Chapter 77 – Betrayal (1)

In the silence, only the sound of bugs chirping quietly reverberates. Orion slowly reached his hand toward the hilt of his dagger.

Tuk-tuk, the memory of the body slowly begins to emerge from the familiar grip. I hadn’t dealt with anything in the shape of a human in the last few months, but the experience that had been imprinted on my body for decades had not rusted in just a few months.

“…… Leader, what did you just say?”
“I asked what would happen if I betrayed the great forest.”

Sure He realized that he was a spy for the Great Forest. How? Could it be that there are traitors in the leadership?

There was no need to find out the details here and now. Bring him back to the World Tree. It was a problem that could be solved somehow.

Orion quickly drew his dagger and charged forward. He steps on the ranger’s special footwork and approaches Do-jin with agile movements that even the shadow cannot follow.

Orion, who arrived in front of Dojin, stopped without throwing out his dagger.

“…… What are you doing? Leader.”
“If you want to poke, poke. If you want to talk, take a moment.”

Dojin spread his arms wide and waited for Orion to approach. Although he learned to subdue opponents who he resisted, he did not learn how to stab civilians who stood still, so Orion was barely able to stop.

“…… How do I trust you?”
“Don’t believe me, I never forced you. But, Orion.”

Do-jin slowly lowered her hand and approached her. Orion tried to be wary of Dojin approaching me. The distance was already too close. A distance where a dagger is more advantageous than a sword.

No matter what she tried, she was confident she could stop it.

“Compared to you of the different races, I am a young child, but…… I know one thing though.”

“…… What?”

“Do what your soul tells you to do.”

Even humans who have only lived for a few decades are plagued with mental illness. What about elves who will live for thousands of years?

Do-jin said that even if she stabbed herself, she did not want it to hurt her.

“Are you willing to talk?”

“…… I’m sorry, Leader.”

Orion swung her dagger. Then, Dojin collapsed.

* * *

When Dojin opened his eyes, he was lying on the floor with his arms and legs completely tied. Confirming that he was awake, Orion slowly opened his mouth from a place out of his sight.

“Woke up? Leader.”

“…… Orion.”

“I’m sorry for being so extreme. But please understand my position too. Because the level 3 leader and I cannot have a conversation in the same position.”

A tiger and a human cannot communicate naked. You can have a sincere conversation only after putting a tiger in a cage and putting a gun in a human’s hand.

Similarly, Dojin pulled the chains that bound his limbs. He Didn’t even budge. The limbs were tied in a direction where they couldn’t use their strength, and even if Dojin tried to do anything, Orion was in a position where he could stop him faster.

“Okay, thank you for being willing to talk.”

But this, in other words, was her promise to Do-jin that she would not harm her. If Do-jin had a purpose to harm her, she would have been pushing a hot iron into Do-jin by now.

“First, leader, I want to hear your true identity.”
“Identity? What identity?”
“From one to ten. Everything.”
“…… 20 years old, from South Korea, birthday on October 26th, blood type O. MBTI is—.”
“It’s just useless information that I’ve never heard of. Don’t do that So, why did you come to this city?”
“I didn’t come because I wanted to come. When I opened my eyes, I was here.”
“…… Leader, I’m not in the mood to play around right now.”
“It’s real.”

Ha, Orion let out a light sigh. She didn’t want her to do her harm either, but Do-jin still seemed to have room in her heart her.

She couldn’t help it, she came out with the spirit stone hidden in her attic her. A magic tool that contains the spirits living in the world tree in magic stones, allowing elves with no aptitude to easily handle them.

As she brought something of her own, she asked a slightly frightened Do-jin back.

“What, are you going to torture me?”

“…… No way, leader, do you know what kind of savage we elves are?”

“If you look at what you’ve tied now, it’s enough…….”

“This is just a self-defense technique created to protect our bodies. To protect yourself from truly savage and greedy humans… Anyway, don’t even think about lying.”

Saying that, Orion infused her magic stone into her magic stone. Then, the spirit that had been sleeping inside responded to the magic and woke up.

Traditionally, spirits hate negative things. I also disliked the negative reaction that occurs in people’s minds when they tell lies.

Thanks to this, no race could speak lies in front of the spirits. Because I have no choice but to get caught.

“Okay, let me ask you again. Leader, why did you come to this city?”
“I told you before, I didn’t come because I wanted to come.”
“…… Aha, that’s how you’ve been trained to avoid ‘lies’. Like. Then ask differently. What is your purpose in coming to this city?”
“No. I did not come to this city for any purpose.”

Orion glanced at the spirit. The spirit trapped in the magic stone burst into laughter when he heard Dojin’s words from her.

Seeing that the spirit liked it so much, it wasn’t a lie. That upset her even more.

“There is no purpose… Well, the newspaper! Why did you make a newspaper!?”
“I just made it…….”
“Lie! It’s a tool that can easily incite people! It was obviously made to make a justification for conquering our different races in the empire…….”
“No, there was no such purpose. Never.”

Haha!

The spirits started rampaging randomly. Strangely, the spirit liked Dojin. Degururu, the magic stone rolled around on Dojin’s back and fell to the floor.

Picking up the spirit stone that had fallen on the floor, Orion asked Do-jin one last question.

