Chapter 76 : Reconnaissance Mission (4)

Chapter 76: Reconnaissance Mission (4)

Pitch-black dawn was everywhere.

It was still a long way before the day would break.

-Turururu.

The horses lowered their heads helplessly. Miles was watching the horses from the darkness, slightly away from the assembly point.

“Prepare to leave at any moment. Load the crossbows in advance and don't lower your guard against the surroundings.”

“Understood, Miles.”

Miles looked up at the hill with a frustrated heart. They had escaped safely, but there was still no news from Shatien’s side.

‘What happened, dammit.’

Miles had performed the mission quite certainly. He drew the enemy's attention by feigning a mistake, set a fire, repelled some of them, and even succeeded in escaping. He could not have done better, as he even ignored the enemy crossbowmen and struck down the foes.

However, when he actually returned, the most important Shatien was nowhere to be seen. The mercenaries he took with him did not show even a glimpse of themselves either.

“Could he... have been captured, Miles?”

One anxious mercenary spoke up cautiously. Miles was also thinking about that, but it was not something to be put into words at all.

Therefore, Miles spat out his uncomfortable feelings.

“Hey! Does Shatien look like a fellow who would be caught easily? Huh?”

“But the crossbowmen who went with him might have been caught.”

If they are caught, the assembly point will be discovered. So, staying here continuously was very dangerous.

They could even be surrounded by the Imperial Army if things went wrong.

“Dammit! So what? You want to run? These bastards I swear.”

“N-No sir. I mean, we should go and rescue him.”

“Good lord. It’s obvious what you’re thinking inside. Just shut up and wait! I will make the decision.”

“......”

“Don't say useless things. Understand? If you keep doing that, you will find out why my past nickname was Bone Crusher. Got it?”

The mercenaries shut their mouths quietly. Miles's hot-tempered personality was already famous.

At that moment.

-Rustle.

A group of soldiers was seen running toward the assembly point from far away.

“......”

“......”

The mercenaries quietly aimed their crossbows. Miles twitched his itchy nose and stared intently at them.

Then, at some point, he jumped up and shouted.

“You rascals! Why are you so late!”

“Huff... huff... Miles!”

“You were safe. What a relief.”

“......?”

Despite the relieved words of the mercenaries, Miles’s complexion hardened. The most important face was missing among the familiar ones.

“Where is Shatien? Huh? Where is our rookie Centurion? Huh?”

“......”

“You bastards. What are you doing right now? Where did Shatien go? Where is our rookie?? Won't you speak quickly??”

“M-Miles. Please lower your voice. We will be discovered by the enemy at this rate.”

“Dammit!”

Miles approached the mercenaries.

He saw faces clearly marked with exhaustion. Eventually, unable to withstand the pressure, the mercenaries confessed the truth.

“The Centurion became the bait.”

“That is right. He told us to absolutely deliver the news to Count Bellua that knights called the Order of the Black Rain joined the battle.”

“The commander from now on is Miles. He told us to follow Miles's orders.”

“......?”

The eyes of the remaining mercenaries widened. They had never heard of a leader who became bait for his subordinates.

If he survives, he was a man truly worth trusting and following with one's whole life.

Of course, Miles was different.

“Dammit. Order of the Black Rain? Those madmen are here?”

To think those fanatic knights are here out of nowhere. Why would those fellows, who should be beating down pagans and elves in the North, come here?

‘Those rotten bastards. I wondered why they were suddenly having a truce.’

It was not that far from here to the front line. The moment they join the Imperial Army's camp, the truce will end. Before that, he had to deliver this news to the Count's army to help them devise countermeasures.

‘It is certainly right to follow Shatien's words, but...’

But he could not quite do that.

Was not loyalty the main power that moves Miles's heart?

“Hey! You. You said you used to be a stableman earlier, right?”

“Y-Yes? T-That is correct.”

“Then you must be good at riding horses, right? You are the messenger then. Go quickly to Count Bellua and tell him the Order of the Black Rain has arrived. Quickly!”

“Understood.”

Miles then caught the mercenary who was about to leave. If he just reported the truth, there was no way Count Bellua would send reinforcements.

“Wait!”

“......?”

“Listen to me carefully. You owe your life to Shatien, right?”

“Oh, y-yes. That is correct. I would be a dead man if it were not for the Centurion.”

“Then don't report the truth to the Count, but tell him this instead. Tell him Shatien knows important information but is currently in danger of being caught. Say that reinforcements are needed immediately. Got it??”

In short, he was telling him to lie.

Lying to a noble was a very serious crime. Especially, a lie told to a massive high-ranking noble like Count Bellua was a felony of a truly horrific level.

“......”

“Hey, you rascal! Why do you hesitate? Are you going to say you owe your life only with your mouth? And it is true that he has important information. Is it not?”

“T-That is true. Understood. I will absolutely report it that way. Don't worry!”

“Then go quickly!”

“Yes!”

-Neighhh.

-Clop clop.

The mercenary who unpacked his luggage got on his horse and turned back toward the main road again. Miles watched that receding back for a moment and then gathered the remaining mercenaries. It was not a very large number. Still, it would be helpful.

