How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game

“Phew…”

As soon as I opened my eyes and emerged from my inner world, the first thing I saw was sunlight streaming through the window.

My brow furrowed slightly, naturally. It was midday outside. When I checked the time, it was 3 PM.

I had woken up around 4:30 AM and spent about 11 hours immersed in mental imagery without even eating breakfast.

However, my body felt incredibly refreshed. My mind was clear and my senses were sharp. It felt like both my body and mind were moving exactly as I thought.

I got up and lightly swung Moonlight. I could see the moon. Clearly. Not the faint moonlight from before.

The half-moon shining even in the midday sunlight looked vaguely like a Sword Master’s Sword Energy at a glance.

‘Of course, there’s still an enormous difference.’

I’m hungry. The feeling of hunger hit me a beat late. I should eat first and then try out what I established in my inner world.

Hmm, what’s this? Under my enhanced senses, I could feel a presence right outside the door.

“Come on, brother. How long are you going to wait?”

“Until Carlyn comes out.”

“Without even eating… Someone might think you’re the one training.”

“You little rascal, now you’re saying whatever you want? Hey, this is worth waiting for.”

They were whispering in voices as quiet as ants crawling, probably worried about disturbing me.

I had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

I flung the door open to find Denif right in front. Aron, who was beside him, nearly fell over in shock.

“Gasp! Big brother, did I disturb you? I’m sorry!”

“No, it’s over. I came out because I’m hungry.”

Denif jumped to his feet.

“Hungry? This is no time for that. Let’s go quickly.”

“Where?”

“Where else? We need to spar.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. How typical of Denif. He must have heard from Namir and been waiting since morning.

His behavior was still childlike. Considering how Aron was trying to stop him, I’m not sure who the adult is here.

In fact, Denif and I had already agreed to spar after Erendil’s coming-of-age ceremony.

But today, I too had a strong desire to fight. Even though I was hungry, this took priority.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Huh?”

My answer seemed unexpected, as Denif tilted his head for a moment.

“I said let’s go, to spar.”

“Yess!”

When I repeated it, Denif clenched his fist with a face full of joy.

“But let’s move quickly. We can’t do it inside Chenarus.”

5-star Moonlight Technique. If done properly, moonlight would be visible, but I couldn’t display that inside the capital.

There are training grounds, but there are too many eyes. Since it’s still daytime, we should be able to go out quickly and come back.

It took about 40 minutes to travel. We calmly left the city gates and then ran at full speed.

It was a place far from the road, where people were scarce. The 40 minutes were precious, but this was worth investing in.

I didn’t forget to monitor the surroundings with Winds. Just in case a passerby might see.

First without mystic, then with mystic. In any case, I was obviously the winner of the sparring. Overwhelmingly.

That’s only natural. Last time, although I didn’t go all out, we fought almost equally. Denif had improved tremendously since meeting Mondegreen.

Still, he couldn’t beat me, who had become 6 times stronger just numerically. Moreover, I had also reviewed my practical experience with Rudehrn.

“Damn. You’ve become unbelievably stronger than last time.”

Denif said, glaring at me while lying on his back on the dirty ground, breathing heavily.

Even so, he still had enough energy to make a soft bed of sand and lie down.

“It’s that day, you know.”

“Even considering that, it’s different. Your swordsmanship itself has completely changed. What on earth did you do from morning till now?”

“Organized my swordsmanship.”

“Crazy. Can that be done in just a day? Isn’t that actually cheating?”

Denif grumbled. I smiled and offered him water.

“Then you should struggle like me usually.”

“I don’t like that either.”

Denif got up and took the water bottle. His back was covered in dirt, soaked with sweat.

I roughly brushed it off with Winds. Of course, it didn’t come off well because of the sweat. Denif drank some water and caught his breath.

“Thanks.”

“Can’t you keep this from getting dirty while using sand?”

“Huh? Oh, I didn’t think of that. But half of it got dirty during the fight anyway, so it can’t be helped.”

That’s not wrong. Denif had rolled on the ground several times. I did it once or twice too.

Of course, I had already brushed it off with Winds and purified it.

“Still, that and this are different.”

“Well, if you say so.”

Perhaps due to the experience of being with me for several years, Denif just nodded without much argument. A cloud of sand dust rose from Denif’s body.

The problem was that this guy just shook it off without controlling it again. I hurriedly blew the sand dust away.

“Hey! You should keep it from coming to me.”

“You’re going to block it anyway. I’m dying of exhaustion right now.”

Denif grinned at me, as if he had planned it from the start, then turned his gaze to the sky.

“But you look a bit more comfortable now.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You looked like you’d lost your mind since coming back from the business trip.”

Well, I guess so. After confirming the fruit bomb, I focused all my nerves on Erendil’s coming-of-age ceremony.

I pushed myself so hard that even Aron was worried.

Denif, who spent 3 years with me, must have seen my inner state more clearly. Even I thought I was quite sensitive.

“I’ve sorted things out to some extent.”

Now all I can do is take care of my body and adapt to the situation at that time.

I didn’t change the judgment I made with my mind that wasn’t working well.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Anyway, I have a rough idea of how they’ll attack.

There might be something beyond the bomb, but for now, that’s too much worry. Now I just need to prepare.

“I’ve more or less resolved Mondegreen’s advice today too.”

