Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: 10. Hero of the Border (1)
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Cron, who was in overall command here, had tried several times to give his report, but each time Raymond was deeply immersed in his sword training, leaving no room for interruption.
"Imperial Knight Felton, Your Highness. Sent by His Majesty the Emperor."
"By His Majesty the Emperor?"
"Yes, 5th Prince."
Felton bowed his head politely in response to Raymond's question.
Raymond had expected that since the 5th Prince, connected to the 3rd Imperial Consort, had gone missing in the Black Mountains, they wouldn't mobilize a large army due to diplomatic issues but would at least send elite Imperial Knights renowned for their skill.
But this was much faster than anticipated. He'd thought it would take at least a week longer, so the fact that the Imperial Knights had moved this quickly suggested something major had happened in the Imperial Capital or the north.
"Is something wrong?"
"I intended to report directly to Sir Cron..."
Felton raised his head. Under the bright sun, his face looked grim. It seemed Raymond's hunch had been right.
"Under these circumstances, I have no choice but to inform you now. Your Highness's guess is correct. There's trouble in the north."
"Speak."
"Marquis Creyer, while patrolling the Black Mountains, has gone missing."
The lords of the Creyer Marquisate had guarded the Black Mountains for generations. For them, patrolling it was both a duty and an honor.
Recently, with the 5th Prince's disappearance and frequent small-scale skirmishes in the Black Mountains, Marquis Creyer had once again led the local forces on a large-scale patrol—and vanished in the process.
'Has the Ghost Unit's operation already begun?'
Raymond bit his lip slightly.
'Probably a joint effort by the Ghost Unit of the Free Isiria Kingdom and assassins from the Edriger Kingdom. Their goal is to provoke the border.'
The Tri-Kingdom Alliance planned to test the Philius Empire's military strength by putting the Free Isiria Kingdom—the most militarily powerful of the three kingdoms—in the vanguard.
To do that, they first needed to lure the empire's forces into the Black Mountains.
That's why they aimed to kidnap and kill the prestigious northern knight family head, Marquis Creyer, then send back his mutilated corpse as provocation.
Since the Black Mountains were still monster territory, they could claim any deliberate mutilation was the work of beasts. It was a flimsy excuse—like covering one's eyes to avoid seeing the sky—but it left no evidence.
'To think it would start this soon...'
By flying the 5th Prince's banner and repelling the Free Isiria Kingdom's mountain mercenaries, Raymond had forced the Ghost Unit to move ahead of schedule.
Their target had naturally shifted to the 5th Prince, Raymond, but unable to find him holed up in the temporary outpost, they'd stuck to the original plan and abducted Marquis Creyer instead.
"First, let's meet Sir Cron."
"Yes, 5th Prince."
Felton nodded in agreement with Raymond's decision.
"Gestain!"
"Yes, my lord!"
"I think sword training ends here for today."
"Understood."
Raymond shed his leather armor, donned the overcoat Alex brought, and draped a cloak over his shoulders. The clothes underneath were still caked in dirt, but the cloak hid them well enough.
As he tossed the training wooden sword onto its rack, Felton felt a spark of curiosity.
Not just his feats at the banquet hall, but the 5th Prince—known as a mid-tier mage—was practicing swordsmanship? He nearly blurted out a question despite the gravity of the situation.
"Let's go."
Raymond took the lead, and Felton followed. Soon, they reached the command tent guarded by soldiers.
"Ah, 5th Prince!"
The officer in charge of security snapped to attention at Raymond's sudden appearance. Raymond gave a slight nod in return.
"Wasn't it training time?"
"A guest arrived. Is Sir Cron inside?"
"Yes! I'll notify him."
The tent flap opened. Cron emerged, looking somewhat fatigued. Thanks to a prior heads-up, he wasn't overly startled by the Imperial Knight's presence.
But when he exchanged greetings and heard the news about Marquis Creyer, he staggered so badly that Raymond had to steady him.
"I've come with His Majesty's decree to escort the 5th Prince and Sir Cron back to the border at once."
"Th-then this outpost..."
Even with Marquis Creyer kidnapped, Cron couldn't ignore the outpost's defense. Fortunately, Felton had an alternative.
"The special unit I brought will hold the temporary outpost, so Sir Cron, you must withdraw to the border with the 5th Prince."
In the end, that day, Raymond had no choice but to withdraw to the border with Cron.
"My lord! You must hold on just a little longer!"
The subordinate knight's voice roused Marquis Creyer from his fading consciousness.
He let out a breath like a scream and lifted his head. Supported by the knight, he frantically scanned their surroundings.
The enemies who had filled the mountains just moments ago were nowhere to be seen.
"Wh-where are the enemies...?"
"The brave knights of House Creyer and the domain forces drove them off!"
"That's a relief..."
Marquis Creyer replied in a feeble voice. To break the encirclement and rescue him, twenty valiant knights of House Creyer had given their lives.
For now, it seemed best not to tell the marquis that fact.
He was already half-delirious from the enemy assault.
"Just hold on a bit more! In two days, we'll reach the outpost!"
The knight tried to cling to hope, but it was difficult. In the monster-infested Black Mountains, their group was far too small to endure.
Fifteen soldiers, seven knights, and one mid-tier mage—that was all. If they were in good shape, maybe, but after a week of fleeing pursuers, everyone was exhausted.
'Please...'
The knight desperately hoped to encounter a Philius Empire patrol that had noticed the incident, but his wish went unfulfilled.
"Gah—!"
