Chương 134: Chapter 131 - Counterintelligence

"What do you mean, new mission? Why do I have a new mission? Can you provide any details?" I asked while trying to catch up to Sergeant Cole.

"Well, come with me. I am briefing my squad," said Sergeant Cole.

"Do you want to include someone from your squad?"

"Yeah, let me go call Peter," I replied. He was the only one in my squad who would be interested in planning and briefings. For the rest of my squad, I just had to point at targets and tell them to smash. We both parted our ways again. I made my way to the longhall assigned to my squad. I found Peter sitting in a corner, meditating. I sent a little mana toward him to grab his attention, making sure not to disturb him if he was at some critical point.

Sensing my mana, he opened his eyes, and then I said,"Come, Sergeant Cole has something better for us to think about," Peter stood up, the same confusion I had earlier written clearly on his face.

"There is a mission for us tomorrow, and Sergeant Cole is briefing us on it," I said, explaining as we made our way to the vanguard Longhall. As we arrived, one of the vanguard privates, who looked like he was waiting for us, took us in and closed the door. The atmosphere inside was nothing like the casual conversation I had with the sergeant earlier. The sergeant looked tense, more than usual. Roland also had a grim expression.

Sergeant Cole nodded as we entered, then, looking at two privates in the corner, he ordered, "If you sense any foreign mana, signal me and try to locate as soon as you can." Then, looking at everyone in the room, he said, "No one else is to use any mana inside this room."

"In the last 10 days, almost all patrols have been attacked. No one returned," he continued, directly getting to the point, shocking almost all of us. This rate of patrol elimination was absurd.

"As you can already guess, the captain suspects Frosthallow is planning something big."

"Invasion?" I asked.

"Something like that, but it could be something else. All we know is they are going to great lengths to hide whatever they are planning. But for now, our mission is not to uncover it. In going to those great lengths, they have somehow been able to convert someone from this fort, and this is our mission. Our primary goal is to make sure the next patrol is successful."

"Edward, there is a reason I requested your squad's help. I think you and Peter could be helpful. We do not know how information about patrol routes is getting leaked or who is leaking it. From our last encounter, I know that your and Peter's observation and mana sensing could rival the best sensors in the army. I am hoping you two can find clues on how they are communicating information, and even better if you can find out who is leaking it," Sergeant Cole said, looking at me and Peter.

We just nodded, then I asked,"Are we going to travel with the patrol team?"

"No. As I said, the objective is to have the next patrol run successful, but it is also to help inflict damage. We will follow them without informing anyone, not even them. So if or when they are attacked, our aim is to capture as many attackers alive as we can, but if capturing them alive is not possible, we eliminate as many as we can—with the objective to deter them from the next attack."

"Any questions?" Sergeant Cole asked. I waited for a while to see if anyone else had questions, because I had a few, and most of them were not exactly related to the mission. After a few questions on roles and formations, everyone was satisfied with the mission details, and I took the opportunity to voice my question. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Sir, I had some questions not entirely related to the mission. I was hoping you might be able to answer them." The sergeant nodded, signaling me to continue.

"Why are we not informing the patrol unit? Are we not putting their lives at risk? If the patrol knew, we might be able to coordinate better," I said.

"How do you know they are not the traitors?" the sergeant asked.

"The easiest way to leak position would be if someone from the patrol squad itself leaked information, and once they cross the border, it would be impossible to know if they were killed, captured, or left voluntarily." Even with the possibility of a traitor mentioned, my thoughts didn't go there. I suspected the captain and higher-ups could actively place a possible traitor in the patrol squad for this mission. Once they are outside, they might act more freely, allowing us to catch them.

It looked like I had a lot to learn about defense and the army, especially counterintelligence. But if someone from the patrol squad could leak the information, it raised one more question.

"But why would soldiers from our own country help barbarians?" I asked.

"Greed, mostly. Frosthallow manipulates soldiers with money or equipment made of special metal only available to barbarians, promising them a place in their society."

