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Chapter 25
“How long are these bastards planning to enjoy themselves that they still haven’t come back?”
The Shadow Fang guild headquarters.
Pormanker, who had been sitting in the master’s chamber, clicked his tongue and stood up.
I told them to have their fun and then kill her, but I never thought it would take this long.
Just as Pormanker was about to call for a subordinate with an irritated expression—
“Kuaaaaaaagh!”
Crash! Bang!
A scream from the first floor, along with the loud sound of something being smashed.
Pormanker frowned deeply and hurried out of the room.
“What’s going on?!”
Standing on the second floor, Pormanker shouted down below.
And there, instead of his subordinates—
“Rishiven…!”
How could that bitch who was supposed to be dead be here?
‘Was it a trap?’
No— even if it were a trap, it made no sense.
Didn’t Zulan and Heirquan move together, and weren’t fifty guild members sent along with them?
If they had confirmed that Rishiven wasn’t there, they should have returned straight to headquarters.
‘What the hell happened…?!’
His mind became a tangled mess.
The subordinates on the first floor were being taken down one after another, and they had begun moving upstairs.
Right now, he had to escape no matter what.
But then—
“There’s nowhere to run, Pormanker.”
“Y-you…!”
At some point, Rishiven had blocked his path from behind and raised a dagger.
And then—
“Lady Rishiven!”
“Pormanker, you bastard!”
“You son of a—!”
Rishiven’s subordinates rushed up to the second floor, cutting off Pormanker’s escape.
Trapped from both front and back, Pormanker couldn’t hide the panic on his face.
How had things come to this?
But Rishiven looked at him and spoke.
“All this time… serving you as my master— I was a fool. Now it’s time to pay the price, Pormanker.”
“You damn bitch! How dare you be so insolent!”
Pormanker shouted as if thrashing in desperation, but—
Swoosh! Thud!
The dagger that left Rishiven’s hand lodged straight into Pormanker’s forehead.
Pormanker had long since become a well-fed pig, neglecting not only his body but even his training.
There was no way for him to avoid the dagger of Rishiven, who had constantly honed her blade.
Thud.
As Pormanker collapsed, Rishiven shouted loudly.
“Stoooop!”
Those fighting below flinched and looked up at Rishiven.
Pormanker was already dead.
At the sight, those who had followed him wore expressions of despair.
They thought they were all going to die here now.
But Rishiven looked at them and said,
“I will not permit any further fighting. Let bygones be bygones… Only those who will move forward together, stay. If you wish to leave, I’ll let you go.”
“Master!”
“All of these—”
“Enough!”
Rishiven cut off her worried subordinates’ words decisively.
She knew what they were concerned about, but from now on, even that burden was hers to bear.
Too many guild members had already died in this fight…
Soon after, Rishiven declared,
“From now on, I am the master of Shadow Fang. Anyone with objections, speak now.”
Unlike Pormanker, she wasn’t threatening, but a solemn leadership filled the room.
At her words—
“I will follow the master.”
Keiton knelt on one knee and bowed his head. As several subordinates followed suit, kneeling on one knee and shouting the same—
Thump!
“I will follow the master!”
All the guild members present slammed one knee into the floor and shouted.
Now… Shadow Fang would change.
At this moment when their history changed, Rishiven recalled once more the face of the boy who had come to find her.
“I never imagined… something like that was even possible.”
Her tone had changed.
She still seemed wary, but her demeanor was noticeably more polite.
Arteon looked at Rishiven standing before him.
Rishiven, who had come to the site after the battle, couldn’t hide her shock as she looked over the scene littered with corpses.
She had never even imagined that a single person could annihilate more than fifty guild members.
And that also meant this man alone could wipe them all out if he wished.
“What… do you want from me?”
She tried to speak as calmly as possible, but her voice trembled slightly despite herself.
Why would someone with such overwhelming power come to a back alley like this?
But then—
Clink.
Arteon placed the pouch he was carrying onto the table.
“One hundred gold.”
“…?”
“And with this money, buy as many spears and shields as you can in the cities of the central region. It’s fine to trade with merchant caravans entering Almers.”
Arteon remembered.
The worn-out weapons gathering dust in the military armory.
And the fact that, before long, tensions with the north would intensify further, requiring a large number of weapons.
‘Back then… I didn’t know anything.’
Now, many things looked different.
And he realized that such circumstances could mean a great deal of money to someone.
“You’ll need a lot of funds going forward. This will help resolve your and your organization’s problems.”
The hundred gold Arteon handed over might not be a huge sum right now, but if this turned into one or two more transactions, it would grow to at least ten times— no, far more.
