Savage Ascension: Starting with God-Tier Plunder Ability-Chapter 102: When Silence Becomes a Weapon

'No openings at all.'

Veteran soldier Four-Year Soldier Ulas, who'd temporarily joined the Tracking Mercenary Group in the form of support for smoother scouting activities, clicked his tongue internally.

What he had to do included helping successfully lead the reconnaissance conducted here, but more importantly, it was to get information about Rowan from the greenhorn mercenaries.

While getting to know each other, he could naturally learn about Rowan too, but he couldn't ask about deeper things.

Because Rowan was always nearby.

'Does he know? That can't be...'

Since Rowan still had baby fuzz on his cheeks, Ulas wanted to drop such suspicions, but as the situation kept turning unfavorably for him, he soon became certain. He realized Rowan was deliberately keeping him in check.

It gave him chills. Of course, because this kind of suspicion came from getting hit by the world's storms while aging. Rowan, without a single bit of fuzz, was being suspicious even though he hadn't been stabbed in the back a few times.

'Damn it...'

What made him feel most terrible was Rowan's conduct. He didn't pressure him hard, didn't say he was suspicious. There were no threats, no warnings. He hadn't given any hints to Espin and Doren separately either.

Literally, Ulas was just always there whenever he was near Espin and Doren. He only blocked questions of the type that could never be drawn out with short conversations. He could get ordinary information about Rowan, and could share quite a few memories they had together.

'But that's all.'

He couldn't get a single piece of information that Commander Gesilian wanted or that would make Ulas earn praise. Because that kind of information had to be obtained when Rowan wasn't around, by cooking the greenhorn mercenaries.

Rowan made it so Ulas couldn't make any choice. Maintaining that half-baked balance wasn't difficult. But just thinking that way made Rowan seem like an exceptional person. Of course he got chills.

'He has power. But he didn't threaten me.'

That Rowan had a knight's power was a fact known to all veteran soldiers (at least three-year soldiers or higher) except a few weird guys. Usually, eight out of ten who possess such military power solve things with force. The two who don't are exceptions because they have even more powerful backing than military force.

Therefore, Rowan's behavior was abnormal. Inhuman.

'He's exercising powerful influence over the mercenary group. But he didn't hint to the mercenaries to keep me in check either.'

Rowan had a small but his own force. The Tracking Mercenary Group also acted instantly at Rowan's words. Because he'd made Espin and Doren have strong attachment to the Tracking Mercenary Group.

Even Ulas himself would consider joining if it were a mercenary group like this.

Yet despite having powerful influence, Rowan didn't use it. In this situation, all Ulas could do was just keep spending time like this while carrying out the mission. Spying was impossible.

When Ulas stopped trying to dig things out about him, Rowan smiled inwardly.

'Sometimes it's better to hand over part of what you have without doing anything.'

If you try too hard to hide yourself, you'll create many rumors. But a life where you freely provide minimal information about yourself while hiding what truly needs hiding—that life lives without a single suspicion.

Having such experience, Rowan blocked Ulas by providing minimal information. If he butted heads with Ulas, he feared the aftermath after the scouting activities ended. That's why he made a judgment that would take quite a long time rather than a quick resolution.

Doren lacked awareness but didn't have bad character, so winning him over was harder than expected, and needless to say about Espin.

The two stuck together like glue, so Ulas couldn't draw out a slip of the tongue from Doren. Because even when he asked Doren, Espin answered, like having a five-year-old sibling.

After fox-hunting the robber gang once, matching combat breathing with each other, Espin acknowledged the clumsy Doren. Though lacking skill, he wasn't someone who'd abandon comrades and run, nor was he selfish caring only for himself. Clumsy and full of mistakes, sometimes acting without thinking, but Doren was more manly than anyone.

He looked weak on the outside but had grit inside. It took entering the third week together and doing work together several times before he realized it. That's how much Espin, who had good intuition, needed.

Doren, whom Ulas was targeting, wasn't someone easily won over as expected. Also, Espin was blocking his slips of the tongue, so Ulas's current situation was like trying to poke an iron fortress with a single spear clutched in hand.

Of course, since both Espin and Doren didn't know Ulas's intentions, the relationship didn't sour.

"We'll rest here and start moving in earnest from tomorrow."

Visiting the robber gang's hideout for the second time, Rowan spoke while unpacking in the cave. Espin was building a fire, and Doren was neatly placing firewood he'd gathered on the way into the furnace prepared in the center of the cave.

Tracking the Back-Door Gang was their first objective.

After finishing the meal, they talked about tactics while lying down. The conversation proceeded with Rowan as the lead. It was no different from tactical briefing. For Ulas, who'd built up considerable experience as a soldier, it was quite humiliating.

'If there's a flaw, I'll stab it right away.'

He held such a harsh mindset, but Rowan didn't speak in great detail. These were Espin and Doren, who'd greatly raised their capabilities in the mountain hills from the start. Unlike games where you only level up once when experience accumulates, in game terms you could say they'd leveled up at least fifty times.

