Vol 1 Chapter 40 (2/2)
“Now then, it seems that there is a traitor among the top bra.s.s.”
Royce announced that to his squad members with a grave expression, completely unlike Kelvin’s smiling face.
At those words, Wynn frowned, and Locke sighed. Reeno and Wedge exchanged glances.
“Well, I had kind of felt like that was the case, but why do you think so, Captain?”
“There is somebody, either from the Petersian army itself, or somebody they paid off, planting the remains of the camps and the hoofprints, manipulating the actions of the scouts. Judging by how well they know the terrain, it’s probably a local they hired.”
Perhaps it was for the sake of the squad members. Acting as their representative, Kelvin asked Royce a question. Royce stroked his plump, oily chin, took out the jerky that was part of their rations and started eating it.
“But from Abel’s story, they are about 200 men strong. I don’t think they have enough people available to carry out these small tasks.”
“Did reinforcements come from Petersia?”
“That shouldn’t be the case. The Petersian border should be strictly guarded. If they really invaded, we would have heard of it long ago.”
“That’s right. They would’ve been caught then.”
Royce nodded at Wynn, Reeno and Locke’s appraisal.
“I believe that there are people within the Knight Order who are guiding them, probably a n.o.ble. I also believe that their collaborator is from a territory near the border. Two hundred men, but there doesn’t seem to be supply unit. I thought that they were obtaining supplies from the previously attacked villages, but none of the villages seem to be pillaged. From this, it is clear that there is somebody supporting them.”
“In the region near the border, there are four fiefs: the Valessia Countdom, Rembrandt Marquisate…”
Locke named the n.o.bles who governed the territories in the area, while looking at Royce’s face.
“Next is… the Elstead Countdom, and the Cliffdorf Marquisate. That’s all of them.”
Wynn continued where Locke left off.
“That’s right. Right now, among the four n.o.bles Locke listed, Lord Valessia and Lord Rembrandt are not related to the military. They are both advance in age and close to retirement. The Houses who are related to the military are the Elsteads and the Cliffdorfs.”
“…Is there any evidence?”
Hearing the accusation, Reeno timidly offered a question.
“What I just said was just my intuition.”
“Excuse me, Captain. It may be conjecture, but you are still one of the suspicious people.”
“As a Lieutenant, what I can do is limited. Of course, it is still possible that I am guiding the Petersian army to impede the progress of the Knight Order. You can only believe in the fact that I didn’t need to tell you anything if that were true.”
“I guess that’s right.”
Wynn nodded.
“Either way, the army is probably playing into the hands of the enemy. I apologize for involving you in a lost cause. That is why, I will play a few tricks of my own.”
Royce grinned at his squad members, who were at attention.
When they saw that smile, everyone thought: ’Whoah, he must be plotting something bad…’
“Sheesh. I didn’t think that I would be doing the same things as I did as an adventurer once I entered the Knight Order.”
“I also thought so.”
“Speaking of, you two are quite used to these movements, huh?”
“…I had spent time working in the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“After spending time with Wynn, you eventually end up like that…”
Locke responded to Kelvin, who was walking behind him, with a dry smile.
In order to carry out Royce’s trick, Vice-Captain Kelvin was in charge of Locke and Wynn as they made their way through a forest a ways from the highway.
Naturally, they had to make their way through the forest trails, so they had to dismount from their horses and make their way on foot.
The training for the Knight Order had included practice travelling in the wilderness. Searching for monsters in the Periodic Subjugation Mission also required them to make their way through the forest.
Wynn led the way.
Occasionally consulting the map for directions, he cleared away the obstacles as he moved.
“Vice-captain Kelvin, do you have experience moving through the wilderness?”
“I am ashamed to admit that I don’t have much experience. At most, I have gone on monster subjugation missions two or three times.”
“I see. Locke and the Vice-captain, you both should watch your step. You can watch out for bugs, leeches and wet gra.s.s, but you should also watch for mud and branches.”
