TLWD 61

Chapter : 61. Ambush (1)

The viscounty of Veneron lay closest to the White Wolf Count’s domain.

A viscount was not truly an independent ruler, but more of a middle manager.
What people called a viscounty was simply land set aside at the count’s discretion.

But when, for one reason or another, a count died suddenly, or left no heir, or otherwise left his seat vacant—
that land was often quietly swallowed whole by the one who had been entrusted with it.

That was how most of what were now called viscounties had come to be.
The Veneron viscounty was no different.
Rumor had it that Count Edmond had died in some “accident” years ago.

That much was believable.

It was rare, but not unheard of.
Nearly every viscounty or barony in the kingdom had been formed this way.

But that accident…

I had the knowledge of my past life—the memories of being a special operations commander, and the future intelligence gathered after war broke out.
But all of that was information collected during the Alliance years, after the war began.

In other words, here and now, fifteen years in the past, I had little concrete detail about that so-called accident.

Still…

Was it Avarus who killed Count Edmond?

If Avarus had been behind it—
if the entire affair had been orchestrated by the Dark Syndicate—

That changed things.

Counts held titles granted directly by the crown.
So when a countship passed to anyone other than the rightful heir, it required explicit royal sanction.

That meant until my father’s will was formally recognized, I still retained the authority of firstborn heir.

In other words—

They couldn’t easily steal the countship.

Not with the crown’s direct oversight.
Even if they replaced Edmond with a homunculus, there were limits.

Replication-type homunculi didn’t inherit full memories.
There was no way they could fool both the royal family and all the sworn vassals beneath them.

But a viscountcy? That was easier.

Fool Edmond, or simply remove him, and the land would be theirs.

Assuming my suspicions were correct, the pieces were beginning to fall into place.

In my past life, when I had abandoned the family—

The lycanthropes had attacked the county with their legion.
But I had not been there.
Kaï had not grown strong, as he has in this life.

So Seraphia had used her power of Frost Sovereignty.
She single-handedly annihilated the legion—but collapsed afterward.

The lycanthropes must have been too terrified to attack again.

They had never shown themselves when cowed by even my [Dragon’s Wrath E].
What, then, of the power of the Frost Sovereign?
No doubt they had pissed themselves and dared not set foot near the county again.

But this time, Seraphia had not used her authority.
Because unlike before, I was still here.

I had laid bait and trap, and the lycanthropes had walked straight into it.

The process differed, but the result was the same.

Seraphia ended up using her power.
And she collapsed afterward.

Thus, just as before, the Veneron viscount approached her—
offering an “elixir” to cure her.

And in the past life—

She must have accepted his marriage proposal.

The consequences were clear enough, judging from the penalty clause of the sudden quest that appeared this time.

==[An ambush should always be sudden!]==

Objective – Assassinate Viscount Veneron
Reward – Large amount of experience
Failure – <Awakening of the Frost Sovereign>

The Awakening of the Frost Sovereign.
So that was how Seraphia had awakened in my previous life.

But then a question arose.

Did Avarus know what her authority was?

Did he approach her intentionally, to turn her into the Frost Sovereign?
Or did he stumble onto it, blinded by her beauty?

Avarus was no mere man—he was a high executive of the Dark Syndicate, a corrupted soul who worshiped the Lord of the Abyss.

If this was his scheme—
if the Dark Syndicate stood behind it all—

Did the Emperor himself know Seraphia even then?

Was this orchestrated on imperial orders?
Or was it solely the Dark Syndicate?
Or Avarus acting alone?

I’ll have to wring it out of Avarus himself.

There would be no other way.

But not alone.

With my current strength, I couldn’t face Avarus head-on.
If anything, I’d be the one cut down.

Still…

Kaï was running at full tilt behind me, his metabolism-overdrive [U] active, yet still keeping pace with ease.

Because of my interference, his growth had surpassed what it had been in the past.

Just as I had surpassed my past self, Kaï had surpassed the commander of the Frost Legion.

As an enemy, I had hated him with every fiber of my being.

But to fight alongside that madman now…

As an ally, he was the most reliable partner imaginable.

The northern continent was divided into mountains, tundra, and frozen wastelands.

The Veneron viscounty lay in the wastelands, unlike the count’s land at the border of mountains and plains.
Its climate was milder in comparison—but only in comparison.

Winter was drawing near.

From the ridge above, the viscounty lay blanketed in snow and ice.

On a frigid night beneath a full moon, moonlight washed silently over the villages.

When I focused, I saw villagers standing idly in the alleys or drifting aimlessly about.
But their movements carried no emotion, no purpose.

