Became a tyrant of defense games - Episode 153
◈ 153. [Side Story] Search
Before stage 4 starts.
Immediately after recruiting Team 8 of the Aegis Special Forces, including God Hand, under my command..
I ordered Ader.
- Monitor just in case, and report immediately if anything happens..
- yes?! It's me?!
- Then, you, the remaining manpower, will have to do it. Should we fight defensively or go on free exploration every time? We, who suffer, will do it.?
Team 8 of the Aegis Special Task Force was comprised entirely of elves and were former death row inmates sent from the capital..
It was a precautionary measure taken because the existing party members were distrustful and anxious..
However, they were loyal, risked their lives to fight, gained everyone's trust, and eventually completely integrated into the monster front here..
They are no longer the ‘Aegis Special Task Force Team 8’, but have become the ‘Shadow Unit’ under my command..
I too have come to completely trust the Shadow Corps..
So much so that I forgot that I had entrusted Ader with surveillance..
***
But the night before Stage 5 started.
Ader came to me with a confused look on her face..
“My lord. I think you should look at this material..”
And what Ader showed me was video footage filmed like CCTV..
“After ordering surveillance that day, I was using the remaining system resources to monitor the shadow unit... … Just today, this was filmed.”
On the screen, there was a picture of the outbuilding of the manor house where the shadow unit was staying..
It was an archery training center behind the outbuilding. Godhand was out here alone..
- It will be difficult for you to come here..
God Hand looked around in embarrassment and spoke lowly..
- If anyone sees it, the connection between us will be discovered..
- Anyway, everyone in the castle is busy preparing for tomorrow's defense battle. They probably don't care about me. Rather, what should I do with this??!
The person who comes to God Hand and says that……
It was Margerita..
- The only task I received from the central government is to understand the dynamics of this fortress city! But it looks like you'll be standing on the front line yourself! Isn’t spying inside the front lines the mission of your Aegis Special Forces??!
Everything was understood in just one word..
Godhand and Margerita.
Both are spies of the imperial family..
Godhand looked around and asked Margerita, who was screaming hysterically..
- Did His Highness Prince Ash ask the saint to participate in the war??
- is it so! They asked me to participate as a reserve unit. This, this… … Damn it! It's not my job! I'm here to heal the sick, not fight monsters!
- Calm down. who will listen.
- Does it look real?! When the central government first dispatched me here, they said that the monster invasion would decrease and that I would be safe, but the invasion is getting stronger every day, and now I have to stand on the castle wall myself.!
Margerita took a deep breath as if she had calmed down a little after pouring it all out..
Godhand, who had been listening quietly, nodded quietly..
- Don't worry. I will protect you.
- ……Is it true??
- yes. If that's all I can do…….
- No, that's not enough. I need to contact the center directly. no more-
It was then.
- God Hand?
A body bag approached from the outbuilding, making signs of popularity..
Godhand, startled, looked back in bewilderment, and Margerita hurriedly lowered her posture and ran towards the forest behind..
- Body bag? What are you doing here if you’re not resting inside?!
- Just to get some air... … What does God Hand do? who to talk to…….
Margerita hurriedly ran into the forest behind the archery training center, and Godhand blocked the path leading there with his body and cleared his throat..
- What a conversation. Huh! I was alone. I was just talking to myself..
Beep.
“That's it..”
Ader paused the video and smiled bitterly..
“The lord who ordered surveillance was correct. The Shadow Unit were originally loyal friends, so I almost forgot to trust them.…….”
“The shadow unit is gone, Margerita is?”
“yes?”
“After this, Margerita was not monitored.?”
Ader was dumbfounded..
“From the moment the conversation between the two ended, the surveillance target was changed to Margerita. But I just pray at the temple and do nothing else.-”
“show me.”
“yes?”
“That prayer. show me.”
Ader turned the screen..
The central hall of the temple. Marherita was praying on her knees in front of the statue of the goddess.
- I just want to be faithful to the mission given to me.…….
