[Zion. What do you think is your greatest weapon?]
Just before Zion was about to give his all in acting, Frey suddenly asked an odd question during the strategy meeting.
“My greatest weapon…? The Pendant?”
Though the Pendant had once almost claimed his life due to the side effects of the Wasting Sickness, it had now become something he couldn’t live without.
Without the Pendant supporting the Awakened’s activities in all directions, reaching this point would have been nothing but a dream.
[Hmm, the Pendant. That’s true, too. But that only applies when the enemy is a monster. What if the enemy is human?]
“Uh… I don’t really want to fight humans.”
[No, come on. It’s just an example. Alright, since you don’t seem to get it, I’ll specially teach you. Your greatest weapon is…]
Frey paused unnecessarily, then said triumphantly: [Your appearance.]
“…What?”
Zion worried whether Frey had hit his head somewhere without him noticing.
[To be precise, your youthful looks, your height, and your age.]
Sixteen years old.
In Zion’s world, that was barely adult, and in some regions, still considered a child.
His height—162 centimeters—was quite small compared to the average.
To make an extreme comparison, his father, Aleph Margrave, stood well over 190 centimeters tall.
His face looked younger than his age, and being a direct noble descendant who had spent a long time confined in a separate residence, his skin was also clean.
Despite living outdoors for nearly a month, it was noticeable.
If you took him to any village and asked a passerby, nine out of ten would probably guess he wasn’t even fifteen yet.
[There are basically two ways to make a new opponent listen to you. One is to show you’re strong. You tried that at the village before, right? Though it got messed up when the Village Chief intervened.]
Recalling a memory from over two weeks ago, Zion nodded slowly.
Frey secretly breathed a sigh of relief seeing Zion relax and listen.
[The other way is to become a ‘harmless weakling.’ For example, imagine a much younger child than you… hmm, let’s say a little girl. Suddenly, she runs up to you crying and screaming that her family is being attacked by monsters or bandits.]
After briefly imagining this, Zion said with a serious face, “I’d have to go rescue them.”
[Exactly. You wouldn’t suspect she’s actually working with her family to trick and rob you, right?]
“Well…”
Zion didn’t want to imagine such a scenario, and even if he fell for such a trap, he wouldn’t suspect the child from the start.
[Surprisingly, many people don’t doubt the words of a ‘little girl.’ Unless she’s telling an unbelievable lie. Of course, it depends on the person. Anyone who’s been caught in a trap before would be wary at first. Let’s just hope the border guards haven’t had that experience.]
Hearing this, Zion seemed to understand what Frey was suggesting: to use the impression of being a ‘harmless weakling’ to deceive the soldiers.
“That’s cheating.”
[What?]
“Deceiving innocent people is… well, a bit…”
Frey’s expression looked like he had just been hit in the back of the head by a thrown stone.
[Hey, illegal immigrant.]
“Illegal immigrant?!”
[Yeah. You’re already an irredeemable criminal. Pretending to cheat now won’t change anything.]
“Th-That’s… ridiculous…” Zion collapsed to the ground, shocked.
Frey, who had already dealt with Zion’s two previous illegal border crossings, found this reaction unsurprising.
[Get up. We’re busy.]
“Can’t you let me feel guilty just a little longer?”
[If you’re going to do it, why not cheat and then do everything at once?]
“Ugh…!”
Clutching his chest, Zion rolled around.
Frey watched the pathetic scene with a disdainful look.
“Sorry, Mother. Your proud son has fallen for his uncle’s scheme and gone bad…”
[Cut the theatrics.]
“Honestly, it doesn’t even feel that bad.”
After rolling around until he felt like it, Zion stood up, covered in dirt.
“I thought it would hurt terribly and be so hard, but it’s like… well, I guess I finally did it. That’s the feeling.”
Frey couldn’t help but laugh.
He had assumed Zion was just a younger version of Naia, but it seemed the Alkoth blood truly ran in him.
“Of course, crime is bad, but you can’t dawdle like a fool and get caught.”
Zion’s words were accurate.
Because he understood the situation correctly, he hadn’t strayed from the path and had managed to reach this far even through illegal border crossing.
[That’s enough. Now let’s get serious and plan the operation.]
After a few minutes of thought, Frey created a plausible scenario and explained the plan.
[You’ll disguise yourself as a harmless weakling—a little girl—and run to the border gate, covered in blood, begging for help.]
“Huh?”
Hearing such an absurd phrase, Zion burst out laughing.
[Remember those clothes from the Village Chief? There was a skirt, right? Put that on. Your longsword… it’s a shame, but you have to ditch it. No choice.]
