Chapter 201 - Multilayered Mission

“This will be a multilayered mission,” the lieutenant said, looking at me. “While your squad heads outside late tomorrow night to pressure Frosthallow, Caeso, who has somehow gained more trust from the commoners than House Roscoe, will spend the whole day coordinating with the people inside the town. He will try to identify possible hiding places and suspicious people who are new to Velkar.

“Meanwhile, Lady Flavia and Scaevola will keep watch to determine whether the enemy is using some form of rune communication. Obtaining such accurate information about the top-performing sergeants would not be possible without some form of direct communication. Your attack should trigger some type of communication between the mercenaries in hiding and Frosthallow.”

Then the lieutenant unfurled a rough map of the western side of Velkar Town, showing Frosthallow’s camp in surprisingly clear detail. A red line had been drawn from the sewage outlet to a point almost two-thirds of the way into the enemy camp, ending at a tent-like shape.

“While I was not able to sense any devices inside the town, possibly because of their small size, I was able to sense a larger device in their camp. I believe it is the receiver or transmitter. This tent, marked in red, is its location, and your objective will be to destroy it.”

“You will use the same exit route you suggested, and when returning, you will have to make your way back near either the west gate or the sewage outlet. After that, I will take care of extracting your selected team.”

I looked at the map more closely, tracing the route from the sewage outlet to the enemy camp.

Staring at the line, I could not imagine how it would be possible to sneak into a camp filled with powerful enemies. Even someone like Peter or me, if placed on watch, could sense foreign mana entering our range.

The lieutenant saw me staring at the map and waited for me to ask my question.

“Lieutenant, is my squad the only one participating in this mission?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?” the lieutenant asked.

“Looking at the suggested route and knowing my squad members, I would estimate a ninety-five percent chance of failure. Moreover, we would likely be discovered within twenty minutes of entering the enemy camp, before even covering a quarter of the proposed route, even if I used my Silent Step rune.”

While the situation was dire, I was highly reluctant to take on a suicide mission.

Sure, my team was a death squad, but I thought I had done enough to avoid being sent to my death, especially when we would likely die shortly after entering the camp without making any significant contribution.

That was why I was completely honest with my assessment.

If the Captain insisted, I would still have to undertake the mission, but there was a high possibility that I would desert.

“Yes, your squad is the only one participating in this mission. Adding more people will only increase the chance of discovery.”

I started getting a bad feeling as the lieutenant spoke. I could also see my squad members’ expressions turning sour.

Even if I wanted to go ahead with this suicide mission, Varric and Barry would never willingly walk into something like this.

Thankfully, the lieutenant gave a small smile, suggesting that there was something else he had not mentioned yet.

The lieutenant gestured with his hand, calling in the soldier standing outside.

The soldier entered, dragging a trunk behind him. He left it in front of the lieutenant, then made his way out again.

“While there might not be any additional soldiers supporting your squad, you will have these.”

Saying that, the lieutenant took out a leather jacket and a pair of pants. Both had small metal plates attached to them, each engraved with runes. Then he took out a pair of boots as well.

He threw the jacket to me.

“Do the runes look familiar to you, Sergeant?” he asked.

I examined the three plates on the jacket. One was on the back, while the other two were attached to the inner lining near the pockets.

At first, I could not make out what the runes were, but upon closer inspection, they looked like a partial silent-step rune mixed with two other types of runes.

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“Looks like you figured it out,” the lieutenant said. “Your rune was unique and innovative. Not the sound-reducing part—for that, the army already had better runes. But the ability to link multiple runes while maintaining motion was something the army had not known it needed.

“Once your rune was introduced, the academies went crazy. What you see right now is the best version currently available. It removes the need for mana crystals, reduces sound by more than eighty percent, and hides your mana almost perfectly."

“Now, every elite battalion carries at least a dozen sets of rune equipment like this.”

I was shocked to hear how far my rune had come in just a year and a half.

But calling it my rune did not feel right.

From what I could see, only about ten percent of the symbols had been taken from my original work.

While I admired the rune work on the jacket, the lieutenant pulled out several small wooden blocks and placed them on the table.

“These are runes that will come in handy. Pass some mana into them and throw them at your target. They will create flame-based blasts. Each blast is powerful enough to injure most Tier-3s, so I suggest using them wisely.”

I looked at the wooden blocks and paused for a second.

