“Who’s this guy?”
Ghislain asked, his face scrunched with distaste, prompting the knights around him to scratch their heads and chuckle awkwardly.
“When I asked Tarim, he said this guy’s one of the deputy commanders of the Revolutionary Corps.”
“Oh, really?”
Turning his head, Ghislain noticed that Tarim had already moved to his side. This guy always acted so fast.
“His name is Jaren. He’s one of the four deputy commanders.”
“No one mentioned a deputy commander would show up.”
“Well... I couldn’t know exactly who was leading the other divisions,” Tarim replied with a strained smile, trying to excuse himself.
It was typical of a compartmentalized organization. Even until the moment they gathered ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) here, the identities of the forces’ leaders were kept hidden.
Tarim quickly added, as if to justify himself further, “This guy probably didn’t come here just because of the war. The deputy commanders don’t usually move around. They’re more involved in administrative duties.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Tarim then proceeded to enthusiastically explain everything he knew about the Revolutionary Corps' structure.
“Yes, yes. The deputy commanders are usually the more educated ones.”
The Revolutionary Corps was, after all, quite a large organization. Naturally, they needed people to manage their finances, supplies, and troops.
There was no way uneducated looters could handle such tasks, so the deputy commanders were in charge of those affairs.
Particularly, Leonard, who had seized power through rebellion, treated his deputy commanders strictly as administrative personnel.
Jaren, the deputy commander in question, glared fiercely at Tarim as he explained all this.
“You... you traitorous bastard... you’re the one who leaked everything...”
The ambush had failed, and their village had suddenly been raided. It was an unimaginable disaster for the Revolutionary Corps.
It was only natural for them to suspect that Tarim had betrayed them and leaked the information.
But their assumption was only half correct. Ghislain had already known about the ambush even before meeting Tarim.
Tarim, clearly offended, kicked Jaren while yelling, “How dare you try to deceive the Saint! The Saint received a revelation and already knew everything! I was simply following the will of the goddess!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Tarim fervently kicked Jaren, feeling like he needed to put on a convincing show.
“Enough,” Ghislain said, placing a hand on Tarim’s shoulder.
“Stop assuming you understand what’s in my heart. What’s with your empathy? Are you some kind of empathy king?”
“...Yes, sir.”
Tarim obediently stepped back. Ghislain rotated his shoulder while holding a hand axe.
After all, the task of dishing out punishment was his role.
Crunch!
“Aaaagh!”
“This thing’s been getting a lot of use lately,” Ghislain remarked. “I’d appreciate it if you could empathize with me a bit more. Now, why are you here?”
“H-huh? You already know! That guy must’ve told you! We were planning to ambush the coalition forces!”
“Then why did an administrative officer like you personally come all the way here?”
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“It’s important! And I’m capable of fighting too!”
“Lies. My heart doesn’t empathize with you.”
“W-what lies...?”
Crunch!
“Gaaagh!”
“Be honest. Why are you here?”
“I... I...”
Crunch!
“Aaaaah! I’ll talk! Money! We came for money and supplies!”
“And where exactly were you planning to take that from? Are you guys some sort of tax collectors?”
This entire region was under the coalition's control and currently at war. The idea that a bunch of looters would come here for money and supplies was absurd.
Jaren, panting heavily, finally managed to explain, “I’m talking about what we’ve been storing in our hideouts.”
“Oh? So you’ve got quite a stash hidden away?”
“Yes... Once this operation succeeded, security in the area would’ve tightened significantly... Searching around would likely reveal this village as well...”
“So you came to move it all before that happened? And that’s why you’re here personally?”
Jaren nodded and continued, “Yes... I was given orders to retrieve it. We wouldn’t be able to use the resources in this area during the war, so we were planning to repurpose them as war funds.”
It was obvious that the coalition wouldn’t fall for the same tricks twice. The surrounding areas would inevitably be subjected to thorough searches.
So, the Revolutionary Corps had planned to move the wealth they’d hidden in their local hideouts.
When Ghislain turned to Tarim, the man frantically shook his head and exclaimed, “I really had no idea about this! I didn’t even know all the hideouts to begin with! The ones I knew about were the ones they told me about!”
Even in ambush operations, supplies were necessary. Their method of resupply involved stockpiling dry rations at various hideouts and retrieving them when needed.
