Attacking Chen with Adelia (1)
Adelia had ultimately chosen the path of coexistence with me. While the veracity of the information I had passed to her about Chen was being verified, I found myself confined for the second day in an empty solitary cell furnished with nothing but a bed. The wounds from the whipping had been healed instantly after I drank the healing potion given to me by the furious Sinclair that same day, and now they were as good as gone. Adelia had also recovered after drinking a healing potion, and the fact that she had been whipped became a secret known only to Sinclair, her junior officer, and me.
Anyway, as I lay on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling while planning for the future, a knock suddenly echoed through the room. The door opened, and in walked Flavio, Kelly's younger brother. It had been quite a while since I'd last seen him. His face, still brimming with mischief, hadn't changed a bit. I sat up on the bed.
“How did you get in here?”
“You're still alive, huh?” He flashed a grin. Both of his hands held a tray of food—my portion. “My sister kept insisting I check on whether Hyeonu was doing all right, so I got friendly with the lady in charge of the unit's meals over drinks the other day. You look good, color's back in your face. Everything's fine. Nothing special to pass on to my sister? I've got to hand over the tray and leave, so I'm short on time.”
“Wait.” I quickly voiced the plan I'd been mulling over during my two days of confinement. Since I'd succeeded in persuading Adelia, it was time to move on to the next step. “Tell Kelly that I'm safe, everything's been resolved smoothly, and I'll probably be out soon. Also, this is a personal request for you, Flavio. I'll pay you handsomely for the trouble, so could you look into whether there's a decent office space in the city? Something around twenty pyeong.”
“An office, not a house? Planning to start a trading company or something?”
“Just find out for now.”
“That's easy enough. I'll get the info for you right away. Looks like I'm making money for free. Hehe.” Flavio chuckled as he handed over the tray, then added one last thing before leaving. “Oh, by the way, next time we meet, drop the formal speech, big brother. See you.”
Three scouts who had been climbing the mountain through the darkness came to a halt. Through the dense trees in the distance, small lights flickered into view.
“That must be it. There might be patrols nearby, so I'll go alone. You two stay hidden here.”
Leaving his two subordinates in position, the scout captain approached stealthily on his own. A small mountain stronghold came into sight.
“Judging by the size, there are probably around sixty or seventy men.”
The scouting party confirmed only the location of the stronghold before withdrawing immediately. Upon returning to the unit, the captain reported his findings to Adelia.
“The bandit stronghold was exactly where you indicated, Commander.”
“I see. And their numbers? Around seventy?”
“Yes, that seems accurate.”
“No signs of mass-destruction weapons or anything unusual?”
“No notable structures. Only the three watchtowers you mentioned.”
“Understood.”
Not long after the scout captain was dismissed, an interrogator arrived at the office.
“The shopkeeper we captured yesterday has finally confessed to conducting illegal transactions with Chen's bandits and laundering their money.”
“That's good news.” Adelia smiled, recalling the documents about Chen that Hyunwoo had given her two days earlier. There was no doubt they were genuine.
Adelia glanced at Sinclair, who stood to the right of her desk.
“Sinclair.”
“Yes.”
“At midnight the day after tomorrow, we march to subjugate Chen's bandits. Inform all soldiers, including the mages and priests, to complete their preparations by tomorrow evening.”
“Understood.”
“Also, since Hyunwoo's credibility has been proven, lift his confinement immediately and tell him to prepare to depart with us.”
Past midnight, over a hundred soldiers left the city and began marching toward the mountain where Chen's stronghold lay. In the middle of the column walked Hyunwoo and Dana, their robes pulled low over their heads.
“Who are those two?” a soldier marching in the middle asked his comrade, eyes fixed on Hyunwoo and Dana.
“I heard from Lady Velita earlier—they're a mercenary group.”
“Mercenaries? With only that many people? What can two people even do?”
“Dunno. Maybe the commander picked up a couple extra bodies since our unit's short on numbers.”
“What's the mercenary group's name?”
“No idea. Didn't catch it. Seems like nobody knows.”
“Only two of them? Must be a tiny outfit. Think they've got any real talent?”
“Even so, they're proper mercenaries, so they'll at least pull their weight. And if their numbers are small, it could mean each individual's strength is ridiculously high, right?”
The soldier listening snorted and flicked his comrade's helmet.
“Ow, why'd you hit me?”
“Think about it. If they were that skilled, would they be walking with us in the middle? They'd be up front with the commander, not getting this kind of treatment.”
“Huh. When you put it that way…”
The curiosity about the identities of Hyunwoo and Dana, who had suddenly joined the operation, wasn't limited to these two soldiers—every member of the Lion Heart Unit shared the same questions. Some guessed they were just an insignificant mercenary group, others thought they were internal informants from Chen's bandits, and still others speculated they were mages brought along for long-range support.
While the troops marched through the forest path amid such speculation, a massive brown bear suddenly burst from the right side and seized a soldier's leg, dragging him toward the woods.
“Bear! A bear appeared!”
The startled soldiers scrambled to surround the creature. Yet none could deliver a decisive blow to the enormous beast radiating overwhelming pressure. All they could do was keep it contained with spears, preventing escape.
“Lady Adelia! A bear has appeared in the middle group and is causing chaos!”
“A bear?!”
Adelia and Sinclair at the front immediately turned their horses, while the two mages and one priest who had been with them hurried after them toward the middle group.
But someone moved even faster—Hyunwoo.
“I'll handle it!”
The soldiers surrounding the bear stepped back, and Hyunwoo leaped into the encirclement. Spotting him, the bear roared and reared up, swinging its front paws. At the same moment, Hyunwoo slid low beneath the attack. Lying flat as he slid through, he drew his crossbow in that split second and fired three bolts into the bear's chest before passing between its legs and emerging on the other side.
“In-incredible!”
“That speed is unreal!”
The surrounding soldiers gaped in awe at Hyunwoo's dazzling movements. While they were still stunned, Hyunwoo rose like a ghost behind the bear, swiftly drew his double-edged dagger, clenched it in his teeth, and leaped onto the bear's back. Wrapping his legs around its neck, he drove the mana-infused dagger deep into its crown.
Krrroooaaar!
The bear let out a final roar and collapsed backward. Thud! The impact shook the ground like an earthquake.
“……!”
The soldiers' eyes widened as they witnessed Hyunwoo fell the massive bear in an instant. What was that? What had they just seen?
“I-I can't believe it……”
It felt as though they were under a spell. Hyunwoo's movements had been flawless, like a textbook example of bear hunting—efficient, precise, with not a single wasted motion. He hadn't struggled, hadn't missed, and had targeted only the vital points in mere seconds with just a few actions. Slaying a bear single-handedly was no feat for ordinary skill. Bears were creatures that even orcs sometimes fell prey to.
“No wonder it seemed strange. With that kind of ability, of course the commander hired him.”
“So that's why the mercenary group only has two members. With skills like that, two people are more than enough.”
“Looks like they've gathered only the elite.”
It wasn't just the soldiers who were shocked. Adelia and Sinclair, who had just arrived on the scene, along with the soldiers who had rushed over after hearing the commotion, were all desperate to hear the full account from those who had witnessed everything from the beginning.
“What are you doing?”
While the area buzzed with commotion, Dana approached with a puzzled tilt of her head as I sat before the bear's corpse, methodically carving into it. I swallowed my saliva and smiled.
“I'm securing some food.”
“Food?”