Going back in time to when the punitive force had set up camp and were having dinner……Rei was about 10km away from the camp.

Set was naturally with Rei, as well as the other members of the guerrilla force, including Pernyx, who was the de facto leader of the unit.

Because they were in the fores, the deep red autumn sunset was mostly blocked by the trees.

Rei and the others were having their own dinner in such a place……

「Delicious! What is this? i never thought I’d be able to eat such delicious food during a military operation.」

「What is this……long and thin thing? It’s stretchy and chewy, I could eat a lot of this.」

「Ahhh……the soup has soaked into it and it’s tasty……」

「Um, Captain Rei, what kind of food is this?」

Rei swallowed the food in his mouth before responding to the soldier.

「This is a dish that was created in Gilm, on the outskirts of the Mireana Kingdom, it’s called udon.」

「Udon? I’ve never heard of it before.」

「Of course. But, you know that it’s delicious, right? The logic doesn’t matter, you just need to feel the taste.」

「Yeah, that’s ture. But Gilm is amazing, isn’t it. To have created such a new dish.」

Half of it might have been flattery, but half of it was probably serious. As the soldier muttered in admiration, Rei averted his gaze as he focused on eating the udon.

This dish, udon, had been popularised by Rei in Gilm after all.

Of course, Rei hadn’t made it himself. He only happened to know the rough recipe from when he was in Japan.

That was why he felt a little uncomfortable hearing so much praise……

Trying not to worry about, he noticed his bowl was nearly empty and went to fill it up with more udon from the pot he had taken out.

The pot, containing udon, had naturally been prepared by the Satisfied Stomach back in Gilm.

The pot of stewed udon, about a meter high, had been so full that the udon had almost been spilling out of it, but now it had been reduced by half.

There were also two completely emptied pots nearby.

Of course, the soldiers in the guerrilla force had eaten their fair share, but it was Rei and Set who had eaten most of it.

Normally, eating food that gave off a strong smell during military activities was unacceptable, but at such a distance from the punitive force’s camp, it wasn’t a problem.

Some monsters were attracted by the smell of food and tried to approach, but were scared off by Set’s presence and left.

There were still some monsters who came over, such as Goblins, as they didn’t realise the difference in strength, but they were all disposed off by the guerrilla force.

Like so, dinner time passed for the 30 or so people.

By the time the third large pot of stewed udon was emptied, the sun had completely set and the surroundings were enveloped in darkness.

There was still a tiny amount of light from the fading sun, but it was difficult to tell inside the forest.

As they would soon need to get moving, the members of the guerrilla unit enjoyed a short break after their meal.

「When I was told by my superiors that I had been assigned to the guerrilla unit, I had wondered why I was being punished……」

「Oh, me too. I mean, it’s a unit led by Crimson, you know? I thought we’d definitely be caught up in a lot of unpleasant situations. But if I can eat such delicious food during operations, I’m happy enough.」

「Yeah. In that sense, I think it was fine for me to be assigned to this unit too……but……」

「What? What’s wrong? You get to eat such good food and you’re still not happy?」

「Unhapy……no, I’m not unhappy. I just think item boxes are amazing.」

「Yeah. That’s true. I never thought it would be possible to fit three huge pots in something like that. Item boxes……I guess they would make a huge difference in the transportation of goods. It means we can eat delicious food like this every day, instead of dried meat and other preserved foods.」

「I heard that the morale of the Mireana Kingdom’s vanguard was high during the Spring War, I guess it was because of the food.」

「I couldn’t believe the water that Captain Rei made from the dagger either.」

「Yeah, that as well. I though the same thing. It’s just water, so why is it so tasty? It was unbelievably delicious. Even though it’s just water.」

「Why are you saying the same thing twice? ……Well, the water was really good though.」

「He has a cute familiar like Set-chan, an item box, and a title, despite being a B rank adventurer. And even Vihera-sama has feeling for you. How blessed is Captain Rei? I’d like to be with him as well.」

「……Don’t say that. Besides, being in the same position means competing with Vihera-sama for Captain Rei’s affection, you know? Are you out of your mind?」

「You can tell that I’m joking right? But, when you think about it, it really is impossible.」

「That’s right. That beauty and body. And yet she has considerable strength. Even after running away, she’s still a member of the Bestir Empire’s royal family. Do you think you have a chance of winning?」

「Ugh, I can handle cooking, cleaning, and laundry……」

「Yeah, maybe there’s a chance of winning that way? Vihera-sama was raised a member of the royal family, so she probably left that work to others.」

「Ah……but Vihera-sama is here now to help her younger brother, Prince Mercurio, but she ran away from the country a few years ago, right? Then she couldn’t have had maids or anyone after that, she would have had to do the housework herself……」

「Stop it! Don’t trample on my last hope. My last hope as a woman is that I can beat Vihera-sama in at least one thing.」

「Ahahahahaha. Well, no matter how you look at it, it will be impossible to compete against Vihera-sama for Captain Rei’s affection.」

A short distance away from the soldiers of the guerrilla unit, who were talking after their meal, Rei was having a final meeting with Pernyx, the vice captain of the unit as well as the effective leader of the unit.

Several scouts had already been sent out from the guerrilla unit and they had obtained information on where the punitive force had set up camp, so there was still some time before the optimal start of the upcoming operation.

