The Terminally Ill Young Master is the Mad Dog of the Underworld
Chapter 250

[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]

Chapter 250: War Clouds Gather

"Kreutzel, your mission is to lure the Black Society and draw them out to the open field outside the city."

I drew a rough map while explaining the operation.

"You need to drag out the time as long as possible. Meanwhile, we'll prepare traps in this location beforehand."

"You want to drive them in and annihilate them all at once. It's a good method."

Knut, who was the most experienced hunter among us, nodded his head.

"Hmm, tactically speaking, there's nothing particularly wrong with it."

Reinholdt also acknowledged my strategy.

Since these were the words of a man who had risen to the position of a duchy's Grand Commander, which could be considered the highest military rank, I felt quite satisfied as well.

"Zizek, and Sir Reinholdt."

I pointed to the two men.

"You two should chase Kreutzel just barely, then let him slip away at the right moment."

"Thorough. Are you thinking of completely blocking any suspicion from the Black Society?"

Reinholdt immediately understood what I meant.

"That's right. If we all disappear at the same time, they'll naturally become suspicious."

"If that's the case, leave it to us."

"Meanwhile, the three of us will set up traps and lie in ambush while concealing our presence."

Not only myself, but Siena and Knut also had considerable skill in stealth techniques that could hide one's presence.

"So when the melee breaks out, you two should intervene at the appropriate time and kick their asses."

"Good."

Reinholdt smiled faintly.

"There aren't many tactics as effective as striking the enemy from behind."

If a man of the caliber of Valkenhain Duchy's Grand Commander stepped forward as the hammer, even the Black Society wouldn't find it easy to handle.

"Zizek here should fight mainly against the small fries so he doesn't get caught up and die unnecessarily."

"......"

I turned to look at Siena and said.

"Young Lady, what do you think? Since these are people who dared to try stealing Valkenhain's treasure, shouldn't we at least take an arm or two?"

"Very well."

Knut took something out from his chest.

"Kreutzel, this is a potion that can replenish mana. It won't increase your mana capacity like spirit medicine, but you'll need it to lure the Black Society."

"Th-thank you."

"Wow."

I exclaimed in admiration.

"Brother Knut, you carry around quite a lot of various things, don't you?"

"To survive in the wild, one must be thoroughly prepared."

"That's certainly true."

I raised my gaze upward.

"Speaking of which, does the Intelligence Director have any intention of helping a subordinate who's struggling hard?"

Then the owl sitting on the tree branch answered.

[Indeed. Would it help if I provided military support?]

"Shit, that startled me."

I stepped back in surprise.

[......]

"My apologies. I didn't expect you to be using an owl as a familiar to stay attached."

[I'll take that as a compliment.]

I stroked the head of the owl that had landed on my shoulder and said.

"Anyway, there's no need to explain the current situation."

[Yes.]

"Since I've been suffering all night helping with Valkenhain's affairs as you suggested, I think it's proper for the one who provided the cause to help, don't you think?"

[Well, I think so too.]

"Great. Then please requisition some explosive magic scrolls for the traps and some specialists."

Venion readily agreed.

[I'll send personnel from the Shadow Division and the 6th Battalion of the Special Operations Division.]

"Oh, Rudgarda herself?"

[That's right.]

Venion added an explanation.

[We occasionally collaborate with the Special Operations Division like this. Since the Shadow Division isn't particularly specialized in combat.]

"Ah, I see."

I nodded.

Especially for Rudgarda, whose position was inherently unstable, she would inevitably be deployed for such tasks multiple times.

"Then please prepare quickly."

[It won't take long.]

After setting down the owl, I said.

"Kreutzel, after taking the potion, practice your recovery techniques."

"Understood."

"As soon as you finish, we'll depart immediately."

To catch a big fish, one needs to fatten up and dress up the bait.

* * *

"Ridiculous."

Schelde, who had awakened Diamando to hear the whole story, chuckled.

"If it's true, that bastard deliberately caused complete chaos."

The target Schelde was referring to was none other than Karzan.

"Yes, that's correct."

Diamando, realizing the seriousness of the situation, spoke obediently.

"But that guy said one thing correctly. If you had purchased the Ebony Oath and then played tricks, both you and your entire family would have had to suffer pain enough to regret being born."

"......!"

At that calm killing intent, Diamando felt like he might wet himself.

'Wow, that bastard was telling the truth.'

At this moment, he felt incredibly fortunate that he had been beaten unconscious beforehand.

'Is this really killing intent that a human can emit?'

Being a Branch Chief of the Black Society, even someone as bold as him found it difficult to maintain his composure.

'Regret being born. Coming from this man's mouth, it doesn't sound like the empty boasts of common underworld thugs.'

The more he thought about it, the more chilling it became.

How much pain would one have to endure to regret being born?

"Diamando, you crossed the line this time. You'll have to pay the price for daring to look down on the Black Society."

"......If it's money, I'll pay any amount."

"This is why merchants are..."

Schelde chuckled, but unlike usual, his eyes weren't smiling at all.

"Even in this situation, do you think you can buy your life with petty cash? If I just gesture once here, your head will fall to the ground, and your subordinates will bang their heads before me begging for mercy."

"......!"

"Then all the wealth you've accumulated in your lifetime will become mine. I can just set up a puppet and take over the connections and business partners you've built."

Diamando's complexion turned pale at the cold words.

"Please think before you speak. Do you want to die like this?"

Schelde asked while tapping his temple.

"No, I'm sorry. I'll do anything, so please give me guidance."

