Week three of the Kkajan deployment.
“The night air is rather chilly today. Sir Danil, mind you don’t catch a cold. The flu in the North is terribly severe.”
“Yes. I shall be careful.”
‘He came again today? Persistent. So persistent.’
Today, the Grand Prince Raineo appeared with Siril and the Kkajan defense commander, Sir Rudeu, in tow, as though he had come fully intent on his purpose.
Welcoming them with a business smile he had honed against his will, Danil sighed inwardly.
‘But for someone who comes to find fault, he’s strangely kind… No. Get a grip. Why on earth would this man want to get close to me? If I let my guard down, I’ll get my nose sliced off before I know it.’
Danil recalled the conversation he had with Titania during yesterday’s regular report.
[That’s right, Danil. You really are perceptive! It’s a level of perceptiveness that makes me admire you! Anyway, the Grand Prince is a potential enemy! So absolutely! Absolutely do not let your guard down! Got it? You must!]
For some reason, it felt like she put extra weight on the word “perceptive,” but it was probably just his imagination.
Recalling the advice of a Mage Tower political veteran—incomparable to a political novice like himself—Danil steeled his resolve.
‘Sigh. Times like this remind me how much I hate provincial business trips. This is a remote place where there’s not a single ally to rely on, so I can’t even complain to anyone.’
Danil clicked his tongue.
‘Tsk. If those regular employees hadn’t caused an accident, none of this would have happened. What kind of suffering is this, all because of the mess they made?’
Danil decided to relieve this stress with marshmallows.
“Come out, you brats. It’s time to get to work.”
“Ukya-kyak!”
The summoned imps seemed to make fierce faces, but it was probably his imagination.
*
Imp workers descended from the sky.
It sounded like nonsense, but this was actually happening in Kkajan.
“Ge-ge-gek!”
“Ukya-kya!”
The imps were professional workers.
They skillfully wielded shovels and rakes, clearing away snow and dismantling icicles.
Moving in perfect order at Danil’s command, the imps’ work speed was truly astonishing.
Miscellaneous tasks that would take an average company half a day of hard work to complete were resolved in less than an hour.
“Who would have thought experience in civil support would help this much.”
When you’re sent on deployment as an armed contractor, you’re bound to experience all sorts of incidents and accidents.
Going to hunt monsters and then cleaning up the damage caused by those monsters was nothing unusual for Danil.
For Danil, who had spent eight years like that, this level of work was as easy as eating cold porridge—familiar and effortless.
‘As expected, I’ve grown in this area too.’
Using them, he could tell.
Handling imps had become easier than before.
In the past, he had to move them with individual instructions; now it was as if they moved immediately the instant he thought.
He could guess the reason.
Thanks to his refined mana control ability, his synchronization performance with the imps had improved compared to before.
‘When I get back, I should get Chief Titania a proper gift. Would a frost black tea set do?’
At the thought of enjoying plenty of delicious marshmallows today as well, Danil trembled with anticipation.
“Alright, next is over there. Move quickly, quickly. Hurry!”
“Kkik!”
Thanks to the teamwork of the imps doing grunt work and the mage enjoying marshmallows, the streets of Kkajan began to return to normal quickly.
*
“Remarkable.”
Rudeu, who was guarding Raineo and watching Danil, exclaimed in admiration.
What Danil was showing was truly astonishing.
“Labor more coveted than firepower. Hehe. It’s truly been a while since I’ve seen such a thing.”
“You covet that more than firepower?”
Raineo couldn’t understand.
He worked quite well, but that was it.
If it were flashy magic, he might have understood, but he simply couldn’t comprehend why something so mundane was coveted.
“Hehe. It is not unreasonable for the Grand Prince to not understand. You are a monarch. You are bound to see things differently than a soldier like me.”
Rudeu began to explain to help him understand.
“War is total war. The power to crush the enemy is important, but the power to sustain one’s allies must not be overlooked either. The power to eliminate defeat. What you are seeing now is that kind of power.”
“The power to eliminate defeat? That?”
“Yes.”
Rudeu nodded.
“In war, victory and defeat do not result immediately like a coin toss. Numerous factors that lead to inevitable victory, and numerous elements that lead to inevitable defeat. All of these accumulate one by one, amounting to nothing more than a final tally.”
The veteran warrior’s gaze fixed on the mage who was wholly absorbed in cleaning the streets with magic (in truth, enjoying marshmallows).
“Talent that seizes victory is fairly common. But talent that eliminates defeat is rare. That mage possesses that rare talent.”
“Labor power is that kind of talent?”
“Grand Prince. Do you know what the most arduous and inefficient task in an army is?”
Rudeu pointed at the imps diligently shoveling snow and clearing trash.
“It is precisely such miscellaneous labor.”
“……!”
“It is not a soldier’s duty, yet it must be done. And such tasks inevitably accumulate fatigue and erode morale. If it is like this in peacetime, what about during war?”
Raineo was silent.
Now he finally understood why Rudeu had exclaimed in admiration at such a sight.
“That is why Sir Danil is remarkable. Supply, repair, logistics—most matters can be resolved with that single spell.”
Rudeu let out a hearty laugh.
“Now I understand why the Grand Prince covets that man.”
“You had noticed.”
“Hehe. Grab anyone in Kkajan and ask. There won’t be a single person who doesn’t know.”
“Sir Danil didn’t seem to know.”
