Raymond stared blankly at Lucian for a moment, then let out a hollow chuckle.
If he got drunk on excessive confidence, I'd give him a sharp word of warning?
What a ridiculous thought.
Far from being drunk on confidence, he had meticulously considered every variable and even prepared countermeasures for the worst-case scenario.
And all of this had been planned within a matter of seconds after the existence of a mercenary named Sven was revealed.
He was already operating in a realm Raymond could not hope to reach—yet here Raymond was, presumptuously offering advice.
"Ha."
Raymond could barely hold back the laughter bubbling up inside him.
During his service in the Black Lion, he had seen more than enough promising youngsters.
Excluding those cut down early by unfortunate accidents, most of them bloomed along the paths one would expect.
But a youth whose future was this hard to gauge—this was his first time encountering one.
When I return, I should ask Your Highness whether the Third Young Master might be assigned as one of his guards.
To display such depth of composure at only sixteen—this Third Young Master.
What kind of figure would he grow into in the future?
Just watching that future unfold from nearby didn't seem like it would be boring at all.
"…Excellent."
After seeing the results Lucian had brought back, Tristan left him with that brief remark.
The achievements were far too impressive to pad out with half-hearted words, and his position as a rival did not allow him to lavish praise one by one.
That left only a pure expression of admiration.
Fortunately, the people around them seemed able to roughly grasp the extent of Lucian's accomplishments from that single word alone.
Then again, he was a man notoriously stingy with praise—saying even that much was enough to surprise everyone present.
"From now on, I'll entrust the command of the mercenaries to you. I'll take the family knights and inspect the suspicious locations near the border."
As he spoke, Tristan's face looked noticeably more relaxed than before.
Although he had handed the credit over to Lucian, it seemed he was satisfied simply by having the troublesome matter resolved.
"Of course, the area is far too vast for the knights alone to cover, so mercenaries will be needed in some regions. I'll give you a map—deploy them as you see fit."
"Understood. I've heard that the Imperial Liberation Front and monsters are appearing together…"
"I marked them separately, so take a look. The Imperial Liberation Front is in red, the monsters in blue."
Lucian carefully examined the military map handed to him by a knight at his side.
As expected of a border region, the area that needed to be covered was excessively large.
No wonder manpower shortages were inevitable without mercenaries.
With the mercenary issue resolved, things should finally start running somewhat normally from tomorrow. Still, the Imperial Liberation Front alone is a headache—and now monsters too… Hm?
Lucian's brow furrowed as he studied the map.
The zones where the Imperial Liberation Front appeared and the areas where monsters were reported were scattered—and overlapping in several places.
No matter how vast this area was, it made no sense.
Humans and monsters were, by nature, prey and predator.
If they lived in clearly separated territories, that would be one thing—but at such close proximity, conflict was inevitable.
"Brother, is the information marked on this map really accurate? How could those Imperial Liberation Front bastards be appearing in areas where monsters roam?"
"They must've bought some low-grade relic or scattered a scent that repels monsters. With other monsters, maybe not—but the ones showing up now are kobolds and gnolls."
"Kobolds and gnolls? Those two are appearing together?"
Kobolds were bipedal monsters smaller than humans, with canine heads.
Gnolls were likewise bipedal, but with the form of hyenas, their builds a full head taller than humans.
Both types had an excellent sense of smell and were superb trackers, but at the same time were weak against overpowering odors, making them relatively easy to drive off.
"Monsters of similar kinds often cooperate with each other. Just like goblins and orcs are grouped together as greenskins, those two probably share a sense of kinship. Nothing particularly strange about it."
"No. This is extremely abnormal."
Tristan brushed it off as nothing serious, but Lucian's expression grew graver the more he heard.
If they were truly of the same kind like goblins and orcs, that would be one thing—but gnolls and kobolds acting together was no ordinary matter.
"At a glance, they may seem similar, but gnolls and kobolds do not cooperate. If anything, gnolls consider kobolds prey. Far from being lumped together like greenskins, they are fundamentally incapable of coexisting."
"What? Then how do you explain them acting together?"
"As far as I know, there is only one means that can make the naturally impossible possible. You know it as well, don't you, Brother?"
At Lucian's words, Tristan's face hardened.
A heavy silence settled over the office, and no one dared to speak.
After watching the situation for a moment, Lucian had no choice but to voice the answer.
"Magic."
"Watch your words."
The instant the word magic was spoken, Tristan's eyes flashed sharply.
"Magic is not a word to be spoken so lightly. All officially recognized mages are staying in the capital—what reason would they have to come all the way out here?"
"Please face reality. Humans are moving about between monster territories, and races that cannot coexist are acting together. Only magic can make this possible."
"Enough."
As if he didn't want to hear another word, Tristan cut Lucian off.
"Don't blow this out of proportion. The Empire is already in turmoil as it is—magic, of all things. It's frightening to think who might overhear."
"From the start, Father entrusted me with full authority over this matter. You've done well in earning merit, but don't dig too deeply. It's enough for you to command the mercenaries and prepare for any unforeseen incidents."
The moment he finished speaking, Tristan stood up and headed straight for the door of the office.
His attitude made it clear this discussion was over.
Left with no choice, Lucian also rose—but there was one last thing he needed to ask.
"Have you finished interrogating the six captured today?"
"…Not yet."
"Make sure you extract everything you can. You might find the answer to this abnormal situation."
