Crazy from the Start
After my lieutenant returned from the Galloping Colt, Hybel, Kka-Chi, Rabelt-Chi, and I began focusing in earnest on a plan to break the Dwarven artisans out.
"According to Cardrim Ironbeard, the total number of Dwarves we need to rescue is about sixty," Rabelt-Chi said. "Not a single one can be left behind."
"The Dwarven artisans are kept inside a secret laboratory within the factory district, under extremely tight security."
"We need a diversion. Something big enough to draw the guards' attention away."
"How about a fire? Since it's an industrial zone, they'll be highly sensitive to fire. If the machinery burns, their losses will be catastrophic. What do you think, Commander?"
I nodded.
"A fire sounds good. However, we can't let it spread so far that the entire Western factory district burns down. If the damage is too severe, the West will lose its mind. They might even come after us regardless of the cost. Besides, we still have quarterly supplies to squeeze out of them."
This had to remain a staged show—like professional wrestling.
If the West got genuinely pissed off and dragged us into a real, no-holds-barred fight, the North would collapse.
Right now, the North was a battered wreck.
Even the slightest nudge could break it.
So, the operation had to end precisely with extracting the Dwarven artisans and nothing more.
"Nyaaa. Then how about using fake fire?"
I had explicitly told them to stop ending their sentences with nya, but the cat beastmen seemed to have already forgotten, blatantly tacking it onto the end of their words.
No matter how much I scolded them, it was a habit they couldn't break, so I had half-given up by now.
"Fake fire?"
"We have a special kind of paper we use all the time, nya. When you light it, it flares up into a massive blaze and makes a lot of noise, nya. But it only burns itself out without catching onto anything else, nya. It doesn't even get hot enough to burn wood or other materials in the first place."
"Interesting. Go on."
"We use it to stage a fire, distract everyone, and then steal what we want, nya. It's our favorite trick, nya. If we prepare a huge, huge amount of that paper and burn it, won't it look like the whole factory is on fire?"
"Where do we get it?"
"We make it ourselves using our secret recipe, nya. Just get us some paper and gasoline, nya. Give us about a day, and we'll make a ton of it, nya."
"Fine. I can get you that much."
We repeatedly revised and refined the plan down to the very last detail.
And finally, the operation was set.
"We proceed exactly like this. And I will command the operation personally. I'll direct all of you using my Messenger magic. Follow my orders to the letter, and we shouldn't run into any major issues."
"Understood."
"And you cat beastmen."
The cat beastmen flinched at my words.
"Nyaaa! Don't look at us like that, nya. We know you're just going to scold us again, nya."
Seeing them shrink back defensively, I let out a dry chuckle.
"No matter what happens during this operation, I will not betray you. Even if the North has to take a massive loss, I won't abandon you in enemy territory or leave you behind. Got it? So I expect you to trust me and follow through to the end. I'll make sure you get your catnip and your gold."
The cat beastmen looked skeptical, but they eventually nodded.
"Then let's begin! The fate of the North rests on rescuing the Dwarves. There is no room for error. Move out!"
7:00 PM.
The Dwarven artisans were leaving work.
Having worked since eight in the morning, they had barely rested, save for a brief meal break.
"Hey! You beanpole bastards! Let us get some rest! How can you drive us like slaves for nearly a year without a single proper break?"
"Let us drink some beer! Let us dance! You should at least let us have some fun! And why the hell haven't you set up a forge for us yet?!"
"As we have already told you, there is no time to make anything unrelated to the project! Once you finish the prototype, we will consider giving you some free time!"
"You lying bastards! We were leased to you! How is it right to treat us like slaves when you're just renting us?! How?!"
"Quiet down and go rest! It's time for bed! Do not leave your quarters! The moment you step outside, you will receive demerits! If they pile up, your reward leave to go drink beer will be canceled! You wouldn't want that, would you?"
"Sons of bitches! They really think we're just complete fools!"
I watched the grumbling Dwarves and the ducal soldiers surrounding them in multiple layers of surveillance.
To put it nicely, it was strict protection and management; to put it bluntly, they were being treated as prisoners.
It was certainly not an environment the Dwarven artisans could ever tolerate.
A little over four hours passed after all the Dwarves filed into their quarters.
Midnight came and went, and as the early hours of the morning approached...
Lieutenant. Begin.
Our operation to retrieve the Dwarven artisans had begun.
Not far from the quarters where the Dwarves were confined.
On the outskirts of the factory district, a massive blaze suddenly erupted.
It was exactly as the cat beastmen had described.
