Simulation Smartphone (Title Not yet decided)

Evening, Outside Tefler

"Hey, Lyon~!"

Lyon turned his head to look at a carriage coming towards him slowly. He could see someone driving the carriage and someone beside the driver waving at him.

Faster than I thought.

Lyon assumed that the group would arrive 10 minutes after he was supposed to enter.

When the carriage got closer to Lyon, he could see the two people at the front and some silhouettes inside the carriage.

The adventurer group consists of 5 people, 3 men and 2 women, though boys and girls would be better terms to describe them. A tank, a mage, a scout, a healer, and a swordsman. A quite simple and well balanced party.

The scout and party leader Ives was probably the one who called him out in the first simulation. The healer girl was the one waving at Lyon. Unfortunately for Lyon, he doesn't know her name.

Living reclusively for 3 years made Lyon extremely introverted to talk to strangers, so he didn't talk much with them. He only talked with Ives for any reason he had. The others were not interested in communicating with Lyon, and were quite wary of him.

He had a few words with the healer girl because she healed him. Looking at the enthusiastic girl waving at him, Lyon made a mental note to change himself for his new life.

The carriage stopped near Lyon and Ives looked at him with a smile,

"Not going in? You were eager to go to the nearest town, and now all you are doing is waiting outside. Were you waiting for us?"

Lyon answered back, "Although I don't want to admit it, I am indeed waiting for you guys. You see, the town upfront is in a precarious situation. You might not know the reason, but I do, though I can't tell you that. I need your help for this."

Ives raised his brow and asked in surprise, "Is it so bad? Even if it is, you could just introduce yourself, right?"

I know I can, but I cannot guarantee my safety then.

Lyon could only tell him a bit more, "I can't tell you much about it, but I can only say that it is related to the safety of the Empire. I could introduce myself, but I think I will be doubted then. Your guarantee would be valuable then."

Lyon looked at Ives deep in thought and waited while he made his decision. Both of them did not have much contact, and there was no reason for Ives to trust him yet.

Moreover, only capable adventurers possess such a luxurious carriage, coupled with the fact about how he was close to the city guards, this group of adventurers might be one of the best in the town.

The more powerful they are, the more careful they will be in matters such as this. So, Lyon wasn't in a hurry yet, since he could wait for a while and simulate again after having enough rest.

The two of them stood there for a while when the Healer expressed her dissatisfaction while shouting at them, "Hey!! Are you guys ignoring me?! And you Lyon, couldn't you have at least responded to my call?!"

The shout broke the silence and both Lyon and Ives looked at her, and then they looked at themselves and burst out laughing.

Ives understood what Sophy wanted to tell him, that her stance was to trust Lyon, so he called Lyon to board the carriage and drove to the town gates.

After boarding the carriage, Lyon got to know about the people present in the carriage, more specifically their names. The tank, Adeus, the mage Lisa, and the swordswoman Ifrit. Together with Sophy and Ives, this party of 5 were on their way to hunt a pack of wolves when they met the drowning Lyon.

Lyon also got to know the reason for their sudden return. As the only silver rank party of the town Tefler, they were summoned by the Garrison in town regarding the Spy issue. Lyon also understood why Ives was able to pinpoint the matter with so few clues.

Lyon tried to have some small talk with the people present, but he only got some nods, hums and short answers. Only Sophy was willing to have a small talk with him, and due to lack of knowledge regarding the world for Lyon, the talks were smaller than he wanted it to be.

However, Lyon knew that it would take time for them to trust him for now. He could talk with them individually and focused on each of them, but he currently has another thing on his hand that he needs to take care of.

As the carriage drew closer to the town gate, Lyon also looked at the town wall and the passing crowd. 

They didn't wait in the line and rode their carriage to the exclusive lane. When they were stopped by the guard, Ives took the opportunity to speak to the guard about Lyon's issue.

The guard took a look at Lyon for a moment and went to inform the captain.

Lyon started to rehearse the lie he had thought of but suddenly realized that he lacks a very crucial information. He immediately starts to try to use the Simulator.

[Day 1: You used the trust of your new found friends to get a chance to meet the captain of the garrison. Although you later explained him with the best of your abilities, you didn't have a valid proof, and your story was full of potholes.]

[The captain didn't fully trust your story, but out of his respect to the Silver ranked adventure group, he decided to let you temporarily stay in the city.]

[Finally entering the city, you planned to take rest for the rest of the day, but decided to enquire about the situation first.]

[Asking around the town, you learned about the general situation of the town, and its political relations. You also learned of the information you wanted. The lord of the border town, Helerot, in the kingdom of Hannock has absolutely no relation to the town of Tefler but he is an acquaintance of a few nearby towns, and he was also accused by the Yulong remnants of attacking them.]

[Although you successfully got the information you wanted, you also aroused the vigilance of the soldiers secretly following you and they decided to arrest you.]

As soon as Lyon saw that text, he had a very vague feeling and closed the phone. This was a new feature that Lyon discovered while he waited for Ives's party. After nearing his limit, he can vaguely feel when he is near total mental depletion and could forcibly stop the simulation and not stumble or lose consciousness.

