Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading

Chapter 105. Espionage (2)

After resolving to seriously engage in espionage, Roden began to move busily, analyzing the collected information.

First, he handed over some of the supply route information obtained from Abtal to the Allied Forces and then attacked the rest himself.

Since Roden had two separate platoons at his disposal, it wasn't difficult to attack transport units as long as the distance wasn't too far.

“You've come this way today. It's been a while, Company Commander.”

“Have you been well, Cavalry Platoon Leader? Let's talk more after we've seized the enemy transport unit's supplies.”

Roden moved between the Infantry Platoon and the Cavalry Platoon, leading the attacks on the transport units.

As a rule, the Infantry Platoon and the Cavalry Platoon did not move together.

This was because if both were absent, they didn't know what the small villages they had painstakingly occupied might do.

So he operated the Infantry Platoon and the Cavalry Platoon separately, and in the process, he taught them the knack of raiding.

“The key is to seize the supplies without revealing that we are the Allied Forces. Never forget this.”

Thus, Roden deliberately wore a shabby surcoat like a band of thieves and plundered the supplies.

And after a successful raid, he wore the newly acquired Imperial Army armor under the surcoat.

This way, even if something happened later, they wouldn't be revealed as the Allied Forces.

After teaching the raiding techniques to the Infantry Platoon and the Cavalry Platoon once each in this way, Roden completely entrusted this mission to them.

Fortunately, the two of them carried out the raids without much difficulty, just as Roden had taught them.

As a result, the Imperial Army's supply routes gradually became chaotic.

It was only natural, as they were attacked like clockwork no matter which of the existing supply routes they used.

Naturally, the supply route to Kroxen Castle also had to be cut off.

In other words, it meant that the 3rd Corps' siege of Kroxen Castle had become even more solid.

After conducting espionage activities using the supply route information, Roden immediately moved on to the next step.

The next step was to cause chaos throughout the Empire by spreading false information.

“Did you hear about that? Among the villages that were recently occupied by the Allied Forces, there's a place called Tinia.”

“Huh? Tinia?”

“Yes. Tinia. Well. They say an epidemic has broken out there and everyone is dying.”

“Oh my. It's sad enough to be occupied by the Allied Forces, but to lose their lives to an epidemic as well. What on earth is the Imperial Army doing?”

For the Billem Caravan, which had branches selling Billem Meatballs in six cities and was trading food with five domains, it was bound to be very easy to spread rumors.

Of course, there were also rules that Roden had set for this.

“Never entrust the task of spreading rumors to the caravan employees; the Archery Platoon must handle it directly. That's the only way to avoid getting caught.”

Thanks to Roden's instruction, the rumor about the Tinia epidemic spread centered on the Archery Platoon.

And when the news of the Tinia epidemic became known to some extent, Roden spread additional rumors.

“No, they say that the epidemic that wiped out the residents of Tinia is gradually spreading to other places.”

“They say that the epidemic spreads through rats. So you should never eat food that rats have eaten.”

“I can't live in fear. Aren't we going to be in big trouble too?”

“Damn it. If the Imperial Army hadn't let Tinia be occupied in the first place, this wouldn't have happened.”

And so, the fear of the Tinia epidemic took hold throughout the Empire.

Roden did not stop there and materialized this fear.

“Someone over here is vomiting after eating food! Everyone be careful!”

“It's the Tinia epidemic! What should we do with that person!”

“Then you do it! I'm too scared to do it!”

One person, one restaurant, one village…….

The number of people suspected of having the Tinia epidemic gradually increased.

Of course, they weren't really infected with the Tinia epidemic.

They had just eaten food mixed with rat poison that the Special Task Force Company had distributed throughout the Empire on Roden's orders.

But to the people of the Empire, who were already trembling in fear of the Tinia epidemic, this could only seem like a sign of an epidemic outbreak.

Even the Empire thought of this as a problem of an epidemic and launched an investigation.

The chaos that Roden had wished for had been created.

Olinto submitted a report.

“Every time a sign of an epidemic appears, the complaints against the Empire that started the war are naturally growing. They say that if it weren't for the war, this wouldn't have happened, and the problem could have been solved more quickly.”

“It seems the rumor has spread well according to our intentions. But the rumor won't last long. It will last for about three months at most. Someone will figure out that this is a symptom of food poisoning with almost no threat to life.”

Since the Empire had launched a full-scale investigation, it was bound to be revealed soon that the Tinia epidemic was an illusion.

The reason he had set a time frame of three months for all suspicions to be cleared was that even if the Empire actively clarified the situation, there would definitely be people who didn't believe it.

That was how rumors were.

No matter how clear the evidence was, it was useless to people who didn't want to believe.

For that reason, Roden continued to create false signs of an epidemic even while the Empire was conducting its investigation.