A black spear pierced the mid-tier mage's chest from behind. It was the signal. The knights rushed to Marquis Creyer's side, and the soldiers raised their weapons.
"For the Philius Empire!"
"Long live House Creyer!"
Their rallying cries to bolster crumbling morale lasted only a moment. Soon, their eyes filled with despair.
"Argh!"
"Guh—!"
Every time the black shadow swept through their formation, soldiers collapsed, spilling blood. It took just five seconds for all fifteen to fall.
"Damn it!"
Someone cursed. In an instant, the mage and soldiers were annihilated, leaving only the marquis and a handful of knights at his side.
There was clearly just one enemy. The knight's instincts told him so.
But that one was the worst possible foe. Few assassins could instantly kill fifteen soldiers in five seconds.
"H-Hashashin..."
Someone uttered the pursuer's identity. The most brutal and elite assassins from the Kingdom of Night, Edriger—the word that named both their group and its members.
Hashashin.
The shadow of death had crossed the Black Mountains to find them.
Withdrawing to the border didn't mean giving up. It was merely to obey the imperial decree. A step back to take two forward.
The decree only ordered them to withdraw from the Black Mountains; there was no mention of remaining on standby at the border. Raymond was banking on that.
Marquis Creyer was a renowned noble house in the north, a loyal shield that had protected the Philius Empire from the Tri-Kingdom Alliance and the Black Mountains' monsters for ages.
Given the current continental situation, a large-scale search was impossible, but dispatching two or three additional search teams shouldn't be hard. The question was who would lead them.
"My lord, a messenger from border army headquarters."
Raymond was training alone in the drill yard. He turned toward the sudden presence and saw Gestain standing there, bowing briefly as he reported.
"From border army headquarters?"
"Yes. They've requested your attendance at the command conference."
He'd expected it, but sooner than thought. The setting documents mentioned Marquis Creyer's kidnapping, but the novel's main text described it only briefly, so Raymond knew only the general flow, not the details.
First, he'd attend the conference, assess the situation, and act.
He knew the Ghost Unit's methods, and unlike Cron, the setting-obsessed author had detailed even Sand Creyer Marquis— who never appeared before the protagonist—right up to his demise, so rescuing him seemed feasible.
"I'll go now."
Raymond changed and headed to headquarters with a small guard detail.
Inside the tent, border army senior commanders were already seated, including the pale-faced Cron.
The eldest son of a valiant knight family, but still young in his twenties—too young to inherit such a vast house.
He was already burdened, contemplating scenarios if the worst occurred.
"The 5th Prince has entered."
A guard announced in Gestain's stead, and those gathered began to rise.
"No need to stand. Let's proceed."
"Yes!"
With the situation so urgent, skipping unnecessary protocol was wise.
The commanders replied vigorously as Raymond sat.
"Report on the current situation."
A staff officer pinned a military map of the Black Mountains to the wall with a dagger, then placed red and blue pins around it.
"Red pins mark skirmish zones, blue pins our temporary outposts."
The number of temporary outposts was smaller than expected. As noted in the setting documents, the Philius Empire was at a disadvantage against the Tri-Kingdom Alliance in the Black Mountains.
"Immediately after Marquis Creyer went missing, we formed three additional search teams and sent them in, but no results."
Raymond subtly shook his head at the staff officer's report, frustration bubbling up.
If the Free Isiria Kingdom's elite Ghost Unit was involved, regular search team soldiers couldn't hope to track them.
They needed Central Intelligence Agency support at minimum, but those agents were perpetually tied up countering Highpel Empire and Tri-Kingdom Alliance schemes. No spare resources.
"What if we inform the Mountain Duke and request aid?"
Someone suggested. What folly.
Mountain Duke, Rivers Belphang. He was the shield guarding the empire from the Highpel Empire and the vast Monster Forest.
And he wasn't on good terms with Marquis Creyer, who handled the Black Mountains.
With tensions high against the Highpel Empire, would he send reinforcements to help Creyer?
The answer was no. Raymond turned toward the voice to identify the speaker.
A young commander in a crisp uniform sat there—likely a noble house's second or youngest son, newly assigned to the border.
Glancing around, others wore uncomfortable expressions like Raymond's.
"No reinforcements will come. This is a problem for us—the northeastern border army—to solve."
Raymond spoke calmly to clarify.
The young commander's face fell, while others nodded in agreement.
"Does the 5th Prince have a plan?"
The young noble managed his expression and asked. It could sound mocking.
The imperial army commander beside him, Kasias, seemed to take it that way and half-rose, but Raymond raised a hand to stop him.
"And if I do?"
The 5th Prince, Raymond, replied without hesitation. The young noble faltered at the unexpected response, drawing all eyes.
Once infamous as a wastrel, now the 5th Prince who saved the emperor at the banquet and led soldiers out of the Path of the Forgotten.
They hung faint hopes on his next words.
'The 5th Prince has a plan...? Can we trust him?'
'Were the rumors true?'
'What solution will he propose...?'
Though unspoken, their gazes made it clear.
Amid eyes mixing doubt and anticipation, the former wastrel 5th Prince, Raymond, sat at the center.
"You all know I escaped the Path of the Forgotten, right?"
The attendees nodded affirmatively.
"Of course, 5th Prince."
"Yes, we've received the reports."
Some had doubted the Path of the Forgotten tale, but with consistent reports from knights and soldiers, and matching testimonies, they had no choice but to believe.
"There, I saw a corpse wearing ghost garb."
The shocking declaration stirred the room. They knew the "ghost" he meant wasn't a mere specter.