Episode 710 Special Force (1)
A large room located inside the Hall of Glory.
“What? Say it again.”
Marquis Terserion, the prime minister and current commander-in-chief, answers my question while roughly slamming the desk, without any change in expression.
“Let me say this one last time. As the Commander-in-Chief, I cannot allow you to change your affiliation.”
The answer to the request to be sent to the front lines where our clan is.
It was obvious, but it was difficult to accept.
Well, I didn’t understand all the reasons either.
“Why is it impossible to change affiliation?”
“You are a nobleman.”
“I heard that there are cases where the affiliation can be changed if the person involved wishes?”
“In the military, decisions and actions are made for the benefit of the group, not the individual.”
“Why wouldn’t it be in the collective interest for me to go there?”
It may not seem like a Barbarian thing, but this time I tried to present my argument as logically as possible in order to convince my opponent.
but…….
“You have a job to do within the military headquarters. And I have decided that that ‘mission’ is more important than going to the front lines and fighting directly.”
“What should I do…?”
“I’m just telling you this. This place, the Imperial City of Karnon, is not safe either. The unruly Noarks hid here that day, and the intelligence department has yet to figure out what they’re hiding.”
“… … So what does that have to do with me?”
“No matter how sturdy a building is, if its pillars collapse, it will eventually collapse. And the nobles gathered here are the pillars that support this country.”
“No, that’s why I asked, what does that have to do with anything?”
“There is no one in this city who is as specialized in ‘protection’ as you are. I don’t expect much from you. Just stay here and prepare for any eventuality.”
“under…….”
Aside from the sigh, now that you mention it, I understand why you’re holding me back like this.
Oh, of course that doesn’t mean I agree with it.
‘I’m a Barbarian anyway, right?’
A simple-minded warrior who knows nothing but fighting.
A savage of this age, unbound by law and morality.
‘But I’m still a little worried about what will happen later… ‘
Well then, what should I do?
Should I just ignore everything and throw it away?
‘or not…….’
That’s when my thoughts reached that point.
The Marquis muttered to himself as if to soothe me, perhaps sensing that I was having strange thoughts.
“But well… the reason I can’t let you go is because of the Noarks hiding in this city… … . If you hunt them all down, then maybe I can grant your request.”
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For some reason, a ‘ring!’ sound rang in my head at those words.
‘Is this some kind of prerequisite quest…?’
Okay, that’s all I have to do to solve this, right?
***
Sometimes that happens when you play a game.
An area that is normally inaccessible due to a no-trespassing sign, but opens when you complete certain quests.
In some ways, that’s exactly what happened now.
[Search out all the Noark special forces hiding in the Imperial Karnon.]
Completing this quest will allow me to leave the zodiac and legally go to the front lines where my allies are.
However, the one thing that is a bit disappointing here is… … .
“Then call our clan over here. Then I will take responsibility for finding them.”
“It’s impossible.”
“So you’re telling me to find everything by myself?”
“Even if you say that, it’s not right. If only your clan gets special treatment, what will the other explorers think? No one will be willing to fight for the crown with all their heart.”
I thought about using a trick, but as expected, the Marquis struck me down with one stroke.
“Of course you need people too. I will assign you some suitable people.”
Still, I decided that it wasn’t a pointless attempt since I had already acquired the manpower.
“I’ll tell you in advance, you and the personnel assigned to you have been organized separately for a special mission, and your affiliation is with the military command.”
“i get it.”
“I’m saying this because you don’t seem to understand at all. I’ll say it again: never leave the Zodiac Karnon without permission. If you do, you will be considered a ‘deserter.’”
“… … So, aren’t you saying you understand?”
“Good. Then let’s go out.”
After my private meeting with the Marquis ended, I went back to the main hall of the Palace of Glory and spent time chatting with other nobles and gathering information.
“Haha! What do you need to worry about? This situation is nothing less than their last desperate attempt. It goes without saying that the royal family’s power is absolute.”
“There is talk that it will be quietly ‘swept away’ in the near future, but I don’t know what will happen.”
