Chapter 59
Chapter 59
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Blood Revenge
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Campbell launched a large-scale search operation using the mercenary corps and hunters.
He investigated the accident site,
and analyzed all the traces left behind.
‘There are forty slave soldiers alone. It’s not just one or two.’
He pinpointed the location where the large group had moved,
and tracked them by following the traces.
And then.
“Ha. Look at these bastards.”
He discovered ashes remaining from a fire.
Weapons and equipment produced in Iron, along with ballistae.
‘One thing’s for sure. They’re not ordinary bandits.’
Regular bandits wouldn’t dispose of valuable goods like this.
So there had to be some other agenda.
Either the downfall of the Island Merchant Group,
or... Elwin’s downfall.
Another round of trace hunting began.
They’d burned the goods here, but the people would have moved elsewhere.
“They’re pretty skilled.”
The job of erasing traces was beyond ordinary.
“But it won’t work against hunters.”
Campbell had confidence.
His combat prowess might be lacking, but in stealth, tracking, and trap-setting,
hunters were the top experts in their fields.
‘The odd thing is... they scattered from here.’
After burning the equipment, they all split up and fled.
Tracking every set of footprints would take a lot of time.
“This time, we’ll backtrack.”
If there were traces of them leaving,
there had to be traces of them gathering too.
The analysis revealed,
‘They gathered separately. Lone wolves? Then why did they band together to raid the merchant group?’
Various questions arose,
but his thinking stopped there.
Hunters specialized in finding traces, not spinning wild theories.
“They scatter from here.”
He assigned hunters to each set of tracks.
He also attached mercenaries to escort them.
Campbell himself took on one set of tracks to pursue.
The destination he reached was,
“A village?”
It was one of the villages in the Frontier Viscounty.
From here on, tracking by traces was impossible.
The footprints had been contaminated by all the villagers passing through.
“Doesn’t mean we can’t find them.”
Everyone’s footprints differ in size.
The shape they leave behind varies too.
From the tracks, you could even tell their stride length.
Campbell and the mercenaries entered the village.
As outsiders arrived, an air of unease spread.
Especially because of the mercenaries’ attire.
At that moment,
“Isn’t that Sir Campbell!”
A militiaman greeted him loudly.
“Oh, it’s been a while.”
Almost no Island hunter didn’t know Campbell.
Especially those in Frontier—all of them did.
“Bandits recently attacked a merchant group.”
“I heard the news.”
“That’s why I’d like to investigate the villagers.”
“...Are you suspecting our village?”
The militiaman took a step back.
And he referred to them not as ‘the villagers,’ but as ‘the village.’
To raid a merchant group, it wouldn’t be individuals—it would take the whole village.
“That’s not it. The bandits scattered a few to each village.”
There were two sets of tracks leading here.
Campbell explained the situation.
Finally, he dropped one name.
“The Heir is furious.”
“The Heir...”
If the lord was the absolute power of the territory,
the heir was the second power—and the future power.
Besides, he’d recently solidified his status as heir.
“I’ll gather the villagers.”
“Thanks for the help.”
With the villagers cooperating, the investigation proceeded smoothly.
First, they planned to narrow it down to those without alibis on the day of the raid.
Then compare footprints,
and finally interrogate.
‘That should reveal the culprits.’
While checking alibis one by one,
the crowd started murmuring.
“Where’s Henry?”
“Winton’s not here either?”
Murmur. Murmur.
Murmur. Murmur.
“Who’s missing? Where are they?”
They sent someone, but couldn’t find them.
With that, they focused the investigation on Henry and Winton.
And then.
‘They were gone on the day of the raid too. And the footprints match.’
They investigated the last sighted locations and began tracking the footprints again.
The same thing happened in the other hunter teams.
.
.
The hunters who had scattered to each village gathered in one place.
At the entrance to Plain City.
Plain City.
The vast plains area of Frontier Viscounty.
Plain City, built there.
It was once Frontier’s largest timber production site,
and now functions as a commercial city.
Small villages that merchant groups don’t visit buy goods from Plain.
That’s why people were still coming and going even now.
