NOVEL WEB Chapter 310
Chapter 310. Unexpected Sequences
――Cortera Trading Company, Sugusaru Branch.
In the upstairs office, there was a diligent merchant buzzing around, deftly handling ledgers and documents.
He had a slim build, but his sharp gaze never wavered, and his hands, moving fluidly with the pen, never paused. A dark-skinned man who exuded an air of capability, he wrapped complex calculations in quick mental arithmetic.
His name was Ixel.
Although he was an infiltrator from the Night Elf clan, he was also renowned as the right-hand man of the Sugusaru Branch Manager, one of the long-serving merchants.
“Hah… I suppose this is enough.”
Ixel closed the ledger with a snap, sighed while rubbing his shoulders, and a gentler expression began to soften his previously sharp gaze.
“Thank you for your hard work, Ixel-san. Here, please have a drink.”
“Oh, thanks.”
A young female clerk brought in some herb tea, cooled in a well. Ixel thought she was quite considerate as he quenched his thirst.
“Um… Ixel-san?”
“Hm? What is it?”
“I made beef stew… if you’d like, would you come over to my place for dinner tonight?”
The clerk’s eyes sparkled with heart shapes.
“Ahaha… beef stew, huh…”
This girl was coming on pretty strong! Ixel lit a smoke pipe to mask the scent of his special effects makeup and bought some time. Now, how should he turn her down…
――As a Night Elf infiltrating agent, it was best to keep relationships smooth.
Given this, agents tended to be amiable. However, if the distance between them closed too much, their identity could be exposed, making it a delicate balance. Romantic flings or any nudity encounters were out of the question, especially for agents like Ixel, who couldn’t use transformation magic.
His long, pointed ears were reshaped into rounded ones, and he used special effects to adjust his skin color and facial features while using caracone to change his eye color to pass for a human. Night Elves were considered attractive by human standards—even with some changes to avoid standing out—they tended to attract the opposite sex, which could cause problems. This was an issue that plagued agents regardless of gender.
In Ixel’s case, he kept a setting that he was still mourning his deceased wife, carrying a pendant with her portrait and occasionally gazing at it sadly to avoid romantic entanglements…
“Hey, Ixel-san? How about it?”
The clerk was completely oblivious to this.
“Ahaha…”
Inside, Ixel cursed her inferiority while maintaining an outward demeanor that required skill from agents.
Behaving ethically and assisting those around him, he had spent over a decade hiding in human society as a good merchant. Each time he was told “You’re so young,” he had subtly tried to use makeup to make himself look older; however, he felt it was reaching its limit. It might be time to request a transfer to headquarters.
“Ixel-saan~”
Certainly, this was not because the girl was too annoying, or anything like that!
“Ixel-san, a letter for you.”
Just then, a bodyguard entered the office.
“It’s from Lord Theodor.”
“From Theodor?”
Ixel’s expression lit up as if he had received word from an old friend, hiding his anxiety.
But… a letter?
“Was Theodor here?”
“Oh, no, a friend of his brought it to me.”
“Oh? Where’s that acquaintance?”
“They said to just hand over the letter and left.”
“Do you remember their name?”
“Ah, darn it. I forgot to ask.”
Swallowing his internal frustration at this useless bumpkin, Ixel managed a wry smile.
So, Theodor—rather, Virosa himself didn’t come in person—was it because it seemed impossible to break through the checkpoint? Did they entrust a third party with the letter? And what was this letter… it felt slightly imbued with magical energy.
The wax seal was, as usual, the crow emblem.
He quickly broke the seal and pulled out the letter. The moment he opened it, he almost exclaimed.
“Zilbagias Reiju”
In addition to ordinary text, there were letters written in magical script.
This was too blatant! Even if humans were dull to magic!
――Yes, this was currently the biggest issue on hand.
The exile of Demon Lord’s Prince No. 7, Zilbagias. He understood the details from the correspondence with headquarters, but being involved in this was nothing short of a hassle.
Still, he had thought that merely providing supplies and information to Virosa would be an easy task, but it seemed the circumstances had changed.
Moreover, this letter had different handwriting than Virosa’s. While the Night Elf cipher was used without issue, “Please come to the usual inn?” Was Virosa waiting there? But why didn’t he visit in person?
――A trap?
Such doubts flickered through his mind, but he dismissed them. If it were a trap, the method was too convoluted. If someone had grasped his tail, the Holy Church’s enforcement squad would be storming the trading company by now. There was no point in trying to bait him with a letter like this.
