Episode 65
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Hebron raised a cavalry force. By adding more horses to the war horses and cavalry left by the cavalry of Srein, a cavalry force of 50 men was formed. The leader of the cavalry force was the knight Adol.
Groups larger than a certain size had to learn the same martial arts. A group that attacked in unison not only provoked fear in the opponent, but also had excellent fighting power.
“From today onwards, you will learn new swordsmanship. Forget what you have learned before.”
Knight Adol took charge of the training of cavalrymen and taught them swordsmanship.
Zero-style aura sword.
Unlike the name of the swordsmanship that emphasized aura, the Zero-style Aura Sword was a swordsmanship for knights who were naturally lacking in aura. Since the sword’s power was increased with just a small amount of aura, the distribution and use of aura were important. As it was a rather delicate swordsmanship, it could be burdensome for those who were not accustomed to aura training.
“Those who have mastered swordsmanship will be guided by the lord.”
The soldiers’ eyes sparkled. They knew what it meant to meet the lord. I modified the swordsmanship a little bit to fit each soldier’s talent and potential, and the effects became more evident as time passed.
‘If you raise him well, he will be more than capable of keeping the Knights in check.’
Unfortunately, there were no knights in Hebron. The knights, also known as the gold-eating hippopotamus, were a symbol of high nobility. Even among the same counts, the status of a family that had a knights and one that did not was as different as heaven and earth.
Hebron’s power exceeded that of the barons who held the knights, but such calculations were only valid within Hebron.
‘If you have enough money, it’s not a big deal to change a cavalry unit into a knighthood.’
All that was needed was to arm them with sturdy armor and expensive weapons. That alone would have made the surrounding territories feel safe, thinking that Hebron had a knighthood.
‘Where can I get the money… … .’
I looked over the report Amy had brought. The first half was about ways to cut expenses, the middle half was about short-term projects, and the last half was about long-term projects. And the last few pages were a list titled, “Get Rich Quickly: 70% or More Chance of Failure.”
‘The higher the risk, the higher the return.’
The most absurd method among them was to disguise slave soldiers as bandits and attack other territories. The problem was that there were many bandit incidents related to Hebron, so there was a high possibility that they would be caught.
‘How nice it would be if there were a real gold mine in Hebron.’
The development of the gold mine in the wasteland ended in an incident. News of the discovery of undead in the wasteland was reported to the royal family of Zenon, along with the existence of a suspicious bandit group believed to be connected to it.
Shortly after the news was relayed to the royal court, Gaius, the royal inspector who had been appointed as the exclusive administrator of Hebron, was dispatched, but he could obtain no evidence. All he could guess was that the undead had appeared based on the soldiers’ testimonies, the black ash, and the faint dark magic detected by the priests.
-The Count of Hebron has destroyed the Durahan!
-The Hebron Count has set out to subjugate the undead in the wasteland!
Both were false rumors based on truth. Everyone saw Dullahan burn in the pillar of fire spewed out by the superior fire spirit, so it wasn’t completely false.
The troops sent out from Hebron roamed the wasteland searching for any remnants of Srein, but even the soldiers knew that their primary mission was to search for the undead.
Thanks to your quick response, the danger in the wasteland of Hebron has disappeared. I wrote down the details and reported them to Gaius, the royal inspector who was relieved of his workload, and he praised me.
“You did a great job. Thanks to you, I’m smiling these days.”
“It was for Zenon.”
“I know your loyalty well. But be careful. These days, there are people who are trying to harm you.”
There was always dissonance involved in creating rumors, because it created an atmosphere where people could talk freely.
“What do you mean when you say, ‘I’m sorry…’?”
“I heard you’re a warlock who commands the undead.”
It was a harsh remark, but it was wrong. Now that I think about it, I wonder if a warlock could even command the undead. They were just wizards who dealt with death, and raising the undead was the domain of necromancers.
In the world, black magicians and necromancers were considered the same. Even magicians showed no interest in black magic. It was because there was no benefit to studying magic that was forbidden by the royal family.
“Who said such nonsense?”
“We are a bandit group.”
“Did you catch them?”
“Xenon’s eyes are everywhere.”
Judging by their reaction, it seemed that they had not been able to destroy them all at once. The Hebron soldiers had deliberately let them go. They had left them to scatter.
I hoped they would return to Slane someday so I could move on with the next script I had written.
“They will not hesitate to lie to survive. They want to blame me for everything. As the report says, there is a possibility that the bandits are not connected to the undead. It could be that this whole thing started in the dungeon where the descendants of Sardia lived.”
“I think so too. But aren’t those bandits a nuisance? With so many troops, they dare to touch Zeno’s property. It’s unacceptable.”
I didn’t like Gaius’s reaction. He tried to deviate from my script. It was because I didn’t fully understand Gaius and I didn’t win his favor.
“… … Have you checked the Slane sword technique?”
“According to the knight who caught the bandit, it is highly likely.”
There was no point in me talking to him. Gaius had to think for himself and lead the way to create a link between Srein and the bandits.
