Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: The Spy's Choice
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5
“I ate my fill...”
A sea breeze brushed against my cheek.
The mountain of food piled under the tent had long since vanished.
Most of it had been devoured by festival-goers, and even the leftovers had been taken by those in need.
Even so, plenty of king squid remained.
If the Bayford folks hustled to eat it before it spoiled, they could stretch it out for a few weeks.
It was completely out of my hands now—they’d manage fine on their own.
I sat on the pier without a single boat in sight, gazing out at the calm sea.
The sun blazed overhead in a cloudless sky, and the endless ocean stretched out boundlessly.
When was the last time I’d seen the sea?
I could barely remember—it had been back in my childhood.
As I closed my eyes to savor the moment, Louis stretched beside me.
“...Can we really afford to kick back like this?”
“We took down the king squid, didn’t we? What’s wrong with enjoying a little downtime, Senpai?”
“That’s exactly the problem. Now that it’s dead, the contact should be heading into Bayford. Soonest after lunch, latest by tonight.”
“Actually, it’s a good thing they’re coming here. We can just nab them when they show.”
Louis looked displeased, his face twisted in dissatisfaction.
Of course, with no better options, he let out a sigh and gave up quickly.
“If they show today, that’s even better. We handle it before midnight, catch the night carriage back to the academy. Oh, gotta pack some calamari for the road. It was pretty damn good.”
The calamari—made with a batter spiced like Cajun seasoning, buttermilk, and all— was basically mildly spicy fried squid.
That’s why I kept going back for more.
Perfect road trip snack.
“You... Hah, whatever. If you liked the king squid that much, why not ask for more to take home? You cook pretty well yourself.”
“You mean the stir-fried king squid?”
“Yeah. We didn’t have anything like that back home. Where’d you learn?”
“Had to cook for myself plenty of times. Survival cooking, you know?”
“What, were you out in the boonies or something?”
“Something like that.”
There was a phase where I thought instant ramen and kimchi alone would kill me, so I started cooking solo.
Veggies were pricey enough to bring tears, but cheaper than supplements, so I did one meal a day homemade for a while.
“More importantly, is your hometown really by the sea?”
“Yeah, thought I was lying?”
I nodded honestly.
Louis smirked and dusted off his hands.
“It’s true. A little fishing village where we lived off the catch. It’s gone now, though.”
He said it casually, but a faint trace of the past lingered in his voice.
He had his own story, no doubt.
I didn’t know the details.
In Broken World, Louis Lefersha was the weirdo who raided the Minenbar Library, later revealed as a spy and traitor—nothing more, nothing less.
But the Louis Lefersha beside me now was different.
He was showing sides that never appeared in the game.
He was human, made of flesh and blood, with feelings and thoughts.
That stuck in my throat.
Louis’s end in Broken World wasn’t pretty.
Exposed as a spy, captured by the royals.
He vanished after that, but anyone could guess the fate of a spy taken by the enemy.
Back then, I didn’t care.
An NPC with no lines, from the enemy side—getting grilled in interrogation had nothing to do with me.
But now?
Even after our short time together, picturing Louis Lefersha meeting the same fate left a bitter taste.
Even hated ones grow on you.
I could dislike Louis, but not hate him.
So I didn’t want to watch him get dragged off like this.
“Senpai, side with me.”
Even I knew it came out of nowhere.
But Louis just shrugged, like he’d seen it coming.
“Didn’t think you’d say it outright: betray your country. Took you long enough.”
“Guessed it, huh.”
“You’re planning to turn me into a double agent. Otherwise, no reason to keep me alive this long.”
Spot on.
I didn’t deny it, so he cast his gaze to the horizon.
“Sneaky bastard. Now that you’ve got my weakness, how am I supposed to say no?”
“Fair point.”
“But you bothered asking, so you’re giving me time to think it over.”
“Can’t give you forever, but take all the time you need.”
I’d become certain while hunting the king squid.
Louis Lefersha wouldn’t kill me.
Not that he couldn’t—he just wouldn’t, of his own will.
That much, I could trust.
So I gave him time in kind.
Louis just nodded silently.
6
The sea breeze rolled in with the waves.
Louis Lefersha sat alone on the pier, staring at the horizon.
“No point agonizing over it—the answer’s set.”
The words slipped out, but they were sincere.
Realistically, if he didn’t take Theo Agrit’s hand, execution tomorrow wouldn’t be surprising.
He could slip the palace with info ploys and misdirection, led by the intelligence duke—but no guarantee of success.
The opponent knew about the Five Star Sword, one of the Karmut Federation’s top secrets.
