Chapter 168: Agent Rescue (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 168: Agent Rescue (2)
Yelena’s father, Kirov Yumanov, was a staunch nationalist. While he didn’t share the Empire’s fanatical obsession with Aran Pureblood, he prioritized the Sled Tribe above all else and harbored a deep-seated disdain for the Izenheim and various other sub-species.
In truth, this wasn't just Kirov's personal bias; it was the general consensus among the Eastern powers.
Therefore, from the perspective of the Izenheim chancellor, the Yumanovs could not be left alive.
“They must have found some irrefutable evidence.”
I handed Yelena a Robrus soldier’s uniform. She changed into it in an instant.
“Physical proof that the Secretary General is an Izenheim?”
“Yes. At the very least, clear evidence that he’s a sub-species. That must be why he had to silence them in such a hurry.”
Of course, he would have carried out a great purge eventually to install Izenheim in key positions of power, but this sudden urgency was surely triggered by that discovery.
Yelena straightened her sleeves and spoke.
“However, I heard the Empire also considers the Sled Tribe an Alien Bloodline to be eradicated. Will I be all right?”
“Well, it’s the logic that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The concept of a ‘Quasi-Bloodline’ can also be applied to individuals.”
The law’s provisos were, in fact, designed for exactly that kind of flexibility.
“A rather convenient law, isn’t it?”
“Yes. The law is not the end, but merely a means.”
Just then, our vehicle reached a checkpoint.
“Halt!”
Heavily armed Robrus soldiers rushed toward us. A dozen gun barrels aimed at us, stark in the glare of a searchlight. I calmly rolled down the window.
“Identifi—”
“Lieutenant Colonel Leonit, State Ministry of Internal Affairs.”
I immediately handed over my identification. The eyes of the officer in charge widened as he took it. He shone his flashlight over the card, checking for any signs of forgery.
“Sir!”
He hastily snapped a salute.
“Carry on.”
I took my ID back.
“Ah, my apologies, Lieutenant Colonel. The entire capital is currently under the highest state of alert, so we must check not only your ID but also your travel permit…”
“You can radio that in and check for yourselves. Now move. I’m transporting classified documents, and every second counts.”
“Well, it’s just…”
The officer glanced back and forth between me and Yelena beside me. I didn’t give him any more time. I slammed my foot on the accelerator.
“Lieutenant Colonel, sir! Ah, shit.”
“Hey! Get on the radio right now!”
Their voices scattered behind us as we sped away.
“...Have you planted a field-grade officer within the Robrus military?” Yelena asked, sounding surprised.
I glanced at the receding checkpoint in the rearview mirror and answered nonchalantly.
“No. It’s just a forged ID. It’ll probably take them ten to twenty minutes to radio the control center and realize it’s a fake.”
Vroooooom—!
I floored the accelerator. The military vehicle roared to life, its heavy engine tearing through the night roads.
But the capital of Robrus was vast. Another checkpoint would appear soon enough.
“Let’s ditch the car here.”
I parked in a corner of a deserted factory district. After getting out with Yelena, I threw a pre-prepared Mana Molotov Cocktail to incinerate the evidence.
Fwoosh!
As flames engulfed the vehicle’s frame, I found a tiny coded mark on the dirt nearby and lifted a steel plate. A circular passage opened up below.
Operation name: It’s darkest under the lamp.
Not even an Adversary would think to dispose of a vehicle and immediately hide in a shelter right next to it.
“Come on down.”
“What in the world is this…”
Yelena’s face was blank with shock, but she soon descended the ladder.
Thud.
I landed on the ground and switched on a lamp. Yelena, following behind me, let out a hollow laugh as she looked around the illuminated interior.
“...What is this place?”
“The first safe house.”
The underground space was surprisingly cozy. Food and water for survival, various first-aid supplies, and weapons were stocked in various corners.
“First, have a seat and extend your leg.”
I fixed my gaze on her trembling calf. She had been bleeding quite a bit since we were in the car.
“...Ahem.”
Yelena sat on a chair and rolled up her pant leg. The area around the gunshot wound on her white calf was swollen and purple.
A poisoned bullet.
“They say Robrus uses poison-laced bullets. So it wasn’t just a rumor. I heard they even poison their black tea.”
“...Only for important targets.”
“It’s likely mana poison. Hold still.”
Fortunately, I had the antidote.
I disinfected the wound, injected Comasol, and then dressed it with a Mana Stone Bandage. Yelena endured the process, breaking out in a cold sweat.
“There. Now, you should eat.”
I handed her a high-calorie combat ration.
As I always say, the most important thing for those who wield mana, including knights, is food. Every act that consumes mana requires an enormous amount of calories.
“...Thank you,” Yelena said belatedly.
I gave a small smile.
“This is a transaction. There’s no need for thanks.”
“...”
She ate, cautiously watching my expression.
Munch. Munch.
I also scooped some of the combat ration into my mouth.
“Not bad,” Yelena remarked, her eyebrows twitching upward.
“Indeed.”
It was a prototype combat ration developed by the Lorenzo Academy, and it was quite satisfactory even to my palate.
