I Became the Commander in a Trash Game Who Copies Skills

Chapter 25. Mask (3)

The roots of Warlord Conquest lay in fantasy.

Because of that, unlike a strategy game that emphasized balance, this world contained all sorts of mysteries.

Superhuman strength and speed, twisting reality with mana, foreseeing the future or leaping through space, even invoking divine punishment on behalf of a god.

At this point, it might have been inevitable that the balance would shatter.

Among the diverse mysteries, the rarest category was summoning abilities.

The spirit contracts of elves or spirit shamans.

The familiar summons of high-level mages.

The ancient species summoning rituals of the church, and so on.

As rare as they were, any skill or trait involving summoning proved exceptionally useful without exception.

Though the very presence of summoning abilities that suddenly added troops in a war-centered strategy game seemed problematic in itself.

Of course, I wasn’t foolish enough to not make use of what I had received.

The key was where and how to use this ability.

[Warrior’s Binding] was an ability that allowed me to summon enemies defeated by my direct subordinates as minions.

Considering that all the enemies I had fought so far were undead, it was an ability that could easily lead to misunderstandings if used carelessly.

‘Come to think of it, undead aside… what would happen if I bound intelligent humans or other races? It seems like I’d have command over them as minions. But I’m not sure about the extent of the commands.’

During the weeks of marching, I had learned a useful tip.

When I immersed myself in thought, the pain in my body felt a bit less.

It wasn’t for nothing that humans were called imagining animals.

Of course, there were limits.

The moment I stopped thinking, the pain rushed in all at once.

For example, during rest.

“Stop! We’ll rest for a bit.”

“Ughhh…”

“Captain Ash! Are you alright?”

“I’m, fi… ne…….”

“Captain Ash! Stay with us! O Luark-!”

[I activated [Warrior’s Insight].]

[Skill acquired.]

[Miracle: Dawn’s Vitality (Level 1)]

In any case, two days had passed since we departed from Wolfskrig.

After the first battle, we moved without any further combats.

With no battles, there were no particular incidents either.

If I had to pick one, it was the slightly changed gazes of the paladins.

“You’re impressive. Even if they’re low-tier spells, to cast from so many schools without incantations.”

“There are advantages to being a wandering mage.”

“You seemed quite proficient in swordsmanship as well. May I request a friendly spar sometime after the mission ends?”

“Of course.”

“This might be an old man’s meddling, but you mustn’t neglect physical training. You’ll understand when you get to my age.”

“……I’ll keep that in mind.”

With this, I solidified my alibi a bit more.

A wandering mage and swordsman. A capable commander with frail stamina—an appropriate position.

I even earned the trust of three out of the four accompanying paladins.

“…Hic!”

Alina’s stalker… no, our Tambourine couldn’t meet my eyes for some reason.

But that wasn’t my concern.

The march that felt like an eternity over two days eventually came to an end.

The third day involved full-scale scouting.

“Then, let us meet again at this spot before sunset.”

After arriving at the predetermined point, our mercenary band and the paladin group split up to search their assigned areas.

Again, there were no particular incidents.

Just a large horde of wandering zombies visible in the distance.

Even then, the direction they were heading was away from our base.

Nothing to worry about.

“You’re here? Good work. Unpack and rest. Dinner is on us tonight.”

After smoothly completing the day-long scouting.

Upon arriving at the rendezvous point, the paladin group had already set up camp and was preparing dinner.

As usual, we ate together and took turns with one sentry each.

Then midnight arrived.

“Olif.”

“Yes, are you going to meditate?”

“Yeah.”

“If they ask over there, I’ll cover for you.”

I left the camp after coordinating with Olif.

I donned a pansteel robe over my armor, held a staff in my left hand, and equipped a sword at my waist.

The bag slung over my shoulder contained a few items.

Two potions. Some gold coins. A white mask.

And a statue.

Ziiiing-

The pager that had been calling me for the past fortnight.

The mysterious item I had taken from its original owner, Tribus.

Since I was accompanying paladins, I had tried to delay it for the next opportunity as much as possible…

But it seemed I couldn’t put it off any longer.

It was time to meet face-to-face.

Whoever was calling me.

***

Over the past two weeks.

During scouting missions, external lodging became frequent.

The members didn’t like it much, but for me, it was an unparalleled opportunity.

It was easier to research the statue outside rather than at the base where many eyes watched.

Every night, I slipped out of camp with the excuse to Olif that I was meditating alone.

Through a few simple experiments, I discovered three characteristics of the statue.

First. The duration of the statue’s vibration increased by one minute each day, up to a maximum of 10 minutes.

Second. The moment I held the vibrating statue, the continuous vibration changed to a rhythmic pulse.

And the last, third.

‘When holding the statue and heading in a specific direction, the pulse cycle gradually shortens.’

It was easy to imagine if I thought of a metal detector or a radiation meter.

Just as the beeping detection sound or the meter’s crackling indicated distance to the target, the statue’s faint vibration also indicated the distance between me and the destination.

After experiments over several nights, I could roughly estimate the location.

It was just about a 20-minute walk from our current camp, two days from Wolfskrig.

Ziiiing- Ziiiing-

Let me summarize.

The statue was a pager.

What mattered to me was who was calling.

And why they were calling.

I thought I knew the answer to the former.

This was undoubtedly an item of the ‘church’.

There were two bases for my guess.

The statue’s bizarre design was highly likely connected to the church.

And Tribus had ties to the church, as metaphorically mentioned in the game lore.

‘There was also a setting that church members had a ‘mark’ to recognize and call each other. It was just lore, so the mark item never appeared.’

