“Schlus Hainkel here. My attendant should be at the Chairwoman’s residence, so please deliver this message.”
“Yes. Please go ahead.”
First, I stopped by the front gate of the Imperial University to make a request to the guards.
It was to relay a message to Emilia.
Since it’s one hour round trip from the front gate to the Chairwoman’s residence, there was no choice but to do it this way to save time.
“Please tell her I might not be able to come in tonight.”
“I’ll relay it exactly.”
I might end up pulling an all-nighter tonight.
I already have plans to go to the Imperial Palace tomorrow, and I’d hate to have to stay up all night, but…
It couldn’t be helped.
Unless I wanted to see the Intelligence Agency get obliterated and the kingdom disintegrate.
“Fuck… How did it come to this…?”
I started running back towards the Old Town.
In the original, this episode was light to the point of being comical.
A traitor, tempted by the Empire’s sweet offers, was caught by Hertlocker while trying to escape with Intelligence Agency data, and then got thoroughly beaten.
It was an artificially created scenario just to showcase Hertlocker’s overwhelming strength.
But that guy managed to successfully escape with the data.
Honestly, there’s no way for me to know how far he has fled at this point.
He might have escaped the Intelligence Agency’s encirclement and is in contact with the Imperial Police already.
If so, the Intelligence Agency might as well be finished.
I can only pray that he’s still inside the Old Town and that the Agency agents are spread out everywhere, preventing his escape.
Fortunately, I know very well where the traitor plans to flee.
I had narrated from his point of view before.
If he successfully slips away from the base with the data, he plans to escape through the sewers.
The Intelligence Agency agents probably wouldn’t even imagine it.
There isn’t a single entrance to the sewers in the Old Town.
Who would think of a path that can’t even be entered as an escape route?
Using that loophole, he is going to dig into the ground close to the sewer entrance to make his escape.
And what I have to do…
“Ugh. Damn it, the stench.”
Waiting on the other side of the sewer.
I had to stand at the sewer entrance in the New Town, pinching my nose.
Isn’t this just too much?
But at least it was better than the Forbidden Elixir’s smell.
It was somewhat bearable.
With a sigh, I took a step inside.
Just a little further in, it was pitch dark without a hint of light.
I wasn’t hindered in my visibility, since I could see without light, but my instinctive aversion to the darkness was unavoidable.
“Ugh. This really sucks.”
Now, there was truly nothing else to do.
I could only wait quietly and endlessly.
I couldn’t afford to move hastily due to the risk of crossing paths.
I couldn’t even tell if it would take him an hour, midnight, or even into the next morning before he finishes digging.
He might get caught by Intelligence Agency agents while digging, and my waiting could be in vain.
The more I thought about it, the more it pissed me off.
Why the hell do I have to be doing this bullshit?
*
“Situation report.”
– Team 1. No anomalies.
– Team 2. All clear.
– Team 3…
Heard through the Communication Artifact, Hertlocker clenched his eyes tightly.
Agents had been deployed at every entrance to the Old Town.
But despite the encirclement lasting eight hours, that damned traitor had yet to show his face.
He couldn’t have escaped beyond the encirclement.
He must still be hiding inside the Old Town.
‘Where the hell are you…’
It was Hertlocker’s job to search the inner part of the Old Town.
He was the only one who could suppress the traitor without causing a commotion when encountering him.
However, the lack of results after eight hours was frustrating for him as well.
Could he have secretly hidden in someone’s house?
Night was already deep.
Hertlocker was getting increasingly anxious.
‘I can’t let him get away until morning.’
The fact that he ran off with the data meant there was a client willing to buy the information.
If that was the case, they were likely expecting to receive it tomorrow, and if the traitor didn’t show up, then the client would start to take action.
The Imperial Police could storm into the Old Town and snatch the traitor and the data away.
If that happens, it would be game over.
The Intelligence Agency would be obliterated and completely incapacitated.
We would lose the only means to prevent the Empire from rejuvenating its war efforts.
That absolutely had to be stopped at all costs.
‘Think.’
Hertlocker steadied himself and stood upright.
He had already spread Detection Magic throughout the Old Town, but he hadn’t found him.
It was necessary to devise some method other than just running around.
‘He must have a plan of his own.’
Could he have not expected things to turn out this way?
Hiding would be a last resort, not a good option.
So he must have thought of a way to break through this encirclement.
What that method was remained the problem…
‘Think. If it were me…’
Hertlocker’s mind raced.
To directly take out the surrounding agents.
Or could he jump over the rooftops…
Several methods sprung to mind, but they all seemed nearly impossible given the traitor’s physical abilities.
As he continued to mull it over, Hertlocker suddenly exclaimed—
“Sewers…?”
He suddenly thought of the sewers.
Indeed, there was a broad path leading to the New Town that could accommodate people.
It was indeed the optimal escape route; however, the problem was there were no paths leading to the sewers from the Old Town.
