Ch.827Small Bait

Targiyan uttered a warrior’s oath. A vow to protect Imara’s safety if the information she brought proved beneficial to him.

Imara didn’t particularly trust Targiyan, but…

‘I have no other choice.’

Since she had been captured as a prisoner, keeping her mouth shut would only lead to terrible torture. So she finally revealed everything, placing a sliver of hope in Targiyan’s warrior’s oath.

“That was an interesting story. Interesting enough to warrant the oath I made.”

Indeed, the truth about Meiharin that Imara had shared was information fascinating enough to be of considerable benefit to Targiyan.

A sorcerer. One who practiced dark arts based on human sacrifice, no less. If this fact were to spread across the plains, Meiharin and Sahakal would lose their right to claim themselves as Khan of Aishan.

This information would be a major turning point in the stagnant civil war on the plains, where both sides had been merely keeping each other in check without any significant advantage. Imara had certainly kept her promise.

Would Targiyan keep his oath as well?

“Are you satisfied? Then as you swore—”

“No, I’m afraid that would be difficult.”

How could he possibly do that? Targiyan looked down at the “enemy’s daughter” who had brought him good news with a smirk.

“…What?”

Imara glared at Targiyan like a poisonous lynx, grinding her molars. The anxiety she had feared was becoming reality.

She had never trusted Targiyan from the beginning, but she hadn’t expected him to so readily discard a warrior’s oath spoken from his own mouth.

“You swore as a warrior, but it was all a blatant lie? A so-called Khan who doesn’t even know shame—”

“You know nothing. Well, that’s natural since you’re not a warrior. A warrior’s oath only applies when the recipient is worthy of receiving it. It’s unthinkable to extend such an honor to the offspring of a dark sorcerer.”

“W-what?! You fraud…! Stop lying. You never intended to keep your promise from the start!”

Imara, her temper flaring with anger, thrashed against her bindings and shouted fiercely, but Targiyan merely snorted and called his subordinates to order her back to prison.

“Mmph! Mmmmph! Mmmmmph!”

Imara resisted desperately, but she couldn’t overcome the brute strength of the warriors. She was gagged again and dragged away, bound in ropes.

“Khan Targiyan, what do you plan to do with that woman?”

“Well… I’ll break her spirit and display her in front of the walls. I can already picture Meiharin and Sahakal’s delighted reactions.”

As Targiyan sneered about making her like Dahamei, Amin’s birth mother…

—-

And night came.

‘…It’s all over.’

Sitting in a dark corner of the prison, Imara trembled with anger and despair. A fate worse than slavery awaited her.

Although she had prepared herself for this since becoming Targiyan’s prisoner…

Facing the cold of the ice-cave-like prison and the guards who stared at her lecherously while spewing vulgar words, the resolve of the sixteen-year-old girl crumbled like a sandcastle swept away by waves.

The prison guard was a hairy, monkey-like man who didn’t even try to hide the lust in his eyes, which was disgustingly revolting.

He hadn’t touched her yet only because he had to leave her alone until the Khan’s orders came down, but it was clear that as soon as Targiyan gave permission, he would open the cell door and violate her.

“If you want food, you’ll have to use that mouth of yours. Think of it as practice for what’s coming anyway.”

In fact, the guard had even pressed his grotesque member against her face, using water and food meant for prisoners as bait. Saying there wouldn’t be any marks if she used her mouth.

Of course, Imara had squeezed her eyes shut and ignored the guard’s threats, and the guard, perhaps thinking that forcing himself on her would result in being bitten or causing a commotion, didn’t attempt anything beyond what he’d already done.

It wasn’t so much that his self-control was remarkable, but rather that he had the attitude that he could wait one night since Targiyan, who had temporarily gone on a raid, would return and give permission to enjoy her as much as he wanted.

Since Imara herself thought this was highly likely, she glared at the guard with a disgusted expression but couldn’t hide her fear.

– Thwack!

With a heavy impact sound in the middle of the night, the guard who had been endlessly spewing harassment collapsed with his eyes rolling back.

‘Huh…?’

Imara raised her head in surprise at the appearance of an intruder who had silently approached behind the guard and mercilessly struck the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious.

‘Who? Someone sent by mother or brother to rescue me? Or… to silence me before things get worse?’

Though not clearly visible in the darkness of night, confusion and bewilderment were evident on Imara’s face.

