How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 248 - Lull (1)

[The Empire’s Sword Master defeated in the northeastern mountains.]

That was all that was written in the newspaper. There were no detailed contents at all. It seemed to be because this was the east and it was urgent news.

I was shocked for a moment after seeing that. The expressions of Terka and Rina, who received the news with me, also turned serious.

“The kids, the kids are there too…”

“They couldn’t have been completely routed, right?”

I was worried too. I couldn’t know exactly what the news of a Sword Master’s defeat meant.

The range of possibilities was too wide. They might have won the battle but the Sword Master fell.

“We don’t know now. Whether only one Sword Master was taken down, or if the battle itself went badly.”

Of course, there was also a possibility that this news itself was incorrect. That would be the best case scenario.

The opposite would be a major defeat in battle.

Either way, I thought Erendil should be fine. It takes three Sword Masters to face one devil.

There were three Sword Masters in the north, and Erendil with Teme’s Spear was also there.

If a Sword Master was taken down, there’s a high chance it happened while trying to block the devil from targeting Erendil after finding an opening.

And if something happened to Erendil, the article would have mentioned the Empire’s emperor, not a Sword Master.

Of course, there was a bit of anxiety. I reassured myself with rational judgment that it should be fine.

‘If something went wrong, it was probably because of the monsters.’

The probability that the uneasiness I felt when hearing about the monsters disappearing on the way here had become reality was close to 100%.

The number of devil worshippers in the north wasn’t enough to face the imperial army head-on.

Although there was a devil, we had three Sword Masters. Those monsters must have created a variable.

It was probably an ambush, and it would have been difficult to deal with properly.

‘Damn it.’

Although rational judgment told me Erendil should be fine, worry was gradually growing.

My solar plexus ached with anxiety. I could only hope that Erendil was safe.

‘The same goes for the other kids.’

Namir, Aron, and Jofor were currently in the north. As far as I knew, they were gaining combat experience on the front lines.

At that time, I had a vague belief that they would be fine. And I thought they should grow on their own, that I couldn’t look after everything for them.

But now it was different. Perhaps I had grown attached to them during the time we spent together.

“The article says ‘a Sword Master’. Since it’s singular, maybe only one was taken down?”

Terka voiced an optimistic observation.

“I hope so…”

I trailed off. It was difficult to assert anything right away. Originally, we had planned to rest for a day in Portlak’s capital before departing.

We had headed straight here after causing trouble in Count Leoble’s territory. Considering Terka, who had been caught in the explosion, a little rest was needed.

“Terka, are you alright?”

But in the current unfavorable situation, I couldn’t pay attention to that. Terka nodded.

“Don’t worry.”

He might not be completely fine, but Terka also knew this wasn’t the time to consider such trivial matters.

“We’ll move to the north with minimal sleep and no rest.”

“Alright.”

Terka and Rina nodded with grim faces.

***

After receiving the news, we hurriedly left Portlak’s capital and headed north. The initial plan was to move south of the northeastern mountains, even if it meant taking a detour.

This was because we didn’t know how many dwarves or devil worshippers were in the northeastern mountains.

But we changed the plan to head straight to the north. It was time to take risks. The devil and Sword Master had battled.

We didn’t know the result of the battle, but it could be a situation where I could change something if I joined quickly.

Of course, the possibility itself was low, but we had to eliminate the chance of regret later.

And in fact, the reason we were going to take a detour was because of the possibility of encountering the devil while passing straight through the northeastern mountains.

‘The chances are high that it’s fine now. Even if the devil took down one Sword Master, it wouldn’t be in perfect condition.’

I trust Erendil, Minteron, Rudehrn, and Faorn. Even if the situation wasn’t good, there’s no way they couldn’t have counterattacked.

Assuming one Sword Master died, they wouldn’t have given up their life easily, and they weren’t the type to waste that opening.

The chances of Teme’s Spear hitting were over 80%, and the Sword Master’s attack would have landed effective blows. I’m certain.