He did have a skirt, likely mixed in by mistake.
Since he never had to wear it, ironically, it was the cleanest piece of clothing he owned.
[Don’t worry. You’re naturally good-looking, so just wearing the skirt alone will make everyone think you’re a girl. Your hair’s a bit short, but it’s not unusual for women who do farm work to cut their hair short. It’ll work. Hmm, definitely.]
“I don’t want to!” Zion shouted back.
It was the fiercest opposition he’d shown since meeting Frey.
“I get what you mean, of course! But still… how could I… that’s ridiculous! Let’s find another way!”
[Zion.] Frey’s voice suddenly dropped.
Zion flinched and fell silent.
He had heard a voice similar to that before.
[Don’t take your life lightly.]
It was the same voice that stopped him from rushing off when he learned that the Illium-Rituan border fortress might be attacked by monsters.
[What do you think Naia would say if she saw you now? Seeing you throw away a sure chance at survival just because you can’t bear a moment of embarrassment… what do you think she’d say?]
“…”
[Zion. I just want you to live. But… yeah, maybe I’ve been too stubborn. If you really hate this plan, we can try other means, even if uncertain…]
“I’ll do it.” Zion’s voice was barely audible.
Frey pursed his lips for a moment and then asked sharply: [Hm? What was that?]
“I’ll do it.”
Zion lifted his head, his eyes filled with firm determination.
Frey shook his head in pity.
[No, if you hate it, don’t push yourself. The chance might be lower, but we can plan another operation from now.]
“It’s fine. I’ll do it. And… I’m sorry, Uncle.”
Bitterly reflecting on his own foolishness, Zion apologized with a painful expression.
His immature behavior was far more shameful than just dressing as a girl.
[Really?] Frey asked one last time to confirm.
[You’re going to do it, right? Don’t back out later. If you nod here, there’s no turning back.]
“I can do it. Please let me. At least until we cross the gate, I’ll obey you no matter what.”
Frey exhaled sharply and covered his face with both hands.
Struggling to hide his displeasure, he gave a big nod.
[Good decision.]
“All right! What should I do first? Oh, I need to change clothes, right?”
Zion unpacked and, hiding under the shadow of a tree, began changing without hesitation.
Frey, who had been desperately holding his laughter with his hands over his face, finally broke into a full smile.
‘Naia’s child, that stubborn brat’s son… oh, I mustn’t laugh. I mustn’t make a sound! Hold it in, Frey Alkoth!’
Bending forward and burying his face between his knees, Frey pinched his thigh, trembling in an effort to suppress the laughter.
Otherwise, he would burst out laughing.
‘Even the uncle is suffering so much, and here I am, clueless!’
Watching this, Zion’s misunderstanding only deepened.
‘Hahaha! Are you watching, Naia! You were a stubborn girl who never listened, but your son obeys my words perfectly! Ah! I can control the bloodline of that fool!’
And so, the last illegal border crossing operation began under an unimaginable veil of wickedness.
Though Frey’s advice was somewhat self-interested, he had no intention of messing things up just for fun.
To increase their chances of success, he gave detailed instructions.
[We’ll need blood, so catch an animal nearby. While you’re at it, tear up your clothes a bit. But leave the upper part intact—especially the chest area. We can’t have you looking like a guy.]
Once sufficiently far from the gate, Zion caught a rabbit, covered himself in its blood, and disguised himself as the ‘poor girl attacked by monsters.’
Then, he practiced acting briefly.
[All right, this is the real thing. Don’t get too nervous. If it feels off, I’ll point it out immediately.]
“Knights! Monsters! They’ve appeared!”
Zion’s urgent shout from nowhere stirred commotion inside the gate.
Staggering and running, he collapsed weakly about ten meters from the gate.
Two soldiers, on alert, came over and helped him up.
“Monsters? Where?”
“Well… my family… over there… ‘gasp’!”
[Lower your head, cover your face with both hands, and let your shoulders tremble lightly. Good. At least these two are definitely fooled.]
[This is panic.]
“Can’t be helped. We need to hear the story, so let’s take her to the rest area.”
The two soldiers signaled the gate and carried Zion back the way he had come.
In the simple rest area inside the gate, they washed the blood off lightly with cold water and waited for the officer in charge.
After a few minutes, the operation was halfway successful.
[Running away now would save time, but… they’ll send a pursuit team right away. Let’s stick to the plan. Distract the soldiers’ attention as much as possible and then escape safely.]
Soon, the officer arrived to take a statement.
At the same time, a rapid troop reorganization was underway at the gate.
Even if a monster report was dubious and uncertain, it had to be treated as a top priority.
That also meant severe punishment if it turned out to be a false report.
“I was working as an apprentice with my younger sibling at Teajin Company in the Prinzentati Kingdom. We were in charge of odd jobs on a trading trip to the Republic when…”
Zion explained his situation with a weak, halting voice.
They had encountered monsters during the trip, and with his sibling’s help, he barely escaped and ran here.
It was a believable story, neither obviously true nor false.
The officer asked cautiously, “Do you remember what the monster looked like?”
“Well…”
[Wait! Don’t answer right away. Pretend to be scared! If it’s hard, cover your face and tremble like before. If you say you survived an attack alone immediately, they’ll find it suspicious.]
“Sob!”
Zion covered his face with both hands, his shoulders shaking.
The officer’s expression grew awkward.
His demeanor didn’t suggest lying at all.
[Take a deep breath. Explain haltingly, voice trembling. It’s okay to repeat yourself. You’ll look disoriented.]
Following Frey’s acting instructions, Zion dragged out the description of the monster’s appearance for over five minutes.
Green skin, long, pointed ears like arrowheads, a boar-like face—bipedal monster.
The officer’s face stiffened upon hearing it.
It matched almost perfectly with the ‘Orc’ he knew.
Orcs varied greatly in strength.
Weak ones could be dealt with by a battalion of about fifty soldiers, but strong individuals could destroy a fortified fortress alone.
“Thank you for telling me. I need to report to my superior, so please wait a moment.”
“M-My sibling might still be alive! Please, save them!”
Zion desperately grabbed the officer as he was about to stand.
It was a last-minute, wholehearted ad-lib.
The officer fell silent with a reluctant expression.
If an orc had actually appeared, the small trading party would have been wiped out instantly.
That the girl survived was a miracle.
“Don’t worry. We’ll save them.”
However, the officer lacked the courage to tell the truth to a girl who had survived at the cost of her family’s sacrifice.
Zion staggered and slumped into a chair.
Seeing this, Frey nodded quietly.
“He completely fell for it. It’s a bit clumsy, but this will do. Now, let’s move on…]
“Bang!”
Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed from a distance.
The gate’s tense atmosphere, already fraught with the monster report, instantly became charged.
“What’s happening?”
“There’s an explosion outside the gate! Cause unknown!”
“Is it the monsters…?”
The sudden noise gave credibility to the uncertain monster report.
The commander hurried troop reorganization, soldiers rushed about, and the gate turned into chaos in moments.
[Perfect!]
Frey clapped his hands and cheered.
The explosion was the work of Frey’s orders, executed by Zion.
He had set a time-delay, weak but loud, explosive magic far enough away to be hard to spot.
In Zion’s world, installation magic was considered high-level, but following Frey’s instructions made it surprisingly simple.
[If we pull this off one more step…]
“Kaboom!”
“The sound’s getting closer!”
[The monsters are approaching! Hurry and finish reorganizing! Recon squads begin search as soon as ready! That’s it! Just like this!]
Frey snapped his fingers in delight.
Zion suddenly wondered if trusting this man was really a good idea.
[Zion, let’s go. Now’s our chance.]
At Frey’s words, Zion quietly slipped out of the rest area.
Keeping low and hiding in shadows, he crossed the gate in a few minutes.
There were a few close calls, but he managed to slip out unnoticed.
“Any sign of the monsters yet?”
“No sightings within search range!”
“What are you waiting for? Spread out wider and search every inch!”
Looking back at the noisy gate from a distance, Zion wore a complex, hard-to-describe expression.
[Don’t overthink it. You did well.]
“R-Really?”
[You had to cross the border anyway, and since your identity can’t be exposed, illegal entry was the only option. Did anyone die or get hurt? How many peaceful and mild illegal crossings are there like this?]
“But the soldiers because of me…”
[Exactly. Don’t overthink it. Soldiers are trained to respond immediately in emergencies, and they acted as trained when a situation arose. If real monsters had appeared and soldiers had become victims, that’d be different. But this was just extra practice.]
The soldiers who realized it was a false alarm would be furious, and the unidentified girl who illegally crossed disguised as a girl would be wanted, but Frey didn’t care.
He had planned for all that from the start by having Zion dress as a girl.
[Don’t worry. You made the best choice.]
With Frey’s repeated reassurances, Zion’s expression gradually calmed.
From an outsider’s view, it looked like brainwashing, but Zion was unaware.
Frey encouraged him further.
“T-Then I guess there’s no choice! I didn’t do anything wrong! I did my best!”
“Alright, alright. No need to worry.”
Today, Zion learned the fine art of self-justification.