Chapter 12
As always, information was the most valuable resource.
Depending on what information you had, someone who should have lived might die, and someone who should have died might live.
That was why every nation devoted all its efforts to training people to gather information.
She was no exception; she had once served in the Empire’s intelligence unit.
The members of the intelligence unit, including her, were always hiding their identities as they eavesdropped on others and dug up information.
Sometimes they posed as tavern owners, sometimes as beggars on the street.
But all that information had become meaningless after Stigmas and traitors appeared.
Information they’d planned to sell to neighboring countries became worthless scraps of paper when those countries fell.
Information used to exploit someone’s weakness could have irreversible consequences if carelessly spread among the people now huddled together on this narrow continent.
With every intelligent being on the brink of going down together, they were too busy bringing back information from outside to sow discord.
And so, the surviving intelligence agents of every nation split into two groups and set off on their respective missions.
Some risked their lives to gather information beyond the continent, in places that had already slipped from humanity’s grasp. The rest infiltrated the place drawing the most attention from the people on the continent and gathered information on them.
If you asked where the people huddled together on this continent placed their hopes, most would point to one place.
Genua Academy.
But even at Genua Academy, there were people you had to be wary of.
A prime example was the student standing right in front of her: Aiden Starfive.
“...”
She gritted her teeth and held out her dagger.
She wasn’t much of a fighter.
It was an emergency.
That was the only way to describe it.
Aiden Starfive.
An academy student who’d been making a name for himself at an insane pace over the past few days.
She didn’t know what Stigma he’d acquired, but the feats he’d accomplished in such a short time were astonishing.
He’d cut down Baron Frick’s son in a single stroke when the boy turned into a traitor, then gone on to defeat a traitor that had transformed into a gigantic stomach.
But if that had been all, he would have ended up as nothing more than a capable person the academy could support.
The problem was that Baron Frick had called him ‘one of their kind.’
For an intelligence agent well-versed in information, that alone was enough to draw a conclusion.
Aiden Starfive was a dangerous person.
The kind of dangerous person who could explode at any moment.
Perhaps killing Benjamin Frick meant he’d fully inherited it.
And that meant—
“I’m disappointed.”
His voice broke the shopkeeper’s train of thought.
“After all the years we’ve known each other.”
“...What did you say?”
Her gaze shifted to Aiden Starfive.
His voice had been full of nothing but pressure, menace, and apathy, yet there had been one tiny hint of another emotion.
Disappointment.
In an instant, countless memories flashed through her mind.
But nowhere in her memories could she recall ever meeting that man.
What was going on? Had she really known him well enough for him to say that?
He knew her? Had they met somewhere without her realizing it?
Or was he talking about before she became an intelligence agent?
About memories she’d erased by now?
As the shopkeeper desperately searched her memories, Aiden Starfive shook his head.
“I misspoke.”
“...What do you want, Aiden Starfive?”
She glared at the man, her fists clenched tight.
But she couldn’t help that her voice was much gentler than before.
Perhaps they did have a connection she couldn’t remember.
“...”
Aiden Starfive looked at her quietly, then held out a small stone.
“...This is...!”
At the sight of the stone, the shopkeeper’s eyes widened.
The stone the Emperor had recently become desperate to find.
The stone the Emperor’s intelligence unit was making its top priority to collect.
The stone that could save the dying Crown Prince.
“W-Wh-Why are you giving this to me...?”
Her voice trembling, she turned her gaze to Aiden Starfive.
“What a pointless question. You’re looking for it.”
He answered her as if it were obvious.
“What...?”
Looking for it?
Of course she was looking for it.
But how could he say that so matter-of-factly?
As if it were only natural that he knew the Crown Prince’s situation?
Her pupils shook violently, but she still slowly opened her mouth.
“What reward do you want?”
If he’d brought something this precious, what kind of reward could he possibly be demanding?
Besides, now that he knew the Crown Prince was gravely ill, could anything the intelligence unit knew satisfy him?
Could he want my body?
She hurriedly covered herself with both arms.
“E-Even though I’ve sworn my loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor, I can still decide what happens to my own body—”
“A high-grade potion.”
