"Is this a dream? Am I dreaming right now? Something like this couldn't possibly happen to me."

"Keep your thoughts in your head."

"Oh my."

Elpihera stared blankly at Ivan, then hung her head again.

It was all because of the astonishing destructive power of Grikencos Style: Illusory Shave. She simply couldn't look him straight in the face.

What a cruel twist of fate. Ah, Lord, save this poor elf. She had won herself a chance to be alone with him, yet she could barely even look at his face.

Elpihera crossed herself and quietly closed her eyes.

SPLASH

The gentle lake water lapping against the boat made a cheerful sound. A dreamlike moon hung bright overhead, and faint wisps of mist rose from the water, scattering the light beneath the stars.

It was utterly perfect. There could be no more perfect moment. Elpihera looked ahead, tears even welling in her eyes.

"Ah..."

The little rowboat, his face glowing pale in the moonlight, his neat coat, even the firm muscles that rose with every stroke of the oars.

SPURT

The instant her nose began to bleed, Elpihera formed a hand sign and blocked the blood flow with mana. Her precise mana control allowed not a single drop to escape.

She felt as though her bodily regulation had now reached a whole new level. Naturally. It was the result of her innate talent, Ivan's astonishing teaching methods, and her own diligent study in her efforts to please him.

All that effort had borne fruit in this moment. Here, enjoying a boat ride on a moonlit lake.

Good. The mood was right, and there was no one around to interfere.

As every Kallion elf agreed, unclaimed land belonged to whoever planted their flag first. And elves were masters at planting flags.

"Um, Sir Yeremov."

"Mm."

Ivan murmured sweetly in his low voice. Ah, this really wasn't a dream, was it? Expertly suppressing another nosebleed, Elpihera continued.

"Do you remember twelve years ago?"

"Mm."

So she meant when he'd first met this little girl.

Ivan nodded without giving it much thought.

"I've wanted to thank you ever since. If not for you, I probably wouldn't be here now. I was so young back then..."

Her face so red it looked ready to burst, Elpihera continued with her gaze angled about forty-five degrees downward.

Naturally, none of this was necessary. Ivan did not enjoy reminiscing. All that mattered was preparing for the future through the lessons of past battles.

That was how eminently rational Ivan was.

Letting her words go in one ear and out the other, he glanced at his pocket watch. Time was almost up.

"So I've been wondering how to repay you. A life saved ought, of course, to be repaid with a life. As an elf of the Kallion archipelago, surely the most precious thing I can offer you is myself..."

Ivan rowed toward the landing. Even as the boat slowly slid ashore, Elpihera failed to notice.

She merely continued speaking fervently, her face flushed and her eyes brimming with tears.

"The Kallion archipelago has all manner of secret arts that can dramatically extend a human's short lifespan and short-sighted thinking. Your only flaw is that you're human, and now even that flaw can be remedied..."

"Time's up."

"Remedied... Pardon?"

"Good work."

Ivan rose and whistled once. A man fishing at the landing set down his rod and got up with a casual air.

"Escort this VIP to the elf residential quarter."

"Yes, Commander!!"

The Counterintelligence Command agent snapped off a crisp salute, then quietly approached Elpihera.

She was staring blankly at Ivan.

"Huh? Pardon? Wha? What? What are you... Where are you going?"

"This operation is over."

"Pardon? Operation? Huh?"

Standing forlornly at the landing, Elpihera watched Ivan recede into the distance for a long time before briefly lifting her head.

The moon shone beautifully.

Only after covering her forehead with a hand and letting out a seething sigh did she speak.

"Just tell me it's a dream."

"This is reality, Miss Grikencos."

At the agent's cautious reply, Elpihera's ears drooped, then shot upright again.

Red enough to burst, they began to tremble.

"Humans... Those damned humans...!!"

Watching Elpihera tremble with rage, the agent paused to consider something. Assuming the daughter of Veolgrin, the [Fortress Destroyer], possessed at least half her father's abilities...

Wouldn't a [1/2 Fortress Destroyer] venting her fury out of hatred for humans potentially pose a threat on par with one of the Seven Dragon Generals?

This was the story of the first day of Ivan's [Spy Hunt] operation.

* * *

"Vanka, have I understood this correctly? Have I really understood you?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"No, wait. Let me... Let me put this in order."

Elizaveta quickly skimmed the thick stack of reports.

Then, unable to believe what she'd read, she had to read them twice more.

"First, I must confirm this. There's a spy? At the university? And in your class, of all places?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"How on earth...?"

Why his class, of all classes? And what conceivable purpose could they have for attending it? Those questions were beside the point.

This was a situation where "how" had to come first.

Prizhenkaya was currently enjoying unprecedented security. Naturally.

An utterly ruthless Counterintelligence Command was stationed nearby, every noble of the Crown Prince's Faction had been expelled, and every ministry in the royal administration willingly obeyed the Princess.

