Chapter 410

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on April 8, 2025

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410 People Preparing for Winter #8

Valtma was near Sodomora – no, he was the leader of the cultists active across the entire kingdom.

I thought for sure Paranoi would know the identity of this man, but when she saw him:

“Aaah, you’re the uncle who imprisoned me… Such a dastardly person…!”

Judging by Paranoi’s reaction, it appeared that Valtma’s true identity was a tightly guarded secret known only to a select few.

“You put me in prison and only gave me horrible health drinks…! Because of you, I, Paranoi, almost committed an unspeakable act inside that dungeon…! This is unforgivable…!”

Paranoi was seething with Wrath.

From her talk of imprisonment, it seemed she was referring to the time she was captured as a cultist and handed over to the Mars Guild’s dungeon.

At that time, Paranoi was tortured in prison to extract information about the cultists.

“You gave me the most terrible health drink ever…! That was a form of cruel torture…!”

What? Sounds like she’s exaggerating the torture a bit.

I wondered if maybe Valtma had been protecting the captured nymph Paranoi. Indeed, I recalled that Valtma had even given her an opportunity to convert in front of other adventurers.

“…”

Valtma scratched his ear in irritation at Paranoi’s shrill voice. The annoyance in his one remaining eye was palpable.

“That’s why I didn’t want to open this door for you. You’re too noisy, Paranoi, which is why you’ve never advanced beyond apprentice.”

“What do you think you know about me…?”

“Hmm, ah, hmm-”

Valtma then loosened his collar and spoke in an unusually deep voice.

“It’s me, young one.”

“Aaah, that voice…!”

Paranoi trembled in fear at Valtma’s changed tone. She looked like a young gazelle spotting a lion while coming to drink water, pitifully shaking.

Apprentice Paranoi, who is now the trusted right-hand of the Lord of Hell, was supposedly doing very well.

“Master…! That voice belongs to the master…! The commander of Pluto’s disciples, the dog of Mars…!”

That’s correct. The spy infiltrating Sodomora was actually me. Now, there might be listening ears around, so let’s go into the office.

“Don’t you dare give orders so confidently…!”

Paranoi, who had been trembling in fear, suddenly swells with arrogance like an inflated party balloon.

“I, Paranoi, am now ranked higher than you…! I’ve risen above all Pluto’s disciples, becoming the Earl of Hell’s Frontier…!”

What?

“You thinking I’m still that apprentice disciple is a grave mistake…! This is a reversal of power relations…! Now I, Paranoi, hold a higher position than you, master…!”

Gulp.

With that, Valtma pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger, looking extremely tired.

He glanced at me as if asking what this was all about, so I decided to vaguely answer with “That’s how it is.”

Anyway, we entered Valtma’s office.

“Under the command of the Earl of Hell’s Frontier Paranoi, hand over your hidden sweets and candies immediately…! By the grace of my mercy, you’re spared the immediate execution according to Hell’s laws, you double spy…!”

While Paranoi was making a racket, Valtma silently approached with some warm milk and cookies.

As Paranoi ate these, she became surprisingly quiet, allowing Valtma to finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Indeed, nothing calms nymphs better than snacks and a nap. They’re so noisy. This is why I’ve never had children…”

And now we’re getting into his family affairs, which I don’t really care about.

Since wasting time on their antics was counterproductive, I decided to come straight to the point of why I was here.

“Paranoi, please retrieve that….”

“Understood…!”

Buueet.

As Paranoi opened her mouth, a key drenched in milk clattered onto the wooden table. Valtma chuckled as if witnessing something truly bizarre.

“What an extraordinary sight. Who would have thought you could store objects inside your mouth? Do you have some kind of multidimensional storage? Can you hold rivers or even sea water inside and release them at will?”

Release? Really?

Could someone actually do that?

I imagined Paranoi holding a mouthful of water, waiting to release it like a dam if necessary. Perhaps this was what could be described as a Hydro Pump.

It was a clever concept, so I decided to keep this note, intending to experiment it someday.

Though not today – we had more urgent matters at hand.

Slurp.

I handed the key retrieved by Paranoi to Valtma. His eyes immediately changed when he saw it.

“Where did you find this?”

Just as I anticipated, Valtma seemed to know something about this key.

I explained.

“Paranoi mentioned that this key was actually made by the high priests of Pluto. I figured you’d have some knowledge about it, so I came here.”

“I see. Now I understand why you ventured here such a long way. I never thought this skeletal key would really exist in the physical world.”

“Exists? So you’re seeing this for the first time as well, Mr. Valtma?”

“Yes. When the royal family was overthrown, we scattered chaotically. We were too busy surviving to worry about anything else.”

“I see.”

“That’s why we couldn’t secure much. The high-level warehouse keepers probably had more on them. This is a key made by warehouse keepers. Who would have thought they actually made something like this? Where exactly did you obtain it?”

“Let me tell you-.”

I proceeded to give Valtma a brief summary of recent events.

I went to the logging site for a promotion quest. There we encountered the Black Mane Tribe and subsequently wiped out this monster tribe, leading to the eventual d*ath of a man who then entrusted me with the key.

The information was fragmented and not very cohesive, but as the leader of the adventurer guild, Valtma managed to draw a conclusion based on the stories.

“You said he didn’t have any identification markers or ways to verify his identity.”

“Yes. And shortly after, the body naturally burned away – bones and all.”

