Chapter 117: 103 – Counter-Espionage?

Pokora and I were staring at each other.

We both moved our hands at the same time.

I chose scissors.

She chose rock.

“Fuck,” I muttered. “Again.”

She chuckled and gave me a shit-eating grin.

We moved our hands.

I picked rock.

She picked scissors.

“Get fucking shit on,” I laughed.

“So competitive,” she sighed and shook her head.

“All in good fun,” I assured her with a smile.

“Oi, oi, oi,” someone called from our right. “What's all this then?”

We turned to the voice and saw a male Dwarf Watcher walking towards us followed by seven officers.

The group reached us and the Dwarf looked around, then up at me. “Lady Natasha,” he greeted me. “Everything alright?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

I raised my eyebrows in confusion. “Did something happen?” I probed.

The Dwarf nodded and replied, “A nearby Pylon detected tier three skills being used around this area. We came to check and found you, Lady Natasha,” he gave a glance at Pokora, “and Lady Pokh'Orra.”

They can detect skill? I wondered in surprise. That's pretty good public security. I looked round and shrugged. “It obviously wasn't us,” I pointed out. Maybe Bonte... I considered.

The Dwarf squinted his eyes at me. “How can we know it wasn't you?” He countered.

“Everything is in one piece,” Pokora interjected in a bored tone. “Pretty obvious, I'd say.”

I nodded in agreement.

The Dwarf looked at the house behind us and frowned. “I see,” he muttered with a nod. “We don't condone acts outside the law, though.”

I scoffed and corrected him, “Above, you mean.”

He turned to me and smiled. “Your companions are not Halves,” he chuckled.

“Nor are you,” I retorted with a polite smile.

His smile vanished, replaced by a frown. “I don't mean to be rude, Lady Natasha.”

I nodded. “Apology accepted.”

The Dwarf took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “Well, nothing terrible will happen with you around. Please do let us know if you witness any criminal activity. Have a nice evening,” he grumbled and turned around, then quickly left with the rest of the Watchers.

“What the fuck was that?” I muttered as I watched them disappear after turning around a corner.

“Well, you don't have the friendliest of faces,” Pokora pointed out. “Plus, you were a bit of a cunt.”

“And he was a bit of an asshole,” I argued, turning to Pokora.

She nodded. “True, but the dude is just doing his job. Maybe he thought we were suspicious.”

“Maybe we were a bit sus, after all,” I jokingly agreed, wiggling my eyebrows.

“Don't,” Pokora warned me with a serious face. “This world is free of that shit. Don't pollute it.”

“True.” I nodded. “Still, nice to know they respond that fast. Bonte left like two minutes ago.”

“He fought someone,” Pokora informed me. “They're coming here now.”

Right on cue, two individuals materialized from thin air in front of us.

Bonte had a smile on his face.

The other person was completely covered with black clothes like an assassin from a cheap movie.

[Ork, Lvl 326 Regicide]

Now THAT is pretty sus, I thought.

“Your Excellency,” the individual greeted me and went down on a knee.

Yikes, I sighed in my mind. “Who are you?” I inquired.

The Ork removed the head cover, revealing a blue face, brownish eyes, and an impressive pair of tusks that I guessed replaced the incisors. They reached up to the nose. Long, black hair reached the Ork's lower back. “My name is Hanna Intarr, Your Excelency,” she replied, staring at the ground. “Intarr has two r's at the end.”

“I see,” I muttered, then sighed, “Why were you spying on us?”

“I'm gathering information on a group of Changelings, Your Excellency,” she replied, still looking at the ground.

“What for?” I probed.

“To kill them, Your Excellency,” she declared with purpose in her voice. “They are responsible for the attempt at Your Excellency's life in Lakeview. They are also responsible for what happened to King Gordon.”

I looked around us.

There were barely any pedestrians in the street, either too far or minding their own business.

“This is not something we should discuss in the open,” I pointed out.

Hanna nodded.

“How about we go to an inn?” Bonte suggested. “There's a few nearby.”

I nodded, not wanting to bring the spy-like person to the place I was staying at. “Sure. Lead the way.”

***

Ten minutes later we were in a room at an inn.

Pokora was sitting next to the window, Bonte was standing next to the door, and I was sitting on the edge of the bed.

Hanna was on one knee in front of me, again.

Just when I had gotten used to people bowing to me, a person had to go the extra step and kneel.

People are respectful to the point of being inconsiderate, in my opinion.

“So,” I sighed. “Can you tell me what you know?”

“With pleasure,” Hanna replied. “As Your Excellency must already know, His Excellency Perculis passed away three centuries ago. When that happened, Her Excellency Yulianna left towards Makah, leaving her companions. I've heard Her Excellency Yulianna is an... inflexible individual. Strict beyond reason, some would call her.”

“Right.” I nodded. She did execute an entire Royal Family, I recalled.

“With this power vacuum, a group of people sought to cause mayhem,” she continued. “An individual by the name of Yugulari Thavas Pneumix reached out to one of Her Excellency Yulianna's former companions and somehow took control over her. She's Elena Pazh'Khun, the Elf that accompanies you.”

Kinda figured that, I nodded. And the Yugulari fellow came up again. Why am I not surprised?

“With Elena under in their ranks, and to nobody's knowledge, they joined a second party which I have no information about other than their existence,” Hanna admitted with a frown. “I suspect they plotted King Gordon's death and tried to end his life.”

“Wait a second,” I spoke up. “You mean to tell me that they waited three hundred years to do it...?”

“My apologies, Your Excellency!” she lowered her head. “I didn't explain properly. They joined with the second party recently. They used Elena to gather information as a sleeper agent in the meantime.”

