Chapter 12: Siege of Buinyu Fortress (4)
‘Tonight the guard captain secretly sent his son out of the city.’
Then one of the scouts took the boy hostage and the castle fell easily.
The captain loved his son dearly and, unable to withstand the threat, opened Baron Buinyu’s gate.
‘I’m sorry to whoever earned that rit, but that rit this ti around….’
He was determined to claim it himself.
Shatien planned to pile up as much fa as possible whenever he had the chance.
This night scouting assignnt was, in the end, part of that sa plan.
‘Damn. I’m late.’
The rendezvous Jacri, the Centurion, had given him was the front gate of the camp.
But far off already, the scouts had assembled and were checking their search gear. Seeing the baby-faced Shatien show up out of nowhere, the scouts tilted their heads.
“What’s this? Who’s that kid?”
“Why’s he here?”
Soaking up those doubtful looks, Shatien offered a greeting.
“I ca from the Mordo rcenary Corps. I was told to volunteer for the night scouting party.”
“Huh… you?”
“You look young at a glance. Don’t tell you’re a rookie.”
They asked, half-skeptical, and Shatien answered with a sunny smile.
“Yes, I am a rookie… but I serve as a senior rcenary and a core of the Hundred-man Unit.”
Even at his calm words, the scouts’ eyes stayed dubious.
“Mm….”
“If you’re a rookie, you’re a rookie. What’s this ‘senior’ bit? Did they slap on a title to pull the wool over our eyes?”
The veteran leading the scouts shook his head with a look of open annoyance.
‘I get that they hate the job, but they really sent a rookie? Unbelievable...’
It even made him think the Black Raven rcenary Corps despised Count Bellua’s forces.
Scouting took seasoned skill. It wasn’t sothing just anyone could do. Moving quietly, gathering intel in the dark, adapting to every kind of variable.
All of that took experience.
But a rookie?
How much would they have to teach him?
This wasn’t support, it was dead weight.
‘Yikes… I can see exactly what you’re thinking.’
At their blatant displeasure, Shatien gave a wry smile. Sotis everything got decided without a word being spoken.
Like right now.
‘In the old days I might have gotten mad at this kind of treatnt…’
But living a second life had piled up experience, and he didn’t.
If anything, he understood how they felt. How unpleasant and irritating this must be. But it was all a misunderstanding.
Only the outside looked young. Inside him lived an old man who had lived twice as long as they had.
Without changing expression, Shatien decided to start by doing things properly and well.
First ca the basics of scouting, camouflage.
“I’m late, so I’ll hurry and get camo on….”
The veteran, who had been grumbling and looking for a way to put Shatien in his place, trailed off mid-sentence.
‘Huh… already?’
Because Shatien was doing it without being told.
He fetched a lump of charcoal from a nearby brazier and sared it on his face, helt, and sword on his own.
“I’m all done.”
Shatien checked that his blade wouldn’t glint even in moonlight and spoke.
‘Mm, properly done. Not bad.’
The veteran was rather taken aback.
There was nothing to nitpick. The other scouts felt the sa.
“Oh, nicely done.”
“So you aren’t completely clueless after all.”
They tossed in words of praise, and at last started to put away those dismissive looks.
“Haha. It’s the basics you’ve got to do, right?”
Shatien grinned affably.
They’d part ways after one job, but if they were working together anyway, getting along was best.
Besides, he wanted sothing in this scouting run, so he needed to win them over a bit.
And he had one sure-fire trick that was hard to refuse right now.
“Also… By any chance, have you all eaten?”
“As if. At this hour, how would we find anything to eat?”
“They told us to co right away, so we just ran over….”
White bread and dried jerky.
He had set so aside on his way here. Not enough for four to eat their fill, but enough to put sothing in an empty stomach.
–Gulp.
Seeing it, the scouts swallowed. Even in peaceti it was rare, and here it was on a battlefield.
Better yet, they didn’t have to pay for it, so stranger was offering it.
Thanks to that, even the prickly veteran grew flustered and asked carefully.
“Are you sure you can give that to us? It’s valuable.”
“It’s fine. Really.”
Shatien shrugged. If he could buy favors from them cheaply, it was a bargain.
“Then I’ll gladly accept.”
“M- too!”
Since there wasn’t much, the al was very short. But the satisfaction seed to be the best. The scouts smacked their lips and looked regretful.
“That was really good.”
“Thanks for the food.”
“Yeah. Drop by our barracks soti. We’ll treat you to a decent drink.”
The mood ward up, completely different from before.
Then the veteran spoke as if sothing had just occurred to him.
“Co to think of it, we don’t even know your na. What is your na?”
With one small kindness, their way of speaking to him turned informal to formal.
“Shatien.”
