At the rebel camp, not far from the Imperial Capital.

Many people had joined after their overwhelming victory against Shurus’ punitive force.

However, the rebel camp was now even larger than back then.

Of course, it was because rumours had started to spread that the rebels had defeated Kabajid’s punitive force as well.

It hadn’t been an ordinary victory either. The rebels had annihilated the punitive force without suffering any losses themselves, an incredible feat.

For that reason, the rebel spread the story widely. The information that it was done by Rei, Crimson, and the elite guerrilla force led by him were also incorporated into the rumours in order to boost morale.

Some people in the rebel leadership felt that while rumours regarding Rei couldn’t be hidden, the guerrilla force should still be kept secret as much as possible.

As an elite unit that had received rigorous training from Rei and Set, their fighting skill was far superior to that of regular soldiers and part of the rebel leadership wanted to keep them in reserve as an additional trump card.

There were quite a few people within the rebel army who agreed with this idea, but……in the end, the guerrilla force was still revealed to the public.

The main reason was that they needed to boost the morale of the rebel army, even if slightly, and above all……they wanted to strengthen the people’s impression that the rebel army was in an overwhelming advantage in this civil war.

For this, Tilleyle, who was in charge of information manipulation, overcame significant opposition.

The result was that many merchants and people from the surrounding towns and villages heard the rumours and came to the rebel camp in search of business opportunities.

「I can understand that, but why are people coming from the Imperial Capital, where they are about to march to?」

「……People are wise to profit. If they think it will benefit them in some way, then they won’t hesitate. The rumours being spread say that the rebel army treats people well, so I don’t think that will be an issue at the very least.」

「But, aren’t the rebels the ones spreading the rumours? Who knows if its true or not……」

「Thanks to those rumours, we were able to enter the rebel camp. We should be grateful for that, so there’s no need to criticise them.」

「But, Sistoi……」

Sistoi shook his head at his partner’s words and looked around before speaking.

「Calm down, Mulla. Right now, the most important thing is to not draw attention. In particular, Crimson should be in the camp. It would be best to be as inconspicuous as possible.」

In actual fact, Rei was currently in the Imperial Capital, but the matter was basically secret, so Mulla and Sistoi had no idea.

That said, Rei aside, Set stood out significantly. If he hadn’t been seen for several days, it would become hard to hide his absence.

Despite all this, the fact that no one had suggested the idea that Rei had been killed in battle showed the trust the rebels had in Rei.

Of course, many people had held grudges against Rei when he first joined up with the rebels.

However, Rei had shown his ability to those who harboured feelings of resentment, hatred, or jealous, earning their recognition through his great achievements.

「I’m still surprised. I can’t believe that not a single person holds a grudge against Crimson.」

As Mulla said, it wasn’t like there weren’t any people who didn’t still hold a grudge against Rei, but there were just fewer people who expressed it openly.

「That’s true. If anything, it might be harder to attack him here than it was in the Imperial Capital. But, we don’t have any other options.」

「Yeah.」

The task of assassinating Rei had been given to them by Requiem’s Toll. They knew it was a tall order with their current skill level, but they couldn’t back out now.

If they backed out now, they would have to pay with their lives.

「Come on, calm down. You’re starting to stand out from the crowd. What we need to do now is not just to assassinate Crimson, but also to deal with the additional request that came in.」

「R-Really? I hadn’t even noticed it myself.」

「You’re already thinner and your face is sharper than before, so be a bit more careful.」

Even as she scolded him, there was a hint of sadness and relief in Mulla’s eyes.

Sistoi had been poisoned by Rei’s counterattack during their assassination attempt during the fighting tournament.

Although it was a deadly poison, Sistoi had managed to avoid death.

But, although he had managed to avoid death, it didn’t mean he could complete escape the effects of the poison.

Sistoi had suffered from loss of appetite as an aftereffect, which had led to a decline in his physical strength.

The only reason why he had been able to maintain his physical ability at his current level was due to his own talent and his determination.

But……even if he had managed to keep a certain level of skill, his combat ability was clearly inferior to before.

In that sense, it could be considered fortunate for them that they had been given an additional job which wasn’t to assassinate Crimson.

Watching Sistoi closely, Mulla spoke the name of their target.

「Sobble……I believe it was. He seems to be quite an important person, even among the First Prince’s faction. In fact, his location within the camp seems to be tightly guarded.」

Mulla muttered in admiration.

They had briefly walked around the camp to gather information, but had been unable to locate their target at all.

Even so, she didn’t seem the least bit troubled, because she had never expected to find the location of their target this way at all.

The target……yes, the target of the job they had been given this time.

However, the meaning of target in this case was not the same as Rei. In Rei’s case, it meant assassination……

「I heard that Sobble is a very intelligent person, right? Won’t he get in the way of our actions? If possible, I would have liked to rescue him as we escape the camp.」

「Don’t be stupid. We have already failed with regard to Crimson. It’s already a show of kindness that we were given this job, so we have to do it properly.」

Yes, Sobble was a target for rescue.

The reason they had been ordered to rescue Sobble was because, as Mulla had said, they still hadn’t been able to assassinate Crimson.

