Chapter 146 : Chapter 146
Chapter 146. Duo (1)
The Imperial Capital is an impregnable fortress.
This is a fact that holds true in both the light and the shadows.
In the light, there are the massive triple walls with the city in between, the Four Great Magic Towers, the Pegasus Knights, and a staggering thirty thousand Imperial troops.
In the shadows, it is protected by Barum of the Black, the Shadow Merchant Guild he leads, and the Imperial Secret Knight Order.
That was also why old man Brol's intelligence agency had repeatedly failed to expand into the Imperial Capital.
Only recently, after investing considerable capital and manpower, were they finally able to acquire some assets.
The source of the funds was none other than the exclusive trade route of the Everlasting Mountains Hold.
While the city bustled with merchants seeking to distribute rare weapons and engine devices, reaping enormous tax revenues, a tremendous profit was also being made in the underbelly's black market.
"At first, I thought we succeeded just by throwing money at it. But that wasn't it. Our expenses were high, but the Shadow Merchant Guild's power had noticeably weakened. So much so that they didn't even notice us planting people in the city."
Old man Brol said, scratching his bandit-like beard.
A question arises here.
Barum of the Black, who leads the Shadow Merchant Guild, is by no means an easy opponent.
As a member of the Imperial Secret Knight Order, he always had a firm grip on the Imperial Capital's underworld through the Shadow Merchant Guild, barring any major variables.
"It didn't seem like there was an internal conflict or that he lost a power struggle. It was more like their numbers had drastically decreased, and the remaining members seemed busy with something else. Of course, that's only visible to the eyes of an intelligence organization like ours…"
Let's paint a scenario.
The Shadow Merchant Guild has weakened.
It's not that some incident occurred in their front yard, the Imperial Capital's underworld.
Then it makes sense if a variable occurred somewhere else, and a significant number of their personnel had to be deployed there.
"You said it was true that the Secret Knight Order was spotted in the sewers of the Imperial Capital, right?"
Old man Brol is a master at digging up other people's secrets.
That ability was displayed without fail even through the communication crystal sphere.
It meant that, at the very least, the intelligence agent was not lying.
He either saw something that wasn't there, or he spoke the truth.
"That agent was a fellow who didn't know the appearances of the Secret Knight Order members."
Then the scales tip towards the truth.
"If the Emperor was kidnapped by the Ratmen."
"…Wouldn't the Imperial Secret Knight Order make a move?"
"Barum of the Black is a member of the Knight Order."
"That man's intelligence and reconnaissance abilities would have all been used to track the Emperor's whereabouts…"
The scenario was laid out.
There was one problem.
This was a situation I was experiencing for the first time.
I had played the Empire hundreds of times.
Including other scenarios, I had gone through thousands of playthroughs, but the Emperor being kidnapped was a possibility that had never once occurred.
"My lord, what should we do now?"
There are only two options.
Go to rescue the Emperor.
Or decide not to rescue him.
Challenge myself to become a hero of the nation.
Or quietly prepare for the changing times.
I do not know the result that follows this choice.
***
A situation faced for the first time.
An irreversible choice.
A long-term change that follows as a result.
Decisions with such conditions are difficult to make easily.
Of course, there are people who make life-or-death decisions as lightly as choosing today's lunch menu, but I am not one of them, at least.
Rather, I have a habit of contemplating as much as possible, even more than the average person.
It's an old habit.
Someone once nagged me that procrastinating decisions is a bad habit, but I don't remember their name very well.
I think it was in the military.
Of course, procrastinating a decision doesn't mean just sitting around doing nothing.
"Focus!"
Kaaang-!
I find something to divert my attention.
Preferably a productive activity.
Training.
Among them, sparring close to a real battle is perfect for this.
Crack- Kang!
I twist my shoulder to dodge an axe that shattered the reinforced [Barrier].
I can't reach the second flying axe, so I swing my sword to parry it.
"You're getting good at seeing the axes now."
But I couldn't avoid Randal's fist, which had already bypassed the barrier and predicted my movement to dodge the axe.
I push myself back and fall using the wind spirit, and erect a wall of rock and fire in front of the charging Randal.
