Chapter 182 : Refugees of the Empire
Chapter 182: Refugees of the Empire
Could I really make Irene understand the possibility of a rebellion?
To be honest, I was a little worried about this part.
After all, I had pieced everything together from mere speculation.
I was convinced Gios wasn't the Lord of Haken's biological son, but I had absolutely no evidence proving it was true.
She had believed all this time that he was simply her half-brother, so it was only natural she'd find the idea difficult to accept.
But what choice did I have?
Irene was the one who had to stay beside the Lord of Haken and protect him.
So I told her several possibilities, phrasing them as gently as I could.
“Really? Hmm... Either way, it sounds like we need to be careful.”
“Are you alright with that?”
“To be honest, I'm not sure. But it's true that Sir Durek met with someone from New Level. I don't know exactly what's going on, but I think we should pay attention.”
Irene remained only half-convinced by what I said.
Still, she understood that nothing in this world was absolute.
There was no harm in preparing.
Even if Sir Durek turned out not to be a traitor, we wouldn't lose anything.
We would simply finish the hunt and return safely.
Although, now that the Diary had foreseen it, there was no chance of that happening.
“Then we should decide on the troops we'll deploy first.”
Although we had escaped the threat of the Gnoll horde, winter wasn't over yet.
As this latest Gnoll attack had demonstrated, anything could happen during winter in this region.
For that reason, mobilizing a large number of troops from our territory would place an enormous burden on us.
However, we couldn't simply avoid deploying troops either, because with the leader of the traitors being the Lord of Haken's second son, we also had to consider the possibility of civil war.
If we failed to rescue the Lord of Haken safely, civil war would be inevitable.
Even if we did save him, there was no telling what New Level would do next.
“If Father is safe, Haken will settle down quickly. Father's authority is absolute. Even if New Level provokes us, as long as Father is unharmed, Haken's forces can keep New Level in check. Do we really need troops from Johnson Territory?”
She wasn't wrong.
But that only applied if news of the Lord of Haken's survival actually reached the territory.
“What do you mean, they won't be able to receive news?”
“The Lord of Haken is away from the territory right now. But the enemy exists inside Haken as well. If something happens, it'll break out both inside and outside simultaneously. If news from outside can't reach those inside, there'll definitely be complete chaos. The enemy will do everything they can to make that happen.”
“But we can simply use the Mana Communicator...”
“Do you think the Mana Communicator will actually function properly?”
“The Mana Communicator?”
Irene always carried a Mana Communicator.
Yet in the vision shown by the Diary, no one in the territory knew what had happened to her.
No matter how sudden the ambush had been, it was impossible that she couldn't even send a single message.
Even if she couldn't explain everything, she could at least send a few words.
But since nobody knew what was happening on our side, it meant no communication had reached them.
“If I were the enemy, I'd block communications before launching the attack.”
“Is that even possible?”
“There's every possibility. Whether it's Haken, New Level, or even those Imperial bastards. It wouldn't be strange if magical equipment capable of disrupting communications existed.”
Haken had already developed magical items capable of detecting Mana Communicators long ago.
They used them to block communications between enemy spies.
Although they couldn't prevent spies from infiltrating, they could at least interfere with their communications.
We had also purchased those magical items from Haken and used them to identify spies hiding among the refugees who fled from Hawrun.
Quite some time had passed since then, so even if magical equipment that directly jammed communications had appeared, it wouldn't be surprising.
Once someone understood how the Mana Communicator worked, creating a device to interfere with it wasn't impossible.
“That would certainly make the confusion even worse.”
“That's why we need troops. Of course, this assumes the worst-case scenario.”
“I understand.”
Even if the Lord of Haken survived, confusion was inevitable if accurate news of his whereabouts failed to reach the territory.
Even if he returned safely and restored order, Haken wouldn't emerge unscathed.
When that happened, New Level would undoubtedly make another move.
They wouldn't simply ignore wounded prey.
Perhaps New Level's real objective was simply to ensure Haken suffered damage in one form or another.
Whether the rebellion succeeded or failed, it would benefit New Level regardless.
‘That's why we need troops. There's a good chance nobody will even know who's friend and who's foe.’
If the eldest and second sons clashed, it would become impossible to tell who was on whose side.
In situations like that, outside forces were actually more trustworthy.
We could deploy external troops to restore order, then leave the internal cleanup to the Lord of Haken once he returned.
‘I'm not about to let New Level get a free meal.’
-Hmm. Is this what they call hatred of one's own kind? You and those southern bastards are equally underhanded.
Ignoring Black Rabbit's slander, I selected the troops.
First, Irene, Celine, and the Crimson Comet.
They were the cards that could approach the Lord of Haken without attracting suspicion.
Fortunately, our situation had improved slightly.
Because Irene's departure had been delayed, she had advanced another level.
Before fighting the Gnoll Lord, Irene had merely been a top-tier knight.
Now she was a complete Master.
People from other territories still believed she was only a top-tier knight, allowing us to use her as a hidden dagger.
Of course, that only held true if no one could immediately discern her true level.
‘And that's not easy. It's an ability unrelated to combat strength.’
Unlike the Beastman Great Warriors, whose wild instincts granted them heightened senses, human Masters weren't particularly skilled at perceiving another person's level.
The only reason I could accurately gauge someone's level was because this body was practically half an honorary Beastman.
It was even harder to judge knights like Irene, who used Attribute Aura.
She wouldn't be discovered easily.
“And the Dog Tribe.”
