kscans

Chapter 20 - A Clash of Greed

"We are the knight order of Lexalun Town! We have come in response to a request for aid from Fenesia. You would do well to leave immediately!"

The newly arrived knight order began trying to drive away the adventurers and the first knight order, who had already been investigating.

"Wow, this is getting intense."

We were secretly watching the scene from a gap in the rocks. Yes, not from inside the town, but from outside, watching the adventurers who were watching the town. The reason for this was a single comment from Adolnel.

"If it’s too dangerous because they know you’ve attacked the town, why not use the town as a decoy and attack them from behind?"

It was a revelation. She was suggesting that we abandon the very place we were trying to defend, the prize we had fought to obtain, and use it as bait. It’s the so-called empty fort gambit, right? Or is it?

"You are far stronger than humans, my lady, and while the undead are individually weak, they can crush their enemies with overwhelming numbers. So, rather than revealing your position, I believe it would be more effective to catch them off guard. If you repeat this and increase the number of undead, they won’t be able to make a move against you so easily."

Wow, this girl is amazing. She just proposed a brilliant strategy, like a seasoned military strategist.

"As the next in line to be the lord, I was taught many things. Even if I would never have to command myself, I was told to remember the battles of the past when I was five years old..."

Wait, what? You were learning about past battles at the age of five? Isn’t that incredible? And at the same time, I remembered that other child. Adolnel’s brother was about six, I think, but from the way he spoke, I doubt he was studying anything that difficult. Could it be that they were so overjoyed to finally have an heir with ‘normal-colored eyes’ that they spoiled him rotten? That would explain his selfish and clueless personality.

In any case, following Adolnel’s advice, I decided to evacuate the undead from the town.

"For a hiding place, how about the nearby forest? If it’s dense enough, there should be places to hide from the sunlight."

"Hmm, no, let’s not do that. Our enemies will likely think the same thing."

I decided against hiding the undead in the forest. Instead, I had them dig a large hole in a position where we could observe the town from a distance and hid them there. But it wasn’t just for hiding. It was also for surveillance.

Once the undead were in the hole, I had them break off a large rock from a nearby cliff and place it over the top as a roof to block the sunlight. This way, they could hide from the sun and still watch the town through the gaps. Since the undead are already dead, they don’t have to worry about back pain from poor posture or the discomfort of being unable to move.

"It’s a bit cramped because of that. Are you okay, Adolnel?"

I had made our own hiding spot deeper and wider, but it was still only the size of a studio apartment, so it was definitely tight.

"Yes, in fact, because it’s so narrow, I have a legitimate reason to be close to you, my lady. It’s the best."

Well, as long as you’re not complaining, I guess it’s fine. And so, that’s how we ended up observing the adventurers who had come to the town.

Just as they were about to retreat, discouraged by their lack of progress, the knight order they were affiliated with arrived. But I never expected yet another knight order to show up.

"Where is Lexalun Town?"

"Both are neighboring territories. However, the two lords have a bad relationship, and I’ve heard that our family has always mediated between them in the past."

"So they came to help their mediator?"

But Adolnel shook her head.

"No, both lords were known to be greedy individuals. I suspect they are using the pretense of rescue to find some weakness in my fath—in the lord."

Ah, I see. If they can find a weakness in the mediator, they can gain an overwhelming advantage over their hated rival.

"And if they’re lucky, they’ll use the debt of gratitude as a pretext to chip away at our territory and make it their own."

"What?! They’d do that?! Even to their mediator?!"

Wouldn’t that just ruin their relationship with the mediator? They wouldn’t be able to get them to mediate anymore!

"On the contrary, if our territory were gone, it would be easier for them to wage war on each other."

Ah, so we’re actually in the way of them fighting each other. I see. As we were talking, their conversation continued, with both sides refusing to back down, arguing over who arrived first and who should carry out the rescue.

The atmosphere grew increasingly tense, to the point where it seemed like they might draw their swords and start killing each other at any moment.

"Can we just let them thin each other out?"

"No, I don’t think they’re that shortsighted. At most, they’ll probably just trade insults and interfere with each other’s investigations."

That would still buy us some time.

"Wait. The sun will be setting soon. If there are undead lurking in the town, they could attack at any moment. Let’s retreat to a safe location and resume our investigation in the morning."

An adventurer, who had been watching the argument with an exasperated look, interjected. Even though they had confirmed that there were no undead in the town, he deliberately warned that they might attack in order to de-escalate the situation.

I thought they would get angry at a mere commoner for daring to speak to nobles, but surprisingly, they readily agreed.

"Indeed. There is no greater folly than fighting a horde of undead at night. We shall return to the camp we have prepared and ready ourselves for tomorrow."

"Hmph. It seems that in your domain, commoners have more sense than knights. We shall also return to our base, where we have prepared countermeasures against the undead."

They both departed while trying to one-up each other, boasting about their preparations for camping. Are they incapable of living without conflict? The adventurers sighed as they watched them go. Then, their leader turned to look at the knight order that had departed in the opposite direction and muttered under his breath, in a voice too low for a human to hear.

"Those guys... they saw us investigating and decided to prioritize setting up their camp."

It seemed that the other knight order had left the dangerous investigation to the adventurers while they focused on setting up a safe camp for themselves.

In any case, this meant there were no more eyes on the town for now. But I was sure there were still people watching from a distance. Even if they knew there were no undead, there was no reason not to be cautious.

"Alright, let’s get moving, too."

The arrival of the two knight orders gave me an idea for a new plan.

"I call it: The ‘Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend’ Operation!"