And now that there’s a high chance that what I discovered is related to a Great Devil…

I judged that the one remaining devil of domination on the continent would be more likely to choose to flee rather than attack me with an injured body.

In fact, the possibility of meeting wasn’t that high to begin with. My predictions were somewhat accurate.

Throughout our passage through the northeastern mountains, we flew using wing suits and saw groups of monsters, beasts, dwarves, and devil worshippers, but couldn’t find any traces of the devil.

‘The groups we saw weren’t that numerous either.’

The battle with the imperial army must have been quite fierce, as they all didn’t look in good shape. Should I say they looked like defeated soldiers? That was a somewhat hopeful point.

Yes, no matter how many monster groups had rushed in, the imperial army wouldn’t have been completely routed from the start. It must have ended with them being caught off guard.

Perhaps thinking the same as me, Terka and Rina, who had been gloomy throughout the journey, seemed a bit better.

Of course, they still didn’t look happy. Rina, in particular, was very worried. She was more sentimental than I thought.

We ignored the enemies we encountered and continued flying. If we hadn’t received the bad news, we would have assessed the situation and dealt with it, but time was of the essence.

When we arrived in the north after passing through the northeastern mountains like that, what we encountered on the plains in front of the mountains was an enormous number of corpses.

‘Judging by the state of the devil worshippers, it seems it was more intense than I thought.’

Just roughly estimating the visible large monsters and beast groups, there were close to thousands dead, and countless imperial soldiers and devil worshippers.

Looking at the positions of the corpses, I could tell that the imperial army had been ambushed by monster groups from behind. They were trying to block enemies coming down from the north, after all.

Seeing the traces of fire on part of the plains, I could tell that an Archmage had unleashed wide-area magic.

The fact that there were imperial army corpses in that area meant that they had to include friendly forces in the range of destruction. The battle situation must have been that precarious.

After flying a bit more, we were able to spot the imperial army. It was a cavalry of about 100 men. I guessed they were scouting near the mountains.

It made sense. If there were thousands of visible monster corpses, close to 10,000 monsters must have attacked.

Given how quiet the northeastern mountains had been until now, they would need to keep watch on the mountains even after the battle ended.

As soon as I saw them, I flew down. When we got close to the ground, the leader of the cavalry spotted us.

“A-An ambush! Retreat!”

With the cavalry captain’s shout, the riders pulled on their reins. The horses whinnied and increased their speed. It was natural since their purpose was scouting in the first place.

However, the horses couldn’t outpace the wingsuit’s speed. I landed gently in front of the cavalry group while gliding.

“Stop! It’s Carl Schurtafen!”

When I shouted loudly, the cavalrymen who had already realized it was too late and were drawing their weapons, squinted their eyes and looked at me.

They seemed unsure. The eyes of the cavalry captain at the front widened, and he hurriedly slowed down.

“Stop! Slow down, you fools!”

After that, the cavalry captain quickly dismounted and ran to me to greet me. Despite his tense face, he was well-composed.

“My lord! I am Cavalry Captain Ernan. I heard you were away on another mission!”

“The Emperor, is Her Majesty safe?”

“Yes!”

As the cavalry captain shouted loudly, I let out a deep sigh of relief. It was an unconscious action.

It was enough that Erendil was fine. Thinking that, a sense of stability came over me. Should I say I felt at ease?

Perhaps I had been more worried about Erendil’s condition than I thought.

“Her Majesty the Emperor said to guide you promptly if we encountered you.”

Hearing the cavalry captain’s words, it seemed Erendil had anticipated that I would come here immediately if I heard the news.

“I heard news in the east that a Sword Master was defeated. Is it true?”

“Yes, Lord Minteron…”

Ernan lowered his head with a complicated expression.

“Surely he didn’t pass away?”

“That’s not the case, but he lost his right arm and suffered severe injuries.”

