I'm Not a Genius Commander

Chapter 5

"...Are you saying that brain matter is the antidote?"

"......Good heavens."

I thought she would understand, but brain matter?

Seeing her hand tighten around the dagger, I quickly corrected myself.

"I was talking about the formula for the antidote, not brain matter."

"Oh."

In truth, the game itself did not contain an antidote.

That was why, upon being poisoned by this, most players would immediately press the suicide button.

Since the character would inevitably die in a month, they preferred to give up in advance.

But I was different.

'I studied medicine just to make an antidote for this.‘

Averow Saga was best described as an open-world game.

Just like in a real world, characters could do almost anything.

And that included creating an antidote that NPCs had failed to produce.

Which was why we both dared to take Elizabeth.

I had deliberately not removed the overwhelming stench of alcohol inside my tent for that reason.

Because the faint scent could give it away, I had eliminated that variable from the start.

Now, it was time to propose the terms of negotiation.

"Alright. I know how to create an antidote. And I am the only one who does."

"...Don't lie. No one has ever made an antidote for this."

"Then I'll be the first."

The reason I had so openly taken a sip from the glass she drank from was to exaggerate the situation, making it seem as though I, too, had been poisoned by Elizabeth.

Realizing this, Litney muttered with a disgusted expression.

"...You're insane."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Either way, I may have gambled with my life, but I do value my survival. That means within a month, I'll have the antidote prepared and take it myself. When that time comes, you can take it as well. Be reasonable."

Litney glared at me for a moment before letting out a deep sigh and lowering her head.

After staring at the floor briefly, she raised her head again, her expression now calm.

Acceptance of the situation.

Now, onto the terms of the deal.

"What do you want?"

"Now we're finally having a productive conversation."

"Just spit it out before I lose my patience."

"You're quite impatient, aren't you?"

I stood up and spread out a map.

Then, I pointed at a small dot on the right side of the map.

"This dot marks our current unit. And further north from here lies the land of the barbarians."

"I already know that."

"Then this explanation should go quickly. Do you know why the barbarians haven't attacked this unit?"

"Because of the Lavent War Treaty."

This land, where our unit now stood, originally belonged to the barbarians.

However, after suffering a crushing defeat against the Empire, the barbarians lost their territory, and the Empire established a unit here.

Yet, the Empire never advanced beyond this point.

That was because of a suspicious movement detected from a principality near barbarian lands.

Since then, an unpleasant standoff had continued between them.

"Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

"In a few days, the barbarians will attack this place. Their recent movements have been anything but normal. You should already be aware of that."

"How do you know that...? Ugh, forget it. You won’t tell me anyway."

In the game, before the barbarians attacked, Litney was always the first to flee.

If she could act that quickly, it meant she already knew what was coming.

Which meant I had to tie her down to this battlefield, preventing her escape.

"Protect me from the barbarian attack. In short, act as my bodyguard."

"......"

"If you do, I will hand over the antidote to you."

"You're basically telling me to die along with you."

"Quite the opposite. We will wipe out the barbarians and survive."

"And how am I supposed to believe that?"

A question filled with distrust.

But I already held the upper hand.

"You don't need to believe it. Either way, if the barbarians don't kill you, Elizabeth will."

"Tch...!"

Now that she had taken Elizabeth, the negotiation had entirely shifted in my favor.

With that, I flashed a smirk, signaling that there was no need for any more questions—only her answer.

Seeing that, Litney clutched her head in frustration, stomping her feet before letting out a deep sigh and responding.

"...You better keep your promise. Otherwise, you die."

"I’ll say it again—I do value my life. So, does this answer your question?"

"......"

"I’ll take that silence as a yes. Now then, what shall I call you, Miss Assassin?"

"...Call me Litney."

"Good. Then I'll have to draft new documents under that name."

Even as she glared at me with a scowl, she still looked stunning.

But I couldn't admire her face for too long.

Because she pulled out another mask from her coat and quickly put it on.

-Tap, tap.

As she lightly tapped her mask to make sure it fit properly, Litney scrunched her nose and gave me a glare.

I grinned and extended my hand toward her.

"Well then, shall we shake hands as comrades who've shared a drink of poison?"

"Put your hand away. Who would ever shake hands with you?"

"Hmm? But you held my hand so readily before."

"Shut up!!"

