Chapter 108:

“Two warehouses were attacked. The supplies were not related to the experiment, so there is no disruption to the plan, but it seems we need to be more careful.”

“Have you identified where the information leaked from?”

“It was the bandits we used to move the goods. They have been taken care of.”

The man with an ordinary appearance frowned as he looked at the list of lost supplies.

It was certainly not a significant loss.

At most, some goods prepared for bribes were gone.

But that didn't mean it was alright.

There was a bigger problem than the lost goods.

“The other connected places haven't been exposed, have they?”

“Probably, they wouldn't have found out that far….”

“Probably? Do you think I want that kind of answer.”

The subordinate flinched as the man showed rare irritation.

“I'm sorry. I will check if any parts have been exposed.”

“If you understand, then go.”

“Ah, that collaborator is asking for a little more time, what should we do about that?”

“Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue lightly.

After giving so much time to prepare, is she still not ready to cast the curse?

If she weren't the key person who had to cast the curse, he wouldn't have let it slide so easily, but since it was a cooperative relationship, he had no choice but to endure.

“Refuse for now, and if she says she still needs it after doing it as quickly as possible, then give her one more day. No more than that.”

“Yes, sir.”

For a definitive experiment, he should give more time, but with Valheit on their tail, speed was now of the essence.

With every day, no, every hour that passed, the risk of the old snake figuring out the entire plan grew.

‘Perhaps he's already figured it out.’

***

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I'm not sure. It's just an estimation.”

“It's strange to call it an estimation when you've figured out this much.”

“What on earth do you want from me?”

“No, it's just fascinating.”

Til muttered, tracing the lines drawn messily over the map.

Question marks were drawn at the ends of some of the lines.

“You can figure out this much just by raiding two warehouses? There was nothing special inside.”

“The important thing wasn't what was stored in the warehouses, but the warehouses themselves. To be more precise, the other places connected to those warehouses were important.”

Although I said it with a bit of a boast, I didn't know either until I received Falsh's information this morning.

In the warehouses we raided based on the information from the bandits, there wasn't a single item that seemed related to the curse.

I had expected that they wouldn't be important items if they were using nobodies, but I couldn't help but be disappointed.

That is, until I saw Falsh's slickly smiling face.

“It seems the local wholesalers are quite fond of the furniture from Ruhindorf. Considering they buy so much of something that won't even sell once it leaves this town.”

“Simply put, it means there's a high possibility that they're preparing the curse in the places where those things were moved.”

“Well, to put it briefly, yes.”

The warehouses we attacked yesterday were also places frequented by wholesalers.

On paper, they should have been full of furniture or wood bought from Ruhindorf, but instead, there was only money or expensive metals.

“It's clear they are preparing through local wholesalers. The things we found in the warehouse were probably bribes given to the wholesalers.”

“So if we investigate the warehouses or yards they use, we'll catch one.”

“In theory, yes.”

However, this brings the problem that there are a damn lot of places to investigate.

In a situation where we don't know when the curse will be cast, we can't go around investigating each and every one of them.

“It's not my preferred method, but we have no choice but to go rough. We don't have time.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“Don't the rabbits come running out when you pour smoke into the rabbit hole?”

“You mean, break and see what's in the suspicious places?”

Til grinned as if she liked the idea.

I wanted to avoid it because attacking a warehouse attached to the village would also cause damage to the residents, but for now, there was no other way.

“Then where should we raid first?”

“Let's start here for now.”

I pointed my staff at a large warehouse not far from the village where the wholesalers were gathered.

“There? It's large and goods come and go frequently, so I don't think the Ravens would be staying there.”

“Yes. This place probably has no direct connection to the experiment the Raven is preparing.”

“Then why raid there first.”

“Because that's where the smoke will spread most acridly.”

Since they are operating to prevent any leaks to the outside as much as possible, the Ravens wouldn't have directly bought off all the wholesalers.

Most probably didn't even receive an offer, and the wholesalers moving for the Raven would have no idea of the overall picture because the Raven split the requests.

Because they split it and were careful, it became difficult to track, but on the other hand, it also meant they couldn't respond in a systematic manner.

“We need to give them a threat that we will continue to target the wholesalers' warehouses, not just a one-time raid. Only then will they be surprised and move their goods in the warehouses to a safe place.”

“If there's a warehouse that stays still even while everyone is making such a fuss….”

“The Raven will be there.”

The count shadow corps was not enough to investigate all the suspicious places, but it was just barely possible to monitor them.

“The problem is making the wholesalers believe that the raids will continue. There's also a possibility that they'll just send a rescue request to Stetten or the army and stay put.”

“They would react that way if they were simple bandits. We need to use more fearsome guys to throw them into a panic.”

“Fearsome guys?”

“Isn't this why we gathered the Demons.”

In the Imperial cities, Demons are treated with disregard and contempt.

But in the countryside, monster and Demon are practically synonyms.

