Chapter 82

Though, a small problem with speeding things up like you wanted still remained, namely the plentiful Archers of the Mountain Clans, who had long since decided to leave your Companion to the Mountain Knights and their Reinforcements. You couldn't really underestimate these Guys, as they were experienced enough to not pointlessly waste their Arrows on him, and you very much so doubted that these currently unoccupied Archers would continue to be that frugal once you intervened. For despite all the Chaos your Companion had been causing, you were pretty sure that the Archers would notice the Change quite rapidly once the first few Vials of Poison did their work, and that wasn't the kind of Risk you were willing to take.

But that being said, it wasn't like the problem was severe enough to actually dissuade you from trying to add some more Value to your Name, as you were naturally quite confident in your Ability to trick the Archers with all the little Assets you had at your disposal. Thus, after reassuring yourself that your Companion would be fine even if you contributed nothing, you backtracked deeper into the Woods to scavenge the Equipment of one of the female Scouts you had manage to neutralise not that long ago.

It took you a few Minutes to find and patch up the Damage you had inflicted upon it by driving one of your Daggers through the Girl's Back, but once you finished, a third of your work was pretty much done. The next two steps naturally being the drawing of a second map minus the Locations you had still some use for, and of course the Infiltration of the Camp itself. So that was what you did as you returned to your Hiding spot in full Disguise, as there was no reason to draw the new Map near the great Tree you had decided to hide the two dead Scouts under.

You couldn't help but get a bit giddy as you thought about just how rare such an Opportunity was, as ignoring the strength of your Companion even the best Knights of the King could only take on a few dozen Enemies at most as far as you knew. And seeing as most of the Poisons you had used at Stadley Castle had been lighter than Air, the Remainder of your Supplies should reap quite the Tally. Especially since the densely packed Formation of the Clansmen should make more than sure that the Poisons will resist the Winds and stay exactly where you would be throwing them.

All things considered, you might just end up with the greatest Kill Count in a single Engagement a Human could possibly get away with if you separate Assets like Dragons and whatever kind of Spirit your Companion was from your Poisons. There was of course still the Possibility that your Companion would feel a little annoyed at being denied some of his disturbing fun. But there was simply no Way that you would still be expendable after you put the lethality of the best Knights the Realm has to offer to Shame, and you were decently sure that your Companion could prioritise whatever Mission he was on over having fun.

With these Thoughts in Mind and your Map finally finished, you swiftly made your Way to the Gate in hopes that you wouldn't need to listen to another one of your Companion's Opponents getting unlucky. For while, you were sure that you could trick some Brutes without much issue, you still couldn't afford to lose your Focus while you talked your Way past the remaining Guards by the Gate, especially seeing as fleeing wasn't really an Option with that many Archers so close nearby. The delivering of the Map to the Commanders simply had to go smoothly to get as many Troops as possible out of the Camp to make sure that you could volunteer for one of the open Spots on the Walls without raising any Eyebrows.

And while flinching at the Sound your Companion found so endearing wouldn't be enough to blow your Cover as even the Mountain Knights still flinched each time, you very much so doubted that you could actually keep up a Facade like that. But luckily things had gone relatively smoothly as you had little difficulty passing through the Gate and only heard that Sound of condensed Agony twice shortly before you were allowed to enter the surprisingly massive Command Tent by a pair of tired looking Guards in Plate.

Explaining that you had found the Map near one of the easternmost Locations marked on it had been quite easy, and knowing of the Wildlife you had seen not too far away from the Location you were describing, you didn't lack Details to sell them the Story. As a nearby Cave of black Bears made for the ideal Excuse for why the Map and its Owner had separated without the need for Bloodshed or any kind of Encounter for that matter. It was accurate enough that every Clansman that had experience in the Region could probably affirm the Truth of your Words, while the lack of Information on the Enemy itself created the hoped for Amount of Uncertainty and Urgency in them.

Thus, you successfully found yourself a nice and cosy Spot on one of the small Towers overlooking the once more quite busy Gate a few Minutes later, as you patiently waited for the Reinforcements to leave for their isolated Outposts within the Woods. It was a bit frustrating that your Plan depended that much on drawing the last few Reserves out of the Camp as you knew that more of their Reinforcements were still on their Way, but there was nothing that could speed that Part up, some things simply needed time and the right Setup.

There really was very little you could do, as throwing the Poison from where you stood was pretty much the only Way to make sure that the Clansmen wouldn't try to disengage. For there was a difference between sacrificing oneself to take down a strong Opponent and dying to the Trap of an Enemy. And while you didn't know much about the Mountain Clans, you couldn't imagine that a People could fight as long as they had against the Knights of the Vale without the use of Poisons of some sort, as most of the Reinforcements you had the Chance to observe were still under-equipped.

Especially since it normally takes a lot more than just Martial Prowess to take on a proper Knight, and if you don't have any Armour and your Weapons can only inflict some Scratches here and there it would be a Wonder, or extremely atrocious Luck if they didn't use Poisons from time to time. So there reasonably shouldn't be any Reason for the Clansmen fighting below to think anything was amiss if they were killed by Poison if they thought it was used to take down that Monster of a Knight they were facing. Even Valour could be exploited after all, and seeing as they still hadn't broken even after your Companion's darker Side had taken him over, there was most certainly no Shortage of Valour down there.