How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 263 - Villa (1)

At first, I thought Erendil might have called me urgently out of concern. That wasn’t the case. Rudehrn and Count Campbell were also there with serious expressions.

Well, I guess I’ve learned to expect worry after receiving it so many times before. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I greeted Erendil.

“I’m sorry. I should have come to see Your Majesty as soon as I returned…”

“No need. You must need some time to rest after your hard work. I’m sorry for calling you here instead.”

Erendil said that, but she seemed to have been somewhat worried. From the moment I opened the tent door and entered, she stared at me with wide eyes, looking me over from head to toe before her face showed relief.

Anyway, judging by the atmosphere inside the tent, there seemed to be another reason for urgently calling me.

“Has something happened?”

“Grand Duchess Lyurik has run into trouble.”

Grand Duchess Lyurik? With her personality and position, she was likely to have been at the front lines. Could she have been attacked by a monster? My brow furrowed naturally.

I had heard there were casualties, but the defensive formation hadn’t been breached. Given Grand Duchess Lyurik’s combat ability wasn’t bad, I couldn’t imagine what happened.

“They had planted Flynn Powder all over the bodies of the monsters at the front lines.”

I frowned. How cunning. I hadn’t thought that far, but it was entirely possible.

It would be enough to hang small pouches filled with powder on the monsters’ bodies.

They would be hidden in the long fur of the animalized monsters. Or they could have cut open the skin and placed it inside.

“The grand duchess was at the very front. The moment the charging monsters’ bodies were pierced, white powder showered towards the front of our defensive formation. It was no small amount.”

Count Campbell said. Given the momentum of the charging monsters, the powder would have poured towards the imperial army’s defensive formation.

“Fortunately, or unfortunately, the grand duchess rushed out first. She swung her sword to drive away the powder flying towards the soldiers.”

“And in the process, she inhaled the powder?”

“Yes. The situation was so urgent that it seems she couldn’t hold her breath too.”

“Were there no signs before that?”

There should have been preemptive attacks against the monsters charging towards the defensive line. How could they not have noticed? When I asked further, Campbell shook his head.

“There were magic projectile attacks. I was watching from afar, so I’m not sure if they were obscured by dust or if the beasts dodged them.”

Hmm. Given that no one saw it, the latter seemed more plausible. Even monsters have individual differences. If they had attached it to the stronger ones, they might have dodged.

Or the dwarves could have trained the monsters to protect the ones carrying Flynn Powder, or the devil worshippers could have controlled them.

“It was a noble sacrifice. Thanks to the grand duchess, our defensive formation remained intact. Afterwards, I immediately ordered mages to respond…”

Sacrifice, huh. Campbell spoke quite cynically. He’s smart, but a bit cold in these matters, so I let it slide.

Rudehrn also frowned slightly, looking uncomfortable, but didn’t say anything. He must have gotten used to Campbell’s personality by now.

“How is the grand duchess’s condition?”

“We rescued her immediately, but it’s not good. She’s maintaining her sanity, but the drug’s power seems greater than we thought.”

“Probably, she couldn’t hold her breath after the initial inhalation.”

I’m not sure how much Flynn Powder Grand Duchess Lyurik inhaled. However, since it was an attack meant to break the defensive formation, it wouldn’t have been a small amount even for one breath.

The grand duchess would have wanted to hold her breath, but just looking at the dwarves earlier… She must have lost control of her body.

“I called you wondering if you had obtained any information about Flynn Powder when you entered that city of small ones.”

“Unfortunately, I didn’t.”

I shook my head immediately. The situation called for a short and clear answer.

“I certainly completed the mission you gave me, but I didn’t obtain information on how to neutralize the drug. There were results in other areas, but it doesn’t seem appropriate to discuss them right now.”

At my words, Count Campbell’s forehead twitched in response. Of course, Erendil and Rudehrn also nodded at the mention of completing the mission, but it was slightly different.

He’s probably more curious about the intelligence I obtained earlier rather than Duchess Lyurik’s physical condition. Still, he wasn’t so tactless as to interrupt and ask.