There are so many stories about the countryside turning to ashes due to Demon attacks that a collection was published and became a bestseller, and there are even a few copies in the Eight Council's headquarters library.

Of course, they are old stories far from the truth, but once a prejudice is formed, it doesn't change easily.

Especially in places where it's hard to see Demons, such prejudice is more severe or so it was written in the book.

“I had them on standby just in case, so it will be enough for them to get here in five or six hours. How long do you think it will take to prepare for the raid.”

“Hmm. We can do it as soon as we arrive. Just give the call.”

“Good. Please start this evening.”

It's unknown how the Raven side will respond, but they won't be able to just sit back and do nothing.

After that, we'll have to adjust according to the opponent's moves.

“Oh, by the way, what happened to the favor I asked for last time?”

“The one about contacting Kaseph? I told the headquarters. You know, that guy has wanderlust. It'll take a while to contact him without using a Raven.”

“Is that so?”

As it is related to a curse, I need Kaseph's help, but this has become a headache.

I could contact him using a Raven, but I can't use a Raven while fighting a Raven.

“You seem to have a worry.”

“It would be stranger if I didn't….”

I lowered my head and grumbled, then stopped talking.

It wasn't Til's voice.

When I looked up, Til was scowling and looking at the opposite side.

“Speak of the devil.”

“You still haven't fixed that temper of yours, Til. Didn't that person tell you to fix it.”

“I fixed it. When it comes to the Commander.”

After the friendly greeting, Kaseph entered the hut, bending his back deeply.

Thanks to that, he looked much more bizarre than last time.

“The Count was looking for me?”

“I didn't use a Raven, so I thought it would take a while. I thought you would show up only after everything was over.”

“You're not the one who sent for me?”

“I did send for you. I just thought it would take a while since it went through the headquarters.”

“So that's what happened. Hmm.”

Kaseph tilted his head in a strange direction and let out a sound that was hard to tell if it was a groan or a growl.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, it's not important.”

Kaseph shook his head.

He was a strange person to begin with, so I didn't question the suspicious behavior further.

“Like in Kranacht, this doesn't seem to be an ordinary curse, so I called for your esteemed opinion.”

“It's certain that someone is preparing a curse. However, as you said, it doesn't seem to be a normal method.”

“Have you investigated?”

“No. I could feel it just by walking around.”

Is it that serious?

No, is Kaseph just being sensitive?

“Is it that serious? Or are you just being sensitive?”

Til thankfully said what I wanted to say on my behalf.

“Both are wrong. It's not serious, but it's not light enough to be ignored either.”

“Can you say it so I can understand?”

“It's not a serious level of curse, but it is spread thinly over this entire land.”

“Does that mean we're already cursed?”

“I thought the Count already knew. Well, there's no harm in explaining a bit more.”

Kaseph put on airs and slowly placed his hand on the map.

Flames like blood vessels seared and spread across the map.

“This isn't a simple curse like wishing for someone I hate to suffer. It's a work of art prepared over several months.”

“We know that much.”

I shook my head at the surprisingly trivial information.

Perhaps thinking I was sneering, Kaseph's eyes behind the mask twitched.

“The method of a curse is complex, but compared to magic, it's a very intuitive type of skill. However, the curse being prepared around here is much more complex.”

“Like an experiment.”

“Yes. Just like what Professor Zain likes.”

“Do you know what kind of experiment it is?”

“There's not enough information.”

“So Kaseph of the Hellfire is nothing special either.”

The flames that had been wriggling and moving over the map instantly gathered at one point.

I wondered if I had been too cheeky and prepared the defensive magic of my staff, but the flames did not fly at me.

They just gathered at Ruhindorf and made a black hole in the map.

“All the preparations are connected to here. It's probably the target.”

“Wait, don't you have to be there in person to cast a curse?”

“You know well. I thought you lived without thinking at all.”

Til spat out a low curse at the compliment that was hard to distinguish whether it was genuine admiration or sarcasm.

Kaseph continued his explanation without pretending to hear.

“If in Kranacht, they experimented with casting a curse through official documents, this time, it seems they are planning to test casting a curse from a long distance.”

I had suspected it a little myself.

Because there was no evidence that they were preparing it around Ruhindorf.

But if it were that easy, Kaseph wouldn't have mentioned that ‘a curse must be cast near the target.’

“It's a bold attempt. The idea is commendable. However, whether it can succeed is a completely different matter.”

“Then is there no big problem?”

If the curse doesn't take hold properly and fails, then there's no need to go through all this trouble, right?

“It's the exact opposite. An uncontrolled curse will spread throughout this entire area.”

“Pardon?”

“It means that everything within this region will become a curse-ridden mess.”

Because he spoke as usual, it took a little time to understand what Kaseph meant.

Since his tone was like he had spilled a glass of water.

“That's, like, a really bad thing, isn't it?”

Til, who had been frowning for a long time like me, spat out a word.

Kaseph answered that serious question very calmly.

“That's right. It's a very, very, terribly bad thing.”

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.