SSS-Ranked Surgeon In Another World: The Healer Is Actually OP! - Chapter 327: Pieces in the Board...
Chapter 327: Pieces in the Board…
“He said something else that day,” Duke continued. “Something most people would have dismissed.”
He lifted a finger and tapped lightly against his temple.
“Patterns.”
Bruce’s gaze shifted slightly.
“Patterns,” Duke repeated softly, almost savoring the word. “Strange incidents. Certain individuals behaving… wrong. Decisions made that benefited no faction. Conflicts appearing from nowhere and disappearing just as quickly.”
His eyes moved slowly across the rooftops of the sleeping city.
“At the time I did not know the nature of the enemy.”
The wind brushed across the balcony again, stirring the curtains behind them like pale ghosts drifting through the lamplight.
“But I believed him.”
Bruce’s voice broke the quiet.
“So you prepared.”
Duke’s smile widened faintly.
“Of course I prepared.”
He turned fully now, leaning back against the railing with his arms crossed loosely across his chest.
“I may appear irresponsible, Bruce, but I am not incompetent.”
His tone was light.
But there was steel beneath it.
“I began placing pieces.”
Bruce watched him carefully.
“Quietly,” Duke continued. “Very quietly.”
His eyes gleamed faintly with a kind of quiet satisfaction.
“Every kingdom.”
Bruce’s expression did not change.
But his attention sharpened.
“I maintain contact with Adventurer Guild branches across the continent,” Duke said. “Not openly, of course. That would attract attention.”
A low chuckle escaped him.
“But guild masters enjoy favors. And old travelers accumulate favors over time.”
Bruce said nothing.
Duke raised one finger.
“So I did something simple.”
A second finger joined it.
“I created small elite groups.”
A third.
“Highly trusted. I don’t know how trustworthy they are currently with everything going on, but at least they all obey my orders without complaint.”
His hand lowered again.
“They are SSS rank teams.”
For a moment the wind seemed to still.
Bruce’s gaze hardened slightly.
“You prepared armies.”
Duke shook his head immediately.
“Maybe.”
His smile returned faintly.
His eyes sharpened.
“Small groups. Discreet. Mobile. Adventurers accustomed to dealing with things that cannot be reported to the public.”
Bruce considered that quietly.
“Standby teams,” Duke continued calmly. “Placed quietly across multiple kingdoms. Not deployed. Not mobilized. Simply… ready.”
He rotated the teacup slowly between his fingers again.
“They believe they are part of contingency operations for rare magical anomalies.”
His smile widened slightly.
“They are not entirely wrong.”
Bruce studied him.
“You didn’t know what the invaders were.”
“No,” Duke admitted easily.
“But I knew they existed.”
His voice lowered slightly.
“And that was enough.”
Lanternlight flickered softly across his face as the wind shifted again.
“So when Isolde began behaving… inconsistently… I already had the framework prepared.”
Bruce’s gaze flickered faintly.
“You suspected infiltration.”
“I suspected something intelligent,” Duke replied.
There was a brief pause.
Then he shrugged lightly.
“As it turns out, I underestimated them.”
Bruce remained still.
Duke’s smile returned faintly.
“And overestimated myself.”
He lifted his cup again and drank.
“But then you arrived.”
Bruce’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Duke pointed lazily toward him.
“And suddenly the equation changed.”
A quiet chuckle escaped him.
“You are extremely inconvenient to long term planning, Bruce.”
Bruce did not respond.
Duke’s grin widened.
“You do not investigate for years.”
“You do not probe cautiously.”
“You do not negotiate.”
He spread his hands lightly.
“You simply remove the problem.”
Bruce’s voice was calm.
“If the problem is clear.”
“Exactly.”
Duke nodded.
“And that is why I allowed you to act.”
The wind rustled the lanterns below the balcony.
“You purged them faster than I could have exposed them,” Duke continued thoughtfully. “Cleaner than any coordinated operation could have managed.”
He tilted his head slightly.
“And far more terrifying.”
Bruce’s gaze remained steady.
Duke laughed softly.
“I mean that as praise.”
A brief silence followed.
Then Duke pushed himself away from the balcony with a stretch, rolling his shoulders as if shaking off the weight of the conversation.
“Well,” he said lightly, “now that the unpleasant parasites have been removed from Eiskar…”
His eyes gleamed faintly.
“…my preparations can finally be put to proper use.”
Bruce’s gaze sharpened slightly.
“The SSS teams.”
“Yes.”
Duke nodded once.
“They remain in standby.”
He began walking toward the door with unhurried steps.
“But now I will begin quietly activating them.”
Bruce spoke behind him.
“You’re mobilizing.”
Duke paused with his hand on the doorframe.
Then glanced back over his shoulder.
“No.”
His smile returned.
“I am confirming.”
He pushed the door open and stepped into the dim hallway beyond.
“Come,” he said casually.
Bruce followed without comment.
The corridor outside was quiet now. The laughter from earlier had faded, the women who had been lounging in the lounge rooms long since gone. Only the faint scent of perfume lingered in the air, mixed with the distant smell of spiced wine.
Duke walked down the hallway with the easy confidence of someone who owned the building.
Which, technically, he did.
“First,” Duke continued conversationally as they descended the stairs, “I will meet with the Adventurer Guild of Eiskar.”
Bruce walked beside him silently.
“The guild needs to understand two things,” Duke said.
He raised a finger.
“First something just attacked this kingdom.”
Another finger.
“Second it is already gone.”
Bruce glanced at him.
“That will confuse them.”
“Exactly.”
Duke smiled.
“Confused adventurers ask questions.”
They stepped out into the cold night air.
Lanterns glowed along the street outside the brothel. Snow crunched softly beneath their boots as they began walking toward the distant guild district, their breaths faintly visible in the chill.
Duke inhaled deeply.
“Ah… fresh night air.”
He stretched his arms slightly, as if savoring the quiet of the sleeping city.
“And now, my dear Bruce…”
His voice softened slightly.
“…we begin the real work.”
They walked through the quiet streets of Eiskar together.
One an eccentric traveler who appeared half drunk on life.
The other a silent blade that had just cleansed a kingdom without anyone realizing it.
Ahead, the tall stone structure of the Adventurer Guild rose above the district, lanterns burning steadily along its walls like watchful eyes in the night.
Duke’s smile widened slightly as he looked at it.
“Perfect timing,” he murmured.
And together
They approached the doors.
