Chapter 246: Sixty-Fourth Floor, Intelligence (5)

[Support the agent in their espionage mission. Time remaining: 91 hours 19 minutes.]

Parein gazed sharply at me, refusing to let go of the dagger pressed against the woman’s throat. His arm remained tense, ready to strike the moment I let go. Even as he focused on me, his eyes would flick to her every so often.

The situation had taken a strange turn, and he was now wary of both of us.

I didn’t answer right away.

How shall I handle this?

Before I could speak, Parein broke the silence. “Are you two on the same side?”

“No.”

Parein gritted his teeth, frustration written all over his face. “Then why the fuck are you stopping me?!”

Meeting his furious gaze, I shook my head. “Don’t let the anger get to your head, think about this logically. The long term matters more.”

I tightened my grip on Parein’s wrist and pulled. He resisted but couldn’t overpower me.

His face twisted from the pain. “Long term?”

“The woman’s,

erm

... What’s her name, by the way?”

Parein blinked at the sudden question, momentarily taken aback. Then, he responded, “Langley.”

“Thanks. Now, back to what I was saying. Langley mentioned that the Ears of the Empire had spread across the North. That’s probably true. If she had lied, she wouldn’t have picked something so easily exposed.”

Parein hesitated for a moment, then gave a small nod.

“If we kill her now, it’ll leave a trace. What’s your plan for handling the body?”

He glared at her. “Bury it deep.”

“And then what? You think the mountain beasts won’t catch the scent of blood? They’ll dig it up, and we’re near a village. It won’t take long for someone to find it.”

“Doesn’t matter. The mission in Kalin will be over soon; whether it succeeds or fails, we don’t need to worry about leaving traces.”

“Even if things go smoothly, this trace could become a trail leading right to us during our escape.”

“So you’re saying we should take her with us?”

I nodded, causing Parein’s expression to sour.

“Are you out of your damn mind?”

“No.”

“Then what the hell are you thinking?”

I hadn’t had much time to think, but two possibilities had come to mind. The first was that Langley’s survival was directly tied to this trial.

[Support the agent in their espionage mission.]

Back on the fifty-fifth floor with Kyuntriachae, I hadn’t been able to be sure if he was the employer or not. This scenario matched that somewhat, since who the agent was hadn’t been specified. Truth be told, the agent could be neither Parein nor Langley.

In gaming terms, this could be a branching path leading to either an A or B ending.

Abandoning Parein to help Langley is too risky, though.

I wasn’t going to ditch Parein.

The second possibility was what really convinced me to help her. Saving the double agent sounded like the perfect hidden mission for a floor based on secret agencies.

Moreover, even if it wasn’t a hidden mission, having Langley could make this floor easier.

Or harder.

I kept my voice calm as I continued, “First, Langley probably isn’t with the Ears of the Empire. If she were, she wouldn’t have bothered trying to deceive us. She would’ve just led the Ears of the Empire here instead. Right?”

Langley clenched her jaw angrily. “Don’t compare me to those fuckers.”

She could be acting, but her reaction seemed authentic, which was partly why I had phrased it that way—Parein needed to see the value of keeping her alive.

“Since that’s the case, can’t she help us infiltrate Kalin? You already admitted she specializes in infiltration.”

“Are you insane? With her? You don’t know what she’ll do later.”

“She approached us because she couldn’t do this alone, didn’t she? Even if she planned to backstab us later, I’m here.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, then switched back to monitoring Langley.

“We can worry about that later. If things go south, we can just settle things with our blades, if necessary. Ideally, she takes the intel and leaves peacefully.”

Parein glared at Langley, although I could tell that he was considering something. Meanwhile, she was looking at me with interest. Her life depended on my decision, so her interest didn’t surprise me.

“No. We can’t afford to drag danger around with us.”

“We can manage her.”

“How? And even if we can, we just had this whole conversation right in front of her. What if she just sets us up and runs?”

“She wouldn’t be able to pull that off in front of me.”

Even if Langley betrayed us, I was confident I could escape with Parein.

I was also confident that I could prevent her from backstabbing us. Well, except for the off chance that she had hidden explosives on herself.

Actually, no. Sixth Sense would have already warned me then.

Parein and I continued our staredown, the air between us only growing more tense.

Just as he was about to prepare to attack—

“I’m in,” Langley shouted.

“Shut up!” Parein snapped irritably.

I let go and stepped back, gesturing for Langley to get up. “No, let’s hear her out.”

Parein reluctantly mirrored my actions, although he still remained on guard for any sudden movements from her.

Holding her stomach, she slowly pushed herself to her feet, and Parein turned to me with a look of pure frustration.

“Kwon. You keep overstepping. I’m the one in charge here.”

“Maybe. But when I was hired, I was told to help complete the mission, not blindly obey the agent.”

“Shit. Fine. Talk. Do whatever the hell you want. But if you want my cooperation, your reasoning better be damn convincing.”

I didn’t bother answering—I was going to do what I wanted anyway.

Now that I had forced him, albeit reluctantly, to cooperate with me, I turned back to Langley. “But you can’t expect us to spare you for nothing. You need to tell us who you’re working for and why you tried to deceive us.”

“And if I lie?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll find out.”

Langley narrowed her eyes doubtfully.

Of course, I was bluffing, but she didn’t need to know that. Considering Nameless's reputation and the speed I had just displayed, she would assume I had some sort of special ability.

Out of nowhere, Ryun added, “Child...”

Langley and Parein flinched hard.

“Holy shit!”

“What the fuck was that?!”

Even I was caught off guard.

Ryun had just complained about standing out too much, but if he had spoken, he was sure to have his reasons.

I lifted the Shadow Veil covering my axe and held it up for Parein and Langley to see. Ryun had opened his eyes and stared at Langley.

