“I’m afraid you don’t understand the stakes of this particular situation.” Anand pressed the dagger against the man’s cheek. “Do you understand now?”

  Tears came to the elf’s eyes, and he nodded. Anand slowly took his hand off the elf’s mouth, and a few shattered breaths came from him.

  “What the hell do you want?” the elf asked.

  “Information.”

  “Information on what?”

  “Absolutely everything you have.”

  Nathan watched as Anand systematically learned everything he could about both elven culture and the current political situation. Nathan was a little confused—wasn’t Anand supposed to be an expert spymaster? This felt a bit on the nose. But then again, it was certainly more efficient than Nathan’s plan of just hanging out and waiting until they received answers.

  By the end of it, they discovered several things. For one, the popular support for Fliel was almost nil among the general populace. Fliel was seen as a usurper, not only corrupt but also illegitimate. The only reason he held onto his power was that he had an extremely loyal and powerful army. Without that, there would have already been rebellions.

  Second, the whole regime was exceptionally corrupt. Everyone was embezzling. If you were involved with the government, you were skimming a little off the top. Fliel made sure that anybody who went too far over the line was punished, but he knew that if he cracked down too hard, they would leave, and he would be left without a bureaucracy.

  It was an odd situation. Fliel had all the power in theory, but even he was afraid of upsetting the people who ensured that taxes were distributed and the city kept running.

  There were a few other aspects of elven culture that Nathan learned. For example, you were apparently supposed to greet people higher in class with a specific set of words, and they were supposed to do the same for those lower in class. It was a very bizarre, ritualistic society.

  But that wasn’t what interested Nathan.

  What interested Nathan, and the part that Anand had interrogated the man about the most, was the minister of finance.

  Not only was he embezzling, but he had apparently been sleeping with every other minister’s wife, daughter, or niece.

  Basically, the man was a massive sex pest.

  The reason Fliel hadn’t gotten rid of him was that all of this was alleged. He had allegedly seduced the minister of war’s wife. He had allegedly slept with someone two hundred years his junior. He had allegedly tried to seduce Emi but failed.

  Nathan found himself somewhat glad that Emi had apparently had the intelligence to not fall for someone who seemed like an utter weasel.

  After collecting this last bit of information, Anand slammed the side of his palm against the man’s neck, and he collapsed to the ground in a heap.

  Nathan reached up and scratched his temple. “What now?”

  “I want to find out more about this minister of finance. Let’s see if we can learn a thing or two from him.”

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  They exited the tavern and started walking off. Nathan momentarily thought about asking Anand where the minister of finance was, remembering that Anand had asked about him at some point in the conversation. The sun was beginning to set, casting shadows across the marble walls and buildings.

  “What exactly are you planning?” Nathan said.

  “Simple. I doubt it’ll be much, but I’m going to try to see if we can expose this man. If we can get Fliel’s people fighting among each other, that should strengthen Emi’s position.”

  Nathan really hoped that Emi wouldn’t mind the fact that he hadn’t told her this plan. It would be an exceptionally awkward conversation if she revealed that she actually didn’t want him to do this. In retrospect, he maybe could’ve shot Emi a DM first? But then again, hindsight was 20/20.

  Before long, they came across a veritable mansion. Marble pillars held up a Greek-style roof. There was no door, only two guardsmen on the outside. Anand’s eagle eyes scanned the sides of the building for something. His gaze paused on a window.

  “With me,” Anand said.

  Nathan crept silently behind Anand, behind a wall and in the darkness. Once they were underneath the window, Anand simply leaped up and gripped the edges with his fingertips. He peeked his head over and then threw himself through the window. Nathan jumped up, the motion as easy as breathing. He tossed himself through and landed with a thud.

  Papers lined a desk, while various writing implements were scattered all over the ground. There was a massive ink stain on the floor and a quill off to the side of the desk.

  “This must be where the man does his work from home,” Nathan muttered. “I suppose COVID hit the elves hard.”

  Anand looked back at him with squinted eyes. “What?”

  “Sorry, bad joke. Ignore me.”

  Truth be told, Nathan was still unsure how they’d be able to do anything. Surely this minister, given how long he’d been doing this, would be hiding his tracks successfully. It wasn’t like the man had left evidence lying around, right? Even if he did, who would they give the evidence to that would believe them?

  Suddenly, a light giggle echoed through the halls.

  “You know that my husband will kill you if he finds out about this,” a woman said.

  Nathan resisted the urge to slam his palm into his face.

  “He won’t. Besides, what can he do? The old man is as infirm as a plant.”

  Nathan and Anand pressed themselves to the wall. Footsteps approached through the halls and passed the study. The heavier set of footsteps stopped.

  “What is it?” the woman said.

  “Now that I think about it, there’s some work that I need to take care of.”

  A long sigh came out of the woman’s mouth. “You know how rare this time is. Do you really want to waste it doing work?”

  There was a pause. Nathan’s heart started to hammer in his chest. Sure, the guards represented physical danger, but this little plan would completely fall apart if he walked in.

  “I suppose you’re right,” the man said.

