As the moon shone brightly in the night sky, illuminating the ground with its light, a group ran at full speed without looking back.
They were all on horseback as they ran and ran and ran like they were going to die.
Running at full speed would normally cause the horses to get tired and slow down, but right now, they kept on running as if they didn’t feel tired at all.
The horses knew it too. The place they had been in a moment ago had been filled with death, they needed to get away from that place, as far away as they could.
And so, even though the horses knew that they should rest from their fatigue, they continued to press on, trying to escape the fear that they felt was closing in behind them.
At such a point, the knight captain riding alongside Bratta shouted out.
「Bratta-sama! If we don’t let them rest soon, the horses will collapse! Fortunately, there’s a small river not far from here, so let’s head there for now!」
「……」
Bratta silently nodded at the captain’s words and followed the knights as they strayed from the road.
The normally noisy but now silent Bratta made the knights feel a little uncomfortable, but they headed for the river regardless.
The horses seemed to notice that their riders were starting to relax and slowed down to match them.
They continued on for another 20 minutes and eventually they heard the sound of flowing water.
They came to a river……or rather what would best be described as a small stream.
It was only about two meters to the other side and the depth was only up to an adult’s knees.
Still, for the horses that had been running at full speed up to this point, and the knights riding them, it was the perfect place to rest.
「……Phew. Let’s take a rest here for now. The horses have been running all the way here. They must be pretty tired. We should have brought spare horses, but it’s a wonder we survived at all. We can’t be picky.」
All the other knights nodded at the knight captain’s words.
Everyone here except for Bratta was part of a knight order……to be precise, a knight order directly under Shurus’ command.
The punitive force had originally been made up of those who supported the First Prince and with the knights in front of Bratta being the exception.
However……their position had completely reversed and Bratta was now the minority.
「……」
However, Bratta didn’t seem to care at all as he dismounted from his horse and led it to the river.
The horses had to have been tired from their long run. They let out short neighs as they sipped water from the river.
Bratta gently stroked the back of his horse as they continued to drink from the river without pause.
「I’m sorry for making you do something so reckless. But I think I’ll have to make you do something reckless again, so please do your best.」
Although unlikely to be in response to his words, the horse raised its head from the river and gave a neigh.
「Bratta-sama, take this. You’ve been on the move since the midnight battle, so please take this to recover your strength, even if just a little.」
The knight captain handed over some dried fruit.
The fruit had been sun dried and when he bit into it, a sweet taste spread through his mouth.
Bratta wasn’t particularly fond of sweet things and frowned slightly at the taste spreading through his mouth as he scooped up some water from the river to drink.
Then……he realised for the first time how thirsty he was as he scooped up water and brought it to his mouth over and over again.
They had been inside the camp, along with the raging fire tornado, until the very end. The heat radiating from the fire tornado had rapidly raised the temperature inside the camp, making it feel like they were under the midsummer sun……or even worse, even though it was the middle of an autumn night.
And it had all happened suddenly, from the cool autumn night.
Furthermore, depending on the movement of the fire tornado, their lives could be lost in an instant. They had survived a situation where their skill meant nothing and everything was decided by luck. After riding all the way here from their camp without a break, Bratta was more exhausted and thirsty than he had realised.
He continued to drink from the river until his stomach was filled, only then was he able to take a breather.
He looked up into the night sky and saw the large moon as well as countless stars.
As Bratta’s attention was captured by the stars……he suddenly remembered how Sobble often looked up into the starry night, despite his calm and collected personality.
At the same time, a hatred welled up from the bottom of his heart.
Sobble was his friend, his partner, someone who understood him, and even acted like a protector at times.
And yest, such a person had been shot with an arrow. Since they had come to thoroughly kill them all, even if Sobble’s life was spared after falling off his horse, it wasn’t hard to predict what would happen to him afterwards.
「Damn it……damn it, damn it!」
Bratta punched the ground as the emotions welled up from within him.
The force of his punches was so great that the ground caved in a few centimeters.
However……even with that much strength, he had been unable to protect a single friend.
It was at this moment that Bratta felt he finally understood Rhodes’ feelings.
Of course, he also understood that the hatred he felt was very different from the feelings Rhodes had.
Still, in the sense that they were negative emotions, they were the same.
He lay on the grass, smelling the grass and looking up at the stars in the night sky as he muttered the name of his friend, who he didn’t know if he was still alive or dead.
「Sobble……」
「I understand that you’re frustrated, but right now, I think we should prioritise returning to the Imperial Capital above all else.」
The one who called out to Bratta was, as expected, the knight captain.
Of course, it was only natural for him to be the one to speak with Bratta as the others were unable to, having experienced the almost murderous rage he emitted.
Even the commander, despite what he was saying on the surface, was sweating on his palms and back, deep down frightened by the murderous intent he felt from the man before him.
Bratta was one of Kabajid’s strongest subordinates and even though he himself served Shurus directly, he only led a portion of the knights. The difference in their ability was clear.
Still, the knight captain, who was deeply loyal to Shurus, had to somehow drag Bratta all the way back to the Imperial Capital.
