Ambush
"For now, I'll give you just one clue."
"One clue?"
Orwen's brow furrowed sharply.
But Arthur continued calmly.
"A spy."
"……!"
Orwen jolted upright in shock.
"A spy in the Iphillis Empire? No—since it's something coming for me, you mean in Pras?"
Arthur nodded silently.
Orwen's mouth went dry as if it were burning.
She licked her parched lips and asked,
"Wh-who is it?"
"That's as far as I go. If you want the next answer, you'll have to meet one condition."
"A condition? This little shit!"
"Protect the people at the Press family mansion until I've wrapped everything up."
Orwen flew into a rage, but Arthur remained utterly unshaken.
As his words ended, she reined in her anger a bit.
It made sense.
Given his current situation, he needed her help to some degree.
If it were me...
She would've done the same.
A reliable ally was right there, one who held something she desperately wanted.
But information on a spy...
That was critically important.
Especially if it was in the city of Pras.
It might even be one of the emperor's favored aides.
Orwen nodded.
"So, what's the plan now?"
After a brief pause, Arthur replied nonchalantly.
"Time to clean house."
Two days later.
The territory army paired eight new recruits and one knight, peering into the parchment.
The reason for including a knight was that no one else could gauge these recruits' potential as well as they could.
Arthur was among them.
For the past two days, he'd been watching Colos late into the night.
"Last group: Philip, Cannon... and Arthur, with Instructor Lauden as your knight."
Instructor Lauden's name came up.
"This last group is special. Cardin Territory requested cooperation because their training dungeon was short, so Cardin soldiers are joining too. That's all."
Lauden frowned.
Why me and Arthur in the same group?
He scanned the other seven recruits with a puzzled look.
Nothing stood out about them.
He also sensed no mana fluctuations from them at all.
Am I just paranoid?
Even if they entered the dungeon and attacked him and Arthur, seven recruits wouldn't overpower Lauden.
Plus, Arthur was the one who'd laid out Colton.
Arthur glanced at the recruits and smirked inwardly.
...It's you guys.
He hadn't just twiddled his thumbs while surveilling Colos these two days.
He'd gathered plenty of intel.
The Plunderer's Ring is in the training dungeon I'm heading to.
A monster catch.
Since the ring was in this very dungeon.
Finally mine. And the passage to another continent inside the dungeon? That's interesting.
Elaras was from another continent, like Arthur.
She hadn't come to the Asgard Continent itself.
But she'd reached the midpoint passage connecting Asgard to her home continent.
And she'd gotten the Plunderer's Ring, commanding countless powerhouses in the Monarch Game—until her death.
She couldn't handle that power.
The opposite dungeon was low-rank too, he'd heard.
But the ring, her abilities, and the talents she commanded made her a marked woman.
Leading to her demise.
Better for someone who can control it to have the power.
The ring might've turned her into Elaras of the Thousand Armies, but it also sped her to her grave.
"Everyone, follow me."
"Yes, sir."
Instructor Lauden led his seven assigned recruits toward the dungeon.
The seven soldiers and Arthur followed.
"I'm Philip. I handle faces in Cardin Territory."
Arthur smiled brightly, glancing down at the man's outstretched hand for a shake before gripping it lightly.
"Arthur."
"Nice to meet you. Small build, but sharp eyes, huh?"
He grinned smoothly.
The other six flashed friendly smiles at Arthur too.
They were supposedly dispatched from Cardin due to a training dungeon shortage.
Lauden subtly signaled Arthur with a finger twitch.
Arthur stuck close behind him.
"Suspicious, but nothing to worry about. Just newbie territory soldiers at worst."
Arthur nodded curtly.
Not yet.
Neither Lauden nor Arthur faced immediate danger.
And telling Lauden wouldn't help—he wouldn't believe it anyway.
"Training starts now."
Everyone entered the dungeon.
As a reset dungeon, new monsters spawned.
The ones here were bloodsucking flies.
Bloodsucking flies were slightly larger than a fist, with mosquito-like proboscises jutting from their snouts.
They sucked dry the blood of anything with veins.