First of all, the exile of Zilbagias was a top secret, and the alliance shouldn’t know about it. It had been agreed that Virosa himself would come to make contact, but could something unforeseen have happened?
In any case, it was just right.
“Sorry, but it seems I have work that came up tonight.”
As he folded the letter, he turned an apologetic face to the clerk.
“Oh, is that so…?”
The inferior being’s sulking manner was tempting to spit on her face in his mind.
“I’ll make it up to you next time. I’m really sorry.”
He thought that this follow-up line would lead to yet another troublesome situation.
Ixel decided to postpone the problem.
†††
And that night.
He visited the inn where Virosa, or Theodor, was regularly lodged. In this rural town, where foot traffic was minimal, there were only a handful of inns, and this was one of the few with relatively high standards.
The primary guests were traveling merchants or pilgrims associated with the Holy Church, making it a psychological blind spot to choose a facility where dark individuals wouldn’t approach.
Following the coded directions in the letter, Ixel climbed to the second floor—there, tied to the doorknob at the end of the hall lined with private rooms, was a red handkerchief. It was a marker.
He walked quietly, like a Night Elf, and listened at the door to sense any activity within… but there was absolutely no sound.
――Is anyone there?
Upon knocking, however, there was an immediate response.
A sharp, brown-haired young man appeared at the door. Quite a powerful magic user, and this guy wasn’t Virosa!
“Oh, whoops, my bad. I think I got the wrong room.”
Ixel tried to smile and leave, but—
“Ixel?”
The young man whispered the question. In his hand—was a ring with the crow emblem! The very seal used on the letter! Why did this youth have this…!?
“I’m a friend of Theodor’s.”
The young man wrote a name in the air with his finger—magical letters. “Virosa.”
“We have much to discuss, come in.”
He opened the door and waved Ixel in. After a moment’s hesitation, Ixel peeked into the room and saw a silver-haired girl sitting on the bed beside the young man.
…A duo.
Something in the prior information he received vaguely matched and sent a chill down his spine, but Ixel had no choice. As soon as he entered and closed the door, the young man clapped his hands. The atmosphere grew tense. A soundproof barrier!
“…Where’s Theodor?”
“Due to an unexpected accident, he can’t move right now.”
The young man answered, his expression serious.
“So, you are Ixel, right?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
“Good, that’s a relief.”
The young man sighed with relief, but then suddenly began to blur in Ixel’s vision.
His stature shrank slightly, but his presence swelled instead—
“What in the…?!”
It was impossible for a seasoned spy like Ixel to suppress his shocked voice. The young man transformed instantly into a blue-skinned demon with red eyes, silver hair, and magnificent horns!
Ixel was momentarily paralyzed in shock, but he quickly reminded himself of protocol—after how many decades?
He knelt on the spot.
“Y-you are…!?”
Is it possible that this young man is Zilbagias Reiju himself!?
“Indeed. I am Zilbagias Reiju. It’s an honor.”
As expected! But why? How? How did the naïve Demon Prince manage to slip through the checkpoints?
“Why are you here, Your Highness…!”
“There are various circumstances… Unexpected events have occurred, and Virosa can’t move. I came in his place.”
The mere fact that you are here is unexpected! That thought was swallowed.
Just because you can use transformation doesn’t mean you’re a spy; if it were that easy to come here, it wouldn’t be a struggle…!
(…No way, am I being baited right now!?)
What if the Holy Church had set its sights on him? What if his movements in this town were being monitored? An immediate sense of unease washed over Ixel. If that were true, he would be doomed…!
“Rest easy, you shouldn’t have been detected.”
It was as if Zilbagias read Ixel’s mind, grinning with confidence.
“I used a certain revolutionary method to get past the checkpoint.”
“A revolutionary method…?”
There aren’t many methods to bypass the Holy attribute checkpoint. There’s the literal brute force method of wearing intricate leather gloves made from Forest Elf skin to appear empty-handed, but if there was an alternative, I would love to know.
“Just what kind of…?”
“Come closer.”
Zilbagias, despite the soundproof barrier, placed his hand over his mouth as if to whisper.
Intrigued, Ixel leaned in to listen.
He was entirely captivated by what Zilbagias was about to say.
It was also unexpected that Zilbagias was here.
And his hand—suddenly grasped Ixel’s throat!
As well as his monstrous strength, began to crush!
“Guh!”
In an instant, he broke Ixel’s neck with a single strike, killing him instantly.
――Everything was far too, unexpected.