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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
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Chapter 96
Elbert Tyran's command was systematic.
In preparation for any unforeseen circumstances, only a minimal number of personnel remained in front of the rift, while the rest retreated.
Those who were relatively unharmed began to return to the temporary base, carrying the wounded and the bodies of the dead.
We also quickly returned to the base accordingly.
'He's a capable commander.'
As you can tell even without experiencing it firsthand, commanding this many people is no easy task.
It requires many competencies, such as leadership, inclusiveness, smooth communication, and thorough battlefield knowledge, and one must also possess strong military power to match the control they wield.
Above all, what I consider most important is flexibility in command.
Elbert Tyran had that.
'If he were a rigid person, he would have rejected all of it, whether it was rescuing the residents of Sector 7 or us going to the front lines.'
Appropriate judgment in appropriate situations.
His experience earlier had already proven that he was a flexible person.
As long as he continues to command here, there won't be much for me to get involved in.
Returning to the temporary base, I put aside my worries about that and fell into other thoughts.
'...Now I have to solve that problem.'
There was still one thing left to resolve.
That was the treatment of the Sector 7 residents who had been successfully rescued.
In fact, this is the biggest problem.
"Absolutely no biological experiments."
For now, I persuaded Elbert with the words that it might be possible to resolve Asmodeus's ability.
It was unavoidable because I had to give a plausible reason.
However, if that really was the goal... they could conduct biological experiments on the residents to resolve Asmodeus's ability.
For Kayla's sake, no, at least to preserve the minimum dignity of human beings, I had to prevent that.
But how?
While I was contemplating this...
"Hmm? What biological experiment are you talking about?"
Barundel, who was inspecting equipment next to me, asked.
It seems I unknowingly spoke my thoughts out loud.
'I can trust Barundel.'
Thinking that maybe he could help, I conveyed my concerns.
Despite his appearance, Barundel is a very deep dwarf.
After listening for a while, Barundel nodded with a serious face.
"Hmm, so that's what happened. They were the residents of Sector 7 who disappeared... I'm a bit shocked. I understand what you're worried about."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"Hmm."
Barundel rubbed his temples with his short fingers.
Of course, I didn't have high expectations.
I just threw it out there, thinking it wouldn't hurt to try.
But then...
"How about this?"
Unexpectedly, Barundel offered a solution.
"We directly try to undo the brainwashing. Then there would be no need for them to study the residents, right? Preparing for the Legion Commander's ability is a bonus."
"...Excuse me?"
This was an answer I hadn't thought of at all.
But for some reason...
That those words felt like a ray of hope.
"...Uh, that makes sense?"
At first, it seemed absurd, but the more I thought about it, the more plausible it sounded.
If we could undo the brainwashing, there would be no more problems.
Moreover, resolving such a critical issue would earn us considerable merit points.
Simply put, it's a 4-star merit awarded for actions that turn the tide of battle.
This meant we could aim for that.
Of course, it was still just a hopeful prospect.
But even so...
"Shall we try it?"
It was worth a shot.
***
Late at night, when everyone except the rift guards was asleep.
Due to the ongoing war, there was no gentle moonlight, only the blood moon hanging alone in the sky.
Dadadadat.
Barundel and I woke up silently and slipped out of the building, holding our breaths.
What we were about to do was a clear violation of military law, so we had to avoid getting caught at all costs.
And so, the first place we spoke was in front of the makeshift prison.
"Is this the place?"
"Yes, I was told they were definitely locked up here."
This makeshift prison was originally intended to confine rebels who disobeyed orders or unidentified detainees, but it was currently being used to hold the residents of Sector 7.
And the reason we came here was...
'I just need to get one person out.'
To smuggle out one of the residents brainwashed by Asmodeus.
Because we needed a subject to try and undo the brainwashing.
In a way, it was like we were conducting the biological experiment that Elbert was planning...
'But I'll only try safe methods.'
It would be better than Elbert, who didn't even treat the residents of Sector 7 like human beings.
Anyway, we infiltrated the makeshift prison.
The entire interior of the two-story prison was completely surrounded by iron bars.
Inside, the residents of Sector 7 were fast asleep, just like the soldiers.
Even though they were brainwashed, they couldn't avoid the human instinct of sleep.
"Here, let's go with this person."
After looking around, I was the first to point out a man.
Barundel also checked him and nodded.
"Young and sturdy, he seems perfect."
"Right?"
I deliberately chose a robust person.
Since he was brainwashed by the Legion Commander's ability, it would likely be a tough process.
The subject's physical strength needed to endure.
Anyway, once we decided on the person, things moved quickly.
"I'll open the prison door."
"Can you do it?"
"This is a piece of cake for a dwarf with the blood of a blacksmith."
I wasn't sure what the connection was between blacksmith blood and picking locks, but he looked very confident.
I didn't question further and agreed.
"Then I'll move the person. Please."
"Alright."
Barundel moved to the prison door, and I silently stood behind him, gathering my mana.
Hum.
A small light bloomed at my fingertips, illuminating the door.
Now, all I could do was pray that Barundel would successfully pick the lock.
I swallowed hard unconsciously.
'Please...'
