Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 51 (Part 2)
The royal family was not on their side. They just hated the Ingram Empire more, but the Special Forces Training Center was also a thorn in their side.
“Of course, they will. But they didn’t say they would do it immediately. When I asked which troops they would send, they evaded the question. The empire’s army is right in front of us, but they haven’t decided yet? No. They are forming an encirclement from the outside.”
“An encirclement? It seems like they don’t want to let a single enemy escape. What’s the problem with that?”
“If they wanted to save us, they should have sent strong people to hold off Duke Bernstein and Count Ferrios simultaneously with forming the encirclement. How can we stop those two? Commissioner Habinon, can you stop Duke Bernstein? How about Count Ferrios?”
“Oh! Duke Bernstein, um… uh….”
Commissioner Habinon’s face turned pale.
He realized he would have to face the swords of Duke Bernstein or Count Ferrios if they stayed. His back quickly became drenched with sweat.
‘That’s impossible. I can’t.’
Commissioner Habinon did not want to cross swords with Duke Bernstein. No, he didn’t even want to face him.
Even in his prime, he couldn’t stop Duke Bernstein. The difference of just one level between a Tier 5 and a Tier 6 knight was like heaven and earth.
Moreover, his current self was no longer in a state to be called a knight.
A thickened waist, vanished abs, and weakened stamina.
He was in a shape hardly recognizable as knightly.
“Commissioners Habinon and Elrov, listen carefully. The royal family will use us as bait to capture Duke Bernstein. They will act after we’re all dead, to take over the Special Forces Training Center.”
“I understand, Commissioner Kser. We’ve been abandoned. Sigh, we have to escape.”
“Yes. Now that it’s come to this, let’s leave. I’ve felt uneasy. The situation has been getting worse, and information has been coming sporadically.”
“Yes, I understand. Staying alive is the most important thing.”
Finally, Commissioners Elrov and Habinon changed their minds. They sensed that staying here would lead to a bad end.
“We’re really lucky. At least we got this information early, so we have some time to escape.”
“We should thank the intelligence department.”
The acquisition of this information was purely luck. Even the intelligence department acknowledged it as luck.
The best way to monitor was to use spirits or 5th circle familiar magic.
However, there were too few spirit users and not enough 5th circle wizards to spare for surveillance.
To compensate, each country used artifacts that absorbed sound. They planted these artifacts everywhere to gather sounds and predict enemy movements.
But the front was vast, and the number of artifacts was insufficient.
Usually, sound-absorbing artifacts were installed every 100 meters, but they could only absorb sounds within 4 to 6 meters. All areas outside the artifact’s range were blind spots.
However, the Ingram Empire’s army set up camp within one of those rare monitoring ranges. They even planned their attack on the Special Forces Training Center in the same place.
If they had set up camp just a few meters away or put more effort into finding the artifacts, no information would have leaked.
“So, what will you do now?”
“I need to take the slaves we decided on before. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”
“Ah, I remember. I had chosen several from number 155.”
“Do you remember the list?”
“I wrote it down separately. I have 16, Commissioner Elrov has 19, and Commissioner Kser has 10. Right?”
Commissioner Habinon pulled out an old list from a drawer. It was a list of 45 chosen from the 3rd to 5th batches, divided among the three commissioners.
“Should we move right now?”
“That would be best, but since it’s early morning… It might be better to quietly call the instructors to pull them out.”
Waking all the trainees at this hour would be foolish.
The trainees were not stupid. If chaos suddenly erupted, they would realize something was wrong.
“We should call it a mission.”
“Yes. Call it an important mission and discreetly summon them.”
“Is there enough time?”
“We have a few hours, so let’s not be too hasty. Oh! I will break slave rod number 108 the moment I leave.”
Rodin was not forgotten until the last moment. Although he was a source of money, he was also dangerous, so they planned to deal with him before leaving.
“But where are we going? I was planning to go to Melcos.”
“If we’re leaving the kingdom, Melcos is the only choice, right? I’m going to Melcos too.”
“I will take a ship from Melcos to the central continent. Shall we go together?”
Commissioner Kser suggested to Commissioners Habinon and Elrov that they travel together until they left the Riyaz Kingdom. He thought it would be safe to stay together until then.
Melcos was a port city at the southernmost point of the Riyaz Kingdom. It also had ships going to the central continent.
There were only two ways to the central continent from the western continent: by sea or through the northern roof.
The northern roof required crossing through the Ingram Empire, which was not an option.
Even without that, the terrain of the continent’s roof was too rough. It was not a place where carriages could pass.
The only remaining way was to take a ship from the port city of Melcos. It was the safest route and allowed for carrying as much cargo as desired.
The cost was astronomical, but there was no other choice now.
“Isn’t the number too large? My household and slaves are considerable, and if we add all of you… um, countries in the central continent might be wary.”
“We should separate once we arrive.”
“We’ll arrive at night and split up immediately. My final destination is the Kingdom of Tevia.”
“Then, let’s travel together to the central continent by ship. We’ll split up once we arrive.”
They had been together for a long time and had built camaraderie. But they didn’t trust each other enough to watch each other’s backs.
Staying together for a reasonable time and parting at the right moment was satisfactory.
“Let’s move. I will call the instructors.”
“I’ll gather the slave rods.”
“I’ll call the instructors and explain the situation. Ensure they scatter in all directions for the escape.”
The commissioners scattered to their tasks.
Rodin, who had secretly eavesdropped on their conversation, called Jito back.