Chapter 25 : Land of Wolves
“Here, open your mouth wide once.”
Smirk.
Pierce burst into laughter without realizing it.
He had been doing this for nearly 100 years already, but this situation never felt familiar.
The elderly knight standing behind him with his hands clasped behind his back, drinking this sedative in his hand, and proving he swallowed the sedative by opening his mouth after drinking, all of it.
“What are you doing? Not drinking quickly.”
“Oh my, understand. Understood. I will drink, then.”
At the elderly knight’s urging, Pierce smiled sillily and gulped down the sedative.
“Here, now is it done?”
“Right, right. You did it well.”
The elderly knight patted Pierce’s shoulder once and then packed up the items he brought, preparing to move to the next room.
“Hey, Captain. Are you quitting work here soon?”
Pierce, who was staring blankly at that back, threw a question.
“Ha, how come a friend with a body like a mountain has such keen ears? Who did you hear it from? That story is,”
“Tch, is there anyone specific to hear from? Are there any secrets in this cramped corner of a house?”
Pierce sneered while lying down on the faded blanket.
It seemed the rumor that Knight Morphee, who was currently overseeing Haken Fortress, would leave this place soon was true.
“Anyway, thank you for your hard work all this time. Captain. Since we won't see each other anymore, please live the rest of your life very well while watching your grandchildren’s cute antics.”
Although the sarcastic tone remained, deep affection from over ten years and regret seeped heavily from Pierce’s voice.
“Right, thank you very much for worrying about me. You also, please stay healthy for a long time ahead.”
Morphee, who knew that fact well, nodded his head with a good-natured smile.
“Ah right, but you know, Captain. Even if you go, you know you have to do the last mission properly before going, right?”
“Last mission? Was there such a thing for me?”
Morphee, who was leaving the room, tilted his head and looked back.
“What? Captain. Don’t tell me you didn't know? There is something the Captain absolutely must do. You have to tell this to that friend who will come here anew.”
Morphee, who looked back inadvertently, ended up swallowing dry saliva without realizing it.
The huge man who used to tell silly jokes was nowhere to be found, and in front of his eyes, there was only one ferocious wolf harboring madness condensed for a hundred years in his chest.
The leader of Haken’s wolves, ‘Pierce Ferkam,’ said with a growling voice.
“That we are very properly crazy bastards.”
***
“Um, Young Master, clearly in the letter you sent, you said we would go on a trip to a place with nice scenery so come prepared…….”
“Right. The scenery is nice, isn't it?”
I extended my hand and pointed to the scenery as I spoke.
The open mountain range and the water stream winding along that mountain.
The white fortress rises between them.
Like my words, it was indeed a picturesque scenery.
“I heard we would go on a trip, though. Hehe.”
“Right. Trip. We came on a 9-month trip. Is there any problem?”
Gulp.
At my confident answer, Gabriel ended up swallowing dry saliva without realizing it and said with an awkward smile.
“Young Master, by any chance, do you not think you are being a little too much to me? Hehe.”
“…….”
“No, well, not that you are being very much too much, but just slightly, so just a little…….”
“I am sorry, but I am not thinking that at all.”
On my lips, a natural smile completely different from Gabriel's.
“And look over there. Your younger sister who is younger than you follows well like this without grumbling, so should the person called the older brother be this fearful?”
“If, hypothetically. If I knew the place I was going was Haken Fortress, I swear I would not have brought my sister.”
“Oh my, but what to do? Your sister does not seem to have the heart to go back.”
Where I extended my hand, there was Elly giggling while looking at the figures of the two people while riding in the carriage.
“That kid is still young and so fearless that she is like that. But I am…….”
Did the notoriety possessed by Haken come to his mind? Gabriel made a crying face.
“Well, do not worry too much. Since I will pay special attention so that no threat to your personal safety arises. And…….”
To soothe Gabriel, I whispered in a low voice close to his ear.
Anyway, since Gabriel’s role was absolute in this Haken Knight Order rehabilitation project, there was a need to boost his morale.
“On the top floor of that fortress, you see. The research facility used when proceeding with the Sunset Wolves plan is preserved as it is.”
“Is, is that really true? Young Master!”
“Of course it is true. And I heard not only the research facility but also the data they left and even the remaining chemicals used are all there as they are.”
Should I call it the instinctive intellectual desire as an Alchemist?
