How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 243 - Portlak (1)

“Then there are two possibilities.”

“Two?”

“Either it’s villains trying to kidnap the young lady for ransom, or a noble who has a grudge against Count Leoble.”

Terka said with a furrowed brow, his voice deep like a cave. I wanted to smack that forehead trying to look cool.

“The world is chaotic these days with criminal groups running rampant, but I think it’s more likely to be the latter. Do you have any suspicions about who it might be?”

“Someone who holds a grudge against my father… No. I’m not sure.”

As I watched Mino Leoble respond to Terka’s words, I felt a strange sense of dissonance. Was it because I had seen the tattoo near her shoulder?

It seemed as if she already knew who it was and was just going along with Terka’s words.

Was I imagining things? I tried to look at it coldly and objectively. It didn’t seem to be my imagination. I trust my intuition and judgment in situations like this.

The possibility was high. If that tattoo symbolized the devil as I thought, then this woman is a devil worshipper.

If so, the attackers we killed were likely forces hostile to devil worshippers in the east, so Mino Leoble probably had some idea.

Of course, I can’t be 100% certain. As Terka said, it could be a criminal organization or bandits. But I’m leaning towards a secret organization.

Well, if they really were people hostile to the devil, then we ended up doing something regrettable.

‘The situation couldn’t be helped.’

They didn’t attack us knowing who we were. If my thoughts are correct, the way to resolve their grudge would be to drive out the devil.

I pushed away unnecessary emotions. Nothing was certain yet. That’s why I wanted to search the corpses.

I didn’t think they would have left clues while on a mission, but I had to check. If such forces really existed, I wanted to make contact with them.

If they were operating in the east, it meant they had some level of capability.

Building trust when first meeting would be difficult, but if done well, we could obtain information about the east in the short term and potentially build a cooperative relationship in the long term.

However, it was difficult to search the corpses in front of Mino Leoble. If she really was a devil worshipper, it would be better to hide it.

If something came up, it would make it harder to enter the Kingdom of Portlak through this woman.

And it’s not like there was no other way. I moved my winds. The winds seeped into the pockets of the corpses.

While I couldn’t see tattoos on their bodies, I could at least check their belongings.

However, there was nothing particularly special. I had expected this to some extent. I know these types of secret organizations well.

No one in their right mind carries anything that can be traced while on a mission.

For now, let’s just remember that there might be forces hostile to the devil. If fate allows, we’ll meet them.

“Where were you originally headed?”

“I was returning home after attending a party.”

“I see.”

Terka nodded gravely. When there was no follow-up, Mino Leoble glanced at Terka.

Usually, this would be the timing to offer help.

“Hmm.”

Terka pretended to ponder for a moment, then soon lifted his head as if he had made a decision.

“We do have a request of our own, but Lady Mino Leoble’s safety takes priority. Would you grant me the honor of escorting you to your domain?”

“You would do that? I’m grateful. I was actually wondering how to get back since even my horse and coachman were killed.”

“It’s an honor to be able to serve you, even if only for a short while.”

It was Terka’s unilateral decision, but I didn’t particularly object. As he was playing the role of mercenary leader, I had decided to give Terka the right to make decisions when situations arose.

It’s because the other side might notice something strange if we kept looking at each other before making decisions.

If it really seemed wrong, I could act like I was stopping him and discussing as a member. Still, Terka glanced at me discreetly.

I nodded imperceptibly to indicate it was okay. Terka then looked at the carriage.

“Oh my, even the wheels of this precious carriage are damaged. We have our carriage in the back, would you like to use it? It’s humble, but…”

“Thank you.”

“Do you have any luggage to move? We’ll carry it for you.”

“Just bring that one, please.”

Mino Leoble pointed to a travel bag inside the carriage. Despite being the leader, Terka personally picked up the bag.

“Sir Terka, I’ll carry it,”

Rina said, maintaining her disguise as a mage, but Terka shook his head.

“It’s alright. This is the young lady’s precious luggage, I’ll carry it safely.”

“Yes.”

I cautiously probed Mino Leoble.

“Young lady, shall we examine the corpses? If we know who’s behind the attackers, Count Leoble might be able to punish them.”

“No, I’m scared to stay here…”

Mino Leoble turned her gaze away, showing a weak side. I felt the probability of my suspicions increase.

Terka quickly moved to her side at the woman’s fragile appearance.

“My lady, are you alright?”

“Yes, I just remembered what happened earlier.”

“Carl, that’s enough. There might be more assassins nearby. Let’s get out of here first.”

Mino Leoble was startled at the mention of possible assassins.

“Oh! Really?”

“Yes, there might be accomplices nearby.”

Mino Leoble looked at Terka with a frightened face. Her eyes were like those of a puppy.

The sense of dissonance intensified. She seemed genuinely surprised, but it felt a bit exaggerated. It was closer to acting.

“Let’s move quickly.”

Terka gently wrapped an arm around Mino Leoble’s shoulders and guided her direction. What an impressive guy. Normally, it would be rude for a mercenary to touch a noble’s body like that.

