Rooting Out the Rats
Biiiiiiiiii!
“……!”
A long, piercing whistle cut through the air, and Grein roared at the top of his lungs.
“Retreat! We're retreating!”
With Grein's shout came the others.
“We're falling back! Rear ranks, move out now!”
“Keep the enemy suppressed up front! Hold their attacks until the last second!”
Every squad leader seized control of his men at once, snapping orders down the line. They had to form up properly if everyone was going to get out alive. The moment the rearmost soldiers broke into a full run and the formation gained momentum, the men who had been holding the front with their shields spun on their heels and fled as well.
The Kar Tribe, of course, had no intention of letting them go.
“They're running! After them!”
“You think you can start a bloodbath like this and just walk away?!”
“Kill every last one of the fleeing dogs!”
Blood-soaked howls chased them. The eyes of the charging Kar warriors burned with raw madness—an absolute will never to let them escape, a murderous intent so thick with the need for vengeance that it made the skin crawl.
“Run! Don't you dare slow down!”
The soldiers of Silent Spear clenched their teeth and sprinted. But there simply wasn't enough time to shake the pursuit completely.
At this rate……!
If they were caught, they would have to fight all over again. Anxiety flickered across the faces of some of the fleeing men.
Then it happened.
KRAAAAAANG!
A thunderclap of an explosion split the battlefield in two. A violent shockwave twisted the very air as it blasted outward in every direction.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
“Uwaaaaaah!”
“E-enemy! There are still enemies left!”
Screams erupted, followed by a panicked shout. Arteon had vaulted high above the Kar ranks. The aura condensed inside Iglis compressed for a single heartbeat, then detonated like a bomb. The storm of force it unleashed swallowed every Kar warrior near him.
Kugugugugugung!
Fine tremors radiated out from the ground where Arteon had struck. And at the very center of that devastation, every Kar gaze locked onto the man whose body was smeared with blood.
Their entire front had collapsed under a single blow. Where in the world had this monster come from? The aura pouring off him and those unshaken eyes were enough to make even the bravest hesitate before charging.
But in that instant—
Pabat!
Arteon eyed the warriors surrounding him and launched himself toward the exit.
“Ugh!”
“S-stop him!”
“Block that bastard!”
The Kar warriors guarding the entrance lunged in a panic, but—
KWAANG!
“Kraaagh!”
“Aaaaaaah!”
Arteon's strike hurled them into the air amid screams. A path opened in an instant, and he raced through it without a second of hesitation.
“Ah, damn it!”
“Th-they've already—!”
Cries of confusion and panic burst out all around. In that brief span of time, while every eye had been fixed on Arteon, the Silent Spear unit had already put a safe distance between themselves and the enemy.
Realizing too late, the Kar warriors howled with eyes full of mad rage.
“Th-this fucking—! You fucking bastards aaaaaaah!”
“I'll kill you for this later, I swear aaaaaah!”
Roars of fury and frustration tore from their throats, but there was nothing left for them to do. Their cries cut empty air; all they could do was watch the Imperial soldiers vanish into the distance.
And then……
Tadak! Tadadadadadak!
Sprinting at tremendous speed, Arteon quickly rejoined the Silent Spear unit. His breathing was rough from the strain of that last blow, but his eyes remained cold and sharp as ever.
Grein spoke to him.
“You've worked hard, sir. Are you injured anywhere?”
Grein's gaze was worried as he took in the blood on Arteon's body. But Arteon simply shook his head.
“The mission?”
“Carried out perfectly.”
The dead Kar warriors alone would number a good three hundred. Silent Spear's first operation had been an unqualified success.
Arteon nodded. It was thanks to Grein commanding the troops better than he had expected.
“It's all thanks to you, Vice Platoon Leader.”
“You flatter me, sir. I only followed your orders.”
Even after such a great victory, he never grew arrogant and always kept himself humble. That quality of Grein's was what Arteon liked most about him.
But……
“And…… did you check?”
“……Yes. There were some.”
A short but heavy answer. Knowing exactly what it meant, Arteon's expression hardened.
On the way back, they had won without a doubt—yet he felt exhausted enough that the back of his neck ached.
Kwang!
The table inside the tent shook. Pins stuck into the map bounced free and clattered noisily to the floor.
Beneath the lamp light, an armored officer ground his teeth.
“Wrong…… Everything was wrong! The time they moved, the attack position, even the operation itself—all of it! How is it that not a single piece of intel was correct?!”
A low voice twisted with rage forced its way past his lips. The man across the table answered with a grave expression.
“The information from the courier…… was not wrong. From what I hear, they changed every part of the operation the moment they woke the troops at dawn.”
“……Then does that mean they caught on?”
