Episode 91
“What did you say? The major is going to dress as a woman?”
When Ejekail first proposed dressing as a woman as a means for the infiltration operation, Peder frowned as though he had heard something he never should have.
“Major, no matter how you look at it, you don’t have the appearance for women’s clothing. Never mind your face—how are you going to hide that build? Anyone would see you and think you’re a man in a dress.”
“We have to consider the possibility that things won’t proceed according to plan. If a situation arises where the doctor has to fall into their hands, we can’t truly hand her over. I’m securing her cooperation by promising her safety in my name. Depending on how things go, I’ll subdue them, or if someone has to be kidnapped for the operation, I’ll be the one taken.”
“No… but how do you intend to hide your height and physique, Major?”
“Fortunately, the doctor is tall. If we have her wear high-heeled shoes and layer her in bulky, thick winter clothing, it should be enough to deceive the eye at a glance even if we switch places later. I don’t intend to fool them for long. I only need them to let their guard down for a moment.”
“Suppose we somehow deal with the build—what about your face?”
“…I’ll have to explain the meaning of the operation properly and ask the doctor to be sure to wear a veil.”
The arrest operation itself depended on Polina’s efforts, but if there was one thing he felt most apologetic toward her for, it was this. Forcing Polina, who did not dwell on the burns on her face, to wear a veil.
However, for Ejekail to naturally switch into Polina’s place, it was the best possible method.
Thankfully, Polina accepted all of Ejekail’s requests. She set out on the journey wearing high heels, with layers upon layers of clothing to greatly bulk up her frame, and with a red wig and black veil over her head.
Because there might be spies watching his recent movements, Ejekail deliberately did not join the party seeing her off and sent Mongkam ahead first. He remained in Cleris, showed himself at official functions a few times, dealt with some of the work that had piled up during his long absence, and only then belatedly slipped out of the capital.
Since the necessary baggage had already been loaded onto the carriage and sent ahead, he took only the bare minimum of military gear and rode at full speed. Thanks to that, it was easy to catch up with the advance party, whose pace had slowed due to their large numbers.
Under cover of night, he quietly joined Polina and Mongkam. Then, at a point where an ambush was expected, he disguised himself as Polina and waited for the enemy. During that time, Polina hid in a concealed space made by remodeling the inside of the carriage.
But in the end, every ambush failed. The bastards did not show so much as the tips of their noses. Ejekail gathered his subordinates, who had come up empty-handed again and again, and called an emergency meeting.
“It doesn’t look like they noticed the trap and backed off. It seems they have no intention of attacking on the road at all.”
“Even if Akenaus has joined their side, with his abilities he wouldn’t be worth even one man. Maybe if it were on his own country’s soil, but on foreign land, I doubt he can openly pick a fight first. It’s not as if the atmosphere is chaotic because of wartime, either.”
“Right. Just as we tried to catch them off guard, they’ll be trying to catch us off guard as well.”
Their opinions were in accord.
Ejekail revised the operation. If a battle would not take place outside the city, then the inside of the city also had to be included in their area of vigilance.
Through Mongkam, he gave instructions that whenever they chose lodgings at an inn, Polina was to be assigned a room on the top floor without exception. Then he separately led the subordinates he had gathered and busily moved back and forth between both sides. He sent the men operating as a detached unit to scout the surroundings, and when he returned to the main party, he imitated Polina. He climbed the wall and hid on the roof, and when Polina, having received the signal, opened the window for him, they changed clothes. He repeatedly checked the food and bedding for anything suspicious in Polina’s stead, then slipped back out again.
And at last, in this place, he caught the bastards by the tail.
Ejekail personally tasted the food and wine first, and recognized the traces of Rothernum his tongue remembered. As agreed upon in advance, while his subordinates and the servants raised complaints and grievances to distract the enemy, Peder quietly left the dining room, went up to the bedroom, carried Polina on his back, and escaped to the roof.
However, even if they could secretly get Polina out alone, if all the servants suddenly emptied out of the inn, there was a high chance they would be discovered. He stationed his subordinates in each bedroom where the House Valdemaera servants were staying, so they could prepare for the attack that would soon occur.
As expected, one spy slipped into Polina’s bedroom. Ejekail held his breath and pretended to be asleep, then blocked the bastard’s vision with the blanket and hurled himself forward.
The spy whose throat was being strangled rolled his eyes back white and fainted.
A war hero who had achieved many feats was, in the end, a butcher who had learned the most effective way to kill people. Ejekail picked up his rifle and drove a bullet into the spy’s temporal lobe. A motionless target was something he could shoot even with his eyes closed. The spy’s unconscious body convulsed violently, then soon went still.
