This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

As for Dick, the top mediator, he proved once again through his own experience that it is very dangerous for a fragile mage to be approached by a warrior.

What made Dick even more uneasy was that while he was in the midst of a fierce battle with the ninja sisters, Tia and Lily, who had recovered, came looking for him. He didn't even have time to scold the two sisters for being philanderers, and angrily went into the fray to start a second battle. Finally, Momiji, who was returning from patrolling the student dormitory area at night, also rushed to the scene after hearing the commotion.

Dick was inwardly groaning. "Are you guys treating me like Sukuna? Why are you putting me in a tagalong like this?!"

It wasn't until the next day when it was fully light that Dick finally managed to pull himself away from the harem of women in Rushan and quietly limped out of the bedroom.

No matter how special a succubus's constitution is, it cannot conjure water and protein out of thin air, nor can it completely offset the wear and tear on its body. 1v5 is about its limit.

"No wonder I can't gain weight, this rate of nutrient loss is unbearable!"

"Dick, are you not feeling well? You don't look too good."

Suddenly, a charming female voice came from behind. Dick, who was almost in a state of shock, turned around abruptly and saw that it was Honoka, who had just returned from her morning exercise in the mountains, wearing her ninja training uniform.

The girl looked at Dick with concern, reaching out her small hand to touch his forehead, about to press her own forehead against it to feel his temperature. In that instant, as the pink-haired beauty bent down, Dick was able to admire the magnificent scenery of the mountains and valleys through the collar of his ninja outfit.

Dick immediately took a half step back awkwardly, and said with an embarrassed smile that he just didn't sleep well last night and that his complexion was bad because of lack of sleep. He said he would catch up on his sleep in a while.

"Yun Chang" is in a state similar to someone who has just undergone bone-scraping treatment; it is not advisable for him to easily enter "battle mode" until he has recovered.

Accompanied by Honoka, Dick arrived at the cafeteria. The students who were eating put down their utensils and stood up to greet him. Even the elves who had arrived yesterday followed suit and bowed, though their expressions were not as enthusiastic as those of the older students who were from the local area.

Those selected to enter the "Spy Classroom" for training must undergo rigorous selection. Moreover, the intelligence agency values ​​loyalty more than personal talent. Therefore, during the selection process, priority is given to those who lived in Lagug when Dick first took office, preferably young people from impoverished backgrounds who had suffered hardships in the past and only began to enjoy a better life after Dick's arrival.

These students had received favors from Dick and were grateful to their lord, eager to make a name for themselves.

Joining "Forget-Me-Not" and becoming a ninja agent, although one's identity cannot be revealed, offers benefits in all aspects that surpass those of knights who have been officially recognized in private armies.

Facing these bright-eyed young people, Dick smiled and waved to them, telling them not to be so reserved and to sit down and eat properly. He then went to the food station, got the same meal as the trainees, and found a seat to eat with them.

Honoka sat down next to Dick, but looked around and asked with some confusion.

"Strange, where are Miss Hongye and the others?"

"Ahem, I talked with them until very late yesterday, so they're probably still asleep. Today is a day off, so it's good to let them rest a little longer."

"Oh."

The naive Honoka didn't ask any more questions. Coming from the "doujinshi world line," she seemed even more innocent and naive than her original self in the main story. After all, if she wasn't easy to fool, she would also be hard to be fooled by some simple tricks.

After a day of rest, Dick slept alone for the first time in a long time, conserving his energy so he would be refreshed and energetic the next day. Since the first cohort of students had graduated, and the third cohort, which included elves, was starting its training on the same day, Dick, as the nominal headmaster of the "Spy Classroom," not only had to give a speech but also award medals to the graduates.

Since it was a secret school for training special agents, it was not appropriate to give students graduation certificates or similar items. However, not giving them anything would damage their sense of honor. Therefore, in accordance with the knighthood ceremony, Dick personally conferred the title of "Lord's Dark Guard" upon the graduates.