There might be stormwater drainage grates, but there were no passages large enough for a person to enter.
“Wait. There are none? Then we just make one, right?”
Hertlocker’s bloodshot eyes widened.
Why hadn’t they considered the sewers as an escape route until now?
If there was no way in, then they simply needed to dig one.
“Team! Immediately to the sewers…”
“Yes? What did you say?”
“Tch. Never mind. Just stay on standby!”
Hertlocker began to run as he left that message.
He wanted to instruct them to block the other side of the sewer, but…
That would just create a hole in the encirclement.
Perhaps that was what the traitor was hoping for.
So he had no choice but to move himself instead of sending other agents.
Where to go, though?
Should he turn back to block the other side of the sewer now?
Just then, Hertlocker felt a sense of unease, abruptly halting him.
‘What is it?’
The wind around him felt strange.
This isn’t a place where the forest wind blows like this.
Given the structure of the surrounding buildings, the wind shouldn’t be able to flow through.
Yet, there was still wind blowing…
This indicated something structurally different was up ahead.
Having deduced this fact, Hertlocker swiftly turned around.
There it was—a public restroom, concealed by a wooden fence.
‘That’s it!’
Realizing the direction of the wind, Hertlocker immediately kicked open the restroom doors.
*Clank, clank…*
“Huh?”
One of the doors wouldn’t budge.
No way someone would be using a public restroom at this hour.
Hertlocker stepped back slightly and—
*Swish!*
*Bam!*
He kicked the door with all his might, shattering it open.
Behind the uselessly opened door was—
“*Hah. What a madman.*”
A large hole had been dug next to the toilet, just big enough for a person to enter.
It looked like the bathroom’s soft flooring had been used to dig down all night.
Though it smelled somewhat foul, there was no time to hesitate.
Hertlocker immediately shoved himself into the hole.
*
“*Hah… Hah…*”
A bespectacled man panted as he sprinted down the dark path.
Due to his weak mana, the light created by his illumination magic barely pierced the darkness ahead.
“*Whoah?!*”
He nearly stumbled as he flailed his arms to regain balance.
Before him stretched a flow of sewage, with filth bobbing in it.
Had he taken one more step, he would’ve tipped over.
He swallowed hard, tightly clutching the bag.
He couldn’t afford to drop the materials inside.
If he sold this to the Empire, he could live as a noble.
Filled with that expectation, the man began to chuckle and ran again.
This time, careful to watch his step and not trip.
“*Feels like there are a lot of people around… How the hell does this end?*”
“*We’re almost there.*”
“······!”
At the low voice coming from the front, the man hastily stopped and braced for combat.
The sound of *clack-clack* shoes grew closer.
Soon, a man with purposeful strides emerged from the pitch-black darkness.
Upon seeing his face, the man gasped in shock.
“Schlus… Hainkel…?”
“No need for introductions.”
Schlus Hainkel.
The commoner who halted a terrorist threat from the Intelligence Agency and killed the infamous Crow, Henderson.
The man, who had been tense, lowered his fists and brightened.
He was the very person who managed to confront the Agency and nearly kill Hertlocker.
He was practically an ally at this point.
“Were you the one looking to buy information? I can’t believe it!”
“Is that so?”
“You came out of concern for me. I’m really sorry for making you come to such a dirty place.”
“Enough. You definitely brought the information.”
“Oh! Of course!”
In a hurry, the man dug in his bag and pulled out a bundle of papers.
It included detailed personal information, along with photos of the Intelligence Agency agents.
He had painstakingly crafted this escape plan for quite some time.
Just recalling the past made the man’s eyes well up with tears.
“Is this the original?”
“Yes! It is!”
“I hope there aren’t any copies left.”
“Yes! There are no copies! This is the only original!”
Bowing humbly, the man felt no sense of unease whatsoever.
What he could see in Schlus Hainkel’s eyes was an endless depth of void.
There was no way to know what he was thinking.
“Hand it over.”
“Huh?”
“I said hand it over now. I’ll compensate you once we get out of this stinking place.”
“Ah, yes! Understood!”
The man hurriedly ran over, presenting the file with both hands.
He couldn’t afford to hesitate even for a moment; otherwise, the client’s mood might change.
“······?”
As Schlus Hainkel snatched the file, the man caught a brief glimpse of his face.
Since he was bowing, he couldn’t see it entirely, but he was certainly smiling.
Was he so happy to take down the Intelligence Agency? No, it wasn’t that kind of smile.
It was a smile reminiscent of a playful demon…
As the man felt something was off, he straightened up.
Then he saw Schlus Hainkel, grinning and holding a batch of papers in one hand.
“Thank you.”
“Hey, what are you doing—”
*Whoosh…*
In that instant, the papers ignited.
The precious data, which couldn’t be exchanged for anything else, was turning to ashes before the man’s eyes, causing him to freeze.
The remnants were reduced to a shape so unrecognizable that it was thrown into the muck.