Ejekail held a bullet between his lips, poured in gunpowder that had been divided into single-use portions, then spat the bullet in. As soon as he finished loading by striking the butt of the rifle against the floor out of habit, the door shook. It was obvious that the bastards who had heard the suspicious gunshot were trying to force their way in.
Bang!
The muzzle burst into flame in an instant. A spy with a hole blown through the center of his forehead fell backward. Black shadows leaped in, scrambling over the comrade who had become a corpse in the blink of an eye. It was clear what they were trying to do: use the man at the front as a sacrifice and rush him without giving him time to reload his rifle.
However, if they were going to push with numbers, he had the darkness on his side. He had not closed the shutters for nothing.
While dark adaptation bought him a little time, Ejekail quickly checked the positions of the muzzles aimed at him out of the corners of his eyes. Reflexively lowering his body to throw off their aim, he drew his thick machete and slashed one man’s thigh.
Swiftly, surely, efficiently.
An enemy had to be killed swiftly, surely, efficiently. With a sharp gaze, Ejekail calculated his path of movement. He snatched the man staggering from the cut to his thigh and used him as cover in front of him, then seized his rifle. With only one arm, he aimed the rifle and shot one spy in the head. Return fire immediately followed.
When the gunfire ceased, the body of the spy Ejekail had seized as a hostage went limp. Ejekail immediately discarded the dead man and charged at the enemy, swinging the bloodthirsty machete without hesitation.
Something strange was happening outside.
The signal that the woman had been captured alive had not even come yet, but bang, bang, bang—the gunshots rang out without pause.
The operation Levian had envisioned was not supposed to be this noisy. There were many ways to quietly kill enemies who were sprawled out in a drugged haze or who had fallen asleep. Wasn’t a human life something that could be cut short like a rotten rope, so long as breath was stopped or enough blood was spilled?
Guns were the last resort. If the sound of firearms being fired indiscriminately rang out from a high-class inn in the city, it would surely draw the attention of the nearby houses. So he had ordered them to use knives as much as possible, and to fire guns only if the situation allowed no other choice.
By the time the guards mobilized after receiving a report that gunshots had been heard, they were supposed to have taken the woman hostage and left the inn. If corpses suddenly poured out of a high-class inn, and a considerable number of those corpses belonged to the famous, ever-so-famous king’s army, the country would surely be thrown into quite an amusing panic.
That was the result that should have occurred if things had proceeded according to Levian’s plan.
But there were far too many gunshots. Between the bursts of gunfire, the sounds of frantic running and shouting mixed together chaotically. Dealing with everything neatly without anyone being the wiser was already out of the question. No matter how he listened, that was a full-fledged battle between both sides.
Where did it go wrong?
Where did they catch on?
“What is going on? I need to go see.”
Levian gripped a loaded rifle and rushed out of the temporary operations room they had prepared by emptying the innkeeper’s bedroom.
“Wait, wait! I’m coming with you!”
Akenaus hurriedly chased after him as well. Unlike soldiers, Akenaus had never been professionally trained in killing, nor did he know how to properly use a gun or a knife. Only by sticking firmly to Levian, who was a soldier, could he at least preserve his one life.
“…Anna, something must have gone wrong with their plan.”
All the eyes watching the hostages had disappeared. They had grown careless, thinking that two women with their limbs bound could be left alone by themselves for a short while without issue.
Her judgment was swift. Madam Serva lay flat on the floor and bit at the knot binding Anna’s ankles with her mouth. The taste of blood rose between her aching teeth, but she worked at it with such tenacity that it made one wonder where such strength had come from. It was a small stroke of luck that because the rope was thick, the knot was thick as well, and the gaps were not too tight. Whether her face was cut or not, she persistently bit and pulled, and the knot slowly loosened.
Once there was room to move her ankles, Anna also flailed her feet and helped Madam Serva. Did they not say that when a person was driven into a crisis, they could exert a miraculous strength? She wanted to believe those words.
Anna twisted her ankles with all her might, making space for her heels to slip out. After her relentless struggle, her shoes finally came off. As the volume of her feet decreased, her heels slid right out through the narrow opening. Her skin was scraped red, but both her legs were free.
Madam Serva whispered urgently.
“My knees hurt anyway, so I can’t run. So leave me here, Anna. Hide somewhere well, then look for a chance to escape outside.”
With her face wet with tears, Anna shook her head fiercely. They had been taken together, so they had to leave together too.
She looked around, discovered the candle burning in one corner of the room, and brought the rope binding her wrists over the flame. It was the fire Levian had lit when night fell and the room grew dark.
The flickering flame burned away at the rope little by little. When her arms trembled because it was hard to stand still in such an uncomfortable posture, the candle flame swept over her wrists. Even so, Anna did not notice the pain and burned the rope to the end.
At last, the rope snapped.