At a glance, it looked like daily work.
But look closer, and you’d see abandoned carts, broken tools, and meaningless, synchronized actions.

They moved with identical rhythm and pace, as if under a spell.

I invoked [Predator’s Instinct S].

All of them… homunculi.

Everyone in sight.
Avarus had turned the entire viscounty into homunculi.

Madness didn’t even begin to cover it.

Then—

“What’s the plan?”

Kaï slipped up beside me, his breath perfectly steady, not a bead of sweat on his face.

Sometimes I wondered if he was even human.
But [Predator’s Instinct S] classified him clearly: mammalian, human.

In any case, the viscounty’s true state was clear.

“We infiltrate the manor and assassinate the viscount.”

That was the quest’s directive anyway.
Kaï nodded without protest.

We crept toward the great manor that loomed over the viscounty.

The manor, built of timber and stone, looked more like a fortress.

Moving in masks, cloaked in shadow—

This feels familiar.

It was just like old times, when I’d served in the Special Operations Unit, directly under Commander Ian of the Allied Army.

We were few, but elite—conducting recon, assassinations, kidnappings, direct strikes, sabotage, hostage rescues.
Unacknowledged wars, secret operations that never made the records.

It demanded silence, skill, and trust.
My comrades had been the closest thing I’d ever had to family.

And under the bright full moon, one memory rose unbidden.

—Captain! We should have a slogan too!
—A slogan?
—Every corps has one! The Operations Corps, Mage Corps, Holy Corps, Engineers, Logistics—all of them!
—Those are led by heroes. Why should we—
—Why not us? You’re our hero, Captain!

Damn flatterers.

—Is that really important?
—It boosts morale!
—Fine. Let’s hear your ideas.
—We are the blade in the shadows!
—Rejected.
—Then the wolves of the unseen thickets! You were from the Wolf clan, weren’t you?
—Not a wolf. Just a family with the name. I’m no lycanthrope.
—Still counts!
—Rejected. I cut ties with that clan over a decade ago.
—So cold!
—Special ops requires cold hearts.
—And you’re boring too!
—Shut it.

And then Ian himself had weighed in.

—A slogan isn’t just a phrase. It inspires soldiers, unites them, drives swift, coordinated action in crisis.
—See? Even the Commander agrees!

So, cornered, we’d chosen one.

“We hide in the moonlight, and walk beneath the starlight.”

Even if our hands were mired in mud, the goal was always the light.

Now, it was nothing but an old memory.

“What did you just say?” Kaï asked.
“Nothing,” I muttered.

He gave me a strange look, but let it drop.

“Getting inside won’t be easy,” he said.

He was right.
The place swarmed with guards.
Not ordinary guards either—combat-type homunculi.
They never slept.
Killers in human form.

There was only one route.

“We’ll have to go in through the garderobe.”

The garderobe—a noble’s private privy.
A stone projection on the outer wall, where waste dropped freely to the ground below.

Wide enough for a person to slip through.
I’d used such routes before, back in the unit.

But it was vile work.
The stench, the filth, the maggots—it could kill a man before the enemy did.

I glanced up.
The moonlight shone bright as silver, cloaking the manor.

We were supposed to move hidden in its glow.

…To hell with that.

I surged forward, slammed my boot into the main gate—

KA-BOOM!

“Hey! Avarus! Get your ass out here, right now!”

The manor’s front doors shattered with a thunderous crash.

Kaï’s mind went blank.
It took him long moments to process.

“Have you lost your mind!?”

Was this man insane?

“You said the mission was to assassinate the viscount!”
“And that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“In what universe is this an assassination—!”
“You didn’t know?”

I flexed my claws, sharp as knives.

“If no one’s left to witness it—then it’s assassination.”

Kaï was struck dumb. He had no words.

DONG! DONG! DONG!

Alarm bells rang loud and frantic.
Soldiers and knights poured out from every corner of the manor.

Of course they did. Anything else would’ve been strange.

Kaï just stood there, slack-jawed, despair plain on his face.

“Oh, by the way,” I called over my shoulder as I charged the oncoming host.

“They’re not human.”

As if that made it better.
What did that have to do with kicking down the front door?

Blood spattered across the moonlit snow.
One guard gurgled his last breath as I cut him down.

Then I moved again, eyes gleaming.
Sliding like a shadow, cloak of moonlight billowing—
dodging, slipping through gaps, claws ripping down homunculi one after another.

Silence and the stench of blood remained in my wake.

“…Screw it.”

Kaï slowly drew his sword.
He steadied his breath, sharpening the blade with aura.

Fangs bared in steel.

Wolf Swordsmanship – First Form: Dance of Fangs.

Kaï’s blue fangs tore into the manor’s guards.