I’ll have to give them a bonus.
We focused on our meal in silence for a while.
— Burp.
Yelena suddenly let out a burp. With her energy depleted, it seemed the tension was finally leaving her.
“You should get some sleep now.”
“...Is it really all right to be this relaxed?”
“Yes. The streets are empty at night anyway, so our movements would be far more conspicuous. It’s better to move tomorrow during the day when there’s foot traffic. Besides, you can’t run on that leg.”
She stared blankly down at her bandaged leg.
“...”
She swept her hair back and leaned against the wall of the hideout.
“...It still feels like a dream.”
Her dry voice was a mixture of self-mockery and exhaustion.
“My family has been annihilated, and now I’m hiding in an underground shelter with a knight from an enemy nation… It’s all so surreal.”
I offered a faint smile.
“I always feel that way, too.”
I could truly understand what it meant to feel like one was in a dream.
I had definitely died. No, I had been on the very verge of death.
But humanity had died before me, and I had miraculously regressed to my twenty-year-old self. I had seen that catastrophic future.
“However…”
To prevent that ruin, to achieve the greater good, I must endlessly swing a blood-soaked sword. I must seek out endless hatred and incite endless rage.
And for that, at the very, very end, I—
—will be judged by the entity called history.
“You’re alive, aren’t you?”
Sssst…
The sound of numerous vehicles echoing from above ground faintly trickled in through the ventilation shaft. A murderous flow of mana swept across the surface in this area.
But this underground base was perfectly shielded from mana by technology from the Lorenzo Academy. Their detection magic would not be able to penetrate this steel plate.
“The fact that you are alive and breathing.”
I leaned my back against the floor and closed my eyes.
“That is what’s most important.”
*
Day broke.
We once again walked the bustling streets of the Robrus capital.
Our clothes were shabby. We had deliberately smudged our faces with soot and grime. Blending into the wave of office workers, merchants opening their shops, and the busy, flowing crowd was the perfect camouflage.
“This is it.”
We safely reached the second safe house I had prepared. On the outside, it looked like an ordinary bakery, but a hideout was set up in the basement, accessible from beneath a pile of flour sacks.
“There’s a radio, too.”
Yelena raised an eyebrow and turned it on.
[ A massive search is currently underway for the remnants of the Yumanov family and other treasonous elements… ]
A dry, robotic voice droned on.
“Zerof must be leading this,” Yelena muttered bitterly as she took off her coat. She rolled up her pant leg and changed the blood-soaked bandage herself.
[ Wanted posters have been distributed throughout Robrus. The cooperation of the people is requested… ]
I turned off the radio.
Whooosh…
The sound of the wind died down over the wooden planks. Yelena lay down on a straw bed and quietly closed her eyes. The sound of snoring soon followed. She had fallen asleep instantly.
It was understandable, having walked for twelve hours on a ruined leg.
“...”
I leaned my back against the wall. I closed my eyes for a moment, waiting for dawn.
—We moved like that for several more days.
By day, we walked disguised as citizens. By night, we rested in silence at the safe houses I had prepared.
Of course, there were times we were stopped for inspection, but with forged IDs, travel permits, and Yelena’s face…
“...Pass!”
The soldier glanced back and forth between the wanted poster and Yelena before letting us through.
Yelena murmured with a faint smile.
“It’s amazing. All I did was put in contact lenses and dentures.”
“That’s what’s most effective.”
The lenses changed her eyes, and the dentures changed the shape of her jaw. With her hair cut short like a man’s, it would be stranger if anyone recognized her.
“...However, if the situation turns sour, you should escape on your own. I’m the only one they’re after,” Yelena said, glancing at me.
I nodded in response.
“Yes. Don’t feel burdened. I’ll naturally do the same.”
“Oh. That’s welcome news.”
With that, we stepped forward.
Trudge. Trudge.
After walking for hours, the temperature suddenly plunged below freezing as we made our way toward the northern border of Robrus.
Whoooooosh—
We were soon engulfed in a bone-chilling blizzard.
“We just have to climb this.”
I pointed ahead.
A snow-covered mountain in the northern part of the Robrus capital, high in altitude. A curtain-like mountain range that filled our vision—the ‘Makete.’
Yelena gave a wry smile.
“...I never thought I’d be climbing this mountain again.”
“It did seem like a rough course.”
“Rough is an understatement. It’s a mandatory climb for the military academy.”
“Sounds fun. Let’s go.”
We began the ascent at the foot of the mountain.
Crunch. Crunch.
We pushed forward up the slope that seemed to grab at our ankles.
“But Robrus is like this even in spring,” I remarked in genuine admiration.
Whooooooooosh—!
The raging blizzard seemed even more ferocious than in winter.
“Isn’t the northern part of the Empire similar?” Yelena tilted her head.
“No. Even in the north, the blizzards aren’t this bad in spring.”
“I see.”
As we walked, our conversation eventually died out.
Whoooooooooooosh—!
The wind whipping against our skin felt like blades.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Without a word, only the sound of our feet pressing into the snow echoed. We climbed, and climbed, and climbed some more.
