Chapter 94. The Secret Plot in Gray Crow Grove
Time slipped quietly by, and Gray Crow Grove, which had still been somewhat noisy during the day, sank completely into silence.
Deep within it, at the edge of a relatively open clearing in the woods, several figures sat utterly motionless on the gnarled branches of a few unusually massive ancient trees.
They had come!
The faint sound of footsteps broke the dead stillness.
Several clusters of wavering torchlight drifted slowly into the clearing from three different directions, like ghostly flames.
The first to appear came from the southwest.
A group of hard-looking men in mismatched gear surrounded a man of unusually great height and massive build.
He wore a badly worn half-suit of scale armor, and a centipede-like scar slashed diagonally across his face from his left brow to his right cheek.
He spread his mouth in a grin, revealing a row of crooked yellow teeth.
“Hahaha! I trust you’ve all been well? Lord Caphis is quite punctual, wouldn’t you say?”
He was none other than Caphis the Scorpion, the leader of the remnant forces from the Free City of Skars entrenched in Scorpion Gorge.
Immediately afterward, another group stepped out of the shadows, far leaner and more disciplined in bearing.
At their head was a tall, slender man wrapped in a heavy hooded cloak.
He stopped at the edge of the clearing and slowly raised a hand to lower his hood.
It was Sabda Medici.
He gave a slight nod, his voice calm and utterly flat.
“It is naturally for the best if Leader Caphis is punctual. This matter is urgent. The sooner we finish discussing it, the sooner we can all leave.”
Caphis gave a broad wave of his hand.
“Hahaha, Baron Sabda is refreshingly direct! I’ve been thinking the same thing myself!”
The last to arrive was the smallest group, only six or seven men, also cloaked to conceal their identities.
The one in front was slightly stooped, but his steps were steady.
He walked into the torchlight and also raised a hand to remove his hood.
It revealed the face of an elderly man whose features were well maintained, yet stiff and severe.
Up in the canopy, Ron’s breathing suddenly grew heavier.
That face! There was no way he could mistake it!
That was Winter, the most trusted steward of Count Alders of the Western Frontier, as well as one of the core strategists of his household.
Beneath his cold armguard, Ron’s fist clenched violently, his knuckles turning white from the force.
Winter’s appearance here meant that Count Alders not only knew of this filthy collusion, but was directly participating in it.
Then... then that means... the marquess of the Western Frontier... the highest military commander of the Western Frontier... is colluding with the enemy as well?
The sudden roughness of his breathing, thrown off by the violent turmoil in his heart, was immediately caught by the highly alert Aika at his side.
Without the slightest hesitation, Aika struck like lightning and clamped a hand firmly over the mouth and nose beneath Ron’s helmet.
Ron instantly came back to himself and forcibly suppressed the surging turmoil in his blood.
He blinked hard at Aika, signaling that he had himself under control.
Below them, Steward Winter’s stiff voice had already rung out coldly, with clear displeasure.
“Baron Sabda, it seems that what we originally agreed upon was cooperation between only our two sides.”
His sharp gaze stabbed toward Caphis.
“This person... and his men were clearly not part of the original plan.”
“Hey!” Caphis rudely cut him off.
“I’m telling you, old man of the Western Frontier, the proper way is for everyone to make money together!”
A trace of helplessness appeared on Sabda’s face at just the right moment, and he raised a hand in a calming gesture.
“Please calm your anger, Steward Winter. Leader Caphis, please restrain yourself as well.”
“What the steward does not know is this: Eli’s Black Territory Valley already has the main body of its walls completed.
And according to the latest intelligence my scouts brought back at the risk of their lives, the number of soldiers under his command is already close to six hundred!
And that is only the strength stationed in Obsidian Territory alone!
If Lucerne City is added on top of that...
do you believe that our two sides alone could really chew through such a hard bone?”
“Six hundred?! And walls as well?!” Steward Winter cried out in shock.
“How is that possible?!”
Sabda paid no heed to Winter’s astonishment and merely nodded calmly.
“That is why, Steward Winter, in order to secure our common interests,
bringing in Leader Caphis was a necessary reinforcement. I trust that, at this moment, you no longer have any objections?”
Winter’s expression shifted uncertainly. His lips moved a few times, but in the end it all turned into a sigh.
At this point, he could only steel himself and keep walking down this road.
He could only hope that Sabda’s appetite would not be too large, and that the family’s利益 would not suffer too much.
“That’s more like it!” Caphis threw back his head and laughed triumphantly.
“Old man of the Western Frontier, relax a little! Don’t be so hostile toward me!
You noble lords really still care whether commoners live or die, or about the kingdom’s grand cause?”
Steward Winter’s brows drew tightly together. He was obviously disgusted by Caphis’s words, but at this moment he could only endure them in silence.
Sabda raised his hand again, stopping Caphis from continuing his grand speech.
“Enough. Business comes first. Time is short, and we must settle the operational plan as quickly as possible.”
Caphis’s spirits immediately rose, and he lowered his voice.
“Heh heh, I’ve got an idea!
I’ve been thinking that the brat is too hard to fight while he’s holed up inside that turtle shell of his, so why don’t we find a way to lure him out of that bastard shell?
As long as he dares leave that broken wall behind, once he’s out in the open, with all three of us joining forces, are we really going to fail to swallow him?”
Sabda listened in silence and inwardly relaxed a little.
Just as expected. He really is an idiot.
