Chapter 64

“I know you just got here, but I have some news for you.”

“You don’t waste any time, Christan.”

His face was really close.

I was about to take a step back, but then realized it would be bad if someone overheard us, and so I stopped.

“It’s better to let you know quickly. Three days ago, I received the message that the Makoku magicians had crossed the border.”

“Where did that information come from?”

“From the Royal Capital. So quite some time would have passed already. There was still a small chance that you students could have been attacked while out on the field. So I’m quite relieved to see you are all safe.”

“There was no ambush. And I didn’t sense anything suspicious.”

Though, we did meet some Moon Beasts.

“It was due to a suggestion from Her Majesty, that they chose a different location this time. An open area that offered a clear view of your surroundings. On the other hand, it apparently meant being closer to the Shadow Moon Road.”

Now that I think about it, I had heard that they camped in an area with more trees last year.. So, we were closer to the Shadow Moon Road. It was no wonder we encountered them twice.

“So, is there more information about these magicians?”

“There have been no witnesses since they entered Makoku. They must be traveling down the Shadow Moon Road. They’ve got guts, I’ll give them that.”

There were always Shadows lurking by border towns.

And they were good at catching any unusual activity.

But the Shadow Moon Road was perfect for traveling if you wanted to remain hidden.

One might wonder if it’s not better to just avoid towns while traveling, but you would stick out even more if you traveled while avoiding towns and roads.

That’s why information about people’s whereabouts tended to leak.

“If they can travel down the Shadow Moon Road, they must be confident in their ability to deal with Moon Beasts.”

“Exactly. Makoku has long put a lot of resources into perfecting their attack magic. And I hear that nearly ten of them have been sent here.”

Even though Makoku was the country of magic, they didn’t have that many magicians.

And so the magicians that were strong enough to beat Moon Beasts would be very valuable.

“It almost seems like overkill, since we’re just students.”

“Either it means they take the threat very seriously, or they’re expecting you all to be heavily protected. The worst-case scenario would be a one-sided battle where all of the First and Second-Years are killed. Losing two years’ worth of Dragon Masters would be a great loss.”

The queen was expecting war with Makoku.

And maybe the Great Shift wasn’t the only reason for it.

Regardless, these were magicians.

Once it was revealed that they had come here to kill us, it could very well lead to war.

Was Makoku ready for that?

If they were, then it was no wonder that they weren’t holding back in this attack.

“As for our schedule, we’ll be staying here for five days. And then we’ll return to the field for five days and then the exercise will be finished.”

“It seems that Her Majesty wants to lure the enemy here. If they are going to attack anyway, it would be much easier to defend ourselves in a place like this, won’t it?”

As this place had been used for lodging for a long time, there were a lot of supplies. On top of that, they had purposely increased the flow of goods and personnel recently, so as to attract the enemy’s attention.

“So, they might be very close already?”

“You’re sharp. A patrolling Dragon Master discovered someone camping near a rocky area that is dozens of kilometers away from here. Apparently, a part of their tent was visible.”

“Uh, that’s surprisingly stupid of them, isn’t it?”

“They wouldn’t be used to being spied on from above, so perhaps they found it difficult to disguise their camp completely.”

“I see. Maybe it was just a specific angle that betrayed them.”

“Something like that. Aside from their unfamiliarity with it, Dragon Masters patrol this area regularly as they search for Moon Beasts, so they managed to get the upper hand this time.”

“I see. It’s their experience, then.”

“But we haven’t sent any scouts. We don’t want them to notice us and move. Since we know where they are, we’re thinking about waiting for sundown and then launching an ambush.”

We were lucky to have found them first.

“I’m assuming it would be best if I went too.”

“Yeah. I want you to scout.”

“Got it. Could you tell me what the security situation is like here? Also information about the surrounding area. I don’t want to find out that there is a detached force or for there to be sudden changes in personnel.”

“As we wanted the enemy to know about this facility, we purposely hired a lot of people from a nearby town. There are also Right Hands working among them secretly. And we also have soldiers to help protect the civilians. The soldiers who live in this area are used to being cautious. They’re more reliable than most.”

“That sounds good. And how are the defenses of the facility?”

“I can’t really say. It was built mostly with Moon Beasts in mind, and so it doesn’t offer the best view of the outside. I think it could be dangerous to wait for the enemy here. It would be easy to lose them once they got inside.”

“Yes, from what little I’ve seen it does look like there are a lot of places you can hide.”

No matter where you looked, there was a wall or building blocking your view.

Important facilities were usually built more carefully so that there weren’t so many blind spots. But I guess this place was different.

“Dragons are sensitive to outsiders, but don’t rely too heavily on them.”

“If these soldiers are so trustworthy, maybe you should put more of them on patrol duty.”

“I told them to secure the area as if they were training to protect an important person.”

“That’s good. How many Shadows are here?”

“There are 12 who can fight. However, there is only aside from you who has an alias.”

“Do we know the number of our enemy?”

“We doubt there are many. Our estimate would be between 7 and 15.”

And we had 12. It would be a good fight.

The side who was able to take the other by surprise would have a great advantage.

“Right Hands in the Royal Capital tend to be..rather peculiar. They lack subtlety in my opinion. And so I’ll probably have to rely on you a lot.”

Apparently, there weren’t many Right Hands who could find those who hid in shadows.

“I don’t mind, but how strong are they?”

“It depends, but don’t expect it to be easy. I think it will be tough fighting a magician, even if it’s one on one.”

Most assassination targets for Shadows were amateurs who had no combat training.

Right Hands prioritized the ability to infiltrate places.

Of course, it could mean big trouble if they suddenly did have to fight, and so Right Hands were trained to fight every day as well.

However, they rarely fought each other while on a mission.

“That’s about all I am able to tell you.”

“Fine. Thanks, Christan. I guess I should go out and scout the area now?”

He had said that the Right Hands that were here had already finished patrolling the area.

Currently, we could leave the premises to them, while I would look for and observe the enemy.

I was introduced to the Right Hands who worked here as cooks and cleaners.

They were from the nearby town.

They would work here until the exercise was over.

“Also, aside from them, we hired 4 Right Feet. They won’t be able to do much in terms of combat, but they should be able to help as scouts.”

“That’s good. So that’s 5, including you. Though, while they can take care of monitoring and communications, I’m not sure they can cover the entire facility. But I suppose it’s better than relying entirely on detection magic.”

“There’s too much to worry about if we lie in wait here. It would be best if we can be the ones to ambush them.”

“Understood. Alright, I’ll go and see what they are doing.”

And with that, I melted into the shadows.