Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading Chapter 37

The reason Roden was certain that something would definitely happen today was none other than this.

This was because from tomorrow, they would enter a dangerous zone, and Transport Unit 2's alert posture was scheduled to be heightened.

Before the supply lines had lengthened, the transport mission should have originally ended today.

All that would have been left was to rest for a day and then return to the unit.

But as the supply lines grew longer, they had to travel for three more days.

And for that reason, from here on out was inevitably a dangerous zone.

It was a perfect location for the Imperial Army's cavalry to quickly slip into the allied camp and then flee.

So it was only natural for Transport Unit 2 to raise its alert posture starting tomorrow.

And when that happened, moving about in the middle of the night as before would become more difficult.

It was to the point that even Roden thought he should stay in one place and not move starting tomorrow.

Therefore, it was nearly impossible for Prat, who was nothing more than an ordinary soldier, to pull anything after today.

This was the reason Roden had decided to make his move today.

‘I’ve made thorough preparations. All that’s left is to wait.’

For reference, Roden was currently lying on his camp bed with the lights off in his tent.

It shouldn't be misunderstood that Roden had no intention of catching Prat.

On the contrary, he was lying down like this in order to catch Prat.

‘Until now, Prat has predicted my movements with strange accuracy.’

As mentioned before, Roden had never conducted his surveillance at the same time on any given day.

And yet, he hadn't been able to run into Prat again after the first day.

Statistically, it was something that didn't make sense.

For this to be possible, there were only two ways.

Either Prat was truly not doing anything.

Or he had some special means to predict Roden's movements.

That was the reason Roden was currently pretending to be asleep early.

If he was truly predicting Roden’s movements perfectly, he would never miss a golden opportunity like today.

‘At the same time, I too can stop suspecting Prat without any clear circumstantial or physical evidence.’

Roden secretly hoped that his suspicion was nothing more than a groundless fear.

But,

Jiiing, jiiing.

Roden, who had briefly fallen asleep, opened his eyes at the sound of a vibration.

In other words, it meant that Prat had made a move.

***

While Roden, who had been lying on his camp bed, dozed off for a moment.

Prat was secretly meeting someone and having a conversation.

“Did that moron really go to bed early today?”

“……Yes.”

“Phew. I was worried he’d be watching the supply wagons with his eyes wide open until today, but that’s a relief.”

“…….”

Prat, who had let out a sigh of relief, looked at the man and smiled brightly.

“Today, we’ll be able to carry out the great task according to His will. Thank you, Zailo. If things go well, I’ll be sure to repay you too.”

That was right.

The identity of the man conversing with Prat was the 1st Squad Leader, Zailo.

Zailo and Prat were childhood friends.

Childhood friends who had grown up together in a small village that was now gone.

For that reason, to Zailo, Prat was also the only person who knew his old self.

A self whose atmosphere was somewhat different from now.

Zailo, recalling this past, hesitated and then with difficulty, opened his mouth towards Prat.

“Prat. Wouldn’t it be better to stop what you’re trying to do now, at this point?”

“What? Stop?”

“Yes. What you’re trying to do right now isn’t helping our allies, it’s harming them.”

“Who says?”

“That’s the truth, isn’t it? No matter what you tamper with in the supply wagons, in the end, it will be our allies who are harmed.”

As Zailo finished speaking, a heavy silence hung between the two.

And what broke the silence was Prat's laughter.

“Kekeke. Our little snot-nosed Zailo has grown up so much. It feels like just yesterday you were following me around calling me boss, boss.”

“……Prat.”

“Yes. I am Prat. Even though you’re a squad leader here and I’m just an ordinary soldier, I am Prat. And you’re telling me that what I’m doing now is wrong?”

“It’s not that……”

“What do you mean it’s not!”

Prat suddenly raised his voice, and Zailo fell silent at this.

Looking at Zailo’s face, Prat smiled brightly again as if he had never been angry.

“You are saying I’m wrong.”

“…….”

“But do you know this? That me being wrong is the same as Him being wrong?”

“…….”

“Zailo. I’ve told you time and again, but it’s only Him. The only one who can help rebuild our village, which had to be mercilessly trampled before overwhelming power and authority, is only Him.”

“…….”

“So if you dare to defy His command and want to run away, you run away. Just like you did back then.”

“…….”

Zailo, who was usually so good at jesting, couldn't say a single word in front of Prat.

It wasn't simply because Prat remembered him when he was just a snot-nosed kid.

The reason was that they didn't offer up the maiden the lord had his eye on.

His parents, who had turned to ashes along with the village that had to burn for that one reason.

Because the image of himself running away, leaving such parents behind, kept flickering before his eyes.

Prat, satisfied with the sight of the speechless Zailo, began to walk.

The place his steps were headed was towards the supply wagons.

In the end, despite Zailo’s dissuasion, Prat had decided to follow His command.

