Chapter 187 - Something Stared Back (Patreon)

The morning briefing was over quickly. There were no new major missions as everything had been updated the day previously. All of the officers in attendance had been in the meeting the day before where they had learned about the spies, but there had been no updates on the location of those that had been replaced.

Prince Allik didn't dwell on the issue. He only told them to keep looking. Nobody was hopeful of the outcome, though. Reivyn's mercenary company had been lucky to discover the switch almost as soon as it had happened. Reivyn remembered that there hadn't been any discrepancies with any of the staff before they had gone on their morning expedition to the front-line outpost.

Prince Allik dismissed the other officers, something he rarely did as he was usually the first one to leave to signal the end of the meeting, and they all filed out. They cast curious glances toward Reivyn, though they could probably figure out why he was staying behind. He was the one to discover the issue, and as far as anyone knew, he was the only one that could spot the skin-masks.

Kefira sat patiently next to Reivyn, Serilla standing in her usual position behind her chair. She had been a bit bored with the meeting, but she didn't let it show on her face. She didn't want to give a bad impression or cause any kind of distractions. Going over routine reports and instructions just wasn't her thing.

Prince Allik motioned to his retainer, and the taciturn man stepped forward and placed a large map on the table in front of Reivyn and Kefira. It was a geographical map, and there was a clear line that snaked in a large crescent shape around the capital. Piori was located to the southeast of the capital, but it wasn't at an endpoint on the line. The line started south south-west of the capital and ended east northeast of it. It wasn't a full enclosure, but it cut off a significant portion of the Region from the capital.

Every type of terrain was occupied and likewise defended. Reivyn noticed that whenever possible, the two forces correctly positioned themselves on the high ground and avoided valleys. Some forests and swamps acted as barriers and concealment. The overall situation was a complicated mess. Reivyn was eager to study the intricacies involved in launching a full-scale assault on either side, but that wasn't the purpose of the meeting.

"So it'll be a relatively short jaunt to reach the endpoint to the southwest," Prince Allik said. "The front line, for the most part, is static. There aren't any indentions or weird situations where either we or the enemy have pushed too far, though there are some cases where it's close because of advantageous terrain. It would be impractical for you to travel to each individual outpost for each major position, so you'll only be visiting the major hubs.

"Prince Endrew, my second brother, has issued an emergency order for each camp to only operate a skeleton crew in the outposts for those camps to the west of us. We'll wait until you get back and report your progress so we can time things more efficiently moving forward before anything is said to the rest of the camps.

"There are only three major hubs and five minor ones that you need to visit. The minor hubs should only take a few minutes based on your speed of inspection yesterday. They're not nearly as large as a base like ours in Piori.

"I'll leave the timing up to you. I don't know how quickly you'll be able to make it to these camps, but remember that the individual outposts attached to the camps will be vastly understaffed while they wait for you to accomplish your mission. None of the commanders know what you'll be there for, as we don't know who we can trust until after the mission.

"Any questions?"

"What are the rules of engagement? What do you want me to do with any captured spies?" Reivyn asked.

"Rules of engagement are you have plenary powers to decide any and all actions on the spot. Spies are sentenced to death, and we don't need the headache of trying to get more information out of more spies. We have enough in our custody here, so for everywhere but the main base where Prince Endrew is located, kill them on sight."

"Yes, sir," Reivyn replied.

He wasn't too surprised by the order. Kidnapping a person, assuming their identity, and then dressing themselves up as one of them was not the same thing as political espionage. It might seem a bit callous to take such measures without any kind of trial, but this was acting against an enemy combatant on the battlefield. Just because it was behind the lines and not on a traditional field didn't make it any less deadly.

"Good. I'll see you when you get back and we can communicate with the rest of the camps to set a schedule."

The retainer grabbed the map and rolled it up. Prince Allik handed a badge to Reivyn and then walked out of the conference room followed by his man, and Reivyn turned to Kefira. The badge bore the insignia of the Imperial Family, specifically Prince Allik's, and it was a quick and convenient way to gain access to the camps.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah, but what about the map?" Kefira asked back.

"Don't worry, I already got a copy. It's smaller and less detailed, but it'll get the job done. Can you teleport us based on map coordinates now?"

"No way. I haven't gotten that proficient with it, yet. This will be good practice, though."

