How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game - Chapter 70: Training (1)

The sunlight coming through the window only reached up to the dining table. It was a pleasant warmth.

The golden hair of the princess glimmered in the light reflected on the floor.

Above the steaming teacup, the princess looked a bit tired. Meeting the Emperor immediately after her return was to blame.

Her turquoise eyes contained Carlyn. After the maid who had brought the tea left the room, the princess spoke.

“Was everything just now alright?”

It was due to what had been said in front of the Emperor. The part about expressing intentions in front of others was something they hadn’t discussed separately.

“Yes. You did well.”

Carlyn thought she handled the situation well in a short amount of time. She even managed to signal the first prince during that time.

“What should we do from now on, with respect to leisure?”

Without giving a chance to reply, the princess continued speaking.

“I’m asking what appearance I should have towards others regarding the plans. In front of Father and other nobles, just as you spoke to the soldiers.”

“You should do whatever feels right to you.”

“Is that really okay?”

“Of course. Your Highness, you don’t need to become someone else. We will adapt to Your Highness. Even occasional advice doesn’t have to be followed.”

The princess fixed her clear eyes on Carlyn for a moment.

“I’m grateful just for you walking on a path that might not suit your preferences.”

“I see. Those are words I like to hear.”

Carlyn slightly lowered his head. The princess had to be the princess. There was no need to show a different side.

With a graceful gesture, the princess lifted her teacup.

“What are your impressions?”

Carlyn waited for the rest. The princess often threw in unrelated comments and explained herself afterward.

“Everything went according to your plans. Thinking about it again, it was an impressive accomplishment. You even got Totun.”

The death of the candidate for Sword Master was a shock to everyone, including the princess.

Charging into the group of monsters was a significant feat, but it couldn’t be compared to Totun’s death.

“I’m satisfied.”

“You’re composed.”

The princess smiled with a nod.

“Is the intelligence agency usually like this?”

“I’m not sure what you mean…”

“I’m saying that it seems like you show no change in emotion. Not that Emmet is like that, but I haven’t seen you show any signs of worry or joy, even though you should be.”

Really? Carlyn pondered his memories. He hadn’t thought he would hear such a question.

Now that he thought about it, he had laughed heartily in front of Emmet, but he had never done so in front of the princess.

“I haven’t worried because I’ve considered situations where predictions might go awry. As for joy… to some extent, what you say seems correct, Your Highness.”

“To some extent?”

“Intelligence agents are trained not to show emotions easily. However, since it’s just the beginning, I think it’s premature to be too happy, perhaps.”

“I see.”

The princess turned her gaze out of the window.

“Now it’s the beginning. That’s not the wrong way to put it.”

The white city, Chenarus.

Viewing the city from the palace, it was breathtakingly beautiful with the glare of the reflection. It was a moment naturally immersed in contemplation. (+)^[1]TLN: A little change in POV to the Princess.

‘Fake knight.’

In truth, the princess couldn’t believe the possibility of a fake knight from Haisen.

She thought it was a statement to boost her will, given that he came under Haisen’s orders.

The fact that he supported her in front of the Empress could be seen in a similar context.

However, if situations like this mission continued, she thought that the possibility might indeed become apparent.

The praise for his accomplishment was sincere.

While she was grateful for preventing her mother’s assassination, he didn’t feel much inspiration. It could be possible.

Being from the intelligence agency, he could quickly detect suspicious intentions from a gaze.

But what the fake knight had done during this hunt could never be considered fortunate.

After hearing her father’s words, he had essentially foreseen the future, and he protected the troops with short notice. He also killed the candidate for Sword Master.

‘I wonder what he’s thinking exactly.’

The princess was feeling frustrated, realizing that she couldn’t read the thoughts of others.

She felt even more frustrated because she couldn’t understand the reasons. However, she couldn’t directly ask either.

The princess emerged from deep contemplation. (+)^[2]TLN: Back to 3rd person POV

“I’ve been thinking about it.”

“You’re saying?”

“Meeting like this might seem strange to others. Although it’s been fine until now, if it happens frequently, the way people look at us might become less favorable.”

Carlyn agreed. Emmet had given them a strange look earlier, so it seemed.

“Shall we periodically practice swordsmanship?”

“Are you talking about practicing swordsmanship?”

“After your recent achievements, the soldiers and knights will be discussing you all day.”

The astonishing movements were impressive, and the way he charged toward the monsters was deeply etched in people’s minds, despite its short duration.

The soldiers on the front line had exaggerated their accounts more than what they saw.

The knights were similar.

There were only around a thousand witnesses. It was evident that rumors would spread within the palace soon.

“If you observe my swordsmanship, it wouldn’t hurt.”

Carlyn thought there wouldn’t be a significant difference. He couldn’t delay important conversations until the practice time.

However, he thought it would be better to do it than not do it.

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

Apart from that, it wouldn’t be bad for the princess to become better at combat.

In Carlyn’s memories, the princess in the game was quite skilled with a sword.

“Is tomorrow a rest day?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s start practicing in the morning. You may leave now.”

Carlyn bowed and withdrew. As soon as he left the room, Emmet glanced at him.

His narrowed eyes were intense.

“What did she say?”

“She praised the achievements in this battle and asked for swordsmanship training.”

“…Swordsmanship? Well, I suppose it’s about time for Her Highness to pick up a sword again.”

All members of the royal family receive education in various fields during their childhood. The princess was no exception.

However, the princess had stopped her swordsmanship training, declaring early on that she had no intentions of pursuing the throne.

As Carlyn knew, Emmet had taught the princess how to wield a sword. Perhaps that was why the middle-aged knight seemed subtly disappointed.

