Chapter 16
Red dots began appearing at the edge of the minimap.
"Three at eleven o'clock... Lieutenant. They seem to be an orc patrol."
At the same time, Hanna spoke up. Hearing her, the platoon members immediately lowered their stances and hid behind bushes and trees.
The three red dots displayed on the minimap were slowly approaching us. I accurately read their path and found the optimal ambush point.
The orcs emerged, breathing heavily. Completely unaware of us, they passed within just a few meters. Only after their red dots had completely disappeared from the minimap did I signal everyone to advance again.
We continued forward for about an hour. The sun had not yet risen, but the fog was beginning to lift. Suddenly, Hanna stopped dead and grabbed my arm.
"Lieutenant... It's up ahead. The presence feels strange. It doesn't seem alive...."
There was nothing on the minimap in the direction she pointed. It was a clear area without a single soldier. But Hanna's expression was serious. Trusting her, I stopped the platoon with a hand signal.
"What does it feel like?"
"It's as if... rotten, pus-like mana is crouching beneath the ground. It isn't moving, but it feels like it will burst the moment we step on it."
I immediately activated a skill and thoroughly scanned the ground she had pointed to.
'Status Analysis.'
[Target: Remnant of Orc Shamanic Magic 'Swamp of Decay']
[Status: Inactive / Camouflaged. If pressure of 50 kg or more is applied, it will immediately activate and turn into an acidic swamp that melts the flesh of every living creature within a 10-meter radius.]
The moment I confirmed it, cold sweat ran down my spine. This was... essentially a land mine.
"That was close...."
I lightly patted Hanna on the head.
"Good work, Hanna."
"...Yes."
A faint blush appeared on Hanna's face at my touch.
'This combination isn't bad....'
As I thought that, I marveled inwardly. We were creating a kind of synergy.
My [Minimap] was superb at detecting living enemies—in other words, physical threats. It was nearly perfect for tracking patrol routes and detecting enemy ambushes.
But it was useless against threats that were not alive. Traps that operated according to magical principles, like the 'Swamp of Decay' just now, or simple mechanical booby traps did not appear as red dots on my minimap. Nor could I spam [Status Analysis] at every suspicious spot one by one.
Hanna was perfectly filling that blind spot.
I signaled the platoon members to detour. Their faces pale, the soldiers went around the trap they had nearly stepped on. Cold sweat ran down their backs.
"W-what was that just now...? If we'd taken one more step..."
Private Hans, walking at the rear, whispered to the soldier beside him, his face deathly pale. His legs were still trembling.
"I don't know, fuck... I don't even want to imagine what would've happened if we'd stepped on it."
The veteran soldier beside him swallowed hard and muttered. He checked beneath his feet again and again, moving as cautiously as though he were walking across thin ice. Before long, whispers spread among the platoon members.
"How does the lieutenant see things like that with the naked eye? No matter how hard I look, it just seems like bare dirt to me."
"His eye for detail is freakishly good. Come to think of it, during the last Ashen Forest reconnaissance mission, didn't he immediately call it a spatial trap just from seeing the abruptly cut-off footprints?"
"He really is different. Hey, did you hear that rumor? That the lieutenant can read people's minds."
"Come on, that has to be just a rumor. But now that I think about it... maybe it isn't completely baseless."
The platoon members' conversation continued, one whisper leading to another. Sergeant Gunter, walking at the front, tightened the formation with a grim face and growled.
"Cut the useless chatter and keep your heads in the game, you idiots! Without the lieutenant's orders, every one of you would have become orc fertilizer!"
Only then did the platoon members fall silent.
We encountered the orcs' defensive network several more times after that, but 3rd Platoon avoided it all as if it were nothing. With Hanna's [Mana Detection] combined with my [Minimap], getting past defenses of that level was a piece of cake.
"...Lieutenant, mana is flowing above the trees at two o'clock. It resembles the surveillance spell we saw last time."
"Understood. Everyone, detour seventy meters from here and circle around from behind."
"...The path on the right. I sense a trap on the left that will collapse if stepped on."
"Everyone, keep to the right. Silence your footsteps."
Hanna and I were perfectly in sync, without a single error. The platoon members who had initially been skeptical were now too busy being astonished.
"Damn... there was one there too?"
"No way. How the hell did you know about that?"
"Corporal Meyer whispered something, and the lieutenant immediately knew where it was...."
"...What were they even talking about...?"
"It just seems supernatural. How do you know everything hidden beneath the ground or concealed in the trees?"