……All that said, the request to rescue Sobble was actually one of the gifts Count Schwindel’s group had chosen to give to Kabajid when they requested to cooperate with the punitive force.

(Still it’s true that it’s better to rescue Sobble and buy some time than to deal with Crimson head on. If Sistoi could recover even a little during this time, it would be perfect for us.)

For Mulla, who wanted more time for Sistoi to recover, this was the best opportunity.

What’s more, the two of them were lucky in the fact that one of their allies, or more accurately someone they bribed, was close to their target.

It was extremely fortuante that they were able to leave the task of finding their target’s location to someone else.

The only downside was that their ally still had their own work to do, so it had to be Mulla and Sistoi to carry out the actual rescue.

(Well, if they could do it themselves, there wouldn’t be a point in us helping them to begin with.)

Mulla fully understood that they had been asked to step in because the other party was having a hard time.

「Anyway, we’ve seen most of the camp at this point. To be honest, I hadn’t expected it to be this big.」

「That’s right. It’s not at the size of a village. It’s big enough to be called a town. But this is also an advantage for us.」

「That’s true. With this many people, if anything happens, we can quickly blend in with the crowd. Anyway, isn’t it about time to meet up? They probably don’t want to spend too much time, so let’s get going before we’re late.」

Mulla nodded silently in response as they started walking.

The place they were meeting was at a bar inside the camp.

Of course, since this was the rebel camp, while it was called a bar, it wasn’t an actual proper building.

It was just a place with tables and chairs randomly arranged outdoors.

Because of that, anyone could go their casually and it was bustling with people every day.

Naturally, since it was an outdoor bar, if would close if it rained. And, in most cases, people would just buy alcohol and drink inside their tents when that happened.

Fortunately, today was a beautiful, clear, autumn day and the bar wasn’t closed.

「Might as well try some food while we’re here. I heard they serve some pretty tasty food.」

「……I guess so.」

Sistoi didn’t have much of an appetite, but he understood that Mulla was being considerate of him and nodded obediently.

 

 

「Hmmm. So this is tha bar, huh. ……Well, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. I guess it’s strange to see so many people drinking in the middle of the day.」

After arriving at the bar, Mulla looked around alongside the silent Sistoi.

Their eyes weren’t counting the number of people in the bar, but looking for specific features.

They were looking for a person…… Someone with a rather flashy long sword with a red guard and a blue sheathe.

(There.)

When they saw the person, they went over to their table without hesitation.

Sistoi followed Mulla silently.

In the event Mulla got herself into a fight, his role was to protect her.

……Of course, Mulla was still a member of Requiem’s Toll. Fighting wasn’t her specialty, unlike Sistoi, but she could still handle 10-20 drunks.

「Do you mind if we sit here?」

Mulla asked with a smile, using words that someone would say when speaking with someone unfamiliar. The person looked back at her, holding a glass he had been drinking from.

He was dressed like a typical soldier and didn’t stand out in any particular way.

It felt like he would blend in with any other soldier in an instant.

However, if the man interrogating Sobble had seen him, he would recognise him as the person who had brought him raiot’s as a gift.

The soldier nodded slightly, looking at the bracelet Mulla was wearing, which was proof of the person he was supposed to meet.

「Yeah, I was drinking alone anyway. It would be a dream come true to drink with a beautiful woman like you. Why don’t you join us, brother? Since it’s a camp bar, there isn’t much variety to drink, but it’s still pretty good.」

Sistoi didn’t reply to the soldier, but took a seat next to Mulla.

His attitude seemed to indicate that he was Mulla’s bodyguard.

He had wanted to stand behind Mulla during this time, but doing so would make him stand out at their current location.

That was why he had sat down next to Mulla, to make it clear to everyone else around them that she was his companion.

When a waitress came over to take their order, they ordered a ale and some light food, which were brought over immediately.

As she drank the ale, Mulla spoke.

「It’s nice to meet you. Should I say that?」

「That’s fine. But, it’s best that we have as little contact with each other as possible. With that in mind, it would be best not to get too close.」

「Fufu~, that’s certainly true. But, we still need to say hello, don’t we? ……Anyway, can we assume the target’s location is already known?」

「Yes. But, the guard is pretty strict. There are skilled soldiers watching over him. If we want to rescue him, we’d either have to kill all the guards or bring him out without anyone noticing. Well, I’ll leave it up to you which way you want to do it, but I’d prefer the latter.」

The soldier reached for some dried meat on his plate as Mulla tilted her head.

It was a deliberate act, but the soldier couldn’t see through it.

「Why is that?」

「I might be your ally. But that doesn’t mean I don’t hold any feelings for the people here. We’ve been living together, so it’s only natural, right?」

「……I see. I’ll keep that in mind. If we break through head on, we might end up fighting the rebels on our own. I’d like to do things quietly if possible. But, to do that, we need more inforamtion about the area around the target.」

It seemed like they could manage if they used dolls. With that thought in mind, Mulla asked the soldier for more information, which he shared if it would guarantee his colleague’s lives.

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