Banreung Expedition (3)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠“…….”

Azadine did not know what expression to make at Prince Kalintz’s reaction. He understood why Jan and the other Northern Aragasa fellows liked this prince.

“In any case, I do not have to listen to the Wisdom Order’s orders. But if I write you a pass, that means I am openly rebelling against the Wisdom Order. I dislike that too.”

“Then write a pass for the investigation team. Put Niselda down as the investigation team leader, and if a problem arises later, you can make the excuse that you never expected me to go with them. Would that not be enough of an excuse for the Wisdom Order?”

“Ah, there was that method. How clever. But Niselda means Niselda the half-vampire, right? Are you close enough that I can write the pass in her name?”

Prince Kalintz said that and issued the pass exactly as Azadine requested.

“I did write it for you, but what are you planning to do?”

“I am going to crush Banreung Academy and the dwarf mafia bastards, and investigate Elemental Wailing a little.”

The Sun of Seon-u. An unknown object said to be able to overcome Fimbulbert was related to Elemental Wailing.

It was a chance to investigate that while also obtaining information about Giacomo’s daughter.

Originally, these were tasks he had threatened Chashan into doing, but it seemed Chashan had made up his mind to resist Azadine to the bitter end, even if he died.

“If someone else said they would crush dwarf sorcerers, it would sound like nothing but madness, but it is different when you say it. Please go easy, at least a little. Do not make the sparks fly all the way to me. You know that writing this pass is different from last time, right?”

Prince Kalintz asked Azadine to confirm.

“I am grateful that you found out Celestial Fire’s secret and shared it with me. But last time, it was a pass within the knight order’s territory, and this time, it is a pass to another kingdom. This time, unlike last time, there is not much for me to gain. I would like you to know that I am issuing this pass purely because of the goodwill we have built so far. If you cause trouble, I will be dragged into it too, so handing over this document means more than simply stamping a seal and issuing one piece of paper. You know that, right?”

“I know. I am grateful, Prince Kalintz.”

“It feels like I had to poke you in the side to get a bow. But if you know, that is enough.”

Only after Prince Kalintz had made a great show of his favor did he hand over the pass.

East of the Southeast Rock Wall, the smuggling road that Azadine’s warlord force had worked hard to construct had changed into something quite plausible.

They had paved a path along a gently sloping cliff, created a cargo slope and stairs for people to travel, installed a huge tower there, and then installed an enormous reduction gear that could lower ropes from the tower to the slope and wind them back up.

When wagons or carts arrived there, they could now be connected to ropes and pulled up the hill or slowly lowered down.

Azadine and Niselda were looking around that smuggling road.

“The construction was done very well.”

Azadine admired the reduction gear and the well-paved mountain path.

Azadine had wanted to supervise it personally, but he had too many things to do, so he had entrusted the construction supervision to others, such as Kallan and Sir Braham.

It had been a situation where he could not have complained even if they had made it roughly, but looking at its current form, it had been built with precision and sturdiness by pouring in the essence of dwarf engineering. A large stone tower supported the reduction gear, and just looking at it made it seem reliable.

“Everyone worked very hard. It is thanks to you, Sir Azadine. Since you presented such an excellent goal, everyone had no choice but to be enthusiastic.”

Niselda said that and gave a bitter smile. Among the people Azadine had decided to take to Banreung was Bernard, who had ties to Banreung Academy.

Bernard was Niselda’s blood relative, her biological father. Bernard and Niselda, this father and daughter, were not connected by any father-daughter affection, only by biological blood ties, and they had no particular point of contact.

That was also what the average family looked like in this era. Poor tenant farmers aside, wealthy merchants and successful noblemen often entrusted the raising of their children to their wives and focused on external affairs.

However, Niselda had become a rare being who was half-human and half-vampire, and Bernard bore responsibility for that too.

Since her upbringing had not been properly carried out and even her life as a human had been destroyed, Bernard had many disqualifying flaws as a father toward Niselda.

Niselda also was not exactly an affectionate person, and since she had long since given up on affection for her father or any expectation of parental obligation, this father and daughter lived in an awkward state.

But this time, when Azadine formed a team to go down to the Banreung Kingdom, they had been tied together as part of the same team.

“Hmm. If not for this matter, Vermilion Fortress and the territory were on a smooth road. After all, there is plenty of money confiscated from Chashan, the drug dealer.”

Bernard said that while glancing at Niselda’s expression. That, again, tormented Niselda. She wanted to tell him to just come out and say whatever he wanted to say, but it was difficult to bring it up.

Yet treating him vaguely was awkward, and somehow, their blood relationship was worse than that between complete strangers. Azadine could also feel the strange atmosphere between this father and daughter.

“I think I made a mistake.”

“Yes?”

“No, it is nothing. Hm?”

Azadine saw the soldiers stationed at the tower anchoring the reduction gear approach him. They were troops from the Southeast Fortress side, and they were also Azadine’s subordinates.

“Sir Azadine! We heard you were coming.”

“Yes. You have worked hard. I came to investigate the disappearance of the caravan.”

“Sir Azadine. This came by carrier pigeon….”

They held out something wrapped in paper to Azadine. It was a letter and a human finger.

“…….”