“Ah, Shatien. That’s a good na.”
“But I feel like I heard it sowhere. Shatien… Shati… huh? No way, that Shatien?”
Hearing his na, the scouts who had been nodding suddenly jolted and exclaid.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
Shatien blinked at their stronger than expected reaction.
Why would scouts from Count Bellua’s army be startled at his na?
“Didn’t you earn rit in this battle?”
“Hm, that’s right. The bread and jerky you’re eating ca as a reward for that rit as well.”
“Ahhh! I knew it.”
“So you’re Shatien the Swordbreaker.”
“?”
Swordbreaker? It was a title he’d never heard before. Sohow a nickna he didn’t know had appeared behind his back.
He had a feeling it wasn’t a particularly pleasant one. And he turned out to be right.
“Damn it. We should have guessed when he said he was from the Black Raven rcenary Corps. A ‘senior rcenary’ at that age.”
“Indeed. Wow. Pleased to et you. Word’s spread through our whole unit. I hear you break your sword in every fight, but that cos from how good at fighting you are. Haha.”
“Right, right. They even say you’re the rcenary corps back-breaker too, hehe.”
At the patrol’s nonsense, the veteran clicked his tongue and barked.
“Tsk tsk. Should you really say all these things to him right now? Especially after he fed you bread and jerky.”
“A-Ahem. I’m a bit thick. Sorry.”
Their banter made Shatien chuckle despite himself.
A nickna with that kind of aning… in a way, it was pretty good fa.
A bit of misunderstanding in it, but being talked about often was better than not.
‘Nothing wrong with that I suppose.’
The higher his renown, the more chances he would get for good commissions from nobles. Those precious chances to build ties with high-born clients.
But that was for much later.
There was sothing to do now.
“All right, now that we’ve filled our bellies, shall we get moving!”
With that, Shatien stood.
It was ti to scout.
* * *
‘Hm, this doesn’t look like we’re going where I know?’
Watching the scouting party keep heading up into the mountains, Shatien thought so.
From what his friend, who had earned the rit on this sa mission in the past, had told him, they had seized them not in the mountains, but in the flat forest adjacent to the west gate of the walls.
If they kept going like this, they would go far astray and miss them entirely.
‘Looks like joining knocked sothing off track.’
With that thought, Shatien decided to step in. He had, by chance, already prepared a suitable pretext.
“I have sothing to ask.”
“What is it, Shatien?”
“I think we should head sowhere else, not here.”
The veteran frowned as if to say, what nonsense is that.
“Sowhere else huh. Where? And why?”
Luckily, the bribe from earlier seed to have worked. The veteran didn’t dismiss Shatien with curses. Shatien pointed upward.
“Please look at that.”
At the tip of his finger was a tree with rough gouges in the bark. Seeing the marks, the veteran was badly startled. They were very dangerous signs.
“T-That’s a bear’s mark, isn’t it?”
“I’ve been seeing them for a while. I counted at least four myself. Looks like they’re more frequent around here.”
Which ant the scouting party had entered a bear’s habitat.
The veteran understood at once and broke out in a cold sweat.
Bears tore humans apart.
With nothing but their paws, unlike people with weapons.
“We need to get out of here.”
“Yes. That’s why I ntioned it.”
But not everyone agreed.
“Isn’t it possible the delegates sneaking out of the camp, or enemy spies, missed those? In fact, you’re the only one among us who’s seen them, Shatien.”
This scout balked at the idea of turning back now and sweeping a wider radius after coming this far.
But Shatien shook his head.
“Anyone who lives in this region would know a bear’s range. And ssengers or spies wouldn’t loiter in front of a predator’s habitat when safer paths exist.”
At his clear logic, the scouting party nodded.
“True….”
“Sounds plausible, right?”
“Then where do you think they went?”
“Sowhere without bears and good for hiding. The plains are wide open and you get spotted. The mountains are risky because of bears. That leaves exactly one choice.”
Yes, exactly one.
The vast forest near Baron Buinyu’s castle. Everyone seed to arrive at the sa thought.
“That’d be the forest.”
“Right. The forest. There is a band of woods there.”
“I’ve heard there’s a flat path inside the thick trees, so locals might know a quick route.”
Once their thoughts aligned, they moved quickly.
Shatien and the scouts ca down from the mountain and headed to the woods near the west gate.
It was indeed the perfect place to flee.
“Mm… it truly is dense.”
“The moonlight barely gets in.”
Thanks to the trees soaring sky-high, the forest was very dark.
They couldn’t light torches while moving stealthily, so the darkness felt even deeper.
On the flip side, it ant anyone who knew the lay of the land could move more easily here.
And before long, that guess hit the mark.
–Snap!
In the still forest, the sound of a branch breaking rang out.
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