Chapter 71: Spy Part 1

Fortunately, once the charm cast on the village men was lifted, everyone returned to normal.

Though their energy had been drained during that time, they hadn’t suffered any serious harm, so their bodies were only slightly weakened, and their lives were never in danger.

Of course, the very fact that she had tried to drain their life force in the first place was a problem, but since no one had died, we decided to let it slide.

As for the baron, his case had been a bit more dangerous due to his already frail condition, but thanks to the saintess’s divine power, he narrowly escaped the worst. With a steady supply of nourishing food, he was able to recover his health.

According to others, before falling under the charm, he had been quite healthy and even hiked frequently.

“Honey!!”

“Elin! I’m sorry. I must’ve been out of my mind…”

Incidentally, the husband of Elin, the village woman who had helped us, also returned to his normal self.

Though his memories of what he had done to his wife while under the charm were blurry, he remembered enough to offer repeated apologies. Elin, however, gently smiled and forgave him.

Though she now understood that his actions had been the result of manipulation by an evil force, it seemed she had already decided in her heart to forgive him from the start.

“I’m sorry, Elin… Never again, never again will I hurt you with these hands…”

“No, it’s okay… I mean, if it’s just sometimes… I don’t mind…”

“……?”

It seemed he had unintentionally awakened a hidden side of his wife, but I quickly erased the thought from my mind.

“Thank you. I’m at a loss for words that such noble people would help our territory…”

The lord, having come to his senses, wore an expression full of guilt and tried to kneel, but we quickly stopped him. After all, he hadn’t fallen under the charm intentionally, and he had always been a good lord who cared for his people. It felt excessive and uncomfortable for us to accept such deep apologies from someone like him.

“Lord, there’s something I’d like to ask.”

“Please, ask me anything, Your Highness.”

Her Highness cautiously asked the lord about what had happened during that time. Though it felt a bit awkward to ask such a question since he had been someone who nearly lost his territory and allowed Lilia to turn the villagers into test subjects, it was something that needed to be clarified.

“Hmm… Yes. It’s not perfect, but I do remember some of what I said, and I have vague memories from the time I was bedridden and wasting away.”

“You mean you still retain some of your thoughts from when you were under the charm?”

“Yes. I don’t understand it at all now, but back then, for some reason, the idea that she was my wife and that I had to take her back to the lord’s manor immediately completely consumed my mind.”

The power of charm. The power to cloud one’s rationality and forcing submission to the caster. It’s terrifying, in hindsight, it was a power that leaves a person’s self-awareness intact while bending the flow of their thoughts toward the charmer.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

Looking back, I wasn’t sure how to feel about someone who, with that kind of power, had surrendered to me (though forcibly) because she was captivated by my energy…

“I’m sorry, but I’d prefer to keep this matter confidential. I know it’s shameless of me to ask, but this could bring about a great deal of chaos… Instead, I promise in my own name that I won’t spare any effort in supporting your territory.”

If it became known that she had been an executive of the Heavenly God Church and that someone like her had tried to manipulate an entire territory, it would have caused another major upheaval in the Empire.

Given that we had to keep the fact that she had become our spy a secret, we couldn’t welcome such commotion. In the end, we had no choice but to report it as a mere rogue act committed by a dark mage.

Thankfully, the experienced lord understood our situation and agreed to go along with it.

Her Highness promised to do everything she could to support the village’s restoration and we returned to the Imperial Palace with Lilia in tow.

***

The Academy was important, yes. But more important was how we would handle the executive of the Heavenly God Church, and explain everything that had happened in the village.

“Well now… I knew you were something else, but to capture the cult executive in such a short time?”

With the help of the prime minister, the Emperor’s closest aide, we slipped quietly into the palace and were now having a private audience with His Majesty.

The Emperor, having heard bits and pieces about Lilia’s identity, looked at her with great interest and admiration.

“Hmmm~ So you’re the Emperor Zelos tried to mess with? You’ve aged a bit, but there’s still a wild charm to your face~ I kind of like—”

Smack!

“Ow! What was that for?!”

“This crazy woman… Who the hell tries to seduce a father right in front of his daughter?”

Unable to come to her senses, the lunatic woman tried to flirt with the Emperor in front of the Princess, so she smacked her on the head.

Hey, you’ll get yourself killed before you can even start spying.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. As you can see, she has… quite the personality.”

“It’s fine. I assumed that anyone who served as an executive in such an organization would be at least a few screws loose.”

Was this the composure of an Emperor who ruled an entire empire?

Even as Lilia gave him a lewd, lingering look, he remained unfazed. There was a boldness to him that truly befitted a ruler.

“So, you’re saying… you want to use her as a spy?”

“Yes. Since the group is shrouded in secrecy, it would be much more efficient to extract information by sending in a spy than trying to approach them ourselves.”

“That does make sense, but there are bound to be many variables.”

“That’s… true, but—”

“Also, from the start, the reason she was in the territory at all was to kidnap my citizens for their experiments. Don’t you think it would be too generous to just let her go?”

The Emperor had a point.

