338

Episode 338 I'll solve it for you. (2)

The reason Giselle knows so much about the Drake Mercenaries and Martin is because he was also a mercenary at the time.

The Drake mercenary group fought really well. The leader, Dominic, was a much more skilled man at the time than he is now.

He must have been innately talented, but even taking that into account, his skills were incredible. I could roughly guess why he had become so strong.

'He probably wanted to save his family somehow.'

In the civil war, the Duke's family won easily. Marquis Rodrik became stronger, so the immediate crisis of the mercenary group's downfall was averted.

However, he was still treated like Marquis Rodrik's right-hand man. Dominic must have quit drinking and devoted himself to training to escape from that shackle.

Maybe that's how he wanted to forget reality.

'And then you met me.'

The army of the mercenary king that swept through the kingdom was completely different from the pro-prince faction during the civil war.

It was an army led by one of the seven most powerful men on the continent. It was so powerful that it captured the capital within a week of starting the war and destroyed everything it encountered.

When the armies of the Mercenary King invaded the West, Marquis Rodrik naturally placed the Drake mercenary band at the forefront.

Dominic had to somehow get back alive to save the hostages. The same was true for the rest of the Drake mercenary group.

So, he fought against the army of the mercenary king with all his might.

After capturing and killing Marquis Rodrik and Martin, Giselle learned of the situation with the Drake mercenary group.

– That's too bad.

It was a strong mercenary group that caught the eye of the Mercenary King. If there had not been a hostage being held, they would have followed him.

As a fellow mercenary, I felt very sorry and regretful about that. In that regard, the Drake mercenary group remained in my memory for a long time.

The information I remembered back then was only now coming to light.

'You just have to follow me in this life.'

It wasn't like that in my past life, but now I will let you live like a mercenary.

Jiselle knew from information she had gained in her past life that the hostages had been staying here the whole time.

From Martin's perspective, the Drake mercenary group was a vital asset. So the hostages had to be hidden in the safest possible place.

A place where you can monitor yourself at any time and where no one can arbitrarily take you away.

"Anyway, I'm going to infiltrate this building, so just know that. You just need to prepare well for what I say."

It is the only building in the manor that is connected to the mansion by an underground passage. It is also connected to another building that has a secret passage leading outside.

Martin, being the cowardly man that he is, remodeled the mansion and created several escape holes.

Because it was a top secret, only a few close associates knew about the secret passage. Martin used it to thoroughly hide the hostages.

It was hard for Dominic to trust Giselle since she didn't tell him any detailed stories, but in 'The Chronicles of the Earl of Fenris', it was said that she pretended to know everything and eventually succeeded, so he had no choice but to trust her.

Actually, now I'm starting to think, 'Oh, I don't know.'

"Then how do you plan to infiltrate?"

"Should we get help from infiltration specialists?"

"yes?"

"Can the Drake Mercenaries avoid city inspections?"

"Yes."

Since they are like Martin's limbs, they are not subject to inspection at all. They can enjoy that level of convenience. After all, since they are being held hostage, they cannot do anything else.

"Prepare the wagon. I have people to bring. Don't use the members, but send my men in disguise."

Giselle gave orders without hesitation, as if she had already planned everything.

Dominic obediently followed Giselle's words. He was curious about what to do, and Giselle was too busy to ask questions.

The knights who followed Giselle gained the status of Drake's mercenary corps and were given a carriage with their seal.

It was not until nightfall that the wagons Dominic had sent out arrived, and dozens of people disembarked from several wagons.

Dominic was surprised to see people who were very short but had very stocky bodies.

"Dwarves?"

The people that Giselle brought with her in secret were dwarves. There were a whopping 50 of them.

The dwarf in front extended his hand to Dominic and spoke.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Galvarik."

"Huh! The Great Blacksmith?"

"Huh? Do you know me?"

"I saw it in the chronicles of the Earl of Fenris."

"What? There was something like that? Why don't I know about it? Young-ju, if you made something like that, you should have told me. How can you not know about it even after I came out? I wonder how you wrote it."

"… … I didn't know either."