The first batch of thirty trainees, after officially joining Forget-Me-Not, will carry out counter-espionage work, focusing on eliminating the Dead Tree Party's spies in the north. Their area of ​​operation is not limited to the territory of Lagug, or even just the northern part of the empire.

Dick hoped to further weaken the Deadwood Party's manpower and force them to expand their recruitment, just like opening a floodgate to release water; the larger the flow, the better the sand would mix in with the water.

Of course! Relying on Forget-Me-Not's small force alone is clearly not enough to bleed the Dry Tree Party dry. He plans to imitate the tricks he used in the capital to draw more hatred from powerful departments to the Dry Tree Party and get everyone to join in beating them up!

After the graduation ceremony for the first cohort of trainees, Dick proceeded to train the third cohort of trainees present.

Thanks to the addition of the elves, and the fact that the third cohort of trainees had originally planned to expand their recruitment (the number of trainees in the third cohort reached eighty, more than double that of the first cohort), the situation changed.

When the third cohort of human students learned that they would be classmates with elves, the expressions of the people present varied, especially those of the fifteen elves, whose brows were furrowed particularly noticeably.

Despite the Emerald Crown Duchy's current status as a vassal state of the Empire, the Elves, after all, were once powerful. They may have accepted reality, but deep down they remain arrogant. They may be extremely respectful to truly capable human elites, but they don't hold ordinary humans in high regard.

In fact, before they arrived, these fifteen elves all considered themselves elites. They thought that Dick recruited them to Lagug because they would directly participate in the operation, or even serve as the backbone of the intelligence agency, directly obeying Dick, the Saint-level mage, and helping him manage the useless humans below.

When they arrived, they found out that they would have to undergo training, and with a group of young humans who were clearly less skilled than themselves. This was hard for them to accept.

Dick observed the expressions of these people, noticing their resentment yet restrained silence. He knew they were afraid of him standing on the stage, choosing to remain silent for this moment. Once he left, they would definitely clash with their fellow human students.

So he gave Tia and Hongye a look and decided to arrange a training exercise between the newly graduated first cohort of students and these arrogant elves. This would help to curb their arrogance and show the human students of the same cohort what kind of amazing knowledge and power they would gain when they completed their training in the spy classroom.

Chapter 207: The past is the past, the present is the present

Elf arrogance is ingrained in their bones. Even among elven groups like the Emerald Crown Duchy, which have accepted reality, the vast majority do not believe deep down that the elven dynasty's downfall was due to human defeat, but rather to internal strife among its own people.

In fact, this was indeed one of the main reasons why they were eliminated, and it was not entirely the losers making excuses for their failures.

Throughout the history of this world, even in its final days, the Elven Dynasty never lost more than 90% of its wars against other races. In fact, in the last year before its demise, the Elven army was still able to fight the famous Battle of the Valley of Tears, where 30,000 elves defeated 200,000 dwarfs in a direct confrontation, with the casualty ratio between the two sides reaching an astonishing 1:19.

Therefore, many older elves who lived during the Elven Dynasty liked to reminisce about the past and repeatedly recall the glory of yesteryear. They believed that humans had seized the position of world hegemon by taking advantage of others' misfortunes. This also influenced the younger generation of elves around them, who were influenced by many old-fashioned ideas and prejudices, and developed an awkward mentality of both fear and contempt towards humans.

But as the old saying goes, the past is the past, and the present is the present!

Dick could accept elves for his own use without prejudice, but he wouldn't tolerate their arrogant and haughty habits.

Let's put it to the test and see what it's really like!

Dick then suggested on the spot that the graduating students of the first cohort be the opponents, and that the new students have a friendly match to assess their abilities. Given that it was a friendly match, Dick also laid down three rules: participants should show sportsmanship to their own people and try to stop short of causing serious injury.

After Dick finished speaking, his smiling gaze swept over the Pokémon in the third generation, his eyes seemingly carrying a hint of suggestion and encouragement, which invigorated the Pokémon, making them feel that their chance to shine had come!

