episode_0144

144. Spy.

How long had he walked after leaving the Joint Faction? John admired the surrounding scenery without much thought.

The wind was cool, and the sunlight was warm. Soon, it would be a sight he would never see again.

‘Perhaps this ordeal will end when the Black Faction, led by the Black King Fortress, swallows the Central Plains.’

It had been long, so long. It was the longest period among the trials he had undertaken so far.

Various random thoughts came to mind. How many White Faction warriors are stationed in Shanxi and Henan?

Has the rear guard, which remains in the Black King Fortress, departed by now? Surely other Black Faction groups are also invading the territories of the White Faction.

Suddenly, John turned his head back and looked at the Black King Fortress warriors.

‘There are fewer of them.’

There had been quite a loss of personnel due to the Yellow River battle.

Even though John’s quick response had reduced the damage significantly, he couldn’t completely prevent it.

Sacrifice was inevitable on the road to victory. Just as John was about to dismiss his concern…

“……Huh?”

The number of people was different from when they departed from the Joint Faction.

Sarah, who heard John’s exclamation from beside him, asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, uh. It’s nothing.”

John desperately tried to control his expression. And he immediately searched his mind thoroughly.

John’s superhuman memory vividly projected the scene of departure from the Joint Faction.

‘……Fifty, fifty-one, fifty-two. Excluding the Black King, there are fifty-two people.’

On the other hand, what about now?

‘Fifty-three. Fifty-four including the Black King.’

Just in case, John counted the numbers again. But no matter how many times he repeated it, the result was the same.

John’s expression turned cold. Unless warriors suddenly started breeding among themselves, the number couldn’t have increased.

In other words, there is only one answer.

‘A spy has infiltrated.’

***

Chirp- Chirp-

The sound of insects was heard from all directions. John was lost in thought, looking at the quietly burning bonfire.

Shortly after, John quietly got up from his seat. And he headed silently toward the Black King.

The Black King was talking to Chief Administrator Shim with a serious face.

“Lord.”

“Preceptor? What’s the matter?”

“I came because I have something important to say.”

“Something to say?”

“Yes.”

The Black King nodded. Then, John picked up a tree branch lying on the ground.

Scratch, scratch-

Soon, John used the branch to write a short sentence on the soil.

As the sentence was completed, the expression of the Black King, who had looked indifferent while resting his chin on his hand, became serious again.

It was written like this on the dirt floor.

[From fifty-two, to fifty-three.]

The Black King took his eyes off the sentence and asked.

“……Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

The Black King crossed his arms, tapping his forearm with his fingers as he rolled his eyes.

John quickly understood his intention.

‘Is he counting the numbers?’

Well, he can’t just take John’s word for it and recklessly ferret out the spy.

A minimal verification process is necessary. John wasn’t particularly displeased.

‘When I first discovered the anomaly, I checked it several times. There’s no way I could be wrong.’

Soon, the Black King’s eye movement stopped. He said.

“Preceptor.”

“Yes.”

“It’s fifty-two, though?”

“……Yes?”

The Black King frowned.

“I’m saying it’s fifty-two.”

John’s thoughts momentarily stopped.

“……That can’t be.”

“If you don’t believe me, count it once.”

“I’ve already counted it several times.”

“You must have counted wrong.”

“……”

John was dumbfounded. Although his martial prowess might be inferior to the Black King, he was confident in his memory.

John rolled his eyes with a triumphant look.

That’s right, the Black King is an uneducated warrior. In times like these, a person like himself who has received higher education must step up.

‘Hmm?’

However, John’s face gradually turned pale.

‘N-no way. This can’t be happening?’

An odd result came out. John counted the number of heads again.

But no matter how many times he repeated it, the result was the same. John said in a trembling voice.

“Fifty, fifty-two people……”

“See? I told you. It’s fifty-two.”

“……”

This situation had not been anticipated in John’s mind.

John stood frozen like a stone with his mouth slightly open.

He was clearly telling the truth, but he felt like he had become a liar.

At that moment, the Black King laughed heartily.

“Hehe, I guess you were quite surprised. Your expression is something else.”

“Uh, um.”

John pursed his lips. The Black King continued.

“I know, I know. It’s not like you’re lying. There’s no reason for you to do that either.”

The Black King lowered his body slightly. His eyes were shining fiercely.

“An interesting guy has joined. This group.”

***

The Black King’s group continued to advance as if nothing had happened.

John walked slowly, recalling the conversation he had with the Black King yesterday.

-Preceptor. I heard your memory is very good? Let me know if there’s anyone suspicious, of course, the Chief Administrator and I will be watching too.