“By the way, since His Majesty the King has not shown up in this situation, it seems that there is really no sign of his health recovering.”
Well, most of it was just useless talk.
Still, I tried to talk to as many people as possible and listen to their stories.
And how much time has passed since then?
“Baron Yandel, all of the troops the Commander-in-Chief spoke of have arrived.”
I was able to directly encounter the ‘human power’ that the Marquis had spoken of much sooner than I thought.
There are a total of 19 people.
Here, including me, a total of 20 people will be organized into a ‘special search unit’ under the military command and will move…
This is probably good.
There was only one thing that surprised me.
“… Mr. Yandel?”
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“Raven… … ?”
Heh heh, I didn’t think the Marquis would send him along with the group.
“Could it be that Mr. Yandel is the person in charge of this special search team… …?”
Likewise, Raven was greatly surprised and embarrassed, wondering if she had heard about me beforehand.
“It just so happened. Please take care of me for the time being.”
Since I knew Raven was a talented person, I reached out to him with a grateful heart.
Hana Raven had an uneasy expression on her face as she shook hands.
“… … Ah, I suddenly feel really anxious.”
“Are you feeling anxious?”
“Nothing much. I just realized that this is going to be a very, very dangerous mission.”
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of causing an accident.”
“When did you have such thoughts and cause an accident?”
… Well, it’s sad to hear that Bavarian.
“Anyway, so what exactly do we do next?”
“Huh? Didn’t you hear anything before you came?”
“Yes. I didn’t hear anything other than that we would be looking for something. Since we were called in so hastily, I figured it must be something pretty important. So what is it?”
Since it seemed like they had been dragged in without knowing anything, I explained to them what our mission would be.
“In simple terms, you’re saying we have to start from scratch and track down those people that even the Royal Intelligence Service couldn’t find?”
Raven’s expression was not good, as if she was already sighing. I felt a little sorry, but I put aside my pride and bowed.
“Please take good care of me.”
“No, even if you say so… It’s not like I have any superpowers or anything… … .”
“I have to do this to be able to go to my colleagues.”
As soon as he said that and stared at her with desperate eyes, Raven, who had been silent for a long time, let out the breath he had been holding.
“Ha… Okay. I’ll try my best.”
“Okay, that’s enough.”
This isn’t just empty words. That promise is really enough.
How much time have we spent together?
Given his personality, the fact that he said something like that means that he is truly willing to help you with both hands and feet.
‘Still, the Marquis sent it after taking great care of it.’
Why was the Marquis, who always did things I didn’t like, doing something I liked? While feeling curious, I first greeted the unit members I was seeing for the first time, except for Raven.
“You see, I am Bjorn, son of Yandel. And you, what is your name?”
“This is Marcus Batelan.”
“Oh, so you’re from the Baron Batlan family?”
“Not direct, but collateral, Your Majesty.”
Even if it took a little time, I researched each person’s background and even found out what their special skills were.
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To sum it up, there were ten knights, three magicians, and five ‘search agents’ who were considered special positions within the military…
“If you’re a search party member, did your ability blossom into a detection type?”
“Yes, that is correct, Baron.”
“How capable are you?”
“No one within a 20m radius can escape our eyes.”
You could feel the sincere pride in the voices of the search party members who answered like that.
Well, it didn’t feel like unfounded pride.
“As you may or may not know, whenever the Royal Knights stand guard at the gates, at least one of our search party members is always present.”
If the royal family uses it to guard the city gates, it would be safe to say that at least their ability has been proven.
Soon I lost interest in the search party and looked at the last one.
A man wearing a black uniform with no patterns or designs, rather than a typical military uniform.
“You’re from the intelligence service?”
“Yes, Baron.”
“What’s your name?”
“I hope you will understand that I cannot reveal this information due to the regulations of the Information Agency.”
“Then answer me just this one thing. Is your first or last name by any chance ‘Hans’?”
“… … ?”
“It’s important, so hurry up. If you can’t answer, the Intelligence Service and everything else will have no choice but to kick you out.”