  The footsteps continued, fading against the marble floor. Nathan waited until they were gone and then hurried over to Anand.

  “That was⁠—”

  “That was almost certainly him. I’m aware.”

  “They’re about to…” Nathan rubbed his forehead. “You know.”

  “Yes, they are. And I have the perfect way of causing them pain.” Anand swiped up, revealing his system menu. “Do you remember that you can record videos for DMs?”

  Nathan’s face contorted. “I am not about to walk in there and record a video of them.”

  “You won’t.” Anand wiggled his eyebrows. “But I will.”

  Nathan watched with horror as Anand exited the door and followed the couple through the doorway.

  What…?

  Nathan was not voyeuristic enough to follow Anand. Instead, he waited in the study. Thankfully, it seemed that the room was soundproof enough that Nathan didn’t have to worry about hearing anything unusual. After ten minutes had passed, Anand came back through the door, a distinct expression of disgust on his face.

  “That bad?” Nathan said.

  “Elves are degenerates.” Anand gagged before he rapidly shook his head. “I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting, but, well, it certainly wasn’t that.”

  “It’s at least incriminating?” Nathan said.

  “They only mentioned her husband about twenty times. I think that’s pretty damn incriminating.”

  Nathan was very glad he had a spymaster who would do these things for him.

  They both crawled outside the window and dropped to the ground, absorbing the impact with bent knees. Nathan was about to stand up to his full height when Anand suddenly grabbed his collar and pulled him down.

  “Hey, what was that for⁠—?”

  “Listen,” Anand hissed.

  Nathan furrowed his eyebrows, but then did as he was told.

  Footsteps. Armored footsteps. People… marching?

  They peeked over a bush that was giving them some cover. The entire city had been lit up. There were guardsmen on the roofs, patrols on the streets; it was as if they were about to go to war. And yet, that made no sense—why would they be patrolling and putting guards on the roofs?

  Anand frowned. “I think they figured out that we’re not a bunch of rowdy peasants. Someone must’ve somehow put the dots together and figured out that we’re foreign spies. Even so, this is a disproportionate reaction. I’ve never seen this before.”

  “Fliel struck me as a paranoid type of person. And if his power base is this weak, I can see him reacting this way.”

  “We could try to wait it out, but I don’t fancy our chances. Or we could fight our way out, but if our little disguises fall apart…”

  “That would be very bad for diplomatic relations.”

  “Yes. The foreign ruler of a nation spying on another nation. In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have brought you with me.”

  “No, because this is where I can help us get out. I’m no good with this espionage and sabotage crap, but if you need somebody to get you out of a rough spot, then I’m your man.”

  Anand gave a nod, then turned his attention back toward the patrols marching along the streets. “Still, this is going to be tricky. Every second we wait here, the chances rise that they bring in some sort of tracker or somebody with some sort of spell—if they haven’t already. We need to get out of here.”

  Nathan looked across the part of the city he could see, and nothing seemed to be appearing. There were multiple dark spots, but they felt so obvious that he was getting extremely bad vibes from them. He had learned to trust his instincts in his time in the circles, so there was something. Upon closer inspection, he noticed glints of light—metal—waiting in the alleyways. It was a trap.

  The routes were no better. People lined them all over, constantly scanning for any escapees.

  Nathan was tempted to try tunneling, but that was extremely loud. And who knew how advanced this town was? There was a good chance of defenses, even underground.

  “We’ve gotten this far in disguises,” Nathan said. “What if we continue to do that?”

  “I think they’ll be a little hesitant about the fact that there are two random farmers out in the middle of the street. We’re gonna get questioned⁠—”

  “No, I mean, like, beat up those two guards over there, take their armor, and go through?”

  “Oh. Yeah. That’s a good idea.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be a spymaster?”

  “I mean—” Anand scratched his cheek. “Honestly, I was never really good at fieldwork. Come to think of it, I think most of the people in that desert kingdom probably knew that I was a spy.”

  Nathan squinted his eyes. “Remind me again why we gave you a job?”

  “Hey, I deliver results.”

  Nathan sighed and looked over at the guards. For a second, he considered running over there before he thought better of it. Instead, he gave a sharp, yet low whistle.

  The two elves perked up and looked over in his direction. Luckily, the bush and the darkness made it hard for them to see.

  At least Nathan hoped so. It would suck if it turned out that elves actually had dark vision or something.

  He probably should’ve checked that first. Had anyone ever mentioned anything about that? He couldn’t remember; it had been ages since the First Circle.

  Praying that he was correct, he ducked behind the bush and waited for the sound of them to get closer.

  “I’ll take the one on the left, you take the one on the right,” he whispered.

  Anand nodded. “Understood.”

  The footsteps got closer.

  Closer.

  Nathan jumped forward and swung around the man, using the man’s neck as a pivot point. He did a rough approximation of the choke grip that he’d seen in various movies and TV shows. Careful to apply enough pressure to subdue but not enough to kill, he continued to wait until the man stopped moving. He released his grip, and the elf slumped to the ground.

  Anand had just finished with his own guard and dropped the man.