The friendly match was played in a team-based format, and the venue was chosen in the ancient ruins behind the school.

The ruins were once a bandit stronghold. After Dick wiped out the bandits who occupied the area, he specifically studied the murals inside and found that they mainly contained content related to local history. However, because they fell into the hands of the bandits, they were severely damaged and there was little possibility of restoration. So, they were put to good use and turned into a training ground for ninjas, a special training ground for spy classrooms.

The ruins have a complex internal structure and are dimly lit. Just thinking about throwing a group of elves into such a place and making them fight against ninjas who are best at stealth and surprise attacks is cruel.

Unlike the ninjas on Earth, the students in the Spy Classroom learn ninjutsu from the Ninja Gaiden world. Momiji uses the Hayabusa-ryu ninjutsu, while Kasumi and Ayane use the Kigen Tenjin-ryu. Although they are called ancient martial arts, they are already considered fantasy abilities, just like the martial arts in this world.

It's worth mentioning that Momiji is not only a Hayabusa-ryu ninja, but also a Dragon Priestess. She can use witchcraft to fight against incorporeal spirits and ghosts, which makes Ayane, who once went to Mount Hikami to search for a missing girl but ended up getting involved in a supernatural event and being chased by ghosts everywhere, very envious.

Encouraged by Dick's gaze, all fifteen elves initially wanted to sign up for the competition, but after a slight hesitation, they only sent twelve, leaving out the three strongest elves. They felt that this was already giving face to the human students.

The elves had complete confidence in their own people and didn't think there was anything to fear about those so-called first-term graduates, because these people didn't have strong auras and were all low- to mid-level martial artists.

On the other hand, the elves' fifteen members were all "elites" carefully selected by the Grand Duke, with an average age of around three hundred years old. They were young and vigorous, and all of them were magic swordsmen who were skilled in both magic and martial arts. Among them, there were thirteen mid-level and two high-level.

This is the advantage of long lifespan. Humans can only choose one thing to learn in their relatively short lifespan, but elves don't have to make choices. Assuming both have equal talent, no matter how hard a human studies, an elf can easily surpass them, even if they're just slacking off, after three hundred years, by which time the human will be in their grave.

The rules of the competition stipulate that the third-generation Pokémon, as the attacking red team, have the goal of entering the ruins and destroying the flag located deep inside, while the first-generation Pokémon, as the defending blue team, must do everything possible to stop the red team.

The red team has a numerical advantage, 12 to 4, which is three times that of the blue team. Whether in terms of numbers or on paper strength, they have an overwhelming advantage.

As first-generation players, the only apparent advantage of the blue team seems to be their greater familiarity with the terrain.

The elves simply couldn't figure out how they could possibly lose.

"I hereby declare the friendly match open."

Since it was an informal match decided on the spur of the moment, the start was rather casual. Dick had already set up "peeping magic" in the ruins to broadcast the live footage of the match.

After the match began, the twelve members of the red team immediately charged into the ruins in battle formation. While moving quickly, they took turns releasing "detection magic". The terrain inside the ruins quickly appeared in the minds of these elves. If there were any living creatures within the detection range, they could even be marked. The effect was like having X-ray vision.

However, to the surprise of the elves, after searching for a long time, they couldn't find a single living creature in the vicinity, which made them wonder if the Blue Team knew they were no match and therefore chose to give up.

"Haha! Are they scared?"

An elf, bringing up the rear of the group, chuckled and teased, but his friend, who usually chimed in, remained silent. Sensing something amiss, he turned to his right, only to be startled to find the place deserted.

Holy crap! Where are my teammates?

Startled, the elf immediately looked to his left and saw that his other teammate had also disappeared without a trace. He was about to warn his teammate in front of him when, before he could even make a sound, a hand reached out from the shadows behind him and covered his mouth, pulling him into the shadows.

This seemingly terrifying and bizarre scene was captured by Dick's Peeping Eyes and broadcast to the group of students outside the ruins. Not only were the third-term human students incredibly surprised, but even the three elves who hadn't participated were dumbfounded.

