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When the military chef saw the commander of the outpost wander into the makeshift kitchen, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. 'Shit! He hasn't figured out I've been secretly munching on our supplies, has he?!'
Although the 'crime' would only get him reprimanded at most, when it came to their dead-faced commander, even a supposedly light scolding could last for hours, and none of the troops in the outpost wanted to go through such an ordeal.
Moreover, given the incident that happened earlier, the chef was sure that the commander wouldn't be in a particularly pleasant mood, and he naturally wouldn't want to irk the man at this time.
"Commander Rudolph! A-Are you here to taste-test today's dinner? Or would you like to change today's menu? W-We haven't started yet, so there's still time to make any changes you like!"
The military chef's words were even more flattering than a those of a commercial cook facing a food critic, but while Emilia was pleased with his cooperative behavior, she didn't let it show on 'Rudolph's' face.
"Everyone else… get out."
Everyone but the chef rushed to follow the dismissal as if their butts had been set on fire, leaving the sole 'victim' cursing at their 'cowardice' for abandoning him so quickly. 'If the commander is unhappy about the taste, I'll be sure to teach these careless morons a lesson later!'
Fortunately, his worst fears didn't seem to have come true. Not only did the commander not scold him for his 'private business', but he also didn't seem upset about the taste of the food he'd been served recently.
'I-Is it really just… a routine check?!'
The military chef almost laughed at himself for being too nervous before, but he still maintained an alert and attentive attitude in front of the commander.
It wouldn't do to mess up now that he had been let off the hook so easily, after all. That would be just shooting himself in the foot for no reason!
Unfortunately, with most of his attention focused on flattering the 'commander', the poor chef completely failed to notice the 'man' by his side sprinkling some strange white powder into the food.
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Taking down an established military outpost that was well-equipped and alert normally required either overwhelming power, or some great tactical advantage. And even then, it was almost never without a cost.
Even if one had all the cards in their favor, losing one man for every ten they took down would already be considered a miracle.
Fortunately, Emilia's unique advantage of being able to change her appearance as she willed whenever her skill was off cooldown allowed her to easily execute schemes that normally would have needed one to plant talented spies for years, if not decades.
Using merely a few hours of her time, she was able to do what would have otherwise required a very high-ranking and well-established spy to be 'sacrificed'. And not only did it take a fraction of the time, but it was also frighteningly efficient in terms of 'resources' gained and lost in the 'transaction'.
The poor soldiers who ate the unusually satisfying and delicious dinner that night… never woke up.
Even though the 'poison' Emilia used was far from fatal and would only make the soldiers feel slightly drowsy and put them into a deep sleep for a few hours, it was almost impossible to detect, and also gave her more than enough time to 'take care' of the defenseless enemies.
As for those who were fortunate enough to have skipped their meal, they were only rewarded with an earlier trip to the grim reaper courtesy of Emilia's blade.
Dixie was obviously relieved to see her princess back in her 'little Emi' form. Well, anything was better than the 'ugly' one she was using earlier.
Luckily, even if she couldn't help Emilia much with the infiltration, she could at least share some of her burden during the cleanup.
But as she finished slashing the neck of the last few sleeping soldiers, the dark-haired girl couldn't help but hesitate. "D-Do we just leave their bodies like this?"
There was no need to worry about their 'crime' being discovered, but her princess obviously didn't look 'satisfied' quite yet. It would definitely be troublesome if the enemy were to be better prepared for her arrival next time.
Naturally, the crimson-haired girl was also well aware of this problem.
"No. We don't want to leave too many clues for them, after all. If we can do this a few more times… maybe we can deal a significant enough blow to the enemy's morale." Emilia stared regretfully in the direction of the outpost's military supplies. "I hate wasting good resources, but… let's burn it all."
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The 'loss' of a single outpost was far from being a big enough matter to cause much alarm among the Federation's leaders. But that was clearly not the case for the military higher-ups in the area.
Every single comrade lost was one less to share their burden, and another point to their enemy's advantage, after all.
By the time Emilia got back to her own territory and started showing her face to appease her people, the investigation team had already started dowsing the flames that consumed the military outpost she had ruined.
Unfortunately, most of the evidence that could be used to figure out what had happened there was already destroyed, and what little they managed to gather didn't seem to make any sense at all.
"I don't get it. There were no major enemy tracks around the area, and the nearby outposts didn't spot any airborne threats moving in or out of that zone. Are you telling me that one of our outposts was taken down by a ghost?!"
"As much as it pains me to say this, but I wish it was all just a tragic accident somehow. But unfortunately… the dead bodies don't lie."
"Going by the reports of what the forensics team was able to make out of their charred corpses, I'm guessing they were all killed by a highly skilled team of assassins."
As for who could have sent them… was there any need to guess?
Others also agreed with this statement, but figuring out the probable cause of the incident didn't make them feel any better.
If anything, it chilled their hearts even more.
Facing monsters who could sneak in and out of heavily guarded areas like ghosts, and wipe out an entire outpost like that… just what were they supposed to do?!
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