How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 273 - Fog Valley (3)

The small room, presumed to be made of mystic, was unremarkable. The interior was circular, with walls resembling a small cave.

It was almost empty except for a mana stove in the center. There were no household items at all.

“Lord Carl Schurtafen? It’s an honor. I’ve wanted to meet you. Please come in first.”

Just as the imperial agents sighed in relief after confirming my identity, the contact person greeted me while observing the outside situation through the open door.

He looked relieved but still cautious. Well, they wouldn’t have known the situation outside.

The immediate surroundings were peaceful, and with me and Terka here, they probably thought there was no great danger. There was no time to respond.

“No time for that. Wait a moment.”

I turned around. Terka called out to me.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“We need to strike first.”

At my words, everyone’s expressions darkened. They sensed something was amiss.

“Wait here.”

I sprinted at full speed straight ahead. It was a quick decision. Not immediately controlling the scream was a big factor. I was equally surprised.

Nevertheless, running back was to destroy the devil’s fragment.

The scream leaked, and they noticed something was off. They might not know clearly due to the distance, but they must have felt that a sound came from this direction.

It’s not enough for the devil to appear directly yet. They’ll probably check this side first.

‘We need to strike first.’

The devil can teleport using its fragments within a certain distance as a medium. The devil is presumed to be nearby.

That means the moment that fragment arrives here, we’ll face the devil.

Of course, entering this hideout could also be an option. It might be safe since it’s not visible from the outside.

However, that was a short-sighted view. I could touch the doorknob from the outside.

There aren’t even many animals in this forest. They clearly heard the sound, so they’ll conduct a focused search in this direction.

In other words, it means that although it might be safe for now, there’s a high chance of becoming a rat in a trap.

‘Even if only three can survive anyway, I should try to save as many as possible.’

What I chose was to attack the devil’s fragment first. Before the devil could use it as a medium, we just need to erase it.

Of course, this too is just buying a little time. At most 5 minutes? And that’s thinking optimistically.

It might appear in about 3 minutes. Anyway, the moment that devil’s fragment dies, the devil will head this way.

‘They’re coming.’

As I was thinking, the distance with them narrowed. Judging by their fast movement, they seemed to have clearly heard something.

If it had seemed uncertain, I was thinking of going back to hide.

Given the situation, there’s no choice. I concealed my presence and calculated their movement speed. The most important thing was the devil’s fragment.

I could deal with the four around it anytime. After calculating the movement speed and distance, I infused mana into the amulet.

The world changed. In the opaque and unpleasant world, I took seven steps forward. I concentrated to not lose my sense of direction.

‘I need to deal with it in one go.’

One way or another, it was clear we would face the devil. The reason for taking this risk was that it was the best way to buy time.

I counted time in my mind. While calculating the direction and speed of their movement, I raised Moonlight.

A clear full moon rises in the hazy world. Three, two, one. As I left the season that doesn’t exist, I swung Moonlight.

My calculation was perfect. I appeared exactly behind the devil’s fragment. The full moon, the moonlight Sword Energy pierces down onto the darkness on the ground.

There was no scream. The darkness hit by the Sword Energy writhed as if having a seizure but soon disappeared.

“…!”

A beat later, the four devil worshippers opened their eyes wide. They were so surprised they couldn’t even scream. I moved like the wind.

Taking one step forward, I cut down two, then turned my waist to deal with the remaining two. It all happened in one breath.

It was a clean disposal, but since the devil’s fragment disappeared, the devil will rush here. There wasn’t much time.

I flicked the blood off Moonlight with a wrist snap, then ran back to where my companions were.

***

“My lord, are you alright? What happened…”

As I appeared, the faces of the people waiting for me with tense expressions brightened. It was still a premature judgment.

“No time. The devil will be here soon.”

“The devil?”

As the agents’ expressions hardened, the contact person frowned. He looked dismayed. I assessed the current situation first.

“This space, was it made with mystic?”

“Yes. It’s a mystic hideout.”

“It can’t be seen, but I could feel it when I touched it.”

This was the first time I’d seen a mystic hideout. I wasn’t deeply connected with the East in the game. In this serious situation, the contact person nodded quickly.

“That’s right. But you’re the first person to open the door from the outside. When I experimented, it makes it difficult for people outside to recognize this place. You could say it makes them avoid this area deliberately.”

Well, it makes sense since it’s mystic. It would be ridiculous if you could just stumble upon a simple invisible hideout as a Mystic Power.

In fact, I was able to find it because I saw it in the season that doesn’t exist. Anyway, the contact person seemed confident about the hideout.

“Still, we’re dealing with a devil. Even the escape route could be blocked.”

The contact person thought for a moment and nodded. Even he couldn’t say for certain that it was absolutely safe.

“Can you maintain this hideout while moving? Or are the entrances the same in other places?”

The contact person shook his head.

“It doesn’t work that way. If I move beyond a certain distance, the hideout disappears.”

“What about the people inside?”

“They pop out to where they originally were.”

“Oh no…”

Everyone’s expressions were grim. The devil will come soon. They must know that even they would need three Sword Masters to deal with one devil.

