Chapter 97: An Excellent Strategist


    There are so many of them. If it wasnt for your help then I would already be caught by now. Thank you, Sonia.


    Reba, who was looking out at the capital from the window of her inn, called out to Sonia when she entered her room.


    Hearing her, Sonia takes off her hood and smiles.


    No, dont worry about it. We got to stick together when we are in trouble right. I have a business in the capital myself as well.


    The appearance of Sonia who took off her hood was beautiful.


    Her skin is snow-white, her light purple hair is trimmed at the shoulders. Her reddish-purple eyes also give off a mysterious light.


    Sonias ears were long however, they were not as long as an elfs.


    Half-elf.


    Neither an elf or a human. It is said that they are an iplete existence and are quite despised outside the Empire.


    Sonia is one of such half-elves but her cheerful smile doesnt even give off a speck of such feeling.


    Since they saw Reba at the outeryer around noon, they will probably be looking around there for a while. It will buy us some time but this surely wont serve as a permanent solution.


    Right..I have to hurry and get to the castle.


    You were entrusted with a letter from your lord right?


    Thats right. I have to get it to His Majesty.so that my lords death was not in vain.


    Reba sadly looks down.


    On her way to the imperial capital, she heard about what happened in the South.


    The Demon appeared and Bassau turned into a battlefield with Leo, Lizelotte and the adventurers solved the incident.


    Hearing the news, Reba gave up on Denniss survival.


    A battle between humans aside, she couldnt believe that Dennis would survive a battle where Demons were involved.


    Still, Reba never stopped moving. It was easy to be drowned in sorrow and give up but then she will not be able to find the meaning of Denniss death if she stops now.


    I will deliver this letter to His Majesty and expose all the wrongdoings of the Southern Nobles. My Lord was just threatened so he had to take a part in it..even so, he tried to do the right thing at the end. If people dont know that, my lords honor will be tainted.


    You really like him huh. Your lord.


    Reba silently nodded to Sonias question.


    She thought of him as her own father. She became a knight because she wanted to do something for Dennis.


    However, in the end, she couldnt even die together with him.


    II will surely clear the regret of my lord. Then I will take my revenge on the Southern Nobles who threatened and cornered him.


    I wont say anything if thats what Reba wants to do but right now you should focus more on how to get to the castle safely okay.


    Saying so, Sonia turns her eyes outside.


    Assassins are lurking around in the capital that is shrouded in darkness.


    The most important political struggle of the Empire, the session war. Rebas letter which had a direct connection to it was something that every faction desired.


    Up to now, she was able to fend off the pursuers by cooperating with Reba but that is no longer the case in the imperial capital.


    We need some kind of strategy. By the way, is there a prince that you can trust?


    I dont know much details about him but, I heard that Prince Leonard is a man of character.


    The rumored Hero Prince right. But I dont think that we would be able to easily get in direct contact with him though. Hes the inspector that was dispatched to the South so he is the prince that Reba will most likely be trying to contact, that being the case your pursuers should be on alert around him. If you approach him, you might get found out immediately.


    Sonia said as she analyzed the situation.


    She needs to catch up on the events of the session war as much as possible. That is something necessary for Sonia.


    Which camp is connected to which Duke and what kind of movement they are having, thinking about all that, Sonia exhaled.


    For the time being, we have no choice but to run. Prince Leonard should currently be out looking for Reba as well.


    I hope so..


    There are many factions moving around right now so there is no doubt that he is also looking for you. The problem would be how he is doing it and how much men did he mobilize. Right now, the capital is crawling with assassins. If you get discovered by them, they might kill you immediately you know.


    The question is whether he has enough power to protect us huh.


    Thats right. For now, to find out all of that we need to run away for a few more days. At worst, I have a hand to y but it would be something that Reba would certainly want to avoid, I dont want to do it.


    Reba tilts her head at Sonias words.


    She met Sonia on her way to the imperial capital. There are many mysteries about her but she has been helping her out so far.


    She has been supporting Reba with her magic and came up with a way to elude her pursuers and entered the imperial capital. It was unbelievable for her that she would find Sonias n to be disadvantageous toward her.


    Reba tried to open her mouth to ask her about it but Sonia slightly smiled and cut off the topic.


    Lets sleep for the time being. Which one of us should be the first lookout?


    Eh? Ah, then, I will do it first.


    Alright. Then I will leave it to you.


    Saying so, Soniay down on her bed and closed her eyes.


    The ability to go to sleep immediately is a skill required by both military personnel and adventurer.


    However, Reba didnt think that Sonia was either. Still, there were many of her remarks that made her think that she is familiar with tactics and strategies so Reba couldnt grasp Sonias identity.


    But there is no doubt that she is her ally.


    I trust you.


    Reba said that and began scanning the surrounding area.


    Prince-! Prince Arnold!


    Nn? Ah, sorry.


    Al apologizes as he was spacing out.


    In front of Al is Earl Langheim, who has been gathering the nobles who want to support Leo inside the Imperial Capital.