"We'll move in two-man teams, two teams. Since we won't be fighting from the start, it's better to split up."

The objective of not fighting was also good. Splitting up was directly connected to being hard to get caught.

"Should we leave our shields behind?"

"Of course."

Espin was disappointed. Since he was big, he felt needlessly anxious without a shield. Here, Espin had the shortest period using proper weapons and armor. In Doren's case, he'd been swinging only a shortsword for four years.

That was truly a great asset.

Ulas had to spare his words. The tactics themselves were good.

"The more rushed, the more favorable the situation becomes for the robber gang. Proceed with the search slowly and leisurely. There's plenty of time."

'Plenty my ass.'

Ulas sneered.

After finishing speaking, Rowan got up and pulled out fairly thick parchment from his leather backpack and handed it to Ulas.

"What is it?"

"A map we made. We spent over ten days just here—you think we did nothing?"

"Ah!"

Ulas gasped. With a map, they could greatly reduce time. But he was soon disappointed. Most of it was simplified.

"A fairly large-scale robber gang is highly likely to be in valleys between fairly large mountain hills or in thick forest hills. Above all, they need to be well hidden. There are twelve points we need to check."

"If one team has to check six points..."

"If we leave at dawn, we can check two places just walking moderately. If we do a thorough search, one point per day. Since there are two teams, two points per day. Total of six days required."

Ulas opened his mouth worriedly at that.

"Isn't that too long?"

"Is there a reason it should be short?"

"Well... Commander Gesilian has finished preparations..."

Rowan shook his head.

"That doesn't matter at all. If we rush around and the robbers notice and go into hiding? Will Soldier Ulas take responsibility for that, or will Commander Gesilian?"

"That's..."

"No matter how much time passes, nothing becomes unfavorable, so don't ruin the mood with needless worrying."

"Yes. I apologize."

Accelerating the search just to score points with Commander Gesilian was ridiculous. When that inadvertently slipped out, Ulas bowed his head in embarrassment. He'd taken a hard hit.

This was also because Rowan reacted sensitively to the current situation where he didn't belong to Commander Gesilian.

Otherwise, it was mainly about discussing tactics based on the terrain of Tri-fork Hill Road with its many hills again. Not only Espin and Doren but also Ulas knew this, so it was boring.

The next day, from dawn, the four split into two and went out scouting.

Espin and Doren, who'd had education hammered directly into them by Rowan, moved skillfully. Wherever they went, they moved under shadows and concealed themselves using bushes. Sometimes they'd stop walking to listen carefully to sounds.

They could arrive at the point before lunch.

"What do you think?"

"Not a person in sight. Need to get closer to know."

The points Rowan had chosen were never places you could judge from afar. They were just places where thirty or more people could hide well, so they had to check each one on foot.

The two who invested about two hours in the search came up empty. All there was were traces of campfires and abandoned hideouts. Espin and Doren were skilled at tracking but completely hopeless at reading traces.

"If it were the captain, he'd probably know something."

Doren said inside the abandoned robbers' hideout with a hollow tree chimney. Espin agreed. Both had been born and raised in Torch Fortress, so they didn't know how to find traces and what they meant at all.

Rowan's training had created mercenaries skilled at tracking in a short period, but they were still mercenaries lacking experience.

They decided to have lunch while they were at it. Pre-brought water, jerky, and a few kinds of additional foodstuffs were all they had.

"What? Why do you keep staring?"

"Huh? I wasn't looking."

When Espin shot back fiercely, Doren grinned sheepishly and moved his eyes to the jerky. That twisted Espin's mood. It was a passive appearance contrasting with the brave figure who'd gone ahead of Espin to draw out the robbers outside.

"Say it now. If not now, you can't say it later."

Doren himself knew now was the opportunity and had been shooting glances, but when Espin perceptively caught on, he immediately shrank, so Espin softened his momentum and said.

"The captain really will distribute all those silver coins equally... lots of thoughts are coming up."

"Kahaha!"

Espin burst out laughing. It was such a Doren-like worry.

"You don't think that way? The commission fee is too... much."

It was a very realistic worry, like a farmhand being promised a year's wages for a month's work.

"Still, you at least calculated it once, I see."

Sixteen silver coins and five hundred fifty copper coins per person. Not a small amount at all. It was money you'd have to complete eight to sixteen typical mercenary requests to earn. And when moving as a mercenary group, the money received differs based on numbers and influence within the group.

"Hmm..."

Espin pondered. Having gotten along with Doren quite a bit, Espin had come to judge Doren's thoughts fairly well.

'How should I explain it to him.'

This was Doren he'd acknowledged as his brother. That could be considered a fairly hasty judgment, but Doren was at least ten times better than Crossbowman Bedri who'd pretended to be tough. Since Espin was emotional and trusted what he felt directly with his skin more, he'd quickly brought Doren into his fold.