Arc 4 Chapter 31 : Siena's Scheme

[Ezio POV]

The sound of crashing waves and seagulls filled the air as I stood at the edge of the ship's deck, leaning over the side and pointing my mouth toward the sea.

That's right. We were out at sea, heading toward Avelino City.

"Uggghh... Why do we have to travel by ship again?" I complained, struggling to hold back the urge to vomit.

"What can we do? Traveling by sea is faster because we don't need to stop and rest, right?" Marcela said as she gently rubbed the back of my neck.

I understood the reasoning, but I still would have preferred walking over enduring this dizziness and nausea.

"As usual, you really can't travel by ship, can you, Ezio?"

Hearing someone call my name, I turned to the side.

A handsome man with dark blue hair approached us.

"Vice Captain," I greeted him.

He was Valentino Calguera—the Vice Captain of the Cavalier Squad and the second-strongest person in this Battalion after Captain Siena.

"Hang in there for a little longer, Ezio. We'll arrive in Avelino City tomorrow and hunt down the Imperial forces operating there," Vice Captain Valen said.

"Vice Captain, why do we have to go through all this trouble just to deal with a small group of enemy soldiers in the eastern region?" I asked him. "Aren't the troops stationed there enough to defeat the roughly one hundred Imperial soldiers rumored to have appeared there?"

How could Captain Siena have to come all the way here personally with the entire Battalion just because of a few hundred enemy soldiers?

It made the troops stationed in the eastern region seem completely useless.

On the other hand, the war we were fighting on the Western Front was far more brutal.

Even though hundreds of thousands of Imperial troops had attacked us, we had not surrendered and had managed to turn the situation around despite having fewer troops.

"I don't know much about the Imperial forces causing trouble in the eastern region, Ezio," the Vice Captain replied. "However, their threat must be serious enough for Captain Siena to personally come here and eliminate them."

I hoped they really were strong. Otherwise, traveling all the way from the western region to the east would be a complete waste if all we had to face were weaklings.

After sailing across the Gulf of Cosentia for three days and three nights, we finally docked at the harbor of Avelino City.

Unlike the western region of our country, the people here seemed almost completely unaffected by the war.

I suppose that was only natural, considering the enemy's main offensive was concentrated on the Western Front. They had even sent more than one hundred thousand troops there.

After reaching the urban area, Captain Siena ordered us to go to an inn and rest while she headed to the Military Logistics Department to discuss something.

She said that once she understood the situation in this region, we would immediately move out to locate and eliminate the Imperial troops operating in the eastern region.

As soon as I reached the inn, I collapsed onto the bed and slept for the entire day to recover from the seasickness I had suffered during the journey.

[Siena POV]

After arriving in Avelino City, I immediately headed to the city's Military Logistics Department building.

There, I met with Miss Milessa—the woman responsible for military logistics affairs in this region.

When I entered the office of the Regional Chief of Military Logistics, I saw a woman in her thirties sitting behind her desk, reading several documents.

Upon noticing my arrival, she put down the documents and smiled at me.

"Major Siena, you've arrived," Miss Milessa said. "Please, have a seat."

I nodded and sat down across from Miss Milessa.

"I'll get straight to the point, Miss Milessa. What happened to the logistical supply shipments intended for the Royal Draconian Army?"

She then told me the same thing Alesio had reported earlier.

However, Miss Milessa added an important detail: the Imperial forces always seemed to know exactly when and where our supply caravans would be traveling.

"Major Siena, I suspect there is—"

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"There is a spy within the Military Logistics Department."

I interrupted Miss Milessa.

I had already suspected as much.

There was no way the Imperial forces could continuously track the location of our caravans without being detected by their escorts.

The only possible explanation was that someone was providing them with information regarding the departure times and routes used by the caravans carrying our logistical supplies.

Even if Miss Milessa ordered the caravans to split into two or three groups and take different routes, as long as this spy informed the enemy where those caravans were heading, the Imperial forces operating in this region would still be able to ambush them.

If we wanted to resume sending logistical supplies to the Royal Draconian Army fighting inside Imperial territory, we first had to capture this spy and destroy the Imperial forces that had been repeatedly ambushing our caravans.

"Miss Milessa, you have three assistants, correct?" I asked her. "May I see their records?"

"Of course, Major Siena."

She retrieved several documents and handed them to me.

I examined the records of two men and one woman.

According to the documents, all three had joined the Logistics Department at roughly the same time.

However, one of the men and the woman had previously been warehouse guards in the capital before being promoted and transferred to this city to become logistics receiving and dispatch staff for Avelino City.

"I have a plan to uncover which one of them is the Imperial spy in this building, Miss Milessa," I told her.

"What kind of plan, Major Siena?" the woman asked curiously.

