Chapter 192 - See no Evil (Patreon)

The sun bore down on the trio as they walked through the gates of Piori. After the rain stopped, the weather cleared completely. There wasn't a single cloud remaining in the sky, and there was no breeze. The evaporating moisture in the hot sun made the three hot and sticky with sweat, as if they were walking through a sauna.

It wasn't particularly hot, but the humidity from the lingering moisture amplified the effects. Reivyn swiped the sweat from his brow. It would be possible to use his Mana to create his own, personal little breeze, but he felt it wasn't necessary. He could gain some marginal points in his Skills, but then he wouldn't acclimate himself to the local temperature.

"You and Serilla can just head straight back to the barracks," Reivyn said. He eyed Kefira up and down. "I'm sure you want to take a bath and get changed. I know I do."

"Sure," Kefira agreed, nodding her head. "Just be careful."

Reivyn gave her a quick peck on the cheek, but he refrained from giving her a hug. It was too hot and muggy to be sharing body heat. He turned back toward the main road and continued his way toward the headquarters building as Kefira and Serilla turned toward their barracks.

Just gotta act normal, Reivyn thought. The prime suspects for the spy who revealed our information are Prince Allik, Prince Endrew, and Prince Allik's retainer. It could also be a combination of the three.

The three of them had brainstormed their ideas on who the culprit could have been based on the context of the situation. Only the two princes and the retainer knew about Kefira's teleporting abilities. None of the other officers knew, and Reivyn knew through his Divine Sense that there hadn't been anyone close enough to eavesdrop on their conversations when they had discussed it.

The other possibility was a listening device or intercepting magical communications, but nobody had noticed any tell-tale signs of Mana that were usually associated with the operation of such a device.

Unless it has the ability to record without transmitting, Reivyn thought. If it's just absorbing the sounds passively and needs someone to activate it to transmit it later, it might be able to mask its operation.

That was the hoped for conclusion, but even if it was the case, there was no reason to not treat the three as if they were traitors. For now, that only entailed acting like Reivyn didn't suspect anything.

The operation to root out the spies had already been completed, and they had arrived back in Piori safely. There was no big secret that needed to be kept that Reivyn was aware of, anymore, so it shouldn't be a problem to just act like normal.

Reivyn didn't have a whole lot of opportunities to observe the prince or his retainer. He wasn't part of the inner circle of officers, and his role wasn't one of strategy. The only reason he interacted with the prince so much recently was all due to the special circumstances involving his ability to discover the spies.

I'll just have to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity when the enemy finally engages, Reivyn thought. There's really not a whole lot more I can do right now.

It wasn't like he could confide his suspicions to anyone, least of all the three prime suspects. It was a problem that those three were the top brass of the military, and if it turned out to be one of them, it could potentially lead to disaster.

Once I get back from this meeting, I'll have to assemble the officers and start planning our exit strategy.

It wasn't long before Reivyn arrived at the headquarters building once more. The guards simply waved him through after recognizing him, and he made his way to the second floor.

The retainer was standing guard outside the prince's office, and his Divine Sense was unable to penetrate into the office. It was like there was a black hole inside Reivyn's perception.

Reivyn stifled a frown as he saw the man in his Divine Sense, but he mastered his facial expression and simply walked up to him. It was unusual for the man to not be stationed at his own desk in the room next door. He had never seen him standing in front of the office.

"My liege is currently in a meeting with his master," the retainer said to Reivyn.

"His 'master?'" Reivyn quirked an eyebrow.

"His tutor, if you will," the retainer shrugged. "The prince is his official disciple, and he teaches and mentors the prince on everything."

"Everything, you say? Like the military situation?"

"Of course. Master Guillin is a trusted subordinate of the crown. He has access to all of the intelligence any of the princes do. Prince Allik has been conversing with him more and more as the war drags on."

"I see," Reivyn said, nodding his head. "I'll just wait out here until he's done."

Great, another suspect, he thought. And this one we know even less about. If Prince Allik has been confiding everything to the man and he has access to all intelligence, then he's in a perfect position to be a spy. It doesn't even have to be his actual mentor if the enemy could intercept the communication devices mid-way.

This new information added another thread in the tangled web of intrigue.