None of it showed on his face. Instead, his tone held a trace of approval.
“Luring the snake out of its hole... Leader Caphis’s idea is not bad.”
The smug delight had only just begun to appear on Caphis’s face when Sabda abruptly changed direction.
“However... I know this man somewhat well.
He appears bold in how he conducts himself, but in truth, unless he has complete confidence, he probably will not easily leave his nest.
And besides...” His gaze swept across Winter and Caphis.
“Who is going to serve as the bait? Who is going to bear the risk that comes with being the bait?”
“Uh...” Caphis was stumped.
That was true. Who was going to play bait?
In the end, he gave a dry laugh. “Well... Baron Sabda, your brain works best. You decide!
We Scorpions will follow your command.”
Steward Winter also chose that moment to speak.
“Lord Alders sent us here to investigate, and our manpower is limited.
As for how exactly to act, naturally we will follow Baron Sabda’s overall arrangements.”
The faint smile at the corner of Sabda’s mouth deepened slightly.
That was exactly the sentence he had been waiting for.
“I am honored by the trust of you both.” He inclined his head slightly, his posture elegant.
“In that case, our main target will no longer be Black Territory.”
“What?” Winter and Caphis both froze.
“Our first step will be a probing attack on Lucerne City.”
“Lucerne?” Steward Winter’s brow furrowed even more deeply.
“As far as I know, Lucerne City was built according to the terrain. It is easy to defend and hard to attack, and its resources also—”
Sabda cut him off. “What matters is that, a few days ago, my scouts risked their lives to infiltrate the area near Lucerne City and investigate.
The number of defenders on its walls absolutely does not exceed two hundred!”
“Two hundred?!” Caphis’s eyes lit up once more.
A sharp gleam also flashed through Steward Winter’s eyes.
Two hundred defenders... that was indeed an enormous temptation, and a genuine point of breakthrough.
“That’s right!”
“That fool Eli undoubtedly thinks I will focus my main attack on Obsidian Territory, which is closer to Runestone City and also the foundation of his power!
He will never imagine that instead of taking the nearer target, I will go straight for Lucerne!”
He paused, then swept his gaze over the other two.
“This is the first step of the plan.
Once we arrive beneath the walls of Lucerne City, there will be no need to launch the main attack immediately.
We will first have the warriors under Leader Caphis launch a probing assault.
At that point... they will have no choice but to ask Obsidian Territory for reinforcements.”
Caphis split his mouth wide in a grin. “Heh heh, now that’s something I’m good at!”
Sabda nodded in satisfaction.
“The moment Lucerne City asks for aid... that is when the real show begins.
If Eli wants to preserve Lucerne, that important hub, then he will have only two choices.
Either he personally leads the main force of Black Territory to relieve it, or he splits off a portion of his elite troops and sends them to break the siege! No matter which one he chooses, he will be walking straight into our trap!”
A cold smile of absolute certainty appeared on his face.
“If he comes in person, we will ambush him along the route.
Gather the superior forces of all three parties and annihilate both him and his main army in one stroke out on the open field!
If he sends only part of his reinforcements... even better.
We will swallow that relief force whole. At that point, whether it is the weakened Black Territory
or Lucerne City sunk in despair, both will become fish on our chopping block.”
Steward Winter sucked in a cold breath, and the way he looked at Sabda filled with deep wariness.
This plan linked one step to the next with ruthless precision.
The depth of this young baron’s scheming and the cruelty of his methods far exceeded Winter’s expectations.
Caphis, meanwhile, slapped his thigh hard and flushed red with excitement.
“Brilliant! Truly brilliant! You noble lords are really one more vicious than the next when it comes to underhanded tricks! Hahaha! Let’s do it just like that!”
Sabda gave a slight nod, as though everything were already in the palm of his hand.
He turned toward Winter.
“Steward Winter, what do you think?”
Winter drew a deep breath and slowly nodded.
“Your Excellency is farsighted and meticulous. This plan... is indeed feasible.
The two hundred men under my command will naturally cooperate with your deployment with all their strength.”
“Good!” A sharp light flashed through Sabda’s eyes.
“Then next, let us discuss the precise marching routes, the assembly points... and the division of spoils after the matter is concluded...”
He gestured for the guards behind him to unfold a crude but clearly marked parchment map.
Up in the canopy, Aika and Ron burned every single word spoken below into their memories.
The rage in Ron’s eyes had already been replaced by icy killing intent.
He stared fixedly at Winter’s severe face, as though he wanted to carve that face into the depths of his soul.
The conspiracy continued for nearly an hour.
When the three parties finally reached an agreement, exchanged false nods of acknowledgment, and dispersed in their separate directions, their forces slipped away like streams of ink poured into water, quickly and silently vanishing into different directions of Gray Crow Grove.
Only after the very last glimmer of torchlight had completely disappeared into the depths of the forest,
and after another full quarter of an hour had passed, confirming that there was no longer the slightest movement below,
did Aika and Ron finally loosen their taut bodies, like men collapsing from exhaustion.
Ron loosened his clothes, then wiped hard at the cold sweat and mud smeared across his face, gulping down deep breaths.
He turned to Aika.
“Move!” Aika’s low voice rang out. “Report back to the lord immediately!”
A few dark figures then slid soundlessly down from the towering ancient trees.
All that remained was the clearing in Gray Crow Grove, which had just borne witness to betrayal and conspiracy.
Under the bleak moonlight, it sank once more into dead silence.