"I've been here before, but not many people seem to come here."

Frondier said, looking around as he arrived at the laundry area.

Sylvain was behind him. He also looked around.

"However, it's a public place. There's a risk of exposure."

"It's alright. I have many ears and eyes, so I'll know immediately if someone approaches."

"...Indeed."

Sylvain nodded.

"That crow from back then, it was you. Frondier."

"Yes, that's right."

Frondier smiled and answered readily.

At first, he had thought about keeping it a secret until the end. But it was difficult to continue providing information using the crow.

Because from Sylvain's perspective, he wouldn't know whether the crow could be trusted or not. At truly crucial moments, information becomes sensitive and important.

In such situations, if he couldn't trust the crow's information and instead thought it was an enemy ploy, providing information could actually be dangerous.

The battle had already begun, and its scale was expanding faster than Frondier had anticipated. He couldn't afford to be complacent anymore.

"I can tame all sorts of small animals. crows are the easiest to handle, so I use them often."

Of course, it wasn't taming but Gregory's ability, but saying he was cooperating with a prisoner would only raise unnecessary suspicion.

"So you can see the situation outside from within the lodging?"

"I can't see it. The crow tells me what it has seen, and I simply confirm the map and the state of the battle based on that."

"Tells you...?"

At those words, Sylvain tilted his head, and once again, a cawing sound was heard.

A crow flew in and landed on Frondier's shoulder, surprisingly bowing its head towards Sylvain.

[Greetings. I serve the Master. Please take good care of me in the future.]

"...Huh."

The crow spoke. Sylvain's expression became somewhat blank at that fact.

"I can train them to speak like this. crows are smart, you see."

"...Such taming is something that only highly skilled veteran tamers can achieve after a long period of training."

"I was lucky."

It wasn't much of an answer.

Frondier decided to quickly move past this topic.

"So, I have something to tell you."

"Right, that's why you called me here."

Sylvain also knew that the current topic was important, so he didn't bother asking any further.

Frondier took a light breath.

"I know the reason."

"The reason?"

"The reason why the flying monsters didn't participate in the battle."

Sylvain's eyes lit up. Acquiring that information would surely be a great advantage in future battles.

"What is it? This reason."

"To put it simply, they're testing the waters."

"...Testing the waters?"

Frondier's words, regardless of their elegance, sounded incredibly ominous. The reason why the phrase "testing the waters" didn't immediately register was because of that ominous feeling.

"They sent in the monsters to see how thick the barrier is, how strong the soldiers and knights are. That's why they're saving the monsters needed for victory. It's the same for both the flying monsters and the black monsters."

"...?"

Sylvain didn't quite understand those words.

"...They sent in monsters to check the strength of humans?"

"Yes."

"They sacrificed such a large-scale force of monsters just for that?"

The battle that took place today was one of the few in Sylvain's life that involved a truly massive army.

It was fortunate that Enfer had killed a significant number of monsters beforehand; otherwise, Yeranhes' undefeated record might have been broken.

Sylvain shook his head. It was an unthinkable idea.

"Frondier, that's a misconception. No matter how foolish the enemy commander is, they wouldn't suffer such losses."

"..."

Frondier didn't answer immediately and closed his eyes deeply.

...As expected, Sylvain knows.

He knows what Frondier will say next.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be making that kind of expression.

"Commander, you just said 'large-scale,' but..."

However, Frondier had to say it.

Information isn't just a collection of facts; what it ultimately means is important.

"From the enemy's perspective, those monsters weren't a 'large-scale' force."

"...Wh, what..."

"As I mentioned earlier, I can see beyond the battlefield through the crows. I found the enemy's base and was able to confirm the route they gather on."

After saying that, Frondier looked at the crow. It was a sign to speak on his behalf.

Thankfully, the crow understood Frondier's intention just from that look and opened its beak.

[If I may be so bold, there are more than five times the number of monsters that attacked today gathered at the monsters' assembly point. This is the number excluding the black monsters, only the monsters outside.]

"...!"

[However, there is a bigger problem.]

A bigger problem?

At this point, Sylvain wasn't just feeling emotional; he was starting to get a real headache.

His chest began to feel tight. It wasn't just a feeling; it actually became difficult to breathe, so Sylvain pounded his chest once.

[The black monsters are multiplying rapidly.]

Even after pounding a few more times, his rough breathing didn't calm down.

[In a few days, they will catch up to the number of monsters outside.]