Fwoosh- Kaboom!
Seeing his fist stop abruptly next to my temple, I lowered my sword.
"...I lost. Fire, rock, you just smash through everything."
"Sixteen moves in total. You held out well, Viscount."
"Are you mocking me?"
"Not at all. Fighting me with a mind full of distractions and lasting that long is well done."
"You're not wrong, but it's strangely annoying."
"That's what those weaker than me say."
Randal, who lightly tapped my temple, lowered his fist.
The fellow, who brushed off the fire on his clothes, soon picked a reed and began to chew on it.
This is a vast reed forest.
Reeds stretching to near the horizon wave in the cool breeze, and a shallow pond provides a bit of cool relief against the beaming sunlight.
This reed forest, a half-day's journey from Wolfskrig, is a place I come to every once in a while when I'm tired of my accumulated work.
I once heard a famous chef, who enjoys martial arts as a hobby, say in an interview, 'I do martial arts because I want to let go of the pressure to do my best.'
At the time, I wondered what he meant, but now that I'm similarly swamped with work, I can understand it a little.
Perhaps he cleared his complicated mind through sparring close to a real fight.
What I do is similar.
Except that not only fists but also blades and spells are allowed in sparring, there is no other protective gear to block critical hits, and there are often moments when one's life is in danger with a single misstep.
"Are you all rested?"
Randal spat out the reed he was chewing.
"Not yet."
"You're taking a long time."
He broke another reed and plopped down on the ground.
While he waited, I circulated my mana.
A healing trick to massage the muscles stiffened by a round of fighting and to quickly supply blood flow.
It was a technique I learned from Randal a long time ago; it didn't show up as a skill, but I use it well.
Usually, when I come to the reed forest, I bring him along.
As Olif predicted, Randal is an excellent sparring partner.
He can easily handle even me, a high-level mage who is also skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and his skill in handling his body is so perfect that he knows how to stop exquisitely before a dangerous moment arrives.
In terms of level, he would probably be around level 8, similar to the Orc Great Chieftain, or maybe even close to level 9 by now.
Well, in the late game, he's a monster who becomes a level 12 hero with just his body, so it's plausible.
It means I didn't go to all the trouble to recruit him for nothing.
"So, what's on your mind?"
"Hm?"
"You've been full of distracting thoughts for a while. I'm asking what you're thinking about."
Randal replaced the reed he was chewing with a new one.
Is there any reason to hide it?
He will find out soon enough anyway.
Following his lead, I broke a reed and opened my mouth.
"Let me ask you something."
"What is it?"
"What would you do if I, or the Northern Archduke, were taken prisoner in a battle with the enemy?"
"Completely dragged away to the enemy's camp? Or still on the battlefield?"
"Completely dragged away. To the enemy's main base."
"Leave them. The weak are culled. It's the law of nature. Are you asking something so obvious?"
“……”
The reed tastes strangely bitter.
I added a footnote to match the eye level of the barbarian warrior whose brain is probably made of muscle.
"If I'm gone, you won't be able to fight to your heart's content like you do now. Think back to when you were in the Northern Archduchy. How was it then?"
"At best, I hunted a few dozen Yetis and a few hundred barbarians."
"Right. It's because you're with me that you can fight against things like Orc hordes and ancient undead."
‘Isn't that a curse that brings war wherever it goes? If battles break out everywhere he goes, he's no different from a demon.’
‘Tick-Tock…?’
Let's ignore the chatter of the sugar-addicted Outer Gods.
Randal, now with a serious expression, answered after some thought.
"Then I have to rescue you."
"But there's a problem."
"What problem?"
"If I take the army to rescue you, I don't know if the beastmen will invade here or if the neighboring lords will invade."
This is the core of my dilemma.
Wolfskrig is a growing city.
As a mere viscounty, it is the most notable city in the Empire, but if you ask if it's well-defended militarily, that's another story.
Just look at Berenburg, the capital of the Ricardo Marquisate, which started the civil war, how thoroughly fortified that city was.
"Wolfskrig has no double walls, no inner citadel, no strong standing army, or the geographical advantage of a coastline."
