Chapter 13 : Chapter 13
Chapter 13
After the main force's camp had been fully reorganized, Philion summoned the chief aides to the command tent.
A map of the outpost lay spread across the table.
The damaged points along the wall, the directions from which the beastman army had approached, even the place where the duel had taken place.
Everything was recorded in detail.
It showed just how serious Philion was about this war.
“You've all heard the report.”
Philion spoke first. His hollow tone, as though something were missing from him, remained unchanged.
“Through Kairun Nordiar's unilateral judgment, a one-on-one duel with the warrior chieftain was established, and as a result, the enemy withdrew.”
He stated the result first.
Then he moved on to judgment.
“You all have plenty to say. Speak your minds.”
A brief silence swept through the tent.
Then the first to open his mouth was a middle-aged man.
Raspel, a veteran strategy officer who had spent thirty years on the battlefield.
“We need him.”
His tone was firm.
“His tactical sense is outstanding. His reconnaissance judgment, the proposal of the duel, and even the induced retreat. None of it was impulsive. It was all calculated.”
“And what proof do you have that it wasn't impulsive?”
“He chose it with his own life as collateral. If it were impulsive, he wouldn't have walked such an exact line.”
Several aides nodded.
But opposition soon followed.
From Elysia of the Mages Corps.
“He is dangerous.”
Her voice was calm, but sharp.
“According to the report, a Sword Master-class phenomenon was observed. Even if incomplete, it was a power that cannot be explained.”
She glanced toward the tent where Kairun was resting.
“An uncontrollable variable is poison on the battlefield.”
“Without that power, the outpost would have fallen.”
At Philion's words, Elysia shook her head.
“He was simply lucky today. He will make the same choice again next time. And when that happens....”
She trailed off.
Raspel cut in.
“That's precisely why we need him. The boy already knows how dangerous he is.”
“And why is that a virtue?”
“A genius who doesn't know his own limits is the most dangerous kind. But Kairun is different.”
Raspel paused briefly, choosing his words.
“He knows how to use himself like a disposable tool.”
At the word disposable, the air in the tent grew heavy.
This time it was the adjutant, Kern, who spoke.
“Personally, I oppose it.”
He was blunt.
“He made a decision on his own without Lord Philion's permission and ignored the chain of command. Noble or not, unilateral action is poison. It succeeded this time, but if it had failed, the outpost would've been ruined, and morale would've shattered with it.”
“But if he had waited to report before proposing the duel, it would have been too late. Ignoring the chain of command was unavoidable.”
Philion asked the question.
“Then how should he be used?”
No one answered.
The one who broke that silence was none other than Philion himself.
“For now, he will not be placed on the front line.”
Short. Clear.
“He will not even be allowed to wield a sword.”
Raspel narrowed his eyes.
“...Then how do you intend to use him? The power of a Sword Master can change a battlefield. He has already demonstrated that. Yet you say you will not allow such a man to even hold a sword?”
“For his eyes that read the board.”
Philion folded up the map.
“Kairun is not a 'sword for charges.' He is a gauge that knows how to risk itself.”
Elysia spoke quietly.
“Then what about surveillance?”
“Necessary, of course. Even if he is blood, I can't give him unconditional trust.”
Philion nodded.
“I do not trust him one hundred percent. But he is necessary. Therefore....”
He reached his conclusion.
“He stays under my direct command. He will be given no independent authority. Orders will come directly from me.”
Only then did the officers understand.
Kairun was not the center.
But he was also a variable that could not be discarded.
As the meeting drew to a close,
Raspel spoke one last time.
“My lord.”
“Speak.”
“That boy... the longer this war drags on, the more dangerous he will become. He will devour himself.”
Philion thought for a moment before answering.
“That is why I will watch him from now on. And it's not as though nothing about him bothers me either.”
The earlier spar still lingered in his mind.
It had been interrupted by the messenger, but Philion had clearly held the far more advantageous position.
Even in the eyes of soldiers whose level was, at best, that of Sword Runner, Philion's victory had already seemed the likely outcome, so there was little room for disagreement.
He recalled Kairun being driven onto the defensive.
“...For a man like that to be a Sword Master. It's strange in more ways than one. His aura had only looked to be at the level of someone at the very beginning of Expert. Yet he seemed to be fighting seriously.”
***
The medic left the tent.
All that remained was silence, and an atmosphere so orderly it felt excessive.
Kairun tried to raise his upper body, then stopped.
The curtain at the tent entrance trembled ever so slightly.
'Someone is standing there.'
It was not the kind of presence one tried to conceal completely.
Rather, it was the sort one deliberately chose not to hide.
“...You may come in.”
After a short silence, the curtain was pulled aside.