So the Changelings joined with the Demon? I concluded with a little doubt. Maybe Nerissa wondered around Galeia for three centuries feeding on people until meeting Yugulari. “And you know this how?” I asked her.

“It's the information I've gathered this last few years,” she replied. “I've used all manners of methods to obtain the truth ever since I heard of someone wanting to kill Halves.”

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“How old are you?” I inquired, a little confused due to the timeline of events she was retelling.

“Seventy two years old, Your Excellency,” was her response. “I've been in this path for five years now.”

“I hope you don't mind me asking, but how do you know the group that tried to kill me is the same that tried to kill Gordon? Also, how do you know they tried to kill Gordon?” I told her my doubts.

“I've heard them say so, Your Excellency,” she replied with certainty. “I followed a group of Changelings to Lakeview and learned of their attempted deicide.”

“And you didn't stop them?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I can't spot a Changeling in a crowd, Your Excellency,” she admitted with a heavy sigh. “I apologize for my shortcomings.”

“Yugulari was there,” I informed her. “And it's alright. You don't need to apologize.”

“If Your Excellency says so,” Hanna complied with a complicated expression.

I glanced at Pokora.

She gave me a shrug.

I returned my eyes to Hanna. “Have you heard of the name 'Nerissa'?”

“I have,” the Ork replied with a nod. “But the exact nature of the individual was never revealed during my... interrogations.”

“Well... Nerissa was a Demon who was tormenting the King,” I informed her.

Hanna was silent for a few seconds. “Could Your Excellency inform me of this Demon's whereabouts?”

I smiled. “What for?”

“So I may kill this Nerissa,” she replied with a cold face.

I waved a hand. “No need. I already killed her.”

Hanna blinked a few timed. “Thank you, Your Excellency, for ridding this world of a threat,” she praised with a smile.

“Do you think the Demon was the second party?” I questioned.

“No, Your Excellency,” she denied with a shake of her head.

“You didn't answer why you were eavesdropping on us,” I pointed out.

“I... wanted to get to the bottom of this on my own,” she admitted with a frown. “I wanted to present Your Excellency the heads of those responsible.”

I nodded. “Why me? Why not the King?”

Hanna was confused for a second, then replied, “Your Excellency is a Halve. The King is a Tigea. I mean no disrespect, but I believe Your Excellency stands above everyone involved. It's only natural that the results should be shown to you first. I initially had intended to bring my results to Her Excellency Nilenna, but your glorious birth presented better alternatives.”

“I see,” I muttered, a little surprised and put off. I remembered something and asked, “Do you think the same group that tried to kill me are the same people who tried to kill Miraztor?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Although it's been a full generation since then, it wouldn't be a surprise if they indoctrinated their children into furthering their ideologies.”

“Gordon said something similar,” I recalled.

“King Gordon is wise,” she commented.

“Have you searched the Royal Palace for any clues?” I asked next.

“No, Your Excellency. It's near impossible to sneak into the Royal Palace,” she replied with an amused smile.

“The Demon did,” I pointed out.

“True...” she muttered and puckered her lips. “Maybe some Changelings assisted in infiltrating by taking the appearance of workers inside.”

I hummed. “Do you know anything about Ines, the woman who lived in the house I was at previously?”

Hanna nodded. “She was a passive member who only brought information to Yugulari's group.”

“Any clue what happened to her?” I probed.

“No, Your Excellency. All I know is she worked in the kitchens,” she replied.

I sucked air through my teeth. “How likely is it that she was killed?”

“Highly improbable, Your Excellency,” Hanna replied. “Yugulari's group doesn't have that many members so she was probably relocated... or she moved up the ranks and works in a hidden safe-house.”

I thought for a second. “So you think she was radicalized?”

“More like led astray, Your Excellency,” she pointed out. “But radicalized fits as well.”

I sighed. Politics are a nasty things in every world, I guess. “Fight poison with poison, as they say,” I muttered. “Would it be too much if I ask you to find her?”

“With pleasure, Your Excellency,” Hanna declared. “Your Excellency's word is my command, and my time is Your Excellency's resource.”

I held back a cringe.

“Can I go, too?” Bonte asked with excitement.

I turned to him. “I'm... not your superior, Bonte,” I pointed out. “Like... you know?”

He laughed and nodded. “Then I will join Hanna.”

“Bonte?” The Ork repeated in confusion. “Wasn't your name Barradun?”

“Sorry, I was playing,” Bonte chuckled. “My name is Bonte Slirmy.”

The Ork nodded with a displeased frown. “Well, I lied about the Scout's Code. We're even.”

“True,” Bonte agreed with a smile. “Should we go now?”

I did a double take. “Now?” I blurted out.

“Yeah,” the Tigea confirmed. “So we can get back in time for the Royal Banquet.”

“How about you go after the Royal Banquet?” I offered.

“Wouldn't it be better to get this over with as fast as possible?” Pokora suggested. “Your Excellency,” she added with a cheeky smile.

“I don't know, Poko-Poko,” I retorted with a smile of my own. “I mean, sure... tomorrow is a free day but...”

“Yeah, yeah,” the Elf interrupted. “You are not going, though. To look for Ines, I mean.”

I considered for a few seconds then nodded with a sigh, “Do whatever you want.” I turned to Bonte. “But remember Thelea's words. Don't get yourself killed.”

“No problem, buddy,” he chuckled. “I'll be careful.”

Hanna stood up and walked to the window, then opened it. “Shall we, Bonte?”

Bonte nodded and followed her.

Both jumped down and disappeared.

I sighed, “What am I going to tell Thelea?”

Pokora scoffed. “That her boyfriend is an independent man?”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I'll go with that.”

And so, Pokora and I went back to our place.

It was a pretty fucking weird evening.

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