Margerita looked up at the statue of the goddess with longing eyes..
- What should I do now?…….
As if the statue of the goddess would really give the answer..
- please… … please let me know…….
Margerita crouched down and continued praying..
Damian was caught on screen looking at this in confusion from a distance..
Here Ader stopped the video..
“From now on, I'll just keep kneeling in front of the goddess statue..”
“…….”
I narrowed my eyes and glared at the screen..
“When speaking with Godhand, Margerita clearly stated?”
“yes?”
“‘'I need to contact the center directly.'.”
“Ah yes. I definitely said that.”
“If that's the case, it means that Margerita has the means to contact 'the center'. What I'm saying is that I'm not making any contact and just praying a lot.……?”
Without even using someone to send a dispatch. Without even using Jeonseo-gu. Just praying in front of the goddess statue..
I glared at the goddess statue on the screen..
no way……?
“Ader. Can we continue to monitor Margarita in the future??”
“Due to system resource limitations, it seems that only one side can be monitored at a time..”
“Then, from now on, just watch Margarita. You can leave the shadow squad alone..”
Tduduk. Tduduk. I opened my fist and growled lowly..
“I'm going to have to catch Margarita sometime soon..”
“Fishing means……?”
“You're spreading false information. False information that alarmed Margerita immediately reported to the center, and the center also reacted in horror..”
I lifted one corner of my mouth and grinned..
“Then it will be revealed. Margerita is a means of communicating with the center, and the identity of that ‘center’ is also unknown..”
I had a hunch.
Both of them will be very useful to me..
***
today.
Manor house. drawing room.
Godhand and Margerita are bound and kneeling before me..
“Looking back, there were suspicious circumstances between you two from the beginning..”
I sat on the chair with my legs crossed in front of them and twirled the cane in my hand..
“Godhand, when you lost both arms in the defense of the Gargoyle Army. Margerita underwent surgery..”
“…….”
“But they didn't really cut off both arms then, right? That part was lost even before coming to this front. When you got the name Godhand.”
That day, in front of God Hand’s operating room, Body Bag said this:.
- Godhand already lost both hands in an operation two years ago..
- Both of my lost hands had been replaced with metal prosthetics. Since I am a metallurgist, I had no problem handling the prosthetic hand like a real hand..
- After replacing both hands with prosthetic hands, I also changed my code name to God Hand..
“The arm you lost that day, the arm that was amputated, was not a real arm, but a metal prosthetic arm..”
“…….”
“Margerita pretended to make a great sacrifice so that you could gain our trust. Isn’t that right??”
Lily, who was listening to me, looked at Godhand with a pale face..
“That's true, Godhand.……?”
“…….”
“But that day, you lost your arm saving me…….”
Godhand, who had been silent, slowly opened his mouth..
“It is undoubtedly true that he was injured by a gargoyle that day and had his forearm removed..”
It felt like he was speaking to Lily, not to me..
“However, most of what the prince said is correct. I pretended that a minor injury was something serious. To gain the trust of the front here.…….”
“…….”
“But Lily, everything I told you that night was true.-”
Lily didn't listen anymore and left the drawing room..
Godhand looked at the spot where Lily had disappeared, closed his mouth and lowered his head..
I clicked my tongue and looked at the scene, then shrugged my shoulders..
“I don't care if one of you is a spy for the imperial family. It's strange that there wasn't a spy in the first place..”
The Everblack Empire is a country that ate more than half of the continent..
It is natural to have spies scattered around the world. Even if it is within its own territory.
Moreover, if the prince is wandering around on this frontier, it can be said that surveillance is inevitable..
“If you are loyal to me and risk your life to fight on the front line, it doesn't matter even if I tell you about the current situation here..”
I growled at both of them..
“But I shouldn't have been caught.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Once this happens, who here on the front can trust you? Instead of being a colleague who defeats monsters together, he might be a spy with another agenda..”
Now, the relationship between the imperial family and me, the third prince, is not that bad..