The moment Campbell, the hunters, and the mercenary corps tried to enter,
Clack.
The guards blocked them.
“We’re pursuing criminals on the Heir’s orders.”
Even mentioning the Heir didn’t make the guards budge.
Instead, more guards joined to block the way.
“Got proof?”
“What proof?”
“Show us proof of the Heir’s orders.”
Until now, they hadn’t needed any.
Campbell was Elwin’s grandfather,
the hunters were managed by Elwin’s uncle,
and the accompanying Salamander and Chase mercenary corps had territory lord contracts with Elwin.
Their identities themselves were proof of Elwin’s orders.
“We don’t have time. If we stay here, we might lose the culprits.”
“Bring proof. No entry without it.”
The guards’ attitude was strange.
Plain was a commercial city.
Freer access than any village in Frontier Viscounty.
‘But they’re blocking us anyway... means there’s a separate order.’
Campbell glanced back.
The sturdy Salamander and Chase mercenary corps were holding firm.
With their current force, they could break through the guards.
‘They know that too, but still blocking... Could they be hoping for bloodshed?’
To some eyes, it might look like Elwin’s men attacking the city.
‘If a commotion blows up, the merchant raid could get buried.’
Small incidents get overshadowed by big ones.
Campbell, with his long life experience, saw through it.
Campbell left one warning.
“We’ll report everything to the Heir. Hope you can handle it then.”
Then he withdrew with the mercenary corps.
A hill overlooking Plain City.
They took position there.
“Return to the villages you came from. Sketch the culprits’ faces by asking around.”
“Understood.”
“Understood.”
The hunters dispersed.
Campbell stayed on the hill with the mercenaries, watching the city.
Northeast sector.
Elwin’s unit.
Command room.
“Plain?”
Plain was a key city in Frontier Viscounty.
The Piana family managed it.
They were a knightly house, devoted to Frontier for three generations.
‘Grandfather won’t have an easy time with them.’
I wrote a formal order and stamped it with my seal.
‘But... will this be enough?’
If they started nitpicking, it’d never end.
For example, if they suspected forgery?
Entry denied again.
The longer it dragged, the greater the chance of losing the criminals...
“Bring Sir Hans!”
“Yes, sir!”
A moment later, Hans entered.
“You called for me, Heir?”
“Can you manage without me?”
“What do you mean all of a sudden...?”
Turning slave soldiers into engineers,
building temporary forts in monster areas,
controlling monsters with hunters,
luring and eliminating some—
all these operations came from my head.
But the ones executing them were Hans and my uncle.
Now that commanders and soldiers were accustomed to the operations, I wasn’t needed.
I explained what happened in Plain.
“Looks like I’ll have to go myself.”
“So it seems.”
I stood, patting Hans’s shoulder.
“I’ll ensure supplies are fully supported. The front lines are yours.”
“Understood!”
A village on Monster Island.
A man arrived in front of a shop.
He scanned the surroundings before entering.
He didn’t forget to check inside either.
Only after confirming the owner was alone did they exchange code words.
A moment later,
the owner opened the door to the basement.
Thud. Thud.
Each step echoed.
In the enclosed basement, it rang out especially loud.
Thud. Thu...d.
He reached the door and stopped.
Knock. Knock.
“Come in.”
The man entered.
Another man waited inside.
“What is it?”
“Elwin is pursuing our organization members.”
“Our members? Why?”
“Because of the Island Merchant Group raid.”
Silence fell instantly.
In a place where not even wind sounds reached, the quiet felt heavy.
“Brilda pushed too hard, and now it’s come to this... Current situation?”
“They’re hiding in Plain City.”
“Plain? Won’t they be found immediately?”
“The Piana family is blocking...”
Thwack.
The man hurled a stack of papers from the desk.
“You moved the Piana family?”
“It was such an emergency...”
“Now the Piana family’s exposed too. You know that, right?”
“I made up a suitable excuse... I’m sorry.”
The man quickly calmed his excitement.
“No helping it now. Evacuate the exposed ones to Vampire Duke’s territory. And the Piana family... we must protect them at all costs.”
“Understood.”