Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 284 - 283: Changing Circumstances

In the second week after the end of the defense battle, the first batch of agents sent out by the Military Security Intelligence Bureau began to return to the territory one after another, bringing back not only the personnel Amber had requested but also the intelligence Gawain had asked for.

As it turned out, these individuals, who had been mingling with the lower echelons of society from the start and were accustomed to dealing with all sorts of people, were truly talented in gathering intelligence. Although they did not have the extraordinary abilities of the royal shadow guard, they possessed more cunning and tricks, and in some dark corners, their wily methods were even more effective than the extraordinary powers of the royal shadow guard.

In the study of the feudal lord’s mansion, Gawain listened to Amber reporting intelligence to him—it was somewhat embarrassing to say, the cultural education for the first batch of agents had not yet been completed, and quite a few operatives couldn’t read or write at all or had only limited literacy. Therefore, they conveyed intelligence entirely through all sorts of bizarre codes, shorthand, and even verbal transmission used by rats in the sewer. While this chaotic and disorderly transmission method better met Gawain’s "confidentiality" requirements, it meant that Amber had to organize it first. Because of this added task, Amber had started to look more like a legitimate intelligence leader—at least she knew to show up at the Intelligence Agency and do some actual work.

"Our merchant caravans are spreading throughout the southern borders, the trade routes are open, and trade itself is a great way to spread information, just like you originally planned," Amber spoke earnestly about the experiences of Scarface Anton and others in the southern regions. "Moreover, recently, a caravan has gone to the Duke of the East—Mr. Patrick seems to want to sell potions in the Loland Clan’s territory."

"Mr. Patrick was never meant to be merely an advisor in the Viscount’s land; his commercial acumen and courage are rare talents, and expanding the alchemical potions to the east was done on my instructions," Gawain nodded. "Anything else new?"

"There are two things I find... somewhat concerning," Amber frowned, unusually showing a serious expression. "Firstly, activities of the Oblivion Association and the Eternal Sleepers in various parts of the southern borders seem to be increasing, and merchants from the central region have also brought news that there are traces of cultists in the Plains of the Holy Spirits, the western mountainous parts of the kingdom, and even the northern regions. Now the leaders of the kingdoms everywhere are finding ways to eliminate the cult forces in their territories."

"The Oblivion and the Eternal Sleepers..." Gawain blinked, "Ah, since winter set in, they haven’t shown up near the Cecil Clan much, I almost thought those guys had quieted down... Who’d have thought they’re actually more active elsewhere?"

"Yes, more active, as if they’re planning something big," Amber shook her head. "And the second thing is also related to them—due to the increasingly malevolent behaviors of cultists everywhere, the Holy Light church has recently become remarkably active, with many places intensifying the dispatch of combat priests and paladins. More and more clerics are helping local leaders solve the problem of the cult’s proliferation."

"This seems like their duty," Gawain said unhurriedly. "The Holy Light is a natural nemesis to all kinds of negative forces, and when evil forces spread, the clerics of the Holy Light church are always at the forefront."

"If they were just running around fighting cultists, that would be fine, but the key issue is a rumor spreading in the west," Amber said with a face that insinuated "the God of Holy Light is stirring up trouble." "Since the power of the Holy Light is always the quickest and most effective against cultists, dissatisfaction with other religions is growing increasingly serious—especially the Church of the Blood God and the Shadow Sect, which are inherently not good at combating evil, and whose powers are slightly negative in nature. Their situation is increasingly awkward. Anton and others have heard rumors near Count Hosman’s Territory that the gods of many religions are simply not dealing effectively with the fallen, and only the God of Holy Light is wholeheartedly protecting mortals..."

Gawain’s brows slowly furrowed: "Is this saying spreading widely?"

"Currently, it’s only spreading around Count Hosman’s Territory, but once winter ends and there’s more travel, the speed of message transmission will immediately increase, and as long as cultists’ activities persist and no significant changes occur in the Holy Light church and other religions, this saying will inevitably become mainstream."

Gawain nodded: "Yes... such information always spreads the fastest... Can the source of this saying be determined?"

"It seems to have arisen spontaneously from the populace. After all, the facts are there; apart from the Holy Light church, each religion’s response to the cultists’ threat is indeed half a beat slower," Amber shook her head. "But as the chosen of the Goddess of Shadows, I just feel like the Holy Light church wants to stir up trouble..."

"You’re being prejudicial—" Gawain glanced at this half-elf, who always claimed to be the chosen one, "but I also think the Holy Light church wants to stir up trouble."

Amber glared: "You’re just like me!"

"Don’t be silly; I’m not the chosen one," Gawain waved his hand and immediately changed the topic, "These things shouldn’t affect our territory."

