Chapter 101
The fighting on the night of the second day finally ended well past midnight, and Rodelight's army began to withdraw.
We somehow managed to withstand Rodelight's assault, but many of the soldiers collapsed where they stood. As expected, they were being worn down much faster than usual.
Even so, there would be more fighting tomorrow. Everyone left guards on watch and trudged back to their quarters, where they promptly fell into a deep, muddy sleep.
I was exhausted too. In terms of stamina, only Rufa seemed to have less than I did in the entire fortress. I might even have been less fit than Rufa.
I felt as if I might be lulled into a dream if I let my guard down, but Ryuzel, Frein, Rufa, and I were staring into the darkness from the edge of the wall near the eastern gate. Dick was below, preparing to open the eastern gate at any moment.
None of us said a word. We simply waited in silence for our companions to return.
How long had we been standing like that?
A figure came running toward us from outside the fortress.
There was no mistaking him from his build. It was Wickhart.
"Dick!" At my call, Dick opened the gate a crack, and the figure slipped inside.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I was worried I might have been followed, so I waited and watched."
Wickhart, illuminated by torchlight as he spoke, looked perfectly fine. Once I confirmed his expression, I finally relaxed—but not just my shoulders. The strength left my entire body, and I nearly collapsed.
"Whoa!" Dick caught me as I began to fall, while Rufa rushed past him and threw her arms around Wickhart.
"I knew you could do it, but how did it go?" Ryuzel asked. Wickhart nodded firmly.
"I promised I would open the fortress gate the day after tomorrow, and I told him about Rodelight as well."
When I sent Wickhart out, I had given him one piece of advice: "Don't mention Rodelight until the very last moment."
If he brought up Rodelight from the start, they would become suspicious. So I told him to keep Rodelight out of it and simply offer to establish a secret line of communication.
Once Zegabain trusted Wickhart even a little, Wickhart would mention it as an afterthought. What would Zegabain think? Ideally, he would believe that Wickhart, desperate to win his favor, had offered up this bit of information.
"As you advised, Roa-dono, if I recklessly pressed Rodelight for answers on the battlefield, he might have shot me in the back. I also told him that once we returned to Golbel, I would take the stand and testify, so until then, we should keep it secret."
"Perfect, Wickhart." I praised him from the bottom of my heart.
"Thank you," Wickhart replied with a bright smile.
As a warm atmosphere settled over us, another man slipped through the gate, joking, "Hey, what about me? No welcome for me?"
Though he was wearing a Golbel military uniform, there was no mistaking him either.
It was Sazaby's return—my other poisoned arrow.
"Sorry, sorry. Sazaby, good work. How did it go?"
At my words, Sazaby spread his arms wide with exaggerated flair and boasted, "It went perfectly. By tomorrow morning, all across Golbel will be talking about the rumors I've spread!"
"No, it'd be enough if word reached Rodelight..."
Sazaby's role had been to spread rumors throughout Rodelight's army. When I unveiled this plan in front of everyone, I had muttered, "If possible, I'd like to spread the rumor to Rodelight's side too..." and Sazaby had picked up on it.
"I can spread rumors, you know. I'm good at that sort of thing."
The self-proclaimed king's secretary had taken on the task as if it were nothing, changed into a Golbel uniform stripped from an enemy soldier's corpse, and left the fortress with Wickhart.
The two of them had done their jobs flawlessly. If this failed, then my thinking had been wrong. If anyone criticized me over this plan, I would take full responsibility.
All that remained was to see whether there would be any movement at dawn...
The sky would soon begin to pale. I stared at the stars as they faded into it.
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On the morning of the third day, Zegabain was jolted awake by a bellow from beyond the command tent. "Zegabain! I have something to discuss!" It was an extremely unpleasant way to wake up.
He could also hear one of his subordinates desperately trying to stop him. "Please stop! He's resting!"
"Shut up! You said the same thing last night! Keep getting in my way, and I'll cut you down!"
What an impetuous man. There had indeed been a commotion for a while yesterday, too. Was this man the cause? Zegabain wanted to ignore him, but he couldn't have him cutting down one of his subordinates.
"What is it at this hour?" When Zegabain called out, the troubled subordinate replied, "Rodelight-sama requests an audience, but..." He already knew that without being told.
"... Let him in, and bring some hot tea..."
"How thoughtful. I'm counting on you!" Rodelight barged in past the subordinate. Zegabain furrowed his brow and told the subordinate, "... Prepare two."
That traitor, acting so high and mighty.
The rumor Wickhart had told him the previous night was something Zegabain already had reason to suspect: "Rodelight is in league with Rudek. He's feeding Rudek information in exchange for personal military glory."
In fact, Wickhart had seen a soldier who appeared to be a Golbel messenger contact the Fourth Knight Order during the night. Rodelight was the one conducting the attacks at night, and he had started the night raids on his own. If so, there was a good chance the messenger had been one of Rodelight's men.
If Rodelight really was in league with Rudek, it would explain his inexplicably long list of military achievements. The suspicion only deepened when Zegabain considered that, despite the man's flashy exploits, Golbel had gained very little territory.
Whenever this man was on the battlefield and things went wrong, it was always other commanders and soldiers who ended up failing. If he was feeding information to the enemy, that made perfect sense as well.
The more Zegabain thought about it after Wickhart pointed it out, the more suspicious Rodelight seemed.
However, Rodelight barged into the command tent, plopped down in a chair, and said something astonishing.
"Zegabain! Surely you aren't secretly in league with the enemy, are you?!"
"What are you talking about? Depending on the circumstances, I won't spare even you, Rodelight."
"I've heard that enemy soldiers have been seen coming and going from your camp!"
Had word of last night's events leaked from somewhere? Zegabain clicked his tongue inwardly. But if Zegabain told Rodelight about it, Rodelight might pass the information on to Rudek. With an especially displeased expression, Zegabain retorted,
"I'll ask again. What exactly are you talking about? Who supposedly saw this, and when?"
"Guh... I don't know that yet."
Just as Zegabain had expected, Rodelight had come without doing any real checking...
"Don't let yourself be swayed by a silly rumor... Now, more importantly, I have a proposal regarding our strategy going forward..."
An ominous atmosphere began to settle over Golbel's camp.