「In other words, Captain Rei will launch the preemptive attack. If that attack throws the enemy into confusion, the guerrilla unit will then attack with bow and arrows, is that correct?」

Pernyx’s gaze was directed towards Rei, who was leaning against Set, who was lying on the ground.

「Yeah. In a normal battle, if one side takes heavy damage, they will start to retreat, but if they’ve set up camp, it will take them longer to escape. First of all, most of the soldiers will be asleep, except the guards, so it will take time for them to wake up and assess the situation. Even if they realise they are under attack, they will have to run away with just the clothes on their back. Most of all, because they have put up a defensive fence, their escape routes are limited.」

「Many will die because they won’t be able to make the right decision, and even if they do, that defensive fence will become a cage.」

Pernyx seemed to be remembering the scene from the Spring War as a subordinate of Theorem. Rei nodded in response to Pernyx, who was muttering with deep emotion.

「I suppose so. They’ve also definitely let their guard down. If they were to set up camp tomorrow or the day after, they’d be more careful as they’d be closer to the rebel camp……but this is right in the middle of the area they control.」

「Indeed. Normally, it’s unthinkable to invade so deeply into the enemy’s sphere of influence.」

The place where Rei and the others currently were was a day’s march from the Imperial Capital. In other words, considering the distance between the Imperial Capital and the rebel camp, they were clearly closer to the Imperial Capital.

Normally, they would have been detected by the time they got this close, but the reason they had managed to get to this point was because of Set, who could fly.

Of course, the punitive force also had Dragon Knights, but even the Imperial Army was unable to use them on a large scale due to their rarity. Even among powerful nobles and strong soldiers among the First Prince’s faction, they couldn’t be easily utilised.

Many Dragon Knights had already been killed by Rei and Set in the Spring War. Now that there were unconfirmed rumours that Rei and Set might be in the rebel army, they had no choice by to be careful.

「……If we attack the enemy’s camp, they will probably flee. Even if they don’t flee, they will likely distance themselves from the camp to regroup. We’ll attack during that time as well. However, unlike the last battle, we don’t have the time or luxury to take prisoners. Try to kill as many of them as possible.」

「I understand. But it’s a bit of a shame. Those who belong to the First Prince’s faction are likely to be capable people or people from high ranking noble families. If we take them prisoner, we can buy time while negotiating ransoms, just like we did with Prince Shurus, there might even be some who would defect to our side.」

Being a soldier trusted by Theorem, Pernyx spoke with a stern expression, but Rei shook his head.

「If it were closer to our camp, it might have been possible, but it’s too far away to take them prisoner here.」

「Then, shouldn’t we have waited for them to be closer before carrying out this operation?」

「If they get closer, they will naturally be wary of us and keep a tighter guard at night. The key to this operation is that they let their guard down and are slow to react in the event of an emergency.」

As Rei explained, Pernyx gave him a searching look for a moment.

Rei noticed the gaze, but brushed it off without paying it too much attention.

In fact, the reason Rei proposed this operation was to kill off as many of the best people in the Bestir Empire as possible.

Of course, he wanted to eliminate those people as they were obstacles to the Mireana Kingdom.

Despite knowing this, Pernyx didn’t blame Rei.

They might be capable people, but he also understood that they would be extremely troublesome to deal with as enemies and not people under Mercurio’s command.

After a while, they made a final check……and then, a few hours later, the time finally came as most of the punitive force were asleep.

 

 

As the large moon floated in the sky, Rei looked at the ground from Set’s back.

The camp here was much smaller than the rebel army’s.

But that was only natural. In addition to soldiers, the rebel army’s camp was filled with crowded with merchants selling weapons and armour, blacksmiths who would repair those items, prostitutes to comfort the soldiers in the camp, and general labourers who brought food stalls to serve food. All in all, the rebel camp was closer to the size of a village or town.

In comparison, Rei was currently looking down on a temporary camp set up for the night.

Naturally, the only people in the camp were those that were part of the punitive force. Even if they had more soldiers than the rebel army, their scale was still smaller.

The camp was surrounded with a premade protective fence to deal with monsters and bandits, but such a fence wasn’t effective against Rei and Set, who could fly through the air.

「Now then……I’d like to take all their supplies if possible, but that’s difficult to do. Let’s just take as much as we can.」

「Guru~……」

Set let out a disappointed cry at Rei’s words.

Among the supplies they had captured from the previous punitive force were ingredients that would have been hard to find on the battlefield, so Set was probably remembering that.

However, unlike the incompetent nobles from before, this punitive force had many more capable members.

As such, there was no way they would be bringing any luxury items along. Even if they seized all the supplies of the punitive force, they probably wouldn’t be able to hold a lavish banquet like last time.

Gently stroking Set’s neck, who seemed disappointed, Rei took out the Death Scythe from the Misty Ring as he changed his focus.

「Okay, Set. Let’s go. Let’s wake everyone who is sleeping.」

「Gurururu~!」

Set also changed his focus at Rei’s words and, instead of flapping his wings, he started to glide down in order to avoid being noticed by the guards.

What was about to happen was a great massacre. Something that should be called a massive disaster.

Crimson’s embrace of death was about to fall on the punitive force.

A fatal attack that Sobble and Bratta never expected to happen.

[Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]