"There shouldn’t be any impact," Amber nodded. "There’s only one Holy Light cleric in our territory, and he’s the kind that... I’m not worried about him brainwashing everyone with the Holy Light; I’m just worried that one day a member of the Sect of the God of War will come to preach and get punched by Wright if they disagree..."

"In any case, stay vigilant; we can’t ignore the changes outside. If the Holy Light church or the cultists are really planning something, they won’t just leave the Cecil Clan aside... By the way, how did the first batch of agents perform during their operations outside? I remember you seemed to have set an assessment project for them..."

Upon hearing this, Amber’s face instantly lit up with excitement: "If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would’ve forgotten. Those guys really are the promising candidates we saw back then—they’re all great at field missions. I gave each of them just eighty silver coins as a budget, and the one with the least amount brought back over ninety..."

Gawain didn’t think much of the first half of the statement, but when he heard the last part, he almost spit out his tea entirely: "Ha!?"

"The most impressive was Giply, who pretended to be a mage apprentice sent by a mentor to find talented children, mooched off Viscount Carol territory for several days, and in the end, if she hadn’t remembered her mission, she might have convinced Viscount Carol’s only son to come back with her..."

"Wow!"

"That guy ’Quick Leg’ almost became a guard for the local leader. He blended into the soldiers guarding the jail to break someone out, but accidentally did so well..."

"Umm... anything else?"

"Andon got in touch with a dozen alchemical potion merchants in Count Hosman’s Territory who want to ally with the Cecil Clan. If you think it’s suitable, I can pass this matter on to Mr. Patrick later..."

Gawain: "..."

It turns out that the subordinates under Amber are truly hidden talents. Although the training they received at Cecil and the duke’s documentation they carried greatly aided their operations, their knack for stirring things up along the way is truly innate... you can’t train that kind of talent.

However, while admiring these talents, Gawain couldn’t suppress a bit of worry: "They won’t cause too much trouble and make too much noise, exposing themselves, right? You should know that the most important thing for Intelligence Agency operatives is their secrecy. If they’re too active, it might backfire."

"Don’t worry, those guys definitely know that," Amber wasn’t actually worried about that. "First, they act strictly according to their disguise roles, never doing anything inappropriate for their ’character.’ Even if someone notices, it only reinforces their fake identities. Second, they don’t forget the ’clean-up’ I taught them, appearing and leaving reasonably so as not to raise suspicion. Lastly, do you think every leader and their advisors and scholars are as meticulous as you? Those guys are slow-witted and don’t pay attention to what happens among commoners. To traditional aristocrats, anything commoners do is just ’inconsequential folly,’ far from your situation with a comprehensive registration system where even one more person on the territory would be reported to the Administrative Office the same day..."

After Amber said that, Gawain also agreed — in this era, aside from Cecil, where else is there any sort of personnel control or registration system? The elites aren’t even clear about how many people they have under them, much less concepts like espionage or counter-espionage, infiltration or counter-infiltration that are already commonplace on planet Earth. Although spies, intelligence work, and noble eyes and ears exist in this era, they’re either primitive and rough or just skirmishes within the aristocracy, never considering a comprehensive intelligence network from the bottom to the top. Otherwise, how would all the spies sent by the southern aristocracy to Cecil be so easily exposed?

"That’s good, the first results from the Intelligence Agency are quite impressive," Gawain smiled, sitting back comfortably in his chair, "That’s your achievement, so..."

"How about paying me six or seven days’ extra salary, and hand over that bottle of Portcal wine from your cellar, then give me a short vacation..."

Gawain glared at this half-elf, suspecting that this guy’s skill at exploiting situations had advanced by leaps and bounds. Before he could finish his words of encouragement, Amber already had a list of demands ready...

Perhaps it was prepared even before coming to report...

Meanwhile, in an ancient catacomb far from the Cecil Clan, another group was also keeping an eye on the changing situation.

They were clad in priest robes devoid of specific religious symbols, standing in the meeting hall of the catacombs. The place was overgrown with additional flesh and plant tissues, yet these already mentally distorted cult followers were accustomed to the eerie and terrifying atmosphere.

After a brief silence, a woman suddenly walked into the hall. She was dressed in green priestly garb, her face comely and her upper body well-shaped, yet below her priest’s robes were writhing, inexplicable roots and vines supporting her movement.

The woman glanced at the oppressive gathering, speaking with a hint of sarcasm: "Gentlemen, have you not reached a conclusion yet?"

One dissatisfied Oblivion Association priest said, "Preceptor Beltira, you’re late."

"It doesn’t matter, your previous discussions were useless anyway," Beltira smiled indifferently, moving towards her position carelessly. "We’re just here to state... that the Anzu-Typhon war we’ve strived so long to incite is about to become a mere illusion, isn’t it?

"Gentlemen, accept the fact...

"In the wasteland, changes have occurred beyond our expectations..."