Just by looking at the images, they couldn't understand why their fellow clansmen, who were all mid-level magic swordsmen with exceptionally sharp senses, could approach them silently without being detected.

Among the elves, there is an ancient type of magic that can achieve a similar effect, almost completely concealing the user's aura and traces. This is the shadow magic represented by Hammuradi. However, this magic has an extremely high barrier to entry. Even among the elves, only one in ten thousand geniuses can master it. Since Hammuradi's death, shadow magic can basically be considered lost.

Now, the elves find it utterly unbelievable and hard to accept that a few human warriors, who are at most only at the mid-level, can easily achieve a stealth effect similar to shadow magic.

When did human technology advance to this level?

Chapter 208: Suspicious Personnel

Dick was very satisfied with the outstanding performance of the first batch of graduates in the competition.

From the very beginning of the spy classroom, Dick gave very clear instructions: the training of students should prioritize simple and easy-to-learn practical skills, while the focus of ninjutsu training should be on stealth and concealment, without any fancy tricks.

This highly specialized training, with its clear objectives and strong focus, successfully propelled all thirty trainees in the first phase toward becoming cunning and ruthless.

If these first-term trainees were to face off in open terrain, they would indeed be no match for these magic and martial arts-skilled elves. However, Dick deliberately chose the ruins training ground as the venue for the friendly match, which is their most proficient home ground.

The red team's sprites only realized they had lost a third of their squad when their fourth teammate was silently dragged into the shadows. The sprites were immediately terrified, their hair standing on end, and they halted their advance, adjusting their formation to defend.

Their immediate feeling was like that of someone who had just watched a horror movie in the middle of the night. Even though it was quiet and there was nothing around, they felt that something indescribable was lurking in every shadow.

How did they do it?

The three elves who were fighting outside the ruins were completely baffled by the broadcast footage from the Eye of Insight. This was because the magic swordsmen had very keen senses. They possessed both the mental power of a mage and the five senses of a warrior. Any slight movement or unusual magical fluctuations would raise their alertness.

But the human assassins lurking in the shadows could always easily approach from behind without the elves noticing, making the elves who fell for their attacks seem like slow-witted fools.

Dick simply smiled and remained silent in response to the three elves' questions.

Inside the ruins, the elves had completely abandoned their initial underestimation. The human assassins opposite them possessed stealth abilities that were almost supernatural, and their attack methods were sinister. Their advantage in numbers and combat strength was completely ineffective, leaving them utterly on the defensive.

Just as they hesitated, several cross-shaped shuriken suddenly flew out from the shadows with a few soft whooshing sounds, but this was not enough to break through the elves' magical barrier.

Unexpectedly, the shuriken exploded violently the moment they touched the barrier, producing not only a piercing, sharp bang but also a thick cloud of smoke that instantly enveloped everyone present.

The leading elf had a bad feeling and was about to use wind magic to disperse the smoke, but the explosion made him dizzy and his casting speed was greatly reduced. The ninjas' attack came in an instant.

Admittedly, in terms of sheer destructive power, mages are indeed the kings of firepower on the battlefield. A large-scale forbidden spell released by dozens or even hundreds of people in formation can be as powerful and have a range of damage as a small nuclear bomb on Earth. However, mages themselves are also fragile. If they are interrupted during the casting of a spell, they are easily attacked by the backlash of magic.

The seemingly powerful dual-wielding class, the Magic Swordsman, actually has a hierarchy between magic and martial arts, with magic still being the primary means of attack. Therefore, they also have the weaknesses that regular mages have.

The first generation of students not only learned espionage knowledge and ninjutsu, but they also learned from Lily and mastered the skill of using poison to ambush people.

Uprightness and honesty are the ways of a knight, while ninja spies specialize in underhanded tactics!

When the smoke cleared, the scene revealed by the Eye of Insight caused the crowd outside to gasp in shock. Eight elves lay sprawled on the ground, some appearing to have passed away peacefully, others still convulsing and foaming at the mouth, and the leader of the group was face down with his buttocks sticking out, making it hard to imagine what kind of attack he had encountered in the smoke.

