NOVEL WEB Chapter 325
Chapter 325: The Ones Being Pursued
The Night Elf spy, Officia, was excellent at using people.
“Hey, Benry-kun, about that request I made yesterday…”
“Ah, I’m sorry! I haven’t done it yet!”
In the office of the trading company, a young man wore an awkward expression.
“That’s totally fine; there’s still plenty of time. But instead, I have another request…”
Officia’s expression clouded with a hint of apology.
“I’d like to ask you to do one more thing. It’s a bit of a delicate task, but I think you can handle it since you’re so attentive… What do you say? Of course, I’ll make up for it!”
She whispered into his ear—her enchanting perfume wafted through the air—Benry was brimming with enthusiasm as he replied without hesitation, “Of course, I can do it!”
“Thanks♪”
Benry stretched his nose under the throw kiss. However, he would never suspect that Officia, beneath her gentle smile, was thinking (it’s nice dealing with such lowly males).
In reality, Officia’s true nature was hard to discern, even for those who interacted with her regularly.
As a spy hiding behind the trading company, Night Elves usually operated inconspicuously, staying in the roles of competent second or third leads. Still, Officia had risen to the rank of Vice Branch Manager in Todomarl while also managing the region’s spies.
As a Night Elf, she took advantage of her everlasting youth (not aging easily) to sell cosmetics to the upper-class women, reaping enormous profits and winning them over in the process.
Her ability to avoid creating enemies, cleverly delegating troublesome matters to others to disperse the hate, and boldly networking with members of the Holy Church had led her to become quite entrenched in the capital, establishing an unshakeable position.
—Until today.
(Whew, that was a close call.)
While keeping the ledgers in her office, Officia felt a shiver inside.
When an unfamiliar Hero ignited a holy light right before her eyes, she had faced the prospect of death head-on. With her characteristic composure, she managed to pull through, but after the Hero had left, her back was drenched in cold sweat.
(That little brat…)
She tightened her grip on the pen. That lowly brute female named Nina. After all the trouble she’d gone to saving both her and her mother, to suddenly bring an unknown Hero and put Officia in such a predicament—how ungrateful.
She would make her pay for this…!
(But that Hero… was it Alex…?)
Officia recalled the serious, kind-looking face of the young man.
He was someone about whom she had no prior information. While it was true that personnel shifts were frequent in the Tritus Principality, such unexpected encounters were truly harrowing. She thought it might be worth casually probing a contact at the Holy Church about who he was.
(…He gave off a nasty vibe.)
It was an intuition free of logic. Though he hadn’t directed any overt hostility at her, nor behaved strangely, Officia knew better than anyone that a friendly appearance isn’t a reliable indicator of someone’s nature.
(It felt as if I was dealing with someone of my own kind…)
It struck her like being drawn into a game by cunning Night Elves, rolling in the palm of their hands—it was an uncomfortable sensation. She thought it odd to feel so uneasy around a simplistic human Hero, but Officia never underestimated her instincts.
It was what had allowed her to survive time and again—
“Well then, everyone, good work today. See you tomorrow!”
“Thanks for your hard work~”
“See you tomorrow, Officia-san!”
After tidying up the work efficiently and exchanging pleasantries with fellow employees, she headed home. The attractive Night Elf spy was said to have trouble with suitors, but because she constantly took care with her interactions, it wasn’t too much of a burden for her.
By adopting an ambiguous attitude and then suddenly distancing herself, she maintained an exquisite balance of proximity that kept the initiative in her hands, ensuring people did not approach her too closely. It was about making others anticipate her next move while letting them wait.
Even so, there were still those who foolishly fell head over heels for Officia and tried to pursue her. But if they were capable, she promoted them to other branches; if they were incompetent, she caused them to fail at work or got them fired, thus keeping them at arm’s length.
If they continued to press on even after all that—
It was just one example, but the man who persisted in pursuing Officia even after getting himself fired for a major mistake was discovered the next day, drowned in a well after being seen drinking heavily at a tavern.
Yes… just one example. Incidentally, it was said that the well was out of use for a while, greatly inconveniencing the local residents.
“…Oh?”
After finishing her shopping on the way home, Officia returned in front of her upscale apartment and noticed the potted flowers she had placed by the window.
—The pots were facing a different direction. In the dim light of dusk, it was hard to see, but she was a Night Elf with excellent night vision. She could see even the slight engravings on the pot clearly.
“Good evening, Officia-san.”
“Greetings!”
A familiar voice came from behind her.
Turning around, she saw a boyish-looking young man with a baby face and a fox-like man with slanted eyes approaching. Both were dressed as merchants—
“Oh, Outluke and Paulo. What brings you both here?”
Outluke and Paulo Hoentz—colleagues from the Cortera Trading Company.
“Well, actually, this time I brought a nice bottle of wine as a gift! Just between us, it’s top-notch!”
Paulo whispered with a loud voice, clearly audible to those around him, chuckling as he pulled a wine jar out of his bag.
“This is something only Vice Branch Manager Officia should taste, since it’s such a special occasion!”
“In other words, you’re trying to brown-nose. It’s not as fun just drinking with this guy.”
He pointed at Paulo with his boyish face, speaking in a leisurely tone tinged with malice.
“Oh dear, is that so? How interesting, this top-notch wine you mentioned. I’ll judge its quality; you both come inside.”
“Whee!”
“Excuse us~”
The two tumbled into Officia’s apartment.
“Officia-san’s place is always so neat.”
“You’re obviously different than me—what a capable person!”
“Please don’t group me with you; I’m a proper lady, you know!”