But his movement was so natural that Mino Leoble didn’t say anything. Well, it didn’t look like she was going to say anything in the first place.

***

“Oh, so that happened at the party?”

“Yes. Isn’t it ridiculous?”

“I think that lady must have been jealous of your beauty. After all, you receive so much attention in social circles.”

“Oh, come on, it’s not like that.”

“Humble too! It’s absolutely not an exaggeration. I’ve heard a lot about you in social circles myself. I was looking forward to meeting you.”

“Social circles?”

“Although I’m working as a mercenary now, I was once the second son of Duke Lemori in the Kingdom of Boden in the south.”

“Really?”

The south Terka mentioned was south of the east. And that statement was likely true. I’m not sure about Duke Lemori of the Kingdom of Boden, but…

I knew through the game that this guy was originally from eastern nobility. I heard that Mondegreen had picked him up off the streets.

This is also why he could easily seduce noble ladies. Even with good looks, you can’t do such things without proper etiquette and if you’re frivolous.

“Although circumstances have led me to this situation, just three years ago, your name reached even the south, Lady Mino.”

Since we had given our carriage to Mino Leoble, we had to endure some discomfort. At least Rina and I sat on the coachman’s seat driving the horses.

Terka was chatting with Mino by the carriage window.

Our travel speed decreased a bit, but it didn’t matter since we gained a relationship with Mino Leoble.

For now, there’s a high probability this woman is connected to the devil, and even if not, we can create ties with the Kingdom of Portlak.

That aside, it was ridiculous to see the guy who was trying to reduce his desires by following my example just a few days ago acting like this.

Indeed, old habits die hard. Of course, the situation itself wasn’t bad.

“Shall we set up camp here for tonight? Is that alright with you?”

“Yes. We still have some distance to go anyway.”

As night fell, Terka and Mino Leoble had quickly become close. Terka’s sociability was beyond my imagination.

From the moment they got in the carriage until now, their conversation hadn’t stopped for more than 20 seconds.

They talked about all sorts of things, from experiences they’ve had to childhood anecdotes.

Although I learned this kind of thing at the intelligence agency, he seemed to be the most skilled person I’ve seen.

Of course, his looks and the situation helped, but this was absolutely not easy.

This seemed like something worth learning and teaching to the others.

Anyway, Count Leoble’s domain was slightly different from our direction. It was about two more days’ travel from here.

But since it was right next to the capital of the Kingdom of Patrac, it wouldn’t be a problem to make a quick stop before moving on.

After finishing the camp preparations, while Rina was laying out the sleeping bags, I started cooking. Despite the hassle, I tended to do the cooking because of my mysophobia.

The hygiene standards of this world were beyond my tolerance level, even at their best.

For example, they would put a ladle used for stew on the grass and use it again, or use it the next day without washing it.

Things had improved since purification magic appeared, but it was still hard to bear seeing such things with my own eyes.

“Is the preparation going well?”

“Yes.”

Terka approached with an air of importance and asked. The long conversation had ended, and Mino Leoble was resting in the carriage.

I deliberately answered loudly so the woman could hear. Terka came closer and whispered to me.

“Carlyn, you’re not angry, are you?”

“No. You did well.”

“Huh? Really…?”

Terka tilted his head. I narrowed my eyes. I thought he had also noticed something strange earlier. Of course, I knew he also had the intention of seducing the woman.

But was it really just pure desire and habitual behavior?

“Don’t tell me you offered to take her just because she’s a pretty woman?”

“No? Of course not. How could I do that?”

Terka answered immediately with a calm face, but his words were slightly rushed. And the subtle trembling in his eyes told me the truth.

“You crazy bastard.”

“It’s not like that! I mean… I saw the tattoo on her shoulder too.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

The gaps between his words were suspicious. It seemed like he might have just thought of it after seeing my reaction. A guy close to being a Sword Master…

This guy seemed crazier than I thought. It was ridiculous, but since the result itself wasn’t bad, I decided to let it slide.

“Well, I’ll let that pass for now. By the way, now that it’s come to this, there’s something we need to do.”

“Something to do? Suddenly? What is it?”

Terka looked at me with uneasy eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’m not scolding you.”

“What on earth is it?”

“Since you’re going to seduce her anyway, try to extract some information. She seems to be connected to the devil. Anything about that count or the kingdom would be even better.”

Terka’s promise to me was not to mess with our group and the mercenary band. In addition, it included noticeable women in the empire.

These eastern nobles didn’t matter. They were meeting because they both wanted to, so there was no reason to interfere.

“Oh, was that it? Don’t worry about that, it’s my specialty. Just wait a bit.”

Terka spoke with a confident face. I didn’t expect to feel reassured by this guy, but in these aspects, he was certainly reliable.

In fact, just looking at it now, it seemed like Mino Leoble had already fallen for Terka.

However, the “bit” that Terka told me to wait was beyond my imagination.

It was late at night after dinner. I was lying in my sleeping bag, making plans for the future.

-Shh, quietly.

-Yes!

-This way.

Because Terka and Mino Leoble were moving away from the campsite through the bushes.

I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief. Well, right, he was the Casanova Sword Master. He really is amazing.