Chapter 49

Amethus had a meal in Sortia.

In a city famous for its gourmet food, especially delicious meat dishes, he deliberately sought out a small pub and ordered pancakes.

There were over twenty types of meat dishes at the pub, but he didn't even glance at them.

He was the type of person who felt a certain distance from the things people liked.

It had a shabby taste.

He knew that the expression 'shabby' was not appropriate for food, but he couldn't find a more suitable word.

It felt like eating a ball of paper mixed with water and sprinkled with syrup.

As he was about halfway through his pancakes, a slender finger tapped his shoulder.

“It's been a while.”

It was a woman with curly gray hair.

Her dark skin, rare in the capital area, was noticeable.

The woman swept her hair back with a strange smile.

“It has been a while.”

Amethus greeted her, putting down his fork.

“Aren't you even going to ask me to sit?”

“Sit.”

The woman, before he had even finished speaking, plopped down opposite Amethus and crossed her legs.

The jade-eyed man silently held out his palm.

The woman placed a bundle of papers on his palm.

“Here, what you wanted.”

“Thank you.”

Amethus flipped through the documents.

They were the entry and exit records of the southern cities of the Sobel mountain range.

Even though it was only for ten days, the personal information of tens of thousands of people was packed in.

The woman watched Amethus flipping through the documents and opened her mouth.

“I've also given the order to strengthen the checkpoints. It's right before the next emperor's coronation, so there's no reason for it to be strange.”

“The agents?”

“I sent them to each city as you said. Three to a team, a total of seven.”

She recited the names of the cities.

Penren, Holbit, Gesem… a total of seven.

The gateway cities leading from Sortia to the southwest.

The woman counted on her slender fingers.

“I've received reports that they've already arrived in Holbit and Penren, and the rest should arrive by tomorrow.”

“You're as skilled as ever.”

“It's thanks to you, Captain.”

“You still call me captain.”

“I can't think of anything else to call you, Captain Amethus.”

The Imperial Security Bureau, Special Operations Unit.

The most secretive security unit, composed of the most skilled security knights.

The jade-eyed man was once its leader, and this dark-skinned woman was his subordinate at the time.

It had been a long time, but he was grateful that she was still so friendly.

“Even if I ask the purpose of the order, you won't answer, right? Since it's an imperial matter.”

“No, it's a personal matter of mine.”

“I'll keep that in mind.”

The woman said so and smiled, revealing her even teeth.

She already knew that Amethus was the next emperor's favored confidant.

He put the pile of documents in his bag and said.

“Have you eaten?”

“Not yet.”

“Then have some.”

Amethus pushed his half-eaten pancakes towards her.

The woman's face immediately turned sullen.

She picked up Amethus' fork, but her expression was full of displeasure.

“…Couldn't you have just ordered a new one?”

“There's no time. I'm heading to Gesem immediately.”

“I just came from Lutilium and you're still working people so hard.”

She stirred the pancakes with her fork.

Even though it was Amethus' leftovers, she was hungry, so it wasn't a time to be picky.

Still, her pouting lips did not easily go back in.

“Ah, poor Shadi, no point in getting dressed up. I came running at my old captain's call and what I got was cold pancakes.”

“…Are you using your real name?”

“You're really not interested, are you? Shadi Shandor, I'm wearing it proudly.”

Shadi gave a faint smile and took off a small brooch from her chest and held it out.

It was an item given only to high-ranking officials of the Security Bureau.

Special Operations Unit Captain Shadi Shandor was engraved on it.

“As soon as you left, Captain, I entered the main office. I was sick and tired of using a fake name.”

The missions of the Special Operations Unit were secret.

Only the captain of the Special Operations Unit, who needed to operate publicly, could use the name given by their parents proudly.

Before, it was Amethus and now it was Shadi Shandor.

“How long can I hide my name and wander the back streets? I don't want to die old and alone either. Or will you take responsibility, Captain?”

“…I'll get you a good position when this is over.”

“No thanks.”

Shadi whipped her head around.

“Let's go, Captain Amethus.”

She had already polished off the remaining pancakes.

The woman, who hadn't even missed the syrup on her fork, shot up from her seat.

“I don't know what you're looking for, but we have to find it quickly for the Empire to be at peace, don't we?”

***

I felt a sense of foreboding.

‘…The checkpoint line is too slow……’

It was on the way out of Penren.

I had eaten plenty of delicious fruit, and I had also bought dried fruit to use as travel rations and put it inside Valziart.

All I had to do was leave the castle, but the checkpoint was taking strangely long.

‘…Should I slip out.’

I looked around.

There wasn't a single person who wasn't complaining, and the guards also looked somewhat on edge.

I felt a sense of crisis.

My build was currently swollen with Valziart.

If they were to search under my clothes, I would be found out immediately.

‘Alright. They haven't noticed.’

I slipped out, avoiding the guard's gaze.

Since the person who had been standing behind me in line was looking, I pretended to have an urgent need for the restroom, hobbled a bit, and then dashed off.

The looks of understanding that followed gave me a strange sense of displeasure.

Soon, I was in an empty alley.

‘What on earth is going on.’

I walked alone through the dark alley.

My height gradually shrank, and the sound of my footsteps subsided.

The swollen shadow armor thinned, just enough to cover my skin.

I melted into the space between the alleys like a shadow.

I climbed the wall as if sliding.