Taking in someone who had tried to forcibly modify people into test subjects just because she seemed slightly useful felt a bit wrong, at least by human standards.

“Besides, for her to return to the beggars without raising suspicion, she’d have to bring back some humans to be used as test subjects. And where exactly would we find people like that for her?”

“If we sent criminals who committed serious crimes or those on death row—”

“They deserve punishment too, but it must be carried out by our own hands. And pulling out that many death row inmates all at once wouldn’t be an easy task by any means.”

“I see. I didn’t think it through…”

Was I getting impatient, driven by the idea of gaining valuable information?

After hearing what was essentially a rejection, I began to wonder if we should simply dispose of Lilia right here. Perhaps sensing my gaze, she started trembling and hurried to speak.

“H-Hey, Emperor! I mean, Your Majesty!! I-I’ll have you know I used to be a high-ranking executive! I didn’t care much before, so I don’t know that many details right now, but if you spare me, I can find out anything you want! I swear!”

“Then can you get information about the leader of your cult?”

The Emperor, clearly unimpressed by how her tone shifted into polite speech out of fear for her life, looked at her with a mix of disbelief and disdain as he asked about the cult leader. The most confidential figure of all.

Indeed, if we could obtain information about him, who was shrouded in mystery on every front—!

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen the leader’s face.”

“…So we should dispose of her after all—”

“No, no, no! I’m telling you, the leader never reveals themselves in person!! I’ve never seen them, and I don’t even know if they’re real. How could I possibly know anything?!”

As I listened to her words, I recalled the others who belonged to the cult and asked,

“Even so, how can you follow someone so suspicious without question?”

“I told you. The power that person possesses is overwhelming. If you just accept it, you gain strength that far surpasses even an Expert. Who would turn that down?”

“Hmmm…”

Indeed, judging from how confidently the cult leader’s subordinates spoke, it did seem that his power was beyond imagination.

For them to openly challenge the Empire where people like me, Count Helios, and numerous other powerful figures resided….it couldn’t have been a mere impulsive act. It meant they had some secret weapon they believed could overpower even forces of this level.

If, by any chance, the cult leader turned out to be the Demon King spoken of in ancient texts, an existence powerful enough to rival the gods…

Would we even be able to win?

“Actually, the one who manages our organization is the Vice Leader. I’m a high-ranking executive too, but I don’t know much about him.”

“Then can you tell me about this Vice Leader?”

“Umm… the Vice Leader looks kind.”

“…Is that all?”

“Well, even though he’s said to handle most of our affairs, he doesn’t show his face often. Except during executives’ meetings or when giving out important tasks, he rarely leaves his room.”

“Hah.”

“Still, he’s the one who helped me discover my abilities and made me stronger. And considering he uses the cult leader’s power directly, he must be trusted quite a bit. Sometimes, it even feels like the Vice Leader is the real boss, you know?”

“Unbelievable.”

“Well, maybe the underlings are different, but all the executives are just following their own desires~ They’re only in the cult because it serves their goals. Otherwise, they’re the kind of individualists who would’ve left a long time ago.”

A gathering of selfish people driven by intense desires.

If I had to describe the Heavenly God Church in one phrase, that might be it.

“When the Vice Leader recruited us, he also said he was gathering useful pieces for the future he envisions. So I think he’s probably the same type of person. Whatever that future is, I don’t know.”

“…This is a bit of a different question, but…”

The emperor, who had been listening closely, brought up a slightly off-topic question.

“Is the life force of a Noctus male really that good?”

“Your Majesty?”

“It’s top-tier! Among all the essences I’ve ever tasted, it’s right up there! There’s even a hint of that signature freshness from virgins. It goes down real smooth!”

“Hey.”

I almost kicked Lilia’s crazy mouth but held back since we were in front of the emperor.

“Virgin…”

“So he was a virgin.”

“……”

What do I do? I suddenly want to die.

As I stood there, ignoring the murmurs of the women, the emperor seemed to have made up his mind and declared,

“Very well. I’ll adopt your plan.”

“I-Is that really okay?”

“If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. Since we lack information about our opponent, the role of an informant becomes crucial. If we can gain such a person at the cost of one sacrifice, it’s more than worth it.”

That sacrifice would be me, though.

When I shot him a cold glare, the emperor awkwardly cleared his throat and turned his head away.

“From what I hear, life force isn’t something that takes your life. It’s more like transferring stamina. For someone who has reached the level of an Aura Lord, it shouldn’t be a big issue. We can’t just reduce regular soldiers to half-corpses just to extract a single piece of information, can we?”

“That may be true, but…”

“It’s a blessing for the Empire that we can resolve such a critical matter with just the quality of your life force. Of course, since I’m entrusting you with something so important, I’ll see to it that you’re properly rewarded. So don’t be too troubled by it.”

“…Understood.”

And that’s how I ended up in charge of offering my life force to Lilia so she could infiltrate the Heavenly God Church as a spy and extract information.

Unaware that the true root of all this was the wishful thinking of every father who dreams of spending his life with his cute daughter and believes that if she sees the man she loves tangled up with another woman, she might finally give up on him.