Chapter 148
Chapter 148
Trust and Fraud (1)
I had to persuade Roderick through acting, and in the end drag out both the information Simid wanted and the information I wanted.
‘And then I had to remove him.’
I organized my thoughts while I kept reading the personal profile provided by Lunaseeker.
Nora cleared her throat and spoke in a low, grounded voice.
“Why did you leave the Intelligence Department only to try joining the Security Bureau?”
It was a question someone would realistically ask. And I had an answer prepared.
“I trained desperately, crossed over to the Republic, and then joined Lunaseeker. I worked hard, and now I’m hoping for compensation beyond that.”
I gave a bitter smile and looked at Nora.
“The Intelligence Department has a few people like me. It was hard to get the treatment I wanted.”
The file clearly stated that I had debt.
It wasn’t impossible to repay, but it was the kind of debt that required grinding myself down with brutal work.
Nora snickered and continued.
“So you abandon the organization you served just for that? Because you didn’t like the treatment?”
“Isn’t it only the difference between domestic counterintelligence and foreign intelligence? Even if the work is the same, I think the Security Bureau treats people better.”
Irena, who had been quietly listening, asked a question.
“Then why didn’t you contact the Security Bureau directly? Why come find someone who’s retired?”
That question also mattered. If I wanted to transfer to the Security Bureau, it made more sense to talk to an active officer rather than a retired one.
“Lord Roderick was someone I respected… and I do need to contact a Security Bureau branch, but I don’t know where it is.”
Irena made a small sound, almost like huh?
“If you say it like that, you’d only be able to learn about one branch.”
I stopped the mock interview and answered her.
“One is enough.”
I could find information about the others by infiltrating that branch. Simid Kellogg hadn’t asked me for the location of a specific branch anyway.
“The Security Bureau’s branches don’t know the locations of the other branches.”
I answered plainly.
“They must at least have a liaison office. They file reports, don’t they?”
The liaison office. A place that supervised about four to five Security Bureau branches.
And if I found that, I would have fulfilled Simid Kellogg’s request well enough.
“So you absolutely have to sneak in.”
If someone died or something was stolen, it wouldn’t take long before the Security Bureau went into emergency mode.
I tapped my sword.
“I was confident I could slip in unseen.”
With Flicker, I could break through any security device or reinforced bulkhead. I didn’t need to steal documents inside; I only needed to figure out the location of the liaison office where reports were sent.
And once I investigated the materials in that liaison office, I would be able to learn the locations of the branches connected to it.
‘That’d mean Simid Kellogg’s request is complete.’
The only problem was that I still had to obtain the information I wanted.
“They won’t tell me the branch location, sure. But I can probably get them to start rambling about old stories.”
I wasn’t asking them to reveal incredibly detailed information. I just needed something at the level of a grandpa telling a bedtime story to his grandchild.
‘That would be enough to give me a starting point.’
If I listened to the story, I might pick up on something, and then I could use that as a clue to begin the search for the Featherwing legacy.
“I’ve sorted out my plan, so let’s get going.”
Burfa, my destination, was a small village that didn’t have a train station.
So I’d have to get off at the nearest station, then find a car or something to reach Burfa.
“Once we get off at the station, I’ll go on my own from there.”
As soon as we boarded the train, I told Irena and Nora. If the three of us stuck together and someone took notice, and word got back to Roderick, things would get annoyingly complicated.
After several hours on the train, the moment we got off, Nora turned to Irena.
“Unni, I know how to drive. I’ll take us.”
Irena looked surprised at her.
“You?”
“What’s with that face?”
Lunaseeker trained us in all kinds of things, and driving was one of them. I was still a beginner, sure, but at least good enough to get us to our destination.
Well, at least I was pretty sure of that.
“Where are we going to get a car?”
At my question, Nora smirked and looked straight at my wallet.
“Damn you.”
“Oh, come on. You’ve got plenty of money.”
Even so, buying a car just to use once felt like a lot.
It wasn’t like picking up a snack off the street.
“We can buy a used one, drive it, and then sell it again as a used car.”
Didn’t change the fact that it was expensive.
But thinking about it, it wasn’t like we could just take a taxi, either.
In this situation, the less attention Nora and Irena drew, the better. In my case, using a taxi was fine.
“We’re being watched by Lunaseeker anyway. Just ask them to get us a car.”
At that, Nora smacked her own forehead.
“Oh, right.”
“Oh, right, my ass.”
I gave Nora a light scolding and waved my hand.
“See you later.”
We had already gone over who was responsible for what after I met Roderick, back when we were on the train. I trusted Nora and Irena. I only needed to focus on my own job.
After they parted ways, I immediately got in a taxi and headed for Burfa.
“We’ve arrived.”
“Thank you for the ride.”
I paid the fare and got out of the taxi. It was a long trip, and the cost was pretty steep, but…
‘Still cheaper than buying a car.’
