Free Web Novel"Captain, what exactly is the mission we’re going to carry out this time?"
Riding at full speed along the road, Sineel finally couldn’t hold back his curiosity anymore and turned his head to ask the squad captain at the very front of the team, Coton.
Coton was a middle-aged man with a stern face, steady in his actions and hard in his style. Though called middle-aged, in truth his age was already not small; it was only that his deep cultivation made him look a bit younger.
And it was precisely this age, greater than everyone else here, that gave him the deepest accumulation of magic among them and the experience to face anything with composure. It was said that with his seniority, all he needed to do was wait for the old regiment commander of the Corps to retire, and he would be able to move up in turn to become vice commander, truly stepping into the highest echelon of the Corps.
If it were any other time, Sineel would certainly not harbor the slightest doubt toward this captain’s orders. But... today’s operation was simply too bizarre.
Leaving aside the fact that this was a sudden mission in the middle of the night where they didn’t even know the objective, even the squad itself was very strange.
This was not the same squad Sineel had previously belonged to—or rather, not entirely.
There were eleven people in total, and of those, only Sineel and two others were actually under Coton’s command. The rest had clearly been transferred in from other squads, and there were even two people whom Sineel didn’t recognize at all.
Yet before this, Sineel had never heard the slightest rumor about any transfer orders.
It could be said that whether it was regarding the purpose of this squad’s late-night deployment or its composition, Sineel was completely in the dark.
Having never carried out such a bizarre mission before, Sineel naturally couldn’t just keep his mouth shut like this.
"Captain?" Seeing that Coton still wasn’t answering, Sineel asked again.
"Less talking, more doing!"
Coton remained silent; instead, a burly man with a rather fierce face beside him turned his head and glared at Sineel.
"Sineel, have you not memorized the Royal Mage Corps’ operations manual yet? Or is it that your usual training hasn’t been enough and you need me to go back and add a bit more for you?"
"S-sorry, Mr. Nell."
In front of Captain Coton, Sineel rarely showed fear, but when it came to this burly man named Nell, he immediately backed down.
He was one of the members of Coton’s squad and also Coton’s deputy, the squad’s vice-captain. He was known for his absolute loyalty to Coton and for being extremely strict with the people under him. It could be said that everyone in Coton’s squad carried at least a bit of psychological shadow where this big guy was concerned.
Yet this usually ferocious Nell would never harbor the slightest doubt toward Coton’s orders. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
"How much farther do we have to go?"
"Almost there. Stay focused."
"Yes, sir!"
After being scolded by Nell, Sineel naturally didn’t dare ask anything more and silently followed along with the squad.
It was just that the unease in his heart grew stronger and stronger.
After all, although he had been obediently staying in the Corps this whole time, through some “special” channels he still knew that the entirety of Belrand was currently not at peace.
He only wanted to muddle along in the Royal Mage Corps, eat his fill and wait to die while secretly lining his pockets. He had no desire to get swept up into those storms.
"We’re here."
Just as Sineel’s thoughts were running wild, Coton tugged on the reins in his hand and the galloping steed beneath him abruptly came to a halt in a way that completely defied ordinary physics; even the person sitting on its back did not sway in the slightest.
The others slowed a beat and then also brought their horses to a stop one after another.
Coton looked around with a grave expression and said:
"This is the place."
Sineel lifted his head to look at their surroundings and discovered that this was just an ordinary block. At a glance it was filled with the depth and stillness of late night, without any particular distinguishing features.
If there was anything of value here, it was that this was a fork in the road, where many streets, after winding through the rugged district, all converged.
Wait—a fork?
Could it be that...
The unease in Sineel’s heart grew even more intense.
At that moment, Coton’s gaze swept across Sineel and paused for a moment before he suddenly spoke:
"I know that some of you are still confused and uneasy, following my orders only out of the basic discipline of Royal Mage Corps mages. But since we’ve come here together, I think there are some things that are better laid out clearly."
As he spoke, Coton took out a golden pocket watch.
Sineel quickly recognized it. That was Coton’s most cherished possession. From the time Sineel had entered the Royal Mage Corps, he had often seen Captain Coton fiddling with this golden pocket watch.
"This is..."
Sineel didn’t quite understand what Coton meant by taking out the watch, and then, in the next moment, he saw a black flying-bird mark appear on the back of that golden watch.
That was... a robin.
Sineel’s pupils contracted sharply. At the same time, he felt a burning sensation come from his own hand.
He forced his head down with some difficulty and opened his palm, revealing his white bone flute.
At this moment, on the body of the flute, a black flying-bird mark was also slowly emerging.
And it wasn’t just him. As if they had agreed beforehand, the people around them each took out some exquisite and expensive object—be it a magic dagger inlaid with gems or a wand crafted by a famous master—and on these items as well, that lifelike flying bird appeared.
The robin! That guy actually did something to the gifts he handed out?
No, this was just a mark and had no other special function, otherwise he wouldn’t have failed to notice it for so long. freewebnσvel.cѳm
And since it was a mark, that meant...
Sineel raised his head, his neck turning stiffly as he looked around at the others.
They had been his comrades only a moment ago, but ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) now, in Sineel’s eyes, they had all become so cold and unfamiliar.
These bastards—had they already become complete lapdogs of the Inner Council, wholly obeying the robin’s orders?
Damn it. These scumbags had betrayed His Majesty and betrayed the Royal Mage Corps so easily—what about their backbone, what about their conscience?
The thing I, Sineel, look down on the most is you...
"Sineel..."
Suddenly, a broad hand clapped down on Sineel’s shoulder. Wearing a rare kindly expression, Coton looked at him gently.
"Discovering that you’re not alone—feels pretty good, doesn’t it?"
"Y-yeah... very good. This feels very good."
Sineel did his best to make his smile seem a bit more natural.
"Then, Captain Coton, what... what exactly are we going to do?"
"Something worthy of us taking action is, of course, a great undertaking. Naturally, due to the secrecy of the matter, I can’t tell you the details, but I assure you that once this succeeds, we... will all have a bright future!"
Coton proclaimed to the group almost like he was giving a speech, flames of fanaticism flickering in his eyes, and then handed each of them a thin little booklet.
"Next, all of you will inscribe the magic array patterns around this area according to my instructions."
"Magic... array patterns?"
Sineel, still completely at sea, accepted the booklet, and as soon as he saw the layout required inside, a cold sweat broke out over his whole body.
Amid the complicated words and symbols, Sineel quickly realized that this would be a gigantic array jointly inscribed by two Brilliance-rank mages and nine Sublimation-rank mages. It would consume an enormous amount of mana and burn through magic materials of staggering value in order to cover this fork in the road and even extend out into the surrounding blocks.
This array had no special function; it was just that, once activated... it would annihilate every living thing within its range.
