Chapter 103: Forced Reconnaissance

At dawn, I rose into the sky. Beyond the border I could already see the town of Madras, and behind it smoke was rising.

I was flying at an altitude where people on the ground looked smaller than grains of rice. Unless someone was actively staring straight up, there was no way they’d notice me—so I took my time with the reconnaissance.

The Blange Road ends at the town of Blange, and once it crosses the border it becomes the Madras Road, named after the border town. Following the road slowly from above, I passed over Madras, Emilia, and Narsie while observing below.

Behind Madras, tents were crammed together on both the south and north sides of the road. The same was true for Emilia and Narsie. Even farther ahead, I could see more clusters of tents, and herds of horses being moved. But I wasn’t here to interfere, so I ignored them.

Now that I had a rough idea of their layout, I switched to a more aggressive reconnaissance approach. Lowering my altitude, I entered the area from the south of Narsie and headed north.

Below, chaos erupted—shouting, alarm bells, and soldiers spilling out of their tents in confusion. I counted the rows of uniform-looking military tents and recorded the numbers on my sheet.

Occasionally, arrows hit the balloon with clack clack sounds. The attacks increased in number, and soon bang bang bang—Fireball impacts—were mixed in.
I was flying slowly at about fifty meters. It must have looked like a perfect target to them.

But Fireballs explode midair and vanish—that’s fine. Arrows, though?
If you shoot them upward, they come down somewhere.
Don’t they worry about hitting their own people?

A sudden BOOM jolted me upward. Before I could react, my flight path stabilized again.

Looking around, I noticed that the little spirits were supporting the balloon. In the next moment, a Fireball formed—then suddenly shot downward and exploded below with a deafening BOOM.

Not good!

{Wait! Stop! Don’t attack! Please just disappear!}

They probably couldn’t be seen from below anyway, and I appreciated their help, but… I’m a wind mage. Fireballs aren’t my department.
Still, just as the elder said—when danger threatens the one they’re connected to, they come to help. They had protected me from the dragon too, using earth magic spikes to stop its charge.

I had been too busy to think about it since then, but…
Being surrounded by countless spirits—am I basically invincible?

My altitude was too low, so I climbed higher, weaving unpredictably as I headed north.

The further I flew toward Emilia and Madras, the heavier the attacks became. But magic no longer reached me, and arrows hardly came up this high.
As long as it was just noise, it wasn’t my problem. I continued my observations.

Meanwhile, at the Duke’s Camp

“Your Grace, scouts report that some sort of disturbance has occurred beyond the border.”

“If he flies at the same height as yesterday, they’ll likely try to intercept. I hope he returns safely.”

“Berlant, have you forgotten the way he left yesterday? If he ascends that high, there’s no way to attack him. Unless our kingdom has something I’m unaware of?”

“No… I don’t believe we do. At this point, I’m simply eager to hear his report.”

“When our entire formation is visible from above, no strategist could claim victory.”

“Then let us be grateful that we are not the enemy.”

“I was dispatched as a military observer, but I doubt this will yield any useful reference… Ah—look, is that him?”

A small figure appeared in the sky. The lookout confirmed: “The reconnaissance adventurer is returning!”

Meanwhile, on the Madras Side

“What is this disgrace?! It was only one man!”

“Commander, arrows were useless, and when our magic was reflected—”

“We were hit with Fireballs, Ice Bullets, and even splashed with water somehow! He was mocking us!”

“And the way he moved in the sky—no one in our kingdom can use magic like that!”

“Report! Casualties from his counterattacks: several with burns from Fireballs, and six injured by Ice Bullets!”

“All that from a moment’s counterattack? A troublesome opponent… Can he be eliminated?”

“We don’t even know who he is. But sharp-eyed soldiers say he looked like an adventurer.”

“Then mobilize our covert agents. Find out who he is. If possible—hire him.”

“You intend to hire someone who attacked us?”

“Of course. Use him while he’s useful. Dispose of him when he’s not. Consider this: our entire troop layout and numbers have now been exposed.”

“Then shall we attack before the enemy moves?”

