Chapter 566: I Think It’s Obvious
Celestina’s group returned to Misty City the following day just after daybreak, while Lucas’ group landed an hour later, both of them discovering that despite having only been gone a day, the situation had changed dramatically.
While Lucas’ trip was relatively uneventful, other than him being half-strangled of course, Celestina’s foray into Darr Kingdom territory, and the fallout that had followed, was already giving the Marquess a big headache.
Christina’s condition was also a bit worrying.
She hadn’t taken any severe injuries, but her wounds also weren’t light, nor were those of a number of soldiers from the Raging River Legion’s First Regiment’s Third and Fourth Battalions.
Most of the soldiers were taking the long way back aboard their ship, together with the bodies of their fallen comrades, while Celestina had air-lifted those who needed more extensive medical care back to Misty City so they could be treated quickly.
Prince Landon was a bit of a tricky case, but in the end, Celestina had decided to bring him as well, figuring it would be faster than trying to explain the situation to the higher-ups in Gateway City.
That conversation with her counterpart, the General in charge of the Darr Kingdom’s border city, was definitely coming, but Celestina was happy to put it off for a couple of days while she gathered her wits.
At least, that was the plan until she actually landed in Misty City and was informed that her daughter-in-law, Teagan, had decided to launch a massive city-wide raid on suspected enemy safe-houses in response to an attack said enemy had perpetrated earlier yesterday.
Sitting in her office, still wearing her armour, Celestina was rubbing her temples as she listened to the details of what transpired yesterday.
Lucas was also sitting nearby, listening to Eris’ grandmother explain the current situation. His head hurt less than his Master’s, but make no mistake, it was still hurting.
"In summary, we struck 31 enemy bases. Our side suffered only minor injuries. 19 enemy combatants were killed, while 125 were captured. We are currently interrogating them, but it doesn’t seem like any of them belong to the upper-echelon of whatever organization we’re fighting, so I doubt they have much useful information," Teagan concluded her report.
"Did you manage to recover the stolen documents?" Lucas asked.
"No," Eris, who had also participated in the raids, shook her head, "But we did find quite a few things like shipping manifests and transaction records."
"Well, I guess it’s better than nothing," Elliot Balfour groaned.
As the one in charge of this operation, he should have been the one to oversee these raids, but as part of Celestina’s strike force yesterday, he was naturally out of Misty City when they happened.
Elliot wasn’t going to blame his wife or granddaughter for their actions, of course; after all, if such an event had occurred while he was here, he would have responded the same way.
Celestina also didn’t feel the need to reprimand her daughter-in-law or her Second Disciple, though she did make a note to discipline Eris for acting recklessly.
Extra lessons for a month should do it, Celestina mused to herself before letting out a sigh, "Well, what’s done is done. We clearly underestimated our enemy this time and suffered the consequences both here and in the Darr Kingdom."
"En, it seems the enemy’s main forces were focused on our neighbours, while they only left disposable pawns here in Misty City," Lucas mused, "Or perhaps only a few enemy leaders were ever here, namely the ones who stole those documents from the Rising Phoenix Guild’s basement."
"There’s no way to tell," Teagan shook her head, "Even Lady Frey was unable to track whoever it was that broke into the guild."
"That’s disturbing in its own right, but for now, it’s not important," Celestina declared, "Thankfully, we encrypted all the critical data, so there’s basically no way they’ll be able to learn just how much of their network we’ve uncovered."
"That may be true," Lucas interjected, "But by taking action here in Misty City and in the Darr Kingdom, we’ve surely alerted them. We’ll have to move fast if we don’t want to fall behind again."
"Agreed," Celestina rose from her seat and gave the order, "Send word to our allies across the kingdom. No more hide-and-seek, no more games. We may not be able to decapitate this enemy today, but we can definitely cut off a limb or two. That’ll have to do, for now."
"""Yes!"""
After acknowledging the command, most of the Balfour Family’s leaders filed out of the room, but Celestina requested that Allina, Lucas, and Frey remain behind.
Once the doors were closed again, the Marquess turned to her clever First Disciple and asked, "What do you think?"
"I think I should have anticipated this," Lucas grumbled.
"You did anticipate this," Allina reminded, "That’s why you insisted on only keeping the records in code."
"Still..."
"Enough," Celestina cut in, "No one is expecting you to be right 100% off the time or to know all the enemy’s moves in advance, Lucas. Let it go."
"Haaa... yes, Master," Lucas nodded reluctantly.
"Good," Celestina leaned forward and asked once more, "Now tell me, what do you think?"
"I think it’s obvious," Lucas muttered, drawing a nod from the other 3 in the room.
"There’s a traitor among us," Allina said aloud what they were all thinking, "That’s the only explanation."
How did the enemy find out so quickly that most of the masters had left the city yesterday?
How did they know about the hidden room in the basement of the Rising Phoenix Guild?
How did they know about Lady Frey’s strength and how to counter her senses?
How did they always seem to be one-step ahead of them at every turn?
Either the foe they were dealing with was stronger and more intelligent than them by a massive-margin, or someone was passing them inside information.
Of these two options, the former was highly-unlikely, because such a foe would have no need to resort to covert tactics. If they were so much stronger, they could just act directly.
What’s more, Celestina had actually encountered a traitor in the Darr Kingdom’s army last night, Lani Jess.
That woman had hidden her background and strength, infiltrated the Darr Kingdom over a decade ago, laid low, and not exposed herself until an opportunity too good to pass up had presented itself.
If the enemy could plant such a spy in the Darr Kingdom, there was no reason to think they couldn’t do so in the Rockwell Kingdom.
That was also why Celestina was only discussing this matter with Allina, Lucas, and Frey. Had Pauline been here, she would have included her as well, but unfortunately, her duties kept her in Martin most of the year.
Celestina was certain Allina wasn’t a traitor, half because she had known her since she was young girl, nearly 100 years, and was confident in her loyalty, but also because if she was a spy, Lucas would be dead.
Lucas was the key to nearly all of the recent developments in the Balfour March and the wider Rockwell Kingdom. Killing him would probably be the heaviest blow the enemy could deal to them right now, so the fact that he was alive and well after spending multiple days along with her was proof enough of Allina’s trustworthiness.
As for Lucas and Frey, well, it was impossible for them to be traitors given their unique backgrounds.
"So, what are we going to do about it?" Frey asked in an obviously annoyed tone.
She didn’t belong to the Rockwell Kingdom, and didn’t owe Celestina her loyalty, but this invisible enemy had snuck into a building she was guarding and then escape without her even noticing. It was humiliating, so Frey naturally wanted payback.
"I have an idea," Lucas spoke up, "But it’s going to take a while to implement."
"That’s fine," Celestina nodded, "The enemy just made a bold move, and we’re responding with one of our own, so I doubt whoever the traitor is will make a fuss anytime soon. They won’t want to draw attention to themselves by acting out now."
"Exactly," Lucas grinned, "That’s why we should..."