They knew there was no solution with the current forces.

“Do you have a plan?”

“Three can survive, even if the devil comes.”

“Three…”

There were four people in the hideout. The contact person and three imperial agents. The only person we could take was the contact person.

“We’ll buy time.”

The agent who seemed to be the oldest spoke up. He had been quietly observing the situation until now. I just thought he was a taciturn person. I even considered it as a bit of a mental game.

Among spies, there were those who didn’t particularly like knights who attracted attention.

Regardless, he was a good person. His face was stern. As a fellow spy, I could understand their feelings.

What we learned, almost as if brainwashed when becoming spies, was that the success of the mission takes priority. Even over our own lives.

Their mission was to guide a member of the secret Eastern group to us. They meant to sacrifice themselves for that.

“You take the contact person and go first, my lord. We’ll stay here to draw attention and try to survive as long as possible.”

“It’s meaningless.”

Their words were solemn, prepared for death, but I shook my head.

“We’re dealing with a devil. I guarantee you won’t last 10 seconds.”

“Didn’t you say three could survive? Isn’t it more honorable to last 10 seconds fighting than to die uselessly waiting?”

I could clearly feel their determination, but 10 seconds wouldn’t make a meaningful difference.

“It will be difficult, but there’s a sliver of possibility. Stay in the hideout. When the hideout disappears, escape on your own.”

“It seems you intend to be the bait, my lord. We can’t allow that.”

“I told you, didn’t I? That I can survive even against a devil. Let’s do as I say. Let’s bet on this small hope. We don’t have time.”

The spy who had passed middle age looked at me with a stern face, then nodded.

“It’s shameful in front of the younger ones… but since you insist, let’s do that then.”

The spy who said this looked at me with a strange gaze. It didn’t feel hostile. It was as if he knew me somehow.

Of course, he must know Carl Schurtafen, but that wasn’t what I meant. It bothered me. However, there was no time to discuss it.

“Let’s go.”

“We’ll pray for your success.”

After the agents entered the hideout, we immediately headed into the depths of the forest. Despite the fog, we maintained a fast pace by going back and forth with the amulet.

Since the contact person’s physical abilities weren’t great, I carried him while running. The devil would arrive soon, but we needed to buy as much time as possible.

“Don’t panic.”

“W-What is this…”

The contact person was startled by the season that doesn’t exist and expressed discomfort, but he didn’t complain.

I expanded my winds to the maximum. I didn’t bother hiding it. I was hoping for the devil to detect us.

Another 2 minutes passed like that. It was 6 minutes after dealing with the fragment. I sensed the devil in the sky through my widely expanded winds.

It was a bit later than I thought. Maybe it was unexpectedly far away.

The fact that I sensed the devil meant that the devil sensed me too. Due to the bizarrely thick fog, even mystic couldn’t spread, so the distance was about 2km.

The devil turned and flew straight towards us. I spoke to Terka and the contact person.

“We’ll be here for quite a while. Prepare yourselves.”

Once again, the world changed. I hoped the devil would just be curious. Actually, I wanted to use this amulet against the Great Devil.

The best scenario would be for the devil to search this area. There must have been precedents.

“By any chance, were there devil worshippers nearby when you hid before?”

“Yes. We were almost caught. Why do you ask? Ah…”

The contact person who was asking the reason seemed to realize immediately. I just hoped the devil would think the amulet was that hideout. The probability had increased a bit.

They would have known that the location they missed and where we reappeared were the same. I hoped they would linger in this spot for a long time.

***

“Phew…”

“Urgh!”

Because we had to keep the devil’s pursuit in mind, we had to do most of our movement in the season that doesn’t exist.

Terka was barely holding on, but the contact person wasn’t. He had vomited so much that nothing was coming out anymore, but he kept dry heaving.

Neither of them was in a good state, to put it mildly. They looked gaunt. The mental suffering must have been quite severe.

I was similar. Discomfort doesn’t discriminate, after all. Our tolerance might be a bit different, though.

“Pull yourself together. We just need to leave now.”

Fortunately, we had safely found the dragon carriage. We were able to meet at the first contact point on time.

“My lord, are we ready to depart?”

Since we had no time to delay, we immediately boarded the dragon carriage.

“Let’s go.”

It was when the dragon carriage was about to take off. I recalled the gaze of the old spy I encountered in Fog Valley. It kept bothering me.

I was a bit conflicted. After all, we had rescued the contact person, and I had the amulet of the season that doesn’t exist.

‘Hmm.’

In fact, it was unnecessary. The information the agents had would have been transmitted to the empire, so it felt redundant. I wasn’t even sure if I could save them.

It would be right to just leave. Rationally, I knew this, but I felt like being capricious. It felt like I needed to save them.

It wasn’t just because they were willing to risk their lives to buy 10 seconds of time. Even I found it hard to explain the reason.

“Wait.”

“What’s wrong?”

“You go ahead first.”

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Terka called out to me with a tired face.

“I might be able to save them, so I should at least try.”

Tsk. Well, I don’t know how it will turn out, but I guess I should at least go look for them