It was natural that no one knew about it since someone was secretly making and selling it.

Although the dwarves were officially slaves, Dominic treated them with respect and politeness.

As a fan of Earl Fenris, I treasured all the characters in his life. This was a feeling that only his followers could feel.

Galvarik asked, looking back at Giselle, avoiding Dominic's burdensome gaze.

"Okay, where should I dig the tunnel?"

Dominic was taken aback by those words.

"A tunnel? Are you saying you'll dig a tunnel and get in?"

Jiselle nodded.

"Yeah. Since we can't access it from the outside, we have to sneak in."

"No way. Digging a tunnel in the city. We've thought about it before. It would definitely make noise and be a nuisance."

"Don't worry. Dwarves 'never' get caught."

Galvarik also spoke with a confident expression.

"For us, digging a tunnel this deep is easier than eating cold soup. If we make a support structure through precise surveying, we can block out the noise… … ."

Galvarik began to explain at length, just like Vanessa.

Vanessa seemed very intelligent to him. From what he had observed while working with her, it seemed to be because she was good at explaining things.

So, when the opportunity to follow Vanessa came, Galvarik didn't miss it.

If Giselle hadn't stopped me right away, I would have continued explaining all day.

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"Let's explain later and get ready to get to work. Make an excuse that we're doing interior work and bring all the necessary materials here."

Dominic asked back with an anxious expression.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Then Galvarik picked up the drawing, looked at it carefully, and pointed to one side as he spoke.

"Just make a hole here. Based on the layout of the building, I don't think there will be a boundary here."

The place Galvarik pointed to was the gap between the target building and the building next to it. It certainly wasn't a place where additional personnel could be deployed, aside from the occasional patrol.

The inside of the manor is bound to have looser boundaries than the outside. Since it is so large, it seems like it would be possible to enter without being caught.

"Well, even so, to rescue the hostages, we will eventually have to enter the building. Fighting is inevitable."

Jiselle nodded with an expression of obviousness.

"After rescuing the hostage, it's a race against time. We need to kill the people inside as quickly as possible and move. We'll come back here through the tunnel."

"then...."

"Yes, prepare a carriage here and get it ready to get out of the city right away. And… … ."

Jiselle looked at Dominic with cold eyes.

"Gather all forces outside the city. Let those who have been pursuing us give up and turn back. Understood?"

"...."

Dominic swallowed hard. He had heard that he was a quick-tempered man, but he had no idea that he would act so hastily.

I couldn't shake the feeling that something was sloppy. This was because they didn't really provide any evidence and were just saying, "Believe it, it'll work."

Reading it in a book and seeing it in person were two completely different feelings.

But what can I do, it's already started.

"...All right."

If it failed, I was going to just storm into Martin's mansion and kill that bastard before I died.

So everything began to be prepared according to Giselle's will.

Dominic did his best to provide all the resources for the mercenary group. He procured materials and made it convenient for the dwarves to focus on their work.

The laborers were not rescued. Only the dwarves worked on the tunnels, as they had to keep it as secret as possible.

The work of embezzling the mercenary group's assets also progressed little by little.

I couldn't take everything, but I wanted to take the important things.

Of course, not all members of the mercenary group followed along obediently. Some executives and leaders of subordinate mercenary groups came to see Dominic.

"What is happening now?"

"...."

"Please tell me. Why are you suddenly gathering troops and moving supplies? And why are you suddenly doing construction inside the warehouse?"

"… … I received a request."

"What is your request?"

"It's a very important request. It's not yet confirmed, so it's hard to give you any details."

"Captain!"

Dominic is not good at lying. So he said it with a troubled expression.

"This is really important. Can you trust me and wait? I will tell you soon, so please trust me and follow me just this once."

"Umm… … ."

It was obvious that he was hiding something, but everyone nodded.

Most of those who came to question him were people whose families had been taken hostage by Martin. Some had no family at all, but they were also people who had been with Dominic for a long time.

Dominic has been a great leader of the mercenary group so far. It's rare for him to ask for something like this.

Simple and cheerful, they decided to trust Dominic.

"Okay, if the captain says so."