Slow and thinly armored, they were easy prey.
"First up: Philip."
"Yes, sir!"
Philip gripped his sword tightly, stepping forward tensely.
Lauden spotted bloodsucking flies flying in from ahead.
They clustered deeper in, but only two or three appeared near the entrance.
"Don't worry—I'm watching. Hunt away."
Not every recruit had prior monster-slaying experience.
Philip charged the flies nervously.
Splat!
His clumsy swing burst one fly messily.
"Eek!"
Philip recoiled at the sticky goo from his own kill.
"What a moron!"
"Hahaha!"
Dungeon training was usually this easy.
They're playing around.
Arthur narrowed his eyes at Philip.
Lauden clapped.
"Good job."
But even as he spoke, a throbbing headache pulsed.
Why's my head hurting so much?
It started right after breakfast.
A slow, creeping pain.
"Next: Laneto."
"Yessir!"
Laneto recruit easily popped three flies under Lauden's watch.
Turns passed until Arthur's came.
Holding Kazaven's masterpiece dagger, Arthur casually slew three and returned.
"Whew. Arthur, you're something else."
"Heard you took down Colton, the next knight captain of Brat Territory. Guess the rumors are true."
Twitch.
Arthur's nose twitched.
Philip, who'd spoken, briefly clamped his mouth but Arthur pretended not to notice.
Lauden furrowed his brow.
Why can't I...
Something was off.
Normal Lauden would've thought:
Colos must've contained the rumor from spreading. How'd it reach Cardin Territory already?
That thought.
But it didn't come.
Suspicion just faded from his mind.
The group pressed on.
The soldiers grew cocky after a few kills.
Arthur watched silently.
They were luring him and Lauden to the dungeon's end.
But the opposite was true.
I'm the one luring you.
It wasn't Colos's plan.
It was Arthur's—heading to the end.
They alternated slaying flies, delving deeper without pause.
Boss room soon.
An hour passed.
All HP -45%, all stats +45%.
Arthur eyed his bulging arms.
By the end, stats would be +100%.
Timing perfect.
Enough.
This would do it.
Almost at the end.
Time to break the alchemist's brainwashing on Lauden.
Arthur sidled up carefully and whispered.
For two days, Arthur had surveilled Colos via his hawks.
Yesterday evening, Colos left his home.
He summoned seven members—his old crew from ditching Acaus.
"Tomorrow, we kill Arthur and Lauden."
"Ho, finally pulling those thorns?"
They grinned wickedly.
Lauden's very existence unnerved them.
Enough time had passed since the incident; few would suspect his death now.
"Remember, we offer tribute to Bas this month too."
"No way..."
One knight's eyes gleamed.
Colos nodded.
"Yes. Arthur. He wants a young boy's blood this time."
"Smart."
"But how do we take out Instructor Lauden?"
"Dungeon training tomorrow. You seven disguise as newbie territory soldiers, join them, kill Lauden first, deliver Arthur unscathed to Bas. Then, like always..."
Colos trailed off.
They grinned greedily anyway.
"Disguise? Possible?"
A knight questioned.
Creeeak!
In walked Loris, famed beauty of Kallis Territory.
Behind her, a gaunt, robed man with a knife scar over his eye.
"Alchemist Black. That's what they call me."
Black bowed slightly, holding a vial of purple liquid.
"I'll give each of you my polymorph potion. Drink, and for half a day, face and body become someone else entirely."
The alchemist leered from under his robe.
"But can we fool Lauden's eyes?"
"That's why I prepared another. Tomorrow, drop this in his morning water."
Now a vial of red liquid sloshed.
"First, let him hear your voices. He'll doze ten seconds. When he wakes, no mana sense, suspicion fades. Basic brainwashing."
"Al-alchemy can do that?"
"Ooooh!"
They marveled softly.
Someone asked amid talk,
"Does brainwashing wear off?"
"Yes, over time. Or say this to break it."
"חהאמפעסנץחךלליטחז"
⟨ Dragon Word ⟩
The word Arthur whispered into Instructor Lauden's ear was a dragon tongue incantation.