“I don’t know why you’re asking, but I’m not Hans.”
“Do you swear on the name of the royal family?”
“…I swear.”
Okay, so Hans doesn’t exist at all.
There’s no way a guy from the intelligence service would lie in the name of the royal family.
“Then what should I call you?”
“Please call me anonymous.”
Hey, with that speech and attire, your name is anonymous?
Just looking at him, it seems like he doesn’t have many friends…
Okay, decided.
“Nameless is too long.”
“What do you mean, ‘nameless’?”
“From now on, I will call you MuMu for short.”
‘MuMu’, who had been given a new name, had an expression on his face like he couldn’t understand what was being said for the time being.
“… … How on earth did you shorten that?”
“MuMu, and Myeong. Hasn’t the pronunciation become shorter?”
“… … ?”
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“If you don’t like it, tell me your real name. Then I will call you by your name.”
As soon as I said that, Mumu let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
“That’s fine. What does it matter what you call me? Call me whatever you want.”
“Okay, Mumu.”
“… … .”
Even after giving permission, the guy makes a shit-eating expression as if he doesn’t like the name ‘MuMu’.
Well, I had no reason to care.
It’s obvious that the Marquis planted one of them, so why would he treat him well?
“Anyway, before we start searching in earnest, I would like to hear what the Intelligence Service has found out.”
“I knew this would happen, so I prepared in advance.”
Afterwards, from Mumu, who was from the intelligence agency, I learned how the current military searched which areas, what they discovered, and what clues they obtained, etc.
I spent time sharing such things.
Oh, of course there wasn’t much income.
“So, in simple terms, you searched everywhere and still couldn’t find a single hair?”
“If I had to say so, yes… … .”
“Hmm, then it’s possible that all of the Noarks who have hidden are hairless.”
“… … Are you serious?”
“No, I was joking.”
Does this guy think that barbarians are a truly brainless race?
“Okay, let’s go outside first.”
“Is there anything you can point to?”
“No, it’s not like that. If you just walk around, won’t you remember it?”
“… … .”
Moo-Moo seemed to have a lot to say when he saw me like that, but he held it in and looked like he was just letting it slide.
Should I say that he thinks he just wants to kill time?
“Still, thanks to you, we were able to narrow it down to some extent.”
“… … ?”
“Aren’t the Noarks not hiding in common places?”
At those words, Moo-Moo, who had a look of suspicion, looked at him again as if he was saying something so obvious, but in fact, this point is important.
“It looks like they didn’t search the nobles’ mansions.”
When he pointed out the area that the intelligence agency had not searched, Mumu flinched and opened his mouth urgently.
“Baron? Surely not your Majesty… … .”
Even though I seemed to think that was impossible as I spoke, I had no intention of compromising on this matter.
“Maybe there is a family that is in collusion with the Noarks. What’s strange about that?”
“Do you think we left it alone because we didn’t know that possibility existed?”
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“Raven, does our special search party have the authority to search the interior of the nobleman’s mansion?”
“Well? I don’t know about that.”
“Then let’s do what we have from now on.”
Mumu looked at Raven in surprise at my natural and innocent answer, but Raven simply nodded nonchalantly.
“Yes. Since the Marquis created this organization anyway, he will take care of the aftermath. Furthermore, all the heads of the households are gathered at the Palace of Glory, so the servants will not dare to stop us.”
“What are you two talking about right now!”
“Okay, then we’re all done. Hurry up. We need to raid and seize as many houses as possible before the lords notice and take action.”
“Yes, but what does search and seizure mean… …?”
“You never know. If there are any suspicious items, you should bring them in and check them out.”
“ah…….”
Judging by the look of contempt on his face, he must have understood that I was going to search through the family tree and secretly take something useful.
Are you just tired of trying to stop me?
Raven just looked at me with resigned eyes and asked me.
“Then which family should we start with?”
Oh, that?
Of course.
“The first destination is the Marquis Terselion.”
I wonder what’s hidden in the corner of the prime minister’s house?
oh