Both Langley and Parein froze in place, the latter’s jaw practically on the floor.

“Oh... my god. Tessar...” Unlike him, Langley quickly recovered and turned back to me.“So that’s why I sensed that you were emitting a pleasant energy. A living embodiment of nature accompanies you!”

Ah. So that is what she meant earlier. Is it because she is a beastfolk?

Ryun continued, “You already... sensed it... That’s why... I interfered... I don’t like... when a child... of nature... dies...”

Langley listened silently, completely focused.

“Speak... honestly... child... This one... is not... the type... to harm... without reason... He will... find a way... to lead this... to a result... that satisfies both sides...”

After saying that, Ryun turned his gaze toward me in a silent request for acknowledgment.

“Yes. As long as Langley doesn’t stab us in the back, I have no intention of killing her—”

Parein immediately cut in. “I won’t allow that.”

“Wow, Langley will help us so much with you speaking like that.

I

make the final decision.”

Parein clamped his mouth shut.

Honestly, I was a little disappointed in him. Before Langley’s appearance, he had maintained a sharp, composed image. But after she arrived, and especially after I stopped him from killing her, he became too aggressive, not considering the repercussions in the slightest.

Well, I could understand why. His own life was at stake, and there was the matter of betrayal. Still, this wasn’t the agent I had expected him to be.

I turned to Langley. “I promise I’ll let you live. But you need to tell us everything.”

Langley nodded. “Alright, but I’ll only tell you, not Parein. And only if you don’t report it to Black Butterfly, either.”

Hmm. Is there something she can’t reveal?

It didn’t seem like she was scheming against us.

“Alright, I’ll hear you out.”

Parein immediately objected, “No. I need to hear what she has to say, too.”

“No, I’ll listen and decide. Black Butterfly hired me to ensure the mission’s success. Have I ever failed?”

Based on what I had heard, I was confident that he hadn’t.

Parein’s lips parted slightly. He wanted to argue but couldn’t find the words.

I drove the final nail in the coffin. “If it harms Black Butterfly, I’ll reject it.”

***

[Support the agent in their espionage mission. Time remaining: 91 hours 3 minutes.]

Even after the last traces of light vanished, we traveled onward.

As I had expected, Langley wasn’t part of the Ears of the Empire, or another nation’s intelligence agency—she belonged to the Beastfolk Alliance. It was a secret organization formed by beastfolk who had lost their homeland and were now scattered across various nations. Their ultimate goal was to establish a country solely for beastfolk.

Considering Langley’s description of how the beastfolk were treated, it made sense.

She—and the Beastfolk Alliance behind her—had become involved in this mission due to a critical piece of intel a bird beastfolk had delivered.

“A power capable of seizing control over the Empire has been discovered.”

However, due to the fragmented structure of the Beastfolk Alliance, they had been slow to act.

Amid the chaos, Langley, who happened to be nearby, stole intel from Black Butterfly and approached us. Most likely, she planned to use her organization’s manpower to her and the Beastfolk Alliance’s advantage.

Regardless of her motives, we agreed to work together.

Parein had grumbled and complained, but ultimately, the decision was mine. Most importantly, Langley had mentioned something that sealed the deal.

“The mole beastfolk have built tunnels.”

The tunnel stretched directly from the mountain we were on to Kalin. She hadn’t explicitly stated it, but the tunnel network likely spanned the entire Empire.

The Beastfolk Alliance couldn’t have anticipated this exact situation, meaning they had been preparing for something far greater. That had also been why Langley had insisted on speaking to me alone, as she didn’t want Parein to know about it.

Well, Ryun did help a lot with this one.

Even saving her wouldn’t have been enough for her to reveal this route. I owed Ryun for this.

Because of that, we blindfolded Parein and made him spin in place thirty times—and not just once.

“Shit, again? This is the fourth time.”

I turned to Langley, and she shook her head. I glared at her, “Do it.”

“Goddamn it,” Parein cursed under his breath as he spun again.

Thirty turns were enough to completely disorient even a trained agent. By the time he stopped staggering, Langley resumed walking. I grabbed Parein’s arm and guided him forward. We walked for a while.

At some point, Langley glanced around and scanned her surroundings before stepping into a dense patch of foliage. Beyond the thick leaves, a small cave entrance appeared. It was just big enough for a person to squeeze through.

Langley gave a small nod, and we entered.

A damp, musty scent immediately filled my nose. Realizing this, Parein went silent. His brow furrowed, and his nostrils flared slightly, likely trying to assess his surroundings.

His mind was probably racing. He would eventually figure out that this was a tunnel, but there was nothing we could do about that. Langley had already agreed to risk this for me. Moreover, I had promised her safety for the duration of this mission in exchange for access to this tunnel.

Not that I had planned to kill her in the first place, so this was a win-win situation.

The tunnel itself was unremarkable. We hadn’t reached the end yet when Langley pressed against a section of the wall. Then, a mechanical sound echoed through the passage, and the wall shifted, revealing another tunnel.

A hidden tunnel within a hidden tunnel. Nice.

It was wide enough for three people to walk side by side.

So, the mole beastfolk built this?

It had to have been a nightmare to construct.

Langley turned to me. “Let’s go.”

I nodded.

“Can I take off the blindfold now?” Parein asked hopefully.

Langley immediately shook her head.

Since I was playing the middleman between the two, I answered for her, “No.”

Unfortunately for him, he would have to keep his eyes shut for another four or five hours.

I breathed out quietly and tensed slightly, just in case.

These secret tunnels all but confirmed that Langley was part of a hidden mission. She had said only beastfolk knew about these tunnels, but the Tower of Ordeal loved to place unexpected obstacles on floors.

Since we had no idea what awaited us inside, I needed to stay cautious.

I carefully took my next step forward.