“Ah, what should we do about this…”

Erendil sighed heavily. Her expression wasn’t good. Duchess Lyurik had served Erendil almost from the beginning, along with me.

“However, I know someone who can treat this.”

“Really?”

Erendil’s face brightened at my words. I nodded immediately. The reason I could be so certain was because of Cedric.

Mad Saint Cedric. Cedric, who had been more of a disaster to me in the game, was now under Haisen.

Rather than espionage activities, he was mostly traveling with that archaeologist from that time, periodically developing his Mystic Power.

And I had seen Mad Saint Cedric treat a person who was on the verge of becoming a beast due to Flynn Powder addiction.

Although he was on Haisen’s side, it didn’t matter to call him since he was doing separate archaeological work.

It wasn’t something Duke Brusek would oppose. Rather, he would encourage it.

Erendil had just become emperor. In that situation, she wouldn’t want to lose Duchess Lyurik, her biggest supporter and loyal subject.

There was a slight chance that someone with a bad personality might take that position.

“He’s a person of elusive whereabouts, so we’ll need to find out where he is now… For now, let’s move the grand duchess to the capital using a dragon carriage.”

“You…”

I deliberately spoke in a way that would evoke the image of a divine doctor. Erendil couldn’t continue her words, but I could guess what would follow. Probably something like “You never cease to amaze me.”

By the way, I had a sudden thought. It was Cedric who had treated Grand Duchess Lyurik’s younger sibling in the distant past.

Although it was through me, the connection between Cedric and the Lyurik family had deepened quite a bit.

“Let’s start with the transfer first.”

“Yes. Since our work here is done anyway, I think it would be better for Your Majesty to return to Chenarus first.”

Count Campbell nodded. There was still a hint of regret in his eyes as he looked at me. So impatient. I was going to talk about it now anyway.

Even if Erendil ordered to prepare the dragon carriage, it would take time to move the emperor’s luggage and the grand duchess.

By the way, I had left the famous sword in front of the tent so as not to startle anyone by holding it in the air, but how should I explain this?

If I said it was a dwarf-made famous sword, even Rudehrn might be tempted.

‘If I mention it now, I might end up having to be cautious later.’

I had intended to show the sword to the Sword Masters in the empire first. Right now, only Rudehrn was here, perhaps because others were on guard duty.

If I showed it to Rudehrn first here, Mondegreen or Faorn might feel left out.

Of course, neither of them seemed likely to feel that way. Mondegreen already had a famous sword befitting his nickname “Jet-Black Sword,” and Faorn was quite old.

However, swordsmen tended to be quite sensitive about these matters.

Even if they weren’t really upset, if they tried to tease me about it, it would only make me uncomfortable. I didn’t prefer uncomfortable situations.

It would probably be better to go out first and hide it.

‘I should show it to everyone when they return to Chenarus.’

I spoke about the Devil’s Blood experiment while carefully moving the swords with winds.

Just in case Rudehrn left first and saw the swords, or other Sword Masters approached the tent.

***

That concluded the schedule in the northeast. Erendil, Rudehrn, Grand Duchess Lyurik, and I departed for Chenarus first.

I heard that while preparing for this subjugation, a lot of intelligence personnel had been deployed to the eastern region.

There would likely be some kind of communication between the dwarves and devil worshippers after this incident.

The intention was to track the whereabouts of the devil worshippers, even at the cost of losing elite personnel.

‘Actually, it would be best if someone like me or a Sword Master moved.’

In the current situation, we couldn’t afford to lose people like us, so it couldn’t be helped.

As soon as we returned, I made contact with Phiri to locate Cedric and immediately headed there with Grand Duchess Lyurik loaded onto a dragon carriage.

-Carl! It’s been so long!

Cedric greeted me enthusiastically, calling my alias. He must have received some hint about my identity.

Having grown quite a bit over the years, Cedric was now at an age where he could be called a young man.

It had been a really long time since we met in person, and I didn’t expect him to be this happy to see me.

Honestly, I felt both unfamiliar and familiar. I could see the image of the Mad Saint from the game.

Anyway, the treatment was successful. A mystic is a mystic indeed. The duke, whose mind had been unstable, became perfectly fine in less than 10 minutes.

