The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front - Chapter 119
The first hints of dawn were breaking.
A chill swept across the sky above Belikezel.
It was the kind of crisp morning that should have felt refreshing, yet Kortzan’s face remained grim.
“……”
He had waited through the night, yet no report had come from Balak.
They were supposed to check in every single day.
The fool might have gone half-mad, but he was the kind of man who never failed to obey a taman’s orders down to the last detail.
That was precisely why Balak had been chosen to oversee the madmen.
No word from him could only mean one thing.
“It looks like something went wrong last night,”
Kortzan said quietly, rising from his seat. The words had not yet reached Krelmuk, but the moment they did, he could already picture the storm that would erupt.
He let out a long breath and turned to the two officers waiting outside the tent.
“Call Ulke and Bowukartaon.”
“Yes, Commander Kortzan.”
A soldier slipped away at once, and minutes later two figures came running from the distance—Ulke and Bowukartaon.
They were the very warriors who had grumbled about the madmen’s deployment a few days earlier and received a harsh word from Kortzan.
Kortzan nodded to them.
“Ulke, Bowukartaon. You two have a new assignment.”
“We will obey any order you give us, Commander Kortzan.”
“Anything.”
His voice was low and steady.
“Take your direct units and move at once to the front of the plain. Confirm what happened there immediately.”
“……Yes?”
“What do you—?”
Both officers looked stunned.
The plain in question had already been cleared of madmen.
Ulke frowned.
“The plain is supposed to be occupied by those freaks, isn’t it?”
Placing a butcher’s knife in the hands of a chicken farmer—pure waste of strength. Ulke crossed his arms and gave a lukewarm reply.
Bowukartaon, standing beside him, asked with a cold expression.
“Has something happened to the madmen’s unit?”
“……They’ve stopped contacting us.”
“……!”
Kortzan’s single sentence made Bowukartaon’s eyes flicker.
More than anyone, he understood the ruthlessness of a taman’s command-and-report system. Under such a taman, failing to report on time could spell disaster.
“We will move at once.”
Bowukartaon spoke first. Ulke finally seemed to realize something was wrong and echoed him.
“I—I spoke out of turn. We will move immediately.”
“We have to hurry. If imperial scouts slip into the plain and carry off its terrain data……”
Kortzan’s face turned ice-cold.
“The taman will be furious.”
The two officers knew exactly what that fury meant.
Still, there was one small mercy.
“If they collected the information during the night and left, there’s no major problem.”
The plain’s nights were so dark it blocked even moonlight.
Even the keenest senses could never have picked up much in the dark.
But things were different now.
If those bastards wanted to scout the terrain, they would be doing it in daylight—right now.
They had to be killed before they finished gathering intel and escaped.
“We move fast.”
“Yes!”
“Understood.”
The two warriors’ footsteps faded quickly.
Kortzan remained alone, staring out at the horizon with a stern expression.
Just in case……
If the madmen’s unit had suffered, the situation would be grave. If they had also stolen the terrain data and vanished……
“I don’t even want to think about it.”
Should he report this to Krelmuk at all?
For a brief moment he hesitated.
Yet he shook his head.
Any clumsiness here could force him to shoulder the entire blame.
His steps toward Krelmuk’s tent were heavy.
***
“Now I can see a little better.”
Dawn had come, and the darkness had begun to retreat like a lie.
Isaac watched the outlines of the plain gradually reveal themselves and muttered softly.
Yet as he gazed at the newly visible terrain, his expression grew steadily colder.
“……”
Isaac fell silent.
The plain was far too irregular to be called ordinary.
Scattered boulders rose to man-height here and there, and between them grew thick reed beds dense enough to hide a body.
“More sturdy reeds than I expected. If the enemy is lying in ambush…… it’ll be hard to push through.”
“Agreed.”
Arteon and Isaac climbed the low hill.
The terrain spread out below was exactly as Isaac had described—boulders and reeds offering perfect cover, making entry almost impossible.
But……
This plain held far more danger than mere cover.
In the middle of what looked like ordinary grassland lay swamps that swallowed a person up to the ankles.
Without precise knowledge of their location, cavalry or infantry would suffer terrible trouble marching across them.
If your feet were trapped and enemy arrows or a surprise attack came…… it would be hopeless.
Isaac remembered the past life where over a hundred soldiers had perished in the exact same way.
Arteon recalled those memories and began piecing together the plain’s information like a puzzle.
Unfortunately, he could not remember every swamp’s exact position.
Even if it’s bothersome, I must map the midpoints before I leave.
The amount of terrain knowledge he gathered here could decide the war’s outcome.
With barely two weeks left until the main force advanced, Arteon spoke.
