Second Life as a Soldier

Chapter 157 - Barry’s Gamble

Halvar integrated into my squad easily. Kael, Rokan, and Daren welcomed him warmly. While he had a warrior-like build, his lack of training and age did not allow him to keep up with my squad, so he took on the role of guide. He had been a hunter for the Draknir in the village, he knew the village surroundings like the back of his hand.

Another benefit was that he was a good shot and knew how to make crude bows and arrows. They were only useful for hunting low-level animals and beasts like rabbits and foxes. Archery was the skill my squad lacked, and because of that, I sometimes regretted making Silas and Barry spies. Both of them would have loved to learn the basics of archery from Halvar.

I started learning from him, but I was not that great of a shot. I only took the lessons so I could pass some of that knowledge to Barry and Silas once we were back at the fort.

Currently, though, I was getting a huge amount of benefit out of Silas and Barry. After losing my position as leader of the combat unit, Silas had become my only reliable source of information on Rowan and his activities. It turned out Rowan and the other sergeants tended to ignore construction workers.

Thanks to this, I knew which sergeants Rowan met during construction shifts, along with general information about those meetings and how they planned to make things difficult for me. Thankfully, for the first month after I conscripted Halvar into my squad, Rowan’s strategy was to make me lose control of my squad.

We were assigned tough, menial tasks with high labor intensity, along with tasks that involved danger. For example, during the first ten days, we were given night shifts, and our location was changed from the assigned housing to tents near the construction area, hardly allowing us to sleep.

Instead of lashing out, I asked my squad to endure it for some time.

Ten days later, Rowan had no choice but to remove us from night watch duties, mostly because after the seventh day, I started spreading word among the army and construction crew that Rowan was targeting my squad and tiring us out while waiting for a slipup during night watch, so he could use it to show I was incompetent.

This way, I proved my squad’s dedication and proved Rowan wrong without exchanging even one word with him.

After that, he assigned us tasks like hunting and patrols, but honestly, those were our specialties. My squad loved fighting, and it also gave us some time to blow off steam. But instead of getting acknowledgment, Rowan and his squad started mocking and pestering Garran and Varric.

Up until now, I had been able to keep them under control, but after being constantly oppressed, it was not just getting on Garran and Varric’s nerves. I was afraid that if things did not change soon enough, there would come a night when we found Rowan’s body with a knife in his chest.

I had heard Garran and Varric discussing ways to torture Rowan multiple times. Sometimes, the balls on that man surprised me. He had picked the worst possible targets for harassment. Even if his plan succeeded and both of them lost control, with the gear I had provided, those two could take down half of Rowan’s squad before they started to slow down.

Regretfully, I could not allow them to do that. No matter how bad Rowan was, he had not broken any rules. Even the duties he assigned were duties that needed to be performed. It was just that leaders usually divided watch and patrol duties across various squads to keep morale up and prevent injuries from building up.

Thankfully, this was where the benefit of Barry’s activities showed up. In the last month, he had somehow gained a huge amount of information from the village head. If I thought Silas was impressive, then Barry’s spy work just blew my mind.

When I asked how he had done it, he simply said it was better if I did not know.

He confirmed a few things. One was that Rowan had not been involved in the fire that day. Another was that the village head had been involved, but Barry had yet to find proof or identify the actual people responsible. All he knew was that the village head had paid a few people to start a riot with the Draknir to distract Aaron’s team, then paid another group to stealthily start the fire. His aim had been to kill Halvar.

Just as Kael had mentioned, Halvar was the backbone of the Draknir in the village. In recent years, he had started training the younger generation while even trying to build good relations with Avalon citizens.

The village head was afraid that if Halvar’s actions succeeded, he could lose his position.

For the village head, the army was nothing but a tool to eliminate his problems while using the riot to increase division among the people of the village.

I hoped that, in the next few weeks, Barry would find out more from the village head and maybe even discover who had been involved in the fire. That should allow me to gain some of my authority back, which could also help Garran and Varric with their anger.

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Barry (3rd person POV)

A few days after Halvar’s conscription.

Late at night, when the whole northern frontier village had gone quiet, a figure moved toward the village head’s house with his head covered by a hood. That figure was Barry.

Since he had been given this assignment, he had changed his appearance. He had cut his hair short and grown a beard and mustache, making him look more like a mercenary than a soldier. The biggest reason he had made these changes was to stop hiding his face. Colin and Owen knew him, so during the journey to the village, he had been forced to hide his face with cloth. Now, as long as they did not look at him directly, he could get by without being recognized.

