The scene around them……was one of people burned to ashes.
The remains of tents, carriages, weapons, armour……and people.
While they were called remains, everything had really turned to charcoal, looking like it would crumble at even the slightest touch
In the midst of this, which was hard to imagine considering the camp had housed nearly 6,000 people just a few hours ago, Rei stood there.
However, his usual aloof attitude could not be seen. Rather, he stroked Set’s head while looking somewhat tired.
「Gurururu~」
As Set gave a cry to comfort him, Rei spoke with a wry smile.
「Don’t worry about it. I never thought it would turn out like this. Besides……we accomplished our main and secondary objectives. Looking at the results, it was a success……I didn’t think it would be this hard though.」
As he muttered out loud, he looked at the Misty Ring on his right arm.
Stored inside were supplies the punitive force had brought along, including food, armour, feed for the horses, carriages, military funds, and even tents.
Because the Misty Ring couldn’t store living things, it couldn’t store the horses brought along by the punitive force, but Rei had still managed to secure most of the supplies intended for the 6,000 strong army.
That was what Rei had been busy with as the guerrilla force had been desperately taking out the soldiers that had managed to escape past the protective fence.
In the end, he had achieved what he wanted, but he was very much exhausted as a result. Partially due to the fire tornado he had created himself.
While the fire tornado he had created in the Spring War had moved, with Wind Hand at lvl 2, there was only a small margin of error.
However, Wind Hand was now at lvl 3 and, as a result, it had moved a much greater amount compared to before.
He had managed to control it to some extent using Wind Hand as he moved the fire tornado around while stealing supplies.
But, even though he could control it, it was still rather limited. He couldn’t order the fire tornado to not leave the camp, for example.
In other words, the fire tornado only rampaged within the camp due to Rei’s efforts to stop it from leaving the camp.
As that happened, Rei and Set ran around the whole camp, stealing as many supplies and tents as they could.
Of course, there were some members of the punitive force who saw Rei do that, but they were eliminated by Set, whose job it was to keep everyone away from Rei as he controlled the fire tornado and seized supplies.
The destruction of the enemy’s forces and the seizure of their supplies. Rei’s actions went all to plan as expected……no, everything went even better than he had expected.
Technically, seizing supplies would be considered a success for the guerrilla force and not a personal achievement for Rei.
However, Theorem had promised him enough reward after the civil war ended.
「Captain Rei!」
As Rei was thinking to himself, gazing at the remains of the camp, he was brought back to his senses by a voice.
The voice came from Pernyx, the de facto commander of the guerrilla force.
Rei looked a little confused and Set gave a puzzled cry as he saw him bring another person along, accompanied by several guerrilla soldiers.
In Rei’s eyes, the man seemed to have some training, but didn’t seem to be a professional fighter.
His right shoulder was wrapped in bandages and a rope was tied around his waist, preventing him from moving freely as the guerrilla soldiers at his side kept a wary watch on him. However, his eyes were different.
Despite his situation, the man’s gaze was sharp as he looked at Rei and Set.
Judging from his appearance and the quality of the equipment he wore, it was clear that he wasn’t an ordinary soldier in the punitive force.
As they observed Rei, Rei also observed the man until Pernyx and the others got close enough.
「Pernyx, thanks for your hard work. So, who is this man? He seems to be quite important.」
「Yes. This man is Sobble, and he is one of the most cunning people under Prince Kabajid’s faction. We managed to capture him when he was taken out from a group that ran from our night attack. Unfortunately, most of the people with him escaped……」
「Don’t worry about it. It would have been good if we had managed to wipe them out here, but that’s easier said than done. There are probably quite a few survivors aside from them. ……But, Sobble? Ah, I see.」
Rei seemed to realise something after Pernyx mentioned the man’s name.
Rei had heard of him as a troublesome opponent among the First Prince’s faction and, above all, he also knew him as the man who had ordered the attack on the White Rose Knights.
That was why he was a little surprised to see Sobble before him.
「So you managed to take him prisoner?」
「Yes. Fortunately, I recognised his face and the outcome of the battle had already been decided.」
Sobble should have lost his life after an arrow hit his right shoulder, knocking him off his horse.
In fact, the guerrilla soldiers had been about to fire more arrows at him as he lay on the ground, but Pernyx had stopped them.
The reason Pernyx had been present was because he had come over after reinforcements had arrived at his previous location, stabilising the situation, and because he heard the sound of something breaking.
He had realised the initial break in the fence had been a diversion, and with so many people sacrificed just to escape, the new group had to have important people. Just to be sure, he had checked the man’s face and found out it was Sobble.
「Are we taking him prisoner? I think it would be better to kill him here, considering all the plotting and unnecessary trouble he’s going to cause us.」
「No, his life should be valuable to Prince Kabajid. He can be used as a bargaining chip.」
「……Well, I suppose so. What do you think?」
Rei stopped talking to Pernyx as he turned to look at Sobble.
Sobble met his gaze head on.
Even though he had been told to his face what might happen to him, Sobble didn’t appear shaken at all.