As they repeatedly slipped through the defensive network, the platoon members' conversations naturally converged on a single question.
"The key has to be Corporal Meyer, don't you think?"
One soldier, catching his breath, spoke up cautiously. The others nodded as though they had been waiting for someone to say it.
"I think so too. As incredible as the lieutenant is, he can't see underground traps or magic with the naked eye. Whenever he whispers something with Corporal Meyer, the path opens up."
"Then does the corporal have some kind of special ability? Maybe the corporal has eyesight as sharp as an eagle's or can smell as well as a beast...."
Another soldier shook his head at Hans's guess.
"It's beyond that level. This time, she found an actual magical alarm device. That's... a completely different realm, isn't it?"
"Magic...?"
At that word, everyone fell silent. In the Empire, magic was the exclusive domain of professions such as priests and mages. It was difficult to imagine an ordinary infantryman—much less a corporal—possessing an ability related to magic.
"Could it be... something that detects mana? I read about it in the field manual. It's a talent that appears in maybe one person out of a million...."
Someone spoke words that came frighteningly close to the truth. At that moment, Corporal Kurt, who had been silently listening without joining the conversation, stepped forward.
"That's enough."
Everyone flinched at his low, cold voice.
"Have you forgotten how severe the punishment for leaking military secrets is? If Corporal Meyer possesses such a rare ability, then it's a top-secret matter to be managed directly under the regimental commander. It's not something grunts like us should casually discuss."
Kurt's eyes flashed like a snake's.
"There's only one thing we need to know. Our lieutenant is using that incredible ability at 120% to keep every one of us alive. We just need to shut up and follow his orders. Don't fill your heads with useless thoughts. Otherwise, you may really end up with your heads blown off."
What he said was true. The platoon members exchanged wary glances and firmly closed their mouths. They instinctively realized that any further speculation would be dangerous.
The conversation ended there, but the platoon members' thoughts converged on one point. No matter how incredible Corporal Hanna Meyer's ability was, what mattered was Max Jager—the man who had seen through that ability, wielded it perfectly, and led them to victory.
Their eyes had changed. It was a trust that went beyond simple fear or obedience toward me. They believed that as long as they followed me, they would not at least die like dogs on this battlefield.
"Lieutenant, it's beyond that ridge!"
Just then, Hanna shouted. I nodded. I had already confirmed it on the minimap.
We carefully climbed the ridge Hanna had indicated and looked down. Everyone held their breath. An astonishing sight unfolded before us.
It was a vast basin, so wide open that it was hard to believe it lay within a forest. At its center sprawled a huge encampment, with dozens of tents and weapon racks scattered throughout it.
"Good heavens...."
"Is all of that... orcs? They're swarming down there...."
"...Is this real? I've never seen this many orcs in my life."
"...Hans, that's because you're a private."
Faced with the sight before them, the platoon members muttered with expressions of disbelief.
Soon, Hanna spoke to me.
"...Lieutenant. The largest tent. That's where I'm sensing the strongest presence."
She was pointing to a tent in the innermost part of the encampment. It was twice the size of the others and bristled with crude flags. That had to be the enemy command center.
The original plan was to raid that place and fire a signal flare. But I had no choice but to reconsider the operation.
'Damn, there are far more of them than estimated.'
I took out my binoculars and began carefully scanning the encampment below. The platoon members had been right. Orcs swarmed throughout the basin, and there appeared to be well over a hundred red dots on the minimap. Even if the entire company attacked head-on, victory was far from certain.
Continuing the operation in this state would be suicide. Even if we somehow stealthily subdued the command center, the moment we fired the signal flare, we would be finished. There was no way to hold back hundreds of orcs converging from all directions.
'Should we retreat?'
While I was deliberating, Hanna spoke to me once more.
"Lieutenant, I'm sensing an unusual presence over there. It's like... a dead space."
'……A dead space?'
I immediately turned the binoculars toward the place she indicated. It was an area on one side of the encampment where wooden crates had been piled up like a mountain. The orc soldiers seemed to be deliberately avoiding it.
'What on earth is that... Status Analysis.'
I focused the skill on the pile of crates.
[Target: Gunpowder Crates Captured from the Imperial Army]
[Grade: Consumable]
[Status: Unstable. Due to a minor mana disturbance, the internal structure has been altered. There is a high likelihood of a chain explosion from even the slightest impact.]
[Special Information: This gunpowder was used by the Imperial Army's magical engineering corps and contains unstable substances that react with mana to increase its explosive power.]