Maybe he thought he fell short himself. Emmet lightly patted Carlyn’s shoulder with a slight nod.

“…Take good care of Her Highness. She has exceptional talent.”

“Yes, please don’t worry.”

Although Carlyn replied, Emmet’s hand remained on his shoulder.

There was a sense that he had something to say but hesitated.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Hmm, no.”

“It seems like you want to talk about something.”

Emmet cleared his throat.

“No, it’s nothing.”

The thought of warning Carlyn faded a bit as he looked at Emmet’s face.

It might be premature to bring it up now. Emmet decided to observe the situation a little longer for now.

* * *

[The Royal Bloodline Resolves Issues in the Northeast.]

At night, there was a prominently displayed headline on one page of the newspaper that caught the light from the corridor as it was being read.

It was an article praising the royal family for minimizing losses and achieving success in a friendly manner.

“This is quite exaggerated.”

Emmet, who was watching from the side, grumbled.

Despite the fact that many soldiers had died due to the civil war between the First Prince and the Second Prince, there was no mention of such matters in the article.

“Your story is in there too.”

That’s right. There was an article about me below the main one.

—Her Royal Highness’s bodyguard, Carl Schurtafen, wielded the sword bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor and bravely charged toward the marauding monsters, covering their advance…

It was fortunate in a way, but unlike the previous article, there was no particular exaggeration.

“Just as it is.”

Emmet let out a short laugh as if he understood my words.

“What can you do? Honestly, even seeing it with your own eyes, it’s hard to believe. If it were exaggerated, it might have raised suspicions.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Look at this. It’s a bit too glaring. It’s not like we usually look at it anyway.”

Emmet narrowed his eyes and shook his head as if he were feeling dizzy.

“Do you like reading newspapers?”

“Can’t you see stories about how the world is going? Well, I grew up in a place where it was hard to even see a newspaper.”

“Well, that’s not common. But don’t they publish newspapers in Haisen?”

“You can see them in the capital. Where I lived, they didn’t have them. I didn’t have money to buy them, and there weren’t multiple newspapers like in the empire.”

“I see.”

“But when I read today’s headline, I can’t help but feel a bit skeptical about whether the articles I’ve seen so far are true.”

Emmet chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s why I don’t read them.”

“It’s not that you just dislike reading them?”

“That’s true as well.”

In the midst of our gradually dying conversation, I continued to read the newspaper. Since I had been away from the capital for a while, I had to read it carefully.

Due to the limitations of the code, minor details were usually omitted, but even that was enough.

‘They’ve been quite busy.’

Even without the presence of the princes, there was still active interaction among the nobles. This was because each faction had its own interests.

I felt a mixture of disappointment and relief.

‘Duchess Lyurik is still neutral.’

The owner of the duke family, who was quite powerful, was holding his ground despite the influence of the prince’s factions.

She was one of the nobles I wanted to recruit. I knew that she was a decent character in the game.

Although some people had already been left behind, Duchess Lyurik was more important than them.

Even in the game, she mostly maintained neutrality, but occasionally she leaned towards the First Prince or the Second Prince.

Since Erendil had revealed her intentions to the emperor, now it was time for us to make our move as well.

I would talk to the princess and if she approved, I would sketch out the situation.

‘I’m here.’

The promised meeting place. Phiri was caught by my Winds’ awareness. It had been quite a while since I had been outside for an extended period of time.

As the vice leader, she couldn’t just stay in the capital, so I expected that someone else might come. I was glad to see her, as I had been away for a while.

-Long time no see.

As I typed a message using “Winds,” I could sense Phiri’s mouth twitching upwards.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

-I’m perfectly fine.

“I was surprised when I heard the news about Totun’s death. Was that your doing?”

-Yes.

“I was impressed when I heard. How exactly did you manage it?”

While Totun’s achievement was good, personally, I was more satisfied with taking down the First Prince’s confidant. He was a really annoying presence in the game.

Since I hadn’t fully established that level of influence yet, I wasn’t attracting much attention.

-It’s me, after all.

“Look at you bragging.”

-Have you been well, Phiri?

There was a slight delay due to the time it took for the message to come through “Winds,” but communication was not an issue.

“I’ve been fine. It was a bit hard to gather information without you. I was more at ease when you were providing everything.”

-Indeed. My absence left quite a gap, didn’t it?

“I felt like something was missing, but I guess it was because of your nonsense.”

I stifled a laugh as I glanced at Emmet. I could laugh while reading the newspaper, but I knew a conversation would follow.

-But you’re still in the capital, right? I thought surveillance would decrease a bit and things would change.

“Each situation is different. If I make a mistake, it could cause serious trouble. Father keeps telling me to handle it.”

Fortunately, Phiri’s presence was reassuring. Without her, it would be difficult to respond if something happened.

When I suspected the leader, the only person who would believe my word was Phiri. She was the only one I trusted.

“Hmm, should I talk to you about the leader…?”

The empire’s main forces were participating in the war against the West. It was a time when the devil worshippers were likely to do something.

Whether they acted directly or made preparations for the future was the question.

The problem was that there was no basis for warning about the leader.

It would be great if I could find some evidence, but being under surveillance made it difficult for me to do so. I quickly reached a conclusion.

‘Let’s trust Phiri.’

Even if the leader was truly plotting something, Phiri would likely notice it. It might be better to have my own suspicions.

I turned to the next page of the newspaper. Emmet’s gaze lingered momentarily at the rustling sound of the paper.

Pretending to read the newspaper, I moved the Winds.

-Then, I’ll give you a detailed report.

• 1. TLN: A little change in POV to the Princess.
• 2. TLN: Back to 3rd person POV

Author’s Thoughts

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