While I was arriving in Burfa, Nora and Irena were on the move in the car Lunaseeker had provided.
“WAAAAAAAH! You damn—!”
“Huh. I thought I knew how to drive. Or maybe not? So then…”
Nora’s driving skills were... extraordinary. The car was somehow moving, but even as a joke, you couldn’t call it safe.
The engine stalled eight times, there were twenty-three sudden stops, and eight abrupt accelerations. Irena, caught between motion sickness and the fear of a traffic accident, barely made it to Burfa in one piece.
While Nora and Irena were nearing Burfa after that reckless ride, I was already face-to-face with Roderick.
Roderick’s residence was a modest two-story house with a yard. It had a red roof, and the plastered white walls around it left a strong impression.
He was watering the water hyacinths and hostas growing in his garden.
“So, who are you again?”
“Nicholas Eddington, from the Intelligence Department.”
Roderick set the watering can down and stared at me.
‘He won’t notice anything.’
What was hiding my face right now was Lunaseeker’s disguise. If I were using the Spring Parsley disguise I had worn before meeting Nora, there’d be a high chance of getting found out.
But with this one, I was confident I wouldn’t be exposed. Even I had to admit it was impressive.
“Right… So what would someone from the Intelligence Department want with an old has-been like me?”
He called himself a has-been, but Roderick wasn’t one. Just a glance told me he was still maintaining his training, and his body proved it.
“I’m thinking of switching over. From the Intelligence Department to the Security Bureau.”
At my words, Roderick chuckled.
“You fool. What good is it telling me that? I’ve already stepped away from the field.”
“I know. But I figured you might at least know where I could make contact.”
At that moment, the way Roderick looked at me changed.
“You said your name was Nicholas Eddington.”
“Yes. Currently working paperwork at the Republic’s Lunaseeker Agency.”
It was a common tactic used by the Intelligence Department, and one that had worked a few times before. Roderick didn’t know the details, but he was aware of it.
“You had success with the help of the Intelligence Department, so why not stay loyal to the organization?”
“There are a few more guys like me in there. We busted our asses to succeed, but the treatment’s been... lacking, let’s say.”
At Nicholas’s words, Roderick made a low sound in his throat.
“If someone jumps ship to another organization just because they want better treatment, the Security Bureau’s not going to trust them.”
“All I want is to be paid a bit more. I have my reasons.”
At that, Roderick responded immediately and firmly.
“Either way, that’s not something you should be asking me for.”
“I’m not asking you to transfer me into the Security Bureau. I just want to talk to them. All I need is the location of a branch.”
A dry laugh echoed in the air.
“You’re not getting it, are you? I’m saying I have no intention of telling you.”
“Then I’ll just have to make you open your mouth.”
At my words, the air around Roderick shifted.
“That sounds like a threat.”
“I’m sorry, but I’ve got my own desperate circumstances. And you’re the first step in solving them.”
Despite the sharp look in his eyes, I didn’t back down or apologize.
“I can be an asset to the Security Bureau. Just give me one branch location.”
The tension between our gazes felt like it could spark fire. I wasn’t going to back off—and neither was Roderick.
“Words clearly aren’t going to get through to you.”
“If I manage to convince you some other way, can I take that as a yes?”
By now, even Roderick seemed dumbfounded.
“You said you crossed over to the Republic and became a desk jockey at Lunaseeker?”
Roderick pulled a kitchen knife from his waistband.
‘So that’s the battle gear with the ridiculously long name.’
He was dressed in casual clothes and holding nothing but a kitchen knife. Normally, you’d never think he was ready to fight.
But I’d heard about the Azure Order of Knights’ fighting style from Irena. Given what I knew about them, this meant Roderick was already fully prepared for battle.
“A bit of arrogance is fine, but you should know better than to talk big in front of me.”
Instead of replying, I drew my blade. It wasn’t Flicker. Just a standard battle gear you could find in the Republic without much trouble.
Naturally, I couldn’t use Swift Blade or Hip Flask either. In this fight, to protect my identity, I had to seal away everything I’d used before.
‘Roderick probably thinks he’s going to win anyway.’
The outcome wouldn’t change—but through the process of getting there, I intended to convince him.
“I’ll be learning from you.”
“This’ll be over in an instant. Not much time to learn anything.”
In a flash, more than ten kitchen knives rushed toward my face. The blades weren’t literally multiplying.
‘They’re just that fast.’
A successful strike needs two things. First, the attack has to make contact.
And second, it has to be powerful enough to cause damage.
…
I barely managed to block two of the blades. The other eight landed on me.
I was left with minor scratches. But the two blades I had blocked had been aimed at vital points—wounds that could’ve been deadly, even if shallow.
“Ho…”
What to block, and what to ignore.
In the swarm of attacks, you had to prioritize in a split second. Death by a thousand cuts—dying from repeated blows to your vital points.
That was the swordsmanship of the Azure Order of Knights.