Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

Chapter 271: Turning point (2)

"She claims to be the spy who made a deal directly with his imperial majesty himself!"

Etaria's face tensed up.

A series of thoughts flashed through her mind, as if a single strain of her consciousness streaked across the synapses in her brain, connecting the dots and following the logical causality of all that this report implied.

'She?'

Etaria's only took as much time as it took her to blink her eyes.

"Bring her in."

'Is this a trap? But who would be insane enough to go for a supreme and a swordmaster?'

'So it's not that kid after all.'

'But what would make that elusive spy come out in the open? Is she trying to escape from the battle?'

The officer bearing the colors of one of the two loyalists within the imperial faction bowed his head and turned around, rushing to fulfill the command.

Left to her own thoughts, Etaria looked over, all the way across the field.

There, the last of the vengeful survivors of Salvador's army has just now entered the domain of the trees.

'And that means, the guys at the front should be approaching the enemy…'

Contrary to the common footsoldier, Etaria could sense the lingering influence of the powerful congregation of mana within the shallow woods. But that much would be possible for every other promoted ascended.

As a Supreme, Etaria could actually not only feel the mana within the forest but also how it affected the natural flow of the world's mana around her.

She couldn't understand the principle behind all the erratic movements or even what exactly this mana was. Still, rather than brutally forcing her own logic upon the mystery that not even the masters of the high tower could explain, Etaria could still feel the flow of mana.

And just like a fish feeling the strange movement through the water, just like a seasoned fighter noticing killing intent… She could feel the flow of mana, along with how its massive blob a few hundred meters ahead affected the currents of the invisible.

"Eta," Zanba called out shortly, already back on the ground, his hand loosely hovering over the handle of his sword.

Pulling herself out of her deep thoughts, Etaria raised her eyes towards the small commotion rising nearby.

"…go already! There's no… me…!"

The distant shouting quickly grew not so distant. And a mere moment later, the officer from before appeared just a few steps shy of the princess…

Pulled by the strangest ascended Etaria ever encountered.

The human form of the spy was simply… outrageous. The elegance of the spy's face could rival the greatest beauties of the imperial court. And while Etaria could still confidently claim to be the faintest diamond of her gender…

For the first time in forever, she realized there could actually be a contender for one of her titles.

"I'm sorry for my abrupt arrival," the spy spoke in a soft, soothing voice as if she just didn't barge right into the middle of the headquarters of the whole imperial army.

And quite notably, she didn't seem to mind Zanba's blade hovering just a hair's width away from the skin of her throat.

"You better be," strangely irritated, Etaria barked back, earning herself Zanba's weirded-out glance.

"Princess, there's no…"

"You shall address Her Highness with proper respect!" Zanba spoke coldly, pressing his blade directly against the skin of the woman's long, fair throat.

"There's no time."

Ignoring the first drops of blood sliding down the man's blade, the alleged spy turned her eyes to Etaria and refused to look away as she spoke.

Putting her irrational irritation aside, Etaria took a shallow breath and made sure to keep a straight face.

'Her worth and trustworthiness is yet to be determined.'

Set in her desire not to divulge even the tiniest sliver of information with her expression, Etaria looked down right into the alleged spy's calm eyes.

"If you wish to speak, do so clearly."

A long wrinkle appeared on the spy's perfectly smooth forehead.

"All that man did, was play for time. Buying more time was all he ever wanted! But now, he only needs a single hour if not less!"

Word by word, the woman spat out the words, staring daggers at the princess.

No matter how hard she tried to act, she couldn't showcase her annoyance over the delay in a more obvious way.

"Time for what?" Etaria, ticked off by the blatant hurry expressed with every part of the spy's body and soul, inquired. "What did he need time for? To bring some weapons? Complete a spell?"

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Equally as annoyed with the spy's unclear words as the spy was with how long everything was taking, Etaria tried to offer some help, to guide the discussion towards specifics.

"He only needs about one hour more to bring over a whole, bloody army!"

The woman spat her words out, her anger boiling out and turning into outright rage.

The spy's hand shot to the side, pointing at the line where the last men of the first line just entered the forest, soon to be followed by the second wave.

Meaning, the troops at the front should have long since reached the area where Etaria could feel the thick, foreign mana. In other words, at any moment, the first noises of engagement should reach her ears.

The princess never doubted her assessment of the situation for a single second. For while this mass of foreign mana could be sensed by every other promoted ascender… As a Supreme, she could confirm its existence on a much deeper, unalterable level.

Still, no sound came from the trees, no tree's crown moved under the stray impacts of the battle below.

And the spy's face finally snapped, as a flash of bright light seemingly appeared in her eyes.

"The fight from two days ago, the massacre of your people right at the forest perimeter," the woman spoke out, pointing her hand in the direction that continued to refuse to provide any sound that would match Etaria's natural assumptions.

"It was done by nothing more than a scouting party."

A tingle moved down Etaria's spine.

She saw the massacre. A bloody hell that gave her the vibes of the siege of the Lunagar Fortress at its worst.

And what was even worse, now that the spy's testimony grew more and more detailed and thus plausible…

It started to form an unnervingly accurate key allowing Etaria to finally decipher and piece together the weird, uncommon, and often outright erratic behavior of the young man siding with the forest forces.

"How is buying time going to help him? Where will his army come from?" Zanba joined in on the interrogation, sprinkling some cold and hard reality down on the revelations. "There's forbidden land, misty valley, and starlight plain all around this forest," he casually mentioned names, two of which even Etaria didn't know about. "Not one of those places is passable.

So," Zanba lowered his sword away from the woman's throat… but his killing aura only exploded.

As weird and different from all the other ascenders as the spy was, Etaria could still tell her general strength. While it would be new and challenging to fight someone with such unusual mana to her, it was something Etaria was confident in achieving.

This would be all the more true for Zanba, who at this distance could overwhelm even the princess herself.

"So, where is his army coming from?" Etaria's retainer asked right as his killing intent reached its peak.

"I have no idea," the spy admitted to something unbelievable.

An army that came from nowhere? Given the quality of the intel she provided, this woman should be more than well-versed in all the paths an army could possibly take throughout the forest she lived in!

"My working idea is, he mastered some sort of a translocation spell."

Etaria continued to stare right at the woman, gritting her teeth in silent frustration.

'Is she for real or is this all just another trick?'

Etaria's jaws started to hurt, forcing her to relax her jaws a bit.

"Then…"

"That magic has been lost to the world. No human alive can wield it again," Zanba spoke out with confidence that Etaria rarely seen in his eyes.

This only served as a reminder to save for his long list of impossible feats… She didn't really know all that much about her dear officer's background. And every now and then, just like right now, he would reveal that he knew a bit more than even the imperial princess and a confidante of the emperor himself!

"Then you tell me how he brought drinks several times stronger than the strongest imperial booze? Where did he get the weapons that allowed just a handful of men to massacre all of the people who died at the perimeter?"

With every word, the woman's voice grew louder and more animated.

"How is he…"

"Shut it!" Etaria shouted, cutting the argument before it could grow too loud.

For now, the front row of the second wave was stepping between the trees. And even if the first line took a really long time to advance…

They should've long since reached the spot where all the foreign mana gathered.

Both Zanba and the female spy turned silent, throwing startled stares at the princess while she simply closed her eyes and listened.

Etaria ignored the noises of the clattering armors of thousands upon thousands of men. She removed all the other background sounds from her perception…

And only silence remained.

Not a single shout. A single pained cry for help or a cheer of victory.

Just… silence.