The Owen Marquisate was nearly twice the size of the Earl’s Territory.
‘There’s no real substance to it, though.’
The problem was that the land was covered in mountain ranges. The only area that could be called flat was the northern part facing us. From the perspective of our territory, it was the south.
Aside from that, mountains were everywhere. Naturally, monsters were crawling all over the place. Instead, minerals were abundant—iron, copper, and even gems used for magic tools. They had accumulated wealth by mining all sorts of minerals. The issue was that their food self-sufficiency was low.
‘That might be why they’re eyeing our plains.’
A plain smaller than our territory could hardly support the food requirements of the entire Marquisate. If there was even a single bad harvest, a significant number of people would starve to death. Furthermore, the influence of local powers in each castle was strong.
In the early days of House Owen, many sacrifices were made during the process of developing the mines. In exchange for those sacrifices, the Marquis of Owen had sold the mines to his vassals. Although they were only allowed a certain percentage, they were still mines. Based on those mines, the Marquis’s vassals had achieved quite a bit of power.
The Marquis alone was powerful, but if a few Viscounts joined forces, they could rival the Marquis’s military strength. The interesting thing was that the Marquisate played tricks to manage this.
‘They used marriage ties, personal connections, and every other trick in the book.’
They had strengthened marriage ties for generations with the families of powerful vassals. They even used concubines and secondary wives to bind them through blood. Additionally, they made sure the heirs moved together from a young age to build personal networks for managing the vassals. Ten Barons and eight Viscounts were managed in that way.
When management still failed despite those efforts, the “Foxes” of the Marquis’s House stepped in.
‘Assassination.’
They moved to stab their allies in the back, not their enemies. Even if they were vassals, the Marquis obtained loyalty by killing them if necessary. Because of this situation, the Marquisate was entangled in all directions. The relationships of gratitude and grudges were so complex that people within the same Marquisate repeatedly gathered and dispersed.
This was especially true now, as there were many heirs. Every single one of those heirs was greedy for the title of Marquis.
‘If that fox dies, the territory might split apart and be torn to pieces. And I’m here to take advantage of that situation.’
Gauging the plan, I crossed the gate and continued running toward the outercity of the Marquisate.
Ident was quite amazed during the journey. In various parts of the Marquisate, the “Foxes” commanded by the Marquis and the private armies of the vassals were constantly patrolling. They guarded the mountain ranges to prevent intruders from entering.
‘Mutual surveillance is another reason.’
They moved in such a dense pattern that it was said to be nearly impossible to slip through. However, I had a way.
‘I can just use a Tracking Technique.’
I used a mix of Stealth Techniques and Tracking Techniques as needed. Especially in Ident’s case…
“Try moving your Soulforce like this.”
“Oh… How is this possible?”
He quickly mastered the basics of the Stealth Technique I taught him.
‘He’s a natural. There really are many talented people in this world.’
I taught him only the method of moving his energy, without giving him the secrets or the Gyugyeol. Yet, he succeeded in hiding himself. Although he wasn’t at Sian’s level, he quickly caught up to the level of the average Iron Fist member.
“At this rate, I’ll catch up to Sian’s skills in no time.”
“…That won’t happen.”
“Oh my. When did you…”
Though it was only for a moment, the quiet Sian revealed herself just enough to check him. The other Crows learned well, too. Ten of the Crows succeeded.
“Those who failed, head back.”
“…Damn it. Is there no other way?”
“Go practice and come back. Oh, and make sure to teach the others.”
“Understood. We’re going, we’re going.”
Unfortunately, the remaining Crows had no choice but to return. They headed toward the secret hideout established within the Marquisate, not back to the Earl’s Territory.
‘A Stealth Technique boom is about to happen.’
Everyone was excited as they learned the Stealth Technique. The one I taught was superior to the clumsy ones they had been using. It was only natural for them to find it fascinating.
“Consider the debt paid with this. You understand?”
“…I can’t beat you. Understood.”
By teaching them the basics of the Stealth Technique, I considered the debt between the Crows and me settled. This included everything from learning their behavioral patterns to all the help I received getting here.
In that way, all forty people moved constantly. Time was only spent when learning the Stealth Technique; once they became familiar with it, their speed increased significantly. We avoided the guards patrolling the mountains using stealth.
“Stop. Hide yourselves now.”
“Just how do you read them…?”
“Hurry!”
The enemy’s senses couldn’t possibly be wider than mine. There wasn’t a single failure. Every time it happened, Ident would ask, “How did you do that?”
“It’s an instinct. Just an instinct.”
“Seriously… what kind of monster was born into the Count’s House?”
“Quiet. Let’s move. Find the direction.”
Ident, the leader of the Crows, was quite astonished. He was someone who had always suffered many losses while operating in the Marquisate. To him, my senses were nothing short of a cheat.
“…If only I had known this, I could have prevented so many sacrifices. Damn it.”
“Keep practicing the Stealth Technique. You might realize something eventually.”
“I still don’t understand how to move my Soulforce like this, but… I understand for now. I will keep those words in mind.”
He brightened at the suggestion that he could learn sensing by practicing stealth. It wasn’t out of greed, but likely out of regret. The Crows who died during intelligence activities must have been precious people to him.
‘Later, I should teach Mugong to the Crows first, not just the Knights.’
