Chapter 80

Freon of the Shadows (3)

So it was Saintea after all.

There was no other force that would think of placing a spy directly in the capital, let alone the Palace of the Monarchs, other than them.

And if I recall correctly, Freon of the Shadows had performed several commissions for the royal family, and had a rather close connection with them.

I continued to ask her.

"What was your purpose for infiltrating the castle?"

"To gather information on the 7th Monarch."

"Why would the royal family request such a commission?"

"I just take the commission and the payment; I don’t know the detailed reasons. But, well... wouldn’t Saintea naturally want to investigate a completely unknown person who became the new monarch of Caldric?"

Well, that’s true.

If they went as far as to request a commission from Freon of the Shadows to place a spy in the 7th Monarch’s palace, what else could the purpose be other than me?

I didn’t press further and just stared at her intently.

She avoided my gaze with an uneasy expression.

The fact that the mastermind was Saintea wasn’t a major concern.

After all, I knew that both Caldric and Saintea constantly planted spies in each other’s camps as a matter of routine.

Of course, having a spy infiltrate the Palace of the Monarchs was a serious issue.

But in this case, it wasn’t a problem of lax security. After all, the opponent was Freon of the Shadows.

"Your Majesty, may I say something?"

At that moment, she cautiously spoke up, gauging my reaction.

"Given that you recognized me at first glance, I assume you know quite a bit about me. But I don’t belong to or have any ties with any faction."

"..."

"This time, I accepted the royal family’s commission purely as a professional, with no personal intentions. Of course! Now that I’ve been caught, there’s nothing much to say, but..."

"What do you want to say?"

I cut her off as she started to ramble.

"I know there’s a neutral country summit coming up soon. If you wish, I can confess everything about accepting the royal family’s commission and acting as a spy in the Palace of the Monarchs. Just show a little mercy and spare my life..."

She laughed nervously.

The summit would be attended by the emperor of Saintea, so she was offering to give them a strong reason to confront us.

I chuckled.

'Great...'

I knew Freon of the Shadows had a character like this. More than anything, she valued her own life.

So she had no hesitation in betraying her client.

It seemed she had decided to try to survive by any means necessary.

But her offer wasn’t particularly appealing.

Because even if I pressured Saintea, there wasn’t much I could gain. It wouldn’t help my next goal at all.

What I was most interested in was Freon herself.

'What should I do with this woman?'

Treason was a capital offense, but I had no intention of killing her.

It would be a waste to execute such a capable person.

With her outstanding information-gathering and tracking skills, a combat level of 67, and her speed and versatility, there were few people in the continent who could match her.

'She hasn’t played a significant role as an ally in the game’s story, nor has she been a major villain.'

Most importantly, I needed an excellent information gatherer right now.

So far, I had focused on finding the mysteries, but my next goal was related to the main story.

I needed information on future events and some significant matters that couldn’t be resolved with my game knowledge alone.

The problem was that she wasn’t someone I could control.

If I sent her to gather information, she would likely escape and disappear.

'The issue is that there’s no way to control her.'

If I sent her to gather information, she would likely escape and disappear, or even betray me.

People with a reputation like hers weren’t just famous for nothing.

She wasn’t someone who could be controlled with simple threats or leverage.

Even now, she was acting submissive, but she was probably looking for any chance to survive.

'...Ah.'

Immersed in thought, I let out a sigh.

I remembered one of the items she had, which would be incredibly useful in this situation.

"I have no intention of killing you."

"Really? Thank you."

Her response was polite, but her face didn’t brighten.

The word "for now" in my statement must have given her pause.

And her unease was justified.

"Branding Ring."

"Excuse me?"

"The ancient artifact you have. You must have it with you. Take it out."

Her eyes trembled.

But only for a moment, then she asked with a puzzled expression.

"Branding Ring...? Ancient artifact? I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re talking about."

What a great performance.

She reacted like this even though I mentioned an item that only she should know about.

I shook my head.

"It’s no use, trying to deny it. How do you think I know this name?"

"I really don’t understand what you’re saying..."

"Ashel, if this woman doesn’t take anything out by the time I count to three, cut off her head."

Ashel immediately drew her sword.

"One."

I crossed my arms and counted softly.

Before I could count to two, she spoke again, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Exactly what is this? How do you know about the artifacts I have?"

I shrugged.

"That’s not important now. Just take it out."

In the golden age of ancient magic, there were all kinds of spells that are now lost.

The Branding Ring was an ancient artifact that could leave a magical brand that couldn’t be erased by any means.

The owner of the ring could locate the branded target, no matter how far away they were.

I remembered this from the game.

She hesitated, her expression hardening.

Regardless of how I knew about the Branding Ring, she must have guessed why I wanted it now.

"Warning you is tiring. Do you want to die like this?"

"..."

But she eventually pulled out the ring from her robe, almost in tears.

I examined the ring she handed me.

It was an old, tarnished silver ring with a small hexagonal symbol engraved in the center.

"Here."

I handed it to Ashel, who looked puzzled.

I couldn’t activate the artifact’s power without magic.

"Infuse it with magic, and the artifact’s power will activate. Try it."

"Ah, yes."

Ashel, though curious about why I was making her do this, obediently infused the ring with magic.

A faint purple light emanated from the hexagonal symbol on the ring.

I turned to Freon.

"Where do you want it?"

"On my wrist."

She weakly extended one arm, her face half-resigned.

Ashel pressed the glowing ring to her wrist, leaving a purple hexagonal symbol.

I took the ring back and examined it.

A thin, faint light beam extended from the ring, pointing directly to her location.

'Good.'

I was satisfied.

Now I could track her no matter where she was.

In short, she was now bound to me for life.

The magical brand would remain on her until it was used on another target.

I said to her, who was staring at the brand on her wrist.

"Don’t be too gloomy. I swear I won’t kill you if you do as I say. And I’ll return the ring to you."

She replied with a sharp tone.

"Do I have a choice? What do you want?"

"Information gathering."

The first task I had in mind was related to the capital of Saintea.

The mystery of possession that I had failed to secure in Halumenta. The terrible disaster the villain who obtained it would cause.

Since it was the largest-scale disaster among the future events I knew, I wanted to investigate it first.

In any case, I now had an excellent information gatherer.

***

She immediately left for Saintea to conduct the investigation as I requested.

Although I felt like I was threatening people a lot lately, what could I do?

I was just doing my part to ensure a peaceful future.

Time continued to pass.

Rif received the official knighthood from the Palace of the Monarchs, Rigon continued his explosive growth to level 26, and Ashel diligently trained the two siblings.

While I was reading books in my room as usual, I received news from the Grand Palace.

'Leaving in four days.'

It was time to move to the neutral country for the summit.

After preparing, I got ready to fly to the Grand Palace on Tyongyi.

"You should stay in the castle and focus on training the siblings."

Rigon’s growth was significant, so I didn’t plan to take Ashel this time, but...

"Please take me with you."

I was surprised and turned to her.

It was the first time she had asserted her own will against my orders.

'Is it because of Saintea?'

This summit would discuss conflicts between the two neutral countries and also involve direct meetings with the royal family of Saintea.

I stared at her bowed head and said,

"Alright. You can come with me."

I led Ashel to where Tyongyi was waiting.

The saddles were already prepared by the servants.

Grumble.

I stroked the neck of the creature, who was still trying to nuzzle me, and climbed on with Ashel.

The creature was displeased with the extra passenger but grumbled a few times and didn’t cause a fuss.

"Safe travels, Your Majesty."

"Thank you."

As usual, I patted Tyongyi, receiving the butler’s farewell.

With a powerful roar, the creature flapped its wings and soared into the sky.