Chapter 133: The Scout
Roderic and Edmund hurried through the estate towards the war room.
By the time they arrived, several people had already gathered around the large wooden table.
Baron Arthur Whitemane stood at its head, accompanied by a handful of his most trusted officers.
A large map of the barony lay spread across the table, with several wooden markers positioned along the road leading from Riverwood to Whitemane City.
Standing opposite Arthur was a small, boyish-looking young man with soft blond hair and a delicate face whom Roderic didn’t recognize.
His clothes were covered in mud, and dark circles had formed beneath his eyes.
Despite that, an incredibly joyous and jolly expression sat on his face.
’That must be the scout,’ he thought.
Just then, Edmund spoke up beside him.
’’My lord,’’ he said, bowing politely despite being out of breath. ’’I’ve brought the young master.’’
Arthur glanced up right away.
’’Good job, Edmund,’’ he said.
Then his gaze flicked towards Roderic.
’’Father,’’ Roderic greeted seriously.
Arthur nodded once more.
For a brief moment, his eyes swept across Roderic’s missing ear before returning to his face.
’’Come on in,’’ he said. ’’We don’t have much time left.’’
Roderic stepped forward right away as Edmund closed the door behind them.
His gaze immediately locked onto the scout.
’’So?’’ he asked eagerly. ’’How did things go at Riverwood?’’
The scout’s eyes lit up instantly.
Before Arthur could even give the go-ahead, the boyish man began speaking.
’’The Deres army has finally passed through Riverwood, young master,’’ he reported, straightening his back. ’’They started their march here exactly four hours ago.’’
Roderic raised an eyebrow.
But it wasn’t just him.
Everyone around the table couldn’t help but look confused.
’’That’s the middle of the night...’’ Roderic said, his voice trailing off. ’’Why the hell would they do that?’’
For a moment, the room remained completely silent.
It was such a stunningly bad move that it caught everyone completely by surprise.
Roderic’s mind was already churning.
’This changes things a lot,’ he thought. ’On one hand, we have a bit less time before they get here...’
’On the other hand, their soldiers will all be exhausted once they get here.’
Just then, the scout spoke up once more.
’’I don’t know the exact reason,’’ he said. ’’But from what I could observe, Baron Deres appeared impatient and furious.’’
’’Impatient?’’ Arthur repeated immediately.
The scout lowered his head respectfully.
’’Yes, my lord,’’ he replied. ’’It seems the past two days irritated him greatly.’’
Silence fell around the table.
As everyone remained in thought, the scout locked eyes with Roderic.
A joyous expression instantly appeared on his face.
Roderic caught the change, his eyebrow rising right away.
’What’s up with this guy?’ he thought strangely, a golden glint already flashing through his eye.
Rows of information instantly appeared.
[Finn]
Age: 19
Race: Human
Current Rank: Unawakened
Espionage Talent: High
Notable Information: Has developed a strong fascination with Roderic Whitemane’s cruel and inventive methods of killing and punishing his enemies.
Desires to serve Roderic personally and hopes to one day carry out killings on his behalf.
- - -
Roderic’s brows furrowed even further.
For a moment, he simply stared at the information before him.
’What kind of fucking lunatic is this now?’ he thought. ’He wants to kill people for me?’
Slowly raising his head, he looked at the cheerful young man standing across from him.
The fucker was still smiling innocently at him.
Roderic let out a deep breath, dragging a hand across his face.
’I really don’t have time to deal with this right now.’
His talent had definitely caught his attention, though.
That wasn’t something he’d be forgetting any time soon.
Just then, Arthur’s voice rang out, snapping him out of his thoughts.
’’Alright,’’ he said seriously. ’’I need a report on their casualties now.’’
Finn instantly nodded.
’’Yes, my lord,’’ he replied, straightening his back.
’’Unfortunately, I couldn’t determine the exact number of casualties. However, I personally witnessed at least thirty soldiers being killed while clearing the road.’’
Arthur nodded thoughtfully.
’’And the wounded?’’ he asked.
’’Many were sent back towards Deres territory, my lord. I observed at least a hundred and fifty injured leaving throughout yesterday, each accompanied by an uninjured soldier.’’
Finn paused for a moment as he took out his notebook.
’’Taking deserters into account...’’ he continued. ’’I’d say they’ve lost around five hundred soldiers in total.’’
A few of the officers exchanged surprised glances.
Roderic, meanwhile, couldn’t help but smile.
’Now that isn’t bad at all,’ he thought. ’The wounded were a little lower than expected, but the deserters made up for that perfectly.’
His gaze slowly moved up, locking onto his father.
Even Arthur had a deeply satisfied expression on his face.
’’Very well,’’ Arthur said, turning to Finn. ’’You’ve done an excellent job. Thank you for your hard work. You may leave now and get some rest.’’
Finn bowed respectfully.
’’Thank you, my lord.’’
However, just as Arthur was about to turn his attention towards the map, Finn spoke up once more.
’’Actually, my lord, there is one more thing I should mention.’’
Arthur paused.
’’Hm?’’ he let out, raising an eyebrow. ’’What is it?’’
Finn scratched the back of his head, seemingly hesitant.
But that hesitation faded instantly, replaced by a cheerful smile.
’’Shortly before leaving, I witnessed something unusual,’’ he said lightly. ’’A hooded man stepped forward to a pile of their own corpses.’’
A deep frown appeared on Arthur’s face.
’’A hooded man?’’ he repeated strangely.
’’Yes.’’ Finn nodded. ’’I couldn’t see his face, but he appeared to be accompanying the commanders.’’
Arthur nodded once before gesturing for him to continue.
’’Well, the strange part came afterward,’’ Finn continued cheerfully. ’’The man raised his hand, and several large fireballs suddenly appeared out of thin air.’’
Everyone in the room froze at once.
Even Roderic couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock.
One officer stepped forward almost instantly, his voice filled with disbelief.
’’Are you saying there’s a mage accompanying the Deres army?’’ he asked.
Finn nodded once.
’’It certainly looked that way, sir.’’
Complete silence fell over the room.
Arthur folded his hands together, his expression rapidly darkening.
At the same time, Roderic dragged a hand through his hair.
’You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,’ he thought, exasperated. ’Is there no end to how difficult this is going to be?!’