Chapter 11: Reporting to Lt. Jean
Kevin anxiously rushed back into the military barracks. Many thoughts good and bad festered his mind, most of which were pessimistic.
For one, he didn't know what repercussions the earlier assassinations would flesh out from Solace's chain of command. They might immediately strike home while they could, they might hold their advance while they wait for reinforcements, and they might send word for internal chaos to erupt in the opposing camp.
Kevin was now the baron of the Badger Fiefdom, which in turn was a territory under the Onyx Kingdom, their opponent being the Solace Kingdom; specifically the private armies of three counts and two marquises.
Typically, the count stays back as an armchair general while delegating the commands to the viscounts beneath him, it was safe to say that when the war erupts, Jean would transition into Kevin's immediate superior.
Only with that in mind did he relinquish control of the coal mines to Jean's family as a show of goodwill. Although it was too early to build concrete connections through marriage, an alliance of shared interests is okay.
"Hey there!"
The moment Kevin climbed out from the cold river, and due to the clear vision of the day, he was immediately spotted by scouts of the northern borders.
A fleet of archers took aim from the distance as two infantry soldiers and a light cavalry soldier approached carefully, the former two flanking the war horse.
"I come bearing secret intelligence to Lieutenant Jean!"
Kevin shouted, fully aware that a massive cleansing would take place in the opposing camp, not a single spy who had infiltrated the army ranks might make it out alive by the time they distributed the information.
Although Kevin could easily outmaneuver these soldiers, he didn't feel like going through these motions.
He had specifically calculated the distance to approach the watchtowers under the viscount's supervision to get in touch with Jean as soon as possible.
Knowing that a spy from the Solace Kingdom had infiltrated the ranks of this army, Kevin felt uncomfortable about interacting with any and all unidentified soldiers. For sure, these people would think of him the same he did them, and thus, he brought out an iron name tag with Jean's personal crest on the back and the initials for Kevin's name on the front.
He then tossed the name tag over with a beautiful curve to land in the hands of the light cavalry rider. He of course grabbed it with a wary eye, half inspecting the tag with an eye out for any suspicious movements.
"Alright comrade, follow me."
The cavalry soldier made a quick inspection of the crest before nodding to the two soldiers by his side. This went far too smoothly, Kevin thought, and so did the two soldiers by the side.
However dubious they were, they still followed the orders to the dot and saluted, hurrying over to provide Kevin with a dry coat to ward off the cold.
"Good lad! How on earth did you cross the river?" one of the two, clearly an enthusiastic chatterbox, asked.
"I dove all the way down and crawled my way to the other side— other than holding my breath and spoking my consciousness awake, everything else from there on was easy," Kevin responded with a faint smile, water dripping down his ruffled locks of hair.
The soldier gave Kevin a long look, shaking his head thereafter. It might have been an illusion, but it seemed to Kevin as though the soldier spat and cursed to himself the moment he lowered his head away from sight.
Kevin didn't have the time to ponder over these little things as the light cavalry urged the group to proceed quickly lest their abnormal activity drew unwanted attention.
"We don't have all day," said the calvary, "we will meet up with Lieutenant Jean once we're back at base."
The three had no qualms about the arrangements and thus, they followed dutifully.
Kevin sighed, lamenting the lack of personal troops in his fiefdom. If he had his own troops and base of operations on the border barracks, he wouldn't be feeling this uncomfortable.
…
Jean resided in a lavish commander tent at the center of her family's base. Due to the anticipated arrival of two marquises and their private troops, the lords of the dominions began to withdraw their human resources and rations orderly.
Jean was suffering from a serious headache as she sifted through one letter of withdrawal after the next; a pile of documents lay strewn all over the floor by her wooden desk.
She wanted to complain so much! However, her father the viscount was of the same opinion as he emphasized to her and said: "Those great figures take this as a game of intrigue."
He further complimented his words by adding a line that got her dizzy: "Don't take the war so seriously."
How can she NOT take it seriously when people she helped raise and praise fell here and there for no justifiable cause, rhyme, or reason?
The less manpower the more vulnerable their positions and the likelihood of casualties mounting over casualties would inevitably increase.
She knew that her father didn't dispatch the elites of his private army— not a single lord did, except for the former Baron Issac who didn't only send his elites but spearheaded the offensive.
Well, less need to be said about how that played out for him.
"You don't look to be doing so well, Lt. Jean."
Total mess greeted Kevin as he stepped into the military tent. Carefully, he weaved through dense papers on the floor as he stood in attention.
His attempts, commendable at most, were futile as splashes of water doused the ink on some papers into unrecognizable smudges.
"Speak for yourself," Jean rolled her eyes with a sigh, kneading her forehead. "What so great of intel would a one-day spy bring back to me?"
She kept in her mind that Kevin, as young as he was, would consider anything and everything as something grave he must report.
Truth be told she wasn't expecting much of it.
Soft metal chimed as sixteen name tags bounced on her desk.
A bit of shock reeled Jean's body into acting out of character as she reached out and sorted through the names.
"You actually…" Jean's expression was wonderful to look at, caught between disbelief and amazement. "This is… Forget it! You can't tell anyone that you've assassinated sixteen officials in one night.
"Putting aside whether you really did it with your own power or not; this is too much of an accomplishment—you would simply shoot yourself in the foot."
"I know all about that!" Kevin shrugged, more water splattering about.
Jean leaned back uncomfortably to avoid getting sprinkled by the cold liquids, narrowing her eyes at the young baron with a hint of suspended animation.
"The intel I brought back goes as follows: The appearance of a mysterious assassin who caused havoc to erupt in the Solace barracks, and in the chaos, I happened to learn of a vital secret. The army beyond the river is preparing to open a campaign despite the grace period, mounting a sneak attack. The assassin was heavily wounded and couldn't make it back, entrusting Baron Kevin who was nearby with the sensitive intelligence."
Kevin clapped and plopped down on a chair, breathing out a whistle as his wet locks ruffled about. "You can work out a phantom identity for that assassin. You can hand in the name tags as proof. You can do whatever you want, just keep me out of it and below the radar. As for my rewards… I'd love a few books about magic; anything works."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone