Do Your Own Revolution

#008.

“To the left. Just a little further.”

Low footsteps echoed through the narrow alley.

This was the slum located on the outskirts of Belkers city.

Walking down the deserted street, I recalled how I ended up here.

‘What, Revolutionary Army?! This guy’s asking for trouble!’

‘Get lost, you crazy bastard! If you want to die, die alone!’

‘I don’t know! I-I don’t know anything!’

The reactions from the people of Belkers territory when I mentioned the name Revolutionary Army were truly spectacular.

No, this was probably normal.

This is Count Elcidore’s territory, Belkers.

One careless word could endanger not only yourself but your family as well.

After spending half a day stopping passersby and inquiring about the Revolutionary Army’s whereabouts.

Just when I thought today would be fruitless, at the entrance of a back alley, a man appeared and blocked my path.

“Are you looking for the Revolutionary Army?”

A hoarse voice, as if his vocal cords were damaged. When I looked up, a man in a neat suit was looking down at me.

‘Girael Alberk.’

A familiar face.

The staff officer of the Revolutionary Army’s Belkers branch.

In the original work, he appeared as an NPC during the Elcidore subjugation battle, providing dungeon layouts and briefing monster information.

‘So they were monitoring after all.’

Trained as a Knifehead

“Mom and Dad told me. To go outside and show this to the Revolutionary Army. They said those people would know what to do.”

“……”

When I said that, Girael’s eyes became clouded as he received the nameplate. It seemed he had a personal connection with the nameplate’s owner.

‘This might be easier than expected.’

Girael was known for being suspicious.

Even in the original work, he was an unlikeable NPC who constantly questioned the protagonist’s background and past while remaining vigilant.

However, his gaze toward me lacked that characteristic hostility.

The fake identity and story prepared by Supervisor Ben, along with my young age of ten, had broken down his wariness.

‘He’s still suspicious, but he probably thinks I’m just bait sent by Elcidore. He’s not doubting me personally.’

“Follow me.”

While I was thinking this, Girael, who had been staring at the nameplate for a while, guided me. And now, I was heading to the ‘contact point’ with blindfolds over both eyes.

‘They’re checking for any tails.’

Having grasped their intention, I inwardly smirked.

Even magicians with magical power-enhanced senses can’t easily find a trained Knifehead.

There’s no way these ragtag bunch, mostly farmers and laborers, could find me no matter how vigilant they are.

By guiding me to their hideout at this point, these guys had already fallen into our operation.

“Leon.”

“Yes.”

Oh, that startled me.

I hurriedly answered the sudden voice calling me.

“Walk forward.”

The place Girael pointed to was a pub.

A shabby entrance that made one wonder if it was even in business.

As soon as I entered through the door, it closed behind me, and hands from behind removed my blindfold.

The place I had entered was a run-down pub.

Revolutionary Army members sitting around were looking at me, and at the center, a man was tilting his glass.

Unkempt hair and a dark face. He looked no different from any vagrant rolling around nearby, but the blue eyes shining through held a fervor unseen in ordinary people.

‘There he is.’

His name was Refin Phelps.

The man who led the Revolutionary Army here in Belkers under Elcidore’s rule.

“Refin? How can you come out personally?! We need to verify first…!”

Girael exclaimed upon seeing Refin’s face, but he raised his hand to stop Girael.

Refin slowly approached me and reached out his hand. As if checking whether I was really Leon, he stroked my hair once and caressed my cheek.

“The hair color is Landon’s, and the eyes are Lucy’s.”

It was the right choice to dye my hair blonde and eyes blue in case of any situation. The hair color changed by magic potion would last for a week.

To put it another way, there was only a week left.

“Really… Is your name Leon? Leon Phelps?”

Refin asked me. To his trembling voice, I silently nodded.

“…It’s true. When I found this child looking for the Revolutionary Army on the street, he gave me this.”

The supplementary explanation came from Girael, who had followed in.

“Ah…!”

As Refin received the two nameplates from his pocket, his hands began to tremble.

Writing scrawled on blood-stained iron nameplates. Though heavily rusted, he seemed to know what these nameplates were.

“These are Landon’s nameplates. I, I made these myself for him… The Revolutionary Army’s proof…!”

It turned out to be quite a meaningful item.

While I was thinking this to myself, Refin, who had been fiddling with the nameplates, suddenly embraced me tightly.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…!”

Refin’s shoulders trembled uncontrollably as he held me.

“I shouldn’t have left you behind then! I shouldn’t have abandoned you all…! I, I…!”

Refin wept loudly, recalling his past transgressions. Seeing him like this, the Revolutionary Army members around hurriedly turned their heads away.

Seeing how they were all holding back tears, my fake parents must have been quite well-respected in this organization.

‘Geez, this is taking forever.’

But from my perspective, this was all just nonsense.

If I had to comment, I’d say it was unpleasant having my shoulder getting wet. It was a moment when I freshly realized how dried up my sensitivity had become.

However, regardless of my indifference, Refin and his fellow Revolutionary Army members began approaching one by one to comfort me.

“Don’t worry, Leon. The Revolutionary Army is with you now!”

“Don’t worry! Not just your uncle, but everyone here is your comrade!”

“Never again… We’ll never abandon you again! I promise…!”

As the entire building turned into a sea of tears, one boy was watching me from a corner of the building.