Zailo watched Prat silently, then left the spot as if there was nothing he could do.

When he had abandoned the village and fled.

An unbridgeable gap had already formed between him and Prat.

***

What Roden had set up on the supply wagons.

It was magic.

Alarm magic.

Of course, it wasn't just ordinary alarm magic.

It was cast through a sword dance, and the magic's effect was also modified to suit the situation.

Originally, alarm magic could be learned without much difficulty even at the mid-1st Circle.

In the first place, the effect of alarm magic was nothing more than making a warning sound go off automatically according to a preset condition.

But Roden adjusted the effect so that even if the condition was met, the warning sound would only be audible to him.

It was a measure to avoid getting caught using magic.

‘Still, it's a trump card, so it would be too much of a waste to get caught because of alarm magic.’

Just like that, Roden had cast a spell so that a vibration would come to him if someone rummaged through the tightly packed supply wagons.

And as soon as the vibration came, he called Chevalier and some of the unit and moved swiftly towards the supply wagons.

“Take your hands off and step back, Prat.”

Thanks to this, Roden was able to raid the scene without difficulty.

Prat, with a flustered expression at Roden's warning, raised his hands and stepped back.

And in Prat's eyes, he could see.

That Chevalier had already approached close by with Roden.

Furthermore, Roden and Chevalier were not the only ones surrounding him.

Next to the two of them stood the soldiers of the 3rd Squad, including Federico.

The reason Roden had brought the 3rd Squad out of the three squads was none other than this.

Because the 3rd Squad was currently the unit Roden could command the fastest.

As such, Federico's loyalty, having seen the effects of the new training method, was extremely high.

Anyway, because a group of soldiers had surrounded him like this, Prat didn't even think of resisting.

Instead, he gave up resisting and started making excuses.

“I, I was just looking for the latrine and……”

But there was no way such a lame excuse would work again this time.

At Roden's signal, Chevalier checked the object Prat was clutching tightly in his hand.

It was something in the form of a white powder that looked like flour.

The experienced Federico lightly dipped his index finger and tasted it, then immediately spat it out.

“Ptooey. It's rat poison. It seems he was probably trying to mix this with the food supplies.”

“N-no. This is……”

“Stay still! You’ll be able to make all the excuses you want soon enough.”

Prat momentarily put strength into his hand to throw the rat poison he was holding onto the ground, but it was no use.

Because Chevalier was holding Prat's hands tightly so he couldn't move.

It was the physical strength of a 2-star knight, so Prat had no way of overpowering him.

Just as all the rat poison was confiscated by Chevalier and a look of despair clouded Prat's face.

“What is going on?”

Soldiers from other squads who were on night watch felt the commotion and approached the supply wagons.

As commotion was added to commotion, other soldiers also began to gather one by one to where the supply wagons were.

And among these gathering soldiers was Zailo.

At that moment, Prat, who was trembling with a pale face, discovered Zailo and then snapped his head up and raised his voice.

“Zailo! So it was you! You were the one who betrayed me!”

It was a situation where it was almost certain that Prat was the traitor who tried to tamper with the food supplies.

In such a situation, as he spoke as if Zailo were the traitor, everyone present couldn't help but tilt their heads in confusion.

They couldn't understand how the situation was unfolding.

In the meantime, Prat continued to speak.

“Remember this, Zailo! That our village will be rebuilt through my death! That I am different from a coward like you!”

Just in time, Havier, who seemed to have received the news late, was approaching the supply wagons.

“What is going on!”

Just as everyone's gaze turned towards Havier for a moment.

“Krrrk.”

Suddenly, Prat made a sound like clearing phlegm and his eyes rolled back.

At the same time,

Keuleok.

Prat vomited blood.

Just like that, Prat died before anything could be done.

Havier hurriedly checked Prat's condition, but it was useless.

“It’s a potent poison that assassins use for suicide when carrying out infiltration missions.”

“For suicide? But Prat’s hands were both restrained by Chevalier.”

“It doesn’t matter if he was restrained. This poison is carried in the mouth.”

“Ah.”

“Yes. To block the possibility of a confession, if they get caught during a mission, they burst this thing hidden in their mouth. To make him use something like this. I don't know who's behind this, but they’re a vicious one.”

As Roden and Havier were conversing, Chevalier took a step forward.

Then he spoke to Havier.

“Lastly, Prat spoke as if the 3rd Infantry Platoon's 1st Squad Leader, Zailo, was the traitor. It seems right to investigate this.”

At those words, Havier, as if greatly shocked, turned his head towards Zailo, who was standing frozen to one side.

Then he gave the order.

“Bind the 3rd Infantry Platoon's 1st Squad Leader. I will interrogate him myself.”

Just like that, Zailo was bound by the surrounding soldiers and dragged away without a single act of resistance.

And Roden, watching this scene, was quietly lost in thought.

He thought he knew who was behind it.