Chapter 136: Plan
Roderic continued staring at Finn.
For a moment, he truly didn’t know what to say or do.
Finally, he slowly sheathed his blades.
’’Alright,’’ he said. ’’Let’s hear it.’’
Finn’s smile widened instantly.
He nearly began jumping up and down from excitement.
’’Really?!’’ he said, pumping his fists in the air. ’’That’s so cool!’’
Roderic stared at him, completely deadpan.
It hadn’t even been two seconds!
And he was already regretting his words.
Letting out a deep sigh, he slowly shook his head.
’’Get on with it,’’ he said. ’’What’s your plan to find that mage?’’
Finn stopped his antics right away, though the huge grin remained on his face.
’’I can just sneak into their camp!’’ he replied enthusiastically. ’’Then I’ll lure him out towards you!’’
Roderic blinked once.
’’That’s it?’’ he asked, tilting his head slightly.
Finn nodded enthusiastically.
Silence fell inside the room as everyone stared at the young man.
’What the fuck?’ Roderic thought. ’What am I supposed to do with this?’
Sure, he knew Finn had a talent for this kind of stuff.
But he had absolutely no idea how Finn would even pull something like this off.
’’There are thousands of soldiers...’’ Frederic said behind him, sharing his thoughts. ’’How are you...?’’
Finn glanced over at him with a warm smile.
’’I’ll just do it!’’ he said, his smile widening.
That’s when he noticed everyone’s strange stares.
His face visibly lit up with realization.
’’I understand you won’t be able to trust me just yet!’’ he continued cheerfully. ’’But that’s why I have a proposition!’’
Roderic’s eyebrow slowly rose.
’’Oh?’’ he asked. ’’And what is that?’’
Finn turned to him with bright eyes.
’’Like I said, I’ll lure out the mage myself. And if I fail and end up dying, well, that’s that!’’
’’You can just prepare another plan in the meantime! That way, you won’t lose anything if I fail!’’
Roderic’s brows slowly furrowed.
’If he fails, another plan likely won’t work either,’ he thought. ’I don’t know where his confidence comes from, though.’
It felt like Finn was one hundred percent certain he could lure the mage out.
And even if he didn’t, he seemed more than certain he could die without alerting anyone.
’It’s not like he’ll betray me,’ he thought. ’The System already made it clear that he’s utterly infatuated with me.’
Though the boy was a creepy bastard, there was no denying his usefulness.
And if it worked, it worked.
’I’ll definitely prepare a backup plan, though.’
After considering it for another moment, Roderic nodded.
’’I’m fine with that,’’ he said. ’’But there are some conditions.’’
Finn’s eyes lit up eagerly.
’’Yes, of course, young master!’’
Leaning forward slightly, Roderic continued speaking.
’’First, you’ll only lure him out once the moon is high in the sky.
Second, you’ll need to signal us so we know where to go. I don’t particularly care where you lure him, as long as we can reach the place with a horse-drawn wagon.’’
Finn tilted his head curiously.
’’Horse-drawn wagon?’’ he repeated quietly.
That curiosity disappeared a split second later.
In its place appeared a strangely wicked smile.
’’That’s all fine!’’ he said sweetly. ’’You’ll know exactly where to go once I take action!’’
With that, Finn giggled like a child and ran back up the stairs.
Within moments, he was gone.
Roderic stared at the empty staircase for a moment.
Then he turned towards his equally bewildered retainers.
’’Don’t ask me. I know just as little as you do.’’
Frederic opened his mouth, but eventually just shook his head in resignation.
CLAP! CLAP!
’’Alright, enough of that!’’ Roderic said, clapping his hands together. ’’We’ve got preparations to make before the Deres army arrives!’’
His retainers snapped out of their dazes and nodded.
’’Understood, young master!’’
...
Time passed rapidly as Roderic prepared his retainers and gathered the items they’d need.
BOOOM!!!
A deafening explosion-like noise rang out.
The thick slab of stone standing several dozen metres away shattered into countless pieces, sending fragments flying in every direction.
John stood completely frozen beside the enormous ballista, his hands still gripping the firing mechanism.
’’Holy shit...’’ he muttered with wide eyes.
’’WOOHOO!’’
A loud cheer erupted from beside them.
The old blacksmith threw both hands into the air, his wrinkled face practically glowing with excitement.
’’What an amazing beast!’’ he exclaimed. ’’Hahaha! Look at what we’ve created!’’
Roderic slowly nodded, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
’Not bad. Not bad at all.’
The weapon had performed even better than he’d expected.
If a single bolt could shatter a slab of stone that thick, he could only imagine what it would do to an ordinary human body.
Even a mage wouldn’t survive something like that.
Provided, of course, that the bolt actually hit.
’’Young master...’’ John suddenly spoke up, his voice hesitant. ’’Can I really hit a person with this thing?’’
Roderic turned to him right away.
’’Of course,’’ he said, grinning. ’’That’s why you’re getting some time to practice now.’’
John’s hesitation and doubt didn’t disappear in the slightest.
But before he could say something, the old blacksmith cleared his throat.
’’Ahem! Young master, there’s something I should mention,’’ he said, his face reddening slightly.
Turning towards the old blacksmith, Roderic tilted his head faintly.
’’While the weapon itself is ready,’’ he continued, ’’we... haven’t been able to produce many of those bolts yet.’’
Roderic leaned down to the old man’s level.
’’You haven’t?’’ he asked, a pleasant smile on his face.
The old blacksmith shook his head awkwardly.
’’Unfortunately not, young master. They’re rather difficult to manufacture, and we’ve been swamped by the other traps...’’
Roderic’s smile widened slightly.
’’I see,’’ he said slowly. ’’Then why are you standing here instead of making more?’’
The old blacksmith’s expression immediately fell.
’’Ah...’’ he muttered. ’’I-I wanted to see the results of our hard work—’’
’’I’m joking, old man!’’ Roderic interrupted, patting him on the shoulder. ’’Take a moment to enjoy your achievement!’’
The blacksmith immediately turned around.
’’You son of a—’’ He stopped himself. ’’Thank you, young master.’’
Roderic let out a chuckle.
But slowly, it began to fade away as a serious expression appeared on his face.
’’Don’t admire it for too long,’’ he said. ’’I will need some more bolts for... later.’’
The old man’s expression grew serious as well.
’’Of course,’’ he nodded. ’’We’ll get back to it in a few minutes.’’
Silence fell between them for a moment.
Roderic’s gaze returned to the shattered rock.
They only had a limited number of bolts, and John still needed to practice.
There was also the matter of transporting the weapon, positioning it, and ensuring that the mage wouldn’t notice them before they could fire.
A single mistake could ruin everything.
’Tonight really is going to be troublesome.’
Just as Roderic was about to turn back to John, he froze in place.
BWOOOOOOOO!
A deep, thunderous horn echoed across Whitemane City.
Roderic’s eyes narrowed as everyone fell silent around him.
BWOOOOOOOO!
A second horn followed almost immediately.
’They’re here,’ he thought.
Outside the workshop, the distant shouts of soldiers could already be heard.
Roderic’s gaze flickered to his retainers.
’’Alright, I’m heading to the walls,’’ he said seriously. ’’You four stay here and finish preparing everything for tonight.’’
All of them nodded at once.
’’Yes, young master!’’
With that said, Roderic turned around towards the exit.
’It’s time,’ he thought. ’Part two of my plan will start now.’