entering around 3 or 4 AM is the standard.

“That’s fine with me.”

“Then rest until then.”

“How do you want to do the night watch?”

Denif waved his hand at my words.

“Just keep sleeping. I’m fine.”

“We should do it fairly though.”

“Hey, don’t I know you? You know me too. I rested enough on the way here and this much is fine.”

I was grateful inside. But I didn’t decline. As Denif said, I know his stamina.

Unlike me, he can stay fresh even after staying up for several nights.

“Thanks.”

“That’s enough.”

We dug a tunnel nearby and rested. I ate dinner and went straight to sleep.

And at 2 AM, Denif shook my shoulder to wake me up.

“Did you sleep well?”

“I’m tired.”

“You look it.”

As we were talking like this, I suddenly thought it had been quite a while since we spoke like this.

In front of the kids or Phiri or others, I would have just said I was fine.

I thought maybe I could talk like this because it was Denif, who spent his childhood with me.

Denif reached out his hand to me. I grabbed his hand and stood up. The northern cold approached. I drove it away with winds and Denif smiled.

“Well, let’s go.”