But the simulation also made Lyon realize that although he could enter the town, he would still be under surveillance of the garrison, even with the guarantee of Ives.

As Lyon tried to find more information from the previous simulation, the captain of the garrison arrived and greeted Ives.

"This is a very serious issue, Ives. It would be better if it isn't a lie."

Ives could only smile wryly and started to have second thoughts about bringing Lyon to meet Carlson, the captain.

Those harsh words also interrupted Lyon's thoughts and he took a look at the captain. He looks to be around 40-50 years old, muscular and slightly tanned. He has blonde hair, green eyes and a short beard. He wore standard knight armor, silver in color, and looked like an upright person.

Lyon walked to the captain and introduced himself, "Good evening, Mr. Carlson, it is a pleasure to meet you. Although I want to have a leisure talk with you, I think it would be better for us to speak in private, as this information is better kept a secret."

"Are you doubting my men?!"

Carlson, notably, got angry at Lyon's statement, although Lyon does mean it that way, because of his hypothesis from previous simulations, he actually meant that there are a lot of people looking at the place and trying to hear their conversation.

Lyon could only patiently explain to the simple thinking captain that his soldiers aren't the only people present at the location.

Carlson also generously shifted the reason for his anger from Lyon's distrust to Lyon's rebuttal, and led the way.

Arriving at his office, Carlson decided to finally think properly, and did not allow any other people to enter the room except himself and Lyon.

Upon entering the room and sitting down, Lyon cut to the chase and directly stated his purpose, "I am Lyon, the accountant of a travelling merchant troupe called Walmart that sells goods and sets up performances around the nearby towns. Although we have only started recently, we had the support of the lord of the town of Helerot.

Because we were very new, many people didn't know about us, so the lord asked us to deliver important information to the neighboring towns, hoping that we wouldn't attract much attention. Unfortunately, we did. And the whole troupe got murdered while only I barely escaped by falling into the lake."

After hearing the entire story, Carlson couldn't help but feel sad for Lyon. He lost his friends, his job, and his dreams, and he is still desperately escaping for his life.

Looking at Carlson's expression, Lyon knew that his lie will hold for now. He called himself an accountant, because he felt that it was the only thing he could do. The most important loose end for the story would be the lord of Helerot, whoever he was.

However, that would be a problem for the future, and nobody who is capable of checking his background would care about him.

After gaining the trust of the captain, Lyon immediately informed him of his hypothesis, in the name of the lord of Helerot, "According to the information, the spy or an accomplice of the spy is actually in the garrison building. However, it is not clear about who he might be."

Carlson immediately stood up, ready to shout at Lyon for slander, but thinking of his tragic experience, he swallowed the words, but still resolutely responded, "It's impossible. All the soldiers, including the most recent ones, were personally verified by me. There is no way someone would be able to sneak into here and hide from me."

Lyon also knew the situation in the garrison from this. Although the chances of a spy being a soldier is present, it should be very low.

"Indeed, but you are forgetting something, captain. There aren't only soldiers in the garrison."

Carlson instantly understood Lyon's sentence. Yes, there are also cleaners, cooks, logistics staff, etc., and others who are not soldiers, and whom he didn't personally check.

Silence ensued as Carlson kept thinking deeply about the issue, and Lyon munched on the snacks in front of him. He hadn't had any food since being sent to this world, and he wasn't going to say no to some free food. So he started to elegantly take one bite and one sip.

After Carlson thought of the issue for a long time, he decided to trust Lyon for now. Snapping back from his thoughts, he looked at Lyon vigorously munching the snacks and a faint smile formed on his face.

"Cough~!"

The cough managed to divert Lyon's attention and he slowed down munching, and finished eating everything in embarrassment.

"Since the situation is clear, I'll take my leave. Do inform me if you ever need my help."

"Definitely!"

". . . I didn't mean it."

"But I want you to. You are not out of suspicion, it's just that there are people more suspicious than you."

Not willing to stay any longer, Lyon bid his farewell to the captain and made his way out of the garrison. After not finding Ives's group, he decided to go on his own way and find out more about the current scenario.

He first made his way to a less fancy inn and decided to take some rest first. Only after entering the inn did he realize that he does not have any cash on him, so he decided to use his predecessor's knowledge and experience, and finally managed to convince a kind innkeeper to let him stay in the stables in exchange for him to clean them.

He thought of simulating again before sleeping when someone asked to meet him. Curious about who it could be, he went outside to take a look at the person. He couldn't recognize the man, so he asked him what the wanted from him.

"Good evening, Mr. Lyon. I am tasked by the captain to bring you a note."

Lyon knew that it was most likely Carlson who sent him a note, so he took the note from the man's hand and sent him off on his way before going back in.

Since the condition of stay was to clean the stables, he finished cleaning the stables, upholding his end of the deal. He wanted to borrow some money from the new connections he made, but he also knew that he already had enough favors to fulfill. Sure, they might lend him some money if he asked them shamelessly, but Lyon wanted to change from his previous lifestyle.

He had a lower moral line because he was forced to, not because he wanted to. So unless necessary, he does not want to do something borderline unless he can't help it.