"There is one more reason: a small portion of soldiers in the army are of half-barbarian blood, and there have been incidents of them betraying Avalon and actively helping Frosthallow. Usually, the army does not recruit barbarian-blooded soldiers, but during the Beast Tide, when we are in dire need of soldiers, some of them are recruited. One of the half-barbarians is in the patrol team," Sergeant Cole explained.

I did not know about the existence of barbarian blood in the army, and by the way the sergeant was speaking about the barbarian-blooded patrol soldier, he did not have a good opinion about him. To me, it felt like bias in Sergeant Cole, which was surprising given how accepting he was of the criminals in my squad. But my experience with Walter has taught me that biases come from individual experiences.

Walter had them for criminals, I have them for nobles, and it looks like Sergeant Cole has them for barbarian-blooded people. After a few more questions from others, we concluded the meeting. Once Peter and I were out of the longhall, I turned to Peter and asked,"Do you know about barbarian blood in Avalon? I had never heard about them," I asked. Peter tensed up a little but then answered me.

"You know about Northern Frontier Village and Velkar Town, right?" I nodded. Northern Frontier was a small village less than 10 miles away from Fort Dunvale, and Velkar Town was mid-sized but sometimes considered more important than Stonegate when it comes to the defense of Avalon. The town is situated on the Stonewash River, a river which directly flows to Stonegate.

If the town gets captured, it would allow barbarians direct access to the heartland of Avalon, allowing them to bypass Stonegate while also providing direct access to it via the river.

"Both of them used to be small barbarian villages that were captured 200 years back. Velkar was turned into a town after being captured, but there still remains a barbarian-blooded population. Velkar Town has around 25% barbarian-blooded population, and in the frontier village it could be up to 50%," Peter said. I nodded. It made sense Peter knew about it; his house, Roscoe, was located in Velkar Town.

"I am surprised you never informed me about it. So what is your opinion of barbarian-blooded people?" I asked Peter. I wanted to confirm if there was any reason to be cautious of barbarian-blooded soldiers, and who better to ask than someone who has spent most of his life in a town with a quarter barbarian-blooded population. But upon hearing my question, Peter's expression changed completely. He looked nervous about the topic. For someone like Peter, this type of nervousness was highly uncommon.

"They are alright," he said quietly.

"Are you alright? Is something bothering you?" I asked.

"Umm…" he hesitated a little, but after thinking for some time, he nodded to himself as if he had made his decision. Then he took a deep breath and looked me in the eye.

"My house's ancestry can be traced to barbarian blood," he said. I stopped in my tracks and looked at Peter in surprise. My eyes widened because Peter did not look anything like a barbarian. He looked more delicate than most people. His way of dressing was comparable to Lieutenant Cicero; he always kept his uniform clean. If not for my sergeant badge, people would think he was the sergeant instead of me.

Also, his last name did not sound anything like a barbarian name, but there was a possibility that when their house was recognized, they changed it to something that could not be associated with barbarians. But it looked like he misunderstood my expression. His expression turned defensive and disappointed at me.

"I'll have you know, my father, the first patriarch of House Roscoe, has served Avalon for the past 150 years. He lost his three brothers defending against barbarians. I have lost—""Hey," I said, cutting him off.

"I was just surprised. I imagined barbarian blood would look more like Varric and Garran… not like you." I looked him up and down with a faint smile.

"Were you born with some disease?" I joked, hoping to reduce the tension. Listening to my words, Peter eased up.

"My grandfather was half-blooded, so I have less than 25% barbarian blood. You should meet my father," he said with a smile.

"I look forward to it," I said. I finally understood why Peter was so strict about following the rules. It was easy to imagine people pointing fingers at him, even within the army, simply because of his bloodline. One mistake, and it could all be blamed on the so-called aggressive nature of barbarian society. I shook my head and continued toward the longhall. Everyone carried their own burdens. But for now, I needed to focus on tomorrow's mission. And if possible…

I wanted to clear two mana nodes tonight before we set out.