“It would be helpful if bugs didn’t approach.”
“As expected of the only person who has worked in the Adventurer’s Guild. ”
“It’s because I was taught various things since I was young… it would be good if everyone is quiet.”
Wynn’s pace dropped as he spoke.
He expertly cleared away the branches, and pointed out the spots with solid footing to Locke and Kelvin, who were following him, as he went.
Wynn instantly made an insect repellent salve. The insects could carry frightening diseases from monsters and beasts that hid in the thickets.
It was possible to cure the diseases with magic, but they were currently going ahead alone, so there were no field medics who could use healing magic near them. Wynn’s experience as an adventurer surpa.s.sed Kelvin’s expectations.
It had been a while since they had set off that morning, and the sun was already high in the sky. Wynn, who was more experienced within the forest, asked Kelvin’s permission to take a break for lunch.
It was hard to see in the thick forest, yet Wynn noticed something moving in a thicket off to the right.
‘A monster? Or is it an animal?’
Wynn stopped walking, soundlessly signalling to Locke and Kelvin to be wary of what was ahead.
‘Since we entered the forest, I had felt a few gazes watching us, but…’
There was still some distance between the Wynn and the rustling. He didn’t know whether it was coming closer, but he was lucky to have noticed it.
‘What should we do?’
Wynn turned towards Kelvin, seeking his direction. Kelvin, as the Vice-Captain, was the one who had the authority to make decisions. Kelvin nodded, and drew closer to Wynn.
“Do you know what is approaching us?”
“No, but I know that it is headed straight for us. We could hide and let it go past us, but if it’s an animal, our scent will stand out.”
“Hmm… I would like to avoid battling an unknown number of opponents, but it doesn’t seem like there are any alternatives if it’s moving towards us.”
As softly as he could, Wynn drew his sword.
He hadn’t yet channelled magic power.
If it were a monster, they would be able to sense his magic.
Wynn had just enough magic power to imbue the sword with it, but he didn’t want the approaching creature to sense him.
Kelvin and Locke also drew their swords.
They both didn’t bring their s.h.i.+elds along because they were moving through the forest, they held their swords with both hands as Wynn did.
Since it was impossible to swing the sword with all the trees in the way, Wynn a.s.sumed a thrusting stance.
Wynn would strike first. Locke and Kelvin supported him, just in case there were multiple targets, so that Wynn could have time to pull his sword out.
Then, the creature jumped out of the thicket —
“A Goblin!?”
It was a devil-type monster. Smaller than a human, it possessed the intelligence to use tools and weapons. It wasn’t too hard to defeat if one had the experience, especially if they were prepared, like Wynn and the others were.
The goblin had jumped out, paused for a moment when it saw the humans, and let out a strange cry, leaping at them.
However, its straightforward movement exposed many openings.
Wynn rushed forward and used his sword to stab at the goblin, who wielded a rusty hatchet. The tip of the sword impaled the goblin in the middle of its chest.
“Are you alright, Wynn?”
Locke called out to him as he came closer.
“Yeah. It was easier since the goblin charged out forcefully. However, you shouldn’t let your guard down. It didn’t even flee after seeing us.”
“Eh, this goblin was clearly running away from something else.”
“What could it be…?”
“Something is approaching fast!”
Just as Wynn was about to pull his sword out of the goblin, he leapt backwards.
An arrow appeared right where Wynn was standing moments ago. It was aimed at Wynn’s feet.
“This isn’t what we were told, isn’t it… Captain?”
Kelvin muttered, letting his sword drop to the ground.
“…That’s right…”
Locke also dropped his weapon and held his hands up, while Wynn raised the hand that was holding the dagger. They glared at the direction the arrow came from.
Atop the branch of a large tree, looking down at them with bows drawn, were the rulers of the deep forest— the elves.
1 Rill
1 millimeter
1 Chel
1 centimeter
1 Rool
1 meter
1 Kerl
1 kilometer
(TN: I made the table so it’s abit more organized)
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