Chapter 25: This Soldier Is Truly Too Steady

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The view returned to Robin.

Matthew paced back and forth, his face clouded with worry.

After Robin told him to leave everything to him, he had Matthew take a short rest.

Matthew had not dared to rest for long. Three hours later, the man had already returned.

“What is going on? Why hasn’t Marquis Sid made a move yet?” Matthew asked anxiously. “After such a major incident has been reported, how can he possibly sit still?”

In Matthew’s estimation, Marquis Sid should have acted with thunderous speed, mobilizing the troops in the city to surround the Roland Art Studio first, then wiping out those people from Delos.

After all, enemy spies were no trivial matter.

The struggle between Grand Duke Benito and the kingdom was an internal conflict. Even though there had been clashes before, they had never escalated into large-scale bloodshed—only minor battles.

But once the people of Delos became involved, the nature of the matter changed entirely.

Only if the two sides started fighting in earnest would it be convenient to get Robin out of the city.

The difficulty would still be considerable, but at least there would be some hope.

“He can, of course, sit still.” Robin was studying the map Matthew had given him. “From Marquis Sid’s conduct before, it’s obvious that what he cares about most is his own dignity.”

“After what happened last night, his primary concern has always been public opinion.”

“You said earlier that the entire city was under martial law, so I sent people out to take a look. In reality, it isn’t a complete lockdown. It’s merely a situation of seeming laxity outside while being tightly controlled within.”

“The number of soldiers on guard hasn’t increased. Neither has the number of soldiers stationed on rooftops, nor the number of patrols.”

“From their conversations, they’re still joking that I’m a coward and that the grand duke is a weakling who only knows how to use political weapons—a spineless fool once a real war begins. They seem completely unconcerned about yesterday’s defeat, as though they had genuinely gone easy on us. Because the soldiers are relaxed, the civilians are relaxed as well.”

“The Guard Bureau’s orders were simply to have more guards disguise themselves, change districts, and watch for suspicious individuals.”

“At the city gates, the number of guards is exactly the same as before.”

“The difference is that in the past, if you paid enough money or used the underworld, the restrictions could be loosened somewhat. Now, no amount of money will do, and anyone attempting it will be tracked in return.”

“You sent people out?” Matthew’s eyes widened, and cold sweat broke out all over him. “Do you realize how dangerous that is? You just said that they’re lax on the surface but strict underneath. Using the sonic transmitter to send messages makes it very easy for us to be discovered!”

“Even if they can’t determine what we’re saying through the sound waves, they can still trace the source!”

“How many times did you use it?”

For a moment, Matthew regretted employing Robin.

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Damn it, he was just an ordinary soldier. What did he know?

Work behind enemy lines should be left to professionals.

“Not once,” Robin said. “I had Gennis report that we’d lost a cat and ask the guards for help finding it. As expected, she was thrown out, but she successfully passed the message to the guards.”

“In the afternoon, the guards used an assignment as cover to pass the message to the journalist. The journalist then contacted the others and told everyone to continue doing what they were supposed to do, while occasionally observing the movement of the guards.”

“After that, we sent the message.”

“Wait. What exactly did you say to that journalist?” Matthew suddenly remembered something and looked at Robin in alarm. “Did he publish the message through his newspaper?”

Robin glanced at him, only now realizing that Matthew had never thought to ask this question. So he had merely been reading the reports and thinking about what to do next.

At last, Robin understood why Matthew had insisted on finding him as an adviser.

Robin had already noticed that something seemed off about Matthew’s mental state.

Even though Matthew had been poisoned yesterday, Robin’s mental exhaustion should not have escaped his notice.

Today was the same. When Matthew saw the newspaper and learned that Marquis Sid had done nothing at all, he had begun to lose his composure.

Most likely, whenever Matthew had planned missions in the past, someone else had either offered the ideas, or he had considered countless possibilities before relying on others to complete the plan.

It seemed Matthew was better at comforting and instructing people. Planning in this area was not his strength.

It was rather like how Zhao Gang was not as good at fighting wars as Li Yunlong, but was unquestionably more learned than him.

“Why would I have him publish the message? The reports were submitted anonymously to journalists at several small newspapers, and those newspapers published them. Their only purpose was to attract attention; they didn’t care in the slightest about the truth. Once the waters had been muddied, he pieced together a few things in a convincing manner, went to the Roland Art Studio to take a couple of photographs, and published them along with the other newspapers.”

“Only, the photographs he took happened to capture a suspicious area of the Roland Art Studio.”

“People from the other newspapers went there to take photographs too, so no one would suspect him because of it.”

Matthew opened and closed his mouth.

Was Robin actually this cautious?

How had he thought of so much?

Judging from the reports, hadn’t he seemed like nothing more than a reckless fool who was willing to challenge people to a duel in enemy territory?

“Ahem…”

Seeing Robin so calm and composed, Matthew could not help but relax. He sat down opposite him.

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“And you still shouldn’t have sent Gennis on the mission. She isn’t mature enough…” Matthew seemed unable to hold himself together and insisted on finding at least one fault.

“Mm. That was indeed my mistake, but I didn’t know whom else to send.” Robin was speaking honestly. After reading Gennis’s profile, he understood her better than Matthew did.

[Gennis Scathach]

[Sex: Female]

[Age: 21]

[Strength: D]

[Endurance: E+]

[Agility: D+]

[Spirit: D]

[Mana: D+]

[Supernatural Trait: Scalpel Affinity]

[A medical student who runs a veterinary clinic. She later joined the underground organization under Grand Duke Benito, using the veterinary clinic as a cover and base of operations. She is easily affected by her emotions and is not good in combat situations, but performs very well in tasks unrelated to fighting. She is the sort of person who can sob her heart out after breaking up with her boyfriend one day, then cheerfully go to work the next. She cares deeply about her relationships with her colleagues, treating them as friends and her teacher as family.]

[Weakness Analysis: There is a chance she will lose her composure in battle. Seeing one of her own die before her eyes can cause her mind to go blank. She tends to embellish her speech. She will never throw the surgical knife she likes most, and always carries it in the same place, making her identity easy to expose.]

Robin had reminded Gennis not to bring her knife and then sent her out.

Still, a leader had to be shown the proper respect—especially when that leader had saved his life.

“Fine. Remember to discuss it with me next time.” Seeing Robin admit his mistake, Matthew could not help but relax.

Then he asked curiously, “So everything that’s happening now is under your control? What is Marquis Sid going to do?”

“Cover up the truth. No matter how you look at it, Marquis Sid will never allow the fact that Delos has infiltrated his territory to be brought into the open. It would be bad for everyone. He’ll keep a close watch on the people at the Roland Art Studio, then deal with the matter tonight. Once he finds evidence he can use against them, he’ll negotiate with whoever is responsible.”

Matters between nations were never that simple.

Hummm—

Just then, the enormous transmitter began to emit steam, and streams of sound waves started to take shape.

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