How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 275 - Fog Valley (5)

“Don’t do that, I’m not an enemy. I couldn’t harm you, a Sword Master, anyway, could I?”

It was the middle-aged agent’s earnest request. I relaxed my grip on the sword. I had grabbed Moonlight in surprise, but he wasn’t wrong.

The agent had no means to harm me. Neither physically nor regarding my identity.

He’s not a fool, and if he had hostility towards me, he wouldn’t have spoken like this. There was no reason for it. Imperial Intelligence Agency probably didn’t know my identity either.

That was a fact Erendil had confirmed through the Chief of Intelligence. The Chief of Intelligence wouldn’t lie to Erendil.

‘If they knew my identity, it would be right to discuss how to hide it long-term.’

To be honest, I’m now close to being untouchable. I’m a recipient of the Empire’s Founding Emperor Medal and the highest meritorious subject who made Erendil emperor.

Not only the empire’s people but also soldiers and knights regard me as an object of admiration.

In the current situation, it’s impossible for the empire to abandon me. Even if someone raised such suspicions, if Erendil said it was slander, it would be a simple matter that would die down.

An agent of this caliber couldn’t have failed to think that far. There was only one implication of him knowing my identity.

“Do you have a connection with Duke Brusek?”

“That’s right.”

The middle-aged agent nodded and answered. His eyes seemed to say that of course he should say so. To be honest, I was still taken aback.

After all, I hadn’t heard anything from Brusek, the Chief of Intelligence.

It’s possible to have connections within the empire. But if that person knew about me, he should have told me.

It’s awkward to say this myself, but my going as Erendil’s bodyguard knight was a matter of Haisen’s national fate.

In such a situation, not telling me, the person involved, about this information made me feel a bit betrayed.

“What kind of relationship do you have?”

“We were in a mutually helpful relationship. I ended up owing him my life one-sidedly.”

Owing his life, he says. Does that mean he came to Haisen’s side because he owed a debt to Haisen? It would make sense if he was a double agent.

If he had become a Haisen agent within the empire, there would have been no need to tell me.

“And broadly speaking, it wouldn’t be wrong to say I owe you my life too. I’m not talking about this time.”

“Was there such an incident?”

As I asked, a thought flashed by. Before leaving Chenarus, I had helped Phiri save an imperial spy.

“It seems you remember.”

The middle-aged agent continued, seemingly having read my expression.

“Yes.”

“At that time, I received help from you. Didn’t the Haisen traitors suddenly stop? It must have been your winds. Anyway, counting this time, you could say you’ve saved me twice.”

I relaxed my tension. This might not be true, but the possibility was extremely low. There was no need to make up such a lie.

The imperial side might know about that incident, but they wouldn’t know it in such detail, nor would they have any reason to tell me.

“In a way, I saved you too.”

“Was there such a time?”

I couldn’t recall this. No matter how much I thought about it, I had never received help from this person. As I tilted my head, the middle-aged agent shrugged.

“I’m talking about the Count Aitami incident. Do you remember?”

My eyes naturally widened. There was no way I couldn’t remember. Denif had been seriously injured. Because of that incident, Denif’s face had been exposed, and I too had to leave the empire for a while.

Suspecting Count Aitami of defection, I had fought with Temerza and imperial agents on the rooftop. I had fled from the empire’s dogs.

“No way…”

“Yes. I was the one who called off that pursuit.”

I had thought it was a bit strange even then. Despite being close to a rookie agent at the time, I had succeeded in escaping the empire’s surveillance.

I had thought it was thanks to winds or that I had been pushed down the empire’s priority list. But that wasn’t it.

Come to think of it, it was also strange that Brusek, the Chief of Intelligence, had come exactly to where I was. I didn’t have the leisure to think that far at the time, but still.

“Did you know it was me?”

“No. I didn’t know it was you. I thought there was a promising guy in Haisen and that he might be dangerous to the empire.”

The middle-aged agent said that and looked around.

“By the way, is it okay to keep talking like this?”

The conversation had gone on longer than expected, but there was no problem. The devil who had come a few hours ago wouldn’t come back right away.

Even if it did, I had the amulet. When I nodded, the agent continued with a dubious look.

“So why did you save me?”

“You might not know. The dilemma of a middle manager between doing things for the country and doing things for oneself.”

“I understand.”

In fact, even in an intelligence agency, it’s the same as anywhere else people live. I might be able to speak frankly because I followed an elite course, but many can’t do that.

I had also learned about cases where people cover things up due to their superiors’ mood, even knowing it’s wrong behavior.

“Duke Brusek was originally my trading partner, as information trading about other countries is common in the intelligence world. I made you a trading subject through that channel.”

It was a moment when the events of that time made sense. Perhaps this middle-aged agent had even passed my location to Duke Brusek.

I don’t know what he got in return, but Duke Brusek must have passed information to this agent.

“Isn’t saying you saved me going too far? You used it as part of a trade.”

“If you put it that way, your saving me earlier was also part of your mission. I counted that as a debt, so let’s count this as a debt too. I have nothing to say about this time, though.”

The agent retorted smoothly. It was a tone that reflected years of experience. Hmm, there was no need to nitpick about it.

Although I had gone through trouble because of Eccentric Actions, it didn’t seem bad.

In fact, what the middle-aged agent said wasn’t wrong. If he hadn’t made the choice to save me, I wouldn’t have become what I am now.

I would have died under imperial torture, or been brainwashed because of my mystic and converted. Either way, it meant I would have seen a bad ending.

Thinking that way, the effect of this Eccentric Action wasn’t bad. Of course, repaying that favor wouldn’t change anything, but it felt like a personal debt was being erased.