Thanks to that, John was observing the group with his eyes wide open.

He had been momentarily careless yesterday, but he would never miss it this time.

‘Fifty-two people. Nothing has changed yet.’

John stroked his chin with his fingers and pondered.

Humans tend to act with a purpose. So, what is the spy’s goal?

In John’s opinion, there were two main goals.

‘Information delivery, and assassination, I suppose.’

John felt a little chilled. Just how skilled are they to assassinate a warrior without anyone noticing?

At least they were not an easy opponent to deal with. At that moment, John’s eyes lit up.

‘Hmm? What is he doing now?’

One of the warriors was slowly moving towards the end of the group.

John knew who he was.

‘Bae Eontae. That was definitely the name.’

John narrowed his eyes and watched Bae Eontae’s movements. It was very suspicious.

Step- Step-

Before he knew it, Bae Eontae had arrived at the end of the group.

After that, Bae Eontae began rummaging through his pockets.

‘What is it? What could it be.’

Some kind of technique to convey a message? Or a stealthy assassination?

John glared at him, feeling his senses slowly sharpen. Immediately afterwards, Bae Eontae took something out.

‘……Huh?’

It was a thin piece of cloth. John knew well what it was for.

Unlike modern underwear, it was underwear worn by women living in this world. Specifically, a breast cover.

‘Why that?’

John’s question was soon answered. Bae Eontae brought it to his nose.

Sniiiiff-

Presumably, that kind of sound was heard. John looked at Bae Eontae with a bitter expression.

“……”

John felt a sense of self-disgust. What was he doing right now?

Just as John, disappointed, was about to turn his head─

“Ughhhh……”

“……?”

Suddenly, Bae Eontae groaned and began drooling.

John thought unconsciously.

‘How terrible could the smell have been……’

Of course, he didn’t really think that. John quickly kicked off the ground and approached Bae Eontae.

“Uh, uh? Bae Eontae! Hey! Why are you suddenly like this!”

“He’s not breathing! What on earth!”

Other warriors who were already around Bae Eontae had also noticed the anomaly.

“Wait a moment, step aside!”

John pushed through them. And he knelt down to check Bae Eontae’s condition.

John’s eyes turned cold.

‘His pulse is faint. He’ll stop breathing soon.’

John channeled mana into his body. To find out the cause.

Of course, John wasn’t well-versed in medical knowledge. Still, it was better than doing nothing.

John closed his eyes and concentrated his mind.

‘The mana in his body, no, his internal energy is strangely twisted. What’s the cause?’

In the meantime, he heard Sama Han’s voice in his ear.

“It’s poison.”

John opened his eyes.

“Poison, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Is it possible to distort a warrior’s energy channels this much with just poison?”

Sama Han scoffed. He pressed down hard on the area around Bae Eontae’s dantian.

Cough- Bae Eontae spat out black blood. Surprisingly, his complexion improved somewhat.

“Don’t underestimate poison. Martial arts are a technique to kill people, and poison is also one of the techniques to kill people. Moreover, the history of poison is deeper.”

Sama Han poked around Bae Eontae’s body here and there as if he was interested.

“This is new to me. It’s not an energy-scattering poison, but it damages a warrior’s energy channels……”

“Energy-scattering poison?”

“Well, there is such a thing.”

Sama Han brushed off his knees and stood up. Bae Eontae had already stopped breathing. It was a futile end.

The expressions of the warriors watching this from the side became serious.

“If I had to name it, yeah. An Energy-Shaking Poison would be appropriate.”

“A poison that makes internal energy shake……”

John lowered his hand and picked something up. It was the underwear that Bae Eontae had been holding.

“Hey sorcerer. What on earth are you doing now. You need to distinguish the time and place.”

Sama Han was laughing playfully. John retorted coldly.

“Shut up.”

John raised his finger and swept across the white cloth. John carefully examined his index finger.

“I can feel something…… Is it really poison?”

Circumstantially, the underwear was probably the problem. Among the actions Bae Eontae had shown, it was the most outstanding act.

John narrowed his brow. It wasn’t like he had any expertise in poison, and he couldn’t know just by looking at it.

Sama Han, who was looking at John, said.

“There’s a definite way.”

“What is it?”

“Well, there’s nothing more certain than eating anything directly.”

For some reason, he had a bad feeling.

“Yes?”

Swoosh-

At that moment, Sama Han’s right arm became blurred. John instinctively deployed a shield.

Clang-

But it was useless. Thud, Sama Han’s right arm grabbed John’s index finger.

“Wa, wait a moment……!”