It has been 300 years since I died in that world.
During that time, countless events occurred, but I heard about the biggest incident through Tenji.
“At first, I thought it came over from the gate, but it wasn’t. There were no undead here in the Xaihum Continent either. It was just an abnormal phenomenon where the dead resurrected and attacked the living.”
“So?”
“The world fell into chaos. We had to deal not only with the monsters from the gate but also with the dead. At that time, we began trading with the empires of the Xaihum Continent.”
“Trading?”
From there, it seemed like Solche was familiar with the content and began to explain what she knew.
“There was a time when we supported manpower from each empire while interacting with the other side of the gate.”
“That’s right. Thanks to that, we were able to fend off the undead.”
In other words, it meant that support was sent from Latnia and Roran to that side.
“When was that?”
“About a hundred years ago, I think.”
When I first arrived in this world and realized that 300 years had passed, I thought that the other world must have changed a lot.
Listening to Tenji’s story, the thought that it might have become a much different world than I had imagined lingered.
The car successfully broke through the undead.
The plan to stop halfway and go to the city with the train station became difficult to execute.
“It seems we have to go all the way to the capital together.”
“But what if those things attack the people on the road?”
We were able to escape safely, but the other citizens might not be so lucky.
“It’s an emergency. Among the citizens, there might be people who can fight.”
This was something that could be said as one of the advantages of the demon race.
Even in a crisis, they generally have the ability to defend themselves.
“The undead don’t seem that strong compared to monsters.”
I felt that when I pushed through with the car.
There were many of them, but they couldn’t be considered strong.
“That’s because there’s nothing leading the undead.”
“Are you saying they’re scattered soldiers?”
“Yes. There’s a commander leading them, and above that are the officers. Starting from the officer level, communication is possible. Although it can’t always be resolved through conversation.”
“Have you fought them?”
It didn’t seem like Tenji had no knowledge about the undead at all.
“Yes. There were undead even before I came here.”
“Then, are the personnel that provided support from the empire still around?”
“The reinforcements sent from the demon race are still here, but the reinforcements from Latnia have changed several times.”
Demon races, with their longer lifespan compared to humans, might not consider a hundred years a long time.
While traveling in the car, Tenji began to explain how to deal with the undead.
“Right now they are a disorganized mob. If there’s a commander, we deal with the commander first. If there are officers, it’s difficult to handle them with just a few.”
“This is almost like a wartime situation.”
It took two days to drive from Kant to the capital.
If we drove through the night, it would take about a day.
“Ririan troops. No, what should I call you now?”
Due to the side effects of the transformation potion, I currently had a female form.
To revert back, I would need to drink a male potion, but Aila only had female ones.
“Call me comfortably.”
“Then, Miss Ririan. Can you drive all night?”
I checked my mana level in response to the question about whether I could drive all night.
I had been driving for quite a while, but I didn’t feel tired, and my mana didn’t decrease much.
We encountered groups of undead about three times on our way to the capital.
Twice, we pushed through with the car, and once we avoided major conflicts by moving at some distance from them.
Among the undead, there were occasionally those that didn’t resemble humans.
“Isn’t that an orc corpse?”
The torso was stripped of flesh, with bones exposed, while the remaining parts still had some flesh attached, forming a grotesque appearance.
“From now on, just follow the path I’m showing you. First, take a turn here.”
As I drove according to Solche’s instructions, we reached a place resembling a mountain valley.
The narrow path, with no proper road, was impassable by car.
If we hadn’t put a shield around the car while passing through, we would never have been able to get through.
The place where I stopped the car was quite an old and narrow tunnel.
“Let’s stop the car there.”
Upon entering the tunnel, a space appeared just big enough for one car to barely fit.
As we pushed the car inside, the back wall began to open.
“Now, move backward.”
The place we arrived was much wider than the tunnel, with enough space to park multiple cars.
“We’ve arrived. Let’s get out.”
As we got out of the car, only the faint light of the dim bulbs illuminated the interior quietly.
Everywhere was silent, and we saw a few other cars besides ours.
“What is this place?”
“This is an agent entry point. It serves as an emergency exit and entrance.”
There must be a huge crowd at the capital’s entrance.
It was very fortunate that we didn’t have to pass through that chaos.
“Then, let’s go.”
Following Solche up the stairs, we arrived at a large room where a teleportation device was stationed.
“Huh? Don’t we use this?”