“Hoo. His lack of perceptiveness is a flaw. If he becomes a colleague, I’ll have to give him some education.”
“…I was thinking the same thing, Sir Rudeu.”
The two smiled at each other, then turned their gazes back to the coveted man.
Danil, who didn’t notice even a sliver of the attention pouring down on him, was simply throwing himself into his work.
*
A rumor spread through Kkajan.
It was a rumor juicy enough to be gossip—that Raineo visited Danil every night.
“He visits him every night? Truly devoted.”
“I wasn’t even that intense when I was showering my wife with affection.”
“So that’s why your married life is like that lately.”
“What?!”
People gathered in threes and fives, chattering about this.
The atmosphere of a city on the verge of war was basically rigid and dull.
The rumor about Raineo and Danil was a stimulating topic that had come along after a long time.
The citizens of Kkajan turned their attention to it.
“Looks like the young lord’s drive to collect talent has been triggered after a long time.”
“He’s a talent worth coveting. Didn’t you hear about the demihumans?”
“At this level, he must really be serious about recruiting him?”
“Hmm. Should I dress up my daughter and have her make a dash at Sir Danil?”
“Huh, old man. Are you suddenly talking crazy? Have you grown bold? You’d snatch away the talent the Grand Prince is courting?”
“This friend has zero sense. That’s exactly why we should aim for him.”
“Huh?”
“If the talent the Grand Prince is eyeing becomes my son-in-law, we become a community of shared destiny, so to speak. Then our family’s prosperity is assured, isn’t it?”
“Crazy. Are you a genius?!”
The rumor spread as quickly as a celebrity scandal.
There was hardly anyone living in Kkajan who didn’t know.
Yes. In fact, that was the problem.
That everyone knew.
And this “everyone” held no exceptions.
The enemy was no different.
“Go.”
—Flap!
The messenger pigeon released by the spy soared into the sky.
The pigeon left Kkajan, crossed forests, passed through canyons, and finally arrived at the land closest to the sky.
“I must see the chieftain. Put me through.”
“Yes, sir!”
*
If asked to name the most warlike and cruel tribe among the Iron Scale clans that made up the ruling body of the highland peoples, people would unanimously say the Black Mane Tribe.
It would be no exaggeration to say their lives consisted solely of combat, plunder, and honor.
To them, victory was honor itself.
A horde of mad warriors who deemed it a point of pride and virtue to become intoxicated with blood and frenzy, unscrupulous of means and methods for the sake of victory.
Their chieftain, Kudan, who led them, was no exception.
He had personally cut the throat of the previous chieftain—his own father—to ascend to the position, and had since continued a reign of cruel blood.
The blood-starved warriors followed such a chieftain fanatically, and by now, the Black Mane Tribe could well be considered a pseudo-religious cult following the prophet Kudan.
News that would excite such mad warriors had just arrived today.
“Warrior. I commend you. You have brought good news.”
“Yes! It is an honor, Chieftain!”
A blood-stained warrior knelt at Kudan’s praise.
Those words alone made it worthwhile to have killed a warrior of another tribe and seized the dispatch.
“Huhu. I don’t like that cowardly wretch the Grand Duke, but his son is different. To think he prepared such a gift for me.”
Kudan’s eyes gleamed like a beast’s as he checked the dispatch.
The dispatch detailed Raineo’s night patrol schedule, already standardized like a pattern.
“A gift prepared with such devotion would be foolish to refuse. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“The chieftain’s words are just!”
The warriors inside the tent shouted in unison.
‘It has been a while since I could wage an exciting battle!’
His body burned hot.
He intended to kidnap Raineo with this opportunity.
To the highland peoples, the bloodline of the Northern Grand Duke held value beyond imagination.
First, a hefty ransom could be obtained.
A sum with entirely different digits from ordinary nobles.
If they succeeded in kidnapping Raineo, that ransom alone would bring enough wealth to endure not just this year but until next winter.
But what excited Kudan was something else.
‘The time has finally come for me to be acknowledged as the greatest warrior of the highlands!’
The highland peoples, who had maintained their power through plunder for ages, possessed traditions and culture that outsiders could not understand.
One of them was the belief that capturing the bloodline of an enemy commander was the tribe’s most honorable achievement.
To become the greatest warrior, one had to prove not only the greatest might but also the greatest honor.
Kudan saw this as his opportunity.
An opportunity sent by the heavens to make him the greatest warrior of the highland peoples!
“Everyone, prepare to descend the mountain.”
Kudan slowly stood up, gripping his axe.
Beneath his black beard, fangs like those of a beast were revealed.
“In seven days! We will hold a festival of blood in Kkajan! Kill the weaklings! Capture the Grand Duke’s bloodline protected by the herd! This year, the entire tribe shall spend winter feasting on meat stew!”
“Waaaaah!!!”
A roar exploded.
At the chieftain’s declaration, all tribesmen were frenzied.
To be led to a paradise where they could feast on meat stew all winter—what magnificent words!
The warriors’ morale soared to its peak.
“Feed the wyverns their fill before the hunt!”
“Kyaaaaooo!”
The wyverns caged within the enclosure roared.
Saliva dripped from the mouths of the monsters, anticipating their first meal in a long time.
“Kuhahahahaha!!!”
Kudan’s laughter echoed across the highlands.
A one-week countdown to peace in Kkajan had begun.