Scout

The following morning, the warm sunlight cast a few thin strands of gold onto the oak floor of the study.

Karl was awakened by soft footsteps and suppressed whispers; his consciousness was like being immersed in lukewarm water, too hazy to wake up.

He struggled to lift his head, his gaze passing over the desk piled high with parchment scrolls, and meeting two pairs of eyes filled with worry.

My mother stood on the left, her usually meticulously styled hair loosened slightly, and the fine lines at the corners of her eyes became more pronounced as she frowned.

Louise on the right wore an elegant light blue dress. The luxurious silk skirt trailed to the ground, making her ankles appear as slender as newly sprouted willow branches in spring. Her face was paler than usual, and her usually smiling blue eyes were now veiled with a faint worry, as if she were afraid of disturbing him. She even breathed very softly.

"Karl, how could you fall asleep in the study?" His mother's voice carried a hint of heartache and reproach. She stepped forward, reaching out to brush away the stray hairs from Karl's forehead, the warmth of her fingertips soothing his slightly cool skin. "It's so cold at night; what if you catch a cold and get sick?"

Karl blinked, his hazy consciousness slowly returning. He looked at his mother's worried expression, then at Louise was standing to the side with her eyes downcast, and smiled apologetically. However, his throat was terribly dry, and even speaking felt difficult.

He was about to explain when Louise spoke first. She bowed slightly and said softly to Lady Eileen, "I'm sorry, Madam, it's all my fault. Last night, I saw Karl was asleep and didn't want to disturb him. I thought I'd let him rest for a while and forgot to remind him to go back to his bedroom."

As Louise finished speaking, Eileen's reproach faded slightly, but she still shook her head helplessly.

Karl had recovered by then. He lifted the thick blanket covering him and placed it on a chair. As he stood up, his legs, which had gone numb from sitting for so long, swayed, causing his mother and the Princess to gasp in surprise and quickly reach out to help him.

Karl waved his hand to indicate that he was alright, and gave the two of them a reassuring smile, his voice still hoarse from just waking up:

"Mother, Your Highness, I'm really fine. I just intended to doze off at the table for a while, but I ended up sleeping for so long."

He looked at Louise and said sincerely, "Your Highness, thank you for draping a blanket over me and adding firewood to the fire last night. Without you, I'm afraid I would be bedridden today."

Louise looked a little embarrassed, lowered her head slightly, her long eyelashes casting a small shadow under her eyelids, and said in a voice barely audible, "It's what I should do... I just did something insignificant."

Seeing the tender atmosphere between the two, the mother sighed helplessly, gently tapped Karl's forehead, and scolded him:

"You're always so reckless! How can you put your own health aside for work? From now on, you absolutely cannot spend the night in the study, understand?"

As she spoke, she turned to Louise, her tone earnest, "Your Her Highness the Princess, please don't indulge him like this anymore. If he dares to stay up all night again, just wake him up. It's for his own good."

Louise looked up at Karl and saw him wink at her. She couldn't help but smile. She respectfully replied to Lady Eileen, "Don't worry, Madam, I will keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't act recklessly again."

After having breakfast with his mother and the Princess, Karl quickly went to the small document room to summon Richter to discuss matters.

When he pushed open the door, Richter was already waiting inside. Hearing the door open, he immediately turned around and bowed respectfully to Karl: "Sir."

Karl nodded, walked to his desk and sat down. He gestured for Richter not to stand on ceremony and got straight to the point. "Richter, how's the Intelligence Bureau's manpower preparation going? Is the funding I allocated to you enough?"

Upon hearing this, Richter's face lit up with excitement. He stepped forward and said in a strong voice, "Reporting to you, sir, thanks to your investment, the Intelligence Bureau's manpower has nearly doubled since last month. The operations department now has thirty well-trained personnel who are ready to be deployed at any time."

He paused, walked to the map, pointed to the markings, and continued, "For better command, I've divided the operations unit into two parts. The first part is the city operations unit. These twenty-three people are all experts in concealing their whereabouts; they can perfectly disguise themselves as ordinary citizens."

"Whether they were street vendors, tavern waiters, or peddlers who roamed the streets and alleys, they mingled among the common people, gathering all sorts of intelligence."

At this point, Richter's expression grew increasingly serious, and he lowered his voice. "Regarding the Grimm caravan route that you've been particularly concerned about, I've already sent Franz and Ernst to infiltrate it."

"Franz, you surely know this already. These two are seasoned veterans. They've successfully infiltrated the caravan and become guards on the merchant ships. They regularly report the caravan's movements to us, including cargo manifests, information on passengers, and so on."

Karl tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his gaze sharp as a hawk's. He nodded slightly, signaling Richter to continue.

Richter cleared his throat and continued, "The second part is the reconnaissance troops. This part is still in the experimental stage. I personally selected eight promising young men from the army. They are all from hunter or scout families, familiar with the terrain of the wilderness, skilled in tracking and counter-tracking, and their endurance and physical strength far exceed those of ordinary people."

"I've hired the army's top scout instructors to give them rigorous training, including subjects such as wilderness survival, intelligence transmission, and covert reconnaissance."

His voice carried a hint of expectation, and his gaze toward Karl was full of confidence. "My lord, these scouts will be able to disperse and act as the eyes of your army when your main force is mobilized, whether to conquer Sauron or advance in other directions. They will lie in ambush in the wilderness and dense forests to gather intelligence on the enemy's deployment, the location of supplies, and the advantages and disadvantages of the terrain."

"At that time, they can ensure that the information is delivered to you safely and without error."