The Time-Limited Leader Makes the Raid a Success - Chapter 460



Only Noblemtl

Episode 460

#460. This is a bit harsh.

Fez was a city located in north-central Morocco.

It once had a population of over 1 million, making it the second largest city in Morocco after Casablanca.

But unfortunately, today Fez has a population of less than 200,000. This is due to the aftermath of the Great War and the Little War.

At that time, Morocco, like other countries during the two wars, was continuing its war against monsters.

As an African country without a focal point, its response was incomparable to that of Europe or North America.

Morocco had no choice but to sacrifice several cities to resist the monsters, one of which was Fez.

Long ago, Fez was a fortress designed to defend against enemies with narrow alleys and complex buildings, so much so that it was called a labyrinthine city.

Using this, the hunters lured the monsters into the city and waged a guerrilla war, achieving a great victory.

Thanks to this, Fez was revered as a sacred place for monster resistance consciousness in Africa, but half of the city fell into ruins, and the other half became a historic site that will remain in the history of the Gate War.

In short, it meant that 70-80% of the city had become uninhabitable.

Now, the city has successfully redeveloped the remaining urban area and has become a tourism-oriented city, but the prosperity that once made it Morocco’s second city is nowhere to be found.

“Thank goodness Fes-Saïss Airport is doing its job now that tourism has picked up. If that airport hadn’t been saved, we would have had to land at an airport further north.”

The mercenary unit leader reported that all the luggage had been unloaded, and he acted in the typical mercenary tone.

Gary Dee was usually a scary boss, but he was the type to let his mercenaries go when it wasn’t a mission, so this conversation was possible.

However, even this was not allowed as the full-scale mission began.

“What about the car?”

“The combat vehicles are limited to two, but the remaining twelve SUVs were airlifted.”

“There are fourteen in total.”

“You can take one of those combat vehicles, sir.”

“As for the rest of the vehicles, each party should board them, but put those with long-range hunting skills in the front and rear. Divide up the rest as you see fit.”

“Yes. I will organize it right away and report to you.”

As soon as the deputy commander withdrew, the secretary who had been waiting approached.

He reported with a look of enthusiasm in his eyes, as if he was trying to make up for his mistake of missing Kang Mu-hyeok’s whereabouts in Casablanca.

“News from Meknes.”

“Did you find Kang Mu-hyuk?”

“Unfortunately, Meknes is blocked off and no one is coming in, so there is no information to speak of.”

“blockade?”

Gary Dee tilted his head.

By the time he left Casablanca, the unrest in the capital, Rabat, was showing signs of abating.

But why is there a sudden blockade in Meknes, a region quite far from the capital?

The secretary continued to speak immediately to satisfy her impatient superior’s curiosity.

“I think there were anarchists among the protesters. They are said to be those who advocate the dissolution of the monarchy and the government. They fled to seek asylum when the Alawite royal family gave in and the protesters dispersed. It seems that they blocked Meknes because it was a gateway to Europe by sea.”

“That makes even more sense.”

The secretary didn’t ask what Gary Dee was pointing out, because even that might have been a mistake and he might have been branded a worthless person.

This time, Gary Dee muttered to himself, wondering if his silence was the answer.

“You want to blockade a city because of a few anarchists? King Rashid is not so narrow-minded as to forget a grudge, but he is not so diligent as to do something annoying for no reason.”

“It doesn’t matter since people will be working under it anyway, right?”

“Blocking a city is not easy to deal with afterward. If the movement of people and logistics are blocked, the city without productivity will inevitably become paralyzed. This means that the king, who monopolizes all power in Morocco, will have to clean up the mess.”

“Ah, I see. Now that I hear it, I have the same suspicions as you, Captain.”

The secretary gave Gary Dee a proper thumbs up.

Gary Dee, who noticed his secretary’s intention to flatter him, returned to the main topic.

“So? Is that all that was reported that Meknes was blocked and Kang Moo-hyuk wasn’t found?”

“No, that’s not it. It’s not exact, but I found one suspicious movement and brought it.”

“Doubt? What?”

“Take a look at this first.”

The secretary handed me a smartphone. A picture was on the screen. Dozens of vehicles were lined up and running along the road. They didn’t look the same, but they were all small tactical hunter vehicles, widely used in Africa.

Judging from the angle at which the photo was taken, it appeared to have been captured by a CCTV installed on the road.

“Are you a guard?”

“No, the Moroccan Royal Guard is uniformed in black.”

“So, who are these guys?”

“Please turn to the next photo.”

Gary Dee tapped the screen. The picture flipped smoothly. It was larger than the previous picture and in sharp focus.

The secretary explained, pointing to one side of the photo.

“Here’s the sword leaning against the inside of the Humvee window. The rain guard on the handle looks a bit odd.”

Gary Dee zoomed in on the photo and examined the area his secretary had pointed to.

“It’s definitely different from the monster leather rain guards used in Africa.”

The rain guard was a part that prevented rainwater from entering the sword when it was put into its scabbard.

Weapons made of Gate metal rarely rust when exposed to air or water, but there were many cases where they were damaged when they were low-grade weapons or when they came into contact with special solutions in the Gate environment or the body fluids of monsters.

To prevent this, rain guards are made of leather or special metals, but in Africa, they are often made of monster leather, which is easy to install and requires little effort.

However, the rain guard in this photo was made of metal.

Gary Dee realized this and said,

“Metal rain guards are commonly used in Europe and North America.”

“Even the rich royal guards like Morocco. Or the Europeans who came over.”