“We should hurry. The bastards are probably already moving.”
“Agreed.”
The disappearance of the madmen’s unit would be a heavy blow to them too.
Of course they would move to investigate.
They would expect at least as much power as the madmen, so they had to move accordingly.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!
Arteon and Isaac ran down the hill toward the enemy lines.
They scanned the terrain while running and stopped midway to mark the map with quick gestures.
Isaac watched Arteon’s back as he ran.
This man……
Something he had sensed for a long time.
In every field…… he is too skilled.
How could such a person exist?
Isaac always felt the same awe, no matter how many times he witnessed it.
Now he wondered if the fact that he could still feel surprised was itself a mistake.
Still, that was the least of it.
Right now, we need to make the most of the situation.
Isaac shouted to Arteon.
“Arteon! What about checking beyond that small hill?”
Isaac, greedy for more, pointed past the next rise with his finger.
Arteon hesitated for a split second.
“That side……”
His eyes narrowed.
Crossing it would bring the Karu main force into view.
They could gain huge information, but
……the risk is far too great.
Arteon shook his head.
“That’s too dangerous. We’ll be spotted if we delay.”
Even the low-ranking taman commanders at Belikezel possessed five or possibly six feather tattoos.
Below them were elite officers with three or four tattoos.
With only the two of them against that, they were hopelessly outmatched.
It was time to withdraw.
Isaac hesitated briefly under Arteon’s protest.
Then he nodded.
“Still, this much is enough harvest. Let’s hurry back.”
He trusted Arteon’s judgment completely.
They had reached this far thanks to him.
Arteon nodded.
“Yes.”
They turned sharply toward the path they had come from.
But even as they left, something stirred in the distance.
“……I found traces here.”
One of Bowukartaon’s subordinates pointed at the clear footprints on the ground.
“The depth suggests they left only recently. And……”
The subordinate lifted his head and glanced in the opposite direction, speaking quietly.
“No matter what, the place those bastards were heading was Helikel Canyon. We can reach it first.”
“Can we catch them?”
“There’s a faster route.”
Bowukartaon narrowed his eyes at the subordinate’s words.
After a moment he nodded.
“We cannot afford to lose them. We will chase and capture them at all costs.”
“Understood.”
The subordinate vanished into a different direction.
Bowukartaon, following with the warriors, murmured with sharp eyes.
“We will not let them escape.”
***
The sun had begun its slow descent.
Red light painted the edge of the plain, but Arteon and Isaac still had not returned.
“……”
Inside the command tent, Velkain’s expression grew colder by the second.
“Have any watchmen spotted them?”
Claw answered at once.
“We’ve been checking continuously, but…… no report has come in.”
His worry was obvious.
If he truly cared, he would climb the watchtower every few minutes himself.
Velkain tapped the table with his fingers, the hollow sound echoing through the tent.
Impossible……
Could it have failed?
Doubt tugged at his thoughts. He shook his head.
Those aren’t the kind of men who can be taken easily.
He wasn’t the kind of person who would die in a place like this.
Yet the longer time passed, the heavier the unease grew.
Claw looked outside again.
“When the sun fully sets…… the situation will become truly dire.”
They would lose all chance to confirm the two men’s survival, and the timing to send rescue units would slip away.
Claw spoke urgently.
“Move some troops to the plain at once. We cannot lose those two.”
It was not merely personal sentiment.
The Empire had achieved things no one thought possible thanks to the two men’s exploits.
If they could do more in the future, they had no choice but to rescue them.
But……
“……Denied.”
Velkain’s voice cracked.
“Do not move any soldiers until they are sighted. One mistake and they’ll be caught by hidden enemies in the plain…… and the rest of the operation will be impossible.”
It was an extraordinarily strict order.
Seeing him say it sometimes made Velkain feel anew why he was called the Ogre of Benhard.
The Iron Blood Legion Commander.
A man willing to sacrifice anything for victory in war, a commander with no tears or blood.
Yet even as he gave that command, Velkain’s heart grew colder with every passing minute.
As Claw had said, when the sun fully set…… they would have to prepare for the worst: the loss of the two men.
But at that exact moment.
Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!
The emergency alarm bell rang across the entire camp.
The heavy, urgent peals made every soldier spring into motion in a roar.
The air inside the tent suddenly grew tense, as if it had been split by an explosion.
Velkain’s gaze sharpened like a blade.
“……What is it?”
With him, a soldier burst in.
“Sir! A report! The Steel Heart!”
He was one of the sentries who had been told to report at once if anything happened.
Claw shouted.
“Report it now!”
“It’s……”
Before he could finish.
“Prepare the soldiers at once!”
Velkain shot up from his seat.