They chatted cheerfully, but—
The moment the door closed with a bang, all their expressions fell completely.
“Wow—harsh! But I’m really looking forward to this wine; it’s seriously good!”
“You say that, but remember that stuff we had before was utterly horrible.”
“I’ll whip up some snacks. You two can play cards or something.”
“Sure thing!”
“I won’t lose to you!”
Terrifyingly, all of them maintained serious faces, yet spoke in overly cheerful tones as if they meant to let the neighbors hear through the walls—
“So? Why are you here, Howard?”
With an icy cold expression, Officia moved her lips to ask.
—There was already a guest in the room.
A tired-looking man sat in a chair by the window. He was relatively handsome but covered in dust, suggesting he’d walked a long way.
This was the spy, Howard, who was supposed to be lurking in a town close to the front lines, not in the capital of Todomarl.
“Because of the distributed flyers, the town has been sealed off, and all residents are undergoing Holy examinations. I had to set fire to the nearby branch and escaped.”
Howard replied silently, moving only his lips. By the way, the altered position of the potted plants indicated he had entered her room while she was away.
“Should I take the lead first?”
Outluke said in a lazy drawl while shuffling cards.
“We should decide fairly with a coin toss. Here we go… I take the lead!”
Paulo laughed heartily.
“What about the cleanup?”
Without skipping a beat, Officia asked silently once more.
“I had a colleague of similar build carry my belongings to disguise them. It shouldn’t yet be known who is at fault between me or my colleague. All remaining evidence has been disposed of on my route.”
“But the suspicions will definitely linger…”
“A full-scale Holy examination. What a hassle caused by those lousy Demonkin.”
Paulo wore a face that was both disgruntled and resigned, while Outluke twisted his baby-faced features in contempt.
“Those flyers stating that Demon Lord’s Prince No. 7, Zilbagias, has been expelled and is lurking in the alliance territory—of course, the spies from the trading company have heard all about it.”
“Both of you, which would you prefer: fried bacon or in soup?”
In an unhurried tone, Officia inquired.
“I’ll have it fried.”
“Fried, I guess!”
“Okay, just wait a moment—‘It’s likely that news of the fire at the other branch has been communicated to the Holy Church here. It’s bound to be linked with the total Holy examination…’”
While tossing charcoal into the kitchen stove, Officia gritted her teeth. Since only her acquaintances were present, there was no need to put on a facade.
“…The trading company might have reached a time of crisis.”
With Officia’s words, all of them wore expressions like they’d bitten into something bitter.
“Just when we were so close to… the Forest Elves’ home…!!”
Outluke struck his knee with regret.
—The Night Elves’ wish as a race.
To annihilate the Forest Elves and offer their souls as gifts to the Dark Gods, reclaiming the lost magic and lifespan of the Night Elves.
…The Night Elves believe that destroying the Forest Elves will make their wish come true.
And the Tritus Principality is the last defensive wall that protects the village of the Forest Elves, which houses the Sacred Great Tree. The objective and purpose of Officia and the other spies were to undermine this small nation, paving the way for the future invasion of the Demon Lord’s army.
It should have been a great leap forward towards exterminating the Forest Elves—!
However, due to the reckless actions of those foolish Demonkin, everything was about to fall into turmoil.
“I’m sorry…”
Howard let his shoulders slump in despair.
With the Cortera Trading Company’s branch burned down, one member was killed in the blaze while another went missing. Right before the Holy examination—this would certainly draw suspicion towards the Cortera Trading Company.
The capital had a larger population, so while it couldn’t implement a full lockdown and thorough inspections like in the town Howard was in, the possibility of agents and the Demon Prince being concealed there while the trading company looked suspicious, suggested—
—the Holy Church would definitely take action.
“There was no other way. I appreciate just receiving this warning from you,” Paulo shrugged.
“Still, how did you manage to get into the capital? It’s still light out.”
“I didn’t sneak in. I forged a travel pass and walked in openly.”
As he gazed out at the sunset sky through the shutters, Howard produced a piece of parchment from his chest. Covered with verbose, flowery script, it was a form of identification indicating that he was a noble envoy.
Howard had the special skill to perfectly replicate handwriting and patterns he had seen once, boasting a genius-level talent in document forgery.
“Still impressive as always…”
“But what about the examination?”
“I kept everyone’s attention on the travel pass while I touched things with gloves to get by.”
Howard waved gloves made from the skin of a Forest Elf. It’s a risky tactic since their color and texture could easily give him away, but if he could distract the inspectors with something impactful, it might just work.
“However… if they check the records, they’ll definitely realize it’s a forgery. I want to pull out as quickly as possible.”
“Are you returning to the homeland? But how about the borders—”
“Yeah, it’ll be tough. I came all the way to the capital not just to inform everyone but also because I thought going solo would make it tough to breach the borders.”
“…Would heading south and crossing the mountains from the neighboring country be the best idea?”
“No, wait a minute. I have something that concerns me about that.”
Stopping the contemplating Outluke, it was now Paulo who pulled an envelope from his chest.
“I just received this from a bodyguard right before my shift ended. It’s a letter addressed to me—Paulo Hoentz.”
“From whom?”
“—Ixel.”
At Paulo Hoentz’s answer, the other three exchanged glances.
Could a subordinate of Officia in the neighboring country be writing at this precise moment—?
“Howard, take a look. What do you think?”
Paulo tossed the letter with the envelope to Howard, who scrutinized the content.
“…This isn’t Ixel’s handwriting.”
The document forgery specialist narrowed his eyes as he examined it closely.