Reivyn patiently waited outside the office. He didn't slouch or lean up against the wall. He simply stood at ease nearby. He was unable to eavesdrop on the conversation the prince was having through his Divine Sense. It was the first time he had experienced anything able to block his Skill.

There must be some sort of high-Tier device used to block everything outside, Reivyn contemplated. If it was just the Skill of the prince, I don't think he would be strong enough to block my Skill. I imagine as my Skill Level increases in the future, these types of barriers will also be useless in front of me.

Reivyn waited for close to half an hour before the barrier suddenly disappeared. One second there was a gaping hole within the radius of Reivyn's perception, the next he could see the prince closing a drawer in his desk.

Reivyn didn't react to the removal of the barrier. If he showed that he had noticed it, it could be assumed that he simply noticed the ambient Mana change, but there was no reason to get anyone's suspicions up about his abilities.

The retainer's head snapped up as if he had heard a sound, and he turned and faced Reivyn.

"The prince will see you now," he said.

Reivyn casually strolled through the door the retainer opened for him. He didn't question how the retainer knew to send him in. He had obviously received a message, but there had been no tell-tale sign of Mana to disclose it.

Forget it. He might just have incredibly high Perception to be able to hear a command from within. Not everything has to be magical.

Reivyn marched up to the desk and stood at attention. He offered a salute.

"Captain Reivyn, reporting as ordered, sir."

"At ease," the prince dismissed the salute. "Have a seat."

"Thank you, sir."

The prince waited for Reivyn to take his seat before getting on with business.

"So, how did it go?"

"About as we expected," Reivyn said. "There was one spy in each of the minor camps, and there were spies attached to each of the individual barracks' and headquarters buildings in the major camps. A few slipped away like they did here, but overall, I'd say we got 85 to 90%."

"Excellent. It seems that the inclement weather didn't stall you enough to allow for more of the spies to get away. I got a report that you had been ambushed on your way back, so I had suspected that they may have contacted them ahead of time."

"It's more likely that we moved so fast that they couldn't get in place before we made our way north," Reivyn said. "It makes the most sense that the first batch of spies that left Piori revealed some information, and when they lost contact with the spies to the south and west, they extrapolated our plan."

"I'm sure it's something like that," Prince Allik said. "At this point, it doesn't matter that much. The infestation has been dealt with, and you and Kefira have returned safe and sound."

"Yes, sir. Did you get any reports about the camps looking for more assassins, yet?"

"Not yet," Prince Allik shook his head. "I'll get them either tonight or early in the morning. I'll be sure to bring it up at the staff meeting in the morning, so you'll learn about it then."

"Sounds good," Reivyn said. "I just wanted to know if my information allowed the camps to catch any of the enemy soldiers or not."

"It was a good idea to report it and not go looking for them yourself. Based on the report, I'm sure you could have handled yourself as long as you ran into individual groups, but you never know."

"Plus it gave them something to do," Reivyn said with a chuckle. "We all know what it's like to just wait around and twiddle our thumbs all day, everyday."

"If that isn't the truth," Prince Allik snorted. "Alright, I know you're eager to get back to your men and get some rest. You're dismissed."

Reivyn stood up, came to attention, and threw another salute.

"Yes, sir!"

He did an about-face and left the office. The retainer was no longer guarding outside the room, and he could see him poring over some paperwork at his desk in the office next door through his Divine Sense.

Reivyn made his way back to the barracks his mercenary company had occupied. He kept his Divine Sense strained as far as he could. He was no longer looking for additional spies with skin-masks, but if one of the three people he suspected was a spy, who was to say there weren't more without brands or skin-masks?

Everyone was a suspect at this point, and if he could catch someone paying unusual attention to him, then he might be able to find a breakthrough point.

People paying unusual attention...? Reivyn thought. That guy at the tavern the other day! He might be a spy. Crud, I missed an opportunity!

Reivyn mentally kicked himself, but there wasn't anything he could do about it now. Sure, he could go with Kefira on another jaunt with her abilities, but that would be a crime at this point. He wasn't allowed to just up and leave his duties, and he couldn't inform the prince about it, either, lest he was a spy and Reivyn tipped his hand.

What a mess.