The trio stepped out of the conference room and left the headquarters building. They didn't want to perform the teleportation in the middle of the city where just anyone could see it. Telling the commanding general and his trusted subordinate wasn't the same thing as publicizing the information to the world.

They completely left the city, leaving from the west gate. The terrain around Piori was mostly plains with some short, rolling hills. The forest was on the south and east side of the city, so they didn't have any obstruction to their view except for the few short hills. They made their way up one of them and slightly down the other side so that they weren't visible to the people in the city.

"Here should be good," Reivyn said, scanning the distance. They could see for quite a few miles into the distance. "We'll have to trek through the woods over there. That will probably be the biggest time sink of our journey, but the map does show some decent-sized hills that we can use to jump over some of them."

"I'm not going to use 'jumps' this time," Kefira said. "I'm going to try something a bit different. Instead of displacing us directly, I'm going to try for a tunnel. It's not nearly long enough to be an actual tunnel, of course. It'll be more like a door we step through."

"It looks like you learned quite a bit from our walk through the teleportation circle to Vairo," Reivyn said with a nod. "Let's hope it works."

"Don't jinx it," Kefira said, slapping Reivyn on the shoulder playfully.

She turned to face the woods in the distance and concentrated for a bit. She had a slight frown on her face as she searched for the proper method to combine what she knew she was capable of with the possibilities she had discovered with her research. Reivyn watched her, the wind gently blowing her clothes and hair about. Serilla kept an eye on the surroundings out of habit. She knew that Reivyn could see everything in a large radius, but old habits died hard, and it wasn't necessarily a bad habit in the first place. They wouldn't always be with Reivyn.

After several minutes, a light split the air in front of Kefira. She didn't react to it as she was still focused on the Mana involved. Her sight was seeing something different. Reivyn inspected the light with curiosity. It grew in size until it was several inches taller than him and reached the ground. With a slight sighing sound, the light expanded into a rent in reality, and Reivyn could see some of the trees from the distant forest right in front of him. He could reach his hand through and run his hands along the bark of the closest tree if he wanted to.

"Let's go," Reivyn said to Serilla. "We don't know if her stepping through will alter her hold on the Spell or not."

Serilla nodded and didn't argue with him. They took quick steps forward and they were suddenly several miles away next to the distant forest. Kefira had come out of her concentrated state after succeeding and she followed after them immediately.

"Is there anything different about holding the Spell once you stepped through?" Reivyn asked.

"A bit," Kefira answered. "It's hard to explain, but it's like a shift in perspective. Imagine holding a ball in one hand and looking at it then switching hands and looking at it from the other side. It's not any more difficult to hold the ball in the other hand, and switching hands isn't much of a chore either. It's not like I had to juggle it to get it over."

"Ok, sounds good."

Kefira let go of the Spell and the trio made their way into the woods. According to the map, the woods on this side was only a couple of miles across, so they didn't expect to spend too much time crossing it. on the other side was another plain of rolling hills. Once they moved a bit further away, they would be able to teleport up to a larger hill, not quite a mountain, and the hope was that Kefira was powerful enough with the new method to move from hill to hill to avoid all the obstacles in the way.

The birds chirped, and the squirrels scurried. There were no monsters or beasts this close to the city of Piori usually, and they had been further dispersed due to the activity of the military in the region. Reivyn didn't know how the enemies handled the monsters and beasts on their side of the lines, but he assumed it wasn't much different than how they did it. It was more important to keep any roving bands of monsters away than to exterminate them for Experience. It could be a fatal mistake to be set upon by a horde of monsters while amid pitched combat.

The journey through the forest was uneventful. Any other time, Reivyn would admire the beauty of the open world, but they were focused on getting to their destination as quickly as possible. The trio exited the treeline and climbed another short hill, and Kefira once more performed her trick of making a doorway to their destination in the distance. She was able to accomplish the task several seconds quicker than the first time.

The first destination, one of the minor camps, wasn't too far away. It was almost like a depot between the major camps, but it had more people than a simple supply depot usually would. There were enough soldiers to hold part of the line and communicate to the major camps in case of an enemy advance, but because they were so far away from any habitation or decent, defensible terrain, it wasn't strategically important other than preventing a flanking maneuver.

All of the soldiers, aside from a few individuals in the outposts, were present in the small fort that had been constructed. Reivyn guessed that there were a few thousand soldiers. Leaving some at the outpost was a risk they were going to have to take. It was still more important to prevent the enemy from sneaking by than rooting out the spies at this point.