She couldn’t tell if the person was a rescuer or an assassin, but if they were sent by Meiharin, they would ultimately be her enemy either way.

However.

“Please keep your voice down, Lady Imara. If we’re discovered, it will be very troublesome for both of us.”

The identity of the person who revealed himself was someone she knew well, but someone who had no reason to be here.

‘Mersin…?’

Haschal’s 4th Guard Cavalry Division. Mersin, a middle-aged warrior who, like Jahan, held the position of Centurion. The man who had knocked out the guard was none other than Mersin.

‘Why is Mersin here? I heard he became Targiyan’s subordinate after Sister Haschal’s betrayal…?’

“I understand your confusion, but there’s no time for detailed explanations. Let’s get you up. I’ll help you escape from here.”

Mersin searched the guard and took out the prison key, then opened the door, entered the cell, and removed Imara’s gag and bindings, quietly explaining his reasons for doing this.

It wasn’t particularly grand.

He had submitted to Targiyan to avoid being punished for being associated with Haschal’s treasonous act, but he still had a bit of loyalty to his old lord in his heart, so he decided to free Imara, whom she had favored.

“—That’s how it is.”

“…Sister Haschal favored me? Do you really think so?”

After removing the bindings, Imara carefully asked as she borrowed Mersin’s dagger to stab the guard’s neck.

Since she had been internally anxious that her relationship with Haschal had been ruined due to childhood conflicts, the words from someone who had been close to Haschal gave her a comforting reassurance like the warmth of a stove.

“Well. She never expressed it in words… but her expression when talking about you was completely different from when she thought about Targiyan, Sahakal, and Amin. She even complained about not knowing how to treat you. Isn’t that enough to call it favor?”

“Sister… me…”

Thinking that this was truly fortunate, Imara unconsciously nodded and smiled with relief.

—-

After freeing Imara from prison, Mersin returned her bow and hidden weapons that had been confiscated when she was captured, and put her on a well-trained warhorse to help her secretly escape from the camp.

He advised her to flee as far as possible before morning, when pursuit teams would follow.

Imara thanked Mersin and followed his advice, riding through the night. Toward the kingdom established by her half-sister Haschal, who still favored her.

And.

“…Letting go of captured prey, is this really beneficial to me?”

Targiyan, who had been watching from a distance, turned to Mersin who had approached and asked. Though he had followed the plan, he questioned whether this was truly advantageous.

“Of course, Khan Targiyan. That woman is merely bait. As the Khan of the Great Plains, you should hunt not the small rabbit, but the predators that gather to target the rabbit.”

Mersin answered as if soothing a sulking child.

“That woman is both Meiharin’s sore spot and weakness. If she testifies before the clan chiefs that her mother was a sorcerer, most tribes of the plains would turn their backs on Sahakal. So… before that fact spreads across the plains, they must pursue and capture her at all costs.”

Yes. The excuses Mersin had given to Imara were all lies. From the beginning, Mersin and Targiyan had intended to release her.

That’s why they had ordered her to be imprisoned rather than broken immediately after capture.

If they had allowed the warriors to play with her freely, she wouldn’t have been able to escape, let alone walk on her own.

“We only need to pretend to pursue that woman with a small number of warriors. Then, Meiharin and Sahakal, with their backs against the wall, will have no choice but to send out the Blue Banner Army holed up in Ordos to try to recover their daughter before she falls into our hands.”

In Mersin’s judgment, the unit Meiharin would order to retrieve Imara would likely be the elite of elites, the main force of the Blue Banner Army, not just any ragtag group.

Sending out weak and incompetent men would only result in certain annihilation by Targiyan’s forces.

“So now, we just need to monitor Ordos and move according to the situation. We can ambush and destroy the Blue Banner Army as they leave Ordos, or attack and capture Ordos itself when its forces are significantly depleted…”

In other words, for the two of them, Imara’s role was merely as bait to draw out the Blue Banner Army, which was difficult to engage while holed up in the fortress.

“Or, it would also be good to guide the Parricide Wolf to clash with Meiharin’s forces when they notice the Blue Banner Army marching near the wall. The Parricide Wolf believes his mother’s death was the work of a sorcerer, so he will clash with Meiharin on his own without us having to do anything.”

If things went well, Targiyan could aim for the fisherman’s gain of having enemies destroy each other.

This was the truth behind the ten-day-long escape drama.