Chapter 284: Shadows in the Workshop
The following morning, the village awoke to an apparent calm, yet tension hung in the air. Kellar and his lead captains had stayed awake throughout the night; despite the signed treaty and diplomatic pledges, their distrust toward the Golden Rose Kingdom’s delegation remained absolute.
Gazing across the horizon from the residence’s rear courtyard, a white blur glided over the fence. Freyja materialized before him, though lacking her composure: her snowy coat was ruffled, smeared with blood and marked by gashes along her flank.
"Someone attempted to infiltrate the workshops during the night, Master," Freyja communicated across their mental link, breathing with difficulty.
Kellar knelt, inspecting his familiar’s wounds with a frown.
"Were you able to kill him?"
"No, Master... He was troublesome," answered Freyja with suppressed fury. "He could vanish and reappear at will, dodging my strikes. It was like trying to strike smoke. Yet he could not harm me easily either; every time he initiated an attack, his form solidified for a fraction of a second. I managed to wound him once before he fled into the forest."
"So they truly brought someone akin to the silver-masked swordsman with them..." muttered Kellar, clenching his fists.
"No, Master," corrected Freyja. "This individual was ten times stronger. Last time the masked swordsman managed to wound me because I grew careless, but this time I struck with lethal intent, and yet I failed to take him down. He is slippery, albeit slower; he lacked the masked man’s super-speed. Furthermore, my strength has surged since our last encounter."
Startled by the gravity of her assessment, Kellar focused his shamanic awareness to inspect his familiar’s attribute interface:
[STR: 350]
[DEX: 900]
[REC: 250]
[INT: 45]
And even with stats like these, he managed to wound you to this extent? thought Kellar, a cold shiver running down his spine. Her attributes have nearly doubled since last time... that subject must be powerful.
"Do not pursue him this time; remain on ambient watch," instructed Kellar her, applying a healing aura over her gashes. "We need to verify beyond doubt."
"Master, do you suspect they do not originate from the Golden Rose Kingdom?" asked Freyja, tilting her head.
"They could originate from the other realms," analyzed Kellar. "Many days have passed since we detained their envoys. Should Aethelgard or Valoria have grown desperate and sought intelligence on their own, it would explain the raid."
"I shall track his scent."
Meanwhile, within the honor chambers assigned to Prince Caelen, a young man clad in the humble attire of a servant locked the timber door and pulled off his cloth mask, exposing bleeding lacerations across his chest and face.
"Envoy Tari... what transpired?" asked Prince Caelen in a hushed voice, taking a step back.
"It appears the beast Count Gideon mentioned was not merely underestimated; our intelligence was erroneous," grunted Tari, clutching his bleeding flank as he stifled a groan of pain. "That white monster is terrifying... She came within inches of killing me. I barely escaped the workshop district alive."
"What shall we do now, Envoy?" interjected Deputy General Valerius with a grim expression. "Should they discover we dispatched a spy, we will end up dead before crossing the main gates."
"Do not fret, Your Highness," replied Tari breathlessly. "I left no trace that incriminates us. However, we must alter our arrangements. The tribe will maintain a state of alert against us, so it is best I depart. If that beast possesses a sense of smell, she might trace my scent inside this chamber. I shall await you outside the Ash Valley; should anything go awry during your departure, I remain available to defend you."
"Thank you, Envoy. Tend to your wounds," nodded Caelen with relief.
Without another word, Tari’s frame began to warp, dissolving like smoke into the air before slipping through the window’s crevice into the wild outside.
Caelen turned his head toward Valerius, letting out a sigh.
"Plan B failed... We must adhere to the original plan."
"Understood, Master," agreed the deputy general, crossing his arms. "Let us pretend this never happened."
Shortly after sunrise, Kellar strode into the center of the plaza escorted by Grok and a heavy guard of fully armed warriors. Prince Caelen and General Valerius stood waiting beside their convoy, striving to project composure despite the unresolved tension from the night.
"Well, Prince," began Kellar with a smile that failed to reach his eyes, "I told you last night we could not send you back empty-handed. It is time to demonstrate our commitment to this new alliance."
Kellar offered an arm gesture. At his command, the detention compound’s gates swung open and several guards dragged four prisoners into the square’s center. The men arrived gagged with tight bandages, their hands and feet bound in iron chains that clanked loudly against the ground with every step.
Prince Caelen’s eyes widened, holding his breath as he recognized the tunics and faces weathered by captivity.
"Allow me to present Count Evander Ellington, commander of the Black Wolf Knights... or something along those lines, as they claimed to be called," presented Kellar with disdain, gesturing toward the lead hostage; "his companion, Benoit; and these two rabid dogs dispatched by the Kingdom of Valoria."
Kellar took a step forward, laced his hands behind his back, and locked his gaze onto the heir of Golden Rose.
"What say you, Your Highness? Are you pleased with the gift we prepared specifically for you?"
Gazing upon the four bound prisoners at his feet, Prince Caelen’s eyes gleamed with greed. Handing these hostages over to his realm was not merely a diplomatic gesture; it represented the icing on the cake he required to salvage his political standing.
Should he deliver Count Evander Ellington, Benoit, and the two Valorian envoys to his father or General Beatrix, the kingdom’s military intelligence would wring out every drop of information regarding rival defense plans, supply lines, and troop deployments. With such a war prize, Golden Rose could orchestrate a counteroffensive, and Caelen would erase the stain of his failed prior. campaign into the forest.