Visually, it was a terrifyingly large fire accompanied by loud crackling, but in reality, it was a fake flame that could barely scorch a single piece of wood.
"What's that? Fire!"
"Holy shit! Fire! Sound the alarm, quick!"
Naturally, a fire in an industrial zone was a recipe for a major disaster.
The guards scrambled in a panic, rushing to extinguish the flames.
Commotion and chaos ensued.
With the forces redirected to put out the fire, a gap opened in their security.
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Cats. Now.
The cat beastmen seized the opening with uncanny precision.
Slipping through the darkness of the night, past the streetlights and the absent guards, the cat beastmen moved in at high speed.
The various heavy locks and security devices blocking the back door and the path to the second floor did not last long against the cats' tails and claws, clicking open one after another.
"Huh? What the hell! There's a cat beastman in—! Mmph!"
The guards who spotted the cats tried to shout a warning, but the beastmen lunged forward and pressed handkerchiefs over their mouths. They didn't last long before falling unconscious.
It was the effect of the potent sleeping agent the rat beastmen had previously demonstrated in the South.
"I see them, nya! It's the shorties, nya!"
Move them along the route!
"Understood, nya!"
Though they were usually troublemakers who rarely listened, the cat beastmen performed exactly as promised once the real operation began.
Pulling smoke bombs from their coats, they hurled them out the windows, and in an instant, the area around the quarters was swallowed by thick, billowing smoke.
"What is this? Smoke?!"
"I can't see a damn thing! Shit!"
"Move! Get the mage! We need to clear this smoke!"
"Report to the Duke! Right now!"
Shouts echoed through the haze.
Yet the cat beastmen did not lose their way.
They had already memorized every step of the escape route.
"Shorties! Move, nya!"
"Hurry! We're moving!"
The Dwarves had stayed awake just as planned.
They had packed their belongings so they could leave at a moment's notice, and they followed the cat beastmen through the building in an orderly fashion.
They did not head outside.
Instead, they made their way to the washroom.
The cat beastmen and the Dwarves gathered at the stall at the very end of the washroom.
"It's us, nya!"
At the cat beastman's signal, the toilet in the last stall slid downward, revealing a neatly hollowed-out underground tunnel.
It was a passage the rat beastmen had spent five days stealthily and precisely carving out.
Now, all they had to do was follow this tunnel to the sewers and vanish without a trace.
"Go, nya! Hurry, nya!"
Under the escort of the cat beastmen, the sixty Dwarves quickly jumped down into the tunnel beneath the washroom and disappeared.
Because they had prepared beforehand, the escape was incredibly swift.
Up to this point, everything was proceeding smoothly according to plan.
But of course, things are never that simple.
Things couldn't just go perfectly.
Suddenly, with a sharp whoosh, the smoke screen aiding their escape was swept away.
It was magic.
"Thank you. We couldn't see anything because of that sudden smoke..."
"Idiots! Instead of thanking me, get inside and search! Check on the Dwarven artisans!"
The mage had arrived sooner than expected and cleared the smoke.
At this rate, the Dwarves' escape was bound to be discovered.
Hybel and the wolf beastmen were currently preparing to transport the escaping Dwarves, leaving no one on site to stop the mage.
Cats! You need to draw their attention! Throw down another smoke bomb and run out like you're fleeing! That will distract them and buy us some time!
"Ny-nyaaa? Us?"
There's no time! Hurry!
Hearing my voice through the Messenger magic, the cat beastmen threw down another smoke bomb with anxious expressions and bolted out through the haze.
"What are you doing! Get in— wait, enemies!"
"It's the cat beastmen!"
The soldiers, who were just about to enter the facility, shifted their attention to the fleeing cats.
The mage quickly cleared the smoke again with magic and entered the building.
"I'll check on the Dwarves! You lot, chase the cat beastmen! Hurry!"
Armed soldiers immediately gave chase to the cat beastmen fleeing the facility.
The mage rushed inside.
He searched the building in a frenzy, but he was already too late.
After the last Dwarf successfully dropped into the tunnel, the washroom stall had been restored to look as if nothing had ever happened.
By the time they conducted a search thorough enough to find the hole beneath the toilet, the Dwarves and the rat beastmen would be long gone.
Thus, the Dwarves and the rat beastmen made a clean getaway.
The problem was the cat beastmen.
"Nyaaa! Scatter, nya! Scatter!"
The number of pursuers tailing the cat beastmen was growing exponentially.
Gunshots rang out.
