Chapter 129: Five Letters (2)

The Crooked Lantern was as crowded as it always was.

It was one of the few places on the Wall where people could forget, even for a little while, that the Great Green Forest was only a few miles away and that something enormous was gathering beyond the trees.

The inn was technically a cover for a branch of the Blue Moon, but that did not mean its owners neglected the business.

The food was good.

The alcohol was better.

And that was all the men of the Wall ever asked for.

A warm meal, strong drink, and a place where they could spend a few hours without thinking about what waited outside.

Encrid entered through the main door.

Odd noticed him almost immediately.

The man gave him a simple nod, and before he could ask why Encrid had come, Encrid gave him a look that was enough.

Odd turned and started walking toward the back.

By now, he had understood something.

Encrid did not come to the Crooked Lantern simply to drink.

Whenever the Watcher appeared here without an invitation, it meant he had work for the Blue Moon.

Encrid quietly followed him.

They passed through the kitchen, went down a narrow staircase, and entered the cellar beneath the inn.

The cellar was warmer than the upper floor.

Two lamps burned against the stone walls, illuminating rows of barrels and shelves filled with supplies. At the far end, Crescent was sitting at a wooden table.

She was buried beneath paperwork.

There were reports stacked on one side, letters on another, and several sheets spread open in front of her.

She had clearly been awake for far longer than she should have been.

The dark circles beneath her eyes were more prominent than Encrid had ever seen them.

She looked up when he entered.

"It seems the news travels fast."

Encrid did not need to ask why she was busy.

The information about the horde had probably reached the Blue Moon before it had reached half the officers on the Wall.

Information was their business, after all.

"I don’t understand why you are here when you should be fleeing back to the Gannon Household, my lord."

Encrid laughed.

"You think I am doing all this so I can run?"

Crescent did not answer.

There was nothing she could say to that.

If Encrid had intended to flee, he would not have spent six months preparing the Wall for a battle that everyone else had considered nothing more than a possibility.

Nevertheless, Encrid did not come here to discuss his reasons.

He had work to do.

He reached inside his coat and took out five sealed letters.

He placed them on the table in a neat stack.

Crescent’s eyes moved from Encrid to the letters.

Then back to Encrid.

She picked up the first one.

She did not open it.

Instead, she examined the address.

She turned the letter over, checked the seal, placed it face down on the table, and picked up the next.

She repeated the process.

The Gannon Estate.

The Royal Palace.

The Frontlines of the East.

House Cavel.

Crescent stopped at the fifth letter.

She spent considerably longer examining it than she had the others.

The address was to a remote village somewhere in the south.

It was not a place Crescent recognized.

She read the name twice.

Then she looked up at Encrid.

From her expression, he understood that she had never heard of the place.

Even then, she did not ask.

She did not need to.

Encrid had not brought five letters to the Blue Moon because he wanted them delivered eventually.

He wanted them delivered now.

If ordinary postal services had been enough, he would never have come here.

Crescent understood that immediately.

She placed the fifth letter back on the table and squared all five into a neat stack.

Then she rested one hand on top of them.

"How fast?"

"As fast as your organization is able to deliver them."

Encrid’s voice was calm.

"I want them treated as a top priority. Use the fastest means available. Whatever the cost may be, I’ll pay it."

Crescent looked at him for a moment.

"All five?"

"All five."

"Any particular order?"

"No."

Encrid shook his head.

"In fact, I would prefer them dispatched separately rather than sent together."

Crescent’s expression changed slightly.

That was an unusual request.

"Why?"

"I have no idea which of them is going to answer."

That answer was enough to make her understand that the letters were more important than their contents suggested.

Five destinations.

Five different people or places.

And Encrid had no certainty that any of them would respond.

But he needed to give every one of them the chance.

Crescent looked down at the letters again.

"I’ll send them out immediately."

She picked up the stack.

"I assume you want them moving immediately because the Wall has only ten days."

Encrid nodded.

"They need to reach their destinations before the battle begins."

Crescent did not ask what was inside them.

That was another reason Encrid liked working with the Blue Moon.

He did not need to explain everything. ℴ

They understood urgency without demanding unnecessary explanations.

They understood that sometimes the value of information came from knowing when to act, not from knowing why.

Crescent turned toward the stairs.

Encrid stopped her.

"There is one more thing."

She looked back.

Crescent waited.

"Send a word to your Leader."

The change in her expression was immediate.

The casual tiredness disappeared.

Her posture straightened, and her eyes became much sharper.

She stood there for several seconds, weighing his words.

"And the message?"

Encrid thought about it.

There were many ways he could phrase it.

He could explain the situation.

He could explain the horde, the Slumbering Elder, the ten-day deadline, and everything else that had happened.

But none of that was necessary.

He decided to be blunt.

"Tell him that it is time to keep his third promise."

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Sorry for the delayed release~