The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front - Chapter 40

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front (40)

 

It was as expected.

 

After leaving the alley, Arteon visited every blacksmith in the capital.

 

Since it was a large city, there were quite a number of blacksmiths.

 

‘…So that merchant’s words were true.’

 

There was no place that made better items than the shabby blacksmith in the alley he had first seen.

 

No, the difference was so great that calling it a slight difference would be embarrassing.

 

“What kind of person is he exactly…?”

 

He wondered how someone with such skill could be running such a small and shabby blacksmith.

 

But….

 

“It’s gotten too late.”

 

He had found a decent blacksmith after a long time, and had lost track of time wandering around the capital’s blacksmiths for comparison.

 

“It’s more comfortable to stay somewhere a bit quiet anyway.”

 

Arteon headed toward an inn with lights on.

 

Though it was a rather small inn, being in the capital, the prices were tremendously different from Almers, which had been a northern city.

 

“…Damn, they’re like highway robbers. Just 12 silver for one night in this tiny room.”

 

Feeling as if his very soul had been robbed, Arteon grumbled as he lay down on the bed.

 

But soon.

 

“….”

 

Arteon calmly reflected on the recent events.

 

In his past life, at this time, he had recaptured Helikel Gorge, which hadn’t been scheduled.

 

This had become a major turning point that could greatly change the current situation on the Northern Front.

 

‘How the Empire will move from now on….’

 

Whether they would just defend as they were now.

 

Or whether they would advance forward.

 

If they advanced forward, it would be fair to say that time had been shortened by at least 5 years.

 

That meant many changes could occur within the Empire regarding this matter.

 

‘How will those guys… move.’

 

Probably the one to watch most carefully would be Belkain.

 

In his past life, Belkain was an excellent soldier, but because he didn’t get involved in political struggles, he met a meaningless death in the north.

 

But with this recapture of Helikel Gorge, couldn’t he rise to the position of legion commander?

 

Perhaps the future Northern Front might revolve around Belkain.

 

Naturally, from the Central Forces’ perspective, which side could win over Belkain would become a huge issue.

 

“But he’s not an easy person to handle.”

 

Money or power.

 

He wasn’t someone who could be swayed by such sweet things.

 

Arteon closed his eyes while thinking about future situations.

 

It felt like quite a lot of things had passed by like arrows.

 

But then.

 

“…?”

 

Arteon opened his eyes again.

 

A presence climbing up the wall behind the inn building.

 

Arteon sharpened his senses and tracked the person’s movements.

 

Just in case their target might be another room.

 

“….”

 

However, ominous premonitions were never wrong.

 

Arteon slowly raised his body while hiding his presence as much as possible.

 

He didn’t know who had sent this person, but… their purpose seemed clear.

 

Arteon pressed his body against the wall near the window and even stopped breathing.

 

Soon, with a very small creaking sound.

 

Slide.

 

The window of the guest room where Arteon was staying opened.

 

And the moment the person cautiously poked their head in.

 

Grab!

 

“Ugh…mmph…!”

 

Arteon grabbed the back of the person’s head with his left hand and immediately covered their mouth with his right hand.

 

The person instinctively reached toward Arteon, but.

 

Crack!

 

“…!”

 

Arteon snapped the person’s neck and threw them to the ground.

 

Crash!

 

The person fell to the ground with a loud noise and trembled violently.

 

Their cervical spine was damaged and nerves severed, causing tremendous pain and paralysis throughout their body.

 

Of course, they were still alive.

 

Since he hadn’t completely broken it.

 

‘…An assassin.’

 

It wasn’t unexpected, but it was somewhat surprising.

 

He hadn’t thought they would move this quickly.

 

But assassins like this.

 

‘…The Kar Tribe’s assassins were much more threatening and strong.’

 

Arteon set aside his past memories for a moment and looked at the fallen assassin.

 

“I know you won’t talk anyway. So… don’t talk until the end.”

 

With those words, Arteon rolled up part of the blanket and stuffed it into the person’s mouth.

 

As the blanket was packed tightly into the mouth that was opened wide enough to almost dislocate the jaw, the person could only make choking sounds without being able to make any noise.

 

Panicked eyes looked at Arteon.

 

Clearly he still looked like a boy on the outside, but why… did he smell like a skilled torturer?

 

Tap.

 

“Still, if you ever feel like saying something… blink your eyes rapidly.”

 

There was no need to spend too much time on small fry anyway.

 

A few definitive times.

 

They would either die… or talk.

 

Arteon drew up his mana and concentrated it on the leg.

 

Crunch!

 

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

 

With the feeling of the shin bone being crushed, the person writhed like a live fish.

 

Screams leaked from the tightly blocked mouth.

 

But they should be able to endure this much.

 

Something like bones being crushed… could be handled with training.

 

But how about this?

 

“Now, I’ll show you just once. If you endure this well too, I’ll just kill you next time.”

 

Arteon grabbed the person’s shin where bone fragments were protruding with his hand.

 

Into this injured body like this….

 

‘If I make mana into thorn shapes and push it in….’

 

Of course, transforming the shape of mana wasn’t an easy task.

 

Only a very small number of top-tier users among those who could handle mana would be capable of it.

 

But Arteon was confident that he was second to none when it came to Mana Control.

 

It might be impossible for others, but something like this was manageable.

 

And Arteon changed the shape of his mana and injected it into the assassin’s body.

 

At that moment.

 

“…!”

 

He couldn’t even scream.

 

His body trembled violently from the tremendous pain he was experiencing for the first time.

