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No matter how upset Emilia was, she was naturally smart enough to realize that simply rushing into the enemy lines without a plan would only get her turned into an Emilia-sieve. Even if her healing was able to somehow cope with such a thing, the energy she would end up wasting would definitely make Cynthia cry.
Not to mention, while her most loyal knight was quite strong, she definitely wasn't durable enough to survive too many bullet wounds and explosions. So what they needed was a much more subtle approach.
"Based on their movement patterns over the past two days, it should be possible for us to sneak past this area without having to face more than a few soldiers."
Of course, even if her princess said so, Dixie didn't dare to relax as she followed along with her daggers clutched tightly in her hands. Emilia had made it clear that they mustn't allow themselves to be discovered, after all, and gunshots could hardly be considered stealthy. Though they did carry a couple of guns equipped with suppressors for when they were needed.
The crimson-haired girl had already changed into her 'Little Emi' form, which was much more compact, portable, and stealthy as compared to her regular self, and even donned some camouflage clothing to match Dixie.
Emilia motioned for Dixie to stop behind her. "Hush, here they come."
The dark-haired girl froze as she stared at the small squad of soldiers marching past the thick foliage they were hiding behind, and only dared to breathe a sigh of relief when they were out of sight. 'T-That was close.'
Had her princess not noticed the enemy soon enough, they might have already been discovered. Though perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad thing, considering they were still close enough to Blue Dawn's defense line to rush back safely.
Emilia frowned. "We need to look out for someone who looks important enough. Preferably that salt and pepper guy who kept sneering at me earlier."
Of course, Dixie knew exactly who her princess was talking about. The moment Emilia paid attention to him, it was impossible for the dark-haired girl to not take note, after all.
But aside from being in a commanding position and daring to look down on Emilia, Dixie didn't feel there was anything special about the man. If anything, he was about as bland as a man can be, with his only personality trait being to silently sneer at anyone and everyone.
But maybe that was exactly what Emilia was looking for.
"We can't just wait here… let's go in deeper."
Dixie hurriedly followed after her swift and dexterous princess while trying her best to keep her footsteps silent. Fortunately, the ground was quite soft, and aside from a few snapped twigs here and there, the dark-haired girl hardly made any noise.
Of course, it was only thanks to Emilia carefully keeping track of her surroundings with chaos energy that they were able to move so smoothly in the enemy camp.
"I think I found him…" Emilia frowned. "Unfortunately… he's with three others. How many can you take down at once?"
Dixie knew the cost of failure, and didn't dare to overestimate herself against trained soldiers. "O-One. I can definitely take down one right away, a-and maybe another one after that?"
The crimson-haired girl could obviously feel her favorite knight's nervousness, but there was no time to reassure her.
Emilia could only pat the back of the dark-haired girl's hand and point to a densely covered tree branch to her top right. "I'll go hide there first. You wait here till they're about to pass you by, and only once I've struck can you go for the closest one. Don't give them the chance to make a sound if possible. Understand?"
Dixie nodded while trying her best to control her rapidly beating heart, and clutched her daggers even more tightly.
The crimson-haired girl didn't make a sound as she moved to her new hiding spot like a weightless ghost. Covered with fresh green leaves on all sides except the bottom, it would only be possible to see her if someone looked up from right below her position.
It didn't take long for their targets to wander into their view.
Fortunately, while they didn't pass by the exact spot that Emilia expected, they were still close enough.
The man wasn't the type to speak much, and the three subordinates by his side obviously didn't dare to strike a conversation without being prompted, so aside from the dried leaves being crushed by their boots, there was hardly any sound as they moved forward.
Dixie couldn't help but gulp nervously. 'W-Wait, if they keep moving forward, they'll definitely notice me! I-If Emily realizes that the plan is too risky now, won't I be giving ourselves away if I stay here? But I can't move away, either, or princess would be left alone if she decided to strike!'
Just as she was getting jittery, however, there was a faint rustling sound followed by a shadow dropping on one of the soldiers, and before he realized what had happened… his world had already gone dark.
Dixie didn't dare to delay as she shot off her spot and plunged her dagger into the closest soldier's neck from behind, the sharp blade tearing through flesh and bone alike.
With him having just turned towards Emilia in panic, the poor man didn't even get to see his killer before he died.
The crimson-haired girl had already plunged her blade into the heart of the last soldier the moment after she killed the first one, so the only one left alive was the 'salt and pepper man' Emilia was targeting.
"Shit—!"
It all happened in an instant, but even as he was cursing in a panic, the man still instinctively pointed his gun at the threat and immediately pulled the trigger.
Or at least, he tried.
Emilia rushed forward to kick the man between his legs, and then bashed his face in with the back of his own subordinate's rifle when he knelt down in agony, causing his vision to go dark before he could even scream.
He didn't even realize that his wrist had been cut off shortly before he could pull the trigger, which was why he failed to shoot.
Of course, neither Emilia nor her knight dared to relax just yet, and quickly dragged the three dead bodies into a thick bush, while Emilia carried the detached hand into an empty bird nest she spotted nearby.
Once they were done, Dixie used a lighter to burn the man's stump before trying her best to cover up any blood on the ground with dirt, then followed Emilia in a different direction.
Although they'd been relatively quick and silent, there was no telling whether the inevitable noise from their ambush could still have attracted someone, after all.
It was only five minutes later, when they were certain they were in the clear for now, that the two dared to breathe a sigh of relief.
"W-Whew… t-that was… exhilarating!"
Looking at Dixie wiping the nervous sweat from her forehead, Emilia couldn't help but chuckle. "That was just the first step. Now… we need to make this guy tell us all about himself without making too much noise. Any ideas?"
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