“Hmph! Is anyone going with me? I will load my crossbow and go back up. I am going to save Shatien!”

“Understood, Miles.”

“Hehehe. Is it not natural that we should go? Let us go together. I feel left out.”

“......?”

In reality, it was like returning to a place of death. However, the reaction of the mercenaries was favorable. No one raised a dissent to Miles's words about saving Shatien.

If Shatien had not accepted them at the supply warehouse back then, they would have been sold as slaves and suffered a miserable fate anyway. Everyone owed their lives to Shatien.

“Good! You rascals. You sure are manly. Then, we depart!”

Miles led the way.

Sometimes, there are values more important than death.

Miles believed so.

* * *

“Huff, huff....”

Shatien moved his two feet busily. Everywhere was dark and full of dangerous things. But he could not stop.

-Bark bark bark!

-Quickly, quickly, we must catch him. Move now!

The movement of the pursuer chasing him even in the darkness was fierce. They had moved across by deducing Shatien's path downward.

‘Dammit.’

Far below the hill. Torches bunched together at regular intervals were visible.

They were maintaining several layers of a siege net and climbing up the hill. If he ignored it and tried to break through, it was certain he would be surrounded and die.

-Rustle.

Shatien moved while slowly lowering his body. They were close enough that he could hear their conversation.

“I am dying of sleepiness.”

“What kind of bullshit is this in the middle of the night?”

“Sigh, all because of one damned guy.”

They were five soldiers with nothing special about them.

‘I should put out the fire first, shouldn't I?’

The surroundings were too bright to just run wild. Because he had been in the darkness continuously, even that much light made his eyes sting to the point he could hardly see.

There was only one soldier holding a torch.

To throw something to deal with him, there was nothing to throw, and the distance was far. It was too much to kill him in one blow.

‘I must ambush them.’

-Sss.

Shatien picked up a stone and tossed it lightly, as he always did. Startled by the rustling sound, the soldiers hurriedly looked toward the opposite side.

“W-What the!?”

“Is it the bastard???”

“Nah. It is probably an animal. No way it’s him.”

“Check it anyway. Go.”

The moment the soldiers turned their bodies while chatting.

-Dash.

Shatien rushed in secretly like a beast from the darkness. Shatien, who leaped five steps in an instant, swung his sword with all his might. A flash gleamed in the darkness.

-Slash!

-Splat!

It was a famous sword that could cut through even decent armor. There was no way a soldier's armor could block Shatien's sword.

The soldier holding the torch fell down just like that without even being able to scream. Shatien did not stop there and immediately rushed toward the next soldier.

“W-What the?!”

-Slice!

The soldier who felt something strange turned his body again, but that was the end.

That soldier's head was cut off and flew through the air.

“T-That guy... Gugh!”

“Found hi... Urgh!”

The other two were the same.

They tried to shout, but he had literally split their heads in a single blow.

The remaining soldiers tried to hurriedly draw their swords and attack out of surprise, but they were outnumbered.

-Crunch!

The sword split a soldier's head through the helmet.

-Squelch!

“Ack!”

The longsword, swung again without stopping its momentum, pierced the body of the remaining soldier.

-Clatter.

A mere instant. He had accomplished all of that in that very short span of time.

But as expected, there was not much he could do alone.

-Waaaaaaa!

As the torch was extinguished on one side, the shouts of the enemies erupted. They were running blindly toward the place where the torch had gone out.

‘What the hell?’

Shatien looked around.

It seems this choice was a losing move. No matter how much he looked, no escape route was visible except for the path he came from.

But that was exactly where the enraged Baron Ludwig was chasing him. Heading back there would be a suicidal act.

‘A way. I must find a way.’

His heart throbbed and his head spun. Shatien opened his eyes wide and pulled himself together. He could not die a hollow death in a place like this, could he?

He looked around, but all he could see was the torch he had dropped....

“?!”

Then Shatien thought of a good idea. In the meantime, the fire was burning brightly from the torch dropped on the ground.

‘Fire!’

It was currently the driest spring of the year. In addition, the region was in a state of being very parched due to a sudden drought following the recent heavy snow. If he set fire to the bushes, it was certain they would burn brightly like dry firewood.

‘But if I set it blindly, I will be in danger too....’

There was no reason the fire would only hit the Imperial Army. Were not dry trees and bushes scattered everywhere? The parched fallen leaves that had accumulated would serve as even better fuel.

‘There is no time to worry about such things.’

The torches in the distance were getting closer. At first there were five or six, but now the number was enough to be sickening. It was a desperate situation anyway. It was right to try anything.

-Dash!

Shatien ran quickly and grabbed the torch. Then he began to set fire to the surrounding bushes.

‘Please, please!’

-Sizzle.

Did his desperation work?

The flickering flame began to come alive in the dry wind blowing from somewhere.

-Whoosh.

It was a mountain wind calling to the mountain along the alley. In an instant, the flames began to greedily consume the bushes riding the wind.

“It worked!”

Shatien did not stop there, but took plenty of burning branches and scattered them in all directions. Then the fire began to catch even better.

“Fire!! It is a fire.”

“That madman!”

“That bastard set a fire!”

The angry flames.

The inferno had begun to burn like crazy.