“…”

I couldn’t help but squeeze my eyes shut. It was a huge relief that he didn’t die, but for a Sword Master to lose an arm.

It was difficult to even imagine how he must feel. Emmet had also lost an arm before.

I felt heartbroken then too, but objectively speaking, the loss of a Sword Master’s arm was bound to be more painful.

“What exactly happened? Did we lose the battle?”

“It wasn’t a complete defeat, but…”

“Explain calmly what happened.”

Ernan seemed to be thinking about the sequence of the battle for a moment before he started speaking. The situation I heard was somewhat as I had expected.

The imperial army was blocking the path of the northeastern mountains. They had also detected the movement of devil worshippers from the north.

While they had formed a battle formation against the approaching enemies, a group of nearly 15,000 monsters appeared from the rear.

It wasn’t that they had neglected rear security, but the number far exceeded their expectations. Even I was surprised to hear it.

In a situation where the formation was bound to collapse, Sword Master Minteron had no choice but to move quickly to prevent it.

‘That’s when they must have given up on catching the devil of domination.’

If it were Campbell, he might have tried to catch the devil even considering the imperial army’s losses, but Erendil isn’t the type to make such a choice.

She would have sent the Archmage and Minteron, excluding the two Sword Masters who were supposed to guard her.

Anyway, Ernan said that the imperial army held up well even in a situation where they were surrounded front and back by devil worshippers and monsters.

From the start, the imperial army was much more numerous compared to the enemies in the north.

However, he said that the devil was hiding among the monster groups. Minteron, who was blocking the groups at the front, was attacked.

Erendil and the two Sword Masters went to help as quickly as possible, but his arm was already cut off.

“What about the devil?”

“It was hit by the spear Her Majesty threw, but it immediately used the monster groups as shields and ran away.”

A regretful sigh escaped. Since it was hit by the spear, they could have caught it if not for the pouring monster groups.

In any case, the battle itself wasn’t a defeat.

They lost Minteron’s arm, and couldn’t completely block the eastern advance of the devil worshippers in the north, but they killed many.

‘If I had to say, it would be 70% victory, 30% defeat.’

Ernan then said that Erendil was not far from here.

He said they were regrouping and reorganizing as the imperial army had suffered significant losses.

When I arrived at the imperial army’s camp after moving like that, I received another piece of bad news. It was news of Minteron’s death.

It wasn’t just his arm that was cut off. He had suffered injuries that pierced his chest after losing his arm.

He had barely been holding on, but passed away yesterday. The cavalry scouting the mountains rotated daily, so they hadn’t known.

I closed my eyes and paid my respects right there. Terka and Rina left to find the kids.

“Schurtafen…”

Erendil, whom I met in the tent afterwards, immediately reddened her eyes when she saw me. I bowed my head lightly.

“Your Majesty.”

“You’ve come.”

“Yes.”

“I was very worried. I’m glad you returned safely.”

Erendil tried her best to speak calmly, but I could clearly feel that she was on the verge of tears. She looked quite distressed. I didn’t feel good either.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m… not alright.”

Well, it didn’t seem like it was because things didn’t go according to plan. It must be because of Minteron.

“Many have died. It must be because of my poor judgment.”

“It’s not Your Majesty’s fault. It’s our fault for not anticipating that danger.”

“I don’t want to think of it that way.”

I inwardly clicked my tongue. Taking responsibility is a virtue of a wise ruler, but in cases like this, I wished she wouldn’t.

Come to think of it, Erendil was only twenty years old now.

She had grown stronger and shown a firm appearance, but she’s still young. I tried to choose my words, but couldn’t think of anything comforting to say.

“Minteron died, and last night I dreamed that something bad happened to you.”

“I’m fine. I’m alive and well, aren’t I?”

Erendil smiled faintly, but it wasn’t really a smile. That’s when Eccentric Actions activated. It wasn’t that long ago.

Two months ago, I had carried around a rock I found on the road all day.

However, this time the action was disconcerting. I felt the urge to hug Erendil.