They flashed the badge Prince Allik had given them and entered the fort. None of the soldiers knew that they were there for any kind of inspection, not even the commanding officer. He wasn't anywhere to be seen to greet them, but Reivyn didn't mind. He didn't need the man's cooperation to accomplish his task. The badge given to them prevented the guards from inquiring too deeply into their business, too.

The three simply walked through the camp. The fort wasn't huge, and they chose a route that would allow Reivyn to see everyone within the confines of the palisade. He didn't spot any spies among the companies, but as soon as he was in range of the headquarters building, he spotted one of the manservants with the tell-tale signs of a skin-mask. He focused his attention to verify the discovery.

He shared a glance with Kefira and Serilla to get their attention. He motioned for them to lean over.

"Target spotted," he whispered. He didn't point. He motioned with his eyes toward the man walking in the distance. "That manservant over there has a skin-mask on. Let's approach casually, and once I'm in range, I'll take him out. Be prepared to lock the space down, just in case."

The two girls nodded, and they subtly shifted the direction they were walking to intercept the manservant. Reivyn watched as the man went about his business almost completely unnoticed by the soldiers around him. It wasn't a terrible idea to infiltrate the servants. Most of the soldiers and officers ignored them almost entirely, and they wouldn't have too many interactions with important people to give away their presence.

Reivyn didn't alter his pace, and their new path led him to walk directly behind the man. He pretended to be just another soldier that was oblivious to the man's presence. The manservant gave him a look out of the corner of his eye, most likely annoyed that someone was walking so close that he would almost collide with him, but he took one quick step to avoid being run over by Reivyn. Reivyn could see the man roll his eyes.

It was at this moment that he struck. He had been accumulating his Mana surreptitiously as they walked, and he suddenly condensed it into a dagger in his hand. He imbued the Mana Weapon Skill with several different Affinities: Sharpness, Metal, and a touch of Eternal. He didn't know what kind of countermeasures the man had, and he didn't want something to block the Mana dagger from reaching its mark.

He struck lightning quick. He felt a bit of resistance, and the manservant began to leap forward, likely warned by either Danger Sense or a similar Skill. It was too little too late, though, and Reivyn powered through the slight resistance. The dagger plunged through the man's back and pierced his heart. Reivyn stepped forward and brought his hand around the man's head to cover his mouth to prevent him from screaming.

The action wasn't covert to those walking around at all, and an alarm immediately went up. Reivyn hadn't covered the man's mouth to prevent him from alerting other people to the situation at hand. He was mainly getting his hand in place to remove the skin-mask as quickly as possible to avoid being accused of murdering some random person, and he was partly practicing for a more stealthy attack.

[Skill Leveled Up!]

[Assassination: (1 ->3)]

Reivyn dug his fingers deep into the skin-mask and violently ripped it off the man's face. There was no time for subtlety. A group of armed soldiers was already formed up and rushing to the scene.

Reivyn propped the corpse of the spy up with his hand and turned the man's head to display the prominent "3" brand mark on the man's forehead. The soldiers running up about to scream orders at Reivyn with their weapons drawn came to a halt. It took them a second to understand what they were seeing, but they didn't immediately back down or put their weapons away.

"Stay here until an officer gets here to question you," the patrol leader ordered Reivyn.

"You have one minute," Reivyn said, once more flashing the badge given by Prince Allik. "I'm on official business and have places to be."

The patrol leader gulped at the display of the badge, but he didn't back down. He motioned for one of the soldiers to run off and hurry the officer up. He wasn't confident he would be able to keep Reivyn and the two girls with him in place, but Reivyn displayed a cooperative attitude despite the time limit and he would be able to get at least a few answers from him.

An officer ran up, huffing and puffing with sweat rolling down his face. It wasn't the act of killing a manservant that had spurred the man into a sprint to get to Reivyn on time, but the presence of an Imperial Family badge.

"What's the issue?" The officer asked, looking back and forth between Reivyn and the patrolling soldiers.

The patrol officer lifted his hand to indicate the corpse still being held up by Reivyn, and the officer took a closer look at the man's face, finally noticing the brand mark.

"I'm the prince's counterintelligence officer," Reivyn said. It wasn't strictly a lie, either. He was conducting a counterintelligence operation, and he was an officer. He wouldn't worry about the little details, like an official appointment. "We've done a thorough investigation of the camp, and this is the only spy present. I have orders to kill them on sight.