“Ah.”
I spotted a sign stuck into a certain part of the mountain.
“We’re halfway up.”
I had prepared another safe house near here.
“There should be a shelter soon.”
“That’s a relief.”
“How’s your leg?”
“It’s so tattered I want to cut it off.”
“Right. I’ll cut it off for you. Follow me.”
As we exchanged such pointless chatter and trudged through the snow, at one point…
Whoooosh—!
Kiiing.
Amidst the fierce howl of the wind, a chill presence that was by no means natural scraped against my skin.
I stopped walking.
— Thump.
The virus in my heart stirred.
“Enemies,” I said to Yelena, pulling the hood of my robe down low. We were still a long way from the promised border escape point.
It was useless to wonder how they had tracked us across this vast land. The Izenheim, an otherworldly species that transcended human senses, surely possessed special abilities I knew nothing about.
“Enemies?”
“Yes. They’re not far.”
The moment I answered.
Sssssst—!
Dark shadows emerged from within the pure white blizzard. It was as if they had forcibly torn through space to squeeze their way out.
“...”
Robrus’s most elite group of assassins, the Adversaries.
There were exactly five of them. Three were Izenheim, and all were powerful. In terms of strength, we were clearly at a disadvantage.
Could I, as I am now, defeat them?
Impossible.
It was not yet the ‘appointed time.’ Because Yelena’s injured leg had slowed our pace more than planned, my longsword was not yet with me.
“Show your face.”
Their gazes were fixed solely on Yelena, not me.
Whoooooosh…
The blizzard raged violently. Within it, Yelena let out a sigh.
“Hah.”
Gently pushing me aside, she stepped forward first. She threw back her hood.
“Yes. I am Yelena Yumanov.”
The corners of the Adversaries’ mouths twisted slightly. It was a sneer. Their cold gazes flowed over to me.
“This man is a woodcutter. He was just guiding me for a pittance, not even knowing who I am.”
At Yelena’s words, the Adversaries looked me up and down. They would feel no aura of mana from me.
“My apologies. This will be your payment.”
She pulled a few bills from her pocket and tossed them at my feet. As they were about to fly away in the wind, I fumbled to catch them.
It must have been a convincing act.
“...I will walk on my own two feet.”
Yelena moved toward them. She held out her hands as if to be cuffed.
“Isn’t it more advantageous for you to capture me alive? There must be many things you want to hear from me.”
The Adversaries were silent. Speaking too much reveals weaknesses. They glanced at me, then cuffed Yelena’s arms.
“Let’s go.”
I silently watched as Yelena was dragged back down the path we had struggled to climb.
Crunch. Crunch.
I moved my feet.
Crunch. Crunch.
I continued my steps up the mountain.
I was at a disadvantage on the ground. But I didn't necessarily have to go up into the sky. If I lifted my head, I could see a cliff within my line of sight.
As I climbed the mountain, they would descend to the ground.
Most importantly… I checked the time.
There was no need to rely on a watch. Through my internal clock, I knew the exact time with zero seconds of error.
Soon, my greatest weapon would come to me. The time had come to borrow the power of Schatz, whom I had raised on only the finest things.
*
Meanwhile, in the garden of the Sentinel Knights, where the warm spring sun shone down.
“...Things are in an uproar over one thing or another.”
Tiana approached Jerome’s side and carefully sat down.
“...”
Jerome was silent.
Recently, the commoner-born knights of the Sentinels had been gripped by a deep sorrow and sense of powerlessness. In truth, it was closer to guilt and self-reproach.
To them, Anton Zefren was more than just a vice-commander. He was their anchor, the one who had led them, given them the chance to become knights, and taught them honor.
Of course, when he left the knight order, he had urged them not to resent anyone, but the knights grieved over the fact that they had failed to protect such a man.
“Don’t believe the rumors from the Imperial Palace too much, Sir Knight.”
Tiana tried to lighten the mood with a bright tone, but Jerome’s expression only hardened.
“The news I hear is hard to bear.”
What angered them even more was the personal exposé that had brought Anton down. Maximilian… who had used the sorrow of a miscarriage as a weapon.
“He certainly must not have liked Anton.”
Anton had deliberately excluded Maximilian from various missions monitoring the Empire’s scholars and prominent figures. He had been concerned about Maximilian’s tendency to rashly judge ideologies.
“Well…”
Tiana gave a bitter smile.
The root cause of Anton’s fall from grace—all circumstances leaking from within the Imperial Palace pointed to Maximilian. Surprisingly, Chiron had not attended the closed hearing.
“Still, we’re knights, so let’s believe only what we can see.”
Jerome’s gaze hardened.
“Believing only what we could see is how Vice-Commander Anton ended up like this. We… should have been searching for what was hidden first.”
Ting—
Just then, an alert chimed simultaneously from both of their terminals.
[ Emergency Situation: Massive mana explosion and numerous civilian casualties in Imperial Central District 14. ]
Their eyes met. Tiana and Jerome rose from their seats at the same time.