Operation Trojan Horse

A few days after Edgar's fight with Marco, Roy finally departed from the kingdom to start Operation Trojan Horse.

The two entry points of the operation were Duke Reich of Ru and Duke Wesly of Fran. Duke Reich's territory was at the border of Maginev Empire. His territory was rich in minerals. If the Maginev empire invaded, he would lose his wealth and might even lose his life. The empire threatened his wealth and life but gave him a carrot: trade and investment in his territory. His territory was one of the richest fiefdom in Ru kingdom.

Duke Wesly monopolized the sea trade of the Fran kingdom with the help of Maginev empire. He was claiming that it was dangerous for others to engage in sea trade because there were many pirates. He presented facts that many merchants suffered heavy losses from pirates. The royal court was convinced by Duke Wesly. Some officials retorted, but the Duke wad powerful. The queen was his daughter, and she had a son who was competing for the throne.

After traveling for a few days, Roy and his caravan reached the border.

A guard from the border stopped their track. "Halt!"

"Officer, here is our permit." Roy went down from the tundra and showed a document to the guard.

The guard took the document, and he was shocked.

"Sasha company! The prince's business!" the guard blurted, then he laughed. "Hahaha! Thank the prince for me later. We are given free cooking oil that we can give to our family. My children like fried chicken very much! Hahaha! Go! But be careful, there are many bandits in the Ru kingdom!"

"Thank you, officer," said Roy. They continued their travel. He was accompanied by a mercenary. Behind them were workers riding on a brown horse with a small horn on its head. The horses were pulling carriages that were carrying supplies and many big pots of cooking oil.

After a few hours, they arrived at the entrance of a lush forest near a mountain. The trees were tall and thick. Some magic birds were flying. Small magic beasts peeked at them above the trees.

Aside from the magic beast, there was another pair of eyes peeking at the incoming caravan. A man with missing teeth and coarse clothes stopped looking at the caravan, then ran to his boss.

"Boss! Boss! There is big meat coming! There is big meat coming!" The man with missing teeth was panting, but his face was full of excitement.

The boss had an eye patch on his left eye. His hair was a red mohawk. He felt excited when he heard the bandit. "Are you sure?!"

"I am sure, boss! They have many carriages! Their carriages are full of pots!" The bandit continued to describe what he saw to convince the boss.

"Hahaha! Call the boys! Let's hunt fat meat and have a feast tonight. Hahaha!" The bandit boss took his club weapon and went to his steed.

When the caravan was near the middle of the lush forest, the leader of the mercenaries noticed the danger.

Vyron, the mercenary leader, raised his left hand and said, "Stop! Spread!"

The caravan stopped and became alert. Vyron's eyes were sharp, and his face looked more intimidating with a wound scar across the bridge of his nose.The mercenary members and accompanying guards came down from their steed, drew their weapon, and positioned themselves to guard against any attack.

Vyron drew his halberd from his back and went forward. He told Roy to stay in the middle and be surrounded by his guards.

Hush-hush-hush sounds of movement appeared around them.

Shooo! Something big came out of the forest.

Boom! A big yellow lizard, twice as big as a tall tundra, came out of the forest and blocked the front of the caravan. The bandit boss was standing at the back of the beast called Earthlid.

ROOAAR! The loud roar of the beast caused fear among workers and guards, but the mercenary members looked calm.

"Nyahahahaha! Drop your weapons and kneel! Surrender or die!" Shouted the bandit leader.

Bandits appeared and encircled the caravan. Archers aimed their arrows at the guards and mercenaries.

Vyron had already measured the situation. He looked at the arrogant bandit leader, then sneered."Attack!"

All aura masters in the team covered their whole bodies with aura.

The archer on the team was a young woman with short, curly yellow hair, wearing a green cap with a feather. Her cheeks have a diagonal red mark. She was drawing her bow with five arrows aimed at bandit archers.

ART OF ARCHERY: HOMING ARROWS

Five arrows covered in aura flew straight, then suddenly changed direction.

"Ahh!" Screamed the bandit archers.

All arrows found their target in different directions.

The archer named Lily was like a killer machine. Homing arrows kept flying in the air and killed their target.

"I hate bandits!" said the young magician of the team. She had short, white hair. She was looking at the bandits without hiding her killing intent.

"Aira, don't charge at the bandits like last time," Lily reminded Aira, who seemed eager to tear the bandits into pieces.