Gabriel’s eyes, which looked depressed beyond measure just a moment ago, regained their sparkle in an instant.
“Then, about that. Young Master, then regarding the management of that facility in the future…… who will?”
“Well. Although nothing is decided yet, if you want to take charge, I have no intention of stopping you.”
“Thank you. Thank you, Young Master. Oh my, I talked too much and slowed down the journey too much. I apologize. Hiyah! Why is this horse so slow in its steps!”
Gabriel, whose heart became urgent, hurried his horse.
I, who showed a smile watching that appearance, approached Ismael and said.
“In the future, if by one in a ten thousand chance a dangerous thing happens in the fortress, you secure the safety of those two people with top priority. Understood?”
“Understood. Commander.”
Leaving a request for any possible event, I increased speed to catch up with Gabriel who had gone far ahead.
“Hiyah!”
The horse carrying me poured out a powerful cry and ran across the field.
Before I knew it, the white fortress that seemed only far away, Haken, had approached right in front of my eyes.
***
“Supply Officer Morphee Georges of Haken Knight Order greets the Commander.”
“Nice to meet you. I heard you suffered much hardship here during that time.”
“I merely did my natural duty.”
I clasped Morphee’s hand who came out to greet me and praised his hard work during that time.
In fact, although Morphee was a knight, his swordsmanship level was only about the level of barely crossing the threshold of 2nd Star.
Nevertheless, the reason he could take on the role of practically managing Haken Fortress for over ten years lay in his amiable character and skillful handling of work.
The upper echelon of the Knight Order thought that what was needed to manage Haken, which was like a bomb, was not valor but benevolence and thoughtful consideration.
‘Though it must have been an inevitable choice since the guys dispatched as Commanders were busy running away without lasting even three months.’
Anyway, Morphee had managed the wolves without special trouble during that time, and having that achievement recognized, he would return to the Inner Castle of the territory and receive a title.
Indeed, Haken had come to welcome a new Commander.
“Now, since I arrived, I should start working. Supply Officer, there must be a leader who practically leads them among the Knight Order, right? Could you tell me who it is?”
“Commander, you came a long way. Taking a rest for a moment first is…….”
“No, it is fine so guide me. Since I came to the land of wolves, I should see the face of the boss wolf first.”
As soon as I arrived at the fortress, I immediately set out on an inspection, and Morphee and the Thousand-Man Commander level soldiers guided me.
And what I felt first after looking around the fortress once was,
‘Rather than a fortress, it feels like a mix of a fortress and a prison.’
Haken Fortress took the form of a base fortress defending the border, and at the same time, it was also faithfully equipped with facilities to control the internal personnel.
Watchtowers facing the inside of the fortress, entrance doors firmly locked from the outside while divided into individual rooms, and cover structures set up in every alley heading from the Knight Order quarters to the outside, etc.
Among them, the most impressive thing was the form of the Knight Order quarters.
The quarters of the Haken Knight Order used a circular building, and it took a form where all quarters could be immediately observed from the space in the center of the circular building.
No matter where and how one looked, it could be said to be a shape prepared for the case Haken Knight Order raised a riot internally.
“How is free time given to the members?”
“We divide the time and give free time to 100 people each. After confirming that those 100 people returned to their places, free time is given to the next 100 people.”
“In the case of going out?”
“In the case of going out, we divide it into units of 10 and permit it to be limited to the nearby area. Every time there is an outing, 300 soldiers move together with them.”
“……One cannot call it a pleasant life even as a joke.”
Haken’s current personnel was about 500 people.
Considering that number, the free time given to them in a day would be a little over 3 hours, and outings would be at most once in two months.
However.
‘To control five hundred wolves with merely five thousand troops, they probably had no choice but to do this.’
While talking about this and that, Morphee and I arrived in front of a certain large iron gate.
“Excuse me, Commander, may I say just one thing?”
“Try saying it.”
“Excuse me, the friends you will meet from now on, Commander, will be very different from the knights you have met until now. I hope you will please keep that point in mind.”
Morphee, holding the key in his hand, brought up the topic with a very cautious tone.
However…….
“Surely, would I have come here without knowing even such a thing? Open the door quickly.”
I brushed off Morphee’s advice too coolly.
Clank.
A short while later, making a heavy sound, the door opened.
Between the faint light coming in beyond the door, the back of a huge man lying on the bed was seen.