“In that case, he was likely part of the Winter Unit.”

“The Winter Unit?”

At the mention of these words, pictures of snowy Gangwon Province and military training camps came to my mind, where snow falls every weekend and it’s freezing cold all the time.

But the Winter Unit Valtma referred to wasn’t anything like that.

It was actually nothing like that.

“They’re the secret informants operated by the royal family. They were established during the Ceres curse-induced long winter, conducting various covert operations, which is why they’re known as the Winter Unit.”

If these “secret informants” are like the NSA or CIA, then it seems the royal family runs some impressive covert agents in addition to the shrine knights.

“Individuals who narrowly failed the shrine knight tests are recruited, trained even more rigorously, and transformed into secret agents. Since they’re entrusted with all sorts of dirty jobs, some would say they’re even more troublesome than the shrine knights.”

“You seem to have a thorough understanding of this Winter Unit.”

“Of course. I created that unit. Well, back when I was still stuck in that suffocating palace. It was formed to prepare for the long winter.”

Approximately twenty years ago…

After that remark, there was a brief silence between us, broken only by Paranoi munching on cookies.

Valtma eventually broke the silence.

“So, you’re planning to hand this key over to Thunderblade?”

“Maybe. One of the reasons I came here was to ask your advice on what to do with it.”

“Still, from your expression, it seems you don’t intend to hand it over. Honestly, if I were in your place, I might have swallowed it entirely. After all, this key is a crucial clue to finding the true entrance of Pluto’s labyrinth, leading to vast treasures.”

“The true entrance to the labyrinth?”

“Didn’t you know from Paranoi? Among the treasures hidden by the warehouse keepers is likely a compass that can locate the real underground maze among countless ones.”

“I see.”

Suddenly, the two keys I had seemed far more significant. They were crucial indeed.

Since I better than anyone know how many adventurers are striving to descend into Pluto’s deeper labyrinth to obtain treasure and nectar.

Then Valtma summarized the situation.

“To my knowledge, the secret warehouse’s location is revealed only when the three keys are gathered. So, go ahead and collect the remaining ones, Junior Pluto.”

“Where are the rest of the keys located?”

“I don’t know. If I did, I would have gathered them myself already. Had you been just some random fellow, I might have subdued you and taken it by force. But now? Going up against you would mean preparing for d*ath.”

“I see. Thanks for being considerate.”

“Hmph, anyway, don’t go spreading this around. There are plenty of people who’d be interested.”

With that, our conversation concluded. If there’s no more useful information to gain, there wasn’t much point staying in this booze-scented place.

Just as I stood up to leave, Valtma spoke again.

“Paranoi –”

Apparently, he wasn’t speaking to me but to someone else – Paranoi.

“My title, Earl of the Frontier, must be included after my name! From now on, I’m your superior!”

“Indeed. It’s good to see you doing well. Continue serving Lord Pluto faithfully.”

*

“The head of Mars Guild, Valtma, was the leader of our group. Truly unexpected…!”

Leaving the office, Paranoi quietly muttered to herself in a voice no one could hear. To which I simply replied, “Me too.”

His skill in playing the double spy might stem from the training during his days running the Winter Unit in the royal household – honing those spying skills.

The royal intelligence unit, the elves dreaming of the rebuilding of Albrheim and the royal family supporting them, and Baccus who tragically fell victim to royal assassins – all the recent strange events seem to point towards one direction, not by chance.

The king.

The highest person in the land.

King Thunderblade.

With the frequency this figure keeps crossing my path, I can’t help but feel a bit nervous.

If I keep this key to myself instead of handing it over to him, he might become an even bigger obstacle in my future journey.

“Lord Hassan, are you really planning to overthrow the royal family? Are you going against the royal family’s wishes, planning a coup, and establishing a puppet regime?”

“What nonsense is that?”

“I, Paranoi, know everything…!”

After voicing this incomprehensible statement, Paranoi burst into eerie laughter – umph humph. It seems her mind is hatching another sinister cultish conspiracy.

Then, Paranoi adds another word.

“To overthrow the royal family, as you’ve thought, we must first infiltrate the royal house…! I, Paranoi, have a plan. Would you like to hear it?”

Infiltrate the royal house?

At that moment, a lightning bolt seemed to strike my brain.

The existence of three skeleton keys. Two are already in my possession, while the other’s whereabouts are unknown.

However, since the royal intelligence operatives held one of these keys, perhaps they hold information about the remaining key’s whereabouts—or maybe they already have the last one.

If that’s the case, whether willingly or otherwise, an approach to the royal family might not be a bad idea.

Even if not, narrowing down potential search routes would still be beneficial.

But I’m merely a small emerging deity. The royal family governs this vast territory of tens of thousands of people, and they’re the rulers of it all.

Getting close to such an entity is no easy task.

“Paranoi, tell me your plan. Do you have a way for me to approach the royal family?”

“Mwuhee… Very simple, don’t you know why I tried to trick other gullible nymphs into forming a choir?”

“What? You just wanted to play with other nymphs, right?”

“Sure, that was one reason, but there’s an actual reason…!”

“What is it?”

“The reason is simple! Thunderblade is the most successful and famous nymph-lover on the entire Gaia Continent…!”

[Author’s Note]

Thunderblade is a character I have meticulously planned… I wanted to maintain mystery, so I restricted the information provided…