Chapter 64 – Spying With Deals

At last, Professor Seneca and Professor Torres finally arrived with Jei. Seneca looked at Mirian standing over Agent Idras with the arming sword and said, “So you did kill that man on purpose.”

“Unfortunately. It changes the path the timeline takes dramatically. Respected Jei, how much did you tell them?”

Jei looked at Torres, then back to Mirian. “That the man tried to kill me. That I believe you. Not much.”

“Where did you find Seneca and Torres? So you can find them faster next time.”

“Seneca was in her office. Torres was… I think you know.”

“The King of the Grill. West-most table on the patio, sitting alone. The food was extra spicy.”

Jei nodded. Torres kept her face as blank as she could, but Mirian was getting to know her well enough to know she was disconcerted.

“I have a lot to tell you,” she said. “What’s different this time is he’s alive.” She gestured at the Akanan. Mirian had decided to tell everyone but Jei that it was the Akanan invasion triggering the Divine Monument that had sent her back. She went through the rest of the information as best she could: the corruption of the Captain, the death of Adria Gavell in the catacombs, and the planned invasion. She also made sure to mention that any spies that got captured were poisoned to death, which made Idras uncomfortable.

Throughout it all, she made sure to note specific things she shouldn’t otherwise know. Things like that Torres had been hit by a sword twice, that she possessed an ancient spellrod, and the names of her contacts in the various military branches. That Seneca had dated Bertrus, and that she was working on an alchemical concoction to run one of the spell engines studying the Divine Monument. When she threw the translation of the first spy’s scroll on the table, that made Idras blanch.

As usual, there was this annoying silence around the room as everyone pondered what to say.

Torres went with, “The most logical alternative explanation is that you’re a third party agent,” which led to Mirian tossing down another piece of paper that had that phrase already written on it.

Jei said a bunch of things in Gulwenen to Torres, with “Iliyia” being the only word Mirian could pick up on.

Torres finally said, “So what did you do… last time?”

“Got Cassius, went to the catacombs, and killed a bog lion before retrieving Praetorian Gavell’s corpse. However, we need to do it slightly differently, because last time Idras here was dead, and both Mayor Wolden, Gavell’s impostor, and Captain Mandez escape. There’s more Akanan spies in Torrviol, and they lead to us losing the Bainrose, and therefore losing the battle.”

Seneca frowned. “Iliyia, you believe all this?”

Torres said, “Song makes a convincing case. As far as I know, the only person who was working on conduit bleed-over spell resonance is… me.” When Senca gave her a blank look, Torres said, “The two-spells-at-once thingy,”

Seneca went “Ah!” It was sort of funny that Seneca had encyclopedic knowledge of alchemistry, but didn’t care much for artifice, even though it was apparently her contributions that were critical to some of the projects.

“Can you demonstrate, Mirian?”

“Sure, get a grounding spell ready.”

As the faint hints of a shield appeared around the spellrod as she channeled lightning, Torres asked, “How did you get crystal conduits small enough to miniaturize it?”

Mirian nodded at Jei.

Torres seemed to accept that. Seneca said, “So… now what?”

“You have contacts within the guard. We need to get Captain Mandez arrested and figure out what he knows. We need to have a way to stop the mayor from fleeing so we can figure out what he knows.”

“That’s a tall order,” Seneca said. “The mayor and the captain of the guard? What’s your evidence?”

“The corpse of Adria Gavell. Which we’re going to go get after we get guards like Bertrus to help get the captain arrested. And we do need to clear out all the spies and corrupt officials. As far as I can tell, those will be the changes that tip the battle, because otherwise the Akanan army knows too much for the attack to be stopped.”

“Then why are you saying this in front of him?” Torres said, gesturing to Idras.

“Because as I said before—Akana Praediar also loses this war. If we work together, we both benefit.”

“I don’t think it’s going to work,” Torres said.

Mirian shrugged. “If it doesn’t, I’ll just try again.” She looked at Idras. The spy stayed silent. He was grinding his teeth, though, which had to count for something.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

***

This time, when they emerged from the catacombs with the two bodies, Idras in tow, Seneca had convinced Bertrus that Captain Mandez needed to join them, and then they needed to watch him closely. That was the best she thought they could do, since she didn’t have much information that might convince the guards specifically, especially this early in the loop. Captain Mandez kept his face blank when he saw the strange array of corpses and prisoners arrayed in the plaza, but that didn’t surprise Mirian.

“Tell him what I told you,” she insisted as Idras was led away by the guards. “This doesn’t have to end in ruin.”