novelraw Chapter 97 : Centre Agreement (2)
Chapter 97 : Centre Agreement (2)
Chapter 97: Centre Agreement (2)
“…I saw it with my own eyes, so why does it feel like an illusion?”
“Same here.”
“Couldn’t agree more, Colonel.”
Karen Rosefield’s participation completely overturned the course of the suppression battle.
It wasn’t that they lacked leads—the traces of the enemy were already spread all around. It was just that their forces had reached their limit, unable to quicken the pursuit.
Following Eugene’s advice, they located the point where all those traces converged and surrounded the entire area completely.
Then, to ensure they could pursue the target if it tried to flee, they had prepared marker artifacts in advance.
As a result, they succeeded in finding the creature’s lair for beasts not too far from the city outskirts.
And the outcome after that was a total, one-sided destruction—an absolute victory.
Sitting atop the corpse of a beast with her legs crossed, Karen ran her blood-soaked red hair through her fingers, brushing it back.
Among the carcasses was Rogis, the A-rank beast that had once driven Eber to hell.
‘…Had I known it’d be this much, I should’ve asked the commander to call her in sooner.’
Of course, the Special Task Force members had done their part as well.
No matter how strong she was, even Karen couldn’t have chased down a high-rank beast that fled with all its might.
That’s why the team’s role in creating a situation where the enemy couldn’t even consider escaping was undeniably significant.
But even with all that taken into account, her performance was simply overwhelming.
“All that grueling work we did before… now it feels like child’s play.”
There were more than a hundred combat weapons in the Empire capable of massacring low-rank beasts.
That alone was remarkable—
But a monster capable of doing the same against high-rank beasts?
‘At this point, who’s the real beast, damn it.’
If one were to list the strongest figures in the current Empire, her name would have to occupy one of the top spots.
Not even the Special Task Force Commander with the Marksman of Magic Bullets—
Nor the Defense Commander famous for the Immortal Iron Wall—
Nor Robert Bernhardt, the greatest non-chanting mage—
Not even Eugene Carter himself, who had regained his full power—
None of them could compare.
She was completely, absurdly overwhelming.
While Belfor looked at her in awe, he noticed his subordinates running toward him from afar.
“The entire area has been cleared of beasts, Colonel!”
“……”
“Colonel?”
“Ah, right. Good work. Leave only the minimum number behind and return to the camp. If the commander asks, tell him I’ll have the report compiled and meet him within an hour.”
“Yes, sir!”
Once even the subordinates had departed from the area, Belfor cautiously approached Karen to brief her on the current situation.
“…So, this operation will soon be concluded.”
The moment she heard the word concluded, Karen rose lightly and stepped down from the mountain of corpses.
“So, my role here is finished now, correct?”
“Yes. It was a short time, but your assistance was invaluable. On behalf of the soldiers, allow me to express our gratitude, Executor.”
Without even glancing at the saluting Belfor, Karen strode past him.
“Offer your thanks not to me, Commander, but to the Lord. I merely carried out His will to punish evil.”
“Ah… understood.”
“I’ll return with my squad. I don’t need to file a separate report, do I?”
“…Of course not. I’ll make sure everything’s handled properly.”
“Then, I’m leaving.”
Those were Karen Rosefield’s final words.
The heavy clatter of armor echoed repeatedly as she departed.
Watching her retreating figure, Belfor muttered quietly,
“…Damn, what charisma.”
Wednesday morning, during breakfast.
As I was stuffing food into my mouth with my usual blank expression, Walter came rushing in with a flushed face.
“Carter! Have you heard the news?”
“No.”
“…You don’t even know what news I’m talking about yet.”
“I figured I probably haven’t heard it.”
“The Eber Suppression Operation!”
I slowly set down my utensils and turned to him.
“I know they resumed the operation on Monday. Why?”
Walter glanced around, then sat beside me.
“It’s over! The operation ended early this morning!”
“…What? How?”
Even though I’d provided them with tactical intel, by my estimation, the current strength of the Special Task Force should’ve needed at least a week to finish.
Walter’s answer was enough to make my eyes widen.
“Apparently… Karen Rosefield joined the operation!”
“…When?”
“According to the breaking news, around 21:00 last night.”
Walter handed me the morning paper.
The Dellowell Inquisition, on Monday the 21st, decided—through an emergency discussion with the Special Task Force—to dispatch a specially formed squad to the operational area.
Led by Executor Karen Rosefield, the Special Task Force reportedly eliminated the enemy field commander, Apos Rhino, around 22:00 yesterday, and at 02:00 today, defeated the enemy leader, the A-rank beast Rogis.
Furthermore, after an additional two-hour sweep, they succeeded in annihilating over a hundred beasts around the outskirts of Eber.
Operation Commander Colonel Anthony declared the operation’s completion at 04:00 this morning.
“……”
A collaboration between the Special Task Force and Dellowell—now that’s an unusual combination.
They weren’t mortal enemies like the Magic Tower and the Church, but the Imperial Army and the Orthodox Faith weren’t exactly on friendly terms either.
‘…Could be a bit of media play, then.’
After all, the Church had lost considerable face during the last summit.
Stories like this, highlighting their success, would make it much easier to shift public perception—“At least they’re good at purging beasts.”
Or perhaps, this was buildup for the upcoming assimilation operation.
As I scanned the article, Walter chattered on beside me, his tone brimming with excitement.
“Karen Rosefield joining a mission outside the Inquisition—that too, all the way up in the northern Eber region! That’s front-page news, Carter!”
“…Yeah, it really is.”
