Chapter 11 - Interlude - Supre General Louis Zen
The main command center for Invidia was in a castle within Frogine Fortress, several kiloters from Studium’s shack. The stronghold served as a base from which the Musou knights of Invidia initiated their campaigns against the Avaritia.
This was also where Bug had sent his reports. It took a few days for his papers to reach a musou knight, who was in charge of dostic administration.
The knight read the report twice and took the parchnt. He rushed out of his office and climbed the castle to the fourth floor, where the supre general was.
Invidia’s supre general, a level 8 musou knight commanding the war effort, was situated in the castle’s war room, occupying his throne and receiving strategic analyses from his advisors.
The dostic administrator rushed into the room with the docunt. He passed it to one of the officers in the room, whispered to him, and left quietly.
After reading the report, the officer inford his lord.
"My lord. Soone saw a suspicious Musou knight near the Frogine Fortress. The suspect was wearing our n’s uniform, but his rank and identity are unknown. He killed seven of our scouts."
The supre general was sitting on his throne, propping himself up with his arm. At 7’3" with a sculpted physique, he overlooked subordinates from above. Wearing crimson demonic knight armor, made to resemble a demonic beast’s face, he frightened everyone in the room by doing nothing. Despite his terrifying aura, his chiseled face, kempt short hair, and clear eyes that saw through everything, he resembled heroes in local fairy tales.
He was Louis Zen, the strongest general of the Invidia.
Louis received the report parchnt and skimd through it. With a flick of his fingers, he discarded the paper.
"This is not that pig’s work," Louis muttered.
All musou knights in the room gazed at their commander. One of them, a gray hair knight, voiced his curiosity.
"How do you know, my lord?"
"That pig Zoli is a petty coward. He thinks he can resolve anything with his soul-bound hamr artifact, and he never fights fellow generals of equal strength. All his knights are assigned as his personal troops."
Louis scoffed at the thought of Zoli’s face when Invidia and Avaritia’s forces collided two weeks ago. Zoli’s unit was part of the Choi Fraus Army. But when Louis entered the battle, Zoli’s unit ran away.
Thinking of Zoli worsened Louis’s mood. He changed the subject.
"Back to the musou knight’s sighting topic. Based on the report, our scout said that he was in his teens. Therefore, he cannot possibly be a child from a knight family or a noble since those pampered kids will never leave their shelters unless they’re level 3 or above. Moreover, this is a rare Fire-type we’re discussing. Only one in a thousand fire knights can survive the level-2 ritual. Zoli would never send a talented youngster on a spy mission."
"So, the knight is a commoner?"
"Commoners can awaken an musou core accidentally."
"But the death of our n..."
"Do you think commoners are all inept?" Louis stared at his subordinate in disapproval.
"N-No, my lord! It’s the opposite! We respect commoners!"
Louis nodded. "Yes. Commoners are not cows or pigs. They are capable of thinking, adapting, and creating their own cultivation thods. Picking up a few Musou skills isn’t difficult. It’s not strange that they can kill those ragtag bandits. To be honest, they deserve it since they resort to plundering our own people."
The knights were silent and thoughtful. They wondered if they could cultivate their common soldiers into knights like them.
Louis read their expressions and sneered.
"If you are thinking about granting your n a cultivation thod, don’t bother. The n are no longer in their pri, and it’s too late for them to awaken a musou energy core. Only one in a million people can awaken a musou aura."
One of the knights ca up with an idea. "My lord. Since that suspicious person might be one of our citizens, should we send soone to recruit him?"
"Not so fast. Bickar, go investigate. If he knows an aura detection technique and reacts to our knights, he’s a spy. If not, he’s a lucky country bumpkin. Protect him and escort him here. We’ll nurture him."
Bickar Nusus, the gray-haired level 4 musou knight, stood up and saluted. He exited the war room to relay his order.
.
The sa afternoon, Bickar Nusus, Bug, and 50 level-three musou knights arrived at Studium’s shack on horseback.
Bug, serving as their guide, rushed to search the buildings, but he found nobody. Panicked, he returned to Bickar and reported.
"T-T-Those spies must have fled, sir!"
Bickar dismounted and stood in front of Studium’s shack. His eyes scanned the ground, the extinguished campfire, and small pieces of pots. He picked the small piece up and walked around the residence.
Behind Studium’s house was the primitive kiln, where he burned and buried clay pots and jars. So pieces of failed products littered the bottom of the pit.
"Avaritia never employs artisans as spies. They’d rather keep them in their cities." Bickar sighs deeply.
Bug disagreed. He pointed at the trace of combat near Crow’s shack. "It’s not the potter, sir! It’s the young man from this hut! He must be a sorcerer or so sort since he befriended monster crows!"
"Monster crows?" Bickar smirked in ridicule. "Monsters don’t exist, soldier."
"They DO, sir! Have you ever seen fat black pheasants? They gathered around this place when that spy was here. Now that he’s gone, they’re gone too!"
"You drank too much, soldier."
"I’m sober, sir!"
Bickar rolled his eyes. He didn’t believe in Bug, who was only good at looting and bullying the weak. He returned to the front of Studium’s shack and pointed at the ground.
"I see wheel tracks heading west. We’ll follow the trail. As for you, soldier. Go ho. We’ll take it from here."
Bug’s expression turned ugly, yet he saluted. While silently cursing Bickar, he turned around and returned to Frogine Fortress by himself.
Bickar watched the scout leave and shook his head in disappointnt. He mounted his warhorse and gazed at his 50 subordinates.
"We’ll follow the rumored commoner’s trace. If we’re lucky, we might catch up with them!"
The knights roared and adjusted the reins. They galloped west, pursuing Crow and Studium.
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