Chapter 177: The White Bird (2)

Laurent asked Jared about Cedric, but received the same response as always.

He was such a perfect person that he seemed almost inhuman.

“Why do you ask that?”

“It’s nothing. I was just curious.”

Laurent shook his head. Maybe it was just his imagination.

Cedric might not be exactly as the rumors said, but that didn’t change anything.

He only needed to follow the Third Prince.

Jared began to chatter.

“I see. Well, it makes sense you’d be curious. He’s an impressive person. It would’ve been nice if His Highness were more like the crown prince. Maybe he would’ve been kinder…”

The Briol army was approaching Française.

They didn’t plan to stay long; they would spend a day outside the domain and then head straight for the Bezos border along with the Flandre family’s troops.

The army arrived at dusk and set up camp. Laurent personally helped pitch the tents alongside Yuri.

That’s when a Briol knight approached Laurent.

“Sir Laurent.”

“What is it?”

“I bring a message I must deliver to you.”

The knight, with a calm face as if trying to be considerate, spoke gently.

“The Count of Française will not be participating in this war.”

“Pardon? Did something happen?”

Laurent tilted his head.

His father, Lian Flandre, Count of Française, rarely missed Briol’s major wars.

He was like a shadow of Fiore Briol, just as Laurent was of the Third Prince.

“He says he’s suffering from a mild illness.”

“An illness?”

Laurent was even more surprised. He had never seen his father fall ill. Like most knights, his body was so strong he rarely got sick.

The knight nodded.

“Yes. A letter arrived. He said he suddenly developed a fever and can’t move.”

“How did that happen…?”

“He asked that I tell you not to worry. That it’s not serious, so you can head to the border without concern. And not to visit him.”

“I see…”

“The priest also says it’s nothing serious.”

Laurent blinked at him, then nodded. He could imagine the way his father would have delivered that message.

“Understood. Thank you for the trouble.”

“Yes, then…”

The knight gave a slight bow and left.

Yuri, who was sitting on the ground nearby, said,

“Laurent, why don’t you go see him?”

“No. The war comes first.”

“I see…”

Yuri shrugged.

“Don’t worry too much. I’m sure it’s nothing serious. I heard from my older brother that Lord Lian is so healthy he seems like he’ll live forever.”

“Pardon?”

“Hmm?”

“The crown prince… spoke with my father?”

“Ah, since he spent a long time in Française doing academy research, he said he saw him often.”

“Really…?”

“What’s wrong? Are you that worried about Lord Lian?”

“No. It’s not that.”

Laurent once again felt that strange sense of discomfort, but forced himself to dismiss it.

Cedric was the crown prince and future king of Briol, and his father was a loyal knight who had always stood by the royal family. It would’ve been stranger if they hadn’t met while he was in Française.

“Father will be fine.”

“Of course, of course.”

Yuri smiled broadly, stood up, and pointed at something in the distance.

“Ah, look at that.”

Laurent turned his head.

“That is…”

Perched atop the leafy crown of a tree was a bird.

Although not very large, its eyes had a serene look and its tail extended elegantly. The word “majestic” fit it perfectly. Most striking of all was its entirely white plumage.

“That’s a Chai bird.”

Laurent raised his eyebrows. He had become familiar with that name lately.

“They’re hard to spot.”

“Really?”

“Since they’re hunted so much, there are barely any left. People want to keep them as pets or stuff them. The sad part is that if they’re in captivity, they don’t reproduce. So their numbers only decrease. Even though hunting them is banned by law, no one obeys…”

That was curious, too.

A bird rarely seen, and just the day after that strange conversation with Cedric, here it was.

Laurent forced himself to brush off those thoughts and spoke.

“You know a lot about birds, Prince.”

“Not at all. It’s just that my older brother explained the Chai bird to me.”

Yuri smiled.

“He said it’s a shame that, because of human greed, such a beautiful white bird might disappear. That if he ever becomes king, he wants to do something for them. Incredible, right? He even cares about birds!”

Yuri burst out laughing loudly. Laurent joined him with a somewhat forced laugh.

“I see…”

It was different from what he knew. When they spoke privately, Cedric used a much colder tone.

He had said things like a bird is nothing more than a bird. The gap between the Cedric everyone knew and the Cedric he had seen was beginning to widen more and more.