Reivyn nodded to the guards at the gate to the barracks, and he immediately summoned the officers to the headquarters building for a meeting. Kefira and Serilla were still washing up, and Reivyn had to master his Divine Sense Skill like never before to not intrude on their privacy.

It hadn't been a problem before because Reivyn hadn't been specifically paying attention to it. It had gone into his perception and filtered into his subconscious each time previously, so he had never considered the issue. This time he had scanned the surroundings deliberately to find everyone, having assumed Kefira and Serilla would have already ben finished with their bath.

Now that he had noticed them, it was like his mind was trying to focus his full attention on them. It was like trying to convince himself not to think about something. The harder he tried not to think about it, the more he thought about it.

Reivyn was sitting down with his head in his hands, sweat pouring down his face as he struggled to keep his mind to himself when his father walked in and patted him on the shoulder.

"What's wrong, Reivyn?" Refix asked.

Reivyn sprang to his feet, grabbed his father by the hand, and dragged him outside.

"Sparring! Now!" Reivyn shouted.

He sprinted out of the building until he could no longer sense even a fraction of an inch beyond the headquarters building and turned to face his father who had followed after him.

"Don't you want to take a break and relax, first?" Refix asked, confusion on his face.

"No time! Need to spar!"

Reivyn drew his sword, his real sword, and launched himself at his father. Refix pulled his own sword and summoned his ethereal arsenal after sensing Reivyn's urgency.

Reivyn infused his body and weapons with his Affinities and created another Mana Weapon in his free-hand. He and Refix met together and a furious assault from both parties ensued.

Reviyn pushed himself harder than he had in a long time, so hard that he literally couldn't focus on anything other than the match in front of him. Refix rebuffed him as usual, but Reivyn could see that his father was actually beginning to struggle a bit to hold him off.

Even with the ethereal arsenal in play, Reivyn was able to dodge, weave, parry, and counterattack to an extent that Refix was never able to get the initiative. It wasn't enough to put him on the backfoot, but it was enough that Reivyn wasn't in danger of getting overwhelmed.

Time seemed to disappear, and the the sounds of furious combat filled the compound. Reivyn was in a world of his own, unable to allow anything into his focus other than the intimidating man standing opposite him.

The sparring match reached a crescendo, and the two used everything they had to try and overthrow the other. A loud crack filled the yard as Refix's sword was knocked aside and Reivyn's Mana Weapon swooped in to rest against his throat.

Reivyn came out of his trance at the sudden end of their bout. He turned his head and looked at the blade of the ethereal axe resting against the side of his own neck. He looked back to Refix who had a huge grin on his face.

"I don't know what inspired such a sparring session, but I'm very proud of you!" Refix said with a hearty laugh. "You've finally managed to bring me to a draw!"

Reivyn's Mana Weapon and Refix's ethereal weapons dissolved into motes of Mana, and the two put their swords away. Reivyn's perception finally broke through his perception and he finally noticed the crowd surrounding them.

Kefira was the first person he saw, and he heaved a sigh of relief to find her out here, fully clothed. The rest of the mercenaries began to clap and cheer as the two ended their sparring session.

"Alright, show's over," Reivyn called. "All of the officers, meet me in the conference room. We have things to discuss."

Refix clapped Reivyn on the shoulder as the two walked to the headquarters building. The rest of the soldiers dispersed to go do their own thing, but Reivyn saw several of them go to the training grounds to attempt to learn some of the maneuvers they had seen in the sparring session. Reivyn nodded his head at that.

The officers broke away from the dispersing soldiers and made their way to the headquarters building. Kefira walked made her way over to walk with Reivyn, Serilla trailing behind as usual.

The officers found their seats in the conference room, and Reivyn turned to address them.

"Alright, Kefira, Serilla, and I managed to get rid of most of the spies, but we encountered an ambush on the way back," Reivyn started. "They knew to interrupt our teleporting abilities, though, and nobody but a few people should know that we had that ability.

"That means there is a high possibility that there are still spies in the city, and they're placed very high up."

The officers were disciplined enough to not break out into murmurs over the news. Reivyn let them digest the information, though, before he continued.

"There's not a lot we can do about it in our current situation, but we need to prepare for betrayal during a dangerous time. We need to come up with an exit strategy for the worst-case scenario."