After hearing Vaan's claim, Captain Rhys immediately exploded with outrage and glared at his men.
He didn't doubt Vaan's words for even a second—not because he believed Vaan, but because he was well aware of his men.
They were still new recruits, untrained, undisciplined, self-entitled, and weak-minded.
The Steelguard Escort Group's training would teach them to become respectable warriors like real men. But before they complete the training, they are still brats sucking on their mamas' tits.
"Who was it?! Who did it?!" Captain Rhys bellowed with rage as he glared at the young warriors one by one.
At the same time, the young warriors were so shocked and intimidated by Captain Rhys's pressure that they froze on the spot, unable to utter a single word of response.
"It's not a matter of who did it, but why he did it. Isn't that right?" Vaan casually stared at Caelan with an all-knowing yet sly look.
Caelan immediately felt a cold chill as Captain Rhys shifted his gaze to him. In that instance, the split-second guilt in his eyes quickly sold him out.
Captain Rhys didn't need to interrogate to understand that Caelan was indeed the culprit.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Caelan. In fact, I've been disappointed with all of your performances during this escort mission. However, you, Caelan, have succeeded in surpassing everyone in terms of disappointing me!" Captain Rhys spat gloomily.
He hated traitors with a great passion, but he forced himself to suppress the urge to kill in order to listen to Caelan's excuse.
"C-captain, I can explain…." Caelan stuttered.
"You can explain, can you?! What kind of explanation can you possibly give that makes it okay to betray everyone, huh?!" Captain Rhys barked furiously as his killing intent intensified by the moment.
Caelan immediately became desperate.
"I was going to die if I didn't tell them what they wanted to know! What else was I supposed to do?! Tell me, Captain! What was I supposed to do?! Am I supposed to just accept my death?!" Caelan cried.
After Captain Rhys listened to Caelan's tearful outburst, his anger slightly subsided.
"Haiz, I supposed you are right," Captain Rhys sighed and looked at Caelan with disappointment, "It was too much to expect you selfish and self-entitled lot to be so self-sacrificing for the rest of the escort group."
"However, even if you sold us out to the enemy just to save your own skin, you should have informed us of what happened first thing in the morning!"
"I… I thought about doing that… However, I thought there was no longer any need to do so since we decided to take a different route from what I told the assassin…" Caelan said hesitantly.
"Even so, you should have told us what happened!" Captain Rhys scolded him.
"I understand, Captain. I was being inconsiderate—"
"Inconsiderate? You're just a heartless coward," Vaan coldly chuckled and said, "There's no need to keep listening to his lies, Captain Rhys. I'm sure he hasn't told you everything."
"You mean there's more to the story, Brother Vaan?" Captain Rhys glanced at him with a frown. At the same time, his anger started rising again.
"Of course, there's more to the story," Vaan calmly nodded before saying, "Just think about it. Even if he told the assassins about our plans and route, there's no way the assassins would let him live with just that."
"The assassins would have silenced him after extracting the information they wanted to eliminate the variable—even if it meant doing so would alarm us. Of course, their most ideal situation would have been to gain his cooperation."
"However, if we consider the assassins to be versed in psychology, they wouldn't have been the ones to propose cooperation first. They would have pushed Caelan into despair to see through his heart and thoughts. They would only propose cooperation once they were convinced that Caelan was a person they could use."
"In essence, it's a simple tactic of the stick and carrot," Vaan casually stated.
"Is that true?"
"I…"
Caelan was unable to refute Vaan's accusation when Captain Rhys shot him a sharp look for confirmation.
Nevertheless, Vaan didn't give Caelan any more chances to explain himself.
"What's interesting is what Caelan did in order to gain the assassins' trust and make cooperation possible between them," Vaan mentioned.
"I doubt he simply told the assassins he would do anything to live. That wouldn't have been enough. He most likely mentioned how he also wanted Lady Linetta and Lady Lillias dead to match the assassins' interests."
"But what's even more interesting is the reason why he wanted Lady Linette and Lady Lillias dead. He must have used an excuse—something like wanting Lady Linette dead for killing one of his brothers or something similar."
"That being said, I doubt Caelan would have actually cared about such a matter if he was prepared to send everyone to hell for his own survival anyway. I suppose his true purpose was to obtain the Stalactite Milk from Lady Linette."
"I'm sure that he believed that he would have gained a blessing from a disaster if his plan actually succeeded—not that it would, of course," Vaan chuckled coldly.
As Vaan spoke, everyone's mood plummeted to rock bottom.
Not only did Captain Rhys, Linetta, and Lillias want Caelan dead. Even the other young warrior shared the same thoughts.
On the other hand, Caelan's heart turned cold. Vaan's valid points were like sharp swords stabbing right into his heart. It was as if Vaan had been present and witnessed everything from the start.
'Who the hell is this person? What kind of terrifying foresight is this?!' Caelan inwardly cried. His mind was quickly clouded by despair and the threat of death.
"Nevertheless, cooperation requires both give and take," Vaan added.
"I'm sure the assassins must have given Caelan something of value in addition to sparing his life in order to guarantee his loyalty to their cause," Vaan rubbed his chin thoughtfully with a sly smile and said, "I wonder where he kept the goods."
"Search his bag!"
Captain Rhys immediately barked at the other young warriors by the wagon with a sharp glint in his eyes.
In that instance, Caelan's face completely paled like a ghost as the last trace of his hope disappeared.
He couldn't hide anything at all; Vaan had completely and thoroughly seen through him.
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