Novel Bin Vol. 1 - Ch. 105 - Dark Wolf (1)
How I went out on a trip to fulfil my craving for seafood, how I spent my time on Solcoast enjoying the oceanic scenery, and how coincidentally --- it was important to emphasize this here for me --- I happened to accept that escort request. Though Justine-san didn\'t seem to believe it at all, as he muttered something incomprehensible like \'They\'ll surely collect information, which is just perfect\'.
Just as I feared another troublesome work was about to be pushed onto me, Master unexpectedly came to my rescue.
"It would be disgraceful to give a temporary member, a student on top of that, with an infiltration mission. Though my words mean nothing considering it\'s the brat. Anyway, it\'s a no. You just do your work as an explorer like usual and report back to me if you get in touch with them again. That\'s all."
I was relieved to hear this conclusion, meanwhile Justin-san shrugged.
"Anyway, first is the reformation of the police force. I need you to check and decide whether to set up the police booths with three shifts or two. Then next is the function of the spreadsheets. Emi claimed that \'We should focus more on augmentation than just focusing on one aspect since the so-called spreadsheet would surely be a cornerstone in other places than just our Knight Order\', and opinion is split on this, so you need to attend the meeting and see that it reaches a conclusion. I damn hate those boorishly long meetings.
Come back to my office when you\'re done with that. I need extra hands to take care of some things, and I\'ll also check your progress in enhanced vision magic. Then at 8 p.m., head out with Dante\'s leading team. You must have had quite a good vacation, huh? Now it\'s time to sweat it out, you brat."
Master explained my next tasks with a grinning face.
"What, that\'s cruel! I\'m just a student who just joined the Knight Order temporarily! Wait I know, my dear Justin-senpai would surely hel---"
I protested and hurriedly turned around to rope in Justin-san in helping out, but that person had long disappeared.
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The Knight Order that Yuglia Kingdom boasted of had seven legions, with each legion sporting 120 members and an Imperial legion made up of 60 knights.
Each legion undertook specific duties, and the way to identify them was by the color of their uniform\'s mantle. In detail---
Imperial Legion: Their main task was to guard the royal family and defend the royal capital (Silver).
1st Legion: The kingdom\'s Monster Calamity Relief Initiative (White).
2nd Legion: In charge of the navy around the Baerentz Sea and the Rune Great River, located in the eastern part of the kingdom, and safeguarding the sea border (Cyan).
3rd Legion: Controlling and managing the forces overlooking the entire kingdom, protecting the kingdom and the rune plains (Black).
4th Legion: Supervising the kingdom\'s northern forces, along with guarding the border with the Rosemieur Empire (Red).
5th Legion: Supervising the kingdom\'s northwestern forces, along with guarding the border with the Starlight Theocracy and the Cucciola Municipal Federation (Yellow).
6th Legion: Supervising the kingdom\'s southwestern forces, along with guarding the border with Justeria (Green).
7th Legion: Supervising the kingdom\'s southeastern forces, along with guarding the border with the Kuwaal Republic and the Futoura Kingdom (Blue).
There were also rumors that the underworld organization also had their own color, Magenta (purplish red), but there was no proof of their existence. I mean, could you imagine a force from the dark side sporting such a royal color? That must be some kind of joke for sure.
Anyway, while the duties and areas were quite clearly defined for the Knight Order, that wasn\'t a complete top-to-bottom view of it.
For example, legions would cooperate with each other to reduce several risky incidents like a stampede, or a new kind of plague --- of the level of a disaster --- or like how the 6th legion had requested the 3rd legion\'s help for the current request. Apparently, a dangerous monster has appeared in the area managed by the 6th legion that they couldn\'t handle alone, and the 1st legion was busy due to various reasons hence they requested help from the 3rd legion who were adjacent to them, with the Western Rune Mountain Belt sandwiched between.
In this way, the coordination and cooperation between legions would increase in peace times.
The mission we --- a four-person squad --- were tasked with was the extermination of a Dark Wolf pack that had been sighted in a certain baron\'s territory at the West Rune Mountain Belt with Dante-san as the leader.
It was a non-stop march for three days. The sole silver lining was that we were allowed to use a magic car with a resplendent interior--- the Knight Order\'s exclusive vehicle.
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"Alright, what\'s with that mask?"
Dante-san asked while pointing at my mask --- which had the portrait of a grinning middle-aged man with drooping eyes --- that I had been wearing inside the magic car.
"This? I bought it in Kirika when I stopped by there during my vacation. It hid my identity and also blocked light completely, a perfect item to train active sonar. Though I don\'t know just whose fetish it caters to, but it looked nice, so I bought it.
But I really would like to ask the creator why in the world they decided to go along with this design if I ever meet them. It\'s even hard and fits perfectly on my face!"
Dante-san made a wry smile at my explanation. Well, I could roughly deduce that he was someone with a great sense of aesthetics.
"......I just thought that maybe there\'s some kind of grave reason, but it seems like there\'s none. Well, I think that maybe you should be a bit more mindful about your getup? Leaving that aside, how much do you know about Dark Wolves?"
According to the Canardial Encyclopedia, a Dark Wolf was an animal capable of fostering a mana organ over time. They were unlike the monster-ification of a Rune Sheep as those wolf-type monsters carried the essence of a mana organ inside them from birth.
They were nocturnal beasts with obsidian-like black fur that allowed them to hide within the veil of the night. They hunted in packs and excelled in surprise attacks. They would often attack campsites of explorers or merchant caravans or target domesticated pets in human settlements, which in all put them into the dangerous monster category.
They were individually ranked between D to B-rank, and some stronger variants were even classified as high as A-rank. But facing their pack was another matter. In terms of explorer rank, a request to subjugate a Dark Wolf pack would surely be designated as S-rank.
S-rank designations basically meant a single A-rank explorer couldn\'t take them down and so these requests were typically passed on to the Knight Order.
Well, it should be possible for a band of high-ranking explorers to chase them out of the territory if requested, but that was why the mission was assigned to us. The goal this time was to \'eliminate them all\'. Even if they were to be chased away, they might group together in another region and wreak havoc after all.
Besides, it should be hard for a baron family to dish out the funds to personally request high-ranking explorers to do such a task. That was where Marquis Endemion\'s troops (one of the many forces in the southwest), the patron of the aforementioned baron family, and the 6th legion that supervised them had a discussion where they decided to call out for our support in order to minimize the trouble at the Justeria border. Justeria was no stranger, but it was also not an acquaintance.
"They\'re good at surprise attacks and are cunning and intelligent monsters. They can also sense strong enemies and flee at a moment\'s notice. And their special trait is to regroup with each other even when they\'re 100 kilometers apart.
The best way to cull them completely is by spreading a net of people over 50 kilometers, and trap them into a ring as much as possible in daytime by closing in. Well, it would be great if we can somehow lure them out of their den, which is safer and more practical, but that requires a lot of time and human resources."
Dante-san nodded at my explanation.
"Heh, it\'s great that you have a strong curiosity to learn on your own... We would have followed the same plan when their concealment ability was at their lowest, but it\'s hard to request for more backup given the kingdom\'s internal affairs.
The 6th legion will be the sword in this campaign with us, the 3rd legion squad, joining them as support. We\'ll take them out all at once at night when they\'re most active. It\'s going to be a tough ride, so always be on your guard."
Dante-san explained with a tense expression. I also nodded with a similar serious expression.
"Also...... I know that\'s not your actual intent but that grinning old man face mask might appear annoying..."
E/N - I was thinking MC\'s mask was a V mask, but it described the mask with \'drooping eyes\'. ♂️