The core of Wolfskrig is the viscount's army.
It means that if the viscount's army is gone, it becomes an empty shell.
Isn't that why I went to the Vampire Archduchy first before heading to the Eastern Expedition?
The situation is worse now than it was then.
A few weeks ago, news came that the Lumer Legion was crossing the great desert.
It also seems that the time is slowly approaching for the beastmen, who are sleeping in the root colony of the black forest, intoxicated by hallucinogenic spores, to awaken.
The same goes for the neighboring lords.
It's fine when the Emperor is well, as the order of the Empire is maintained, but will it be the same after the Emperor's disappearance becomes a confirmed fact?
How tempting a prey would a Wolfskrig without its army seem to them?
"Hah, really. Viscount, what nonsense is that?"
"Huh?"
"Why would you take an army to rescue one viscount?"
“...?”
"What good would a thousand nobodies do? It's a rescue, you said. If you go alone, you just have to find and save one viscount, but if you take a thousand men, don't you have to save all thousand of them?"
Uh...
A wise answer to a foolish question.
No, maybe it's a foolish answer to a wise question.
It's nonsense, but it's convincing because it's coming from someone who can make it make sense.
"It's easier to just go in alone, kill everyone, and drag one person out. Too many people are just a headache."
Bluntly speaking, all I need to do is save the Emperor.
If he's already dead, there's nothing I can do, but if the Ratmen had conquered the Imperial Capital long ago...
It seems having Randal as a teacher was destiny.
I extended my hand to my teacher, who had already chewed and spat out four reeds.
"Thank you."
"?"
"Let's go together."
"Where?"
"To the enemy camp to rescue a prisoner."
He grinned, revealing his canines.
"We're going to raid the Ratmen's subterranean city."
"Good."
A thick hand clasped mine.
***
With power comes responsibility.
There are those who enjoy authority without responsibility, but we point our fingers at them and call them human scum.
I believe the position of a lord is to be responsible for the people of the domain.
Therefore, just because I have a goal doesn't mean I can just up and leave without a word.
I need a proxy.
There is a suitable talent.
"I'll be gone for a while this time."
I called Olif, the white-haired knight and baron of Burken, and told him.
Even after taking charge of the Knight Order, he was my successor in case of an emergency, so there was no need for a special handover as he was aware of the overall affairs of the domain.
All I had to do was stamp a few documents and have Bart handle the administrative processing.
However, what's truly important is often not specified in documents.
I accompanied Olif and William to a forest far from the city.
William, who had cleared away the camouflage net and undergrowth, entered a huge, half-buried metal structure and started the engine.
Guuuuung...!!
A building-sized metal fuselage rises, pouring out piles of dirt like a waterfall.
It is a sight that makes even an old knight, who usually maintains his composure in most situations, grab his trembling legs to keep from falling.
"Th-this, uh… my lord, what, what is this…"
"It's an aerial battleship. I've taught William all the controls and entrusted him with the manual. It should be able to play a role at least once."
While William was landing the battleship again, I explained about the aerial battleship.
How the aerial battleship could replace my vacancy, which was responsible for the strongest firepower in the viscount's army.
I poured my mana into charging that thing whenever I had a chance for a whole half a year.
I should probably bring a mana generator and set it up later.
"May I ask you one thing?"
On the way back on horseback, Olif suddenly opened his mouth.
I sent William ahead.
When his horse looked like a distant dot, Olif asked.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to rescue His Majesty the Emperor."
"...So the rumors were true."
"Yes. Please take care of the viscounty until I return."
Olif Kalbang.
The upright, white-haired disciplinarian.
I can trust and entrust the domain to him, who faithfully fulfilled his duties even under the greedy Baron Burken.
Even if, though it will never happen, I don't return.
As I was about to turn my horse, Olif drew his sword.
"I will give my life."
The old knight held his sword in front of his face.
With the flat of the blade facing me.
That is one of the Empire's salutes.
A courtesy shown only to the highest ruler, the Emperor.
While feeling relieved that there was no Inquisitor nearby, I nodded and accepted the salute with an inexplicable smile.
"I'll be back."
The sun has set.
Departure is tomorrow.