“I’m envious. I still don’t know exactly what to do. I’m trying both ways, but…”

“You’ll do well.”

“Of course. Anyway, I’m glad.”

Denif grinned and patted my shoulder. With his hand that had only roughly brushed off sand and hadn’t washed…

“I was worried.”

Still, I know I shouldn’t say it’s dirty in this situation. I just smiled.

“Thanks.”

“No need for thanks. We’re brothers.”

Of course, I didn’t forget to wash it inconspicuously with Winds and purification right after Denif took his hand away.

Denif stretched, rotating his shoulders left and right.

“Let’s go eat quickly.”

Ah, come to think of it, we skipped a meal. Denif just waited with me too.

“I’m starving to death.”

Denif whined.

***

Three weeks passed quickly and quietly.

Quietness.

That made me quite tense. Because there were no abnormal signs or suspicious situations.

That rather felt strange. It’s like the calm before a typhoon.

If I didn’t know the devil worshippers’ plan, I would have been twice as anxious as I am now. Most big problems occur at times like this.

During that time, I didn’t neglect observing the princes and devil worshippers. Of course, there was no suitable information.

One thing I learned was that the three princes had a meeting before I came to Chenarus.

However, I couldn’t know the contents. Because only the three princes met and talked.

Without threatening a prince, there was no way to find out.

‘Still, nothing changes.’

Additional fruits arrived at the place where the devil worshippers stored the fruit bombs.

As a result of scanning with Winds, half of those were also bombs.

It was clear that they had obtained them through other ways besides the Blancheot merchant group. It was not a small amount.

I thought this explosion would be bigger than the one at the inauguration ceremony.

But rather, I could feel a little relieved because of that. It’s almost certain that the bomb is the main attack.

In the current situation, the merchant group that brought in this additional quantity is not very important.

‘I just need to check where this moves.’

My physical condition was fine. The fatigue from the best condition lasted for a few days, but there was no problem.

The intensity of surveillance was also much weaker than before.

That might be why I couldn’t get information, but I have no regrets. My physical condition is the most important.

I’m the only one who can observe the area with Winds and immediately intervene in case of any situation.

Although Denif has sand, it’s not to the extent of using it in various ways, and he was mastering what I had separately asked for.

Finally, I observed the movements of the imperial spies.

I wondered if there might be information I didn’t know, but they didn’t seem much different from me.

-Aren’t you anxious?

-What’s there to be anxious about?

-That nothing is happening.

-Why is that making me anxious?

-It’s strange. Even if they’re not really involved, in times like this, at least one suspicious action should be detected.

-Come on, it’s all because we worked hard. We’ve been running ourselves ragged, even bringing in manpower from the north since two months ago.

This was a conversation between Imperial Intelligence Agency personnel that I caught while observing the princes’ situation.

The location was roughly in the middle. There were people similar to me and people who were carefree.

Seeing that the one thinking similarly to me was the superior of the two, I nodded involuntarily.

Anyway, the fact that even an agent at the level of a middle-ranking hasn’t heard anything means that the imperial side hasn’t grasped the situation either.

‘It means we have to stop it.’

In this situation, asking for help from Haisen was actually close to insanity.

Since the empress assassination incident, the empire has continued to monitor Haisen because of me.

Not as much as the devil worshippers, but right after them.

It was natural since the empress and Erendil had connections with Haisen, and I was a knight from Haisen.

Haisen thinks that Phiri, who became the head of the imperial spy agency, is outside the surveillance network, but that can’t be guaranteed.

And well, even if we ask Haisen for help, not much will change. It only has disadvantages as it might raise misunderstandings from the empire.

‘The bigger problem is that things get messy.’

Midday. I moved busily. Because the devil worshippers finally started moving the fruit bombs they had stored.

Fortunately, they didn’t disperse them to multiple places.

They’re heading to a large fruit shop on the main street. It was the biggest road among the parade routes after the coming-of-age ceremony.

I predicted this to some extent. I had done preliminary investigations.

If not here, I thought it might be the fruit shop across the street 130m ahead.

‘Huh?’

Just as I was about to conclude that the movement was over, a man approached and took a box of fruit.

It was a face I’d never seen before. He’s taking some of the fruit mixed with bombs, what could be the reason?

It could be a follow-up attack. They’re taking it separately to ensure a finish after the first explosion.

I left Winds at the shop and followed the man.

The man went backwards along the planned parade route. After going back about 5 minutes, he loaded the box onto his small fruit cart.

Unlike a fruit shop, he was a peddler who sells while moving.

‘What’s the reason?’

In Chenarus, even the positions of such peddlers are almost fixed on main streets like this.

There was no reason to place a small-scale fruit bomb in front of the parade route where the main attack would occur.

What could it be? I feel uneasy. No clear answer came to mind.

Could it be that they’re leaving extras because more bombs came in than initially expected? That could be it.

If there’s a problem during delivery, the amount of bombs would be insufficient, so they might have prepared additional ones.

Or, if Erendil survives the first explosion and flees to the back, they might intend to detonate it then.

‘He might move the location again.’

I maintained my tension. For today, I had slept more than enough for the past few days, enduring nightmares.

I planned to stay up all night watching this fruit shop and this man.

Because tomorrow is Erendil’s coming-of-age ceremony.

Author's Thoughts

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