“My introduction is late. I’m Hepate.”

Hepate started to extend his hand for a handshake, then waved it off with an “Ah.”

“I’m too dirty for a handshake.”

“Indeed.”

“I didn’t expect you to agree so bluntly.”

When I agreed without denying it, Hepate glared at me playfully as if his feelings were hurt.

“Anyway, we’re not enemies. After I went over to Haisen, I returned to the empire with Duke Brusek’s help.”

“Is that possible?”

“I said I was hiding for a while due to the schemes of devil worshippers in the empire. There are a few others besides me, though not many.”

Well, there were many devil worshippers in the Imperial Intelligence Agency at that time, so it could be possible.

“Then are you working for Haisen now?”

“For now, yes, but actually I’m moving for both the empire and Haisen. I’m still from the Imperial Intelligence Agency, after all.”

Seeming to read the change in my eyes, Hepate shook his head.

“Don’t look at me like that, I’m not an ungrateful beast. And I believe that helping Haisen, or more precisely, helping you, is the way to help the empire.”

That was quite an interesting perspective. Even more so coming from the mouth of someone from the Imperial Intelligence Agency. It could be lip service, but still.

“What do you mean by that?”

“As you know, things have turned out this way. If other princes had become emperor, they couldn’t have done this much. There wouldn’t have been Teme’s Spear either. Your very existence is like that too. I think you’ve made the empire stronger.”

I could roughly understand what he meant. It wasn’t wrong either. As an insider, he probably had similar feelings to me who tried to make Erendil emperor.

“I mean I’m satisfied with the current situation. I’m repaying my debt to Duke Brusek while working for the empire.”

“Is it okay for you to tell me all this?”

Actually, most agents on missions don’t know each other’s identities. It’s better that way.

It reduces the information that could be revealed if identities are exposed, and they can unintentionally act as surveillance on each other.

“It seems I’ve become talkative after barely escaping death. Look at you, rebuking an old man like this.”

“That’s not what I meant. I’m talking about Duke Brusek’s intentions.”

“Well, there’s no reason I can’t. One of my main tasks was to watch if any suspicions about you arose within the Imperial Intelligence Agency. Though there’s no chance of that happening now.”

Hepate narrowed his eyes and looked at me.

“And you’ve officially left the Haisen intelligence agency, right? I heard you’re still in contact, but you’ve really become the emperor’s knight.”

“That’s not wrong. I’m close to working for both the empire and Haisen, just like you.”

It might sound strange, but Erendil, who received help from Haisen, doing well meant Haisen doing well.

“Actually, I was itching to tell you. That I saved you and you saved me.”

For someone capable enough to trade with Duke Brusek, talking like that seemed to lower his gravitas a bit.

Hmm. Could it be that a person who used to work for himself rather than the country has had a change in personality after losing some sense of purpose?

“But why did you come back here?”

I could roughly guess the reason, but the choice to turn back while escaping and hide in a dugout was not an easy one to make.

There are also strange phenomena like black holes in this Fog Valley.

“You would have done the same if you were me. Seeing the devil come and the encirclement, I thought it would be difficult to get out.”

“Were you planning to just hold out?”

“That’s right. I thought you would bring new food supplies, and since you said you were confident in returning alive, their search would soon slow down.”

“Isn’t that too risky?”

“Whether I get caught trying to break through the encirclement or hiding here, I just chose what I judged to be safer. It turned out to be a good decision, didn’t it?”

He wasn’t wrong. In fact, if I were in Hepate’s position, I probably would have attempted to escape. It’s the difference between being active and passive.

However, it was because Hepate made that choice that I could find him easily.

“Well, after talking this much, we should know neither of us is a strange person. Let’s get moving.”

Although we had some leeway, the conversation had gone on for quite a while. I nodded and then looked at Hepate.

“First, you should wash up. You look a bit… unsightly.”

Even though he had sprayed deodorant so there was no smell, his lower half was covered in filth, which was a bit much. For me with mysophobia, even narrowing the distance was an unpleasant feeling.

“Do we have time for that?”

“We’ve been talking this long, haven’t we? I know a place nearby where water flows.”

“Tsk, you’ve been in the light too long. To consider this dirty.”

Hepate clicked his tongue as he spoke. I was about to retort but didn’t. Honestly, he wasn’t wrong. Would agents consider filth dirty?

Of course, they would consider it dirty, but in this situation, no one would choose to wash. I’m just a bit of a special case.

By the way, I’ve rescued him for now, but thinking about getting out made me sigh involuntarily. Of course, I’ll have to enter the non-existent season again.

More annoying than that is having to cross the eastern area that has become the domain of devil worshippers.

‘Still, it’s better than crossing the Trafal Mountain Range.’

I remembered the place Erendil had told me about for my sake. The place where I could contact the empire from the east.

It wouldn’t be for this mission, but if I got there, a dragon-powered vehicle would come. I wonder if Erendil would be happy that I used that contact.

‘Hmm, she might scold me for going to rescue an agent instead.’

Suddenly, another strategy came to mind. Whether she’s building up strength or has other business, the Great Devil isn’t here.

The devil is looking for me. I had only been considering escape, but a reverse approach was quite possible.

I could use myself as bait to deal with the devil. However, there was no way to contact the empire. But I believe in Erendil and Campbell.

Originally, we didn’t know the situation here. That’s why I came alone secretly.

If they receive news through Terka, Count Campbell is the kind of person who would think of sending a subjugation team.

This might be a good choice, not just to escape secretly, but to lure the devil.

‘When Hepate comes back from washing, I should reveal my presence.’

It’s something we have to do trusting each other without any contact, but I thought the possibility was quite high.