The five cat beastmen ran for their lives, pushing themselves to the limit.
While their natural agility and swift movements helped them maintain some distance, the sheer number of pursuers was gradually cornering them.
Turn left there! There are too many enemies ahead.
I was doing everything I could to guide their escape using my Messenger magic, but once Duke Leonard's private soldiers locked onto their targets, they pursued the cat beastmen with relentless tenacity.
And inevitably...
Disaster struck.
While four of the five managed to slip away and hide, the last one was surrounded.
"Ny-nyaaa! H-help me, nya! Please! You promised! You said you wouldn't abandon us, nya!"
The cat beastman screamed, pleading to me.
But realistically, it was an impossible request.
How could I possibly rescue her through that tight dragnet?
It was suicide.
"Please! Keep your promise, nya! I-I did everything you told me to! I threw the smoke bombs and memorized the path, nya! Please! I was good! Protect me, nya! Please don't abandon m— nyaaa!"
A gunshot.
The cat's shriek echoed.
She had likely been shot in the leg by a soldier.
I could hear the cat beastman desperately struggling to drag herself away.
"My leg won't move, nya! Please! Please help me, nya! Please help—"
I coldly cut off the Messenger connection.
It couldn't be helped.
Reality was reality.
The primary objective had already been achieved.
Therefore...
It was time to make a cold, pragmatic decision.
I stood up.
Then, I bolted out of the room and began to run.
"Commander! P-please answer me, nya! Please!"
Limping as she ran, the cat beastman, Bella, sobbed as she screamed at the Messenger brand engraved on the back of her hand.
But there was no reply.
Even the faint sensation of connection had vanished.
Bella began to weep.
Ah.
It's just like always.
Cats were naturally suspicious creatures.
They rarely trusted humans.
Yet, once in a while...
Just once in a while, they would place their trust in a human or another race.
And that trust was inevitably met with betrayal.
That was why cats did not trust humans.
Because they didn't trust, they sowed discord, which in turn bred even stronger prejudice against them. The current reputation of the cat beastmen was the result of this endless, vicious cycle.
"And yet, I believed him."
Because he was Volka Adrakin.
Because he was the man they called the hero of the beastmen.
Even though he was overbearing and incredibly annoying, the things he said had sounded so sweet and plausible.
That was why she had worked so hard, thinking that maybe, just maybe, he would be different.
"Bastard."
Bella sobbed, pulling out her pistol and pressing it against her temple.
If she was captured like this, she would never have an easy death.
Horrific torture awaited her.
As a cat beastman—who were treated the worst even among beastmen—she would undoubtedly be subjected to all kinds of filthy, atrocious acts.
Bella placed her finger on the trigger, tears streaming down her face.
"Over here! The blood trail leads this way! Chase her!"
The voices of the soldiers drew closer.
She didn't want to die.
But dying now was the easy way out.
Steeling her resolve, Bella squeezed her finger.
Or rather, she tried to.
She tried to pull the trigger.
"There she is!"
"Get her!"
The ducal soldiers spotting her and lunging forward...
Bella pulling the trigger only to find it wouldn't budge...
And the rushing soldiers suddenly freezing in place as if bound by invisible ropes, while a massive hand snatched the pistol from Bella's grasp—all of it happened almost simultaneously.
"Nyaaa?!"
A man of massive build scooped Bella up and slung her over his shoulder.
Then, soaring into the air at incredible speed, he landed on a building's rooftop before making another massive, long-distance leap.
"You can't die yet. I've got a whole stash of catnip waiting for you."
The giant of a man, wearing a hood and a bandana to cover his face, spoke in a very familiar voice.
Bella's eyes widened.
"Commander?! Did you come here alone?!"
"The others couldn't move without blowing their cover. So of course I had to come."
"This is insane, nya! What if you get caught?!"
"Bella. Deciding to rebuild the North, rather than just barely keeping it afloat, was a crazy idea from the start."
Using telekinesis to propel his massive body across vast distances in single bounds, the giant chuckled.
Volka Adrakin smiled as he replied.
"I was crazy from the start. So if I'm going to be crazy, I might as well do it in style, right?"
Overwhelmed with emotion, Bella began to sob softly.
Volka patted her gently on the back.
It was a touching moment, but they didn't have the luxury of shedding tears in peace.
"Where do you think you're going, you bastard!"
The enemy mages weren't just sitting idle.
Realizing the Dwarven quarters were completely empty, a mage belonging to Duke Leonard's territory let out a furious roar and flew through the air toward them at terrifying speed.