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Chapter 16: A Spy Among Us?

—The next day.

We of the Barbar Mercenary Party set up our camp to the northwest of the Vaffancrow Empire’s siege encampment around Colon Castle.

It was the least obtrusive spot we could find.

After finishing breakfast, I decided to take a walk through the Empire’s camp to gather some intel.

「Uncle Athos. I’ll go collect information. As for the siege… just make sure we don’t look like we’re slacking off, but don’t let anyone get hurt either.」

「Understood. Leave it to me. Seems like they’re taking turns at the front, but who knows if they’ll even call on us…」

「If they do, give the soldiers a chance to rest.」

The Crown Prince and the command tent crew were drinking by noon and surrounding themselves with women.

Getting injured in a half-baked battle like this would be ridiculous.

I took Jessica, the Elven beauty, and Rosso, chieftain of the Great Lizard Tribe, with me as companions and headed into the Vaffancrow Empire’s camp.

「Hey, Gaia. Where are we going?」

「I want to take a look around. And also find some merchants, need to restock food.」

「Oh! Food! Nice~!」

At the word 「Food」 Rosso’s voice lit up with excitement.

Jessica glanced at him and poked fun in awkward Barbar speech.

「Rosso is dumb. Eats too much. Donkey, not food.」

「Shut up! I know that!」

「Rosso, doesn’t know. Looks at donkey, like meat. Donkey will bite.」

Jessica wasn’t fluent in Barbar, but she always tried to speak it when she was with the group.

She was considerate like that, a good kid.

「Donkey」 was the name I gave to the actual donkey.

He’d been doing great carrying wounded soldiers and supplies.

But he didn’t get along with Rosso. Every time Rosso got close, Donkey would try to bite him.

I joined in on teasing Rosso.

「Rosso just can’t control his appetite. The way he looks at Donkey, it’s like he’s seeing steak.」

「Tch! I know it’s wrong, alright!? But my instincts, my wild instincts, they betray me!」

「Don’t eat it. Seriously, don’t eat it!」

「I got it!」

「Rosso is dumb. Will eat one day.」

The three of us bantered as we wandered through the camp.

Soon, we came upon a particularly lively area where many merchants had set up tents and wagons.

They sold weapons, armor, food, of course, but also trinkets and accessories like souvenirs.

There were dancers swaying to music, putting on sultry performances, clearly a traveling brothel.

With twenty thousand soldiers stationed here, the risks of war were outweighed by the promise of profit.

「They sure hustle for business…」

「Clothes, not same.」

Jessica picked up on my muttering.

She was right, the merchants’ outfits were all over the place.

Not just Vaffancrow Empire merchants, clearly some were from other countries.

As we looked around, a wagon stacked high with vegetables and fruit caught my eye.

Everything looked fresh.

I approached the foreign-looking merchant standing nearby and spoke in the Empire’s tongue.

「Hello. That fruit looks delicious.」

The merchant smiled and answered in smooth Empire-speak.

「Welcome! All freshly harvested from the local area!」

He turned and spoke to his assistant, telling him to offer us a sample orange, in the language of the Algeas Kingdom, the one we were fighting.

Thanks to the earlier battle, I’d already downloaded the Algeas Kingdom language.

「You’re from the Kingdom of Algeas, aren’t you?」

「Yes, I am. My name is Karanos. Pleased to meet you.」

「I’m Gaia, commander of the Barbar Mercenary Party. Also chieftain of the Blumund tribe.」

「Barbar… That’s the collective name for the tribes living north of the Empire, correct?」

「That’s right.」

He knew that off the top of his head…

The Kingdom of Algeas and us Barbar folk were quite distant, with the Empire in between.

We had no direct relations.

And yet when I said ‘Barbar,’ he immediately identified it as the tribes to the north of the Empire.

This Karanos, he might be a spy.

「Just to confirm, Karanos, do you have a permit to sell here?」

「Of course. Here, take a look.」

He produced a parchment from his coat and handed it to me.

「Hmm… It checks out. An official permit from the Empire.」

「We merchants don’t take sides. Empire or Kingdom, it doesn’t matter. We go where the business is.」

He must’ve sensed my suspicion.

Karanos bowed deeply, hiding his expression.

I stroked my chin and thought.

(Well… Even if he is a spy, that’s fine…)

In fact, this might be a chance to 「establish a connection」 with the Kingdom of Algeas.

Right now, we were fighting under the Empire’s banner, but who knew what the future would hold?

Better to have contacts in various countries.

While Karanos and I were talking, his assistant passed out sliced orange samples to the three of us.

「This fruit is called an orange. Don’t eat the peel, just bite into it like this.」

Karanos took a slice and demonstrated.

We did the same.

「Delicious!」

Sweetness and tartness burst across my tongue.

Juicy, fresh orange. Fantastic.

「Delicious!」

「Whoa! What is this taste!? I want more!」

Jessica and Rosso’s eyes went wide. It was their first time tasting orange, apparently.

Karanos, still smiling, offered us a watermelon next.

「I’m glad you like it! Would you care to try some watermelon next?」

「I’ll take it!」

The watermelon, too, was just as good as we hoped.

Since coming to this world, this was the first real fruit I’d had.

Fresh, crisp, juicy, absolutely amazing.

I decided to stock up here.

「Karanos. Can I place an order to supply food for the Barbar Mercenary Party? There’s a hundred of us.」

「Of course! I’d be honored!」

「Fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish if you’ve got it.」

「Certainly!」

Good food would help the troops recover.

Especially fresh produce, that meant vitamin C.

「Also… I’d like some dried meat too.」

「Ah, something with shelf life? Then might I also suggest biscuits and dried grapes?」

「Perfect. I’ll take them. Can you also procure donkeys? With carts and feed?」

「Yes, I can get a few.」

「Great. Please deliver everything to the Barbar Mercenary Party camp in the northwest.」

「Understood! Thank you for your business!」

That should do it.

We left the merchant area and continued walking along the perimeter of the siege camp, checking the terrain around Colon Castle.

I activated the [Sma-ho!] skill and used it to scan for nearby threats.

No signs of enemy scouts or hidden forces.

That had been my biggest concern, what a relief.

When we’d reached a spot with no one else around, Rosso spoke up.

「Hey, Gaia.」

「Hmm?」

「That merchant… He’s strong.」

「You think so?」

「Yeah. The way he moved… He’s definitely got training.」

「Got it. I’ll stay on guard.」

Karanos was no ordinary merchant.

I used [Sma-ho!] again to pull up Karanos’s profile.

「Karanos. Military background. A smart and strong individual.」

Thought so…

Most likely a spy posing as a merchant from the enemy side.

This battlefield wasn’t going to be simple.

Then Jessica asked me something in Elven.

「Gaia. Why did you buy dried meat and donkeys? We’re at war, but we’re staying here for a while, aren’t we?」

「Yeah.」

「Then we don’t need portable rations like dried meat. Or pack animals like donkeys. Why buy them?」

「In case we need to run.」

At my answer, Jessica’s face stiffened.