 

Pain so severe that maintaining consciousness was difficult, let alone answering.

 

Though it was only about 3 seconds, it must have felt like an eternity to him.

 

Arteon asked him.

 

“Seems like you can endure it. Should I continue?”

 

Blink blink, blink blink, blink blink.

 

The assassin blinked his eyes frantically.

 

Arteon removed his hand from the man’s leg as if he had expected this.

 

This was the worst torture method in history that even those vicious Kar Tribe members would submit to.

 

Rather than die, enduring it twice would be impossible.

 

Arteon pulled out the blanket stuffed in his mouth.

 

“Affiliation.”

 

“No, No, No, Nokton….”

 

“Nokton?”

 

Arteon’s expression twisted sharply.

 

Because he had heard of it before.

 

‘Certainly… Moldrek once said….’

 

Arteon recalled his past life, a conversation he had with Moldrek.

 

He didn’t know exactly what operation it was, but when there was a problem with the Northern Region support forces….

 

―Don’t worry about it, Nokton will handle that.

 

‘He definitely said that.’

 

At the time, he didn’t know what those words meant.

 

He had only roughly guessed.

 

If Nokton was connected to the forces that continuously created conflicts in the Northern Region….

 

‘Everything fits together.’

 

Thinking about it now, that’s right.

 

That front line should have been given up to the Kar Tribe, retreating one step back to reorganize their forces.

 

If they had done that, they could have preserved their troops and pushed back the Kar Tribe all at once with the support forces.

 

But unscheduled support forces were urgently deployed, and the war continued.

 

And as a result.

 

‘Instead, our army’s casualties… increased tremendously.’

 

Arteon felt the urge to immediately crush the head of the man before him.

 

His eyes turned red with bloodshot anger.

 

“If you answer one more question, I’ll spare your life.”

 

“Ugh…urk.”

 

“Who sent you? Who’s controlling the group called Nokton?”

 

“Th, that’s….”

 

The man felt fear looking at Arteon’s face, twisted like a demon.

 

As if his reason was paralyzed, he began spitting out information he knew without filtering.

 

“Fe, Fe….”

 

But that was the moment.

 

Whiiiiiiiiiish!

 

Something flying at tremendous speed.

 

Arteon instinctively picked up the assassin’s sword from the ground and spun his body.

 

Clang!

 

Such powerful destructive force that he almost dropped the sword he was holding.

 

Arteon’s expression twisted.

 

‘What the…?!’

 

Arteon looked at the dagger that had fallen to the ground.

 

If someone could generate this level of destructive power by throwing a dagger.

 

‘At least… 3rd Star or above.’

 

Arteon cast his gaze out the window.

 

And he saw a man standing on the roof across from him.

 

He was wearing black assassin garb covering everything except his eyes.

 

The typical appearance of an assassin.

 

But the aura emanating from his body was so tremendous it could be felt even from this distance.

 

However….

 

Whoosh!

 

The moment their eyes met, the man disappeared.

 

It was so instantaneous that it was impossible to even chase where he had moved.

 

“…Damn it.”

 

Arteon turned his head to look at the assassin collapsed on the ground.

 

A hidden blade as thick as a finger was now deeply embedded in his head.

 

He had thrown the dagger to divert Arteon’s attention while simultaneously throwing the hidden blade.

 

From the beginning, the target wasn’t Arteon… but this assassin.

 

‘…Why.’

 

If that man had attacked from the start, he definitely could have killed him.

 

“Haah….”

 

For now, it seemed he needed to somehow dispose of this corpse first.

 

* * *

 

Long shadows swayed with the flickering candle.

 

Kaltek frowned as he looked at the man kneeling on one knee before him.

 

“Failure?”

 

“I apologize.”

 

Kaltek, a middle manager of Nokton, was someone who received great trust within the organization for his clean handling of affairs.

 

But the task he had ordered had failed.

 

Kaltek asked.

 

“…Was it impossible with an intermediate assassin?”

 

“He was no match at all. I eliminated him while he was being captured and interrogated without being able to do anything.”

 

“Vashnell, if you had stepped in, you could have killed him easily. What’s the reason you just withdrew?”

 

“…I apologize.”

 

The man’s name was Vashnell.

 

But Kaltek frowned at his answer.

 

“I don’t want to hear such obvious apologies. I’m asking why you didn’t kill him and withdrew instead.”

 

But soon.

 

“…Don’t tell me.”

 

Kaltek looked at Vashnell with surprise.

 

Vashnell was someone with outstanding skills even among Nokton’s senior assassins.

 

In places where darkness existed, even 3rd Star level knights couldn’t match him.

 

But….

 

“Are you saying it was impossible for even you to kill him?”

 

“…If I had intended to kill him, I would have killed him for certain.”

 

“But?”

 

“However, killing him secretly after my appearance was revealed was impossible. If I had killed him… it would have caused a great commotion.”

 

“…So that was the extent of it.”

 

He had heard it was a young boy soldier, but to think he possessed such formidable skills.

 

‘Recapturing Helikel Gorge… it wasn’t merely luck after all.’

 

The operation failed, but the justification was certainly established.

 

Moreover, the information about the target has been newly revised… that should suffice.

 

“I’ll handle the aftermath, so keep yourself hidden for the time being. Still, since you targeted someone the Imperial Family directly honored, it will be difficult to find an opportunity for a while.”

 

“Understood.”

 

Vashnell nodded and soon concealed himself in the shadows.

 

Kaltek sat down and began rapidly writing something on the documents.

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