She couldn’t believe her ears.
“...What?”
“You’ve been asking me to repeat myself this whole time. It’s irritating. A high-grade potion.”
Aiden Starfive spoke again, proving she hadn’t misheard him.
“...”
A high-grade potion.
It wasn’t cheap.
But only within the category of potions. Considering the value of this stone, she could ask for three hundred high-grade potions and they’d gladly bring them to her.
“...Are you sure? Really, just that?”
The shopkeeper brushed her hair back from her face and looked at him.
“I won’t say it twice.”
Clack! Aiden Starfive set the stone down.
A terrifying aura poured from his body, and her breath caught in her throat.
“One high-grade potion. Now.”
“...All right.”
As she went to get the high-grade potion, the shopkeeper changed her mind.
A little while later, with a ting, a potion bottle appeared on the counter.
“...It’s a top-grade potion.”
“I didn’t ask you for something like this.”
Aiden Starfive frowned at her kindness.
“It’s my choice. So take it.”
“...”
He snatched up the potion and turned to leave.
Watching him go, the shopkeeper fell into thought.
Aiden Starfive.
There was no doubt he was dangerous.
But perhaps he wasn’t a bad person.
“...”
Or perhaps he was someone from her lost memories.
The pure childhood she could no longer remember.
She clicked her tongue bitterly and began sorting the stock again.
Someday, if he came back, she’d give him a little extra, she thought.
She didn’t know.
Aiden Starfive thought that, back when he played the game, each stone was worth about one high-grade potion.
She didn’t know.
The person Aiden Starfive had possessed knew nothing about the current situation.
She didn’t know.
Next year, the Crown Prince would die, and the stone’s value would plummet.
Clack. Setting the stone down, she fell into thought.
If this could save the Crown Prince’s life,
then they could at least take one step back from the immense tragedy ahead.
*
“Heh-heh... Heh-heh-heh...”
Could I be any luckier?
That’s right. I’m lucky.
I couldn’t stop laughing as I looked at the top-grade potion in my hand.
A top-grade potion.
I’d only asked for a high-grade potion.
Was this the protagonist’s plot armor?
Sure, I was a fake protagonist, but the actual protagonist hadn’t shown up yet, so I was still the protagonist for now.
I’d turned one high-grade potion into one top-grade potion and made an impression on the shopkeeper.
Sure, my damn Stigma had gotten me misunderstood at the start, but my desperate efforts had somehow managed to smooth things over.
What was I supposed to do with all this talent for getting along with people?
If it weren’t for my Stigma, I could’ve made a living as a sycophant or a demagogue.
A shame I couldn’t.
Thinking that, I headed for the classroom.
The classroom was always buzzing with conversation.
Of course, by the time I walked in, everyone would fall silent as if they’d planned it.
Honestly, it was a little disappointing, but what could I do? My Stigma was like this.
“...”
But this time, something felt a little strange.
It was usually noisy until I walked in, but this time there wasn’t a sound at all.
Had someone else come in and started causing trouble?
Thinking that, I entered the classroom,
-Whoosh!
and a fist shot right at my face.
My heart nearly stopped.
Seriously, I was just about to scream, “Aaaah!”
[Stigma activated!]
[You don't scream like that!]
It was only because of my Stigma that I hadn’t screamed.
“...”
I turned my gaze toward the person in front of me.
Pink hair fluttered in the air.
Her eyes, brimming with enthusiasm, met mine.
“Found you! Aiden Starfive!”
Her eyes lit up when she saw me, but as soon as our gazes met, she gulped.
“W-Well, you're still scary. The others weren't wrong.”
“...”
“But you didn’t even flinch when you saw my attack. You really are amazing!”
Pink hair fluttered in the air.
Why was this character here?
“So...”
Ignoring my thoughts, the woman smiled at me.
“You, spar with me!”
Aila Seed.
The main character of Chapter 6.
“Don’t hold back. Fight me for real!”
A woman who, alongside Lydia Straw and Laura Crown, ranked among the top three most damnably troublesome characters you should never fight was gazing at me with shining eyes.