Aside from being sly, Ident was a pretty decent person. I felt like I could teach him as many times as necessary if the opportunity arose. We avoided the guards, but we didn’t avoid the monsters.
“Orcs. Get ready.”
As soon as I spotted monsters with my senses…
Chwiiiik!
The cry of a monster rang out as if it had been waiting.
“What…? You find them faster than the monsters find us.”
“That’s the skill. Let’s go.”
As soon as I confirmed there were no guards nearby, I lunged forward. I was always the one in the lead.
Chwik!
Exhaling rough breaths, the Orcs began to charge. Monsters never ran away when they encountered humans.
‘Since there’s nothing to hide…’
Shring—
After the Iron Fist, the Crows knew the most about my strength. That was why I pulled out my familiar sword. With a single swing…
Kieeeek! Crack—
I tore through the Orc’s tough muscles and cut its neck clean off. A single strike was enough. Before the head of the Orc, which belonged to a hunting party, could even hit the ground…
Flash!
I surged my Aura to extend the reach of my blade. The elongated sword passed through the glaive of the Orc charging from behind. What remained behind the glaive was…
Kweeeek!
The Orc’s throat. I slit its throat without hesitation. I swung my sword again at the Orc next to it.
Kieeeek!
I gifted it a long sword wound stretching from its shoulder to its ribs.
Pow!
The moment I stepped back to avoid the splashing blood, the others arrived.
“Heh. Are you trying to take them all for yourself?”
“I’ll take as many as I can.”
“…Whew.”
Three Orcs were already down before the Crows and Iron Fist could arrive.
“I’ll take the rest.”
Thump!
Only two remained. It didn’t take long to bring them down. Ident, who had lunged forward, threw daggers faster than his own body could move.
Swaaaa—
A single thrown dagger split into ten. The daggers, infused with Ident’s Soulforce, branched out and rained down in all directions. It seemed he was controlling them simultaneously.
Thud, thud, thud.
Kieek!
Without a single miss, they pierced the Orcs’ bodies.
Stab. Stab.
Neck, chest, stomach. Because they were struck in vital spots, the Orcs couldn’t draw another breath and collapsed.
Thump.
By the time the rest of the Crows and Iron Fist arrived, nothing was left but corpses.
“You’re quite something, Young Master.”
“Isn’t that obvious? You need to be at this level to carry the Ofern name.”
“……You really never let anyone get the last word. Anyway… what are you all doing? Hurry up and clean this up!”
“Ye-Yes, sir!”
The cleanup was done quickly. The Orcs were skinned, and I used my mana to burn the flesh. The traces of battle were erased in an instant.
“Do it like this. Otherwise, more traces will be left.”
“I get it.”
During this time, the Crows taught their methods to the Iron Fist. Butchering monsters and cleaning up—these were skills difficult to learn without professional training. It was a valuable lesson. Sian was the most proactive in learning the process.
“……I’ve memorized it well.”
It was a time for mutual help and learning. We continued our advance.
“Did you take everything?”
“Of course. I’m better at this kind of thing than you are, Young Master.”
“You’re a Crow, so shouldn’t that be expected?”
“……Damn it. You’re right.”
We avoided the guards and collected the monster remains. To enter the outercity of the Marquisate, we had forged identification documents in advance. We were all supposed to belong to a single merchant group.
The name of the group was the Pepper Merchant Group. The items we dealt in were monster carcasses. It was a merchant group that frequently passed through the Marquisate under the pretext of selling them to a Magic Tower. Of course, it was just a cover.
“Usually, it takes time to prepare all this… but this time, it’s almost cheating.”
“It’s all about capability.”
“……That’s true. Yes, yes.”
Our advance was fast enough that we could move with leisure. In just ten days, despite traveling through the mountains, we reached the outercity of the Marquisate.
“It’s over there.”
“It’s big. Quite big.”
“Aren’t they a family obsessed with self-defense? They have many burrows. That’s why they’re foxes.”
The size of the outercity was even larger than House Ofern’s. Beyond the wall that stretched long to encircle the entire outercity, a place that appeared to be the inner city sat heavily. Outside the castle…
“If they leave the residential area out like that, the damage to the residents will be significant.”
“……Don’t they just care about their own survival? They’ve always been that way.”
The residential area where the people lived was spread out widely.
‘They’re truly selfish.’
Lords in this world usually tried to keep residential areas inside the castle to defend against monster invasions. However, the Marquis had placed a large number of the residents’ dwellings on the outside. Even from a distance, they looked like buildings where the poor lower class lived. There seemed to be a significant number of people living there. If a monster invaded, there were too many people to take refuge inside.
‘Are they using them as meat shields?’
In the event of a monster invasion, the people living here would die before the monsters reached the outercity. Instead, the defenses of the outercity would be strengthened.
“Even without the family grudge, he’s a guy worth killing.”
“The Marquisate has been like that for generations. In their own words, they call it ‘practical.'”
Calling it practical to use people as meat shields—they were truly filthy from birth.
‘I won’t feel any guilt killing them.’
My expression hardened as I performed a final check on our attire. When the brief inspection was over, every member had transformed into people of a merchant group. A leader, guards, and porters. They looked convincing to anyone.
“Let’s go. Time to slit some animals’ throats.”
“Heh. I’m ready whenever you are.”
With that, we entered the Marquisate.
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