Expecting deception to work perfectly against that was pure optimism.
In the end, Theo Agrit held Louis Lefersha’s life in his hands.
If he wanted to live, he had no choice but to follow—plus, Theo vowed to help him regain his homeland’s trust instead of ratting him out to Tekat Kingdom.
That sealed it: Theo planned to use him as a double agent.
Two choices.
Stay hostile, wondering when he’d get reported, or betray his country and join hands.
“Is ditching the homeland the right call?”
He voiced it aloud, but no regret tinged it.
Patriotism never existed for Louis Lefersha anyway.
Otherwise, why call it “homeland” instead of country?
The lazy waves inevitably conjured memories of home.
His fishing village lived or died by the sea.
When rising waters killed the fisheries, it crumbled fast.
No different from Bayford, scale aside.
Some left the village, but others couldn’t.
Louis’s family was the latter.
They held on.
Begging the autonomous district for aid, waiting day by day for help that never came right.
Starving every other day, watching the unmoving pile up around them.
No help until his family collapsed.
The far north of the Karmut Federation, an outpost no outsider even named, meant nothing to the powerful.
By the time the district arrived, survivors were countable on one hand.
Louis, one of the few, got scooped up and spy-trained because he had nowhere else to go.
That was it.
No home, so he lived as a spy per orders.
No gratitude or patriotism entered the equation.
If the Federation had cared, his home wouldn’t have vanished, his family starved.
The Karmut Federation used him; he used it right back. That was their deal.
“In that light, the guy making me free meals is way better.”
Back then, failing training meant no food.
Someone helping for free and cooking personally? Pure luxury.
Yet over the last two days, Louis Lefersha had helped Bayford.
Not of his own will, sure—but facts didn’t change.
And with Theo Agrit? Purely voluntary.
“Guy’s impossible to figure out.”
Always that “too much hassle” face—who knew what went through his head.
Snappish to others, yet oddly kind; shunned trouble but dove in to fix it; no care for wealth or power, yet got emotional over petty stuff.
Unfathomable, but better than the Federation.
They treated spies like disposable tools, transparent about it.
“At least no need to think here.”
Never a contest from the start.
So it came down to where his heart leaned—and it already had.
Louis Lefersha simply gazed at the endless blue horizon.
7
Meanwhile, in Bayford City’s mayor’s office.
The room overlooked the port city, decorated more for splendor than function.
The middle-aged man claiming the leather chair had a stern look anyone could spot.
Deep wrinkles beyond his years, sharp eyes, slicked-back hair paired with a pitch-black suit—hardly handsome, but exuding heavy, mature gravitas.
The suited man, Bayford’s mayor Liam Duncan, toyed with a premium cigar as he spoke.
“Things got noisy outside. Guard Captain.”
“Yes. Reports say the king squid was slain at dawn. They’re holding a festival to celebrate...”
“Slain?”
“We confirmed the corpse. Definitely the king squid. Fishing’s resuming, along with passenger ships today.”
“Tch. What a hassle.”
Liam Duncan rose without glancing at the captain.
He fetched whiskey from the ornate cabinet, pouring it into a crystal glass.
The amber liquid sloshed with the sea view beyond the window.
He savored the whiskey.
Deep sweetness and smooth burn proclaimed its worth.
His sip was a special blended malt: Karmut Federation’s Scorchish whiskey fused with Tekat Kingdom’s Horayan.
Cult favorite among aficionados, but its odd brewing limited supply.
Value skyrocketed, yet Liam stuck to it.
Results mattered, ends justified means.
To climb higher, no dividing friend from foe.
Mix them well, like the whiskey in his glass—that was enough.
“A real headache. The Federation’s contact will hit the port soon. Big problem. Right, Guard Captain?”
The captain said nothing.
Never expecting a reply, Liam trimmed his cigar and added,
“Grab that contact, whatever it takes.”
“Yes, sir. Consider it done.”
The captain bowed and exited.
Only then did Liam sit, lighting the cigar.
Puff of cigar, sip of whiskey.
Alternating luxuries deepened his thoughts.
Liam knew all about Karmut Federation spies entering via Bayford.
He just looked the other way for their cash, muscle, supplies.
But he wanted more.
Learning of their Esterro Academy terror plot, he’d woven in a plan to assassinate his rival.
Risky, sure.
Exposure meant making enemies of Tekat Kingdom and Karmut alike.
Didn’t mean he’d stop.
To off his rival clean, first: eliminate the contact.
Without that, he could pin the assassination purely on the Federation.
“Must catch them...”
Fail, and he’d be the one gotten rid of.
Liam Duncan murmured over his remaining whiskey.