“Well, shall we go see what’s for dinner tonight? What do you think, Laurent?”

“Sure.”

“Where’s Jared? Jared!”

Yuri went off noisily, and laughter followed him wherever he passed.

It was hard to believe that such an atmosphere belonged to an army preparing for war. That was Yuri’s power.

Laurent watched him walk away and scratched his cheek.

“Phew…”

Compared to the coming war, this was a trivial matter. But for some reason, he couldn’t shake that uneasiness in his chest.

If only Hernando were here, he could have asked for advice—but he had been gone for some time.

So Laurent simply swallowed the whirlwind of emotions.

“Nothing will happen.”

He murmured that as if to convince himself and kept walking.

***

The war had already begun beneath the surface.

Although Yuri’s group had managed to stop the Ninth Knight Squadron, it was obvious the Empire must have had spies already embedded.

During the night the Briol army camped outside Française, an incident occurred.

There was a sudden intrusion, and alarms rang out.

Yuri was the first to leave his tent, immediately followed by Laurent. Jared came out a bit late and shouted.

“W-what’s going on?! What is this?!”

“An intruder.”

“An intruder? Who?”

“A spy, probably.”

“A spy? But we already dealt with the Ninth Squadron…!”

“Not those. I mean the ones who were already infiltrated beforehand.”

Given the Empire’s colossal size, it was impossible that they didn’t have an espionage network. Most likely, they had been hiding throughout Briol even before the war started.

“So, spies. Doesn’t Briol have something similar?”

“Of course.”

“What do they have?”

“Something called the Briol Comrades’ Association.”

“…”

“This way.”

Yuri moved quickly. As soon as his figure vanished, Laurent and Jared hurried after him.

Inside the camp, the soldiers were already sweeping the area with torches in hand, searching for the spies. Yuri snatched a torch from one of them.

“Borrowing this!”

“Eh? A-ah, yes…”

Yuri expanded his senses and ran in the direction where he sensed enemies. It wasn’t just one or two.

Several spies had attempted to infiltrate Briol’s camp at once.

They were probably trying to check troop numbers, burn supplies… or even assassinate someone.

However, there was something clumsy about their actions.

“We’ll know with an interrogation.”

Yuri stomped hard on the ground. He led the charge, and Briol’s knights, including Laurent and Jared, followed.

Française had fertile lands and vast plains, making it a poor place for fugitives to hide.

Yuri shouted.

“Stop!”

But of course, no one stopped just because he said so.

As he ran, Yuri passed the torch to his left hand, crouched to pick up a stone, and in one motion, threw it.

From the darkness ahead came a muffled cry.

“Catch the one who fell!”

Yuri shouted to the knights following him while passing the fallen intruder and picking up more stones.

He could now sense four with his abilities. He threw the stones one after another.

Three fell immediately, but the last one was agile. He narrowly avoided several stones.

“This bastard…”

Yuri ran even faster. With each step, he left deep prints in the ground.

The spy was very fast, but he couldn’t outrun someone like Yuri, who was nearing the level of the Ten Greats.

Finally, Yuri caught up to the last one.

“Hey!”

Yuri yelled and leapt into the air.

“Stop!”

He delivered a flying kick to the man’s back. Since he was already running, the impact sent him rolling across the ground.

He even bounced off a rock in the path.

“Kugh…!”

Just by the sound, it was clear he had spat blood. Yuri approached and pointed the torch at him.

“Maybe I overdid it?”

He was in a sorry state. Blood was coming from his mouth and his front teeth were missing—likely from the impact.

Yuri scratched the back of his head.

“That’s what you get for not stopping when I told you to. Let’s go.”

He grabbed his ankle and dragged him.

Each time the spy’s body hit something, there was a groan, but Yuri didn’t pay attention.

“Hey, did they gather them all over there?”

“Yes!”

And so, the five imperial spies were thrown like sacks into the middle of the camp. Briol’s knights surrounded them.

“Hey, who are you guys?”

“Want to die?”

“You dare spy on Briol?”

“We’ll tear off your arms and legs. You’ll crawl for life.”

“You won’t be able to eat anything but porridge.”

“Did you say goodbye to your moms before coming?”