No one saw me.

My original build was small even for an eleven-year-old.

With the memories of old training and Mana Armor Valziart, it was not difficult to move through the streets without being noticed, even in broad daylight.

‘……Let's see.’

Sinking like a shadow, I looked at the long line of people and the soldiers coming and going from the checkpoint.

Though I couldn't hear their voices, I was close enough to observe their features.

My blue eyes turned sharp.

Among the soldiers coming and going, there were some who were out of place.

‘Is it because of those three.’

Even their attire was different.

It was because they were dressed as officials from the capital.

Since they weren't wearing armbands or the like, it was hard to identify their exact affiliation right away.

However, it wasn't a difficult problem.

I touched my lips.

‘They're from Lutilium. Which side are they on……’

My eyes were sharp.

‘They're not knights.’

They had swords about the length of a forearm hidden at their waists, but a knight wouldn't wear their sword like that.

Above all, their movements.

Their quick but heavy steps told me that they often didn't wear heavy armor.

‘They're not nobles either.’

I could tell from the way they treated the guards and the merchants waiting for inspection.

If they were of noble birth, it would be difficult for them to be so skilled at handling commoners.

If it were just one, maybe, but all three were like that.

‘But their skill is top-notch.’

Even though they were quite a distance away, their gazes were fierce.

Just by looking at their walking posture, it was clear that they had gone through considerable training.

‘Considering that, and the fact that they are capital officials with the authority to stop a checkpoint.’

The answer came immediately.

‘Yes, damn it, there's only one……’

A small sigh.

I covered my face.

“The Imperial Security Bureau, Special Operations Unit……”

And when you say the Security Bureau's Special Operations Unit, there was a man you couldn't help but think of.

“…Yes, I thought you, of all people, would notice. I thought you would follow me.”

The tiresome jade-green eyes, the terrifyingly sharp double-edged sword, the connection that continued from before my regression.

I let out a sigh mixed with annoyance.

“But aren't you a little too fast, Amethus?”

***

One of the Special Operations Unit members, feeling a gaze, turned his head.

It seemed as if someone was watching him from the rooftop, but there was no one there.

I had already hidden.

Now that I had confirmed the identity of the men, there was no reason to be close by anymore.

‘I'll have to stay a few more days, I guess.’

I clicked my tongue softly.

It was not a welcome development.

If I were to run into Amethus directly, it would be the end.

No, if a wanted poster of the Fifth Prince Zionis were to be circulated, I would have to completely revise all my plans.

‘…It's not dangerous yet. He must be just probing.’

My head was cool.

A slight sense of bewilderment was quickly resolved and disappeared.

‘How much has he figured out?’

I hid in the shadows and quickened my steps.

My thoughts accelerated accordingly.

As urgent as it was, it was fast.

Many hypotheses rose and disappeared.

Inference thus illuminated the truth.

‘…Hmm. He's not yet convinced that I'm alive.’

If he were, there was no way he wouldn't have informed the First Prince, Ferbias Caseptus.

If Ferbias had known, it wouldn't have been just three Special Operations Unit members who came.

‘Suspicion, just the level of suspicion.’

That's why it was unpleasant.

‘To think he would come at me so quickly, so sharply, with just a simple suspicion, a simple anxiety.’

The fortuneteller Amethus, his intuition was so unreasonably sharp even before my regression.

Then again, that must have been why he had risen to the 3rd seat of the Ten Great Generals.

‘…It was like this back then too.’

Suddenly, an old memory came to mind.

It was a future that had not yet come, but to me, it was the past.

Back then too, I had had such a chase with Amethus.

I even felt a strange sense of nostalgia.

I wiped my face.

‘He's faster than I thought, but I won't change my plan. I'll take a boat from Mekeros.’

There was no other sharp solution.

If I hastily changed my plan due to anxiety, there was a possibility that I would fall into a more dangerous situation.

In my experience, it has always been that way.

So, according to the plan.

From city to city, to Mekeros.

Since I was in the body of an eleven-year-old, I wouldn't be able to reach Mekeros without resting in a city in between.

‘However, traveling alone is no longer a good choice.’

But where could I suddenly find a group?

Even if I asked to join a merchant caravan, there was no way they would let me.

And the Empire's security was not so lax that I could pass just by pretending to be a clumsy mercenary.

‘Now, what should I do……?’

I walked, sorting out my complicated thoughts.

It was to find some way by looking at the people coming and going.

And so, I trudged on.

Passing by the street stalls, passing by the children, passing by the fire-breathing magician…….

“Oh.”

…I, who had been passing by, stepped back.

“People of Penren, weren't you disappointed that the next emperor did not make a procession here? How could he go only as far as Sortia and not come to Penren!”

A cheerful voice.

Round glasses perched on the tip of his nose and a long pipe in his mouth.

When he blew, butterflies of fire and smoke emerged and danced flutteringly.

I knew that man.

Henry Horbi, the man who would later become the security chief of Erta, and was now a Western spy pretending to be an acrobat.

“We have come for those who held such disappointment. It is not an opportunity that comes every day, but finally, like this, we have come!”

They say misfortune and fortune are two sides of the same coin.

I raised the corner of my mouth.

A brilliant move came to mind.

Though it was impromptu, it was flawless.

“The best in the Empire, the best on the continent! The Juet Acrobat Troupe is coming to Penren in three days!”

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