Driven by the people of Border City, the construction plan for New Border City progressed steadily.
According to calculations based on the entries in the Lord’s Journal, the Barbarians would likely invade within 10 to 15 days.
Given the current pace of construction, Anke had plenty of time to complete the construction of New Border City.
However, for the sake of safety, Anke still demanded the highest level of efficiency to push the construction forward, even requiring work to continue throughout the night.
The extensive use of Coal provided the laborers with the necessary conditions to work after dark.
Even on the coldest nights, the workers continued their labor as if it were day, warmed by the heat of the bonfires.
Finally, on the seventh day after construction began, a city almost identical to the Old Border City stood between the Piranha River and the original Border City.
New Border City featured walls that looked similar to those of the Old Border City, though they were actually taller and more reinforced.
Within the city stood numerous houses and a prominent Lord’s Castle.
However, unlike the real city walls, only the barracks were genuine buildings.
The vast majority of the other houses, including the Lord’s Castle, were fakes.
They consisted of nothing more than a thin wooden shell filled with packed snow blocks, making them completely uninhabitable.
This was a method an old hunter had recommended to Anke.
It made the fake houses, which were originally just wooden shells, much more solid and less likely to reveal any flaws.
Once New Border City was completed, Anke immediately moved into the barracks within the new city.
He brought half of the Imperial Guard Knights led by Vera, 600 militia members who had finished most of their basic training, 400 laborers for support and logistics, and a large quantity of food and supplies.
At the same time, he instructed Mustafa and Kano to lead the remaining half of the Imperial Guard Knights and the Border City guards to stay behind and secure Anke’s rear.
Anke was ready to repel the Barbarian army!
After moving into New Border City, although Anke was the highest military commander in name, the actual arrangement of various military affairs within the city was handled by Vera.
Fortunately, as a Mimic Beast, Vera possessed extraordinary learning abilities.
Even though she had never led an army before, she could quickly acquire the necessary knowledge and skills from books and journals.
Thus, after an initial period of feeling overwhelmed, Vera quickly became proficient in her new duties.
Because Anke had mentioned that the Barbarians might send spies in advance to slip into Border City and gather intelligence, Vera focused on that possibility.
She strengthened the inspections of people entering and leaving the city and organized a forty-man patrol led by two Imperial Guard Knights to handle sudden situations.
Furthermore, Vera split off four Mimic Crow Kin to constantly monitor the situation within the city.
On the third day after moving into New Border City, Vera discovered four suspicious individuals in a specific area of the city through one of her Mimic Crow Kin.
Vera immediately ordered a militia member to notify the patrol to head to the area where the suspicious individuals were located, while she also rushed toward that position.
However, to Vera’s surprise, by the time she and the patrol arrived, the four suspicious individuals had already been subdued by several laborers and tied to a pillar.
“Lady Knight! You’ve arrived just in time. We caught four suspicious fellows; we suspect they’re Barbarians!”
A middle-aged laborer stepped forward, bowing to Vera and pointing at the four people tied to the pillar.
“How did you realize they were Barbarians?”
Vera looked at the four people tied to the pillar.
Their faces were covered in bruises, and only one of them was conscious; the other three were in a state of “unconsciousness.”
The middle-aged laborer who had proudly reported the news also had a blood-soaked rag wrapped around his hand.
He appeared to have sustained some injuries, but his spirits were very high.
“Reporting to the Lady Knight, we were just working when these four showed up. We didn’t know what they were doing, but they started asking all sorts of questions and even pulled out a few silver coins to try and bribe us! His Highness told us before to watch out for people like this! That’s why we suspected they were spies!” the middle-aged laborer answered truthfully.
“I see. You did very well. Untie them and come with me to escort them to the barracks to hand them over to His Highness. While we’re there, we will calculate the rewards for capturing spies for you.”
“Yes, Lady Knight, we’ll do it right away. Come on, brothers, get them down,” the middle-aged laborer shouted, gesturing to the surrounding crowd.
Several men immediately stepped forward to help untie the ropes.
“Specifically, which of you participated in the capture? I need to record your names so I can issue the rewards later,” Vera asked the middle-aged laborer as the others were untying the ropes.