The knights shouted threats like street thugs. That was the true face of knights.

Yuri pressed his hand to his forehead.

“Laurent.”

“Yes.”

“When all you do is train with a sword since you’re little, you end up like this.”

“Yes…”

“Martial arts are important, but you also have to read, build social skills, all that.”

“You’re right.”

After that brief exchange, Yuri stepped forward.

“Move aside. That’s no way to interrogate.”

“Ah, yes, Your Highness.”

“I’ll show you what a real interrogation looks like.”

“Oooh…!”

The knights stepped back and watched. Yuri had gained fame through his achievements in the Alliance.

That’s why the knights traveling with him for the first time had certain expectations.

What kind of skills did the Third Prince, considered Fiore’s successor, possess?
And how good was he at interrogating?

Yuri grabbed one of the fallen spies and crouched in front of him.

“Hey.”

“…”

“I’ll count to ten. You’d better talk before then, or I’ll slap you. Got it?”

“…”

“Did you get that or not?”

“Y-yes…”

“Good, question. Why did you infiltrate? Starting now. One, two, three, four…”

Smack!

“Hurts, right? If you don’t want it to hurt more, start talking. This time it’ll be two slaps. That means double the pain. Alright, counting again. One, two, three…”

The watching knights looked at each other. That didn’t seem like a serious interrogation.

Was that really the interrogation style of the Third Prince, the same one who had massacred orcs like a butcher? Was it all exaggerated?

Just as Yuri was about to give the second slap, the spy spoke.

“I-it was an order from the Empire…!”

“I see.”

The confession came immediately. Yuri looked back and smiled.

“That’s how you interrogate. Gotta have a spicy hand like me.”

“Yes…”

Every time Yuri slapped, the spies started spilling everything. The knights watched in awe.

It wasn’t like he pulled teeth or ruptured eardrums; he just slapped them. And yet, the infamous spies of the Empire began to confess.

“What was your objective?”

“Y-yes. We came to check troop numbers, assess unit size, if possible, burn supplies…”

“Bastards.”

“S-sorry…”

Smack!

“I’m sorry! Please, no more slaps…!”

“Oh, but you sure know it hurts, don’t you?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry…!”

The knights kept watching, mouths agape.

And then, Laurent noticed something strange. One of the five—the only one not yet interrogated—was sitting and staring intently at Laurent.

At first, he thought it was coincidence. But the man didn’t look away—he was persistent.

Laurent looked back carefully. He seemed vacant, like he’d lost his soul.

And then… he gave a chilling smile.

Then he extended his arms sideways and slowly moved them up and down.

As if flapping wings.

Laurent was startled and stepped back. No one else seemed to notice his odd behavior, focused as they were on Yuri’s interrogation.

Flap… flap…

Laurent felt as if only the two of them existed in that moment.

And then—

“Your Highness!”

The spy mimicking wings suddenly pulled a knife from his inner pocket and began flailing it wildly.

Yuri stepped back. But the man didn’t stop.

It happened so fast that even Yuri couldn’t react in time.

“Damn…!”

The other spies were killed instantly. Their throats were cut cleanly; there was no saving them.

“You bastard…!”

Yuri growled.

“You were the one who dodged my stones to the end, huh? Damn you…!”

But the spy’s eyes weren’t on Yuri. He was only staring at Laurent as he spun the knife.

His target was… his own neck.

“Hey!”

He killed himself.

Thus, all five spies died in the blink of an eye.

“Damn it…”

Yuri sighed.

“That’s on me. I should’ve stopped him.”

“It’s okay. We got all the information anyway.”

“That’s true…”

“That was an impressive interrogation.”

“Right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, let’s check their bodies just in case.”

The knights searched the corpses of the dead spies. They found nothing unusual.

But then—

“Aaaaah!”

One of the knights recoiled in terror.

“What’s wrong?”

“This bastard…”

He pointed at the spy who had wielded the knife at the end.

“What the hell did he have on his chest?”

“What did he have?”

Another knight stepped closer to inspect the body.

When he touched it, he too jumped back in shock.

“Whoa, this guy’s the worst…!”

“What is it?”

The knight reached in and pulled something out.

“Why was he carrying this…?”

Everyone fell silent.

Inside his clothes was a stuffed white bird.