"We will divide the next logistical shipment into three separate caravans," I replied. "You will give each of these three staff members a different route for their respective shipment. We will identify the spy by determining which caravan is attacked by the Imperial forces operating in this region."

"But Major Siena, we still have to wait for the commodities from the capital before we can make that many shipments," Miss Milessa said.

"We don't need to fill these caravans with large quantities of supplies. Our goal this time isn't to deliver the maximum amount of logistical supplies. We are trying to identify the person providing information to the Imperial forces."

Because Aquilino Bridge had been destroyed, there were now only two ways to transport supplies to the eastern territories of the Empire.

The first was by ship, unloading the supplies at the mouth of the Apulia River. From there, two caravans would transport them to Luceria Fortress City.

Once there, the two caravans would take separate routes—one toward Benevento Village and the other toward Anconia Village.

Afterward, both caravans would converge at the entrance to the Stretto Route, where a Military Outpost stood guard.

The final caravan would travel through Mazovia Forest.

Although the enemy would probably be suspicious about why we were sending a caravan through a forest filled with wild beasts, they would likely assume that we had become desperate enough to deliver supplies that we were willing to use such a dangerous route.

However, I predicted that if they intended to ambush the caravan using this route, they would do so before it entered Mazovia Forest.

Once we captured the spy, we would destroy the Imperial forces roaming this region.

[Balian POV]

Early in the morning, after helping the caravan crews sort the commodities that were going to be shipped as logistical supplies for the Royal Draconian Army, I returned to the Military Logistics Department building to report to my superior, Miss Milessa.

After I reported to her, Miss Milessa would usually give me an assignment letter to hand over to the Caravan Master, confirming that the commodities they were carrying belonged to the state.

I would also be informed of the route the caravan would take and when it would depart.

However, what I noticed this time was that the logistical supplies being sent were not nearly as plentiful as before.

Were they afraid that Boss Raul and the others would ambush the caravan again?

Was that why they were sending a smaller amount of supplies this time?

— Tok! Tok! Tok!

I knocked on the door of Miss Milessa's office.

"Come in."

I opened the door and saw Miss Milessa sitting alone inside her office.

However, for some reason, I noticed a strange perfume that Miss Milessa did not usually wear.

"Balian, how are the preparations?" Miss Milessa asked me.

"Everything is ready. We're only waiting for the assignment letter, and the caravan will be ready to depart, Miss," I replied.

Hearing my answer, Miss Milessa handed me a letter that was still sealed with the Military Logistics Department's official stamp.

"This caravan will take the Mazovia Forest route."

I furrowed my brows at Miss Milessa's words.

Nevertheless, I accepted the letter and left the room to give instructions to the caravan crews.

Why were they taking such a dangerous route as Mazovia Forest?

This journey was practically suicide. There would be plenty of wild beasts that could smell the food being carried by the caravan.

However, I also noticed that the number of soldiers escorting this caravan was quite large.

It seemed the Republic of Venetia was truly desperate to send these supplies to the Royal Draconian Army, to the point that they were willing to make such a high-risk decision.

After handing the assignment letter to the Caravan Master, I immediately went somewhere secluded and informed Boss Raul of this information.

[Raul POV]

Seven days had passed since our last operation, when we attacked the Military Outpost and destroyed the bridge connecting the two sides of the Apulia River.

So far, the Republic of Venetia had made no attempt to send another logistical shipment.

I supposed that was only natural, considering we had successfully ambushed their supply caravans twice.

It seemed they would be more cautious this time and search for a route they believed we would never expect.

Meanwhile, the reconnaissance team I had assigned to monitor the surrounding area had discovered two thousand troops searching for us.

They were currently crossing the Apulia River after finishing their sweep of the forest to the east.

Next, they would undoubtedly search the forest where our Operation Base was located.

However, I wasn't too worried.

We had already made preparations to deal with them.

If they approached us, we would destroy those forces so thoroughly that they would never dare search for us in this region again.

As I was thinking about our operations in this region, the communication artifact in my pocket suddenly emitted a glow.

After channeling Mana into it, the light emitted by the artifact began to blink.

I began translating the Morse code Balian had sent me.

"Mazovia Forest. Supplies are fewer than usual."

Mazovia Forest, huh?

They were even willing to take the risk of entering this dangerous route just to deliver logistical supplies to the Royal Draconian Army.

But why had they reduced the amount of supplies they were sending this time?

I suppose it was understandable, considering we had ambushed their caravans every time they attempted a shipment.

Still, for some reason, I had a bad feeling about this.

However, I couldn't simply sit back and allow this caravan to pass through the forest. Even if the chances of them successfully reaching the Margraviate of Cataluna were small.

After making my decision, I gathered fifty men to ambush the supply caravan before it entered Mazovia Forest.