Just then, a hawk flew out the window. The bird must have realized that there was someone else in the office besides me, so it circled around once or twice outside the window before turning back.
Just by the scarlet string tied to Bimae’s ankle, I could guess the general situation.
I bent down and whispered softly.
“You’ve probably heard the news that the undead have appeared in Srein?”
Gaius just looked at me without showing any reaction. It seemed as if he was suspicious of me.
I leaned back on the sofa and drank tea. As I drank the tea, which had a savory taste and a sweet aroma, I felt my mind clearing up. My head, which had been a little messy, became clear.
I continued speaking calmly.
“They say there are no people on the streets of Srein these past few days. The people of the territory have locked their doors and are staying inside their homes. There is a rumor going around that a zombie that looks like a person has appeared and if you get bitten by it, you will turn into a zombie.”
“Is that true?”
The rumors were true.
I was the one who started that rumor, and I was the one who made the people of Yeongji terrified.
“I heard this from the Serpens merchants. In addition to the Serpens merchants, merchants of a certain size have evacuated their merchants from the Slane Viscounty. Rumor has it that even if you can enter the Slane Viscounty, it is now difficult to leave.”
In fact, the Serpens upper house strengthened the control of entry and exit to the territory. Merchants belonging to the Serpens upper house were barely able to escape by bribing. I couldn’t figure out the reason, but I made a special reason for them.
The bandit’s corpse, which had been hidden in the dark space, was returned to his family, resurrected as a zombie.
That scarlet string meant that the commotion in the Slane Counties had come to an end.
‘To be able to handle that, that’s quite a feat.’
Count Srein tried to keep his involvement with the zombies a secret, because of the zombies’ true identity.
Since the soldier who was acting as a bandit turned into a zombie, in order to reveal the truth about this incident, the bandit group’s activities had to be revealed as well. That was not a decision that was favorable to Count Srein.
“I should check it myself.”
Gaius did not spare himself.
Although he was considered to be of poor quality, he was not like other nobles who would just give orders from behind. I didn’t hate him for that.
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“The timing is not good. It would be best if you accompanied a priest from the Haryan Order.”
There would be no trace of the undead left in the Srein garrison. The soldiers who were turned into zombies and sent in would have been burned, and the mouths of those involved would have been firmly shut.
It wasn’t like priests could defeat the undead. The undead were known to be vulnerable to divine magic, but that was only true for those who had mastered offensive magic.
The priests of Haryan were specialists in healing.
The priests of Haryan could only read the traces of the undead. They felt the aura of death that the undead left behind.
“… … The high priests of Haryan have gathered in the capital regarding the issue of the branded monsters. This is a confidential matter and must not be revealed to the outside world.”
‘Something different is going on.’
If a powerful monster appeared in the capital, it was the royal knights, not the priests, who had to step in. Minor injuries could be easily treated with potions, and the royal palace also kept high-level potions that could even reattach severed limbs.
‘There are two possibilities. Either an incurable disease has struck the royal family’s noble bloodline, or there are numerous injured or sick people. In either case, the royal authority of Zenon could be shaken.’
I couldn’t let the Zenon royal family fall into chaos in the current situation. Since I had decided to side with the Duke of Breio, the only ally that could stand against me was the royal family.
“Trust me, Your Majesty.”
However, I was not in a position to support the royal family. I was only a Viscount, and I could not know anything about the royal family unless Gaius came forward and asked for help.
I too was in a desperate situation. The fate of Hebron was at stake in this matter, and if even a small flaw was caught, it would be over. No, before that, the plan I had laid out could have been ruined.
– A wild dog that devoted its life to a hunter was abandoned in its later years and driven out to the wasteland. Every night, the wild dog cries out for its hunter, and their cries cause sandstorms in the wasteland. So don’t cry in the dark of night. The cries of the night are the cries of a wild dog. The sandstorms may swallow you up.
The incident of the undead appearing in the wasteland was intertwined with this fairy tale. It was an old oral tale whose origin and origin are unknown. It was passed down from adult to child, and when the child became an adult, it was told to the child again.
There were rumors that the Wild Dog of the Wasteland was not the Duke of Sardia. This was not a newly made up hypothesis. Before the descendants of Sardia were discovered, people thought that the Dog of the Wasteland was a descendant of Antaria.
‘Because Sardia was destroyed less than ten years after the fall of the Kingdom of Antaria.’
The two periods strangely overlapped. Geographically, they were so far apart that I had never thought of linking the two forces together.
‘There are also records of contact between the Duke of Sardia and the Antaria Resistance before their downfall.’
I’ve read countless confidential documents at the Breyo dukedom. It was an accomplishment I had made before being banished to the attic.
At that time, my mother and other retainers would brag about me and praise me as I memorized books and documents as soon as I read them.
‘Unfortunately, now is not the time. A powerful information network is needed to reliably control and manipulate a large amount of information.’
Now that the board has been shaken, the immediate need is to look into the situation in the area surrounding Hebron.
I decided to keep Gaius as close as possible. He had the royal intelligence agency called the Eye of Zeno, which could provide information I could not access.
