Chapter 250

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

Interrogation

The spy from the Ruined Continent who appeared during the meeting and was captured by Silver Face was now being questioned .

His body appeared slender, being 190 centimeters tall and having long limbs, although still muscular overall . His hair was short, his skin purple .

The questioning was going slowly as the interrogators couldn’t understand the language he was speaking .

「What do we do now?」

「Don’t look at me . This is all pointless if he can’t even speak our language . 」

「But the Supreme Leader and the other big shots are waiting for results . 」

The interrogators gathered around to discuss the situation . The spy’s belongings lay on the table—a memo pad made of plant fiber, and a pen, both things not available on this continent . The pen, especially, got their attention . Instead of the ink and the pen being separate, this pen was two-in-one . They curiously scribbled on the memo pad with it .

「These notes… they’re written in their language, right?」

「Probably . It could be a code… But either way, I have no idea what it means . 」

The “Invisibility Cloth” was not here . It was already sent to the lab of the best Magic Item Specialists in Vireocean for examination .

No, no . That guy can probably understand this continent’s language .

Hikaru sighed as he watched the interrogators secretly with his Stealth on . He saw the spy peering at the meeting below from the skylight and taking out a memo pad and pencil . He was going to listen and take notes .

Then again, even if the spy could understand them, there would still be no point if he didn’t want to speak . Torture was an option, but Patricia forbade it . They could use the spy as a bargaining chip; he was the only card they had up their sleeve . They might not be able to use him if he got hurt .

Time to see the guy, then .

Hikaru quietly slipped out of the room and made his way to the prison located inside the Supreme Leader’s residence . It was clean and spacious . The spy’s cell, much larger than a studio-type apartment, was securely fitted with iron bars .

The man was inside, his hands and feet shackled, with an iron ball attached to the shackles on his feet . He clicked his tongue as the ball pulled on his feet while walking around .

Just about five meters away, Hikaru checked the spy’s Soul Board .

【Soul Board】Gigy

Age: 26 Rank: 141

115

【Vitality】

. . 【Natural Recovery】3

. . 【Stamina】4

. . 【Immunity】

… . 【Magic Resistance】3

… . 【Disease Immunity】3

… . 【Toxic Immunity】2

. . 【Perception】

… . 【Sight】1

… . 【Hearing】2

… . 【Smell】1

【Physical Strength

. . 【Strength】5

. . 【Weapon Mastery】

… . 【Short Spear】4

… . 【Throwing】1

… . 【Armor】3

【Agility】

. . 【Power Burst】2

. . 【Flexibility】2

. . 【Balance】3

【Dexterity】

. . 【Dexterity】2

【Willpower】

. . 【Mental Strength】3

Looks like the stats of a typical muscle-brain . He’s pretty high-levelled, though .

Hikaru hadn’t seen anyone else with a rank of over 100 besides Selica .

So monsters in the Ruined Continent are that strong, huh?

This Soul Board was most likely a product of killing countless powerful monsters .

I doubt this Gigy just happens to be exceptionally strong . If one spy is at this level, this continent will surely have a hard time .

Ponsonia’s knights were stronger than most, if not all, of the forces from the other nations . This Gigy could be as strong as one of their commanding officers, if not stronger . If the invaders had plenty of men on the same level as this spy, there would be countless victims if a war broke out .

Let’s verify it with him .

Hikaru deactivated his Stealth, but Gigy didn’t notice him as he sat on the sofa, tapping his foot restlessly .

「Hey . 」

「***?!」

Gigy yelped as he saw Hikaru who seemingly appeared out of nowhere . As he watched Hikaru, he realized something .

「**********!」

He realized that it was the guy who caught him . Hikaru instantly knocked him out back then, but in that split second, he saw the robe and silver mask .

「Don’t make a sound . I know you speak our language . 」

「………」

「You were only pretending not to understand to find more about your current situation, right?」

Gigy glared at him with hateful eyes and heaved a small sigh .

「Yes . I understand . 」

Thought so . The letter was written in this continent’s language . Even though there had been no contact with them for the last five hundred years, the language still endured . There was no way a spy infiltrating this place didn’t speak the local tongue .

「How did you see through my camouflage earlier?」

「Good question . You’re a spy . You actually think I’ll tell you?」

「Tsk . Let me out of here now . Otherwise, Grand Dream’s navy will destroy this city . 」

Given that he wasn’t treated like a criminal, he must’ve guessed that Vireocean didn’t want to fight .

Hikaru scoffed . 「No way you’re getting out of here . You snuck into the residence of the nation’s ruler . Don’t even think they’ll set you free that easily . 」

「Then I wait for my friends to come . You, destroyed . 」

「………」

He still sounded arrogantly confident . Hikaru sensed something odd about the actions of both the spy and the Ruined Continent’s forces .

They had Dew Roke surrounded for eight days . That’s too long . Were they negotiating with the island’s residents? Still, they should’ve considered the possibility of Vireocean reinforcement arriving, and settled things quick . When they finally launched an attack, Dew Roke fell immediately .

There had to be a reason for them to wait eight days . If most of them were as aggressive as Gigy, they would’ve attacked sooner .

「You’re a spy, right? Are you strong?」

「What?」

「I’m literally asking if you’re actually skilled . 」

「Of course . You caught me by surprise . Otherwise, there is absolutely no reason I would lose to you . 」

Is he bluffing? Or is that what he really believes? He’s pissed . Looks like it’s the latter . A spy shouldn’t let his emotions show . Hikaru recalled how Gigy clearly wasn’t the undercover type, judging from his stats .

「I see… So you believe that you can win against us even on land . 」

「Of course . Grand Dream’s monsters are strong . We fight them all the time . Losing against you is impossible . 」

「But the higher-ups don’t want war, right?」

「Yes, but—」Gigy was caught by surprise . 「You tricked me!」

Hikaru laughed . 「I’m so glad muscle-brains are so easy to manipulate . 」

Gigy fell for Hikaru’s trap . After surrounding Dew Roke for eight days, the invaders attacked and gained control of the island immediately . A man who clearly wasn’t suited to be a spy was snooping around . These two matters were connected . Hikaru only had one guess:

The invaders were divided into two factions: those who wanted to settle matters peacefully, and those who wished to go to war .

The commander probably wanted to conquer Dew Roke peacefully . But with negotiations still not settled after eight days, the pro-war faction grew impatient and launched an attack .

Gigy either acted arbitrarily, or was ordered by someone from the pro-war faction to do some snooping around . A spy with no detection or stealth skills, solely relying on optical camouflage, was nothing short of a nightmare to Hikaru .

Something was off right from the start . The letter mentioned paying for something that they did five hundred years ago, but they couldn’t possibly hold a grudge that long[1] . In that case, the message was a preface for a negotiation . A smart commander was trying to negotiate with Vireocean to gain something .

「You will pay for this! I will not talk anymore . 」

You just did, Hikaru thought . Hearing the ruckus, the interrogators were heading towards the cell . Hikaru decided to leave .

Why did these people suddenly decide to cross the sea after living in the Ruined Continent for 500 years? Hikaru wondered as he activated his Stealth . They developed cannons and were able to take down sea monsters… What do they want?

Even if they had large ships, conquering a whole nation like Vireocean would be nigh impossible . Assuming they captured the capital, forces from nearby areas would advance towards them, leaving them no choice but to retreat . They should know that .

They must have some sort of an objective . They wished to gain something .

But what?

If Vireocean and the other nations knew, they would have the upper hand both in negotiations and in battle .

[1] The translation team begs to differ; a polity holding grudges for far longer than 500 years is common .