“Hey, Pierce. Get up quickly. The new Commander has come!”
Morphee and the Thousand-Man Commanders ran hurriedly and shook Pierce to wake him up, but Pierce did not seem to want to get up easily.
“Get up quickly! It is not the time to be sprawled like this!”
“Ah shit, why are you so noisy when I am sleeping!”
Only after shaking him for quite a while like that did Pierce barely open his eyes, and he rubbed his eyes and raised his body.
“Huh? A gentleman I haven't seen before is here?”
Pierce scratched his upper body, which was wearing nothing, vigorously and showed a smile toward me.
“Captain, is that person the Commander who is coming new or whatever? Wow, he looks very pretty? Captain, shouldn't you check first if that friend has what should be hanging there?”
Pierce turned his gaze to Morphee as is and then grinned toward Morphee.
“You, just what rude language is this right now? Get up from the spot quickly and beg for forgiveness!”
Morphee pulled Pierce with an urgent tone.
“Is your name Pierce Ferkam?”
And in contrast to that, a truly calm voice was heard.
“I don't know about ticklish words like 'your' or whatever, but my name is Pierce alright. Well.”
Pierce flopped back down on the bed, clasped his hands behind his head, and grinned with only his eyes directed at me.
“Looking at the personnel record, your service history is quite long. You lived over a hundred years, right?”
“Oh my, you only knew that now. Right, I lived over a hundred years. By the way, how many years has our Commander lived?”
“You said you lived over a hundred years, yet you didn't even learn the etiquette of treating a superior during that time?”
“Superior, where is such a thing? Where? Where?”
Pierce sprang up from his seat, placed his palm on his forehead, and looked around.
Watching him, a smile formed on my lips.
“Looking at your attitude, it seems you have many complaints about me?”
“Then would you have no complaints if you were me?”
In an instant, Pierce’s grinning expression hardened stiffly, and his spirit also changed suddenly.
“Huh? Try answering once, kid.”
Sensing Pierce’s atmosphere change suddenly, the Thousand-Man Commanders tried to step in front of me, but I raised my hand to restrain them and said.
“Just now, did you say kid?”
“Why, can’t I say kid?”
“By any chance, do you have the confidence to take the same attitude as now even if there are many eyes watching?”
“There is nothing I can’t do.”
“Right, then follow me out.”
I immediately turned my back and walked out alone.
“Wow, this, my comrades were bored but they will see a good spectacle.”
And Pierce put his arms into the shirt he had taken off and thrown away, then followed me out while still grinning.
“Guys, here the new Commander sir is offering greetings to us. Everyone come out and take a look once!”
Pierce, who came out alone, shouted with a ringing voice, and soon voices burst out from here and there.
“Hey, Captain. Go easy, easy. What if our Commander pisses his pants and runs away as soon as he comes!”
“Try taking off the Captain’s pants first once. No matter how I look at it, he looks like a girl.”
And as if responding to Pierce’s call, insulting remarks burst out from here and there.
“Pierce Ferkam. I will say just one word.”
Piercing through that noisy atmosphere, my low voice spread out.
“Go ahead and say two words, this elder will open his ears and listen, kid.”
Pierce leaned his upper body to the fullest and sneered.
Watching that appearance clearly, I spoke with a voice much calmer than a moment ago.
“It is already too late to regret.”
“What…… Kuek!”
Pierce’s mouth bursting out a counter-question and a scream happened almost simultaneously.
Clearly, although there was quite a distance between Pierce and me, before anyone knew it, my hand was grasping Pierce’s neck.
“You utterly stupid bastard,”
Even though the height difference between the two people was significant and the physique difference was even bigger than that, I lifted Pierce by the neck without any difficulty.
“A guy who looks young at a glance came as the new Commander to lead scoundrels like you out of the blue. Then shouldn't you think about it at least once if you have a brain, you bastard?”
“Ku, kuek…….”
“Ah, that young guy might have some hidden move.”
Pierce tried his best to escape from my grasp, but he could not loosen my hand.
Rather, as time passed, only thick veins bulged on Pierce’s face.
“Remember clearly, Pierce. The reason you are suffering this disgrace in front of your colleagues is first, because you were arrogant, and…….”
Raising my left hand and pulling it back to the fullest to prepare for a full swing, I said in a low voice.
“Second, because you were stupid.”