Chapter 93
After finishing his conversation with Hrung-ga, Erich left the village of the Wolf Tribe, Kabal.
'I still have a lot of questions, but I'll have to look into those separately.'
Especially the relationship between Hrung-ga and Grossnak. He was curious why they had become antagonistic, to the point of even trying to kill each other.
However, asking Hrung-ga about this was inappropriate.
'Hrung-ga is one of the parties involved, so his perspective will be narrow.'
But Erich had a good means to assess the situation properly.
After leaving the palisade, Erich settled in a quiet spot in the forest. Once he confirmed that no one was around, he quietly muttered,
"... Shadow."
No sooner had Erich spoken than a group of black-clad assassins began to slither out from somewhere.
There was more than one place where they blended into the scenery. One crawled out of a tree, another was creeping along the ground.
Even Erich found it difficult to spot them with his own eyes, which was impressive in itself.
Among them, the Shadow who appeared most quietly—with familiar movements—opened his mouth.
"Heir, did you call for us?"
"... Seriously, where do you even crawl out from?"
"We are those who are everywhere and nowhere."
"Enough chatter. I have a job for you."
"... Please command."
The one Shadow, the only one of them who could speak, bowed his head. Erich spoke to him.
"There are two barbarians here named Hrung-ga and Grossnak. Their relationship doesn't seem ordinary. I want every detail you can find on them."
"Underst–..."
But the Shadow cut himself off. Erich sensed something was amiss.
"... Are you saying you can't do it?"
"N-no, that's not it, heir. We are Krupp's swords, who carry out any command without fail..."
"Then why are you hesitating?"
"... We just may need a little time."
Erich's eyes narrowed, but then he realized why they were hesitating and let out a chuckle.
"Pfft. Right, you guys can't speak Barbarian."
"... Impossibility is not in our vocabulary. If you give us time, we will definitely find out."
"Just do your best. It's not urgent."
"Yes, heir."
"You're dismissed."
At his words, the Shadows vanished in an instant, as if they had never been there. Krupp's swords—who supposedly could make even a crying southern child go silent.
But at this moment, they were just a group of imperial agents who struggled to adapt to the new environment.
Erich found an unexpected humanity in this gap.
'The North isn't so easy, after all.'
Still, they would do anything to follow Erich's orders. They were Krupp's invisible swords, after all.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Erich.
Walking around in black clandestine garb in this cold place—unless each of them had transcendent abilities, could they really keep up this act?
"... Well, I'll find out soon enough."
Of course, Erich had nothing to worry about. If they got cold, they'd adapt on their own or come up with a solution.
He was simply curious how long their stubbornness would last.
Erich headed back toward the main force. Now it was time to deliver the message that the troops could be stationed in the village, so his steps felt lighter.
***
Erich's unit had set up camp on the outskirts of the village.
In the shabby tent designated as the commander's quarters, Erich conveyed the situation to everyone.
Mikhail listened quietly as Erich reported meeting the chieftain and being given permission to stay.
"Of all the ones I've seen lately, your gift of gab stands out the most. Tsk tsk."
"I'd say that's a talent of its own, sir Mikhail."
Mikhail curled the corner of his mouth into a smile. Erich replied to his mentor with a wry smile.
"Anyway, they'll soon state their requirements. They can hardly block Ungrim on their own."
At this, Barnes added,
"... Ungrim, a barbarian who unified the East. It certainly sounds ominous."
Indeed, if Ungrim was left unchecked, the Watch would surely face a great crisis.
Frederick, a veteran who had long been aware of the threat posed by barbarians, thought the same.
But Erich hadn't gathered everyone just to say this. When he had finished relaying what he needed to, he slowly broached the next subject.
"And I want to be clear about Albrecht, as well. Sir Mikhail."
"... About Albrecht, you say? Frankly, it's hard to believe. Anyone who's worked with him would feel the same."
"I understand how you feel, but right now, we can't exclude anyone from suspicion."
"Since August gave such an order, I'll follow it as well."
Erich nodded slightly. What he was about to present was a question he'd harbored for some time.
Now, it was being crystallized by Hrung-ga's revelation that Ungrim could create Head Hunters.
"Barbarian Ungrim can create Head Hunters."
"... Damn. He can create Head Hunters, you say."
Frederick let out a low curse. Even the usually indifferent Barnes, and Mikhail himself, narrowed their eyes.
"That's physically possible?"
"Of course, it doesn't look like it's by normal means. Their skills don't even come close to a Swordmaster's—they're just barbarians with unusual powers."
"... You even reported, didn't you? That they wield Head Hunter abilities, but you found them relatively easy to deal with."