To increase, even by a little, the number of people who wouldn't believe the truth even when it was revealed.

However, as Roden took such an active role in espionage, one element of anxiety also arose.

That was the fact that the Empire would have to suspect that a spy existed somewhere.

Of course, Roden also had a countermeasure for this.

In fact, Roden planned to intensify the chaos in the Empire with this method.

“By the way, have you investigated what I asked you to investigate?”

Roden asked, and Olinto nodded.

“Yes. Among the five caravans that supply weapons and armor to the Imperial Army, three were steeped in corruption and fraud. There were also two that, like the Sahar Caravan, were involved in usury and treated their employees like slaves.”

What Roden had prepared next was ‘framing’.

And the reason he had asked Olinto to check for corruption among the caravans that supplied weapons and armor to the Imperial Army was to select a place to frame.

‘Since we've decided to frame someone, it's better to choose a scapegoat who deserves to die. It's also easier to frame them this way.’

Roden organized his thoughts and asked Olinto.

“What do you think, Archery Platoon Leader? Among the two caravans that are not only corrupt but also engaged in immoral activities through usury, which one do you think is right to exterminate?”

“If it were up to me, I'd want to exterminate both, but if I had to choose one, I think the Valkeran Caravan would be better. They're also illegally involved in prostitution.”

“How on earth is such a place still in business? And while conducting the lucrative business of supplying weapons and armor to the Imperial Army. Anyway, let's get to work.”

And so, Roden began to frame the Valkeran Caravan.

Since he had already dealt with the Sahar Caravan in this way, there was nothing difficult about it.

All he had to do was gather evidence of the most sordid deeds committed by the Valkeran Caravan, make a powerful noble suspicious, and then make them believe it was the truth.

However, the slight difference was that he had to frame the Valkeran Caravan as spies for the Allied Forces.

So Roden contacted Alexis in advance and created evidence that the Valkeran Caravan was colluding with the Allied Forces.

All he had to do was make it seem as if they were intercepting the weapons and armor distributed by the Valkeran Caravan and supplying them to the Allied Forces.

At the same time, he also fabricated a false letter to make it seem as if the Valkeran Caravan had secretly passed on supply route information to the Allied Forces.

“You've worked hard creating the false evidence all this time, Archery Platoon Leader. Now, even if the Imperial Army suspects the existence of a spy, we will be able to slip away.”

It was while Roden was diligently carrying out his espionage activities in preparation for the future.

At his weekly regular drinking session with Abtal, Roden obtained an important piece of information.

Surprisingly, it was the story that an Imperial Army spy had infiltrated the 3rd Corps and that the 3rd Corps would soon suffer a major defeat at Kroxen Castle because of this spy.

“……Is that really true?”

Roden asked Abtal in shock, and Abtal raised his voice bravely.

“Of course it's true! I told you last time, didn't I? That my uncle is currently in the command headquarters, devising a way to win the battle against those vicious Allied Forces.”

“Yes. I heard. That he is in charge of a very important mission in a key position.”

To be precise, it wasn't a key position.

He was lacking in skill as a knight but was somewhat clever, so he only held a small position in the intelligence department.

However, Abtal boasted about this at every drinking session as if it were a great medal.

And Roden played along with Abtal's mood to extract even a little bit of information.

“Not long ago, I was worried because the situation was unusual, so I sent a letter to my uncle. My uncle is the pillar of our family, you see. And then a reply came a while ago. That our spy will soon begin his activities, so there is nothing to worry about. The victory in this war will belong to the great Ingens Empire.”

Due to the information provided by Abtal, supplies were currently almost unable to reach Kroxen Castle.

It seemed Abtal had sent a letter to his uncle because he was worried that the war situation would become disadvantageous due to this situation.

Without even knowing that he himself was the cause of all this trouble.

Roden feigned admiration to extract additional information from Abtal.

“Ooh! A spy. That's a brilliant move to turn the tide of the war. But how will the spy operate for the Imperial Army to be victorious?”

However, it seemed this was the end of the information he could obtain from Abtal.

“I don't know that either! But don't worry! The war will soon end with the victory of the Imperial Army! So you just have to drink happily with me. Got it? Hey, bring more drinks here!”

And so, the bottles of alcohol piled up at the drinking session.

And finally,

Thud. Thump.

Unable to overcome the intoxication, Abtal collapsed on the spot.

At the same time, life returned to the eyes of Roden, who had appeared to be as drunk as Abtal.

Then he got up from his seat and went outside the pub.

Outside the pub stood Darien, who had accompanied Roden like a bodyguard today.

Roden whispered to Darien.

“Write down what I'm about to say right now and send it as a letter. There's news that needs to be reported to our allies immediately.”