Work Prophet
Chapter 613 - 45: The Price of Treachery

Ilkand had to write another letter by hand, stating his willingness to forsake the Figrola family and pledge loyalty to the Dwarf King.

He handed this obsequious Oath of Loyalty to the commander of the Dwarf Army in front of him, the "giant" Jerome.

Afterward, he left behind half of the thirty-six confidants who had followed him out of the fray, and it was only then that he was permitted to lead the remaining sixteen to lure the reinforcing troops into the mountains.

However, they wandered through the Dragon Ridge Mountain Range for three days, yet they still couldn’t find any trace of the army.

Ilkand grew more anxious, worried that he wouldn’t be able to fulfill Marquis Kuren’s dying wish.

It was at this moment that he thought of Morse, who was in charge of logistics; when they entered the mountains, it was merely to retrieve the impulsive Hugo and not to raid the mountainous tribes.

Thus, they had only brought a small portion of supplies, leaving the majority of their logistics behind, under Morse’s watch.

If the reinforcement troops also intended to enter the mountains, their logistics would presumably be entrusted to Morse, meaning Morse knew where the reinforcements were currently located.

Having realized this, Ilkand decisively stopped wasting time in the mountains and left the range, heading straight for Solid Stone Castle.

His party of seventeen, traveling both day and night, and after wearing out two warhorses, finally arrived at Solid Stone Castle.

They had barely shown themselves from a distance when they were spotted by the guards on watch, and soon after Ilkand heard the sound of a horn.

Then, the gates of the encampment opened, and a troop of Rangers, about three times their number, came out and surrounded them.

Ilkand frowned and said, "Where is Lord Morse? I am Ilkand of the Immanuel Family, who previously accompanied Marquis Kuren into the Dragon Ridge Mountains. I have urgent military affairs and must see him at once."

However, the Knight leading the troop didn’t immediately go back to report upon hearing this but turned and seemed to be discussing something with the people behind him, occasionally glancing over at Ilkand and his men.

Ilkand was already short-tempered, and the succession of recent events only exacerbated his irritation. He had barely made it out of the great mountains, only to find himself stopped by his own people at the outskirts of camp.

His patience was nearly exhausted.

Fortunately, just when he was about to lose his temper, the Knight leading the other party finally looked up and spoke to him again.

"Lord Morse went to a nearby village to collect food this morning, but since you’re one of our own, you can enter Solid Stone Castle and wait."

"Morse isn’t here?" Ilkand’s frown deepened, "Then do you know where the reinforcements are now?"

"Without Lord Morse’s permission, I can’t disclose any military affairs to you," the Knight insisted.

"Military affairs? I too accompanied Marquis Kuren on the campaign and know Sir Morse. In fact, just over twenty days ago, I was resting here at Solid Stone Castle," Ilkand said.

"Sorry, but that’s an order from Lord Morse. Without his command, we cannot reveal the movements of the reinforcement troops to anyone," the Knight maintained.

"You all look very weary. Come in and rest for a while, have some hot soup."

Ilkand had no other options, he glanced at his sixteen subordinates, indeed all of them appeared utterly exhausted.

So he nodded, dismounted from his warhorse, and someone quickly came forward to lead his horse away.

Ilkand said to that person, "Give it some extra fodder, it’s been hungry for a long time."

Afterward, his sixteen confidants also dismounted and followed the Knight into the camp.

Ilkand kept walking as he asked, "Sir Morse, to which village did you go to collect grain, and can you take me there as well?"

But as the last person entered the camp, the gates behind them closed swiftly.

A dangerous feeling suddenly rose in Ilkand’s heart.

Yet before he could cry out a warning, the Rangers around him were already drawing their swords from their waists.

The next moment, several screams rang out, and by the time Ilkand turned his head, the heads of his sixteen confidants had all been chopped off.

The sixteen headless corpses stood erect before Ilkand, then fell to the ground with a thunderous crash, making his eyes bulge with fury.

"Why?! Why would you do such a thing?" Ilkand roared.

"We’ve received news that you and your men have betrayed the Marquis, and become the lapdogs of those Dwarfs, which is also why you were able to escape from the mountains," said the leading Knight slowly, "And this is the price for being a traitor."

"News has already gotten out?" Ilkand blurted out, his eyes soon reddening, "That’s not the truth."

"Hmm, that’s what every traitor says in their defense," the Knight said as he flicked his ear.

He thought Ilkand would offer some further defense, but to his surprise, the latter said not a word and drew his precious sword, slashing at him.

The Knight tried to dodge, but they were not far apart, and with Ilkand striking so suddenly, he could only manage to turn his body slightly and was ultimately cut on the arm by the sword.

As a result, his left arm was chopped off, and the Knight fell to the ground, rolling in agony and howling in pain.

Ilkand swung his sword again, hoping to make quick work of the man’s life, but by then, other guards had already surrounded him.

Ilkand swung his long sword in a tight defense, but there were too many opponents. Eventually, he was struck by several blows and tackled to the ground.

That one-armed Knight, enduring the pain, said, "Leave him alive; Maurice has questions for him."

So the guards refrained from chopping off Ilkand’s head and instead threw him into the dungeon.

Then Ilkand endured the longest afternoon of his life, as Maurice sent a pair of Dwarf brothers to interrogate him.

Those two Dwarfs, who squeaked like mice when they laughed, used every torment Westerland had to offer on him.

Some tortures were even millennia old, and by the end of the interrogation, there wasn’t a patch of skin left unmarred on Ilkand’s body.

He was discarded in his cell like trash, left alone to await the arrival of death.

Ilkand felt his consciousness blurring, for he thought he saw a moon in the pitch-black dungeon.

And it was a blood-red moon at that.

Seeing Ilkand staring at the brooch on his chest, the man gave a slight smile and said, "Do you like this? Then I will gift it to you."

After taking off his brooch, he pinned it to Ilkand’s chest, then said to him,

"Don’t be afraid, Lord Ilkand, I’m not a bad person. I’ve come to rescue you."