Grand Duchess Lyurik, regaining her senses, blinked a few times and then was startled.

-Cedric?

-Duchess, have you been well?

-I never thought I’d see you like this… Thank you. I’m ashamed.

-Not at all. I’m glad I could help.

The Mad Saint Cedric I had seen in the game was gone, and only the pure and kind Cedric remained. That fact felt quite remarkable.

I had seen many things change because of me. Erendil becoming emperor, and Aron and Mary, who used to be under the devil worshippers, now working under me.

However, Cedric’s change was so extreme that it felt unfamiliar, if I had to put it into words.

-Thank you, I’ll invite you to my domain soon.

-That’s alright, Duchess.

-No, it’s not. I feel uncomfortable about it. Please make sure to accept.

After exchanging greetings with Cedric, Grand Duchess Lyurik also expressed her gratitude to me.

-It must have been you who brought me here. Thank you. To think I’d receive help after my sibling.

Her words clearly came from the heart.

-Are you feeling alright?

-No problem. I actually feel more refreshed.

-By the way, does that promise from back then still hold?

She seemed to be asking about what I had said when introducing Cedric. I had told her not to tell even the emperor.

-I’ve informed Her Majesty.

Regarding the ability to cure Flynn Powder, I had no choice but to tell Erendil that it was someone connected to Haisen.

With Duchess Lyurik’s precedent, other nobles might ask for help if a similar problem arose.

That’s why I deliberately spoke in a way that would evoke the image of a divine doctor a few days ago. Suggesting that I might not be able to find him next time.

Anyway, after the treatment was finished, I returned to Chenarus.

Now all that remained was to wait for news from the empire’s spies in the northeast.

But unfortunately, even as time passed, there was no meaningful intelligence. Only innocent spies were being cut down in the east.

Feeling frustrated, I considered moving out myself. Even if it was dangerous, time was of the essence.

-You can’t. Please wait a little longer.

Count Campbell stopped me. He was thinking along the same lines. As I had said, if Devil’s Blood was being produced, our chances of winning would decrease even further.

That’s why we were preparing for an eastern expedition. We were preparing for a large-scale war, seeking support even from the southern and western kingdoms.

In this process, all I could do was train myself. I mainly exchanged swords with the Sword Masters.

I showed them the famous sword, but none of them changed their swords. However, they seemed to look at me favorably. It definitely felt like I had made the right decision to show it to everyone at once.

There were a few other changes. Cedric came to Chenarus. Haisen had sent Cedric on this occasion.

To immediately treat someone like Erendil or me in case of an emergency. Of course, on the condition that only Erendil knew about Cedric’s abilities.

While I was spending my days obsessed with swords, Erendil called for me. She looked quite tired, perhaps due to the preparations for the eastern expedition.

“Schurtafen.”

Even her voice was cracking, which worried me too. It had been a few days since I last saw her.

“Are you very tired? Maybe you should rest a bit…”

“You’re right. I can’t go on like this anymore. I need to take a break.”

“That’s a wise decision. Why don’t you pass off the annoying tasks to Count Campbell?”

Erendil chuckled. I said that, but in reality, Count Campbell was also in a terrible state. I heard he had lost 10kg and looked like a skeleton.

It seemed to be because of his personality of wanting to confirm everything himself.

“In that sense, there’s a place I want to go with you.”

A place to go? One place came to mind. Erendil had mentioned before that there was a villa used by emperors.

“Is it perhaps the villa you mentioned earlier?”

“Yes. Didn’t I say I wanted to see it with you, who led me to become emperor? I think I should take a look at it now.”

I thought it wasn’t a bad idea. I hadn’t been making progress lately either. As a human, I needed a refresh.

Quite a few Sword Masters had gained enlightenment in nature. Starting with me.

An emperor’s villa must be a scenic place. It meant that I, who mainly used the moon and winds, might gain new inspiration there.

“Is that okay? I heard you’ve been busy with swords lately.”

Erendil, having lost her tired appearance and speaking confidently, glanced at me. I nodded.

“Yes. I welcome it too.”

“That’s good.”

Only then did Erendil smile brightly.