Even within their own ranks, not many knew they had planted a spy in the Silent Spear unit. When the officer narrowed his eyes and asked, the man opposite shook his head.
“They won't know. Or even if they do, finding him will be impossible.”
“So we're to take this incident as nothing more than the result of their caution?”
But the damage the Kar Tribe had suffered this time was far too great to brush off so lightly. Whether their trust would continue after this was something no one could guarantee.
The officer's eyes settled into a cold stillness.
“If a mistake like this happens even one more time, things could become irreversible. They will no longer trust us.”
“……But what does it matter if those bastards stop trusting us? Without the information we feed them, there's nothing they can do, is there?”
At his subordinate's words, the officer's face twisted slightly. It was a thought one could reasonably have, but—
“You idiot. Have you forgotten that He is in their hands?”
“Ah……!”
The subordinate flinched and immediately dropped to one knee on the floor.
“I-I'm sorry. It was so long ago that I completely forgot.”
“Remember that fools like you could easily put His life in danger.”
“Understood!”
He answered in a trembling voice, his face set hard. Then the officer looked at the map again and said,
“Still, we should be relieved that we still have a card we can play. If the man we worked so hard to plant gets caught…… all that careful effort will have been for nothing.”
“Don't worry, sir. I'll make sure a mistake like this never happens again.”
At the subordinate's words, the officer gave a small nod and stared at the disordered map on the table.
Damp air hung heavy inside the tent. A lamp that had burned through the night flickered faintly, staining the canvas interior. Whenever the light wavered, shadows danced along the walls.
At the center, facing each other, Velkain and Arteon's expressions were more serious than they had ever been.
“……You found the spies?”
In the middle of the silence, Velkain's low voice resonated through the tent—heavy with the weight of a headache-inducing dilemma. Arteon nodded.
“We haven't extracted confessions or confirmed it with absolute certainty yet…… but there are individuals who are clearly under suspicion.”
“Individuals……?”
So it wasn't just one, after all.
“…….”
Velkain's brow twitched. His rough fingers drummed the table absently. From the moment they had formed the independent unit, he had expected them to reach out. But……
I never thought they would move so blatantly…….
And faster than he had imagined, no less. Velkain let out a sigh.
“Just as you predicted, the unit on the Kar Tribe's left flank moved at dawn. Clearly…… they meant to set an ambush midway along Silent Spear's route of advance and launch a surprise attack.”
It was something they could never have done without knowing the information in advance. At Velkain's words, Arteon continued immediately.
“I also ordered the Vice Platoon Leader beforehand to watch for anyone making unusual moves during the operation. I can't be certain these are all of them…….”
Arteon's voice dropped even lower.
“But I believe we can completely weed out the rats inside Silent Spear.”
The tent fell silent for a moment. As if deep in thought, Velkain clasped his hands and scrubbed his face as if washing it dry. But then……
“There's a chance they grew suspicious because the information that leaked this time turned out to be wrong.”
“It doesn't matter.”
Arteon said it in a calm voice.
“Even if they know, there's nowhere for them to run. It's not as if they can cross the lines and flee to the Kar Tribe, is it?”
They were already in their grasp. At Arteon's words, Velkain let out a deep sigh. Catching the enemy colluding with the enemy was important, of course.
But if handled poorly, the army's morale could plummet to the bottom.
There had already been the incident of General Brentar's death before the campaign. They had covered it up as the work of the Kar Tribe, but if something similar happened again, it would be impossible to hide that it was the work of internal spies.
Velkain said,
“It must be handled…… discreetly.”
Then, as if he had made up his mind, he continued.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Turn a blind eye.”
At the short but firm answer, Velkain looked at Arteon with a puzzled expression.
“A blind eye?”
When Velkain narrowed his brow and asked, Arteon nodded with an unwavering face.
“Yes. To everything that happens within Silent Spear from this point on. And I would appreciate it if you would also block anything that might leak outside.”
Arteon's eyes flashed sharply. At times like this, he looked exactly like a veteran soldier who had spent decades on the battlefield—a resolute determination to end everything with this one stroke.
“…….”
Velkain stared at him for a long moment. But the deliberation was not long. Velkain nodded and said,
“Very well. I'll do that. Just remember it has to be discreet and quick.”
“Don't worry. When it comes to this kind of work…….”
I'm better than any expert.
Arteon swallowed the rest of the words without speaking them. His past life. This was about dealing with the remnants of those bastards who had driven him and his comrades to their deaths. There could be…… not a shred of mercy.
As Arteon's expression settled into something cold, Velkain unconsciously swallowed. Then, as Arteon left the tent, Velkain, left alone, recalled that final expression. Just as the man had said……
That's the face of a man who will not allow failure.
And that night, somewhere deep within the unit, someone's soundless screams rang out without end.