“…… So, traitor. Who is the traitor?”
“Traitor?”
“Inside the Union…… Is there anyone who is in contact with the leader?”
“No.”
“…… Then how the hell did you know and write that information?”
“What information…… ?”
“The things I wrote in the newspapers. …… Even within the elves, very important information that only a few barons knew was written down. Unless there is a traitor within us, it is inexplicable.”
“…… That’s just using your abilities.”
“Ability?”

Hearing Dojin’s words, Orion stiffened. Skill holder. A very valuable being that only one or two exist in each country.

Do-jin has that ability? It was dangerous. Better to say he was a spy. If you had that ability, would you kill it? I will be imprisoned for the rest of my life and become a puppet that only uses my abilities.

“What, is it an ability?”

“It’s not that great. It’s just the ability to know secrets that everyone else knows.”

“Is that the ability that Dojin has… ? ?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Phew, Orion let out a sigh of relief. And immediately I felt a strong sense of disgust. To feel relieved that he hadn’t killed him was disqualification as a spy.

“… Why are you telling me this?”

“Why? Is there any reason why I shouldn’t tell you?”

“I, I…… As the leader said, he is a spy. I’m going to pass on all the information you told me to the Coalition, and the Coalition might send someone to kill the leader. No, it’s better if you kill them, because you can kidnap them and make them suffer for the rest of their lives.”

What was the reason for talking to Orion while taking the risk of giving up my own life? She was curious about Dojin’s thoughts about him.

What made him move I was very curious about that. Now that she does n’t have her, she seems to have him.

“I thought you would leave if you didn’t tell me.”

“Yes?”

“I am not a spy, there is no such thing as a traitor. When the mission gets longer…… I thought that one day you might disappear.”

“What is that…….”

“I just thought it would be better for me to give my life than for you to disappear before my eyes. That’s all.”

Woo-wook, the spirit stone in her hand her shattered. The spirit sealed in it flew to Do-jin and played her tricks her.

The moment she saw it, she was convinced. Do-jin said she didn’t lie. That everything is true

‘For me…….’

Even though he was an elven spy who was of little help, tempted with his body his, and might become an enemy of humans.

He considered himself valuable. More than my life.

“…… Silly.”

“Yes?”

“The leader is an idiot. This is why humans…… Too stupid.”

“Go, suddenly?”

Orion suddenly began to criticize Dojin. However, the level was low. It was more like self-reproach, rather than cursing.

“And, I’m stupid too.”

“…… Why?”

“Human…… Because I liked it.”

There will come a day when you will regret this choice and want to change it. But time only moves forward. There is no turning back.

If so, let’s build beautiful memories that will make us forget our regrets. Let’s gather happiness to live a lifetime.

With a clap, Orion released the chains that bound her Dojin. After raising him up, Orion asked cautiously.

“Would you like a drink?”

“…… If it’s just one drink.”

“Whoops, I told you before. I prepared a drink that makes even elves drunk.”

There is no time. Even now, he was running fast. It was very regrettable every minute and every second as I gathered the firewood called memories to warm up the rest of my life.

* * *

After Do-jin left, Orion rummaged through the secret space with a blushing face. After taking out the crystal ball inside, he called the leadership.

Even though it was late, the other party responded quickly. Hey, there’s nothing more unseemly than not being able to get a call from a spy because you’re sleeping.

——It’s rare that he contacted you first. Did you succeed?

“…… Yes.”

—Your face is red, did you even use that?

“Whoops, I wrote that.”

Her daughter her, Orion, was careful not to lose her mind and thought of words to bring out. Make no mistakes. You must not show any gaps.

Fortunately, the other party didn’t show any reaction, perhaps thinking that she was drunk.

─Okay, what are the results?

“The traitor was not found. The guard was stronger than I thought.”

—…… Then why did you contact me?

“Instead of that, I was able to use the newspaper.”

—The newspaper? How?

This was the key that Dojin handed over. All she had to do was insert the key into the right place.

Fortunately, the first button seemed to fit well.

“Because I fell in love with my body and said I would do anything for you.”

—Haha, that’s what a monkey looks like.

Quickly, Orion fell silent for a moment while enduring the rising heat. After barely subduing her fever, she informed Do-jin of the usefulness of the newspaper.

“…… How about using the newspaper for special warfare?”

─Whoa, what do you mean by that?

“It is to write a password on a newspaper and publish it. It’s even better because it has a physical entity, so it doesn’t get caught on magic detectors, and it’s easy to get anywhere.”

—Well, that’s right. But do you really need to leave that to the newspaper? We can also set up a newspaper company.

“Who would think that our passwords are hidden in newspapers published by humans?”

—That is also true. Great. So that you can continue to remain there. Wait for the next command.

“…… All right.”

—That’s it.

Communication was lost. Orion immediately inserted her crystal ball into her seal her and lay down on her bed her. She really succeeded When she did as Do-jin said, she relieved his doubts of her and at the same time took up her justification for sticking with him.

“Whoa…….”

My heart is pounding. Is betraying one’s country such a nerve-wracking thing? It wasn’t. It wasn’t the tension of being caught betraying.

‘Dojin…….’

When the leader’s face comes to mind, the heart starts to beat faster. This was the heartbeat that comes from feeling love.