"There's no way my brother would do something bad to us."

"Please let me know as soon as you're done."

Everyone just laughed and let it go. Dominic also smiled and thanked them.

But his true feelings were a little different. It was because of what Jiselle had said to him just before starting the operation.

– Martin's subordinate is hiding in the mercenary group. He's been there for a very long time.

– Then, what should I do? Isn't it a problem? What should I say?

– Just hide it.

– Then they will be suspicious and continue to watch me.

– That's what I'm telling you to do. That way, they won't pay attention to the tunnel. Keep moving busily. Make sure Martin's eyes are focused on you. And only say what I tell you about me.

It was a good thing for Dominic, because he didn't have to tell a lie that he wasn't good at. If he had just brushed it off, people would have watched him with suspicion.

Indeed, one person asked Dominic a question in a suggestive tone.

"Didn't a certain Earl of Fenris come to visit you a while ago? The kids said so."

When Jiselle came in, there were quite a few who had heard his name. It seemed that rumors had already spread.

"Oh, that's it. He was just an impostor who was good at fighting. There's no way the Earl of Fenris would come here because he's crazy. It was someone else who sold his name."

The mercenaries nodded. To be honest, it doesn't make sense for a big shot like that to bring only a few subordinates.

But some people thought it was important who that guy was.

"Then who was that guy? Why did he come? I heard that the kids were really upset too."

"He was sent by another noble."

"yes?"

"I guess they heard us trying to hit the top of Kembel. I think they hit us. They warned us not to move hastily and turned back."

"Well, then what are you going to do?"

"That's why I'm getting ready too. Once I'm ready, I'll tell you what happened."

The man nodded obediently, although his expression seemed a little suspicious. It would be difficult to find out the truth if he investigated everything here and there.

While Dominic was urging his men, the construction progressed smoothly. As expected from construction specialists, the dwarves dug the tunnel very quickly and quietly.

If this pace continued, it seemed possible to create a passage leading inside within a few days.

Jiselle stayed at a nearby inn with the knights and waited for the tunnel to be completed.

During that time, Dominic could not rest comfortably even for a single day and continued to pace around his office with an anxious look on his face.

For now, he was drawing attention by openly moving supplies and gathering troops as Giselle had instructed… … .

'I wonder if it's really okay.'

If you fail, the lives of the hostages you were trying to protect will be over.

The reason Martin couldn't get Dominic out of his position as leader was because the mercenary group itself was raised by Dominic.

He had been able to maintain his position as leader until now because the mercenary group would have fallen apart without him. However, given Martin's personality, he could not tolerate him baring his teeth.

Instead, something happened just as Giselle said.

'More guard troops have come out.'

Martin seemed to have suspected something. The city guards, who were supposed to be inside, were patrolling more frequently.

In particular, there are definitely more people loitering around the warehouse under construction than before.

'I doubt it. I doubt it.'

Because of his authority as the leader of the Drake Mercenary Corps, he was still suspicious, but he didn't know when he would force his way in and see this place.

So Dominic couldn't help but feel anxious every day.

The dwarves happily devoted themselves to their work, oblivious to Dominic's worries.

"Wow, following the lord around gives me such thrilling things to do."

The dwarves were also very happy with Giselle's company, because whatever Giselle did was always successful for them.

Although I was a little nervous, there were no major issues. Since I was so used to doing construction, it was just a matter of doing it as I always did.

"Okay, I think we're almost there."

The dwarves' surveying skills are top-notch. They checked maps and drawings several times to estimate distances.

Now, all we have to do is dig upwards. We'll dig completely after the lord arrives, but we need to check the location to make sure we've dug accurately.

Galvarik, who had waited until night, made a very small hole with a leisurely expression. It was just big enough for him to stick his head out.

Galvarik, who had slowly raised his head, soon opened his eyes wide.

"… … Huh?"

Galvarik couldn't believe his eyes. He checked the location several times and was sure that it was a place where no soldiers were standing guard.

But the sight I saw before my eyes was completely different from what I had expected.

There were numerous soldiers aiming their weapons at him with menacing expressions.