Chapter 1636: War Facilitation
...Kaijin Aside...
[So those are the Imperial Princes of the Erupting Dawn Empire? I’m not impressed,] Hurricroak commented to her fellow kaijin.
[To...be...fair...this...is only...a few...of them,] Frosttusk rumbled. [We...don’t...know...about...the...rest...of the...Imperial Children. Perhaps...there’s a...talent...amongst the unknown.]
[I think I’m more annoyed about the First Prince’s interest in Mistress Jinju Ren,] Nepherage added. [Wait...it appears that the General has handed off some kind of scroll...]
...Now back to the military...
"You wrote up a report for this?" Galban asked. "Why?"
"I have found that it’s much harder to intercept a written report than a message sent through an aether treasure," Legante answered. "And besides, there are some details that need to be presented in the form of a whole as opposed to a verbal recital. Especially when it comes to allies of... questionable allegiances."
"Hmmm."
As Lauvanne opened the sealed scroll to review the document’s details, he wasn’t the only one in the process of learning about who the traitor in Emberona was.
On the day that Nepherage met with Legante as a demon named "Jade," she had actually left behind a couple of presents inside of the man’s tent: zako marbles.
The Ragnarockers had yet to receive orders telling them to do something other than spy on the Erupting Dawn Empire forces, so they technically didn’t need the zakos to take their place. However, they had figured that since there were still going to be places and people that they can’t keep track of by themselves, so it’s just overall smarter to have a whole bunch of spectral-type zakos running around for them.
So, ever since that day, a whole host of ghostly zakos had been tailing the general in whatever he had been doing, day and night.
This exact moment was the perfect justification for their actions.
Lauvanne quickly skimmed through the document, looking for the highlights of the report.
"A member of Emeberona’s inner council? Really?"
"Apparently the new Hearthtender is not up to their satisfaction and wishes to install someone else in the seat." Legante answered his liege. "Although, they have mentioned that she is somewhat an improvement over the previous one when it comes to...compliance."
"Hmmm."
Once Lauvanne had finished reading over the scroll, he handed it over to his brothers to review at their leisure. As well, he made sure to activate an aether treasure on his belt that had the effect of blocking outside observation from warriors at the same level or below himself.
Why?
Because he knew how his brothers would react to the news and would definitely say something that would be heard by whatever spy measures may be in place despite the thoroughness of his general.
Funnily enough, this treasure would’ve exposed the spectral zako had they stuck around. But after they had finished reading the report at the same time as Lauvanne, they had made a quick exit to avoid the possibility of being detected.
They had managed to escape just as Lauvanne was about to activate the treasure.
...
<CALLED IT! I FREAKING CALLED IT!> Pathos gloated. <I knew that motherfucker was the culprit!>
=I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that both sides were working together on this war at some point, but it still annoys me that it occurred, =Logos commented. <Also, they’re only the culprits when it comes to betraying the location of the hidden base to the Erupting Dawn Empire, not when it comes to the death of the previous Hearth Tender. The jury is still out on that one. =
<To be fair, we already participated in a war that had clear animosity and no weird conspiracy shenanigans attached to it. It’s a nice change of pace that our lord now has an opportunity to get the drop on people instead of the other way around. Also, I thought we landed on one of the Imperial brats being the culprit.>
=We haven’t, but I can at least see your point when it comes to the variety of wars we have been participating in. Milord, how are you doing anyway? This revelation comes as a shock to you? =
’Surprisingly...no. I think I’m just disappointed that none of these fuckers ever seem to practice what they preach...whatever. It just means I get to burn down a church or two after all’,’ Zhen Liu sardonically sighed. ’Actually, I suppose this gives everyone else a chance to cut their teeth against more manageable opponents that aren’t just sideboss bitches...’
<= Does this mean you’re having the kaijin stay in mentorship mode this time around? =>
’Bingo,’ Zhen Liu confirmed. ’Now, I’m fairly certain we won’t be able to listen to what happens next in that tent, but I think I can guess what’s going to be happening soon...’
...But you, dear reader, don’t have to worry about that...
"I see..."
Lofarro took his sweet time reading the report, but Galban was the first to express shock over the details.
"Abbott Hulna of the Peaceful Hearth Church?! I’ve heard of that fellow...he’s one of the twelve Aether Kings in Emebrona and is also rumored to be a massive pervert, right?"
"That first part is correct, yes," Legante affirmed the prince with a nod. "But that part about him being a massive pervert is actually clarified near the bottom of the report."
"It is?"
"Yup," Lofarro confirmed. "The Abbot of the Peaceful Hearth Church learned of a strange ritual that allowed one to consume the power locked away in human desire. However, despite showing great compatibility with the ritual, he states that the practice is flawed and needs further refinement. Hmm...how convenient."
Once Lofarro had taken another look over the report, he handed the document back to Legante, who proceeded to burn it.
This type of information was for higher-ups only, and there wasn’t anybody else in the camp higher up than them.
"I saw in the report that the Abbott was contacting us because he wanted us to deal with a rival of his in the process of taking the city," Lauvanne said after the scroll had completely burned up. "A fellow counselor named Feroxxa?"
"You mean Feroxxa the Guillotine?" Galban corrected. "Huh. I guess it does kind of make sense for the war dog to be butting heads with someone obsessed over the idea of love."
Amongst the warfronts between the Erupting Dawn Empire and the Sacred Flame Theocracy, Feroxxa the Guillotine was a name feared by many among the empire’s soldiers.
Aside from being a powerful warrior, the Guillotine lived up to his namesake and had a tendency to execute his prisoners of war on the spot via decapitation.
Then again, it probably didn’t help that he reportedly executed his own allies if they stepped out of line.
"The famed Dragon Calling Princess and the Guillotine?" Lofarro said with a slightly sinister growl. "I look forward to clashing steel with them as well."
"Well...funny you mention that, your highness," Legante said with a strange hint of hesitation. "You should probably know that it wasn’t just Abbott Hulna who provided the location of this grove."
"What?"
"Do you know how much of a security breach that is?!" Galban shrieked. "It’s a not a secret if more than two people know!"
"Uh..."
"You know what I mean!"
"That’s the thing, my liege, the other person to provide the coordinates to this hidden grove...was Feroxxa the Guillotine, Hulna’s rival."
"What?!"
Needless to say, all three of the princes were shocked at this statement.
To prove he wasn’t full of shit, Legante produced an envelope that had Feroxxa’s seal on it.
Inside it was a message from Feroxxa that shared similar sentiments that Hulna had about the current Hearth Tender, how they needed their rival eliminated, and the location of this hidden grove was given as a sign of good faith.
Needless to say, this message was suspicious as fuck to the princes.
"You don’t think that Hulna and Feroxxa are coordinating their efforts so that they can catch us by surprise?" Lauvanne asked his general. "That they didn’t just give us this location to mess with us?"
"I had thought that too, until I saw the aftermath that occurred after these messages were delivered to me."
"Aftermath?"
"After they had been delivered, I had spies follow both of the messengers to see where they went. Along the way, the messengers ended up meeting and fighting each other in a rather vicious manner."
"Perhaps they were faking it?" Galban proposed.
"You can’t fake ripping off someone’s arm and using it to beat them half to death."
"Oh."
"So what you’re saying," Lofarro interrupted, "is that we have two traitorous allies who are unaware of each other, but want our help to take out the other?"
"Yes."
"Interesting..."
...And there’s no zako in the room, so guess what this means...
"Do I tell Serena directly or do I just leave a hint at Feroxxa’s doorstep and see what happens..."
[You could just take out Hulna and be done with it.]
"Maybe..."
