11 - Battle at the Border Part 2 (POV: Director of the Intelligence Department)
THE beast knights rode out with the knights stationed at the fortress towards the area where the battle was in full swing.
Before he left, Les told me to “look after these guys for me” and entrusted me with several different varieties of animals. The way he talked about them as if they were his children drove home just how much he had in common with Dan.
The mission my men and I faced here was to identify and capture the person in charge of this supposed army.
We melted into the darkness, setting off on our mission, but the sounds of battle all around us were tremendous. There was no guarantee a stray spell wouldn’t come ricocheting straight at us, even if we weren’t its intended targets.
“Proceed with caution.”
We passed the area where the heaviest fighting was and made our way towards the makeshift encampment further back.
Thanks to the land wolves who led our way, we made it without being detected by the enemy.
“You guys are pretty handy… Unlike some people I know…”
Even when we encountered enemies, the land wolves swiftly worked as a pack to eliminate them. Despite the need for stealth, I couldn’t help but praise them in a sarcastic whisper, which caused the subordinates close enough to hear me to complain.
“Whose fault is that, but the person who trained us?”
“No, I’d have to agree, we are rather ineffective… But only because we’re constantly trying to keep up with a certain someone’s unreasonable demands…”
Heh, they really don’t pull any punches, do they, these smart-mouthed brats? Would it kill them to show a little respect to their superiors? Come to think of it, what is that stupidly serious guy doing right now…? He’s the only one who, even while bantering with me, manages to remain respectful.
Well, whatever.
According to information provided by the wind spirits, a large number of people were gathered in a spot a bit further ahead.
We’ll need to slip in undetected and do our best to hobble their defenses.
I’d nearly reached the end of my power as an elementalist during my previous mission. However, Prince Wilhelt had considerately assigned some wind spirits that typically gathered around his holy beast to assist me. The bonded partners of holy beasts were able to command elemental spirits to do their bidding by giving them bits of the power bestowed upon them by God for this exact purpose. So whenever I needed to ask the wind spirits to do something, His Highness provided the power offered in compensation for those favors.
Coming to terms with the fact that I now had access to even greater power than I’d had before losing mine hurt my head. If I messed up, it would be a one-way trip to becoming “fallen” for sure.
“Director, it’s come into sight.”
A massive tent with several light-emitting magical items affixed to it in strategic locations loomed up ahead of us.
“First, let’s determine the distribution of lookouts around the perimeter. Once that’s done, Evans and Rinali, I want you to pretend to be refugees and attempt to make contact.”
Rinali was my trusted subordinate who’d pretended to be my wife in our fake identities while we were undercover in Icoux. Evans had also been undercover in Icoux, so no matter what questions the enemy asked the two supposed “refugees from Icoux,” they should be able to respond without raising suspicion.
Thank goodness I had the foresight to prepare disguises in advance, eh?