“Umm... actually, I also have something I have been working on. While it is still not something that can be given to ordinary soldiers because of how unstable my current product is, it should be fine if used by a few selected individuals.”

Saying that, I pulled a cylinder about a foot long from my backpack. It was made of steel plates.

Then, looking at the lieutenant, I asked, “Is it possible to test my bomb and compare it with the rune bomb?”

“Sure. Throw it at the wall over there. Captain Petrae was the one who made everything we see here. I am sure he will not mind spending some mana to repair it again. But first, let me throw the rune bomb so that we have a baseline.”

Saying that, the lieutenant grabbed one of the wooden blocks and threw it toward the front of the room, where there was some empty space.

As soon as the block landed on the ground, it created a large ball of fire about two meters in diameter. The heat was so intense that we could feel it from almost ten meters away.

Once it was over, he looked at me.

Embarrassed, I scratched my head. “I will need a few minutes to assemble it. For safety, I keep the two parts separate. It is not in usable form yet.”

Saying that, I pulled out a smaller cylinder that was a few inches long and had a two-inch radius. Then, opening the larger cylinder at the center, I secured the smaller cylinder inside using a hook.

After closing the larger cylinder, I looked at the lieutenant, asking for permission to throw it.

He nodded.

First, I created a small wall of mana between us and the front section of the room. Then, passing some mana into the outer cylinder, I threw my bomb.

As soon as it hit the floor, instead of creating fire, it produced a bright white flash and a deafening sound, followed by high-velocity metal shrapnel flying in all directions.

Varric and Barry laughed at the sound and looked at me like proud elders.

Some of the shrapnel was so fast and powerful that the mana shield I had created shattered. Thankfully, the lieutenant was faster. He created a mana shield of his own, blocking the rest of the flying metal.

The lieutenant looked at the small crater formed by my bomb for some time before turning to me.

“Would you tell me how you made this? I will ensure that you receive all the merit for this discovery, even if we make some modifications to perfect it. While your bomb is crude and more chaotic than the current rune bombs, I think its chaotic nature is exactly what makes it suitable for wars like this.”

The lieutenant waited for my reply.

“Sure. I was going to share it anyway once I had perfected it.”

Then I took out another pair of cylinders, one small and one large. Opening the larger cylinder at the center, I showed it to him.

“Actually, my bomb has no runes, at least not in the way we usually use them. This outer cylinder is completely hollow and filled with metal shrapnel. I commissioned a blacksmith to make it.

“The parts I made are the mana threads. The threads are connected to the top of each half of the cylinder, and they are also connected to the hooks in the center that hold the smaller cylinder in place.”

I showed him both sides before picking up the smaller cylinder.

“Inside this, I created a mana core. For this test, I used a wind-elemental core, but we can also use fire mana cores or any other type of mana core.

“I got the inspiration after seeing the broken core room. When I pass mana into the threads, they destabilize the core, creating the explosion. We have less than ten seconds to throw the bomb after passing mana into it.”

I did not know how to create a grenade, but this concept used a little of my knowledge about the cheap bombs I had seen on TV shows in my previous world.

“The problem is that the metal pieces inside are loose. If they shift while the bomb is being carried or thrown, they can damage the mana threads. If we are lucky, that defuses the bomb. If we are unlucky, it makes the core unstable and causes the explosion to occur prematurely. That is why, for now, I am keeping the core and the outer shell separate,” I said, passing both cylinders to the lieutenant.

“Hmm, a small hollow tube might fix the issue with the threads,” the lieutenant said as he examined the cylinder more closely.

He was not wrong. That was going to be my next request for the blacksmith, but with everything going on, I did not have enough time to request any design improvements.

“I will give this to Scaevola. He and his team might be able to come up with a better solution. Great work, Sergeant. I do not think we will have a better version by tomorrow night, before your mission, so you can use this one, but be careful.

“Sergeant Edward, there is one more reward that can be given to you right now, though it will not be very useful for this mission.”

He patted the trunk and continued, “There are eleven sets of full-plate armor inside this trunk. They are among the best suits of armor used by the Royal Army’s heavy infantry. Given your squad members’ builds, they should be perfect for most of them, except for you and your two agile members."

“The Captain would like to see your squad wearing these suits of armor once you successfully complete the mission. You do not have to man the wall tonight or at any time tomorrow.”

I nodded in acknowledgment. “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

The lieutenant also nodded. “Then we will meet tomorrow night before you leave for the mission.”