“Of course, Lady Knight. There’s me, and then Heinz, Haka…”
The middle-aged laborer listed nine names, and Vera recorded each one.
“They were faking it!” someone suddenly cried out in alarm.
Suddenly, the three who were supposedly “unconscious” lunged upward and scrambled to flee in different directions.
But before they could take more than a few steps, Vera, who was already prepared, stepped forward.
With a swift strike of her scabbard and the edge of her hand, she knocked two of them unconscious.
As the last person tried to escape, he happened to run right into the arriving patrol — a move Vera had deliberately orchestrated. He was promptly floored by a punch from an Imperial Guard Knight.
“We are terribly sorry, Lady Knight. We thought they were out cold.”
The laborers who had nearly let the three escape begged Vera for her forgiveness.
“It is fine. They are as cunning as foxes. It is only natural for you to be deceived when you were unprepared,” Vera said, shaking her head.
She then commanded the middle-aged laborer, “You, bring a few men and escort them behind me.”
“Yes, Lady Knight,” the middle-aged laborer replied.
He and several others then used ropes to bind the four suspicious men tightly before following Vera to the barracks.
As she passed the patrol, Vera paused specifically to instruct the two leading Imperial Guard Knights.
“Continue patrolling New Border City. Be especially wary of those entering the city; spies are most likely to be hidden among them.”
“Yes, ma’am!” the two knights responded, snapping to attention and saluting.
“Good.”
Vera nodded and continued her return to the barracks.
On the way, Vera curiously asked the middle-aged laborer why they hadn’t accepted the silver from those four.
“Could the preferential treatment His Highness gives us be traded for a mere few silver coins? How could we ever help those suspicious bastards!” the middle-aged laborer said with righteous indignation.
Vera led the group into the barracks, going straight to Anke’s quarters at the very back.
“Your Highness, several suspicious individuals have been captured in the city,” Vera reported.
Anke, who was studying a map, immediately looked up upon hearing her voice.
“Suspicious individuals? Are they from the Barbarians?”
“We have not interrogated them yet, but we have brought them here for you to question, Your Highness.”
Vera shook her head and ordered the laborers to bring the four suspicious men inside.
“Lord, we aren’t suspicious people! We’re just ordinary villagers who wandered in here by mistake!”
Upon seeing Anke, the four suspicious men immediately put on a show of innocence and misery, pleading for his mercy.
“Don’t try to lie your way out of this. If you were just ordinary villagers, why were you asking about the situation here and trying to bribe the workers for information?” Vera barked in a cold rebuke.
“My Lord, those people are lying! They just want to use us to trick you out of a reward!”
“That’s right, my Lord! Everything we said is true! We only ran and fought back because we were afraid of being treated like criminals.”
“Yes, we were just too scared.”
“We beg for your mercy, my Lord!”
The four of them pleaded with Anke in unison.
“Vera? What do you think?” Anke looked toward Vera.
“Your Highness, they are definitely problematic,” Vera answered with certainty.
“I see…”
Anke nodded slightly and then gestured for Vera to come closer. He leaned in and whispered a set of instructions into her ear.
After listening, Vera nodded to Anke, indicating she understood.
“You,” Anke said, walking up to the first man.
“If you honestly confess your identity, I will not only refrain from punishing you but will even reward you. However, if you refuse to cooperate, I can only send you to Hell.”
“Your Highness, I really am not —”
“Vera, drag him out and kill him,” Anke commanded, cutting the first man off before he could finish.
“Yes,” Vera replied. She grabbed the man and dragged him out of the barracks.
A moment later, a bloodcurdling scream echoed from outside. Then, Vera walked back in, holding a blood-stained longsword.
Not only the three remaining suspects but even the laborers who had escorted them broke into a cold sweat.
Anke walked up to the second man and repeated the same words.
With sweat pouring down his face, the second man grit his teeth and continued to deny everything.
He was then dragged out by Vera and “executed” on the spot.
Next was the third man.
After Anke finished speaking, the third man wavered for a moment, but because his response was slightly too slow, Anke ordered Vera to drag him out for “execution” as well.
“I’ll talk! Your Highness, I’ll talk! We were sent by Earl Oca!”
The last man, seeing that the three before him had all died for refusing to confess and knowing he was next, crackled under the fear of death and hastily revealed his identity.