“That’s a trap.”
It seemed that traps were set up to deceive enemies just in case.
“The real one is here.”
As Solche put her hand into the wall, it sucked her in.
Following her in, endless stairs unfolded before us.
“Do we really have to go up these?”
“Yes. But you don’t need to worry.”
As we stepped onto the stairs, Solche operated a few buttons next to her.
With a clattering sound, a stair dropped and broadened, becoming a platform.
The platform began to slowly ascend the stairs on its own, and we just had to stand still.
“How convenient.”
“If you can’t operate the machinery, you’d really have to walk up. Sometimes, it’s used for physical training for the newbies.”
The platform reached the top of the stairs.
As we exited, a quiet alley in the capital appeared.
“The capital was really underground? No, since we’ve gone up…”
“The exact location is classified.”
Even though Tenji, an outsider, knew, it seemed not to matter at all.
The place we headed towards, following Solche, was the headquarters of the capital’s intelligence agency.
This agency, overseeing branches of intelligence scattered across the globe, was called the Central Intelligence Agency since it was located in the center.
The path leading to the Central Intelligence Agency was very quiet, with relatively few people around.
There were increasingly more soldiers on guard duty compared to citizens.
“This is the palace where the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency is located.”
“Wait a second. Can I really enter here?”
Tenji asked nervously at the mention of the palace.
While I had my identification, Tenji had nothing to prove his identity.
“With my authority, I can bring one person in.”
“So, what about me?”
“They will probably let you in.”
I wondered why I was so sure that they would allow me in without any verification process.
Just before entering the palace, when I presented my identification, the soldier on duty saluted me instead of Solche.
“How do they know who I am?”
“During your time in Sarita, it seems that there was hardly anyone in the palace who didn’t know about you.”
Since Aila doesn’t step into the spotlight, it’s unlikely to be her.
The only person associated with the palace who could spread information about me was narrowed down to one person.
“The Demon King?”
“It seems you are frequently mentioned.”
While the people in the palace didn’t know my face, they continued hearing my name through the Demon King.
The fact that I had become famous in the palace without even realizing it made me unconsciously straighten my back.
Though I entered the palace, the Central Intelligence Agency’s location was somewhat remote.
Even inside, it was strictly separated from the areas where royalty resided, making it a place we would never meet.
Buildings resembling warehouses were erected, and agents stood guard at the entrance.
The agents on guard recognized Solche and exchanged simple nods.
The headquarters of the intelligence agency was merely an empty shell on the outside.
Upon entering, a path led down to the basement, where the headquarters would be found.
In case of emergency, this place serves as an escape route for the royalty.
For that reason, Solche explained, it was designed to allow escape in any direction.
“Have you ever used it?”
“No. So normally, agents who need to move discreetly use it as their route.”
Due to the nature of their duties, agents whose faces shouldn’t be revealed were assigned one exit each.
I could guess that with eight exits, there must have been eight agents fulfilling that role.
Upon descending to the basement, it boasted a scale that surpassed any of the intelligence agency branches I had seen so far.
The very spacious hall was tangled with corridors like a spider’s web, making it seem easy to get lost inside.
Following Solche, we entered a room that resembled a conference room in the intelligence agency.
The atmosphere in the conference room wasn’t bright, but it wasn’t dark either.
However, no one spoke first, maintaining a silence.
Creeeak.
When someone opened the door and walked in, all gazes turned towards them.
“Thank you for coming.”
A man with black hair, red eyes, and pale skin spoke in a low voice.
“Please have a seat.”
Although everyone was scattered around, at his word, everyone began to take their seats.
With no assigned seats, Tenji and I stood in a corner.
“Those two over there?”
“I brought them. One is someone many of you know well. The other is an information provider.”
Solche introduced Tenji as the information provider.
“Then, let’s start the meeting, or rather, the briefing.”
After that, the man began explaining the plan to the intelligence agency agents.
“Now that’s all for my part; I’d like to hear from the information provider.”
At those words, Tenji nervously stood at one end of the conference table.
“Now, please tell us what you know, slowly.”
After starting with a few stammered words, Tenji soon continued explaining about the undead quite fluently.
He also responded quite well to the questions from the intelligence agency agents in between.
“Well then, as you all heard, please convey the information well. And Solche agent and your associates, please follow me.”
We left the conference room and began walking through the complex corridors.
The place we arrived at was a small office-like room.