On top of that, one of Counterintelligence Command's de facto leaders was a former rebel. A former rebel who had personally infiltrated Prizhenkaya, no less.

Now that he had become an ally, all the old vulnerabilities had long since been eliminated. Prizhenkaya was prospering behind airtight security.

Yet here Ivan was out of the blue, claiming there was a spy in his class and bringing her a "Spy Identification Report" to approve. What was she supposed to make of this?

And Ivan, this solid, dependable man she knew, was not someone who ever made empty claims.

Rather than waste time lying to a superior, he would prove himself with results. He always had, and always would.

That was the faith Elizaveta placed in the Extermination Unit, and in Ivan.

"How reliable is this 'certain information' you obtained?"

"Personally, I'd say ninety percent..."

Having said that much, Ivan fell silent for a moment.

Over the past few weeks, during interrogations disguised as classes, he had tried to obtain information through the trio who shared his "common sense."

First, Eugene, the most capable in this particular field.

["Well, you see, haha. As you know, Boss, the information doesn't unlock unless [Affinity] is high enough. All I can see right now is their name and level, and those match their personal records."]

["Useless."]

["But! But doesn't that mean I just have to make friends with them? Give me a moment. Who do you think I am? I'm Yevgeny of House Karamzin!"]

With that declaration, he had boldly joined a group of students, only for the following exchange to ensue.

["Now then, brothers. I've come to share the good word."]

["Oh, you're from the Theology Department. We don't go to church."]

["You impious wretch!!!"]

And so he had been driven off. Afterward, a dispirited Eugene had kept exclusively to the Theology Department's students.

Oswald was the next to step forward.

["Don't worry. You know my specialty. [Mind Sorcery]. I've been doing quite a few experiments with Eugene lately, so I can't possibly make a mistake in this area."]

["Uh, isn't casting mental spells on students strictly forbidden...?"]

["Now, now, Miss Yuri. Do you know why Romeo and Juliet killed themselves?"]

["Why?"]

["They got caught."]

A remark befitting an elf, whose philosophy held that anything was legal as long as you weren't caught. Naturally, Oswald was Korean.

His attempt had been thwarted the moment Elpihera caught him.

["Wh-why are you looking at me? Y-you want me to try too?"]

["Mm."]

["Um... Do you happen to remember what I was looking at when I got dragged here...?"]

Yuri had been an illustrator for a work that anyone under nineteen wasn't even allowed to attempt to play.

Trying to use someone from that genre as an informant was not to the Extermination Unit's taste. The Extermination Unit did not deal in intelligence obtained through honey traps.

His recollection complete, Ivan answered in a somewhat more cautious tone.

"Fifty percent."

"...?"

Apparently, he was using a source whose reliability was highly questionable. Elizaveta shrugged and replied.

"I am rejecting this operational plan. But Vanka, I do wish to commend you highly for finally coming to me before putting an operation into effect."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Then why not take a short rest? Counterintelligence Command is competent, and this university is safe. Even if a spy does exist, we are certain to detect that 'spy' in the process of sending information home. Vanka. Was there not just one thing I asked of you?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

The children of the Hero's Party. See those VIPs safely through graduation and send them home unharmed. (Some injuries were acceptable. Ivan could persuade their parents.)

"Then take things a little easier. I trust you, and thus far you have done an excellent..."

At this point, Elizaveta briefly trailed off. Excellent, yes. Certainly excellent. So why did she feel so stifled?

"An excellent job. Once another two years pass safely, your mission will be complete. I would like you to serve as an administrative official."

The administrative official she had in mind would sit comfortably in a warm room, direct attendants, manage the Crown's privy purse and treasury, and occasionally enjoy dinner with her.

They would have tea overlooking the gardens in the palace's pleasant surroundings. He would gently massage her shoulders as she grumbled about her backlog of work. Then their eyes would meet, then their lips might meet, and then...

The two-word term for an administrative official performing such duties was "royal consort."

"So take things a little more comfortably. You have no idea how reassuring it is to have you teaching. At least you can stay in one place for half a year."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"You do understand, don't you? You understand what I am telling you?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Your expression suggests nothing of the sort..."

Ivan gazed deep into Elizaveta's eyes and thought.

It would be better to do things the Extermination Unit's way.

It was only common sense that teams infiltrating behind enemy lines did not report every operational action to their commander. To maintain information security, all operations were conducted at the field supervisor's discretion.

This demonstrated just how solid the trust between Elizaveta and the Extermination Unit was. Trust that whatever happened, it would always be for the nation, and that the Extermination Unit would never betray her.

With that mutual trust as their foundation, the Extermination Unit, too, had conducted operations in full acceptance of Elizaveta's command from the rear. In those days, it could boast the greatest efficiency of any infiltration unit.

Ivan was a man who prepared for the future through the lessons of past battles. He bowed deeply and left the palace.