Chapter 32 – Operation Initiation
I’ve already been through so many extraordinary things that shake people’s minds that I’m tired of them, so I thought I wouldn’t be surprised by anything in the future.
[You, what is that funny figure? Hmm… Looking closely, it seems to fit a little well]
An indescribable feeling came to me as I faced the owl chattering excitedly in front of my eyes with the voice of the princess.
As far as I know, there is only one magic that can do this.
Family language.
It was magic that allowed the caster to enter into a mana contract with a non-human object, allowing the object to exert a mystical power that exceeded its natural ability.
“Could you make this friend your familiar?”
I know that it is a very tricky high-level magic that even highly skilled wizards shake their heads, but how did they manage it?
Apparently, just a few weeks ago, it was just an ordinary eagle owl.
It was obvious that if I dared to raise my question, another absurd answer would come back, so I decided to just accept it.
[Yes! Snow was a child who grew up with me since childhood, so he readily accepted it. But is that all there is to say?]
Alicia showed only a lot of flimsy appearance in front of me, and even though she was a pervert with an uncontrollable sexual orientation, she was definitely the daughter of His Majesty the Emperor.
There was nothing particularly strange about her if she showed at least one or two talents beyond common sense.
I spoke in a warm voice to the white eagle owl, who was standing in front of me like a human, with his arms folded and his head turned away.
“I missed you so much.”
I may look like a madman to others, but my disguise is a mercenary captain from the southern barbarians.
For those who communicate with nature, it was a natural act to have a friendly conversation with a bird.
[I miss you too. I want to do this and that with you again… That’s why, come back quickly!]
“I’ll get back to you as soon as possible as soon as it’s done.”
Still, it was fun to talk to her in this strange way.
Alicia doesn’t know exactly what mission I’m on.
She just let her go a little further. So, he must have half-forced himself to try to contact me like this.
If so, could I ask Alicia about this?
As far as I know, she is the princess of the empire, and since she was young, her face was often shown at various external events.
If so, the knowledge of the social world must be very extensive, exceeding that of most experts.
“It’s absolutely necessary for the mission, but could you teach me how to dance?”
Of course, it was unlikely that she, being a woman, would know the dances performed by men, but she had nothing to lose by asking, so she just took the straw.
[A dance? Yes, of course I can tell you. I’ve never danced with a man before… I know a little bit about what the opposite sex dances like. I don’t want to step on my feet when we’re out together.]
“Is that so? It’s really fortunate. Then, even if it’s just a simple waltz right now…”
[For a moment. Before that, if I had to waltz, I would have a partner… Who is that?]
“That… Vice-captain Agnes. It was unavoidable due to the mission.”
[What did you say?!]
As a result, thanks to a completely unexpected welcome guest, I was able to quickly acquire basic knowledge about dancing.
[Huh! To be able to play with that female sheep all of a sudden. You, be prepared when you come back]
The whole time I was learning the dance from the princess, I had to sweat hard to keep facing the sharp eyes unique to birds of prey of the white eagle owl.
* * *
On the day of operation.
All preparations have been completed, and now all that remains is to move.
“Did all our armed forces go inside the Count’s castle?”
“That’s right. Not just a few boxes, but a few wagons at all, so there’s nothing to be found out about. We bought all the people involved a long time ago or replaced them with our own people.”
“I will believe you.”
“Then, I’ll go first.”
There was no way you could enter the party armed, so weapons and armor were all brought into the warehouse inside the castle in advance.
In addition, the structure of the Count’s castle has already been figured out by Lord Randolph and counterintelligence agents.
Also, inside the castle, priests of the Celestial Church, disguised as scholars, attended the party in advance to observe the enemy’s movements and prepare in advance.
The only variable in this operation is that a person with sensitive senses reads our momentum and notices our identity.
Even while replaying the flow of the strategy in my head, the line heading to the banquet hall was getting shorter and shorter.
The clergy of the Celestial Church had already obtained and wore artifacts that suppressed the divine power, so it was fine, but the problem was us.
It is widely known that warriors from the southern barbarians are inherently more powerful than a few knights, so there is no reason to doubt whether or not they use mana.
However, if a person capable enough to understand the nature of mana or the type of technique was present in the enemy camp just by looking at it, the plan would be entangled immediately.
I can only hope that you don’t. It was never pleasant to be engaged in an all-out war in the middle of enemy lines.
“In a little while, it’s our turn to go in.”
“This, really, is quite trembling…”
I glanced at Vice-captain Agnes blushing next to me.
There was a stark contrast between my large body forced into a terribly mismatched tailcoat and her beautifully dressed in a bright blue dress.
“I’m just going in. Please take care of me, ma’am.”
“Yes, yes, honey…”
Now was the time to really get into the middle of enemy lines. I firmly clenched the vice-captain’s hand once again and made up my mind.
Upon entering the banquet hall, the emcee, wearing a funny half-mask, introduced our party with the loudest gestures.
“This is the position of Garros, a great warrior from the Heilang clan from the south, and Irene, the third daughter of the Sherwood Company!
It was treated like a clown to stir up the excitement, but it didn’t matter because I didn’t really come to enjoy the party.
Originally, it was a party that could not be attended unless it was aristocratic status or a person of power equivalent to it.
