Chapter 116

The ship headed north for another fourteen days.

Once they passed the Countship of Delusiato, it would be the territory of the vassals serving Septentrion.

As they patrolled daily and conducted grand hunts yearly, there were no undead, monstrosities, or evil spirits along the riverbank.

“Valenciaunos. In that forest, elves used to visit when my father was alive. I met one just once when I was a child.”

“That’s impressive, Seberik. As expected, the north is indeed a treasury of mysteries.”

Listening to Seberik’s explanations, I enjoyed the scenery of the massive coniferous forest, the peaks piled high with eternal snow, and the grand canyons.

Glacier pieces that had fallen from the mountains blocked the river, which they shattered with sword and fire, and weary crew members sometimes miscalculated the dock and passed by the vassals they were supposed to deliver grain to, but in the end, all of it turned out to be mere happenings.

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

“I remember that you sent me three thousand elite soldiers last winter and the winter before that.”

Originally, the obligations of a vassal to their lord were twofold.

Ten percent tax a year and forty days of unpaid military service.

However, in the north, invasions by monstrosities and malevolence occurred from time to time.

“Thank you, Your Grace. I will train medium cavalry and wolf cavalry and come again this autumn.”

All of Seberik’s vassals considered it natural to serve in military campaigns during the winter.

Of course, it wasn’t just because of the environment, but because Seberik always led from the front lines and fought himself.

… There was something I had just realized.

More than half of the hundreds of vessels were heading towards the rear vassals.

That meant Seberik had taken on debt to the imperial court to collect grain to distribute among his vassals.

“Seberik, this doesn’t seem to be a simple contractual relationship.”

“Valenciaunos. The north is a harsh place. If you and I try to divide everything perfectly and not suffer losses, we will end up dead together.”

Being united can lead to survival or death.

However, when apart, survival is impossible.

The look in his eyes was as strong as it was impoverished, and perhaps it was natural that it was both strong and impoverished.

It was the fifteenth day.

In front of me, chatting with Lady Trentia and Rudi at the frontboard, a massive structure began to come into view.

It was a fortress constructed by stacking huge stones between two valleys that were hundreds of meters apart.

“Incredible.”

“The walls of Silentalouon would seem diminutive next to this fortress.”

“Moreover, this side is the back of the fortress. How immense must the front be…”

High embankments lined both sides of the river, with merchants passing through on the road above.

The guards in front of the fortress were wearing good armor made by adding iron plates to leather, and their weapons gleamed.

I was able to read the prowess of that guard.

“Seberik, are you using sword users as guards?”

“They need to be able to hold out until the knights arrive when the enemies come.”

Seberik answered with a satisfied smile at my surprised expression.

“I will halt here for a moment.”

When he instructed Lysena, she passed the command to the headman, and the headman relayed it to the captains.

Hundreds of flags were raised, and hundreds of ships stopped in the middle of the river.

The river that led inside the fortress was fortified similarly to the canals of the capital, Silentalouon.

Arched holes were carved into the walls to allow ships to enter, and heavy iron grates were lowered and embedded in the riverbed.

“Your Grace.”

At Lysena’s words, Seberik nodded.

Lysena got off the ship and headed inside the fortress, returning shortly with dozens of knights.

Lady Trentia’s crimson eyes shone as she looked at them.

There were thirty knights dressed in thick silver-gray full plate armor with sleek helmets, fifteen magicians in leather armor adorned with bronze and wielding jeweled staffs, and fifty heavy infantry wearing plate armor over chain mail.

Additionally, there were thirty holy knights in white armor, accompanied by one red bishop and four inquisition officials, along with eight battle priests.

The last group that emerged was surprising even to me.

They were tall men and women wearing only thin cloth garments despite the early spring weather.

They had an oddly large physique and brightly piercing gazes, avoiding iron weapons and leather clothing.

Lady Trentia whispered.

“Your Grace Valenciaunos. They are followers of God Amon.”

For them to come this far, it meant that all fifty were high-ranking werewolf warriors.

Seeing the red bishop of the Brightgod Church and the warriors of the Amon God moving together felt strange.

Both Lady Trentia and Rudi wore expressions of great shock.

Seberik took a deep breath and said, “There will be a checkpoint before entering the fortress.”

His voice carried on the wind and seemed to reach far away.

The captain and crew members on the backmost ship appeared to have heard his voice.

“What’s going on? Is it magic?” whispers followed.

“Everyone remembers the undead attack we suffered a while ago during the night.”

Seberik paused for a moment to gather their attention and continued speaking.

“That was not a coincidence.”

Louder murmurs spread through the crowd.

“There’s an infiltrator among us. There was a chance to catch them in the middle, but I purposely waited until now.”

This was the north, within the palm of his hand.

“To ensure they cannot escape!”

The right side of the river was a steep cliff, while the armed soldiers and knights swarmed on the dock to the left.

“From the captain down to the common folk, gather everyone at the signboard to await inspection. The priests and magicians will conduct the checks themselves.”

Seberik reverted back to the chilling man he had been in winter, facing the threat of the infiltrators.

He was someone with much to lose as well.

* * *

The inspection continued until midnight.

The first round used blood magic to sense any presence aboard the ship.

They confirmed that no one was left and that those gathered at the signboard were pure humans.

The priests then followed up with a sanctification to purify the ships and people.

If there were infiltrators, the purging would have been severe enough to burn them alive.

The followers of Amon searched for the unique reactions that would arise when encountering other ancient ones.

Once the verification ended, the ships awaited before the iron grates.

“Can’t we go in soon?”