"I know! I know!" Aira dismissed the reminder with a perfunctory remark. She raised her hand and cast magic.

ICE PICK

Ice picks were joined by arrows in the air, and more bandits were being killed.

"Bastaaaard! Kill them!" the bandit boss ordered. His face looked distorted. How dare they fight back? He wanted to tear them into pieces. He will turn them into feed for his pet. His pet had already killed aura users and magicians.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Aira kept casting ice picks at bandits. Lily killed all the bandit archers. She was firing two to three normal arrows in a single shot. The swordsman of the team rushed to the crowd of bandits. A man with a big bronze hammer moved in the opposite direction, where another crowd of bandits gathered.

"My darling Ryna, tear them into pieces!" the bandit boss ordered his pet.

ROOOAAAR! The earthlid roared and used magic. A huge earth spike was forming in its mouth.

Whoosh! The spike flew toward Vyron.

Vyron was holding his halberd with both hands while accumulating aura.

MONSTER HUNT

Crunch! The earth spike was cut by a huge aura blade. The blade continued to fly toward the monster.

The earthlid did not have time to dodge. Its neck was hit. The head slowly separated from its body.

"Fuck! I kicked the iron plate!" the bandit leader thought. He was not an aura user or magician. He did not know the levels of aura users. He just got lucky to save an injured newborn earth lizard and tamed it. His pet killed low-level aura users and magicians, but his pet was an ant for high-level magicians or aura users. The headless earthlid crashed to the ground, and the bandit leader fell from the dead beast.

The bandits were shocked that the scary pet of their boss was instantly killed.

"RUUUN!" shouted the bandits, but it was too late. The swordsman arrived in front of them, and he was like a wolf in a flock of sheep. Many bandits were quickly cut.

"Ahh!"

"Nooo!"

"Ahh!" The bandits screamed.

The man with the hammer also arrived and started swinging his weapon.

HAMMER OF JUSTICE

The hammer was hitting the bandits and sending them into the air.

"Aaahh! Monsters!" All the bandits were running away. Their prey was not fat meat, like the bandit with missing teeth claimed. Their prey was a scary monster.

Vyron raised his halberd. He wanted to cut the bandit leader's head.

"Wait! Let him lead us to their stockade. They might have captives that need to be rescued, and we need a place to stay. The sun will set soon. Let us stay in their stockade," said Roy. He heard the miserable experiences of captives, especially the women. He wanted to save them.

The bandit with missing teeth was scared witless when Roy entered the stockade. He pleaded that he was just forced by the bandit leader, but some captives exposed him. Captives howled and took revenge. Most bandits were on the edge of death because of the captive's revenge. Only some bandits were innocent. They were just hungry, so they join the bandits but still retain their humanity.

In the morning, the caravan continued traveling. Their team became bigger because of the rescued captives. Along the way, captives returned to their homes.

When Roy reached the city, he went to a big shop under Duke Reich and stated his purpose. The manager ordered someone to inform the Duke.

Roy was called to the capital. He and Duke Reich reached an agreement. The Duke will be the sole agent of Sasha Company in the kingdom of Ru. Roy requested to buy land for warehousing. The Duke agreed and made the arrangement. Roy made others stay to work in the warehouse. Many of the people who will work in the warehouse were real, but some were spies planted by him. The warehouse will be the headquarters of Baynard's spy in the kingdom of Ru.

He left Ru, then proceeded to Fran Kingdom with the mercenary team. A batch of oil was already waiting in a city. The team that escorted it departed at the same time from Baynard Kingdom. He made the same operation as he did in the Ru kingdom, but Duke Wesly was more cautious than Duke Reich. After many days of waiting, the Duke eventually agreed to meet him.

Just like when Roy was talking with Duke Reich, he was hinting to the Duke that he was a descendant of Duke George, trusted by the regent king of Baynard, and he needed help to control the royal court. Duke Wesly was also shrewd. Just like Reich, he was ignoring the secret hint from Roy. He focused the topic on business, and he became the sole agent of the company in the Fran kingdom.

Both the Dukes did not trust Roy, but they were blinded by greed. They knew the huge profit from cooking oil. For them, the deal was harmless. It was a pie that fell into their mouth. They will investigate Roy, but the cooperation will still continue. Roy will build another warehouse in Fran and plant spies. Operation Trojan Horse was successful!