Chương 152: Chapter 149 - Route to Frontier Village

"Barry, Silas, there are some changes to your roles for our new mission," I said. As Barry and Silas stood in front of me while Peter stood to my right, I had just returned from Lieutenant Cicero's office, getting approval for my plan from both the lieutenant and the Captain. I had a squad meeting just after receiving the mission, and now I was updating the three of them on my new plan.

"I just came from a meeting with the other sergeants, and after that, I have made some changes to my plans for the mission." My statement piqued the interest of all three of them, Peter looked more interested than the other two.

"You two will not have any combat-related role for most of the mission. I want you two to join the construction team as commoners, keeping an eye on the other sergeants. Once we reach Frontier Village, Silas, I want you to continue pretending as a construction worker, keeping an eye on activities there, while Barry, try to give the construction crew a slip and integrate with the villagers.

I would like to know the real reason for the tension in the village, and also see if you can get close to the half-barbarians there."

"Uhhmm, Sergeant," Peter cleared his throat to grab my attention.

"Sergeant, our squad is famous for not losing any squad member in a long time. Suddenly, if we show up with two fewer squad members, it will create doubt in the other sergeants' minds. Also, we will need permission from someone higher up to pull this off."

"I already have permission from the Captain, and as for sergeants, Barry and Silas are injured and spending time in the infirmary," I said, while passing a document with the Captain's seal of approval assigning them as civilian laborers for the construction team.

"Captain is okay with you spying on other sergeants?" Silas asked in surprise.

"No, but the reason we are not informing other sergeants is because we want the construction crew to believe that you both are normal laborers who arrived late at the fort. By hiding your identity from sergeants and privates, we can avoid any slip-ups and make sure they treat you both the same as normal construction workers."

"And that was enough to convince the Captain?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow, showing he did not believe that such a flimsy reason would convince the Captain.

"Not the Captain, but Lieutenant Cicero convinced the Captain. I don't know how. I did add that by including Barry and Silas in the construction crew, we could ensure the crew's security at all times and respond quickly if there are any issues from the villagers," I replied.

"But Barry, Silas, those were just the reasons we gave the Captain and the lieutenant. Just between this squad, I do not trust some of the sergeants we are working with. Because this mission is long-term, I will be taking some extreme measures so they do not mess with us and affect our mission record. I might have gone extreme in this mission, but for some reason I have a feeling that I need to do this.

So the only time I want you to reveal yourselves as members of my squad is if I directly order you to do so," I said with complete seriousness.

"HAHAH." Suddenly Barry, who had been silent the whole time, started laughing. I looked at him with a frown, confused by Barry's outburst.

"I knew I made the right choice following you," Barry said, happy and proud, as if me doubting my fellow soldiers was a good thing. Honestly, sometimes I myself do not feel good about doubting everyone. The only people who were easy to trust in the army were those who were more warriors and less leaders, people like Sergeant Cole, Walter, or Victor.

"I have been waiting for something like this for a long time. My life has been missing sneaking around since I got conscripted into the army. Say, if I steal some of their swords or money, will you be okay with it?" Barry asked, giving me a goofy smile. Barry's easy acceptance was the reason that made him perfect for a mission like this. I knew he would like this mission. He had a knack for sneaking around and fooling people, but I could not allow him to steal. There were limits to the freedom I would give him.

"NO! Don't even think about it. Hiding you two is hard enough. If you create more trouble for me, I will have to punish you. You know what? Make sure no one steals anything. If something goes missing, it will be your ass," I said to Barry. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. But my warning did nothing to change Barry's expression, and I knew why. Aside from our drive to grow stronger, one thing that united the squad was our distrust of nobles.

"Silas, how about you? Are you okay with the mission?" I asked Silas.

"Yes, Sergeant, sounds like fun, but how are we supposed to provide the information we gather? If we keep walking from the labor side to the soldier side, people will start to notice," Silas said, raising a valid concern.

"While traveling, I will assign our squad near the cart you two will be in. When you want to pass information, send some of your mana into your boots. Once you see me or Peter near your cart, start your sentence with 'Oh Barry/Silas, you will not believe what I heard…' With Peter's and my skills, we should be able to pick up your conversations easily." Their boots had the Silent Step rune on them, and after one year of using those runes, I could easily spot when some foreign mana interfered with them.

"After we reach the village, it will be Barry's and your task to find a secluded spot away from the village's eyes for meeting. Once you do, find anyone from our squad and inform them about the spot. One meeting between people who traveled together should not cause any problems," I said. We went through a few more details, mostly discussing decisions to make in case of emergencies and when they could use their actual combat capabilities.

Next day, Barry and Silas departed from our squad. The rest of the week passed with normal preparation for the mission. I had one more meeting with the sergeants, where I got criticized for not informing them earlier that my squad members were injured, but I brushed it off, claiming the hostile conditions that day had made me cautious about sharing information.

Finally, it was time to leave Fort Darrow, but just before leaving, we had a final meeting where I presented the route we would be taking with all sergeants, the foremen of labor, and two lieutenants present. One was Lieutenant Cicero; the other I assumed was Rowan's superior Lieutenant Charles. Once everyone was present, the lieutenants signaled me to start the meeting.

I laid out a rough hand-drawn map with two major circles showing Frontier Village and Fort Darrow, while marking directions and major landmarks, showing how to reach rest areas, which were marked by small stars.

"As you all can see, this map represents the rough path we will take to the northern frontier. These stars mark the rest stops where we will halt for the night. There will be 4–5 breaks of 30 to 40 minutes each day for food and water. We will march for 12–15 hours daily. To prepare for unforeseen circumstances, every third day we will reduce our march to 8 hours, allowing extra time for hunting beasts.

This will help reduce our reliance on the dried food supplies from the fort and leave us with extra provisions in case of any food shortages in the village," I laid out my plan for the march. As expected, Rowan stepped forward with a questioning look and said, "Sergeant, don't you think your plan adds unnecessary risk to our travel by having our soldiers hunt every third day? It could cause injuries, especially if they're expected to fight after marching all day.

Considering the fact that we already have enough supplies, taking a route that brings us deeper into the forest does not make sense to me."

"Yes, Sergeant Rowan, that is a valid concern, but to find hunting grounds, I have analyzed intelligence reports from the last three months. I can assure you that no matter what route we take, we will cross those beast herds. The only difference is that this route makes those encounters predictable. Instead of being on guard for beasts while crossing, we will actively look for them. Also, taking this route reduces travel time a little," I replied. Rowan frowned for a second, then nodded and stepped back.

Then Lieutenant Charles looked at my map with a thoughtful expression, as if doing some calculations, and then said, "Good job, Sergeant Edward. You have accounted for supplies and distance well. Have you also considered horse feed and water? You will have 16 horses, and they require significant resources." I nodded.

"Yes, Lieutenant, the route is designed so that we encounter a water source every day, but we are also carrying enough water for one extra day."

"Hmm, good." The lieutenant said, took a step back. Then he looked at me and Rowan and continued, "Sergeant Edward and Sergeant Rowan, you should get complete support from the village head, but his position is not officially assigned by the kingdom, so he might not be aware of army rules like town officials. So if he creates any problems, know this: for this mission, you two hold the authority to overrule any of his decisions, and in the worst case, take control of village security completely.

But this should only happen if both of you think the village head's decision will harm the army or put the mission in danger." Rowan and I both nodded. After answering a few more supply-related questions, we concluded the meeting. Two hours later, a caravan of more than sixty soldiers, with eight carts and thirty construction crew members, rolled out of Fort Darrow, beginning our march north.