As Walter said, Karen wasn’t someone who never engaged in external missions.
Even so, her deployment this time was definitely surprising.
From the Task Force’s perspective, it was only natural to focus on Eber—they’d been humiliated too many times and needed to restore their pride.
But from Dellowell’s perspective, Eber was nothing more than one of many small northern towns—hardly a place of any significance.
Even without external support, this suppression battle would have ended within ten days.
Even taking into account the delay caused by the variable named Apos Rhino, two weeks would have been more than enough.
There shouldn’t have been any reason to deploy someone like Karen for such a battlefield.
That’s what I thought—until a certain possibility crossed my mind, and I quietly smiled.
“…So they had her loosen up a bit first, huh.”
“Loosen up?”
“There’s… a thing like that.”
After finishing the rest of my meal neatly, I asked,
“But… you didn’t come running all this way just for that, right?”
“…You really do have good instincts, I’ll give you that.”
Walter shook his head in exasperation before whispering softly,
“He asked if you could spare some time today.”
“…Who did?”
“The Special Task Force Commander.”
After hurriedly preparing to leave with Walter, we boarded the carriage exactly at seven o’clock sharp.
As the carriage swung around toward the main gate, Walter tapped on the window with a sigh.
“Even when I was with the Task Force, I never did this much field work, damn it.”
“He must have something worthwhile for you too if he called both of us.”
“…You think so? I hope that’s the case.”
“Given that relations between Carvena and the Task Force have eased quite a bit, he might be planning to ask us to act as a bridge.”
“A bridge, huh… What, am I supposed to hand out herbal encyclopedias to Task Force soldiers or something?”
Leaving Walter to grumble to himself, I sank back into thought.
Whatever this summons from the Special Task Force Commander was, it couldn’t be a bad thing.
Lieutenant General Alvin Caldwell never even mentioned, let alone contacted, anyone who wouldn’t be of benefit to him.
Which meant, in other words, that I was someone advantageous to him.
Considering the stance of Lieutenant General Alvin, that could only work in my favor.
“A royalist who supports Edel, holds no grudge against Carvena or Michel, and even maintains a friendly view toward the Magic Tower.”
The factor truly fueling my unease lay elsewhere.
The timing of my possession had lined up perfectly—that was one thing.
But even so, everything was moving too fast.
Far too fast.
Up until right before the summit, I’d seen this as nothing but an opportunity.
In this hellishly difficult world, where survival itself was a challenge, time was the most precious resource.
The faster I mended relationships, regained my abilities, and resolved each matter—the more advantageous it would be for me.
But then I wondered—
Would this world really let me proceed so smoothly?
Perhaps—
Because of the choices I’d made, future turning points had all been pushed forward.
Incidents that should occur months later, disasters that were supposed to happen years down the line—were they now being dragged right to my doorstep?
Those thoughts wouldn’t stop surfacing.
And at the very center of this unease—was none other than Karen Rosefield.
The final of the five main characters to appear, and the strongest combat weapon of them all.
A heavy assault tank that demolished battlefields with her overwhelming regenerative power and endurance.
Though she had a relative weakness to long-range attacks, her instantaneous mobility and spear-throwing skill more than compensated for it.
Mental-type attacks were meaningless as well, since her Anti-Magic and Faith stats were rated SS and EX respectively.
The strongest berserker—deemed unmatched in conventional combat.
That was the general assessment of Karen as a heroine.
Hence, in MAGA, she typically appeared in the mid-to-late stages of the playthrough.
Deploying her from the start would have been far too overpowered.
And yet—less than a month in, she’d already appeared before the public.
As a front-line combatant, no less!
‘…I need to regain my peak form as soon as possible.’
In the end, that was the only conclusion I could reach.
For now, that was the only thing within my control.
Watching Walter mutter beside me, I let out a faint chuckle and began mentally organizing the recent events one by one.
The sun was just beginning to climb toward its zenith.
Paaang―!
The Centre Central Station was as crowded as ever, bustling with countless travelers.
Among them, drawing numerous glances, Karen Rosefield repeatedly checked the train’s departure time.
It was still over an hour before the scheduled departure at noon.
“……”
After instructing the nine squad members selected for special deployment to remain on standby, Karen quietly stepped out of the station alone.
The Tebrel Orb in her possession had been glowing incessantly.
“Yes.”
The voice on the other end belonged to Heinrich Peregrine, the Head Inquisitor of Dellowell.
“Good work on the operation, Executor.”
“Is there another mission?”
She went straight to the point, uninterested in pleasantries.
With a wry laugh, the Head Inquisitor continued.
“Haha, nothing so grand as a mission. It just so happens that an important agreement is set to take place in Centre, where you are now.”
“An agreement?”
“The agreement to bring Duel Mallet under the Church’s authority.”
“……”
“If you attend as an observer, even the followers of the demonic arts who had second thoughts will soon repent.”
Quickly assessing the situation, Karen swept her gaze around and gave a slight nod.
“I understand what you mean.”
“It’ll be at the Armonte Hotel in Centre. I’ve already informed the Archbishop, so you’ll be guided once you arrive.”
“Understood.”
Ending the call, she severed the flow of mana and tucked the orb back into her coat.
Then she returned to her waiting subordinates.
“You’re to return to Dellowell as planned. The vice-squad leader will take charge.”
“…What about you, Executor?”
“It’s the Head Inquisitor’s order.”
With that brief answer to the vice-squad leader’s question, she resumed her brisk pace.
The halberd in her hand, its blade still stained with beast blood, gleamed faintly under the sunlight.