"C—COMPROMISED?!"
The leaders were all stunned by my words, but I remained calm.
"Yeah. Even now, one of us here could be an enemy…" My eyes scoured the room and I saw the faces of everyone watching me.
"Oi… are you serious?"
"How is that even…?"
"Aren't you going a bit too far?"
"We've known each other for…"
Blah. Blah. Blah.
They rambled on and on, and I let them.
Ever since I entered this room, I had felt something was off.
Of course, asking Cephas who was in charge of setting up the place could instantly rouse the suspicion of the enemy, so I ignored it.
Instead, by allowing them all to introduce themselves, I figured out who did what and their additional assignments.
By narrowing down the list, I had arrived at my conclusion even before the Envoy Leader arrived.
"It's you…" I smiled, focusing my gaze on a lanky man who was in charge of squadron three—handling auxiliary activities and maintenance of the Fort.
"W—what?!" He sharply responded, looking shell-shocked.
I had to admit, that was good acting. It even reminded me of a particular someone who was a maid.
The rest of the leaders looked at the man with slightly confused—but suspicious eyes.
"G—guys, come on… it's me! Don't tell me you're just going to label me as a spy!" His expression appealed to their sentiment—a good technique for a spy.
"Everything I said so far has been accurate, and I also have the power to back up my statements. Let's not mention the fact that I am your Commander's grandson and pupil, as well as this Region Lord's nephew…
The man looked even more shaken as I responded calmly. Everyone in this room was a leader, and that meant they valued facts over sentiment.
The advantage was on my side.
"Alphonse forgetting his Magic Communication Tool, the disappearance of Flares, and the bug placed in this room… all of them point toward you was the culprit."
It was easy to blame a servant for one of these, but not all. There was no way an observant veteran leader would be so careless as to allow so many discrepancies.
"Cephas specifically had his leaders mobilized because of my arrival. It makes sense that better care and observation will be put in ensuring this room was set up well. That makes the leader in charge the most complicit."
Once I explained my rationale, everyone had to side with my logic.
"B—but… I…" The man was already getting nervous, darting his eyes left and right.
"Don't even think about it. Your bugs, and even the magical devices you have on you, have been rendered powerless. In essence, I forcefully deactivated them."
"W—wha—? How is that—?"
"No help is coming. You've been cut off already."
"Eeek!"
The man seemed timider compared to Liliana—who had already shown her true colors at this point.
'There's no use buying time or trying any tricks. You've been caught.'
With the snap of my fingers, he fell unconscious and collapsed on the carpeted ground.
"Leave him there. There should still be other spies—maybe one or two in the Fort and some in the Region. It might be difficult getting rid of them all, but we can prevent them from gaining access to information."
I was planning on giving them a Magic Lie Detector Item that would allow the Kingdom to spot and eliminate the spies.
"Now that we have that out of the way… let's continue the meeting."
******************
Our assembly lasted for another thirty minutes before it was concluded.
During that time, I gave specific instructions and handed over necessary tools to those delegated to perform properly.
Since we had no idea when the next wave of attacks would arrive, it was better to be prepared.
'They'll most likely launch an aerial assault next. Or, perhaps underground…?'
In any case, it wouldn't hurt to be prepared.
After the meeting was concluded, I was allocated a free office for the drafted document I needed them to take to the Capital before I arrived there myself.
The situation was dire, but there were two places I needed to stop by first before heading to the Royal Palace to enact my plan.
"Huu… alright!"
My first day back, and I was already this busy. However, if it was only this much then it was bearable.
After writing my message to the Royal Palace, I was going to give the people in the Fort the Demon Beasts I captured—dead, of course—and make my way to the next destination.
There were many details that I didn't divulge to them, but they didn't concern these ones. The major burden lay in the Capital, so I needed to settle other matters first.
"It's a shame I didn't get to see Alphonse, but that's fine too. We'll meet someday… if he doesn't die or anything."
Even then—as long as I could help it—death wouldn't necessarily be the end of his life.
My journey of three years was worth a lot more than that.
I spent at least a century in practice, and that was only my rough estimation. I was too occupied with all I did that the concept of time became nearly redundant.
But, it was thanks to this that I was able to achieve this level of power.
The organization that was after my life, and the looming disturbance—I was confident in my ability to face them.
The Demons had an Arcana with them—The Devil—which made them nearly invincible in their territory. It was also thanks to this that the entire Northern Continent was shrouded in endless Miasma and they could survive without ingesting corrupted Souls.
The organization after me also had their share of Arcanas—possibly close to ten by now.
If they were working together with the Demons, then that made the situation even direr, but… I had no plans of watching from the sidelines or choosing safety.
Normally, I would declare this as an unwinnable clash—considering the weak and compromised state of the Kingdom.
However… the enemies weren't the only ones with Arcanas.
Plus, with my current strength and possession… this whole thing could turn around for the better!
