episode_0169

Chapter 6 Episode 25 – Infiltration 1

[Your health has fallen below 1%. Entering a state of super recovery.]

[Your health has become over 10%. Cancels the super recovery state.]

[Your health has fallen below 1%. Entering a state of super recovery.]

[Your health has become over 10%. Cancels the super recovery state.]

…

…

While countless notification windows appear and disappear without her being able to check them, Lufia is still unable to open her eyes.

She is in a coma and is dreaming.

If she had been before, she would have had nightmares that were painful enough to make her want to kill herself, but now that the heavy weight in her heart was gone, she no longer had nightmares.

The person who removed the weight may not even know what he did.

In any case, thanks to the assurance Zeke gave him, most of the anxiety that was gnawing at Lufia had been relieved.

Therefore, the dream she was having now was rather a sweet dream that she did not want to wake up from. Maybe the reason she couldn’t open her eyes was because of this sweet dream.

Although it was a long time ago now, it still remains vivid in Lufia’s mind… . No, it is a memory that remains vivid only in Lufia’s mind.

He uses the name Suhyuk, not Zeke.

I have trustworthy colleagues by my side.

After countless sacrifices, we finally saved the world together.

No matter how much time she turned back, the memories of that time, which she could not go back to, were constantly playing over and over in Lufia’s head like a broken cassette.

The story will eventually come to an end. Lufia’s memories also reach their end.

A night with a beautiful full moon and stars lighting up the sky. A man and a woman, Suhyuk and Rupiah, stand in front of a fountain spraying cool water.

Suhyuk kneels down and gently lifts Rupiah’s left hand. Then he takes out a small ring from his pocket and puts it on her ring finger.

Lufia’s vision becomes blurry. He is crying profusely because he cannot control his joy.

There are no flashy decorations, but Lufia and Zeke share a long kiss while touching the most beautiful ring. It wasn’t a clean kiss like in a fairy tale, mixed with tears. That’s why the kiss feels even more real.

After an obvious proposal, the two got married, and as time went by, they gave birth to a cute child who looked exactly like Suhyuk and Lupia… If so, it would be a perfect happy ending.

However, as I said before, this memory ends at the proposal scene, which is just one step away from a happy ending.

The frozen memory returns and is replayed from the moment Suhyuk and Lupia first met.

The scenes that followed the proposal did not fit a sweet dream.

Lufia just rewinded her happy memories.

*

*

With the help of Sergeant Reese, I was able to pass the checkpoint safely.

Afterwards, we plan to move to the Patriarchate, where the Virgin Mary is presumed to be.

“……How long do you plan on following me, Sergeant Reese?”

“There is no need to be respectful, Zeke!”

“Just answer the question.”

“Yes!”

This crazy woman keeps following me.

“The moment I saw Zeke, I realized. Protecting this beauty is the reason I was born and my destiny.”

“There is no need to protect me.”

“In that case, consider that you have a servant who is good to work with!”

“Um… .”

I know because I have often seen these crazy people while playing this game. This woman is speechless. No matter what I do, this woman will definitely follow me.

There is no other way to get rid of a person like this other than just killing them.

Additionally, the reason he didn’t kill Sergeant Reese was to avoid getting caught. However, this crazy woman deserted to chase after me, so in the end it was no different from killing her.

“Even if you have a servant… . It’s only meaningful if you have a place to use it… .”

“Hehe… .”

Sergeant Reese was surprised by my lukewarm response.

“Well, I am useful! Well, I mean… . ah! I know all of that patrol’s routes! I will be your guide, Zeke! Please don’t abandon me!”

She appealed desperately, as if she didn’t want to be abandoned like this.

‘Patrol route… . Well, in order to maintain public order, there will be regular patrols.’

However, it is highly likely that the patrol route will become meaningless once it is known that Sergeant Reese is missing. Since the border will be strengthened, areas that were previously omitted will also need to be carefully inspected.

“Hmm… … .”

I was lost in thought for a moment, looking at her thoughtfully. The longer I worried, the worse the sergeant’s expression got, and soon the corners of his eyes began to flutter.

“Ha… .”

Regardless of whether she is dealt with or not, the security is going to be strengthened. Therefore, there is no reason to kill it unless it gets in the way.

Moreover, considering that he was even promoted to the rank of non-commissioned officer at a young age, at least he is not in the middle of nowhere.

I nodded as if I had no choice. When I responded positively, a smile broke out on Sergeant Reese’s face.

“Good. If you want to follow along, do so. Instead, you must absolutely obey my orders.”

“I will keep this in mind!”

Maybe it’s because he’s a soldier, but his spirit is good.

*

As I expected, the capital’s security was further strengthened.