As for the four-man team from the blue side, they stood calmly amidst the "mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood."

Thus, the friendly match ended with the first-generation blue team winning, while the red team didn't even see the flag and was completely wiped out halfway through.

Carelessness and underestimating their opponents were indeed one of the reasons, but the strength of the first generation members was beyond doubt.

Dick then led the applause, and the human students present cheered and applauded. The three elves scratched their heads awkwardly, but still expressed their respect in a very dignified manner.

The first batch of graduates performed exactly as Dick had expected. The six-month training did not improve their rank, but their practical performance showed a leap forward.

Advanced concepts, bizarre poisons, and mysterious ninjutsu ultimately created a group of ultimate schemers!

After graduating from the spy classroom, these students can not only make great contributions on the intelligence front, but also serve as excellent battlefield reconnaissance soldiers in the event of large-scale military operations, capable of decapitating key enemy personnel such as commanders and mages.

The wiped-out elves, having lost their inherent arrogance, began to seriously accept training. Dick, after spending a few days in the mountains as if on vacation, set off to return to the main city of his territory.

Tia returned with Dick because she received a report from her subordinates that Forget-Me-Not scouts had discovered a suspicious target among the prisoners rescued from the orcs.

"It has been confirmed that the other party's identity is fake. Our people visited local survivors based on the address he provided and found that no one knew him at all. In addition, this person's speech and behavior are also very strange. He does not only not seem like a northerner, but he does not even seem like a Hessian."

You mean, Earthlings?

Tia nodded, indicating that this was just speculation. According to her subordinates' covert observation, the person's disguise was not very good, even quite clumsy. However, in order to follow the clues and find any possible accomplices, the surveillance personnel did not immediately make an arrest, but continued to observe in secret.

As Tia spoke, she took out a recording crystal from the file bag and displayed the target's appearance.

Wow! This guy is Asian!

To be honest, the moment Dick saw the target's appearance, he immediately understood why Forget-Me-Not's intelligence agents had been able to spot this guy as suspicious among tens of thousands of rescued prisoners. His Asian features stood out starkly among the Hessian people, who were more Latino. However, judging from his monkey-like face, this guy was probably not from Southeast Asia.

The intelligence agents initially targeted this person because they suspected he was a "runaway slave." After all, the nobles of this world had summoned many Earthlings. If his original master had been killed during the orc invasion, then the slave contract on his body might indeed have become invalid.

But soon, the intelligence officers noticed something was wrong during their observation. This guy was not only trying to escape from the resettlement area, but he was also planning to run north, which was very puzzling.

Chapter 209: The scale must be grand, and the atmosphere must be impressive!

If it's just that you're hiding it from yourself

Of

Being an Earthling and plotting to escape from a refugee camp wouldn't actually seem too strange to Forget-Me-Not's intelligence personnel.

Because the Earthlings who were summoned were forcibly bound by slave contracts the moment they set foot in this world. Most of them had been bullied and exploited by slave owners, and their human dignity was ruthlessly trampled on. Therefore, once the slave owner died unexpectedly, causing the slave contract to become invalid, almost all of the Earthlings who broke free from the contract would want to escape.

During the previous Winter War, Lagug had taken in many "runaway slaves" in similar situations, who hid among the refugees and dared not reveal their true identities.

Out of sympathy for his fellow countrymen, Dick instructed the officials in charge of refugee affairs to make an exception for these unfortunate people. They were only specially marked in the lord's internal personnel files and placed under the jurisdiction of the intelligence department. Their identities were not exposed, but they were allowed to live as civilians, which was a kind of disguised protection.

Of course! If it's that kind of...

will get

For truly skilled technical personnel, intelligence agents will proactively contact them in a relatively gentle manner, persuading them to work for the lord's manor. In return, the lord's manor will provide them with protection, allowing them to live a normal life.