During the last ten days in the village, he had managed to gather a lot of information about the village head. He was a slimy type of person who loved to steal from others. This was why there was a sparkle in Barry’s eyes. This was why he was so diligent in carrying out the task Edward had assigned him. It was not to prove himself capable to Edward. It was because he was enjoying himself.

During his time in the village, he had also found ways he could escape. If he really wanted to, he could disappear from the village, and it would take Edward at least five days to find out Barry was no longer there.

The biggest reason he had not escaped was curiosity. He wanted to see what his future would look like. Surprisingly, under Edward, his leveling speed had improved thanks to the equipment and freedom Edward had provided him. He expected to reach the peak of Tier 2 within a year or two, maybe even break through into Tier 3.

As he drew closer to the village head’s house, the sound of Barry’s footsteps disappeared. His eyes sharpened, and once he was standing behind a wall, away from the manor guards’ sight, he activated his skill, [Whispering Wind (UC)], which allowed him to hear almost all sounds within a 200-meter radius.

This skill had recently evolved from his common skill, [Enhanced Hearing], and except for Edward, no one in the army knew about it.

Using the skill, he could even hear the village head snoring in his bedroom. Once he noted the positions of all the guards and the village head’s family members, he left his hiding place. Suddenly, he turned into a blur, a soundless blur moving faster than a horse.

Completely unaware of the approaching blur, the guards at the manor door stood around, paying only half attention to their surroundings. With the Royal Army present in the village, they no longer seemed worried about the barbarians.

Then one of the guards heard a thud near him. As he turned to look at his partner and see the reason for the sound, he saw him lying unconscious on the ground.

Before he could react, a hand grabbed his mouth, and he felt pain in his neck losing consciousness.

After taking care of the two guards and picking the lock on the front door, Barry strode into the manor like he owned the place, making his way to the room with the largest and most decorated door. He had stolen from people like this many times and knew where the most important person in the house usually slept.

The village head, who had been enjoying his sleep, suddenly woke up with pressure on his chest. Without opening his eyes, he touched the object resting there. It felt like multiple pieces of jewelry or coins.

The village head’s eyes opened, and even in the dim light of the lantern, he recognized his household jewelry. But before he could react, he felt a cold blade press against his neck.

Then he heard a hoarse voice in his ear.

“If you make any noise, you will die.”

The village head almost let out a shriek, but stopped himself by placing his hand over his mouth. He had started sweating all over.

“L-Let me live, and I-I will pay you more than you got from that jewelry,” the village head whispered.

“I knew there were more coins hidden,” Barry said, pressing the knife even closer to the village head’s throat.

“Yes, I can give you more. Just give me a few days. Give me a place to send it, and I will send more than triple this amount,” the village head said.

“Do you think I am a fool? I know there are soldiers living in the village. As soon as I leave, you will run to them.”

“No! I don’t care about those fucking soldiers. I would rather die than ask for their help. I will even share information with you that, if you share it with the army, they will kill me... You should have heard about that fire. I started it. I paid one group to start the riot and another to start the fire. Just give me one month, and I will give you all the money you need.”

Listening to that, Barry changed his plan.

Initially, when he had come to threaten the village head, he had wanted to show his skills, earn some money, and mention that he knew the village head was responsible for the fire in the army house. He had hoped this would lead the village head to place a bounty on Halvar or someone from the Royal Army.

Then Barry could pass that information to Edward as proof and make the village head think the job had been completed successfully. This way, he would establish a transactional relationship with the village head and slowly learn the secrets around him.

As for why he was so sure the village head would ask Barry to carry out his dirty work, that was easy. While spending time at the tavern, he had learned about the village head’s history of eliminating his rivals one way or another. Those rivals even included people who were not barbarians.

It was almost certain that a person like this would not miss the opportunity to finish the job he had started, and that meant killing Halvar.

Barry had never expected the village head to reveal such treasonous information, which meant the village head likely had a way to take care of all his problems: Barry, the Royal Army, and the barbarians.

“Here is what we are going to do. Instead of killing you, I will stay at your manor until you fulfill your promise of money. If you are not able to do it by the end of one month, I will kill you.”

Listening to Barry, the village head nodded vigorously. “Sure, sure. You will be an honored guest of this manor.”

Barry removed the dagger from the village head’s neck. The village head turned his head, only to see Barry smiling at him.

“Don’t worry. During this month, I will act as your guard,” Barry said, smirking from ear to ear.

Internally, he cursed himself for not following Edward’s plan. If he had shown his power and joined the village head’s guard normally, he would have been much safer.

Now he was in the enemy’s house, a house with unknown backing strong enough to give the village head the confidence to invite an assassin inside.