Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – Chapter 2: Alliance #5

After leaving Caitlin’s tent, In-gong walked with Carack and talked with him .

Carack nodded at the rough explanation like it was expected .

"Well, then it is another reconnaissance mission . ”

"It is a little bit rushed but it will begin today . It should be kept secret from others . ”

It was decided that the cave would be kept a secret from Caitlin and Chris’ troops . It was unlikely that the orcs, especially the Red Lightning tribe, would actively engage in espionage activities but there was still a chance .

The faster the passage in the cave was explored, the better it would be . Depending on where the passage in the cave connected to, the whole operation might change in the future .

Carack didn’t ask why and only nodded .

“Ah, I did some work while Prince was inside . I have recruited some troops today . ”

"Recruited troops?”

Carack laughed at In-gong’s question .

"We received a lot of damage . ”

The fight against Kaichin was a melee . It had been a one-sided fight until Carack killed Kaichin, so there were those who were seriously injured and died .

In-gong swallowed his saliva . It wasn’t because the damage was greater than he thought . Even if he was concerned with Aura, it was surprising that he hadn’t considered the deaths of the orcs until now .

‘Yes, a person is dead . People . It isn’t a game . ’

In a game, the lives of the soldiers were just numbers . If he had enough resources, he could increase or decrease the numbers .

However, this wasn’t a game and each of them had their own lives .

After a moment, In-gong took a deep breath . It was unreasonable to pamper each soldier but he shouldn’t think of them casually like he had done previously . If he only thought of people as numbers, then he would be disqualified as a human .

In-gong controlled his heart and looked toward Carack again . Carack’s eyes were asking, ‘what are you thinking about this time?’

In-gong just shrugged .

“So, are the recruits coming?”

"Rather than that . . . Didn’t we used to have 30 troops? This has been increased to 50 people . It will take time for them to reach our base, so the numbers will be supplemented from Prince Chris’ camp . ”

“Ohh?”

The troops had almost been doubled?

"It is due to Prince’s merits . ”

Carack said pleasantly . In fact, In-gong was quite familiar with this situation .

Achievements would be rewarded . That was the basic formula of Knight Saga .

In-gong had distinguished himself by killing Kaichin and Kaidum as well as finding the cave . It was natural for rewards to be received .

‘In the first place, Shutra only received 30 orcs because he had no merits in the past . ’

Despite all of them being children of the Demon King, Chris and Caitlin received two times more orcs than Shutra and even had their lycanthropes .

The reason was simple .

Chris and Caitlin had distinguished themselves as children of the Demon King .

'Well, I will build up my merits from now on . ’

It was the power of infinite positivity and he would make it so .

In-gong formed a tight fist to express his resolve and asked Carack .

"Then did Carack receive anything separate?”

Although it was In-gong’s merit, Carack was technically the one who killed Kaichin . Carack laughed and tapped on his chest at In-gong’s question .

"I got a reward . And I received it from Prince . ”

Carack proudly lifted the dwarf axe that In-gong gave him .

“I’m glad you like it . ”

'I still have the items I packed for later . Should I bring out an armour?’

He had decided to carry on with Carack, so he should invest in him . It would be better for In-gong if Carack became stronger .

After having a chat with Carack and returning to the base, In-gong headed toward the cave with his newly joined forces .

&

The road to the cave was smooth . In the first place, it was close to Shutra’s base . It was also under Chris and Caitlin’s sphere of influence, thanks to Kaichin’s defeat .

‘A prince normally rides separately on a horse . ’

Just like last time, In-gong walked next to Carack . Usually in games and movies, soldiers walked while nobility were on horseback .

‘That reminds me of something . Chris and Caitlin also seem to be walking around . Is it because they are lycanthropes?’

He used to rise on horses when playing Zephyr . It wasn’t an ordinary horse but a phantom steed that could fly in the sky .

‘I will use it later . ’

In-gong, who had been thinking about the past (?), suddenly stopped walking . There were two people in black robes standing in the middle of the road .

“Caitlin noona?”

