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As the war slowly drew closer, preparations continued in the port city of Berwick.
The military prince’s forces were strong, and on top of that, half of the Knights of the Black Dragon had betrayed Lance, greatly diminishing his army.
Thankfully, Millicia had joined Lance’s camp. She was a skilled priestess who was kind, compassionate, and even beautiful, which made her very popular among the masses. Ever since arriving in Berwick, she had been using her Sacred Arts to heal the sick and the wounded, which had garnered her even more support. Thanks to that, all the people she’d healed were now redoubling their efforts to make Lance the next emperor, thinking it would help Millicia.
The final preparations for battle were progressing steadily.
While the town was beginning to unite as one, unsettling moves were being made behind the scenes.
“I’m here.”
“Oh, finally. Please, enter.”
It was the middle of the night. On the second floor of a certain office on the main street of Berwick stood a room belonging to the man who controlled the Merchants’ Guild of Berwick—Abus.
“I have been waiting for your arrival. Please, have a seat,” Abus said to his guest. He had a cheerful smile plastered on his face, and his fat stomach, a show of his wealth, wobbled every time he moved.
However, the black-hooded guest didn’t sit as suggested. The attire alone made them look suspicious, but they were also wearing a white mask to conceal their age and sex.
“Why did you call me?” the masked person asked.
Abus was unsettled by the emotionless voice of his guest, but he continued to smile nonetheless. “I want to accept your previous offer and join Prince Arthur’s side.”
The masked individual was a subordinate of the first imperial prince, or to be more precise, a member of the Ladies of the Lake, the name given to the disciples of Merlin the Great Mage.
Abus had been offered a deal to join Arthur’s side previously. In exchange for betraying Lance, he would be guaranteed to keep his current position and wealth after the war, and would later be named the new governor of the city.
Until now, Abus had been putting the offer on hold. While the reward was very attractive, he hadn’t been ready to commit to betrayal. After all, it would end badly for him if his treachery was discovered, and even if everything went smoothly, traitors were not viewed favorably. For a merchant, losing people’s trust was fatal.
Still, that doesn’t mean that I should stay on a sinking ship. Prince Lance has been good to me, but I don’t want to die for someone so foolish, Abus grumbled in his head.
Abus had finally decided to take the plunge after the betrayal of the Knights of the Black Dragon’s captain, which had drastically lowered Lance’s already small chance of victory. Abus no longer believed that Lance could emerge victorious.
If I’m going to side with the winner, I should do so quickly. It’ll be too late once the war has started. Betrayal before the outcome was decided would leave a better impression than switching sides after defeat had become certain. He would lose some trust, but it was better than being destroyed along with the rest of the town.
“I see. That will make a great report for Master Merlin,” the member of the Ladies of the Lake replied, and Abus felt like they must be smiling behind the mask. However, that slight hint of joy immediately vanished, and they went right back to being emotionless. “However, I hope that you don’t expect to show up empty-handed. You need to prove your loyalty to Prince Arthur with a suitable gift.”
“Naturally. I have just the thing in mind.” To prove his loyalty, Abus decided to sell off the intel he had just obtained. “The noble forces who are currently in the neutral faction will join Prince Lance the day after tomorrow. To avoid spies, they plan to stay away from the main road and travel through a mountain pass.”
“Hmm...”
“The pass will have many places to hide, so I suggest ambushing the neutral faction’s forces before they can reach the city.”
The masked mage pondered Abus’s advice.
A few days ago, one of the most influential nobles of the neutral faction, Count Atlaus, had contacted Lance, saying he would join the prince’s side and send reinforcements.
Count Atlaus had been a neutral party that had refused to side with either Arthur or Lance, but after Caim had saved his territory from wyverns, he had sworn to help Millicia, and thus Lance by extension. He had lost many soldiers to the wyverns, but had managed to convince other nobles from the neutral faction to support Lance along with him.
“The neutral faction’s forces number around twenty thousand. If they were to be added to Lance’s army, which is already fifty thousand strong, they would become a substantial threat,” the masked mage mumbled, thinking over Abus’s proposal. Then eventually, they made their choice. “Fine. We shall try to do as you have suggested.”
“Then...”
“First, we must check the veracity of your intel. If it is true, and we manage to decimate the neutral faction’s reinforcements, only then will you be able to join Prince Arthur’s side.”
“...Thank you.” Abus was displeased by the arrogant attitude of the masked mage. They had invited him and he had accepted, so why did he have to keep acting so subservient?
They’re an unpleasant bunch, but I must endure...
Abus was a merchant. He would join the side that brought him profit, even if that meant buttering them up or licking their boots.
Abus bowed, hiding his true thoughts—all so that he could survive and continue to rise in the world.
“And that’s it. So I need your help, everyone.”
The mage from the Ladies of the Lake joined their comrades after their talk with Abus.
Several individuals wearing black robes and white masks had gathered inside a deserted storehouse on the outskirts of Berwick. All of them were members of the Ladies of the Lake—disciples of Merlin.
“Can we trust what that merchant said?”
“I used Lie Search. He was telling the truth.”
“Then it must be true.”
“The reinforcements must be dealt with before they can join Prince Lance’s army. We are the only ones who can do that right now.”
“Did you receive Master Merlin’s permission?”
“No. Our master is too busy preparing for the war. We can’t bother her with trivialities.”
“Then what about Prince Arthur?”
“His Highness is leading his army here. He wouldn’t make it in time, and the neutral faction’s army would be able to join Prince Lance. We can’t allow that to happen.”
“Indeed.”
“If we did, our master would scold us.”
“Thankfully, our master gave us the right to act on our own if necessary. This should fall within the limits of what we’re allowed to do.”
The mages from the Ladies of the Lake all agreed that Count Atlaus had to be stopped before he could join Lance.
“Abus said they will head through the western mountain pass to avoid being noticed by spies. Unfortunately for them, that makes it easier for us to prepare an ambush.”
“For capable mages such as ourselves, twenty thousand soldiers are nothing.”
The members of the Ladies of the Lake had all been trained by Merlin and were very skilled. True, it would be difficult to kill twenty thousand soldiers with just the ten of them, but they didn’t need to eliminate every single person. Just creating a landslide with magic while the army was traveling through the pass would be enough to stop their advance and scatter the weakest soldiers.
“We could also simply assassinate Count Atlaus. Once he’s dead, the neutral faction is done for.”
“Good idea.”
“Indeed. Let’s go with that.”
“All for Prince Arthur and our great master Merlin.”
“Let’s punish that insolent rebel—Lance Garnet—and all the fools who have sided with him!”
The next instant, the members of the Ladies of the Lake—the elite mages of the Garnet Empire—all vanished, making their move to obliterate Count Atlaus and the neutral faction.