    He is still in his early thirties so he is still quite young. He is someone who likes Leos personality and chose to support Leo together with General Dominique.


    His appearance is that of a sses-wearing noble. Perhaps he has undergone some training as he looks more fearlesspared to other nobles. Als evaluation of him is that he is not a bad person nor an ipetent. The only defect he has is that he can sometimes be inflexible.


    Seriously, please pay attention. Prince Leonard is out searching for Reba you know? If you have time to take a nap then please properly listen to the report.


    Sorry, sorry.


    Al wryly smiles at Earl Langheim who is having an unpleasant expression on his face while rubbing his eyes to wipe away his sleepiness.


    It has been three days since they started looking for Rebba. None of the factions were able to locate her.


    The reason for that is clear. The information of her sightings that wereing in from here and there was clearly strange.


    Since many people were gathered to look for her, the battles between them are moremon than progress in her search.


    In the end, it didnt be a search for her at all.


    The sporadic report of her sighting is probably a decoy as well. Al read that it was an attempt from her side so that no one can urately locate her.


    Tobat that, Al had been giving his instructions to Sebas and Sieg all night without any sleep. Because of that, hes currently short on sleep.


    Baron Borman, who we had been trying to lure into our faction doesnt look like he wille over to us easily. He was someone originally being moved with a huge sum of money from Prince Gordon so I think that he wouldnt move unless we can present arger amount to him.


    Yeah.


    Haa..is that all?


    The clear disappointment was reflected through Earl Langheims eyes as he sighed.


    Al muttered that he shouldnt have brought this up to him from the start. Al had no right to make any decisions so it was strange for him to approach him with this.


    Still, Earl Langheim asked him such a question.


    Prince Arnold. Let me ask you a question.


    What?


    How do you think we should get Baron Borman to our side? Please tell me what you think.


    Just what I think huh, Al murmured in his mind.


    There was clear irritability in the eyes of Earl Langheim. Al knew those eyes well.


    They were the eyes of a person who couldnt contain his irritation and tries to let it out. And the target of that outlet is usually Al.


    No matter what I say, he will just shoot it down so that he can let out his irritation anyway.


    Al let out a sigh in his heart. The troublesome thing is that the person himself doesnt do it consciously.


    Cant we just add more money?


    Haa.please use your head a little bit.


    After a fed-up sigh, Earl Langheim enters preaching mode.


    Thinking that it was a hassle, Al only pretended to listen to him.


    Listen, please. There is a difference in financial power between us and Prince Gordon. Because the number ofpanies that back us is different, we can not win against him with just a simple money game. Please at least understand that. You are the twin brother of Prince Leonard so when Prince Leonard is absent, even if temporarily, you will be the head of our faction you know.


    Sorry, sorry. I will be more careful.


    Do you really understand..you dont have enough sleep because you were just ying around all night anyway right? Please stop living that kind of life and help your brother out more already.


    Saying so, Earl Langheim bows and head out of the room.


    However, as soon as he left the room, Earl Langheim suddenly tripped over and fell.


    But there was nothing there that he would trip on.


    There was a question mark floating on the Earls head as he irritatingly got up and walked off.


    Sieg. Stop with the prank.


    Al turns his eyes toward Sieg who was entering the room.


    Sieg climbs on the desk and tells Al that the Earl wasnt hurt.


    Dont say that. I could hear hisint even from outside you know? Let me at least do this much alright?


    Using the time when Earl Langheim left the room, Sieg entered. He then tripped over Earl Langheim on a whim.


    Seriously


    Al muttered.


    Hes from our faction so there shouldnt be much problem if he sees you but dont make yourself stand out too much alright.


    Yeah, yeah, I will be careful. So? Have you thought about our next move yet?


    I will do that once I see todays sighting report. Theres no doubt that Reba is nowhere near those locations so I will backwardly calcte it from there.


    Thats hard to do right. Your younger brother is praised simply because he took along his subordinates and foolishly searched around the capital straightforwardly while you are here racking your brain out and still got made fun of. Quite a hardship you are in isnt it.


    Leos search is also necessary. As long as we have no clue where she is, his search will be useful. Moreover, if Leo is out there looking for her personally, Reba will know where to find him in case she wants to make contact with us as well.


    Leo is no idiot.


    He knows well how to effectively move himself.


    And its my job to move behind the scene. Thinking so, Al freshens up.


    We have to find her soon. Its meaningless to keep this night battle up after all.


    Yeah, I will leave it to you. The girl youre looking for seems to be good at hide-and-seek as well. If you can narrow down the search area for us then we will definitely find her for you.


    Nodding to Siegs words, Al takes out the map of the imperial capital from his desk.


    Marked on them were all the Reba sighting reports so far. They are spreading in a disorderly fashion so that the pattern can not be read.


    Reba seems to have an excellent strategist by her side but to think that she can toy with us to this extent huh.


    While thinking about how troublesome it is, Al looked at the ce where Reba was likely to hide in.


    TLN: Yep, new character. I like her a lot because of the uing chapters though.