But even the locations of these hideouts were revealed on a need-to-know basis. Tarim had only known the ones that were relevant to his journey here.
Ghislain pulled out a map and handed it to Jaren.
“Mark them.”
“W-will you let me live if I do?”
Crunch!
“Aaaagh! I’ll mark them! I’ll mark them!”
Overwhelmed by the pain, Jaren hurriedly marked the map.
After all, loyalty and camaraderie didn’t mean much to these men. The Revolutionary Corps operated under a regime of fear, led by Leonard’s brutal control.
And fear like that crumbled naturally when confronted with something even more terrifying.
Ghislain stood up and addressed the knights, “Keep this guy alive for now. We’ll need him to confirm a few things. As for the rest, clean up the village.”
The mobile forces began combing through the wreckage of the village. Many of the Revolutionary Corps were already dead under the rubble, but there were still injured survivors lying around.
Stab!
“Gugh!”
The knights unflinchingly killed any of the wounded as they searched the village.
Taking prisoners would only waste food and manpower to manage them.
Watching this, Jaren trembled violently. He’d heard rumors about the lack of mercy shown by Ghislain’s forces, but seeing it in person made it far more real.
‘I’ve told them everything. Is there anything else I can say?’
Jaren racked his brain, convinced he needed to spill every bit of information he had to survive.
As the knights cleared the rubble, they uncovered entrances leading to underground chambers.
Inside, they found an astonishing stockpile of dry rations and treasure.
Seeing this, Ghislain smirked.
“You’ve stolen quite a bit, haven’t you?”
It was the result of years of plundering. This treasure trove hinted that similar hideouts likely existed across the continent.
Jaren knew the locations of quite a few. There were, of course, places that were too dangerous to access at the moment.
But even Jaren didn’t know everything. Each deputy commander was assigned different regions, and only Leonard himself knew the full picture.
“That conniving bastard,” Ghislain muttered.
He dispatched Dark to inform Claude and the other commanders about the hideouts’ locations.
The mobile forces would destroy the hideouts, and Claude would dispatch troops to recover the spoils.
“Well then, time to raid the rest.”
Ghislain wasn’t about to let such unexpected loot slip through his fingers. While distant locations would be hard to reach, he intended to clear out all the nearby hideouts.
After all, as he always thought, there was no such thing as having too much money.
***
“Phew... The operation completely failed.”
Leonard gritted his teeth as he fled. His ambush strategies had never failed before, but now it had.
A staggering ten thousand Revolutionary Corps members were gone. He hadn’t stayed until the end, but the outcome was clear enough.
Of course, this wasn’t enough to break the Revolutionary Corps. If such losses could collapse them, they wouldn’t have been able to ravage the continent for so long.
There were still many Revolutionary Corps members left, most of them currently assisting Atrode Kingdom’s Third Corps.
The real problem was Leonard’s pride—it had taken a massive hit.
“What an embarrassment.”
He had arrogantly devised the strategy and led the attack, only to be completely outplayed. Both the Salvation Order and Atrode Kingdom would see him as pathetic now.
His teeth ground in frustration. How had the Duke of Fenris known about his plans?
And that fleeting moment when he had felt his energy—
“I wouldn’t be able to beat him easily, even one-on-one.”
Leonard had rarely encountered someone who radiated such formidable energy. Even if he fought at full strength, victory wasn’t guaranteed.
Leonard had always hidden his true power, maintaining a calm and confident demeanor. But clearly, there were many powerful figures in the world.
“I need to move the supplies quickly.”
At Stonebrook Village, one of his deputy commanders, Jaren, had been stationed. It would have been better if he had died fighting. If he had been captured instead, then he had likely revealed the hideouts.
Leonard quickly moved toward the other hideouts. He trusted no one, not even his own subordinates.
There were a total of five hideouts in the region. Even if Jaren had spilled everything, Leonard was confident he could move fast enough to save at least four of them.
Boom!
Leonard exploded with mana and sprinted forward. His face was known only to the village chiefs.
He planned to meet one of them secretly and send all the resources to the Grimwell Kingdom. At the very least, that would salvage some of his reputation.
He also intended to send messengers to clean up the other nearby hideouts.
But then—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“What the—?”
Leonard froze in disbelief. An army was already there, sweeping through the village.