It was Kern, Philion's adjutant.
He had not removed his helmet, nor had he unbelted his sword.
“How is your body?”
“I'm not about to die.”
Kairun did not smile.
Kern wore the face of a man who expected nothing beyond a formal answer.
“Orders have been handed down.”
Kern spoke.
“Until you recover, no independent movement. Any outside contact must be reported and approved beforehand.”
“So it isn't confinement. Or is it something close to it?”
“Not yet, it isn't.”
'Not yet.'
Kairun did not miss that wording.
He let out a dry laugh, then asked in a lightly mocking tone,
“What exactly did I do wrong? This treatment feels rather cold.”
“Wrong, you say.”
Kern slowly tilted his head.
“No. If anything, you did too well. Enough that even Lord Philion offered praise.”
'Praise? From that man who looks like he walks around with an iron plate nailed to his face?'
That was surprising in several ways.
As Kairun thought that to himself, Kern stepped closer.
“And that is the problem.”
Kairun understood.
This was not a reprimand over whether his independent action had been right or wrong.
It was controlled.
“By Lord Philion's order.”
Kern added,
“He will not place you on the battlefield. But—”
His gaze sharpened.
“He will not remove you from the board either.”
Kern turned away.
“Remember this, boy. What you have gained now is not freedom, but attention.”
The tent closed again.
Kairun let out a quiet breath.
'That's faster than I expected. I knew I'd be suspected, but I didn't think the aftermath would be this big.'
He had received similar looks even before his regression.
Back when he had been called a genius.
Only then, it had not happened this early.
'At this rate, I may need the elixir sooner than I thought. This is stifling.... Maybe I should put some pressure on Hadin.'
Alchemy was a discipline that took time, but he could sense that this would not do.
It felt as though war would soon break out.
***
The beastman camp.
Inside a soot-blackened tent, the mid-level commanders of the tribal alliance had gathered.
At the center, the defeated wolf warrior chieftain knelt on one knee.
His fur was still streaked white, his breath rough.
The bandages wrapped across his upper body were already soaked with blood from the wound that had yet to close.
“Say it again.”
A highest-ranking warrior bearing red markings spoke.
“You say that human... used what?”
“...Mana was born from the sword. No, it was more than that. He ruled the space itself.”
The once-quiet surroundings filled with murmurs.
“A lie.”
“Human Sword Masters are old men. And even then, they are rare.”
“A boy? That's impossible.”
The warrior chieftain ground his teeth, aggrieved.
“I saw it myself. Even in Bestial Release, I was overwhelmed. Completely.”
Silence.
Then the commander of the marked tribe, a highest-ranking warrior, spoke.
“...You said the form of his aura was different. His name was Kairun Nordiar, was it?”
“Yes.”
“Explain it in detail.”
“I don't know. He clearly made no slashing motion, and yet wounds appeared on my body.”
“So it wasn't cutting force. He ruled space, you say.”
The commander closed his eyes.
“That is clearly not a human sword.”
A moment later, a low voice slipped out.
He looked down at the warrior chieftain.
“That human will appear again. Or we will drag him back onto the field.”
“And what do we do then? The power of a Sword Master—”
The commander was firm.
“Do not avoid him. We have to confirm it. There is a contract involved.”
“...A contract? What?”
“One fact does trouble me. Has it already been nearly twenty years? ...I know it probably isn't him, but still.”
The commander closed his eyes after muttering so quietly that no one nearby could hear.
“...Great Chieftain, I miss you.”
His silence stretched on.
The fire burning low in the center of the tent filled the air with the oppressive smell peculiar to beast grease.
“...That human knew the traditional rite of our warrior chieftains.”
When the wolf warrior chieftain spoke again,
his voice had dropped by another tone.
“That should not have been something that could leak out.... Come to think of it, you said that's how he lured you in?”
“He is strange in many ways. Not only did he draw out the power of a Sword Master at an age that doesn't even look past twenty, he even knew traditions that only our warrior chieftains should know.”
“He certainly is strange.”
Another long silence.
“You haven't forgotten our tactical objective, have you?”
“Grr! Wasn't it to determine how much military force must be mobilized before Atlin comes out in person?”
“Correct. Intelligence says Atlin has appeared on the front where the monsters are raging, so the one commanding here is not Atlin.”
“Then that means....”
“Yes.”
The commander nodded.
“We seize the outpost now, while Atlin is absent. Second, we find that human. Capturing him alive is best, but if that proves difficult, kill him.”
“And if he withdraws to the rear?”
“No. He won't. At the very least, he will remain within the scope of this war.”
At the commander's confident tone, the wolf beastman nodded.
He did not ask why.
The commander's words always had sound reasons behind them.