“That may be true, but this rain guard follows the African side in shape and size. It’s a rough square shape. The guards are a bit more ornate. The hunters who are called the advanced hunters have strong personalities and are not unified.”

“Does that mean these guys are hunters from Africa?”

“Maybe he’s a mercenary.”

The secretary’s guess was correct.

Morocco was a relatively stable country in terms of gate security. It would be impossible for foreign guilds to move openly in such a country. Only multinational guilds or mercenary groups with permission could operate.

The multinational guilds that had agreements with Morocco were few in number and had clearly known characteristics, so it seemed right to view them as mercenaries.

“Which mercenary unit?”

“There aren’t many in Africa who use metal rain guards that are tailored to African standards. There are even fewer mercenaries in Morocco who can openly use Humvees.”

“So who are you?”

“This is the Eagles Mercenary Corps.”

“Eagles?”

“Yes. They’re definitely them, even though they’re hiding their mercenary logo.”

Gary Dee was a guy I knew well. I had met him on the battlefield a few times.

Of course, I had never encountered them directly, but they were memorable because they were known for assigning useless missions.

It was only when the secretary put the name Eagles in that Gary Dee’s puzzle began to come into view.

“Come to think of it, Morocco owed Gloria Guild a favor, didn’t he? The Eagles took on several of their requests. Yes, I remember. Edoardo and Illusion-sama clashed several times, so we collected quite a bit of information on that side. I personally checked out their activities in Africa. That’s when I saw the name Eagles.”

“From here on out, it’s speculation, but would you like to hear my thoughts?”

“say.”

“The hypothesis is that Kang Moo-hyuk came to Morocco for some reason after making contact with Edoardo, and that Gloria gave him the Eagles mercenary unit. Their route has also been confirmed to go from Rabat to Meknes. Since Meknes is blocked, they are coming to Fez. According to Gary Dee’s guess, they have no choice but to pass through here to go to the Atlantic or Mediterranean. I haven’t seen Kang Moo-hyuk’s face, but given the timing, doesn’t the context fit so well? I think we need to look into it.”

Gary Dido was moved by Secretary’s opinion.

“Yeah. It definitely smells.”

Gary Dee thought the heavens were helping him, because now that he had arrived in Pes, he could wait ahead without being chased.

Even if it was a procession that had nothing to do with Kang Mu-hyeok, there was no need to be disappointed. After all, there was no trace or information to speak of at the moment.

Besides, with Meknes blocked, Kang Mu-hyeok’s only destination was Fez. He had to pass through here to get anywhere.

He patted his secretary on the shoulder and congratulated her.

“See? It worked because I said so. Good job.”

“Go, thank you.”

“Keep working like this in the future too.”

The secretary could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He was no longer following the same path as his predecessor.

Gary Dee called the lieutenant back in and explained the situation. The lieutenant handed over a report detailing the number of people in the vehicle and asked,

“It seems like there are quite a few enemies. Well then, we should ambush them.”

“Find out the road leading to the north of the route into Fes. Pick a good place to hit.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to dig a trap?”

“You call that talking? Prepare something that can be destroyed in the first place.”

As the deputy commander went to revise the operation, Gary Dee stared blankly at a photo of a vehicle that appeared to be the Eagles mercenary unit and said.

“This is going to be easy. Kang Mu-hyeok… How dare you insult Illusion-nim. I’ll give you a pain that will make you think death is better. Hehehe.”

The secretary standing next to him shuddered at Gary Dee’s low laugh.

He truly felt sorry for the man named Kang Mu-hyeok.

‘I’d rather die before I get caught… … .’

* * *

Nothing happened while Kang Moo-hyuk drove on the 300km road from Casablanca to Rabat, Meknes, and then to Fez.

The road conditions were bad, so it took a long time and the car was bumpy, but other than that, it was a peaceful journey.

‘The more this happens, the more anxious I become. If the reason Meknes was blocked off is related to us as expected, then there’s no way that it would be passed over quietly just because it’s called Fes.’

Compared to Meknes, which had a relatively clear network of paved roads, Fez was a complex web of detours and unpaved roads left over from past wars.

The infrastructure was also lacking compared to other cities, making surveillance difficult and pursuit difficult.

The only thing to be concerned about is that there is only one road until you reach Fez.

If you were to settle down in the middle, you would inevitably end up in conflict.

‘It’s been quiet so far. That means the Moroccan royal family is still unsure about this move. That’s why they’ve blocked off Meknes, which is a direct route to Medusa’s head.’

If so, their judgment would have been divided at Pes.

If Kang Mu-hyeok passes through Fez and heads north toward the Mediterranean, the blockade of Meknes will be lifted and the situation will end.

After that, if you head northwest and head towards Medusa’s Head, the royal family may respond again.

Then, Kang Mu-hyeok’s suspicion would turn into certainty.

‘At this point, let’s try to figure out what the Moroccan royal family is thinking. Did they really blockade the city because of us? If we pretend to go to the Mediterranean, they’ll probably react. What if we turn back to the Atlantic later?’

I wanted to use a deception strategy to figure out the other party’s intentions, but I couldn’t just waste time worrying about Ayla’s safety.

Alex’s impatience is not stopping because he is still moving tightly.

Alex would often check the schedule via radio.

“Still, this is a bit harsh.”

“Huh? What are you saying… … .”

It was when the Eagles next to him responded to Kang Moo-hyuk’s monologue and asked.

bang!

The car suddenly shook with a loud noise.