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Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes
Interrogation
The spy from the Ruined Continent who appeared during the meeting and was captured by Silver Face was now being questioned.
His body appeared slender, being 190 centimeters tall and having long limbs, although still muscular overall. His hair was short, his skin purple.
The questioning was going slowly as the interrogators couldn’t understand the language he was speaking.
「What do we do now?」
「Don’t look at me. This is all pointless if he can’t even speak our language.」
「But the Supreme Leader and the other big shots are waiting for results.」
The interrogators gathered around to discuss the situation. The spy’s belongings lay on the table—a memo pad made of plant fiber, and a pen, both things not available on this continent. The pen, especially, got their attention. Instead of the ink and the pen being separate, this pen was two-in-one. They curiously scribbled on the memo pad with it.
「These notes… they’re written in their language, right?」
「Probably. It could be a code… But either way, I have no idea what it means.」
The “Invisibility Cloth” was not here. It was already sent to the lab of the best Magic Item Specialists in Vireocean for examination.
No, no. That guy can probably understand this continent’s language.
Hikaru sighed as he watched the interrogators secretly with his Stealth on. He saw the spy peering at the meeting below from the skylight and taking out a memo pad and pencil. He was going to listen and take notes.
Then again, even if the spy could understand them, there would still be no point if he didn’t want to speak. Torture was an option, but Patricia forbade it. They could use the spy as a bargaining chip; he was the only card they had up their sleeve. They might not be able to use him if he got hurt.
Time to see the guy, then.
Hikaru quietly slipped out of the room and made his way to the prison located inside the Supreme Leader’s residence. It was clean and spacious. The spy’s cell, much larger than a studio-type apartment, was securely fitted with iron bars.
The man was inside, his hands and feet shackled, with an iron ball attached to the shackles on his feet. He clicked his tongue as the ball pulled on his feet while walking around.
Just about five meters away, Hikaru checked the spy’s Soul Board.
【Soul Board】Gigy
Age: 26 Rank: 141
115
【Vitality】
..【Natural Recovery】3
..【Stamina】4
..【Immunity】
….【Magic Resistance】3
….【Disease Immunity】3
….【Toxic Immunity】2
..【Perception】
….【Sight】1
….【Hearing】2
….【Smell】1
【Physical Strength
..【Strength】5
..【Weapon Mastery】
….【Short Spear】4
….【Throwing】1
….【Armor】3
【Agility】
..【Power Burst】2
..【Flexibility】2
..【Balance】3
【Dexterity】
..【Dexterity】2
【Willpower】
..【Mental Strength】3
Looks like the stats of a typical muscle-brain. He’s pretty high-levelled, though.
Hikaru hadn’t seen anyone else with a rank of over 100 besides Selica.
So monsters in the Ruined Continent are that strong, huh?
This Soul Board was most likely a product of killing countless powerful monsters.
I doubt this Gigy just happens to be exceptionally strong. If one spy is at this level, this continent will surely have a hard time.
Ponsonia’s knights were stronger than most, if not all, of the forces from the other nations. This Gigy could be as strong as one of their commanding officers, if not stronger. If the invaders had plenty of men on the same level as this spy, there would be countless victims if a war broke out.
Let’s verify it with him.
Hikaru deactivated his Stealth, but Gigy didn’t notice him as he sat on the sofa, tapping his foot restlessly.
「Hey.」
「***?!」
Gigy yelped as he saw Hikaru who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. As he watched Hikaru, he realized something.
「**********!」
He realized that it was the guy who caught him. Hikaru instantly knocked him out back then, but in that split second, he saw the robe and silver mask.
「Don’t make a sound. I know you speak our language.」
「………」
「You were only pretending not to understand to find more about your current situation, right?」
Gigy glared at him with hateful eyes and heaved a small sigh.
「Yes. I understand.」
Thought so. The letter was written in this continent’s language. Even though there had been no contact with them for the last five hundred years, the language still endured. There was no way a spy infiltrating this place didn’t speak the local tongue.
「How did you see through my camouflage earlier?」
「Good question. You’re a spy. You actually think I’ll tell you?」
「Tsk. Let me out of here now. Otherwise, Grand Dream’s navy will destroy this city.」
Given that he wasn’t treated like a criminal, he must’ve guessed that Vireocean didn’t want to fight.
Hikaru scoffed.「No way you’re getting out of here. You snuck into the residence of the nation’s ruler. Don’t even think they’ll set you free that easily.」
「Then I wait for my friends to come. You, destroyed.」
「………」
He still sounded arrogantly confident. Hikaru sensed something odd about the actions of both the spy and the Ruined Continent’s forces.
They had Dew Roke surrounded for eight days. That’s too long. Were they negotiating with the island’s residents? Still, they should’ve considered the possibility of Vireocean reinforcement arriving, and settled things quick. When they finally launched an attack, Dew Roke fell immediately.
There had to be a reason for them to wait eight days. If most of them were as aggressive as Gigy, they would’ve attacked sooner.
「You’re a spy, right? Are you strong?」
「What?」
「I’m literally asking if you’re actually skilled.」
「Of course. You caught me by surprise. Otherwise, there is absolutely no reason I would lose to you.」
Is he bluffing? Or is that what he really believes? He’s pissed. Looks like it’s the latter. A spy shouldn’t let his emotions show. Hikaru recalled how Gigy clearly wasn’t the undercover type, judging from his stats.
「I see… So you believe that you can win against us even on land.」
「Of course. Grand Dream’s monsters are strong. We fight them all the time. Losing against you is impossible.」
「But the higher-ups don’t want war, right?」
「Yes, but—」Gigy was caught by surprise.「You tricked me!」
Hikaru laughed.「I’m so glad muscle-brains are so easy to manipulate.」
Gigy fell for Hikaru’s trap. After surrounding Dew Roke for eight days, the invaders attacked and gained control of the island immediately. A man who clearly wasn’t suited to be a spy was snooping around. These two matters were connected. Hikaru only had one guess:
The invaders were divided into two factions: those who wanted to settle matters peacefully, and those who wished to go to war.
The commander probably wanted to conquer Dew Roke peacefully. But with negotiations still not settled after eight days, the pro-war faction grew impatient and launched an attack.
Gigy either acted arbitrarily, or was ordered by someone from the pro-war faction to do some snooping around. A spy with no detection or stealth skills, solely relying on optical camouflage, was nothing short of a nightmare to Hikaru.
Something was off right from the start. The letter mentioned paying for something that they did five hundred years ago, but they couldn’t possibly hold a grudge that long[1]. In that case, the message was a preface for a negotiation. A smart commander was trying to negotiate with Vireocean to gain something.
「You will pay for this! I will not talk anymore.」
You just did, Hikaru thought. Hearing the ruckus, the interrogators were heading towards the cell. Hikaru decided to leave.
Why did these people suddenly decide to cross the sea after living in the Ruined Continent for 500 years? Hikaru wondered as he activated his Stealth. They developed cannons and were able to take down sea monsters… What do they want?
Even if they had large ships, conquering a whole nation like Vireocean would be nigh impossible. Assuming they captured the capital, forces from nearby areas would advance towards them, leaving them no choice but to retreat. They should know that.
They must have some sort of an objective. They wished to gain something.
But what?
If Vireocean and the other nations knew, they would have the upper hand both in negotiations and in battle.
[1] The translation team begs to differ; a polity holding grudges for far longer than 500 years is common.