If they didn’t and returned to the Imperial Capital on their own, Kabajid might find ways to manipulate the information in some strange way.
Even if Kabajid claimed that they had joined forces with the rebel army and invited their troops into the camp, they would have no physical evidence to refute it.
Unless they brought Bratta with them, it would hard to believe that nearly 6,000 soldiers, including soldiers, supply troops, and their escorts, would be annihilated.
(We weren’t wiped out in the true sense of the word. There has to be other survivors besides us and some may have been takne prisoner. But……even so, we absolutely need this man.)
The commander spoke with such resolve in his mind, but he received an unexpected response.
「I know……I know. I was entrusted this task. I have the obligation……no, the unavoidable requirement to inform Prince Kabajid that Crimson has appeared.」
The sound of Bratta clenching his teeth could be heard.
That was enough to express the anger inside him.
His appearance reminded the knight captain of a volcano that could erupt at any moment and he instinctively took a few steps back.
「Anyway, we’ll let the horses rest here for a while……we’ll leave in about an hour. After that, we won’t push the horses as hard as before, but move with a bit of strength to spare.」
「……Yeah. I understand.」
The reason they had fled the camp for hours was not only to shake of the rebels’ pursuit, but also because of the fire tornado, the symbol of despair, that Crimson had created.
In order to escape from that, they had rode at full speed for long enough for their horses to collapse.
The only reason why the horses hadn’t collapsed under them was because they were all well trained as part of a knight order under Shurus’ direct control.
But, even those horses had been worn down to the point that they couldn’t be pushed any harder.
From the knight captain’s point of view, he would have liked to let the horses rest for longer……ideally for the night. But, considering what had just happened……the annihilation of the punitive force, he needed to pass the information to his master as soon as possible.
「Well, then, please rest a little longer before we depart, Bratta-sama. We will take care of the guard duties.」
As the captain left with those words, Bratta just glanced at him without speaking.
This was because he understood it would be better to defer to the opinions of the knights in this situation.
Bratta himself was filled with the desire to leave right away and head to the Imperial Capital, but……there was no way for him to do so right now.
In the end, he had no choice but to rest until the time came to leave, just as the knight captain had said.
「Okay, are you ready?」
In response to Rei’s question, Pernyx silently nodded.
The preparations for their departure were already complete, and even the captured Sobble was tied up to prevent him from trying anything funny. He was placed inside a carriage that Rei had seized from the punitive force.
A member of the guerrilla force was sitting in the driver’s seat of the carriage while several others rode inside along with Sobble to keep a lookout.
The horses pulling the carriage were the same horses they had ridden to get here.
Sobble’s true strength lay in intelligence, so Rei and Pernyx both agreed that he was unlikely to manage anything in his current situation.
The remaining guerrilla soldiers rode the horses they had come on.
Given the nature of their force, mobility was naturally important, so the ability to ride a horse was essential.
The ones selected to join this force were all elites to begin with, so they all had their fair share of riding skill.
……As for Rei, he didn’t ride a horse, but Set.
「I’m going back to the camp no, be careful not to be seen by the enemy. We would normally leave in the morning, but that fire……no, the fire tornado, will likely cause nobles, knights, adventurers, mercenaries, and other people in the vicinity to scout out the situation. There probably won’t be many scouts at this time of the night, but there will certainly be some by morning.」
Everyone nodded at Rei’s words.
It was because they understood that several hours had passed since the battle had ended. Even though it was early morning, they had to prepare to retreat and complaining was not an option.
……Even if they wanted to complain, if asked if anyone was willing to complain to Rei, everyone……including Pernyx, would say no.
Rei had just shown everyone how strong he was and the fire tornado he had created was huge.
If anyone were to speak against Rei at this point in time, after seeing the fire tornado up close, they would have to be incredibly brave.
Although the soldiers of the guerrilla force had participated in the battle, they had only been aiming their bows and shooting arrows at the enemies coming out of the exits to the camp from a distance. It was true that they had fought, so it wasn’t wrong to say they were tired. But, they were still less tired than if they had been fighting with swords.
Thanks to that, they were able to prepare their retreat not long after the battle had ended.
「I think it should be safe at this time, but I’ll scout from the sky like when we came here to make sure we don’t run into any other forces.」
The members of the guerrilla force sighed in relief at Rei’s words.
After all, the surroundings were still shrouded in darkness.
There was moonlight, but the visibility was still severely restricted compared to day time.
Considering that, the fact that Rei and Set were able to check from the sky for anyone approaching with their good night vision was a great help, especially with the other difficulties of marching at night.
Of course, even Rei and Set weren’t able to see absolutely everything, so there was always the chance that Goblins and other creatures would get close under the darkness of night, when monsters were most active.
That said, as the guerrilla force was moving on horseback and carriage, there was no real way for monsters like Goblins to catch them.
By the time any monsters spotted them, they would be out of attack range, so there was no need to bother with them.
The guerrilla force had suffered no casualties while the punitive force had been completely annihilated.
With such great success, Rei and the others returned to the rebel camp.