"Shush . ”

Caitlin raised a finger to her lips and gestured for In-gong to come closer . In-gong approached Caitlin while Carack stayed behind . He saw that the other person standing there was Caitlin’s aide, Seira, who he had already met at the meeting .

In-gong nodded in response to Seira’s greeting bow and asked Caitlin .

“What is happening all of a sudden? Why are you wearing robes?”

Normally, she wore a blue cloak but at present, she was completely covered by a robe . Caitlin spoke in a low voice .

"I will secretly follow you on this reconnaissance mission . It is in case something serious happens . ”

He could understand what was going on but he didn’t know why she was joining in secret . In-gong scratched his head and asked,

“Uh . . . so, you joined unofficially?”

Although she joined In-gong’s reconnaissance mission, it was a secret to the outside world . In other words, she wasn’t here .

Caitlin nodded .

"Yes . I will only move if it becomes really dangerous . This is because they should be Shutra’s merits . ”

In-gong now approximately understood the situation .

They still didn’t know how much the Red Lightning tribe knew about the cave . So, Caitlin was accompanying him in case there was danger .

However, if Caitlin was involved, the merits of the reconnaissance mission might become hers . So, she joined unofficially .

‘It is true that it is a burden – I am a victim of results-focused education . ’

It was reasonable to say that treatment was different depending on merits but it was a huge burden for young children .

‘Then that means she wants to give me a push?’

It could be interpreted in several different ways .

One, she wanted to make Shutra more useful by increasing his merits . Two, she wanted to make sure that she became friendlier with Shutra .

‘Chris may not know that Caitlin is doing this . ’

It was clear that she came to help with a pure heart .

‘What type of star was I born under? No, not all children in this world are plotting . ’

In-gong nodded as he was convinced and smiled brightly at Caitlin .

“I understand . Thank you, Noona . ”

“Yes . ”

Caitlin responded by pulling down her hood and moved to the front of the unit with Seira . Unlike Caitlin, Seira seemed a little bit dissatisfied with the present situation .

‘She should be . ’

It was a situation where her master had come to serve another prince for free . It wasn’t something she would do for Chris .

Once In-gong returned to his position, Carack asked him .

“Is it okay for Princess to join?”

"Uh, just don’t think about it and proceed with the operation normally . "

Caitlin followed so quietly that Carack no longer looked back .

How much time passed?

In-gong found that other pathway inside the cave that he had described to Chris and Caitlin .

The only difference with the passage was that it led in a different direction . In-gong searched various empty rooms in the passage and frowned as he looked at the mini-map .

"All the rooms are empty . ”

He was expected an arsenal covered in dust but there were no treasures in the room .

However, Carack didn’t seem surprised as he explained .

“Wouldn’t people take their valuables when moving? The dwarves would have taken all of it when they migrated . ”

"Then what about the weapons yesterday?”

“I guess they weren’t that valuable . ”

This was perfect logic . In-gong was speechless as he stared at Carack .

‘This guy, is he a genius among orcs?’

He felt strange but it was good for In-gong if his subordinate was competent . In-gong was convinced of this and looked behind him . Caitlin was almost invisible in the cave due to the dark robe she was wearing .

‘Next time, should I ask her to beat me with magic?’

It was a sudden thought but when thinking about Caitlin and Aura, he was suddenly reminded of magic and divine power .

‘Will she call me a pervert again if I ask her to help me with magic the same way she did Aura?’

In-gong laughed bitterly as he was reminded of Caitlin’s reaction, then he tilted his head .

‘What will happen if I’m hit by magic? Would it awaken? Will I be able to learn magic at all?’

He wanted to experiment . After returning from the reconnaissance mission, he would ask Caitlin to hit him with whatever magic she had .

‘Kuhuhu! Magic, magic . ’

In-gong had a lively smile at the thought of being hit by Caitlin . Then In-gong looked up with a frown and Carack had the same reaction .

“Prince . ”

Carack raised his axe and said in a low voice . In-gong nodded . The mini-map was showing red dots that meant enemies .