The patrol route that Sergeant Reese knew was of little help. That doesn’t mean she was useless. Rather, thanks to her, we were able to safely reach the center of the capital.

However, the abilities she showed were too much for an ordinary noncommissioned officer.

This is understandable, as I can roughly determine the size, time of movement, and direction from the traces left by the patrol.

However, based on that fragmentary information, it is difficult to understand the search strategy of the entire patrol team and find loopholes. It goes beyond simply having excellent observation and reasoning skills.

“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t know. How did you find out?”

“What do you mean?”

“For the first 2-3 times, we looked for traces of the search party, and from then on, we just kept moving forward without hesitation. As if I knew exactly how they would move.”

“Ah, hehe. that is… . It’s not a big deal.”

Sergeant Reese smiled brightly, as if he took my question as a compliment. Afterwards, he said, scratching his head as if he was a little embarrassed.

“Actually… . I graduated from a technician training center. Even though I failed because of my poor grades, I have a good understanding of how knights search.”

“I didn’t know that. But, wait… . If this is the search method of the knights, does that mean it is the knights who are looking for us now?”

“I thought it was strange too, but actually, it’s even weirder that you don’t bring knights when you’re trying to take the great Zeke, right?”

“What is that… .”

Sergeant Reese seems to be quite intelligent, but when it comes to me, he becomes a nuisance.

Anyway, a knight, not a soldier, is looking for me. This is unexpected.

‘Are they knights who follow Raphael…? ? No, as far as I know, Raphael does not form a separate faction within the Knights.’

Knights freely form teams according to their missions. Therefore, like-minded knights often work in teams, and as their number increases, factions naturally form.

In particular, special knights are responsible for large-scale missions, and at this time, many knights form a team, and it is common for the team to become a faction.

Therefore, the knights dispatched to the Western Continent with Lufia can be seen as Lufia’s faction, and the stationed knights who had tribulations and hardships with Filia on the Eastern Continent can also be viewed as Filia’s faction.

‘Gordon also had factions.’

However, Raphael is different. Uniquely, he is working as an auditor at the Audit Bureau. In the first place, this is also thanks to the privileges given to special drivers; it is something that regular drivers cannot do even if they want to.

Therefore, there will be no knights who followed Raphael to the Audit Bureau, and even if there are separate acquaintances, there will be only two or three at most.

‘Then the knights who are looking for me now… . ‘Who are you moving for?’

First of all, the fact that they are looking for me proves that they are moving according to Patricia’s will. But I don’t know if that’s an ‘order’ or a ‘request’.

Considering the strange structure of the Knights Templar, it is unlikely that it was an order.

Knights have ranks, but no ranks. Therefore, there are seniors and juniors, but there are no superiors. Of course, there is no such thing as superiors and subordinates, and there is no such thing as a separate commander.

They form their own teams according to their missions and operate systematically within those teams. Even the mission is not compulsory, and is closer to a mercenary carrying out a request than a soldier carrying out an operation.

Therefore, taking control of the knights is quite a difficult task. Like the military, capturing a high-ranking officer is not the end, and there are no officers to capture in the first place.

‘Wouldn’t it be great if we included the heads of each faction… . ah!’

At that time, there was one person who crossed my mind.

‘Rupiah… .’

I understood why Patricia needed me.

In fact, what she needed was not me, but Lufia. I was just a leash to control Rupiah.

‘If you capture me, you can control Rupiah, and if you can control Rupiah, you will be able to control most of the knights.’

What if you turn all the knights into mines after that?

Even ordinary citizens have become threatening monsters, so what kind of monster will be born if an article is used as a subject?

‘This must be dangerous.’

If my predictions are correct, Patricia won’t kill me. Until rupiah becomes useless. Rather, I would rather ‘store’ it safely so that it doesn’t get hurt.

This ultimately means that if you are caught by Patricia, a retry becomes impossible.

‘Of course, Lufia will turn back time before that happens.’

When time goes back, it becomes a problem again. Lufia, who found out about the existence of Patricia, will completely exclude her. So much so that it becomes impossible to attack.

‘I wonder if it’s possible to turn back time in the first place.’

Lufia’s time reversal ability is influenced by the system skill called time independence. This means that the ability to go back in time is at a lower level than the system.

Therefore, it is quite possible for it to become unusable due to someone else’s ability or system.

As proof of this, when the Lord of Death was awakened due to the Paradise Church incident. Lufia couldn’t turn back time.

‘I can use it when I need to neutralize Lufia in the future.’

Anyway, whether I turn back time or not. First of all, you shouldn’t be obsessed with Patricia.

‘…I’m glad I brought it with me.’

I thought to myself as I looked at the malicious stock stored in my inventory.

I don’t know if I can put it to good use.