From his hidden vantage point, he realized it wasn’t the Duke of Fenris’s army but another force entirely.
A woman was massacring the villagers, throwing dozens of daggers in every direction.
“H-how is this happening...?”
It didn’t make sense. Only Jaren had known about this hideout’s location.
Leonard had anticipated that Jaren might have been captured and revealed the hideouts. But he hadn’t expected someone other than the Duke of Fenris to arrive.
It should have been impossible for them to deliver the information this quickly. Leonard couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
“I... I need to check another hideout.”
Normally, he would have fought back, but that wasn’t possible right now. There were no troops in the village, and the enemy was filled with elites and superhumans.
He chalked it up to coincidence. Something unknown must have caused this, or so he thought.
But when he arrived at the next village—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Uwaaah!”
A massive woman was smashing the village to pieces, buildings and all. The soldiers accompanying her barely had to lift a finger.
Looking closer, Leonard realized it was the Saint of War, Parniel, a figure he had only heard of in rumors.
Once again, this wasn’t the Fenris forces.
“....”
Leonard blinked in disbelief.
The enemy was moving faster than even he, who knew all the hideouts.
It was impossible. There shouldn’t have been any army capable of receiving orders and moving this quickly.
Leonard, unaware of Dark’s existence, could only sink deeper into confusion.
“I... I’ll try another location.”
Normally stoic and cold, Leonard had never been this flustered in his life.
He hurried to the next hideout, the closest one remaining.
He pushed himself to his absolute limits, unleashing 100% of his strength.
Boom!
He moved like a streak of light. Surely this time it would be different. It had to be coincidence twice in a row.
But—
“Hyaaaah!”
Boom!
“....”
At the third hideout, a woman was smashing everything in sight with a hammer bigger than her own body. For some reason, she looked absolutely furious.
Two thousand Revolutionary Corps soldiers were stationed here. Among the forces, Leonard noticed a white-haired superhuman.
“Gillian, huh?”
That confirmed it. This was the Fenris Mobile Forces.
Leonard finally had to accept reality.
“They really did send word.”
He didn’t know how, but the Duke of Fenris had managed to issue orders to other units at an incredibly fast pace.
This was an enormous advantage in war. It was no wonder Ruthania’s forces kept losing.
The ten battalions that hadn’t reached Stonebrook Village likely had already been wiped out by Fenris’s split forces.
“...Phew. This won’t work.”
Leonard gave up on visiting the next closest hideout. Instead, he decided to move to the furthest hideout immediately.
The further the distance, the longer it would take for the enemy to arrive.
Boom!
Leonard moved at a terrifying speed, unleashing all his mana without restraint.
When he finally reached the last hideout in the region—
“As expected.”
The distance had worked in his favor. The mobile forces hadn’t arrived yet. Leonard swiftly slipped into the village and met with the village chief.
“Haah! Commander! What brings you here so suddenly?”
“Move all the supplies from this hideout immediately. We don’t have time.”
“W-what? What’s going on...?”
“Hurry! The enemy knows about this place! Gather everyone and move the supplies!”
“U-understood!”
The village chief gathered all the villagers. They quickly armed themselves and began unloading the hidden supplies from the underground storage.
Thanks to their constant preparations, their response was fast. Moving in teams, they quickly filled wagons with the resources.
Leonard still couldn’t relax. It felt as though the mobile forces could appear at any moment.
“Take what you can and move. Split into multiple groups to confuse their pursuit.”
“Understood.”
There were about two hundred villagers. But the supplies they managed were enough to sustain thousands of troops.
They had to take as much as possible. For moments like this, they had even prepared fake wagons to throw off pursuers.
As the preparations neared completion, Leonard clenched his teeth and turned his head.
“...Damn it. They’re already here.”
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
A thunderous noise echoed as a massive force charged toward the village. There was no mistaking it—this was the mobile army.
Leonard had no choice but to step forward.
“I’ll buy us some time. Move as fast as you can.”
He had no intention of fighting seriously. All he wanted was to buy enough time for the wagons to escape.
But when Leonard saw the man leading the charge on horseback, his expression hardened.
‘Who is that?’
One glance was enough to know—this man was immensely strong.
Before Leonard could finish his thought, the man swung his sword while still on horseback.
Swish!