The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front - Chapter 314

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Mad Spearman of the Northern Front (314)
A cold wind swept across the outskirts of Wolfheim.
Over the vast open field where the Barracks and Training Ground converged, the approach of winter settled in gradually.
Soldiers were maintaining their equipment after finishing their training, and the sound of metal and brief commands scattered across the grounds.
In the midst of it all stood a single Carriage, halted before the Barracks.
Before it, Arteon and Belkain faced one another.
After a brief silence, it was Belkain who spoke first.
“I apologize for departing in such haste. I shall visit again once matters are settled.”
His words were brief, yet the weight they carried was substantial.
Arteon responded with a worried expression.
“Has something happened?”
Belkain turned his gaze away for a moment before looking back at Arteon and speaking.
“It appears the Kar Tribe has begun moving again.”
At those words, the air grew subtly cold.
“We are currently investigating the precise circumstances, and I shall send a Letter once our investigation concludes.”
His tone was measured, yet the tension within it could not be concealed.
In the Northern Region, matters concerning the Kar Tribe were both sensitive and critically important.
And at the mention of the Kar Tribe, Arteon stepped forward.
“Then I should also….”
“Marquis.”
Belkain cut off Arteon’s words.
He paused to steady his breath before continuing quietly.
“You hold the highest military position in the Empire, Marquis.”
His gaze fixed directly upon Arteon.
“To act on unconfirmed matters would be far too costly, and the burden far too heavy.”
This was no mere dissuasion.
It was a clear wish and request that Arteon fully recognize his own position.
A definitive standard regarding responsibility, station, and weight.
Arteon was no longer merely a Unit Commander of a standard Infantry contingent.
Belkain stepped back and added further.
“Crown Prince Sedrian shares this concern, which is why he conveyed this matter to me alone.”
For a moment, only the sound of wind passed between them. Then Belkain straightened his posture formally.
He drew himself up and bowed his head.
“I shall send a Letter the moment matters are confirmed.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
A brief reply.
Understanding what Belkain was concerned about and what he wished for, I could only answer thus.
Soon after, Belkain turned and boarded the Carriage.
The Knights who had accompanied him quickly mounted their horses.
Hoofbeats struck the ground, creating a tense rhythm.
A brief signal announcing departure.
And the carriage began to move slowly.
In that moment.
“Commander.”
Arteon’s voice flew from behind.
Beyond the carriage window, Belkain’s gaze turned toward him once more.
Arteon spoke, looking at Belkain.
“I understand what concerns you. But… you must always contact me before you move.”
Brief yet resolute words.
“Absolutely… do not overextend yourself alone.”
A moment of silence passed.
And….
“I shall, hah.”
A faint smile crossed Belkain’s lips.
Soon the carriage accelerated and began to depart Wolfheim.
Dust rose in clouds, and the carriage’s shadow grew ever more distant.
Arteon’s expression, which had watched until the very end, gradually hardened.
The complex emotions visible in his face seemed to confront the gravity of the situation itself.
But then….
“Isaac.”
A brief summons.
“Yes, Unit Commander.”
Isaac approached immediately and bowed his head.
Arteon said nothing for a moment. He merely gazed toward the direction where the distant carriage had vanished, then slowly opened his mouth.
“We must accelerate the training of the new recruits.”
“…I shall see it done.”
An answer without hesitation.
Then Arteon turned his body.
In that moment, his eyes had grown cold and sharp.
* * *
A vast cave burrowed deep into the Northern Mountains yawned open.
The entrance, carved from the mountainside, was already illuminated by dozens of torches, and beneath that light an endless stream of movement could be seen.
Gracekal Mine.
Thud, thud.
Carts laden with ore were dragged out, and behind them miners with weary faces moved in a line.
And at a rocky hill some distance from that place.
There were those who stood at its edge, holding their breath as they gazed down upon the scene.
They were none other than the Imperial Reconnaissance Unit.
With their bodies concealed within the crevices of rock, they guarded even a single breath.
And….
“What the hell… How did this happen?”
A low curse escaped his lips.
It was Bayrun, the Reconnaissance Unit Commander.
His gaze swept across the entire mine.
The number of those guys guarding the mine was abnormally excessive.
Or rather, it appeared to be.
And their current formation….
This could not be dismissed as a simple territorial invasion.
“….”
Lookouts positioned at regular intervals along every strategic pass from the mine entrance to its depths.
The way the patrol troops moved in sync with shift changes carried a subtly alien quality compared to the Kar Tribe Warriors he had observed before.
And above all else.
“They’re putting the miners to work…?”
Those who extracted ore.
And those who transported it.
All of them were the Empire’s miners and soldiers who had been working here.
Their wrists were bound with shackles fashioned from tough wooden branches, and the moment their movements slowed even slightly, the whip came down immediately.
Crack!
“Move!”
Each time a Kar Tribe Warrior’s roar echoed.
The miner’s back split open and blood sprayed.
Witnessing this, Bayrun’s jaw clenched.
“…This doesn’t appear to be mere occupation, sir.”
A Squad Member beside him whispered low.
Bayrun did not answer.
His mind was racing rapidly.
‘…They’re maintaining systematic guard rotations.’
Bayrun was a veteran who had reconnoitered Kar Tribe formations multiple times in the past.
If one were to characterize the Kar Tribe, it would be their exceptional individual combat prowess and remarkably aggressive nature.
Yet their combat methods, from the Empire’s perspective, were essentially instinctive movements indistinguishable from barbarians, and they lacked even the most basic defensive systems.
But what stood before his eyes now….
“…This makes no sense.”
Someone muttered under their breath.
‘They’ve changed.’
The reason remained unknown.
But regardless of the reason, one thing was unmistakably clear….
‘Such a transformation….’