Usually, such ‘lore items’ would appear as actual items in later updates.

If this statue that appeared in this update was that mark item, it fit perfectly.

Then, the remaining question was one.

Why were they calling me.

Ziing. Ziing. Ziing.

I pondered the answer to this question over the past two weeks.

The correct answer still hadn’t emerged.

It seemed clearly related to this war…

But beyond that, I couldn’t even get a sense.

To begin with, how much the other side knew about me was unknown.

Did they know I defeated Tribus and stole his item?

Or perhaps they thought I was Tribus himself?

‘Whatever it is, it’s certain they want to talk to me.’

Whether they wanted to speak with Tribus, a member of the church.

Or meet the culprit who killed Tribus.

In any case, it was closer to an opportunity than a crisis.

Because I had a cheat trait specialized for the chessboard of conversation.

[I activated [Lord’s Unyielding Mind].]

Zing. Zing. Zing. Zing.

Before I knew it, I had come quite far from the camp.

I followed the direction where the vibration quickened.

Of course, I changed directions a few times midway to make it hard to trace where I came from.

Confusing any potential tails or watchers was the most basic etiquette when attending a secret meeting.

A know-how I learned from midnight rendezvous with Alina.

Rustle.

Soon, the statue led me into a shallow forest.

Even the moonlight that had illuminated the surroundings vanished under the shadows of the branches.

I had no torch, but it wasn’t a problem.

Because I had been wearing the white mask Tribus used since leaving the camp.

Surprisingly, this mask even had night vision functionality.

‘Named heroes’ item cheats are fraudulent.’

Though it was pitch-black night, my vision was as clear as broad daylight.

It seemed that was why a non-vampire like him had dug his lair in such a dark underground tunnel.

Zii-

The vibration stopped.

Twenty minutes in a straight line from the camp.

It was the expected point.

A desolate wind blew across the clearing beyond the shallow forest.

This must be the meeting place.

A midpoint two days from the imperial army’s main force, yet not too deep into the Vampire Archduchy’s territory.

A location the church, with tendrils in all factions, would plausibly choose.

The candidates I expected for the contact were two.

A low-level administrator of the church, a ‘second-class member’.

Or a mid-level manager and recruiter, a ‘proselytizer’.

‘Neither are ones that appear early… but with my current capabilities, I could handle them, albeit barely.’

My plan was simple.

Capture them and interrogate.

Thus, preemptively grasp what schemes the church was brewing.

Of course, a member or proselytizer wouldn’t know much information.

But combined with my knowledge from countless fights against the church, I could at least discern the broad outlines.

The church, which should appear only in the latter half, emerging at this point meant changes were occurring in their faction different from up to World Scenario 3.0.

Just like Viscount Pewin surviving in the empire, and Tribus retiring ultra-early in the Vampire Archduchy.

However, as always, life didn’t flow only according to plans.

It didn’t take long to realize I had misjudged.

“What? Why are you so late?”

From behind.

From the moment I turned at the voice coming from the forest I had walked through.

“I’ve been waiting forever. You’re young but have a habit of being late. Wait, isn’t this person a stranger? He entered the forest around the same time as you.”

“Cough, cou…!”

“A paladin? No… a squire?”

Slender build and thin-lined face.

Eyes gleaming red under the moonlight.

“Someone you know? No? Then it doesn’t matter if I kill him?”

“Arghhh! Aah!”

“Shh. Quiet. Shhh-”

Thin fingers ripping through armor and skin with bare hands, pulling out the heart while alive.

Even the corners of the mouth faintly smiling while gazing at the squire’s dying eyes.

“What, he was really a squire. If he were a knight, he wouldn’t have died right away. How boring.”

She casually tossed aside one of Paladin Tember’s two underlings and stood facing me directly.

“It’s been a while.”

Just like with Archduke Gabir.

I knew who that was.

The Princess of Blood.

The Vampire Duke’s second daughter.

She was one of only two level 8 necromancers in the Vampire Archduchy.

If Tribus was a future calamity, she was the present one.

“The road here must have been dangerous. There were paladins and some mercenary scum camped nearby. I thought about wiping them out but just grabbed one who strayed. Didn’t want to stir up unnecessary trouble.”

Did she not know I was one of those mercenary scum?

The directions I had casually changed seemed to have hidden my tracks.

Thanks to that, I also learned that the statue couldn’t track each other’s positions precisely.

It appeared usable only to the extent of predetermining a meeting place.

“Anyway. Have you been well?”

“…….”

“Won’t you even greet me now?”

And that line…

That was the encounter dialogue between Tribus and the Princess of Blood hero.

It seemed the Princess of Blood mistook me for Tribus.

Probably because I was wearing the white mask that was practically his trademark.

[[Lord’s Unyielding Mind] is active.]

Let me think.

The initial plan had gone awry.

The Princess of Blood wasn’t an opponent I could defeat in battle.

No, not just defeat—surviving was impossible against such a formidable foe.

Then, the answer was one.

Shed the identity of an imperial mercenary and don the mask of Tribus.

In the game, the relationship between the Princess of Blood and Tribus was moderately aloof.

At least better than being an imperial army-affiliated mercenary mage.

“What? Why no words?”

Come to think of it, what did Tribus say in the encounter dialogue?

It was something like…

“Kihit. I don’t see why I should accept greetings from the likes of a daybird.”

“…Huh?”

“Does a mongrel bat think it’s become a person walking on two legs?”

…Roughly like that.

Surely she wouldn’t blow my head off, right?