“I was planning to have a drink at the tavern tonight.”

Captains and crew members voiced their complaint and discontent, but the northern knights and soldiers responded coldly.

“If you have complaints, jump overboard.”

“Must you speak like that…!”

Swish!

“Sorry!”

“We will keep quiet.”

Infiltration was a serious matter.

Once a mental wave howled once, dozens or hundreds in the vicinity could be corrupted, and all who heard it would come to face of the ancient ones through nightmares.

Before his return, the black saint Matheos might have only focused on bringing in grain to the fortress while incinerating all the crew members.

Valenciaunos, Trentia, and Rudi had already completed their inspection and remained at the main ship’s signboard.

“When the blood magician confirmed Your Grace’s lineage, he was shocked.”

“Of course. I am royal. I began with dragons. Then elves, dwarves, merfolk, lizardmen, and ogres—a mixture of five races, and welcomed nagas, basilisks, harpies, medusas, giants, spirits… I must have taken all the good.”

“It’s still astonishing that you can marry a human.”

“That’s the frightening thing about humans.”

While they chatted and chuckled over trivial matters, Seberik approached.

“Valenciaunos. We’ve completed about half of it now. We need to finish by dawn, so please go relax in your cabin.”

“How can I rest when the master is working? Please don’t worry about me. Moreover…”

“Moreover?”

“It’s not guaranteed that it’s just one infiltrator, is it? If even one of us gets caught, they will surely target me or Seberik from then on.”

Valenciaunos let his golden eyes lazily shine.

“It seems like it’s about time to catch them.”

As he muttered that.

“AAAH!”

A scream pierced through the night’s silence.

* * *

At the moment the priest unleashed his divine power, he transformed his forearm into a sharp pincer and lunged.

Kaang!

The holy knight blocked with his body, and the divine power burst forth as anticipated.

“Kuhh!”

The infiltrator howled as if doused in acid.

“Found you!”

“Stab his neck! Prevent him from using mental waves!”

He immediately attempted to release a mental wave to transform the crew members into monsters, but the holy knights skillfully subdued him.

They stabbed his neck with a dagger to silence him, severed his limbs, stuffed him into a sanctified box, and secured the lid tightly.

“Move him!”

“The infiltrator has been identified! Stay alert!”

Already checked crew members trembled and chanted the Lord’s Prayer, while those who had yet to be checked exchanged pale glances.

Valenciaunos and Seberik stood shoulder to shoulder on the railing, their golden and gray eyes shining.

“It has begun.”

Lady Trentia unsheathed her sword, and Rudi grasped his magic gun as well.

Valenciaunos inwardly believed that everything would end neatly.

‘He is a master of infiltration and a bewitching type who can give commands or induce spirits and undead, as well as a shape-shifting type. Having both would be an advantage, but it also means there are no outstanding traits.’

This was just outside the fortress city.

There would hardly be undead here, and even shape-shifting wouldn’t affect a Sword Master.

‘During the grain shipment, they should have attacked both the undead giants and the regular undead simultaneously. You are the ones who got separated while trying to do piecemeal attacks.’

He was an expert on infiltrators and ancient ones.

With just the abilities visible now, they could never take them down.

‘They’re not stupid enough to not understand that.’

The only thing that nagged at him was how smoothly things were going.

Kugugugugugu-.

Waves began to rise between the ships.

The transport ships rocked, but they weren’t in immediate danger of capsizing.

‘Yes. They should have prepared at least that much.’

“Your Grace!”

“Be careful!”

Northern knights surrounded Seberik and Valenciaunos.

Seberik narrowed his eyes and said.

“Valenciaunos. It’s a water spirit. It seems to be of a high tier.”

Valenciaunos, startled, asked back.

“Where do you see that as a spirit? Isn’t it a water demon you’re mislabeling?”

The spirit took the form of a massive blue fishman covered in gem-like scales.

With a double jaw protruding like a snake and spiny fins, and twelve reddish eyes, it was hard to take its claim as a spirit seriously.

“AAAH!”

From the spirit’s mouth, a human-like jaw about ten meters long shot out and gulped a crew member before spitting him out.

The unfortunate crew member flew hundreds of meters and landed on another ship’s signboard, rolling over.

An infiltrator riding atop the water spirit waved his hands, commanding the spirit.

It swallowed people, spat them out, shot water beams, froze instantly, and overwhelmed them with sheer mass.

But this place was filled with the elite soldiers of the north.

Numerous seasoned magicians could easily handle a high-tier spirit with just four or five among them.

As the magicians cast their spells, the incoming water attacks scattered, while the priests unleashed divine power to directly crush the body of the spirit.

The infiltrator used the spirit to continue swallowing and spitting out crew members.

One crew member flew toward the flagship.

At that point, Valenciaunos changed his pupils to vertical slits as he shouted toward Seberik.

“Your Grace, it’s him!”

“!”

The northern knights looked startled.

Even while being beaten, the infiltrator continued to consume crew members and spurt them out to lure their comrades in.

Valenciaunos realized this beforehand and warned them.

Boom!

The infiltrating crew member rolled on the ground.

“AAAH! I think my arm is broken…”

“…”

“…”

“I think my arm is broken!”

Swish!

Pretending to be injured lost its effect, as the northern knights were already preparing to trample him.

The infiltrator merely raised his head, staring at Valenciaunos.

In Valenciaunos’ eyes, filled with fear and betrayal, he saw faint traces of triumphant exhilaration.

The infiltrator screamed to the heavens.

“Your Grace Valenciaunos, what is the meaning of this? We agreed to assassinate Duke Seberik of the North together?!”