Ch.380You’re going to no-show for this?

Our warrior seemed to know quite a lot.

More than you’d expect from a mere warrior of the Red Banner Division.

And among those stories were some pieces of information that could be classified as top-tier.

“Orhan won’t come? But why?”

We’ve been wasting two weeks here waiting for that bastard, and now you’re saying he won’t come?

Does that make any sense? That means my fifteen days have been completely wasted.

“Well… the situation in Aishan is quite complicated right now. It’s already problematic that Sahakal captured Amin instead of Targiyan, but then Amin started saying nonsensical things…”

“What did that idiot say?”

I couldn’t care less about the fool who failed to catch one disabled person despite mobilizing thousands from the Red Banner Division, but I was quite curious about what Amin might have said.

“…A sorcerer. Amin, dragged before Orhan looking like a pig, wailed loudly that he was merely bewitched and controlled by an evil sorcerer. What’s more, traces of sorcery were actually found in his residence.”

The warrior muttered with contempt.

It was an understandable reaction. The Ka’har, for whatever reason, were a people who utterly despised sorcerers—those who used magic.

This warrior would especially feel that way.

After all, until just moments ago, he was receiving painful electric shocks from the mage beside me.

[To be involved with a sorcerer… I knew Amin was foolish, but to this extent…]

‘Come to think of it, aren’t you involved too? Even Ophelia would be considered a sorcerer by your standards.’

And not just any sorcerer, but a dark sorcerer among dark sorcerers who manipulates human souls.

[This is already frustrating enough, so keep your mouth shut.]

Hersella’s voice was cold.

I don’t understand why they hate sorcerers so much.

Did they get beaten up as a race or something?

“So… what does Amin being in cahoots with a sorcerer have to do with Orhan?”

“The fact that Amin, who rarely ventured outside Ordos, was involved with a sorcerer means that these sorcerers must be hiding somewhere in Aishan.”

Well, I suppose they would be hiding.

“Moreover, the fact that they instigated Amin to attack the Empire at such a crucial time means… these sorcerers are enemies interfering with Aishan’s conquest of the plains. They must be found and eradicated. That’s why Orhan has declared that he will postpone the attack on the Wall until the sorcerers’ whereabouts are discovered.”

So that’s why he said there would be no Ka’har attack.

They can’t mobilize all their forces to attack the Empire when unknown enemies have infiltrated their home base.

…But isn’t that a complete waste of effort?

If these people were easy to find, they wouldn’t have been able to hide in Ordos in the first place.

—-

The information that followed was all trivial.

Things like the conflict between Targiyan and Sahakal, or the punishment Orhan imposed on Amin.

Targiyan, who had his achievement stolen, reportedly hurled all sorts of slander at Sahakal.

How did you find Amin when no trace could be found despite extensive searches? Were you perhaps in cahoots with him from the beginning and just cutting ties?

Sahakal countered by saying that the violent and incompetent Targiyan was now slandering his brother out of jealousy for his achievements.

Their warriors even dueled in the middle of Ordos, which showed just how bad their relationship was.

‘How is it that none of your brothers are normal?’

It’s like they’ve collected nothing but people with anger management issues.

[With parents who are vermin, how could their children be normal?]

Hersella spat out a sharp sarcasm.

Wait, wasn’t their father your father too? That’s like spitting while lying down.

Well, I suppose she also has anger management issues.

—-

Amin’s end was more hideous than I had imagined.

To Amin, who was crying and making excuses, Orhan showed him the miserable state of his mother Dahamei and presented him with a choice.

If he admitted all his crimes, he would be executed by dismemberment, but Dahamei would be released.

If he refused, his life would be spared, but Dahamei would remain in that state forever.

Apparently, if he had chosen the former, both Amin and Dahamei would have been spared their lives, but Amin, after hesitating for a long time, chose the latter.

Like the despicable vermin he was to the end.

Orhan, disappointed by Amin until the very end, called him a pig rather than a human, cut out his tongue, and threw him into a pigsty.

Telling him to barely sustain his filthy life by eating food scraps and excrement there.