Perhaps because the finger had been cut with something like a rusty saw, its cross-section was not smooth, and its fingernail had been torn out, with traces of its fingerprints being burned with charcoal. The finger had been cut off after horrifying torture.

Along with it were the demands of Dwarven Arrow and Chashan.

First, hand over the fortress.

Second, reinstate Chashan to his position and compensate Chashan for the money taken from him with 2,000 nyang in Banreung gold coins.

Third, do not prohibit Dwarven Arrow’s drug trade even afterward.

There were also minor demands, such as selling food in large quantities at low prices because food prices had recently skyrocketed, but these were the three biggest demands.

“You are struggling hard to die.”

Azadine grew furious as he looked at the absurd demands and the finger, proof of cruel torture.

It was an intense anger that no one who had seen Azadine until now had ever witnessed.

Dwarven Arrow, this dwarf organization that included Chashan, was effectively the darkness of Banreung Academy and the Banreung Kingdom.

The Banreung Kingdom was supporting an international criminal organization for its own ambitions.

That was Dwarven Arrow. Outwardly, it was said to have been created by Chashan, but in the end, Chashan was nothing more than a puppet of the Banreung Kingdom.

That was why Azadine had kept Chashan alive even by forcing himself to do so, yet this was how he had been repaid. He had acted up twice and been captured twice, yet he still did something like this.

Azadine also bore responsibility for this person’s finger being cut off and for the suffering he had endured, because Azadine had kept Chashan alive.

“What will you do? Judging by the state of the torture, their methods were vicious. They did this while he was alive, while the finger was still attached to his body. It seems they were trying to inflict as much pain as possible.”

Bernard judged that as he examined the state of the finger. If the fingernail had been torn out and it had been seared with fire after the finger had already been cut off, lost vitality, and stopped circulating blood, only that area would have been severely charred and the flesh would have fallen away, without additional damage from blood circulation.

However, judging from the traces of blood being drawn out even after the flesh had fallen away, and the traces of pain spreading around it as blood circulated while the flesh burned, it was clear that the dwarf bastards had done merciless things to Azadine’s merchants.

“Of course I will make them pay the price.”

Together with his troops, Azadine descended along the smuggling road and entered the territory of the Banreung Kingdom.

They had crossed the border, but there were no checkpoints or guards.

Even if it was territory of the Banreung Kingdom, the basin below the Chadra Plateau was a densely forested region where goblins and Bri had lived since ancient times.

Most of those who lived in villages in such places were relay stations created by Dwarven Arrow’s drug smuggling organization.

As soon as Azadine’s group reached a nearby village, armed dwarves sprang out as if they had been waiting.

“As expected! There was no way you would cross into the Banreung Kingdom with a large army! You must be Azadine!”

“We will show you the taste of blunderbusses! You uncivilized human bastards!”

The dwarves sprang out holding loaded blunderbusses. They were overflowing with confidence in their weapons.

This weapon, a matchlock gun with a flared muzzle called a blunderbuss, fitted with a long bayonet, was too heavy for anyone but dwarves to handle, but this ten-man platoon could even bring the charge of an elite knight order to a standstill.

‘Fighting a Tercio is suicide.’

Even Scott, who would be second to none in confidence, had said that, but this blunderbuss formation was evaluated as an even more terrifying formation than that Tercio.

For that reason, blunderbusses were not allowed to be leaked outside the Banreung Kingdom. The fact that they had brought out these weapons was an act of not hiding that Chashan was being sponsored by someone influential in the dwarf royal family.

Their judgment was that if they completely subdued Azadine’s group here, they could hide the fact that a dwarven blunderbuss unit had intervened.

However, when Azadine snapped his fingers, a figure appeared behind the dwarf sorcerers. It was Niselda.

Shadow Leap, a magic that moved from shadow to shadow through the shadow realm, was Niselda’s specialty as someone with vampire blood.

—Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon, Twilight Step!

Azadine also appeared beside the dwarves.

“Huh?!”

—Boom!

—Crack!

Niselda drew side swords in both hands and slaughtered the blunderbuss soldiers.

Though the dwarves were thickly dressed in chainmail and gambesons, Niselda’s side swords pierced their faces.

Azadine swung the Blue Executioner and struck the blunderbuss soldiers, sending the dwarves’ forearms and necks flying.

Originally, Azadine had preferred to subdue opponents without killing them or inflicting fatal wounds whenever possible, but because of Chashan’s provocation, he was in a state of rage.

When the enraged Azadine and Niselda entered among the dwarves and rampaged, the blunderbuss formation collapsed.

And spiders made of blood wriggled among them, forcing the muzzles of the blunderbuss shooters toward the sky.

The spiders Bernard had made with blood magic by drawing blood from the wounds of the injured interfered with the blunderbuss fire.

—Bang, bang!

After making them fire the blunderbusses uselessly, the dead dwarves rose as undead. Scott unfolded necromancy and immediately turned those who had just died into undead.

“Wh-what?!”

“Th-these bastards! Were they not holy knights?”

When blood magic and even necromancy came bursting out, the dwarves were thrown into panic.

“No, you dwarf mafia bastards. You cut off an innocent person’s finger and sent it over, so why do you want your opponent to fight you honestly like a holy knight? Are you the only ones allowed to do bad things?”

Scott sneered.