‘Normally… this would be money to invest in Rishiven as a merchant leader, but…’
Guiding her toward the merchant side wasn’t a bad approach either. She had outstanding talent in that area anyway.
Above all, Rishiven was someone who valued trust.
She would never forget the favor she received from Arteon this time.
Scrape.
Arteon stood up immediately.
“I’m Arteon of the 1st Division. When things stabilize, send someone there. Then you’ll be able to meet me again.”
“…Why are you helping me this much?”
“It’s an investment. There may come a time when I need you too.”
It was still an answer she couldn’t fully understand, but Rishiven decided not to ask further.
She simply—
“I will never forget this help, Arteon-nim. Before long… I will come to see you again.”
Rishiven’s attitude toward Arteon had completely changed.
Now there was no trace of wariness.
She regarded him simply as a benefactor who had saved her.
Whether he had approached her with some ulterior motive, and whether it was good or bad, was something to think about later.
“Thank you for sparing me and my people.”
“See you again.”
As Rishiven bowed deeply, Arteon turned away.
He had wondered if thirty days of leave might be insufficient, but—
‘It ended… faster than I expected?’
And now, he wasn’t completely penniless anymore.
Staying in a place like this with no money at all would have been pointless.
Still—
Clink.
Arteon took a few silver coins from his pouch into his hand.
“I can at least buy a few snacks for the kids to chew on.”
Though he felt a slight lingering regret after such a long-awaited outing, Arteon resolutely headed back toward his unit.
There was simply too much that needed to be done now.
“The enemies that had been positioned on the plains in front of the First Defense Line have retreated to the rear canyon. If we can secure this canyon, it will become a natural fortress for us.”
The officers’ meeting of the 1st Division.
Battalion commanders from all regions, including Belkein, had gathered.
Standing before them, the 1st Division’s strategist, Erban, pointed at the map as he spoke.
“Hm…”
Belkein let out a small breath.
Indeed, as Erban said, if they could take control of the canyon, the First Defense Line would no longer be the dangerous contested zone it was now.
Instead of fighting along crude, hastily built walls, they would have a proper fortress.
Moreover, unlike the Kar tribe, they were far superior when it came to defensive strategies from a fortress.
“The problem, however… is how we take that canyon.”
“That’s right. If it can become a fortress advantageous to us, that also means it’s currently a fortress highly advantageous to them.”
No matter how poor the Kar tribe was at utilizing fortresses, the difference between having one and not having one was obvious.
“In fact, attacking first would pose a major risk to us.”
“How about drawing them toward us and fighting on our side instead?”
Others began offering their opinions one by one.
But Erban shook his head.
“According to scout reports, there are roughly a thousand Kar tribe warriors stationed in that fortress. Most likely… given enough time, they’ll reinforce their numbers and advance again.”
If that happened, the same hellish war of daily attrition in the same place would continue once more.
Belkein’s expression hardened.
Right now, they were stuck— unable to advance or retreat.
But then—
“If we can find a way… by deploying a small unit of elite soldiers to infiltrate the inner part of the canyon and open up the access route, we’ll have a chance.”
Erban said this while pointing with a stick at the area around the canyon on the wall-mounted map.
However—
“Even elite soldiers would face too much risk if they don’t fully understand the canyon’s terrain. Is it possible to scout the terrain?”
“The outer area might be possible… but determining the inner layout seems impossible.”
“In that case… the risk seems too great.”
One of the battalion commanders objected.
If they formed a small elite unit and lost them, it would severely damage their overall strength.
Still, everyone agreed that Erban’s strategy itself wasn’t bad.
If a small elite force infiltrated the canyon and opened the access route, the battles afterward would be far easier.
Belkein lightly tapped the table with his index finger.
Tap… tap… tap….
He looked deeply troubled.
This was a moment that required more careful judgment than ever before.
The First Defense Line— the fiercest battlefield in the north.
An opportunity had come that could completely change its balance.
Belkein let out a small breath.
“Hoo… then let’s do this.”
Belkein looked at the battalion commanders and said,
“Send out an official notice to all units. First, find out if anyone knows the terrain of the Helikel Canyon beyond the First Defense Line.”
“…That won’t be easy. Helikel Canyon isn’t originally our territory… and there are very few cases where we could even go there.”
Still, they had to look, even if it meant grasping at a single straw.
If there was no one, they could look for another method afterward.
Belkein himself didn’t have high expectations.
As Erban said, Helikel Canyon wasn’t a place imperial soldiers could easily access.
But—
An unexpected answer came from an unexpected place.
“I know it. The terrain of Helikel Canyon.”
Steady eyes.
A look full of certainty.
At the words of a single soldier, the entire division was thrown into an uproar.