Honestly, it wasn't easy.
Even if he could unlock it, he had to do it with minimal noise.
If we made a loud noise here...
Gulp.
All the residents here would wake up.
It wouldn't be pretty after that.
'...Then it's all over.'
Numerous residents would cause a commotion, and we would inevitably be summoned before Elbert.
Then, far from undoing the brainwashing, we might even get caught and be excluded from the war.
Of course, with every bit of strength being precious, that wasn't very likely, but still.
That's how careful we had to be.
While I was thinking about that...
Click.
The sound of the lock opening reached my ears.
Barundel had successfully completed the operation.
It didn't even take long.
"Oh! How on earth...?"
"These kinds of devices have a simpler structure than you might think. If you know the structure, it's not that difficult to open."
"As expected, dwarves are amazing."
"Heh heh, it's not dwarves, it's me who's amazing."
Barundel's lips curled up, pleased with the compliment.
Leaving him behind, I entered the prison.
The man we had chosen as our test subject was sprawled out in the middle of the cell, fast asleep.
I moved stealthily.
Even though I had good intentions, moving like this felt like practicing assassination.
'Maybe I have some talent for this.'
Shaking off that thought, I carefully approached the man.
No matter how carefully I acted...
Flash!
Since I hadn't used any sleeping drugs, there was no way to prevent the man from waking up.
Of course, I was prepared for this.
I immediately gathered my mana.
Ching!
An opaque barrier enveloped the man's face.
[Silent Barrier].
The magic that Roan used when I first met him at the Central Library.
Having only seen it once, I couldn't use it on a wide area like Roan, but it was enough to cover the man's face.
"^$@*&!!"
The man shouted something, but thanks to [Silent Barrier], no sound could be heard.
Come to think of it, I could have used this when picking the lock.
'Hmm, I was worried for nothing. This magic is more useful than I thought?'
I decided to further develop this magic when I had more time, and continued walking.
Just when I thought everything was going smoothly...
"Uh oh...!"
Thud!
Barundel, who was following me, suddenly tripped and fell.
"B-Barundel!"
"Ah, I'm sorry. This guy suddenly shifted his position and tripped me..."
"No, you should have dodged that! Can't the person who's been training my body do that much?"
"...I'm sorry."
An apology was meaningless now.
I held my breath and quietly looked around.
There was a loud noise when he fell, but fortunately, no one seemed to have woken up...
"Uwaaaa!"
"Human! It's a human!"
Sigh, yeah. There's no way things would go that smoothly.
Starting with one person nearby, they woke up one by one.
Their eyesight had even been restored, so they could see us.
In this situation, there was only one option.
Run for our lives.
"Run!"
Dadadadat!
I was the first to cover myself in lightning and dash out of the prison at full speed.
Barundel also followed behind with incredible speed.
The noise we made woke up all the residents in the prison, but it didn't matter.
Right now, escaping was the top priority.
"Humaaaan!"
"Die! Die!"
We scrambled out of the prison.
However, it was just as noisy outside.
An alarm was blaring from the temporary base building, and soldiers were rushing out and running towards us.
Our eyes even met.
"In-intruders!"
"A-are they demons? No, humans?"
"Who are they?!"
Fortunately, neither I nor Barundel were recognized since we were wearing makeshift masks.
Relieved, we picked up the pace again.
I wanted to throw a miniature flashbang to obscure their vision, but... that would clearly reveal it was me.
We had no choice but to run.
"This way!"
Tadat! Tadadadat!
I couldn't use lightning transformation magic either.
All I could rely on now was the speed from my physical body.
Still, thanks to consistent training, it was enough to outrun ordinary soldiers.
"Huff... Huff...!"
"They seem to be gone."
"Phew..."
In the end, we successfully evaded the soldiers.
We hid in the second building of the temporary base.
It was where reinforcements stayed during subsequent waves, and it was currently unoccupied.
"Let's lock him up here for now."
"Here? Won't we get caught? They'll surely search every nook and cranny to find us."
"Don't worry about that."
I tied up the man we had brought and locked the door tightly.
Then, I gathered my mana.
Woooong!
And then...
"W-what?"
The door to the room where we had confined the man completely vanished.
It was an application of light magic that I learned from Persson.
An illusionary effect using the refraction of light.
And once again, [Silent Barrier].
I spread it widely where the door used to be, blocking any noise.
With this, the task was complete.
Unless I released the mana, no one would be able to find this space.
"You can do this kind of thing now?"
"It's a piece of cake for me, with the blood of a mage flowing through my veins."
"Hahaha..."
Barundel laughed in admiration, and I urged him to move on to the next step.
"Let's go back for now. If we're away for too long, we'll be suspected."
"Alright."
We headed back to our assigned places.
Perhaps because we had successfully completed a difficult operation, our steps were light.
Yes, they were definitely light...
But why?
"Where were you?"
Back at our spot, the commander of this place, Elbert Tyran, was waiting for us, leaning back.
As if he had been waiting for us.
I hurriedly made an excuse.
"J-just went to the bathroom..."
"Aha? I see."
Damn it. There's no way that would work.
As I felt before, Elbert Tyran was a very perceptive knight.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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