Considering that, the fact that not only me and the vice-captain, but all of my subordinates were sent to the party was probably to make it a spectacle rather than to be treated as guests.
This is how it happened. Rather, I want them to be even more vigilant and look down on us to the fullest.
“Ohhh! Are you the captain of the southern mercenary troupe that is rumored to be here and there these days? Falling in love with your employer and settling down in the center is a pretty romantic story, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know how a woman like that fell for a barbarian. No matter how beautiful she looks, it’s because she was born as a vulgar commoner.”
“Oh my gosh… Look at all those hordes of people chasing after me. They’re all brothers? How bad is the culture of the Southerners…”
I had at least an assortment, but my subordinates were still wearing their distinctive bizarre costumes, so everyone looked at the party and kicked their heads.
At the arbitrary evaluation, which was close to a shameful insult, the veins in the temples of some members of staff were rising.
Everyone, I want you to show a little more patience now that you are almost there. All of this will be over in a few hours at most.
I walked slowly with the vice-captain to the ballroom in the center of the hall.
“Is that bearskin cape made from the game you caught yourself?”
“All of these people are brothers… Is it metaphorical, or are they really related by blood?”
“Do all conflicts really be settled in duels in the South?”
The subordinates who followed from the rear were caught by the fussy and suffered from countless requests for attention.
—♩♪ ♫ ♬
As the party moderately melted into the atmosphere of the banquet hall, soon a simple waltz music was played and the male and female members began to dance.
First of all, I had to match the atmosphere of this banquet hall.
It was necessary to attract the Count’s attention and enter the private room full of key characters.
I grabbed the vice-captain’s hand, wrapped my arms around her waist, and started to creak moderately.
“Geez, Heo Woo-dae is plausible. His dancing skills aren’t very good.”
“Since commoners and savages are bonded, it is only natural that they lack dignity.”
The reaction of the people around them was as expected.
It was because both of them had very poor dancing skills, and the height difference was so great that it was impossible to come up with a plausible picture.
I was barely holding back the urge to upset everything right away, but the vice-captain seemed to be quite pleased with the current situation.
“It feels pretty good because you’re doing this.
“Hmm. If you like your wife, then I like you too.”
By the way.
— Churup, Churup…
Was a ball originally a place of promiscuous sexual desire?
When a slow and sticky melody came out in the middle of the waltz, the men and women around them, who were dancing normally, suddenly got entangled in each other and started biting and sucking each other hard in a deep embrace.
Among countless lovers, only we stood looking at each other, and naturally, suspicious gazes gathered around us.
“Hmm, I heard that a savage from the south decided to settle down in a strange land because of a woman. Why do they seem so awkward?”
“It should be a relationship between death and life. It’s a little suspicious. Aren’t they a fake couple?”
I didn’t envision this happening. It was a clear crisis.
“Ooh, ooh…”
In the end, vice-captain Agnes kept his eyes closed with an expression that didn’t suit me very much, but he stuck out his lips to me.
I didn’t want to share my first kiss with the vice-captain in a place like this with my sober mind.
So I’d rather just press her pursed lips against hers and her breasts instead, and instead, I massaged her breasts roughly.
Indeed, as expected, befitting the enormous size, the texture was also very good.
“Huh… Kyaaaaagh?!
“Stay still, ma’am. Doesn’t this side excite you more?”
—Wheeik! Whiik!
“Hey, is it hot?”
“Yes! That’s right! I believed you, the barbarian leader!”
At the extremely barbaric act, the eyes of the people around him were instantly stained with goodwill and heat.
No more questioning our relationship.
As the waltz ended somehow, a man who was watching us carefully approached us.
“Come this way. Count Fersen wants to meet you in person.”
An ordinary banquet where anyone could attend, eat, drink and talk was being held in the grand banquet hall over there, but I heard that the head of the county and members of Eclipse were gathered in a separate room.
“Here it is. One piece of advice: no matter what happens, don’t be surprised. Then…”
The man presumed to be the butler who escorted us to the private room quietly left without saying a meaningful word.
—Kiki!
When the door to the private room was opened, a terrible stench wafted from inside.
It was the smell of burning drugs or something similar to that of bad quality. I couldn’t help but frown.
“It smells awful.”
“Ugh, what kind of air…”
The size of the private room was larger than expected.
At a long table, several people wearing black robes and the count’s vassals were sitting side by side, and Count Fersen was staring blankly into the air at the top seat.
Contrary to the well-mannered appearance seen in portraits, the appearance of skin and bones adjoining the narrow eyes was extremely unfamiliar.
“You’re the savage rumored to be around the fort. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Count. Your beard is also very nice.”
“Huh! The way you speak is so… Well, I understand that much due to cultural differences. Anyway, thank you for complimenting me. Let’s sit down.”
Is it finally starting?
The real thing was from now on. There will be no mistakes.
I shook my head as if nothing was wrong and looked around.
Even with a cursory look around, it was easy to notice that the enemy was everywhere.
Then there was no need to hesitate.
“But, the air here is very dirty.”
—Quaang!
Just as I had planned, I swung my fist straight away and blew away all the eerie crowd dressed in pitch black with one blow.