Was dangerous.
Bayrun’s eyes narrowed sharply.
‘I must report this immediately.’
If I left this situation unattended, I sensed that irreversible catastrophe would unfold.
I wanted nothing more than to charge forward and rescue the Imperial Soldiers and civilians suffering in agony.
‘But now… returning swiftly to report this situation takes absolute priority.’
Bayrun turned his head quietly, observing his Squad Members.
As their eyes met, everyone nodded in acknowledgment.
Withdrawal.
That was the signal.
The Reconnaissance Unit began retreating one by one, bodies kept low.
To avoid leaving even a footprint, they navigated around every stone and Tree Branch.
And Bayrun himself was just beginning to extract himself slowly.
Thwip!
“Gack!”
A brief cry erupted from behind.
In that instant, time seemed to freeze.
Bayrun’s eyes snapped wide open.
His body reflexively spun around as if propelled upward.
In that moment, something stirred within the Darkness.
Then came a low voice.
“So there were rats after all.”
With those words, my entire body bristled with dread, cold sweat streaming down my spine.
A man slowly emerged from the Darkness.
Though lean, his angular frame possessed a distinctly menacing physique.
And on his left shoulder were inscribed five Feather Tattoos.
A high-ranking Kar Tribe Warrior—of Taman’s caliber.
Bayrun felt his breath catch momentarily.
The instant his eyes gleamed crimson, he intuited that there would be no returning alive.
The Kar Tribe Warrior bearing five Feather Tattoos then spoke in a low murmur.
“Sever every head.”
A terse, clinical command.
“A fitting gift to send to those Empire bastards.”
The moment those words fell.
Whoosh!
With the sound of air being rent asunder, the Kar Tribe Warriors moved as one.
Bestial velocity.
Shadows tearing through the Darkness, surging forward.
“Aaaaaaaaaaagh!”
Screams echoed from every direction.
The Formation crumbled in an instant.
Those who had come to conduct Reconnaissance became prey in that moment.
Yet in that brief span, Bayrun clenched his teeth.
‘Returning alive is… impossible.’
But…
‘The mission, at least…’
Bayrun’s eyes gleamed with resolve.
In that same moment, he drew upon his Mana and charged toward the Kar Tribe Warrior before him.
Thwack!
The short sword pierced the Kar Tribe Warrior’s neck with precision, spraying blood across the ground.
Bayrun shouted.
“Scatter! At least one of us must return alive!”
By any means…
“We must report what has happened here!”
“Aaaahhhhh!”
“Aaaahhhhhhhhh!”
At Bayrun’s command, the Squad Members scattered in all directions and fled.
For a moment, the Kar Tribe Warriors seemed taken aback, but they quickly hurled themselves after the fleeing soldiers.
But…
Crash!
Bayrun, blocking their path with blood dripping from his short sword, spoke.
“If you want to pass, you’ll have to kill me first, you damned barbarian bastards!”
Toward Bayrun, who stood resolute before them, resigned to death.
“…I will kill that one.”
A Kar Tribe Warrior bearing five Feather Tattoos stepped forward.
And moments later.
Thud.
Watching Bayrun’s head fall to the ground.
“Impale it on a Rod and hang it at the entrance of the Mine as an example.”
“Understood.”
He turned away without emotion.
Those who fled would find it difficult to escape this place anyway.
‘No…’
It mattered not if they did.
All who came would be slain regardless.
Soon they vanished into the Darkness.
In their wake, only blood stains remained, and the beasts of the Northern Mountains, drawn by the smell of blood, began to gather.
* * *
Preldior.
A land of Gorges and Hills stretching long between the Northern Mountains.
Though winter had not yet fully arrived, the air here was already biting cold.
Harsh winds swept down through the Gorge.
Whoooosh!
Each time the wind swept across, the dry earth and snow dust accumulated on the ground scattered into the air, yet the Imperial Army’s Camp stood firm and resolute even within that harsh environment.
Makeshift palisades and watchtowers.
And soldiers moving between them.
A thin layer of white frost had settled upon the shoulders of the soldiers standing watch,
and with each breath they exhaled, white vapor poured forth.
And at the heart of that Camp.
Before the Command Tent erected at its innermost point, Belkain stood in place, gazing toward one direction.
Three days had already passed since arriving at Preldior.
Yet the Reconnaissance Unit that should have returned had still not come back.
“…Commander.”
Claw approached cautiously and opened his mouth.
His voice was low, but the tension contained within it could not be concealed.
Belkain gazed beyond the Gorge without a word.
“…Surely not.”
He knew what kind of unit the Reconnaissance Unit dispatched from the Capital was.
Bayrun, the Reconnaissance Unit Commander, not only had extensive experience in the Northern Region but was a veteran in scouting the Kar Tribe’s Formations.
Yet the fact that they had still not returned meant….
“Total Annihilation…could it be.”
The situation had unfolded far too gravely.
The sudden movements were troubling enough, but there was something different about this compared to before.
Yet Belkain had not completely abandoned hope.
‘Not yet….’
Nothing was confirmed.
If even a single person remained alive… no, if they had managed to survive.
Belkain exhaled sharply.
White vapor scattered into the wind.
“Let us wait one more day. If there is still no word by then… it seems we shall need to mobilize a new unit.”
“Yes, understood.”
Claw answered briefly.
The air within the Camp grew even more taut.
But that was the moment.
“Commander!”
An urgent cry heard from afar.
Both their gazes turned simultaneously.
A soldier was rushing toward them, gasping for breath.
The sound of footsteps crunching through snow rang out harshly, each step urgent.
And the approaching soldier cried out.
“Commander! A Survivor from the Reconnaissance Unit has entered the Camp!”
The moment those words fell, Belkain’s footsteps began moving urgently in some direction.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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