“……”

A young master-like impression with flowing silver hair, appearing about fourteen years old.

While everyone was crying with emotion, one person stood alone, watching the scene from the sidelines.

‘Found him.’

The boy’s name was Claude Elcidore.

He was the target of this mission.

***

“From now on, you’ll stay here. Welcome to the Revolutionary Army, Leon.”

The Revolutionary Army hideout disguised as an old inn.

The Revolutionary Army member who guided me to the room placed coarse black bread and soup on the table while consoling me.

You’ve been through a lot, let’s overthrow Elcidore together.

Enthusiastically nodding to the lengthy speech I’d been hearing from below was quite an ordeal from my position.

“Phew, finally they’re gone.”

My room was located on the third floor of the building.

After the Revolutionary Army members who guided me left and I waited a moment, I immediately activated the magic imprint.

‘From what I saw in the game, among the Revolutionary Army stationed in Belkers, only Refin has magical power… At this distance, there’s no worry about being detected.’

The characteristic cyan light of Elcidore swirled around my hand, and the magical power spreading from the magic imprint filled my entire body.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Captain Refin cry like that since I came here.”

“Just the captain? Even the founding members were all in a frenzy.”

“Still, letting someone into the hideout just like that…”

“He’s the captain’s nephew. Saying things like that will only make you look bad.”

As the magical power in my body activated all my senses, voices that were inaudible until now became clear one by one.

‘Six people on guard duty. And not even one watching me.’

I thought there would be at least one person monitoring from behind the wall or in front of the door, but to think they wouldn’t even post a guard.

“No wonder the protagonist went through such hardships in the original with the organization being this sloppy.”

Muttering this, I chuckled thinking about the original story that would unfold six years later.

The protagonist and companions who decided to support the Belkers branch Revolutionary Army to overthrow Elcidore.

However, their process of joining was nothing but a series of hardships.

“Their movement plans were already leaked and ambushed by the Knifehead. The train derailed from the Elcidore Knight Order’s attack, and if wandering through the Elcidore Forest wasn’t enough, they had to break through the magical beasts that jumped out from the forest.”

It was so bad that the user community said ‘The Chapter 6 boss isn’t Elcidore but that bastard Refin.’

“But now, this is rather good.”

Now I’m not the one being caught but the one doing the catching.

From my perspective, Refin’s actions weren’t frustrating at all; rather, I felt like doing something for him out of gratitude.

He was such a villain when he was on our side, but now that he’s an enemy, he’s like an angel.

After checking the surroundings for safety, I opened the window and sent a magical power signal into the air.

‘Infiltration successful. Six guards.’

‘Target and key personnel location confirmed.’

‘Awaiting further instructions.’

It had long since become midnight outside, and I sent the signal toward the sky covered in pitch darkness.

But soon after.

A magical power signal came from a senior member who confirmed my hand signal.

‘Signal confirmed.’

‘Currently eliminating sentries.’

‘Will commence upon securing target.’

After confirming the signal, I flashed the magical power light twice to indicate understanding.

“So they’ll raid simultaneously when Claude is secured.”

It seemed Count Elcidore planned to use this opportunity to root out all the Revolutionary Army members hiding in his territory.

Sending members to the train station and airport must have been for that purpose.

While thinking this, the room door opened without warning.

Looking toward the door, two Revolutionary Army soldiers armed with rifles were gesturing to me.

“Come out, Leon. We need to go somewhere urgently.”

“G-Go somewhere?”

Acting as much as possible like a frightened child while asking, the two men nodded gravely.

“A hideout located on the outskirts of the city. There’s a doctor dispatched from headquarters.”

“Don’t be scared. It’s just a simple examination.”

Hearing this, I inwardly clicked my tongue.

A simple examination.

In other words, they intended to check if there were any magic imprints on my body.

‘I thought I could slip by with the identity of being the branch leader’s nephew, but of all times, right before the operation…’

I already had the magic imprint implanted from Elcidore.

If they used professional examination equipment, my identity being exposed was a foregone conclusion.

Having made my decision, I deliberately stepped backward while making excuses.

“N-No! Un-Uncle Refin said to stay here… He said there’s nothing wrong anymore…!”

The two soldiers who heard this approached me with grim faces.

“Sorry, little one. But we have no choice.”

“It’ll be over soon, don’t worry. Now, raise your arm here…”

Just as they lowered themselves to lift me up at that moment.

I pulled out my hidden dagger and slit the throat of the man reaching for me.

“Kh, khuk…?”

As if unable to properly grasp what situation he was in, the soldier looked at me with a stupid expression.

I jumped over his falling back and stabbed my dagger into the lung of the remaining person.

“Kheuh, kheuuh…?”

One couldn’t speak because his throat was cut, and one couldn’t make a sound because his lung was pierced.

After confirming the two people collapsed on the floor, I pulled the dagger from the dead soldier’s chest and sheathed it.

“Tsk, trying to make things easy but they just had to complicate it.”

Thanks to the fake identity, I got into the hideout, so it wasn’t a losing deal, I suppose.

Thinking this, I transmitted my voice toward the magic imprint.

“Unexpected situation occurred. From this time, will track and secure Young Master Claude. Plan B. Request all personnel to commence.”

After finishing the report, I immediately ran out of the room.

Now this operation was a race against time.

I had to secure Young Master Claude before those two corpses were discovered.