Volume 2 Chapter 25 (1/2)
Editor: Cruiser.
Chapter 2 Episode 25
(a.s.sa.s.sin 2)
Day 170 after being summoned to another world.
The morning of the second day came since Ryouma built the defense fortification.
”As expected, there was no night attack huh?”
”Yes, it seems like it was impossible for the enemy to reorganize their army in such a short amount of time ”
Laura who accompanied Ryouma answered his question.
”I guess it is to be expected, seeing how much damage they have taken in the previous fight?”
”Most likely, they would need around 2-3 days to prepare. ”
”Then it would be better for us to immediately begin our next preparations before it’s too late.”
Laura's eyes s.h.i.+ned upon hearing Ryouma's words.
”We are keeping up nicely with our schedule. The time the enemy took to recover from the battle is within my expectation . Also, the next plan will require more time to be effective, and I'm not sure if it will be ready by the time Princess Lupis has to face her decisive battle. ”
”Are Lione and the others ready?”
Ryouma ask the most important question.
”Yes, they have already selected the necessary personnel and finished preparations while we're at the Royal Castle. ”
”Good, then I would like for all of them to attend the meeting after breakfast. Ugh, by the way, what about breakfast?”
Ryouma stomach begins to rumble.
A human being needs to eat periodically, even if they are in the middle of a battlefield where their lives are at risk.
”We've already prepared it. ”
Laura has already prepared Ryouma’s meal beforehand.
From the beginning, there were already a number of cooks in the army. Thus it was not necessary for Laura and her sister to cook for Ryouma
However, they never left Ryouma's personal care to another person.
It became an unwritten law for them to take care of him even when he was in the Royal Palace.
”If that the case then, I guess I want to eat them immediately while they are still warm. ”
After saying that, Ryouma returned to his tent.
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Then came the second day after the battle against Kyle ended.
”Well, I am ready as always. ”
”I also have no problems. We've already prepared in advance and are ready whenever. ”
Inside the tent, there are four people excluding Ryouma, and these people are Lione, Bolts, And the Marfisto's sisters.
”Since it would be suspicious if you go around with too many people, how about you choose ten people from the「Red Lion」 mercenary group? ”
Toward Ryouma's words, Lione and Bolts nodded their head.
”And Sara, about the task you were given, how much progress have you made?”
Sara organised her thoughts in her mind before reporting to Ryouma
”Her name is Sakuya, and we still don't know who she is connected to, but there's no doubt that she has been in touch with someone ever since we've been in Royal castle. ”
”I see.., well, for now, we can let her be for a while. ”
In reality, Ryouma was unsure on how best to deal with Sakuya.
What kind of person is she?
Is she a spy or an a.s.sa.s.sin?
Which force is she connected to?
There were far too many unknown factors.
Ryouma could easily eliminate her if he chose to but the people she is connected to might just send someone else to attack him.
It would be a lot safer to leave her alone as long as she is under his supervision.
”But still, what is her goal? That is the most important question?”
Lione threw out a question.
That would be natural.
”What are you saying, this is thanks to Lione-san that I am able to use her for something. ”
”Me?”
Lione was able to recruit about 90% of the mercenaries without having to go through the guild. Although some did come from the royal capital, their number didn’t even reach 10% of their overall manpower.
”I see, that's why you asked Nee-san to hire the mercenaries huh?”
”What do you mean?”
Lione turned her question towards Bolts who seems to understand Ryouma’s intentions..
”It was for monitoring purpose, as it would make it easy to do so since we're able to reduce the number of unknown people. This helps to find any suspicious people among the mercenaries.”
In other words, if a person enters an army composed of Lione's acquaintances, then naturally that person would stand out. This in turn would ease the process of finding suspicious members, making it much easier for Ryouma to spot and monitor them until they are compromised.
”I see, you had already a.s.sumed that a spy would be slipping into the mercenary unit since the beginning?” Lione spoke in admiration.
”I need to think of every possible scenarios after all. ”
It is a common tactic to use spies to monitor your enemy’s every move. It is normal for any commander to consider and counter this tactic, but due to certain circ.u.mstances Ryouma was unable to dispatch one.
That was Ryouma's personal thoughts on the situation.
”I see. ”
The meeting ended shortly after Lione showed her admiration for Ryouma’s ability as a commander.
”Sara, where are those people going?”
After looking at Sakuya who was handling the dead bodies near the fences, Ryouma directed his line of sight toward the people who were crossing the water filled moat with a raft.
The corpses needed to be dealt with as soon as possible to prevent the spreading of epidemics. Though most of the corpses, especially ones with light armour, had already been swept away naturally by the flood.
Using the Thaves river to obliterate an army was indeed effective, but from a sanitary point of view, it left them with a lot of cleaning up work..
Sara was in charge of stripping the equipment of the remaining corpses and tossing them into the moat to be carried away by the current, along the rest of the bodies.
”Oh, they are merchants from the neighborhood. They’ve just returned from conducting business talk elsewhere. ”
Sara replied.
”Merchants, are they?”
”Indeed, hmm? Is there anything suspicious?”
Based on Sara’s reaction, Ryouma decided to not pursue the conversation further.
”No..., nothing...”
Then he averted his gaze back towards Sakuya who was dealing with another corpse.
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Sakuya could not hide her feelings of agitation.
It has been almost a month since the time she entered the mercenary units and so far and she has yet to find out any valuable information.
(Maybe... They are hiding some really important information?!)
It is natural for her to think like that.
In fact, the merchants who had crossed the moat have been entrusted with an important role, but she would only find out about this later on.
Also, It was almost impossible for Sakuya to get the necessary information.
After all, Sara was always watching over her shoulder.
(Why is that person always watching me? Am I compromised?)
Sakuya panicked for a brief moment, but quickly dismissed that thought.
(No, that's impossible. If they already knew who I was they wouldn’t have allowed me to live for so long.)
Sakuya had already investigated the person named Mikos.h.i.+ba Ryouma.
Although, she could not understand why such person with an unknown background was allowed to help Princess Lupis, she was made to understand that he was a ruthless person based on the results of his previous plan which was unfolded before her very eyes.
*Pika*
For a brief moment, a blinking light could be seen in the corner of her eye.
*Pika.... Pika, Pika*
There was two consecutive flashes of light, after a while, it blinks for the third time. Her employer has given her the signal to a.s.sa.s.sinate Mikos.h.i.+ba Ryouma.
That was the method of communication between the Infiltrator and her employer.