Opening the note, all he saw was 3 characters. He could also recognize them. Although he doesn't know the language itself, he can communicate with others. It's just that he doesn't know how to read or write. So he had Sophy teach him some simple characters that are more useful in general.

The 3 characters translate to '10G' or 10 gold. Lyon doesn't understand what he meant by this note. But this just means that he needs to figure it out in the coming simulation.

With all that out of his mind, he started the simulation again. After all these trials, he understood the downside of the simulator. Although it cannot show any 'lies' since it destroys the purpose of [Simulation], it doesn't mean that it shows all the truths.

Lyon can only get the information he is consciously looking for. For example, if there is a robbery that has happened, Lyon would only inquire about the situation in the simulation if Lyon outside the simulation has prior knowledge of it. All Lyon can think of about this is, 'F**k you, Raj!'

[Day 1: You summarize all the events that had happened during the day before going to sleep.]

[Day 2: After waking up in the morning, you freshen up and head to the garrison again to enquire about the previous day's note. When you reach the office, you meet the captain discussing with his subordinates about the spy.]

[You wait aside for a while before the soldiers go outside, leaving the captain rubbing his fingers in stress. You asked about the note you received the day before. This successfully diverts the captain's attention and looks at you with a faint smile and says, 'That's the bill for the snacks you devoured yesterday.']

[You were gaffed by his antics and asked, 'Why are you charging me for it though?']

[He replied, 'If you were a guest, I wouldn't. Unfortunately, you were not a guest at that time. You were even the most suspicious person. If you had eaten the snacks after I declared my stance, I wouldn't have charged you.']

[You stood there with your mouth wide open, stupefied by the shamelessness of Carlson. You could only shake your head and say, 'I don't have any money with me.']

[Carlson still kept the same smile on his face. He had already anticipated your reply. So he stated calmly, 'You can be exempted from it if you cooperate with the search for the spy until he is caught. We will also provide you with residence until then.']

[You understood Carlson's motives and also knew that for the current you, this was the best course of action. Although you did not like the way you were played, you could only swallow it. However, you also made another condition. If you were able to pay off the 10 Gold yourself, you would be free.]

[Carlson accepted your deal, and you asked him 'How did you know there was a spy in the first place?'. Carlson was doubtful about why you didn't know that it was the Hannock Kingdom that informed them.]

[You calmly stated that you were only told to deliver the message, nothing else. You also got the full information about the spy. It is stated that he was a veteran under the Yulong Remnants. He was a spy around the nations bordering Belfast, before he was recognized by someone in Belfast. However, Belfast Kingdom wasn't willing to give any other information.]

[You also didn't understand why Belfast didn't want to share anymore, but it is their secret, not your turn to think of them. You are more focused on the capabilities of the spy. He was a veteran in 2 nations surrounding Belfast and also a spy in Belfast where he was recognized. He escaped all the way from Belfast to the other end of the Regulus Empire before the Empire was notified.]

[You decided with the captain that each of them will individually survey each person and deduce from the data collected.]

[Day 5: You were busy for the past 3 days inquiring about the spy around the garrison. You found out that most of the workers were hired relatively recently. After asking, you found that the garrison hires temporary workers to save on costs, and only has a few permanent workers. You didn't skip anyone, and soon narrowed down to 3 targets.]

[The first were 2 women, one middle aged and one young. You had a few reasons to believe it was them. You had testimonials that they were from the kingdom of Belfast and they were both refugees, and the other was a young kitchen boy, who helps the chefs.]

[You had also discussed your findings and reasons with Ives's group, Carlson, and also Jeff, the prisoner. You met Jeff and got to know each other again. All of them had agreed with your reasons, but lately, you were getting uncomfortable.]

[You were getting weird looks. You thought it was because of your surveys, but with passing time, it felt different. You knew something fishy was going on, and even Carlson's look changed slowly. After you inquired about it, you found out that there was a rumor going around that the spy disguised himself as a messenger from another kingdom, and was staging a play in the garrison.]

[You knew there was nothing you could do about this, so you just tried your best to reassure the captain and left the garrison. Fortunately, Ives was still trusting you, so you could only helplessly think of asking for some money from him to repay Carlson.]

[However, you didn't want any more favors. So you just asked him to help you to earn some gold. After registering in the Guild, you went outside with Ives and Ifrit, who were free to support you.]

[Just when you were about to enter the forest, a lightning struck you and you died.]

[Simulation ends]

". . ."

Lyon didn't know what to say about the simulation. There were many things he could understand from this. The spy is on the lookout for him, and the mysterious thunder at the end, he couldn't figure out.

Suddenly, he felt dizzy. But he was even more horrified in his heart. He knew he didn't reach his limit yet, and he had his fill too. He is sure he isn't sick either. His dizziness is caused by someone.

But before he could think of anything else, he lost his consciousness.

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A/N: Long break. No one who read the first two chapters when they were released probably stuck around for this. I just thought that even if there are no rewards, as Lyon grows, the simulator will be much more powerful even if it's just giving information. So I needed a way to nerf it for now, and also in a way I can control it.