"We don't know if they're going to try and replace the spies we're rooting out. Keep an eye on your people, especially the civilian staff."

"Ok~ay..." The officer said. He was obviously a bit out of his element as he tried to parse all of the information. The badge had the legitimate Mana marker of the Imperial Family, but this was the first time he had encountered a situation like this. "Alright. Bring that dead man with you, and we're going to report to the camp commander."

"No," Reivyn said. He let the dead spy drop to the ground as he turned and started walking off with Kefira and Serilla in tow. "I have places to be. You clean up the mess, I don't have time to mess with it."

"Now hold on a second," the officer stepped forward.

Reivyn paused and leveled a severe gaze at the man.

"No, you hold on, lieutenant," Reivyn snapped back. "I'm under direct orders from Prince Allik. You and the other officers stationed here are perfectly capable of further investigating this matter on your own. Nobody is going to be blamed for the infiltration of these spies, so none of you have to worry about that. Just keep an eye on your people, and handle this on your own. Bye."

Reivyn strode off as the lieutenant spluttered in place. Reivyn didn't care about the man or the report he wanted to give the camp commander. They turned a corner of a building, and Reivyn gave Kefira a suggestive look. Kefira reached out and grabbed Reivyn and Serilla by the wrist, and they jumped out of the fort, back to a place several hundred yards away where they had approached from.

"Alright, let's move on to the next camp," Reivyn said, smiling at Kefira.

Kefira gave him a weird look, but she shook her head and turned in the direction they needed to head. Shortly after, the trio was once more stepping through a door in reality several miles away to continue their journey.

Hmm, I'm getting a little too used to taking other people's lives, Reivyn thought. I wouldn't have even noticed anything if Kefira hadn't given me that strange look. This is definitely something to meditate on, later.

---

The rest of the journey to the camps was made in the same manner. Kefira would make doors to walk across anywhere from a few to dozens of miles at a time, they would travel through or around any obstacles Kefira couldn't teleport them past, and then they would approach a fort with the badge for easy access.

Each of the minor camps held one undercover spy, each. They were always a member of the servant staff, and each assassination of a spy brought in a quick response from the local soldiers. Reivyn had to commend them for their swift response time each time. Even though they normally completely ignored the maids and manservants that were constantly walking about the camps, it wasn't to the point that they wouldn't see a blatant murder in the midst of them.

They successfully avoided getting entangled by any of the soldiers or officers, other than giving them a short response about the spies and his mission, and the morning went by quickly.

The major camps were a bit of a different story. They weren't forts constructed in the wilderness. They were always located in a town or city, though none were as large as Piori. Most of the time spent on the mission was actually moving about each of the camps to cover the entire area with Reivyn's Divine Sense.

The major camps had spies located in each of the barracks, and Reivyn spent a little more time explaining his purpose to an officer at each company to gain unfettered access to the individual barracks. With the badge and story, Reivyn was able to quickly get in and out to take care of the spies.

It was an hour after noon by the time they wrapped up the final minor camp at the very edge of the front lines. They had enjoyed a quick meal at the last town, so they didn't need to take a break after completing this portion of their mission, though there wouldn't be enough time to make it to the camps on the other, larger side of the line.

"Well, that didn't take as long as I feared," Reivyn said, looking at Kefira as they walked at a more leisurely pace through a stretch of forest. "I've also been thinking about what you're worried about."

"Oh? And what am I worried about?" Kefira asked. She brushed some of her hair out of her face behind her ear as she looked at Reivyn.

"You're worried that I killed those people too easily," Reivyn responded. Kefira didn't say anything, yet. She kept looking at Reivyn, waiting for him to continue. "Not in the execution of the attacks, of course. You're worried that I didn't have any emotional response to it. I think I might have figured some of it out."

"Oh yeah? I'm glad you noticed without me having to say anything," Kefira said.

Reivyn cleared his throat in embarrassment.

"Well, to be honest, I only noticed because of the look you gave me. Anyway, I think it has something to do with my time trapped in the space between Realms. I was in a coma for most of it, and I experienced several different, brutal lives in my mind. My soul was influenced by the Abyss. I don't know how, but the System prompted me that I was 'in balance,' so I never thought anything about it.

"I think I've finally realized some of the after-effects of the influence."