"Now you're starting to understand a little."

Schelde waved his hand dismissively.

"Get lost. My subordinates will tell you what you need to do from now on."

"Y-yes, yes."

As Diamando bowed and retreated, Schelde looked at Gilbert, who had been standing quietly.

"Gilbert."

"Yes."

"I'm quite bewildered too. To think a man of your caliber would be defeated so helplessly."

"Branch Chief, I have no excuse."

Gilbert bowed his head deeply.

"Let me hear it once. What exactly happened? Did Venion step forward directly?"

Without a man of that caliber, it would have been difficult to subdue him so easily.

"......I don't know. That bastard completely countered my techniques as if he knew them inside and out."

Schelde tilted his head sideways.

"Gilbert. Do you think that makes sense right now?"

"I can't believe it either. However..."

Gilbert personally demonstrated the situation when he was defeated.

"I judged that bastard to be dangerous and immediately drew up my ultimate technique to kill him. But that bastard, as if he knew the sword path in advance, with ghost-like movements..."

This time Gilbert demonstrated Karzan's movements and continued.

"Like this, he knocked me unconscious with just one move."

"......I see."

Schelde furrowed his brow.

"If it's true, he's either an extraordinary master or someone who has already fought us before. It's a perfect counter-method."

"I think so too."

It was a counter-method that Karzan, called a genius among geniuses, had created with great effort after long observation.

Naturally, the level of that technique wasn't low.

"What did his appearance look like?"

"......He looked quite menacing."

Due to Karzan's extreme stealth skills, Gilbert couldn't even clearly remember his opponent's face.

"I have a strange premonition."

He quickly sketched the face of that man from his memories of 17 years ago on paper.

"Did he look like this by any chance?"

"Ah! It seems similar."

At this point, Schelde muttered in an uncertain tone.

"......Karzan?"

The Karzan he was referring to was, of course, the Karzan from '17 years ago.'

In any case, he had never seen the real appearance of the 'other Karzan' who had been shaking the underworld recently either.

"This is truly a situation that would make ghosts weep."

Schelde muttered.

'Did that Karzan really survive and return from that great explosion that day?'

He tried to deny the question he had raised himself.

'Impossible. That can't be.'

Hadn't he clearly witnessed Karzan's brutally dead corpse with his own two eyes?

Even if it had been a troll instead of a human, it couldn't have come back to life from such wounds.

Moreover, they had even collected the remains of that corpse and burned it directly.

"......That can't be possible."

Schelde muttered as if confirming to himself.

"Venion, that guy must have done something again."

Just like the previous Houten incident, he had the intuition that Karzan, who was clearly one of Grunewald's people, was deliberately interfering with the Black Society's affairs again this time.

'That fox-like bastard.'

Among all of Grunewald's retainers, he regarded Venion's existence as the greatest threat.

"R-reporting, sir."

Just then, a mage who entered the room urgently reported.

"Kreutzel has appeared again. He's fleeing at high speed."

"What?"

Gilbert asked incredulously.

"Is that really true? He should have been captured by the Valkenhain side."

"It seems he escaped. Grand Commander Reinholdt is pursuing him."

"......This is surprising. To think he managed to escape even after being completely caught."

Schelde was impressed.

"This changes our plans a bit."

Originally, their strategy was to wait for them to recover the Ebony Oath, then strike when they were exhausted and rob them.

But who would have thought it would go awry like this?

"Don't kill Kreutzel, capture him alive. If we can grasp his weakness and make him a slave, he'll be quite useful."

"Yes."

For them, it was impossible to know the internal circumstances of Schelde's personal history and the resulting cooperation with Karzan.

Therefore, this was exactly the misjudgment that Allenvert had intended.

"If you fall behind again this time, I'll have everyone's heads."

At Schelde's warning, all his subordinates knelt down in unison.

"W-we will definitely capture him."

"Everyone, move out. I'll also observe the situation and intervene."

"Yes."

When Schelde whistled, a griffin that had been lying on the roof spread its wings and flew over.

"Gilbert, you take field command. I'll be watching from above."

"Understood."

The griffin carrying its rider soared high into the night sky.

"Black Wind Squadron, follow me."

Then more than ten griffin riders who had been waiting followed behind.

Without doubt, it was an elite unit that comprised more than half of the 8th Branch's total military strength.

* * *

"But Young Lady."

While watching the Shadow Division and Special Operations Division personnel setting up traps in the designated clearing, I glanced at Siena.

"There's something I'd like to ask."

"What is it?"

I asked directly.

"Does Valkenhain also have a Shadow Division?"

"......"

Siena thought for a moment, then answered.

"Yes. Our positions are probably quite similar to yours."

"I see."

I wasn't very surprised because I had expected as much.

"......Grand Commander Reinholdt is the second-in-command of the Shadow Division, also a direct subordinate of the Intelligence Director. He's like an older brother to me, you could say."

But even I couldn't help but be surprised by this statement.

"That's absurd. Who would have thought that the Grand Commander was also an agent of the Shadow Division?"

It struck me anew that it was no coincidence that both Valkenhain and Grunewald had Shadow Divisions to confront the Black Society.

'That can't be right.'

"Young Master, but from what I've observed, 'this side's' Intelligence Director seems to be raising you a bit more intensively."

I strongly agreed with Siena's words.

"That's right. He's generally laissez-faire."

"......Then."

Siena lowered her voice.

"I still don't know what the 'real reason' is for why they covet the Ebony Oath so much."

[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]