"Yes. I suspect that's what puzzled you. Especially since you, sir Mikhail, have captured more Head Hunters than anyone in the Watch."
Mikhail nodded, apparently having had the same question in mind.
No matter how much of a genius Erich was—having awakened as a Swordmaster at a young age—fighting a Head Hunter was a business where you had to be ready to die.
Yet, Erich had so easily slain enemy Head Hunters. Such achievements were not easily gained.
Even Erich had doubts about those situations—so there was no way Mikhail, an expert in Head Hunter hunting, would have accepted them at face value.
Erich continued,
"That's why I believe all these events are related to the dead."
"... You mean, 'all of it'?"
"That's right. From the Orca-roid incident, to Shaman Kalga, and Joseph using them at 6th fortress and Ungrim's lieutenants confronting 6th fortress."
It all made sense to Erich this way.
First, their objectives were the same. The dead and the barbarians both wanted to bring down the Watch.
The enemy of my enemy is a friend; so chances were high that they had such a relationship.
Second, this was the classic method by which the dead weakened the Watch.
It started with the dead appearing in the village of Morris during Orca-roid, with barbarians and Kalga manufacturing and supplying orcaroids.
In the case of 6th fortress, not only did Joseph create the dead and fool the commander using Kalga, Ungrim's lieutenants were sent to ensure they would have to depend on Joseph.
If maintaining 6th fortress had not been a challenge, they would never have needed to rely on someone like Joseph.
'There's a pattern of internal collaborators in the Watch, the dead, and the barbarians acting in coordination.'
And linking all of them was a mysterious high-ranking officer within the Watch.
'I suspect that's Albrecht, but it's just circumstantial right now.'
Erich wanted to secure evidence of this.
Mikhail furrowed his brow and asked,
"... So what are you proposing?"
"I think we should use ourselves as bait."
"... Bait?"
Mikhail's eyes widened. What was this young commander suggesting? Mikhail couldn't think of anything offhand.
Erich smiled faintly.
"We're bound to clash with Ungrim's forces this time. And we'll deliberately expose our position."
"... What do you mean by that?"
Mikhail scowled at him. Exposing one's location on purpose? It was preposterous.
But Erich answered lightly,
"We won't expose it to the enemy. We plan to inform Commander August, deputy Chief Albrecht, and every fortress commander of our movements."
Confusion flickered in everyone's eyes. When one spoke of high-ranking officers in the Watch, that meant one among those present.
As Erich had previously pointed out, there had to be a mole among them. And yet they would disclose their position?
But, as Erich continued, everyone nodded in agreement.
"Of course, we'll tell each of them a different time and place."
"... Oh."
Even Frederick realized what Erich meant.
If, after notifying them all with different times and locations, they were ambushed at one, the person who had timed that ambush was the insider—the Watch's mole.
Given the circumstances, Ungrim's barbarians, that mole, and the dead were all linked. Erich, as Ungrim's current biggest threat, would be a target for elimination.
However, the plan had a flaw.
Mikhail let out a hollow laugh, as if in disbelief.
"You really are a madman."
After all, for this plan to work, the attacked Erich had to survive.
"But is it not a splendid plan?"
"Not everyone can concoct such a clever scheme. I must admit that much."
Mikhail relaxed his mouth into a faint smile. Of course, if they were completely wiped out, the plan was meaningless.
But Erich was counting on his own martial prowess and Mikhail, the Watch's strongest swordsman.
No matter who attacked, unless Ungrim himself showed up, they would not be wiped out, nor even likely to lose to an ambush.
Moreover, the chance of Ungrim leaving his stronghold was almost zero. The plan was virtually guaranteed to succeed.
Of course, there would be collateral damage, but given the situation, what stood to be gained was much greater.
"Sir Mikhail, please contact the main force and ascertain the locations of every fortress commander and the deputy-commander."
"Fine. I'll let myself be swept along by your tune for once. And I rather like your plan."
Erich next instructed Frederick and Barnes to divide the forces.
Since he and Mikhail would alternate contacting each fortress commander and deputy-commander with a different time and location, they planned to carry out the operation simultaneously, splitting their troops accordingly.
As he finished giving all the necessary instructions, a faint smile appeared on Erich's lips.
Preparations were complete; now, all that remained was for the Wolf Tribe to set the stage.
― Knock knock.
At that moment, a member of the security team poked his head uncertainly into the tent.
No doubt the Wolf Tribe had finally reached a conclusion and was here to convey their intentions.
Now, the stage was set.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
I've been seeing this tactic a lot lately...
Providing different information to different people to see who the traitor is...
It is effective, assuming there's only one traitor, or if multiple traitors don't talk to each other...
And in this case, it's one of the two...
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】