Chapter 416 - 287: A Night of Lurking Danger

"We’re here to relieve you, on Lord Fujero’s orders," Riclo said, neither servile nor overbearing. A faint, slightly stiff smile touched his face.

But in the pitch-black night, lit only by torches, no one would notice such a detail.

"Why haven’t I received any orders?" Belle remained cautious. Even though defending the wall was torturous, he wasn’t in a rush to hand over his post.

There was no issue with the man’s identity. Between his face and the distinctive features of a soldier from the Martel Family’s Thorn Corps, it was impossible to be mistaken unless he were blind.

It was just that his long years of military life had made him habitually adhere to regulations.

"Actually, this is the result of a decision just made by Lord Damon and Lord Fujero. We rushed over as soon as we heard the order. The messenger should be here shortly."

Riclo said with heartfelt sincerity, "This is all so you fellas can get a hot cup of tea and a warm meal as soon as possible."

Belle noticed the Knight’s Armor was covered in slash marks and bloodstains. Though it had congealed into dark red patterns, he could tell the Knight had just been through a difficult battle.

Although he was responsible for defending the walls, he knew that the main army inside the city had launched an attack on the Demons outside that morning, and the Thorn Corps had been part of it.

At the time, he had even discussed it with his subordinates, saying how fortunate they were not to have been chosen to leave the city. Whether they would have made it back alive was another matter entirely.

Everything seemed normal. He was waving his hand, about to have his Guards make way for the relief troops, but... ’Wait, wasn’t this officer assigned to stay behind and guard White Bone Fortress?’

Belle remembered, and a chill ran down his spine. He suddenly noticed that the faces of the Thorn Corps soldiers before him were all hidden in shadow, like bloodthirsty Undead lurking in the darkness.

He secretly made a hand signal, only to feel a sudden coldness in his abdomen, as if a block of ice had been dropped into his stomach. He looked down and saw a gleaming sword had run him through at some unknown moment.

"Sigh... You really didn’t have to die," Riclo’s voice became impossibly cold as he twisted the blade in his hand, churning the young officer’s internal organs.

GHH...

His outstretched hands gripped the sword tightly, wanting to use his last ounce of strength to shout a warning. But the world spun, and Belle saw another Thorn Corps soldier slowly withdrawing his sword, and a headless body.

"Pick up the pace! Stick to the plan! The Demons are already outside. Once we open the gate, the entire White Bone Fortress will be thrown into chaos." That Lord Riclo was issuing swift and simple commands.

Realizing a massive conspiracy was unfolding, Belle opened his mouth, but then his vision faded to black.

The soldiers, clad in standard-issue Thorn Corps gear, advanced toward the gate with an uncanny stealth. Despite their heavy Armor, they moved with the agility of thieves.

No one could have imagined that traitors would appear inside White Bone Fortress, which had stood impregnable for months. The gate Guards certainly never expected it.

Thus, they were reaped in the darkness by agile figures, one by one. By the time they reacted, half the gate had already fallen into the hands of this small squad that had appeared from nowhere.

The remaining Guards began sprinting toward the inner city, screaming in terror, "The Thorn Corps has betrayed humanity!" and "Those damned Northern People are in league with the Demons!"

...

In a spacious storehouse in White Bone Fortress, converted into a dining hall by High Cliff Castle, the leaders and officers of High Cliff Castle were feasting ravenously.

Having just been through a bitter fight, the Barbarians were starving. After all, their combat effectiveness depended on how full their bellies were.

As soon as they returned, the Lord ordered the High Cliff Castle cooks to prepare a sumptuous feast.

He had always believed that eating well was a vital part of maintaining combat strength. The harder the fight, the more lavish the meal afterward should be.

Under this philosophy, food was as important as Armor and weapons. This resulted in the meals at High Cliff Castle tasting far better than those of other armies that focused only on quantity.

And as a result, certain shameless individuals would always show up to freeload.

Fujero was one of them. Right now, he was happily eating, holding a flatbread in one hand and picking up slices of braised beef with the other.

For a commanding general, leading the charge to freeload in another’s camp... he truly had a style all his own.

"I’m telling you, Old Fu, you come here to my High Cliff Castle to freeload every day. Even if I’d discovered a gold mine, I couldn’t afford to feed you like this." The Lord was just about to pick up his chopsticks when a large piece of beef from in front of him was instantly snatched away. He rapped his knuckles on the table twice. "Even a landlord has no spare grain, you get it?"

Fujero, however, looked up at the Lord, fell silent for a moment, and then said pointedly, "Some time ago, my quartermaster kept writing in his reports that wine was frequently being stolen from the Thorn Corps’ supply line. He said it was taken by an incredibly skilled thief. At the time, I wondered what kind of thief could possibly get into the heavily guarded Thorn Corps encampment."

"And who specifically only stole the wine."

As soon as the words were out, a certain someone who often used his status to "inspect" other people’s supply lines felt his back break out in a cold sweat.

"Lord Levi, your knowledge is as vast as the sea. So I was hoping to ask, are there any strange thieves with that kind of skill in Debei?" Fujero asked, his words muffled as he took a large bite of his flatbread.

"No idea," Levi said, shaking his head frantically. He would deny this to his dying day. "Old Fu, we’re good buddies, and I get along well with Lorina, too. Eat all you want. It’s not like it costs that much anyway."