On the other hand, Dahamei was finally freed from a fate worse than a prostitute.

Since Amin as a person never existed in the first place, it was not right to punish her for the crimes of a non-existent person.

Dahamei, who returned to her residence, hanged herself two days later.

—-

After finishing the interrogation, I went to find Ludwig and told him the information I had learned.

After listening quietly for a while, Ludwig exhaled a sigh of relief and brushed off the ashes of his mana herb.

“…If that information is true, it seems Orhan is unaware of the situation on the northern front.”

“Well, I suppose that would be the case…?”

The Empire and Aishan had always had difficulty obtaining information about each other.

There was no personnel crossing the border, and since the races themselves were different, it was also difficult to dispatch spies.

Even for us, we were fortunate to have captured a prisoner; otherwise, it would have been impossible to grasp Orhan’s movements.

“If he knew, he wouldn’t have made such a decision. Not knowing that the 1st and 2nd Legions have been annihilated, he concluded that with his current forces, there’s no chance of success in attacking the Wall.”

This is why information is crucial.

If Orhan had known that there were only about 5,000 troops defending the Wall, he would have rushed in with all his forces.

“So he’s postponing the attack on the Wall until he finds the sorcerer?”

“That’s right. Normally, even if the chances of victory were low after such a major defeat, he couldn’t help but seek revenge. Even though the battle was caused by his son’s deviation, not retaliating after a defeat would greatly damage the Khan’s prestige.”

“Well, I suppose so…?”

“So how grateful he must be for the pretext of sorcerers. Instead of attacking the Wall at a massive loss, he can continue his conquest war under the pretext of finding the tribe that harbors sorcerers.”

It was a plausible explanation.

The search for sorcerers was merely a pretext; in reality, he was postponing the attack until he had sufficient forces, knowing that attacking the Wall with his current strength would be futile.

From Orhan’s perspective, it was the best decision, but for me, who had wasted two weeks waiting for him here, it was an irritating outcome.

“So, if the news that two legions have been annihilated reaches the east, will he immediately attack?”

“No, I don’t think so. This isn’t just any issue; it’s about sorcerers in the east, which is too significant to reverse.”

Ludwig shook his head in denial.

“We’ve gained quite a bit of time with this. Amin, was it? I feel like awarding him an Imperial Medal of Honor.”

Well, I don’t think he’d appreciate that.

I briefly imagined a pig adorned with a fancy medal and chuckled.

[…How lamentable. To think that the moment of revenge that had come so close has now receded again…]

Hersella exhaled a deep sigh with a tone full of regret.

While it was fortunate for me, it must be hard for her to suppress her disappointment.

She seemed to have been filled with the expectation that she could finally avenge her enemy this time.

Should I try to cheer her up a bit?

‘Won’t they all die on their own without you having to intervene? From the looks of it, Targiyan and Sahakal seem like they’ll fight to the death someday.’

[How foolish. What meaning would such an end have? Revenge has meaning only when I achieve it with my own hands. If I can’t act in this state, it should at least happen before my eyes.]

Perhaps due to our different views on revenge, my words didn’t seem to comfort her much.

‘Then there’s nothing to be done. You’ll have your chance someday.’

…Will she? Honestly, I’m not sure.

The eastern region was quite isolated even in the game, so I didn’t have much information about it.

Hersella’s march was also like an invasion coming from outside the map.

—-

“I’ll be going then. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

After briefly greeting Ludwig, I left his office.

If the Red Banner Division member’s confession was true, there was no need to waste more time here, but its veracity was still uncertain.

He might have lied under torture.

To confirm this, some cross-verification was needed.

In other words, the time had finally come for our warrior to be brainwashed.

According to Ludwig, the results would be available by tomorrow evening.

If it proved to be true, I planned to leave Landenburg immediately and return to the islands.

—-

[…Still, you’ve become quite admirable.]

‘Huh? What did you say?’

On my way back to my room, Hersella mumbled softly.

Her voice was too low for me to understand what she said.

[It’s nothing. Just talking to myself.]

I asked her several times what she had said, but Hersella refused to answer until the end.

What was that? Was she badmouthing me?