I don't know what happens later. For example, when the issue of succession to the throne arose in the future,.
What if another prince who holds real power over the imperial family decides to kill me?.
It is entirely possible for these spies to sabotage the front lines here and assassinate me..
These are like bomb necklaces that the imperial family put around my neck..
“……majesty.”
Godhand gritted his teeth and looked up at me as if he had decided on something..
“It is true that I received a secret mission when I was sent here. But, Your Majesty, none of the men under my command knew about this..”
I glanced at the body bag and burnout tied up in the corner of the living room..
The two are shocked by this situation and are shaking..
Godhand continued..
“Above all, I have already decided to give my life here. My loyalty is sincere. Please believe me, Your Majesty! and…….”
“stop! Godhand, I'll hear your story later.”
I stopped talking and looked to the side..
“Now I have to listen to our saint’s story..”
“…….”
Margerita has not reacted in any way since being captured and just quietly closes her eyes. As if she had given up on everything.
“As soon as I declared treason and gave you time, you, saint, immediately ran to the temple. You didn't even know my subordinate was watching you..”
“…….”
“I was curious. How do you contact your superiors? And the identity of that ‘means of contact’ was quite surprising..”
***
A little while ago, when I gave you an hour's grace.
Margerita immediately ran to the temple..
I was keeping an eye on Margerita through the surveillance screen in the system window..
Margerita sat in front of the statue of the goddess in the central hall, put aside all prayers and just spoke..
- I will report to you. His Highness Prince Ashe has declared treason. I'll say it again. His Highness Prince Ashe has declared treason..
After a long silence.
A low quality crackling voice came out from the statue of the goddess..
- 「It's treason?」
It was like a phone call with very poor radio reception, but I heard it clearly..
- 「say it again exactly.」
- His Majesty Prince Ashe has declared treason..
- 「Really? This matter is extremely serious. There should not be a single bit of misinformation..」
- Really. I just heard it clearly with both ears..
Margerita reported my declaration of treason without a single mistake..
- 「…….」
The goddess statue was silent for a moment and then spoke..
- 「His Highness Prince Ash told us to meet again in an hour.?」
- That's right.
- 「Then join His Highness Prince Ash and continue to monitor him. Monitor closely and report back to see if they are really planning treason, and if so, how..」
- But, this is no longer my job! I'm just a healer……!
- 「Everything is for the Goddess and Her Majesty the Emperor. Don't complain.」
- …….
- 「I will wait for your next report. Please contact me before midnight today. more.」
conversation is interrupted.
Margerita looked up at the statue of the goddess with resentful eyes and then left the temple again..
And then I returned to my mansion..
***
I grinned..
“I can't believe there was a magic communication device that could communicate over long distances. Moreover, it was in the shape of a ‘goddess statue’..”
“…….”
“I can't figure this out. Do you pray hard in front of the goddess statue, or do you inform the authorities about the situation here?.”
Communication magic is a representative ancient magic that is said to have been lost along with teleportation magic..
However, it seems that it was not lost, but rather the imperial family monopolized it and allowed it to be used only by their own spies..
This side didn't make a fuss by sending dispatches, writing letters, and flying pigeons every time they contacted us from afar, but these spies calmly set up a high-speed call line and were only using it. These disgusting bastards.
Margerita pursed her lips. I pushed her face in front of her eyes, avoiding eye contact.
“Holy woman. No, Margerita..”
widely. widely. widely.
I muttered darkly, hitting my opposite palm with the short staff in my hand..
“I don't doubt your faith. Your sincerity in treating patients and your nobility in carrying out medical activities in such a remote area..”
“…….”
“But you were the imperial dog and a spy. And he hid that fact from me. They deceived and deceived me, the emperor's son, the commander of the Southern Front, and the lord of this city..”
widely.
I held the cane in my palm so hard as to crush it, and smiled softly..
“You'll have to pay the price?”
“…….”
Margerita slowly opened her mouth..
“me… … Are you going to kill me??”
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