  “And now we have to strip them,” Anand said.

  “I’m beginning to think that you’re some kind of pervert, Anand.”

  Anand stared at Nathan with a blank look.

  “First,” Nathan said. “You have no compunctions about taking a video of… that, and now you’re happily stripping two people that you just knocked out.”

  “You are completely misinterpreting things.”

  “Hey, I’m just repeating back what I’m seeing.”

  “Then unsee it. Erase it from your mind.”

  The sound of metal boots in the distance made them both pause.

  “We should probably hurry up,” Nathan said.

  “Probably.”

  Soon enough, the men had been stripped down to their undertunics. Thankfully, there’d been no reason to remove those. Instead, just the gambeson and armor.

  “I feel like this is our go-to solution for most things,” Nathan said. “I think I’ve done this like… two or three times now?”

  “How effective is it in your experience?” Anand said. “I find that it has about a fifty-fifty chance of working.”

  “I honestly can’t remember.”

  “That’s not worrying at all.”

  The two watched patrols march by in the distance. Once they had a general idea of how the elves walked, they both stood up and started marching forward. They made their way through the streets until they came across the first group. The woman at the head of the group gave Nathan a quick side-eye but didn’t do anything else. Nathan let out a sigh of relief, and they continued walking. It was much like this for every other group they passed. They would receive a quick glance, but it seemed that their impression was good enough that everyone was fooled.

  Nathan had almost believed that they would be able to walk out without any issue whatsoever when a voice stopped him cold.

  “You two. How goes the search?”

  Nathan’s eyes mechanically tilted to the right, where a familiar figure in gleaming armor stood.

  It was Fliel. Fliel, of all people. At all times, in all places.

  Chapter Fifty

  Nathan nearly slammed his jaw shut. Fliel continued to stare at him.

  Nathan had taken out B32, right? Last time he checked, wasn’t B32 the cause of every bad thing that ever happened? Was this luck seriously so awful?

  “Soldier?”

  Oh yeah, Nathan was wearing a guard outfit. Play it by ear, play it by ear…

  “Nothing to report, sir,” Nathan said.

  Fliel strode forward and crossed his arms. “We need them captured alive, remember? And we need to dispel whatever disguise they’re using. I want to know who the hell they are. I can almost guarantee it’s one of those humans. The question is, who, specifically, is it?”

  Nathan licked his lips. “What will you do differently depending on the human?”

  “Well, if it’s just one of those random people, then I’ll outlaw them and probably try to hunt them down. If it’s who I think it is—that Nathan brat⁠—”

  Brat? I’m in my twenties!

  “—then we’ll need to take more strict measures.”

  Nathan mentally rolled his eyes. He was extremely doubtful that there was anything Fliel could do to him. At most, his discovery would mean that the plan to sabotage Fliel might be uncovered. Which would suck—a lot—but it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

  “Like what?” Nathan said.

  Fliel paused. “I have my ways.”

  Nathan suppressed the urge to snort. He was pretty sure that in a no-holds-barred fight, he could pulverize Fliel. In fact, he briefly considered doing just that until he realized the political instability created by such an action would probably not be a good move.

  Then again, Nathan had just participated in an attempt to smear the minister of finance to allow Emi to seize power. So maybe…?

  Unfortunately, common sense won out in the end, and Nathan decided not to blow Fliel to pieces on the spot. Besides, if anyone ever found out he was responsible for that, there was no way humans and elves would ever get along.

  “Soldier?” a voice said. “Soldier, speak.”

  Nathan snapped his head back up to face the speaker. Fliel was staring at him with a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

  “How dare you ignore me like this? What’s your name?”

  Oh shoot. Oh no. What was the name of that guy they’d interrogated? Nathan couldn’t remember!

  “My name? Well, it’s… that is to say…”

  Nathan frantically grappled inside his mind for something, anything.

  “Truffles. My name is Truffles.”

  Fliel blinked. He squeezed his eyes hard and pressed them into a squint. Nobody moved; nobody even breathed.

  Anand reached up and slapped his palm against his forehead.

  “I think you should come back to the keep for questioning,” Fliel said.

  Oh, well. Cover blown.

  Nathan grabbed Anand’s collar and broke off in a dead sprint.

  A guard tried to intercept them, only for Nathan to backhand the elf, who flew out and slammed into a wall.

  Anand set his foot down hard and started running alongside Nathan. “That worked great.”

  Nathan rolled his eyes. Ahead, guards were already organizing some sort of shield wall. A green, flickering barrier suddenly appeared in front of them. Nathan jumped into the air and reached for his fishing rod in his inventory before pausing, realizing it would be a dead giveaway as to who he was. Instead, he drew his fist back and punched as hard as he could through the barrier. He wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting, but for it to absorb the blow like a sponge was outside his expectations.

  Unable to do anything, he slammed into the barrier and tumbled toward the ground. His body hit the hard marble floor, and he winced as pain rushed through him.

  Behind him were Fliel and several guardsmen. In front of him, a shield wall with a seemingly impenetrable defense.

 

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