With that, Litney stomped off angrily and stormed out of the tent.

"Tch... Got rejected pretty harshly."

I awkwardly withdrew my outstretched hand and tucked it into my pocket.

I briefly wondered if Litney looked at me the same way I looked at Perlaug.

Then, I shook my head.

'...Hahaha. Lord Arthur.'

No, it definitely wasn’t that bad.

***

A short distance from the unit at the northern front of Proyden.

A barren land of hardened soil and scattered stones, where not a single blade of grass grew.

Having left Arthur’s tent, Litney immediately ran to this spot and activated her communication crystal.

-Blink. Blink.

A faint light flickered from the crystal, signaling an incoming transmission.

After about twenty minutes of waiting, the flickering finally ceased, and a voice emerged from the crystal.

"Litney, why are you calling—"

"Lord!!"

Litney's voice rang out, cutting off the person on the other end.

The leader of the mercenary group to which Litney belonged—Lord.

The moment he picked up, Litney practically shouted, her voice filled with anger and frustration.

"You told me he was a reckless fool! That he’d be easy to eliminate!"

"Did something happen?"

"Something? Something?! Hah...!!"

Hearing Lord's clueless response, Litney sucked in a deep breath and fired off a rapid barrage of words.

"He wasn’t a fool, he wasn’t incompetent, he wasn’t easy to assassinate, he knew my identity, and to top it off, he poisoned me! And you ask what happened?! You said the intel was accurate! But why is nothing matching up?!"

"...He poisoned you?"

"Yeah! He fed me Elizabeth!"

There was a long silence from the other end.

The mercenary leader had thought the northern front’s commander was nothing more than a useless drunkard.

That was why he had sent Knife—Litney—to take him out.

But now, Litney had been poisoned instead?

And more importantly, was it even true?

That poison wasn’t something easily obtained.

A doubtful Lord carefully asked.

"...Are you sure you're poisoned?"

"What’s that supposed to mean? Are you calling me a liar?!"

"No, I just—"

"Sniff..."

Lord was about to respond when a faint sobbing sound came through.

Then came a few heavy teardrops.

Realizing the situation, Lord's voice turned urgent.

"Litney, are you crying?!"

"I... Sniff... I worked so hard for you... Sniff! And now you're doubting me?! Sniff, sniff...!"

"Calm down—"

"All the information was wrong, and now, now...! Sob... Waaaahh!!"

An assassin is meant to be a tool that kills their emotions.

To become a top-tier assassin, one must erase their own existence. But exceptions always exist.

Despite being so emotional and expressive, Litney was the only one who had managed to become an elite assassin.

"……."

Lord listened to Litney's sobs for a long while before finally speaking after some contemplation.

"…So, what did you do with the target?"

"Sniff… What do you mean, what did I do? I didn’t kill him. He said he’d give me an antidote."

"…Impossible."

In Lord's understanding, Elizabeth had no antidote.

Even the empress of the empire, who was said to shroud the sun itself, had died because there was no cure for it.

It was that kind of poison. And yet, an antidote? It was impossible to believe.

"…He said the antidote is in his head. He drank Elizabeth himself."

Lord's mind went blank.

If he really had poisoned Litney, no—before that, there was no way Litney could be mistaken about poison.

Among the unit members, she was the most knowledgeable about toxins.

But the fact that Arthur himself had ingested that poison…

He couldn't understand it.

"…Sniff… Looks like I’ll have to stay here for a while. He told me to protect him from the barbarians."

"…? How does he know the barbarians are attacking?"

"I don’t know… I was just upset, so I called you… That’s all. I’m hanging up now."

"Wait a—"

Click.

Before Lord could finish, Litney, having said everything she wanted to, ended the connection.

Lord let out a long sigh as he stared at the now-darkened communication crystal.

"…Damn it, seriously."

He had no idea what was going on anymore.

The only person observing the situation firsthand was Litney, and she was like this, while the so-called madman commander had changed.

From what she said, Arthur was aware of Litney’s identity and knew about the barbarian attack days in advance.

He was nothing like the man he had appeared to be before.

It was as if he had just now begun executing a plan…?

Thud!

Lying in bed, Lord absentmindedly fiddled with the communication crystal before suddenly sitting up straight as a thought crossed his mind.

"Could it be… he was acting like a fool just to get assigned to the frontlines?"