I went into the command tent to check on all the transceivers. Since each was paired with two others, one here and one at the other camp, I could roughly triangulate the location of each team based on the strength of the mana waves the transceivers picked up. It wasn’t nearly as accurate as satellite-based GPS, but it was the best we could do in this world.
“Oh, come on, why is one of the teams rushing ahead...”
The team moving beyond their assigned section was the same team of Shumar’s retainers who’d returned last yesterday. It consisted of commoners desperate to catch their prince’s attention. I’d been paying special attention to them because I figured they would do something like this, and they had.
“Monza.”
“Yeah?” Monza popped up out of the shadows and walked over to me.
“Send two werewolves to call Team 11 back,” I said with a frown. “They left the forest and entered the wasteland.”
“Why? Weren’t we gonna send them there tomorrow, anyway?”
“Because they’ve gone there alone. Plus, they’re all civilian humans. It’s too dangerous for them out there without guards.”
One of the older men on the team used to be a soldier, but the rest had no combat experience. They were likely to get stranded out there.
“Bring them back here ASAP. This is the second time they’ve disobeyed orders, so tell your guys they can be rough if they need to.”
“Wait, really?!”
Monza looked ready to hunt, so I quickly held out a hand and said, “Hold it. You’re not planning on going yourself, are you?!”
“But, boss—I mean, elder, you always run off alone.”
“Okay, you have a point, but...”
A leader really shouldn’t run out on their own. Man, you remind me of myself. Despite my misgivings, I would later come to thank Monza for running off ahead. Without her, the two survivors of Team 11 wouldn’t have made it either.
A few hours later, Monza returned with the young recordkeeper and the old retired soldier. Judging by when he’d started working at the palace, I guessed the older man was one of Zagar’s old retainers who’d been pardoned. Right now, he was pale as a sheet and barely able to keep his composure.
“I only saw ’em from a distance... It was just one guy who killed the others. He was bare-handed too. Kushum and the others were armed, but their weapons didn’t even...”
According to the old man’s story, the rest of their team went ahead while the recordkeeper was busy writing down the manameter’s readings. Inexperienced teams often made the mistake of splitting up like this. Regardless, those who had gone on were killed by a mysterious man who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“All he did was swing his arm, and he sliced through all of them like he was wielding a sword.”
I don’t like the sound of that at all... The old man and the recordkeeper had hidden immediately, and thankfully, it seemed this mysterious man didn’t have the keen senses of a werewolf. However, their fear had caused them to lose their bearings, and they’d gotten lost during their retreat. Monza had shown up just before they were about to make the monumental mistake of returning to the wasteland and dragged them here.
“I see, so that’s what happened. Well, I’m glad you’re still alive. It’s unfortunate what happened to your friends, but...”
The young recordkeeper shook his head, tears streaming down his face. “No... This is our fault. If we’d just followed orders...”
Well, as long as you’ve learned your lesson. I placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “What matters is that you survived. Now you can take what you learned today and use it in the future.”
Am I starting to sound like one of those old men who dispenses advice to the young? I guess I am old, but still...
I turned back to everyone else and said, “We’re suspending the investigation. Based on the sharp drop in mana where they were last seen, these men likely encountered a Valkaan. Call back all the teams; we’re getting out of here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Everyone stiffened up when I said the word Valkaan. Both the Demon Army and the people of Kuwol knew how deadly they could be. Unfortunately, before all the teams could be recalled, the manameter on my desk started vibrating erratically.
“The mana in the area is starting to dry up...”
“It’s just like what happened when we were in that wasteland, Lord Veight,” the young recordkeeper said, going pale. “It went down to almost zero, and then it suddenly shot up.”
I hefted my Blast Rifle, Ryuuga, and double-checked that it was loaded.
“Someone’s siphoning all the mana in the area,” I asserted. “But once that someone shows up here, the manameter will go haywire because the density of the mana in the area will jump back up.”
“D-Does that mean...?”
Now everyone looked afraid, even the werewolves and werecats.
I gave them all a confident grin and said, “Don’t worry. Even if we’re up against a Valkaan, I can at least buy you enough time to escape. Remain calm. Just continue packing up camp and get ready to leave.”
In truth, I could probably buy only a few seconds against a Valkaan. I had managed to beat Arshes only because Friedensrichter had gravely wounded him. If the Hero had been at full strength, he would have killed me and all of Friedensrichter’s guards in seconds. All my magical tricks were useless against someone with hundreds of times more mana than me. Yet, everyone here believed that Veight the Hero Killer—Veight the legendary Black Werewolf King—could handle even a Valkaan. The only reason they weren’t panicking was because I was here, even if I didn’t want to admit it. I couldn’t tell them I would likely last only a few seconds against a Valkaan. I needed to reassure everyone, or they would succumb to fear.
The problem was, I couldn’t actually buy the time I was claiming I could.
As I tried to come up with a plan, I suddenly realized something. If all I needed to do was buy time, I could become bait. I could draw the Valkaan away from where everyone would be retreating, as he would likely chase the person with the most mana. Of course, once he caught up to me, I’d die, but that would give everyone else enough time to escape. Shumar, Parker, and Friede would surely be able to handle the rest.