There was no reply from Tristan.
Seeing that, Lucian let out a sigh.
At this rate, rather than properly interrogating them, Tristan might simply silence them by killing them.
It seems I'll have to move on my own.
A bitter smile formed on Lucian's lips.
He had a feeling that this matter would not be resolved easily.
***
"Magic… So things have become far more serious than we thought."
Raymond and the rest of the Black Lions all frowned at once.
When the Imperial Liberation Front and monsters had appeared simultaneously, they had assumed it was simply a case of overlapping headaches.
But to think magic might be involved as well.
As Lucian and the Black Lions all fell silent, Hugo spoke up with an anxious expression.
"Isn't this a major problem? Ever since the mages' rebellion three hundred years ago, the Imperial Court has branded all unauthorized mages as black mages. If word gets out that a mage is involved here…"
"The Imperial Court would move immediately. Even if the mage sensed the danger and fled, there's a strong chance that the royal guards dispatched by the Court would scour the area. In the worst case, the entire Bornholm region could be swept up in a witch hunt."
As a rule, the Empire did not interfere in matters within a vassal's territory unless it was outright treason.
But the moment an unauthorized mage became involved, such conventions were rendered meaningless.
The very existence of an unauthorized mage was treated on the same level as the ringleader of a rebellion.
"Even if Father is aligned with the Emperor's faction, this anti-magic sentiment has persisted for over three hundred years. If magic is truly involved, they won't show any leniency."
"What did the First Young Master say?"
"He seems intent on covering it up for now. I understand his reasoning, but if there really is a mage involved, the damage could spiral completely out of control."
It was indeed a flaw of the Imperial Court that they reacted violently at the mere sight of an unauthorized mage.
But looked at another way, the Court was also the organization with the most experience in dealing with mages.
Ordinary knights, who had never even seen a trace of magic in their lives, might be swept away if things turned dire.
"Still, informing the Imperial Court blindly would be the worst possible move. One misstep, and Bornholm could be completely devastated by a witch hunt."
"That's exactly what I'm saying. We have far too little information to make any judgment yet."
Lucian quietly stroked his chin, sinking into thought.
In his previous life, he had never heard of anything happening in Bornholm.
If the Imperial Court had intervened, even if it wasn't a witch hunt, it would have caused a major stir.
It was clear that Tristan had covered up anything related to a mage.
He must have concealed it thoroughly. The problem is that, because of that, I have no idea what actually happened either.
Judging from the circumstances alone, there were at least two things Lucian could infer.
First, the scale of the incident must have been small enough to be thoroughly covered up.
Second, the outcome hadn't been good enough to dress up as a victory report.
If it had been small enough to conceal, they could have hidden the mage's existence and framed it as a clean victory over the Imperial Liberation Front. The fact that they didn't bother means the result must have been closer to defeat.
Even if they had technically won, it was likely a victory paid for in blood.
In other words, if things proceeded according to Tristan's approach, the cover-up might succeed—but the outcome itself would be far from satisfactory.
This was a situation where Lucian needed to intervene somehow and change the overall direction of the plan.
After pondering for a long while, Lucian finally let out a sigh and stood up.
"First, we need to gather information. There's far too little to work with to plan anything."
"Are you thinking of interrogating those Imperial Liberation Front guys? But the First Young Master won't allow that."
"Who said anything about going to them?"
At Raymond's question, Lucian replied with a smile.
"If we're going to squeeze information out of someone, it's better to go for a freshly caught, lively one than a guy who's been rotting in a cell for half a day. With platinum coins already put up as performance bonuses, let's look forward to the mercenaries' sky-high motivation."
No matter how freely they'd come and gone around the fortress as if it were their own home, they wouldn't yet realize how drastically the security net had been tightened.
At least one of them would be caught within two days.
Until then, all Lucian had to do was calmly command the mercenaries and wait.
End of excerpt.
The forest surrounding the walls of Bornholm Castle was known to the people as the Yellow Forest.
The branches of the towering trees were so dense that the smaller trees beneath received no sunlight and withered away entirely.
The forest, carpeted with shriveled yellow leaves, exuded an even more eerie atmosphere at night.
In this Yellow Forest—normally shunned because monsters frequently passed through it—two shadows flickered.
"Stop. When lightning strikes from the heavens."
"The criminal upon the jade throne shall be punished. It's me—comrade."
After exchanging the passphrase, the two confirmed each other's faces and drew closer.
Both wore black hoods and had just entered middle age.
They had served together in the Imperial Liberation Front for over a decade since their youth, so each was already well acquainted with the other's presence.
"What's this sudden summons about? Just a few days ago, we agreed to focus on our respective tasks to move the plan forward."
"That's precisely why. Things have gone awry. I hear that the negotiations between the Valdeck family and those mercenaries who'd been dragging their feet until now were concluded today."
"What? No—how on earth? That wasn't something that could be resolved in a day or two. Don't tell me they agreed to whatever price the mercenaries demanded?"
"Unlikely. From what I hear, someone from the main family wrapped up the negotiations in a single day. It seems the Archduke sent one of his close aides as a facilitator."
"Hah… unbelievable. Just who could that be?"
Faced with this unforeseen bad news, the man on the right frowned.
To untangle such a stubborn, drawn-out negotiation in one stroke—he must be one of the Archduke's favored strategists.
If such a close confidant had been dispatched, did that mean they had already caught on to the plan to some extent?
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