“The Dog Tribe?”
“We also have to keep an eye on our own territory. I think this operation should mainly be organized around the Dog Tribe.”
As I'd mentioned earlier, we couldn't leave the territory undefended during winter.
Given that this incident involved multiple Masters, both Leisha and I absolutely had to head south.
Honestly, even losing the Crimson Comet made me uneasy.
And now we were supposed to withdraw even more troops?
If something happened, the Lion Tribe would certainly come to reinforce our territory.
But we couldn't rely entirely on that.
This wasn't the same situation as when we fought the Imperial Army.
The season itself made all the difference.
‘The Cow Tribe and Horse Tribe aren't bad choices either, but they're exhausted after fighting the Gnolls.’
The Dog Tribe, whose home was Hound, was comparatively idle during winter.
They had also suffered almost no casualties during the battle against the Gnolls.
Although they had achieved great merit by raiding the Gnolls' headquarters, it had practically been nothing more than attacking an empty house.
They were very accustomed to dealing with humans, making them ideal for deployment in Haken.
More importantly, they followed my orders with absolute precision.
In operations full of unpredictable variables, the Dog Tribe was incredibly dependable.
“And the Rabbit Tribe as well.”
“The Rabbit Tribe too?”
“When it comes to creating unexpected variables, nobody does it better than these guys.”
Lastly, the Rabbit Tribe.
Since I had no idea what unexpected situations might arise, I had to bring them along.
In the worst-case scenario, we might have to break into Haken Castle.
Only the Rabbit Tribe could accomplish a mission like that.
Considering the possibility of casualties, it would also be wise to bring Priest-Warriors and Rangers.
“Wait. We just received some rather strange information.”
“What? All of a sudden?”
Just as I was finalizing the troops to be dispatched south...
Another report arrived from the south.
“It looks like Imperial refugees are moving toward Saint.”
“The refugees?”
The report stated that refugees throughout the Levelium Region were gathering near Saint.
The whole thing reeked of something suspicious.
After the war against the Imperial Army, the entire Levelium Region had descended into chaos.
Once the Imperial Army had been driven out, most of the former lords regained control of their territories and resumed governing them with support from Vines and New Level.
During that process, they expelled the Imperial settlers who had moved into the Levelium Region.
Like the Lord of Hawrun, the other lords had also concluded that they couldn't continue sheltering Imperial civilians.
‘Even if they're Imperials, massacring civilians goes against the values of this region. If there's no other choice, then there isn't.’
-Isn't expelling them during winter practically the same as slaughtering them?
‘If we're being technical, yes. It's basically saying, "Go die on your own."’
The problem was that the Imperials had somehow survived despite the harsh winter.
Many had died.
But many had also lived.
What's more, those who survived hadn't returned to Imperial territory.
Instead, they remained near Levelium as refugees.
Apparently they had judged that staying there was better than traveling north along the coastline back to Imperial lands.
There were so many of them that the lords of Levelium had reportedly suffered considerable hardship because of it.
‘And when you add the remnants of the Imperial Army into the mix, it becomes complete chaos.’
That wasn't all.
When the Lord of Vines joined forces with Bolino and Darian to conquer the Luda Territory, every remaining Imperial force had gathered there.
Among them was one of the Masters responsible for defending Luda Territory.
The combined forces of the three territories had succeeded in capturing Luda, but the Imperial Army, including that Master, had barely managed to escape.
Afterward, those survivors joined up with the Imperial refugees and turned into a massive band of brigands.
‘We haven't suffered much ourselves, but I've heard quite a few other lords have.’
Although the great territories remained hostile toward one another, trade had resumed out of necessity.
Most of that trade took place in neutral areas such as Hawrun or Saint.
Now, however, those brigands had begun attacking merchants, causing major trouble for everyone.
Our merchants had never suffered significant losses thanks to our overwhelming escort forces.
But the lords of the Levelium Region, whose strength had been greatly depleted after the war, had suffered considerable damage.
Those were the events that had unfolded throughout the Levelium Region while I was busy managing my territory.
“If the Imperial refugees are heading toward Saint, does that mean the Imperial remnants are heading there too?”
“We're not certain. But probably. After all, the Imperial Army is the one directing the refugees.”
“And their equipment?”
“They seem reasonably well equipped. Better than when they were acting as brigands.”
“So they've finally joined up, Octosia.”
One thing we had constantly monitored was whether Octosia would reunite with the Imperial remnants.
Whether or not Octosia would attempt to recapture the Levelium Region was an important concern for us as well.
Fortunately, we'd seen no signs of it and had begun to relax.
But it seemed the inevitable had finally happened.
If those Imperial refugees—who had been little more than beggars—were now properly armed, then someone had supplied them with equipment.
Only Octosia could have done that.
More precisely, Octosia after joining hands with New Level.
‘If all the Imperial refugees gather together, that'll become a considerable fighting force.’
They didn't have many knights, but they possessed three Masters.
And those Imperial refugees, driven by nothing but desperation, couldn't simply be dismissed as ordinary brigands.
Unlike the carefully prepared residents of Johnson Territory, they weren't immediately battle-ready.
But desperate Imperial refugees were another matter entirely.
The fact that they'd survived this brutal winter meant they had all awakened Mana in one form or another.
At the very least, they were capable of serving as soldiers.
If they united and launched a surprise attack on Saint...
Even Saint wouldn't be able to defend itself easily.
I had a strong feeling something enormous was about to happen.