“Too late. If it were before their beast—no, dragon—hunt, perhaps. But not now. I begged for permission to advance sooner, yet His Ma—no, the Chancellor—hesitated. Bringing the army this far only to waver… it is foolish. Still, we cannot disobey orders.”

“Then do we withdraw?”

“Have you forgotten the order? Hold position. Until we receive orders to advance or retreat, we cannot move. Whoever advised the Chancellor… they have ruined him. For now, prepare fortifications.”

Back on the Holtland Side

As I approached the duke’s camp, a large group awaited me. They had cleared a landing zone. After confirming the duke’s position, I descended slowly.

“Some commotion occurred, it seems?”

“I was ambushed. Here is the layout of Holtland’s forces.”

I handed the sheet over. A deputy hurriedly carried it to the duke.

“This is…?”

“These are the counts of tents behind Madras, Emilia, and Narsie. They’re divided north and south of the road.”

“Madras: 36 and 33. Emilia: 28 and 31. Narsie: 25 and 22. At twenty soldiers per tent… about 3,500 in total. Anything else?”

“There were other tents apart from these, and the northern tents in Madras were heavily guarded.”

“And that suggests?”

He seemed relaxed, but was he testing me?

“I believe that was their forward command post.”

“So they’re positioned behind the town of Madras.”

“I don’t think it’s a true defensive line.”

“Why?”

“If they expected an attack, they would at least build defensive barriers. I didn’t see a single fence.”

“Hmm… so you think they don’t intend to attack?”

“If the dragon hunt had taken longer, they might have seized two or three towns. Depending on how things went, perhaps more.”

“You’ve done well. Rest until I call for you.”

A soldier guided me to a tent.

“I’ll sleep a little. Is there a wider space I can borrow?”

“This isn’t sufficient?”

“I’ll be making a dome to sleep in. I need four or five meters of space.”

He looked puzzled but led me behind the tents. I created a dusty Dome, leaving him staring in shock.

“If you need anything, call me.”

I closed the entrance and set up a cot inside before lying down.

Inside the Command Tent

“What do you think?”

“If his assessment is correct, we can predict their movements…”

“Is the lack of attack orders real?”

“His Majesty is furious at their attempt to exploit the dragon hunt. For the future, we must deliver at least one blow. If we simply withdraw, they’ll try this again. We need to push forward before their preparations finish, take a defensible position, and negotiate.”

“And if we simply overrun them?”

“Your Highness, your role is observation. Please—less speculation.”

“My apologies. Where would we hold the line?”

“There’s a river west of Emilia—chest deep, wide. If we build defenses there, they cannot advance without risking flank attacks. According to him, the tents were either east or west of that river—we need confirmation. In any case, if we seize Emilia before the troops behind Narsie respond, and barricade ourselves, they won’t dislodge us easily. One day will decide it. If we fail, we retreat to the border and call it a punitive operation.”

“And that will satisfy His Majesty?”

“The goal is to make the Holtland royal family wary. If we can seize even a sliver of land, all the better.”

Back to Me

It looked like I had fallen asleep. A man calling my name woke me.
Definitely work time.

I stored the cot, dispelled the dome, and used wind magic to blow away the dust.

My caller froze mid-sentence, mouth open.

I smiled.

“Did you call for me?”

“The duke commands your presence! Hurry!”

He was yelling like he was important, but he was probably a low-ranking soldier.
If he acted too arrogant, I might just tattle to the duke.

The duke stood exactly where we’d parted earlier—what a conscientious man.

“You called, Your Grace?”

“Mm. Come here.”

He dismissed the soldier.

“You recall the river west of Emilia?”

“Yes. It was fairly wide.”

“Were the tents east or west of the river? And was there a bridge?”

“The tents were on the west side. No bridge. They were using boats.”

“Then before dusk, scout Emilia and Narsie in detail—especially defenses and troop movements.”

“Understood.”

Looks like they really intend to push forward.

Probably a night raid… or a dawn assault.

I headed far around from Blange toward Emilia, planning to wait near sunset.