Chapter 19: First Clues Emerge
“Uh, you’re probably already aware that our mercenary group isn’t very large. In fact, we used to be a fairly powerful mercenary group in the Binosstes region. I’m sure you’ve heard of our former name—Black Rose Mercenaries—We were quite famous in the Northern Alliance. Dark Angel Mercenaries was the name we adopted after our original group encountered trouble and reregistered. Over half a year ago, our group received a mission to deliver a shipment of processed wood to the Khulun Grasslands. It wasn’t a particularly special mission, but it brought great disaster upon us.” The young priestess wore a face filled with grief, seemingly unwilling to recall those past events.
“Although there are frequent battles in the Khulun Grasslands, for mercenary groups, as long as they can keep up with local developments—and since many of us came from there—avoiding potential wars between orcs and humans shouldn’t be too dangerous. Out of caution, we sent over sixty people to escort the goods to the Khulun Grasslands. But from then on, none of our comrades ever returned. They were ambushed by orcs in the Khulun Grasslands; all the goods were stolen, and everyone perished there.” She took out a handkerchief and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, trying to appear stronger.
“If this had just been an accidental disaster, it might have been acceptable. After all, orcs frequently roam the Khulun Grasslands and attack our human caravans. But this mission was strange—our employer wasn’t with us, and the orc forces didn’t launch a large-scale attack but instead set up an ambush specifically on our route. They knew our path perfectly, even knowing exactly when we would pass. Their actions were clearly a targeted ambush! It was nothing but murder! Pure and simple murder!” The young priestess, who had been immersed in sorrow, grew increasingly agitated.
“Our mercenary group has been dealt such a blow that we’re on the verge of collapse, but those of us left will not stand by and do nothing about these murders. Even if it costs us our lives, we must seek clarity and justice. These murderers underestimate our strength in the north. Javier’s hometown is from the Khulun Steppes. Through various means, we’ve learned that the goods we were robbed of aren’t as simple as the owner described them to be—just some finely processed wood. Instead, they seem to be equipment parts designed specifically for assembling certain facilities. Moreover, the delivery location is uninhabited by humans, let alone the recipient. In other words, these goods were deliberately meant to be stolen by orcs. To put it more bluntly, they were meant for the orcs!” The young priestess’s expression became especially calm at this moment.
“Hmm, you’re saying this employer deliberately hired you to transport these goods to the orcs in order to avoid exposure and conceal their identity if caught. That means there must be something seriously wrong with these goods. But if they’re just so-called equipment parts, what could they be?” Komer pondered before asking back. “What could be worth such secrecy and the use of such cruel methods to cover up the truth? I fear only by finding an answer to this question can we uncover clues about the mastermind behind it.”
As soon as this question was raised, even Komer was stirred. He remembered that over a year ago, while in Cyprus, he had heard Eilot say that orcs had used siege engines to capture several castles and fortresses in the north, creating an extremely critical situation. This forced the kingdom to reform the Iron Cross and Blue Dove mercenary groups. Although the situation in the north stabilized later due to the orcs’ withdrawal, the establishment of these two groups also put immense pressure on the kingdom’s various lords.
The destruction of the Duchy of Mellen and the capture of Mycenae were also largely due to the orcs’ siege engines. Yet it remained a mystery how these siege engines, which shouldn’t have been in the orcs’ hands, ended up in their possession. Komer was sure that all member states of the northern alliance, including the kingdom, must have spent tremendous effort investigating this mystery, but so far, there seemed to be no clear explanation. One thing was certain: the orcs could never produce such products, which required sophisticated craftsmanship and advanced magic metal processing techniques—something far more difficult for them than becoming humans.
The origin of that batch of siege engines thus became an unsolvable mystery. In fact, many people had already begun to suspect that there might be someone within the mortal ranks—or more precisely, among the members of the Northern Alliance—colluding with the orcs. The increasingly calm situation in the western regions of the Northern Alliance seemed to support this theory, but with no evidence, no one could say anything. After all, the orcs were still a common enemy to both mortals and orcs. If they truly surged forward like a tide, it would bring catastrophic disaster to all mortals in the Northern Continent. It could be said that no one dared to stir up such trouble lightly.
But after hearing this today, Komer immediately had a premonition—that this batch of goods might be somehow inseparably linked to the siege engines in the orcs’ possession. But why would they use such a method to transport them? If the orcs always resorted to extreme measures to obtain things, problems should have arisen long ago.
Noticing the complicated expression on the other person’s face, Komer suddenly realized that the other person likely knew something about these goods; otherwise, they wouldn’t have such a strange expression. It seemed this mercenary group still had some influence in the Khulun Steppes, enough to figure out something like this. He grew increasingly interested in this group—almost everyone in it was peculiar: dwarf warriors, noble priests, giant warriors, and beautiful female assassins. Even that young warrior was a skilled fighter from Binostes. Such a lineup certainly didn’t resemble that of a small mercenary group. Moreover, since the Black Rose Mercenaries had already been destroyed, why would these people flee to Prague?
Eve seemed to have forgotten that the two people in front of her were members who had just joined her mercenary group. Unconsciously, she had already started to rely on the mage before her. His composure and abilities gave her the urge to entrust the heavy burden that had been pressing on her shoulders to him. The burden she had carried from the Khulun Steppes to Prague had left her exhausted, and she realized that the complexity and danger of the situation far exceeded what ordinary people could imagine. She didn’t even dare to tell the other members about her suspicions. This immense psychological pressure made her feel extremely oppressed and frustrated.
“Eve, I think our mercenary group seems to be in some kind of crisis. I don’t know when Briarnos was injured or who hurt him.” Komer also seemed eager to take charge of the mercenary group; at least his current behavior had made both the dwarf warriors and human warriors realize the gap between them. As for the female assassin, she had voluntarily handed over leadership as soon as the young priestess appeared on the scene.
“Half a month ago, we were chased by them in a forest in Selingus. Six of our companions died in that battle, and only the five of us managed to escape by diving into the river and making our way here. We don’t know how much longer we can go; perhaps Prag is the last stop in our lives.” A faint sadness appeared on the young priestess’s face. Perhaps having seen too much death and separation, the others also showed sadness and melancholy, but they seemed to have no more energy to worry about all this.
Surprised inwardly, Komer hadn’t expected the pursuers to be so persistent, daring to chase them all the way to Selingus. Selingus was in a plain area in the central-southern part of the Northern Alliance, a densely populated region, yet the enemy still dared to attack there, clearly determined to wipe them out. But Komer couldn’t understand why, if the enemy was determined to eradicate them completely, they would let these few targets go.
Perhaps sensing Komer’s confusion, Eve calmly explained, “Briarnos and I couldn’t escape on our own, but two other members of our mercenary group sacrificed their lives to let us flee. The enemy consisted of three magicians, two assassins, and ten warriors. The assassin and one warrior were killed by Briarnos, while the other two warriors died along with our two companions. At the last moment, our companions used a space teleportation scroll to send us away, allowing us to escape by chance. As for Grace and the other two, they left ahead, so they weren’t involved in that battle. We’ve traveled a long way to get here because we heard that the Mage Guild’s Roundtable Meeting will be held in Prag soon, and important figures from all sides will be there. Maybe those guys will be cautious.”
“Did you meet those people in Prag?” Komer asked, nodding.
“Not yet. I guess they haven’t arrived in Prague yet, but they won’t let us go—they’ll definitely track us here.” Eve suddenly smiled. “I’m sorry, Reiser. Grace didn’t tell you the truth. On behalf of our Dark Angels Mercenary Group, I apologize to you. You can leave now.”