(Heh, he’s got guts.)
Rei was impressed by Sobble’s behaviour, but his expression didn’t show it.
They exchanged silent glances for about 30 seconds.
After that, Sobble spoke up.
「Crimson. I can’t believe you really sided with the rebels.」
「You don’t believe your own words, do you? You had expected this.」
「There was information that suggested that might be the case. But, considering you hadn’t shown up in the last battle, it seemed unlikely you had joined the rebels. That was what I had thought……but……I really should have brought Rhodes with me.」
Rhodes. The moment his name was mentioned, Rei’s eyebrows twitched.
Normally, his reaction would just seem like he was a little confused and of minimal relevance.
However, in this case, the person Rei was dealing with was very perceptive.
「Do you know Rhodes?」
Sobble asked, as if wanting to confirm something, and Rei nodded back as if it were obvious.
「I know him. Rhodes and I have known each other since I went to Gilm. We were both tasked with escort duty before coming to the Bestir Empire and we even fought in the fighting tournament.」
「……Is that all?」
「You seem to be mistaken……」
Rei stopped speaking there, and the next moment, he swung the Death Scythe he had taken out from the Misty Ring, pointing the blade at Sobble’s neck.
For a moment……Sobble could barely understand what had happened.
Rei’s actions showed that he could take his life at any time, but Sobble looked back as if it didn’t matter.
『……』
They exchanged silent glances again and Pernyx stayed silent as he watched the two of them.
Even Pernyx wanted to know more about Rei as a person.
His combat power went without saying.
That much was clear from the war on the Selemus Plains and the recent destruction of the punitive force’s camp.
As for what else……that was why he had brought Sobble here.
Rei was the first to break the silence as he moved the Death Scythe away from Sobble’s neck.
「Think carefully about your position before you speak. We are the ones asking questions, you can choose not to speak and accept the penalties or answer obediently and secure your own safety. ……Well, that said, there are many in the army who hate you for putting Mercurio under house arrest and trying to kill him.」
Sobble was surprised to hear Rei call Mercurio’s name without honourifics.
He wondered if Rei wasn’t on good terms with Mercurio, who was currently Prince Kabajid’s biggest rival whose defeat would make a huge difference to those aiming for the throne.
But, unlike Rei, he showed none of his thoughts on his face.
「You think I would sell information about my master so easily?」
「You can decide that yourself. The ones interrogating and torturing you will be the rebels, not me.」
Take him away.
With that brief order, Pernyx called out to his two subordinates, who were overwhelmed by Rei’s aura, as they took Sobble away.
Rei watched as they left, stroking Set’s head as he thought about his earlier actions.
(About Rhodes……was that okay? Sobble responded like that because he knows I know Rhodes. I hope he got the wrong idea from that.)
Rei knew he wasn’t good at playing tricks, but the expression that had showed on his face had been a painful mistake.
「I’ll just have to be more careful next time.」
He muttered to himself to change his mood as he turned to look at his surroundings again.
This location, which had been the punitive force’s camp until a little while ago, would be now better described as the remains of a battlefield.
And, it was a battlefield that had been the result of a one-sided attack.
At the very least, no one would see this and think that it had been a peaceful time.
「Anyway, with this, the first and second arrows fired by the Bestir Empire have both been broken. It also seems like the third arrow is planning to join us……will this result in a stalemate for a while? No, if Frizione makes a move to join the rebel army, they’ll have no choice but to intervene.」
Even as he thought that, Rei understood that Shurus and Kabajid still had a lot of strength left.
The first punitive force had been formed by those Shurus recognised as useless within his faction and he should still have many capable members left.
As for this time, the punitive force had been formed by the First Prince’s forces.
It hadn’t been made up of useless people, but rather talented people.
It was certainly a blow to Kabajid that they had been nearly wiped out with very few survivors.
But, for the first prince’s faction, which had many talented people, although it was a heavy blow, it was not something they wouldn’t be able to recover from.
In other words, both the First and Second Princes’ factions had more than sufficient fighting power remaining.
(The last battle and this one resulted in crushing victory for us. But……I think that the next one won’t be so easy. If they didn’t know I was here, we might have been able to try the same attack again.)
Muttering to himself, Rei remembered Sobble, whom he had just met.
The people who had been with Sobble had succeeded in escaping from the camp. Since that had happened, they would inevitably know how the battle had progressed.
(At the very least, I hope Kabajid will keep the information to himself……but that’s difficult.)
Rei had no information that Shurus’ men had been mixed into the punitive force, so that was what he thought.
This battle had exploited the fact that the punitive force didn’t know he was in the rebel army and that they were only camped a day’s distance from the Imperial Capital.
He definitely didn’t think the same tactic would work twice.
If that were the case, the next battle would definitely be a direct clash……
(It looks like the next fight will be pretty tough.)
Looking up at the moon, shining brightly in the night sky as if to say it had no interest in the battle on the ground, Rei felt a little disappointed that he could no longer hear the sounds of insects, probably because of the fire tornado.