Chapter 518

Around daybreak, the vice-captain woke up early and headed for the captain's tent. Today, they could finally put an end to this exhausting stay outside and head to the Pinne Estate's capital city. Although he didn't try to show it in front of his subordinates, the vice-captain was also very sick of this uncomfortable outdoor camping.

'I want to quickly return, eat hot food, and sleep in a comfy bed,' he thought. His thoughts even strayed to the family members he had left at home, and the vice-captain quickly shook his head to focus on what was important at present.

"I am here to meet the captain," the vice-captain said to the guards protecting the captain's tent.

"...I understand."

'Huh?' The vice-captain stared at the knight guiding him in. 'Something is...strange?'

The vice-captain studied the knight carefully. There wasn't anything noticeably different. As his position required, he had seen the guarding knights and command officers on many occasions and was very familiar with them. In terms of appearance, there was nothing unusual.

'...Am I imagining it?' the vice-captain wondered.

"The captain says you can enter," the knight said. The vice-captain studied the knight again, and as if the awkwardness he had sensed before was all a lie, the knight didn't look different from any other time.

'It was my imagination.' The vice-captain murmured to himself that this was all the result of the continuous stress he had been enduring recently.

"Hello, Cap..." The vice-captain was giving his greeting when he abruptly stopped. There was an unexpected figure next to the commander.

'Glen Zenard? What is this guy doing here so early in the morning? No, it's obvious what he came for.' There was only one thing Glen Zenard had been requesting even before their previous battle.

'Is he going to insist that we can't retreat and have to fight against the detachment again?'

Glen Zenard was really a persistent man—to think he would insist to the captain on the day they were retreating and heading to the Pinne Estate.

'It will be meaningless. There's no way the commander will accept a demand like that.'

The vice-captain bowed his head once to Glen and walked to the captain. Then, he said, "We have finished our preparations to head to the Pinne Estate's capital. We can leave immediately, but should we discuss the exact time...?"

"We will not go."

"...Sorry?" the vice-captain asked.

"I said we will not go."

"N-not go where, sir?" Considering the flow of the conversation, it was clear what the captain was saying, but the vice-captain asked again. He couldn't understand the present situation. He even wondered if he had misunderstood something, but the captain confirmed his worries with his reply.

"We will not go to the capital city. We will fight the detachment here."

"T-That's impossible, sir! Even if the size of our forces is similar, our opponent is superior to us in quality! Furthermore, the morale of our soldiers is low since it hasn't been long since we lost a battle! We don't even have supplies!" The vice-captain quickly spat out all the reasons why they shouldn't fight their enemy right now.

"If we send a person to the Pinne Estate and get support from them, it will solve those problems."

"Then, the defense at the Pinne Estate would completely crumble! If our enemy strikes the city at that time...!"

"There's no way that will happen since we are watching our enemy."

"But...!"

"This is an order."

The vice-captain bit his lips. No matter how much he expressed his opposition, the one giving the orders was the captain. If the captain wished it, the vice-captain's words would hold no effect. The vice-captain then looked to Glen who was calmly listening to their conversation.

'As I thought, is it because of this guy?' That was the only explanation the vice-captain could come up with why the captain would drastically change his mind overnight.

'But how?' The captain had been determined to move to the capital city. How could that determination change in less than a day? No matter how much the vice-captain thought about it, he couldn't think of a viable reason. In the end, the only thing that remained was his sense of duty to follow the captain's command.

"...I understand," the vice-captain said helplessly. However, it wasn't like he had lost all hope yet. 'The Pinne Estate could refuse.'

No, the vice-captain was sure that they would do exactly that. Pinne was part of the allied forces, and all members of the allied forces were equal. Considering that the Pinnes gave them the reason for this war, they were given more reverence and care than what would normally be given to a viscount's forces.

'I'm sure they will protest if we try to take their remaining troops.' Furthermore, this order wasn't even coming from the commander-in-chief, Count Flaud, himself, or the estate's master, Viscount Pinne.

'Then, the captain would have no choice but to give up.'

Yet, this hope ended completely in vain. Not long after the captain contacted the Pinne Estate, the Pinne Estate's troops appeared. Considering their numbers, it seemed like all the remaining troops had come to support them. The vice-captain fell into utter shock after seeing this.

'Are they out of their minds!' The vice-captain wanted to know what in the world was going on in the head of the person who was ruling the Pinne Estate in the viscount's absence. The other knights also seemed puzzled by the situation, but this order had come from their captain. No matter what they thought about the situation, all conditions had been met for them to face the detachment again. For now, they ate the food that the troops from the Pinne Estate had brought. The fact that they no longer had to worry about their supplies running dry as they ate with their companions brought up the soldiers' morale considerably.

However, it wasn't like their environment had dramatically improved. Even if they refilled their food supplies, they couldn't prepare adequate tents and bedding in that short time frame. The majority of the knights couldn't escape from the predicament of sleeping on the floor. Furthermore...

'...There's something off about those guys...' The vice-captain felt an uncomfortable feeling that he couldn't exactly pinpoint from the troops who had come from the Pinne Estate. They seemed different from ordinary soldiers, but the vice-captain couldn't focus on this matter for too long. Their next battle with the Steelwall forces in the forest was edging closer. Even if it was a battle that he had opposed, there was no way he could neglect it. They needed to squeeze out a victory somehow. Like this, the second round of the Steelwall's detachment versus the allied forces' pursuit team began.

* * *

Glen looked at the detachment's campsite in the distance. Even though the campsite looked very strange as half of it was intertwined with the forest, they thought it was probably because of the elves' influence. Several tents were raised inside the wooden fences that were intertwined with the branches and leaves of the forest. The knights were moving in between the spaces between the tents and fences.

"We've received no reports of elves being seen, but we predict that they are probably hidden inside the forest."

"Is there any possibility that they'll act independently?"

"No matter how strong elves are, they're only a few of them. I don't think they can move on their own with such a small number."

"I see." The commander nodded and gave out an order. "We will divide the troops into two. The reinforcements from the Pinne Estate will take a wide turn to re-enter the forest and move behind the Steelwall forces. When we attack the enemy from the front, they'll attack the enemy from behind."

"But sir, the forest is the elves' territory! No matter how small their numbers are, it'll be hard for the reinforcements from the Pinne Estate to endure their attacks!" The vice-captain expressed his opposition, but the captain firmly shook his head.

"This is an order!"

"..." The vice-captain felt as if the captain had become a stranger in one night. The captain was not the type of person to suddenly overturn the order and lead his troops in such a narrow-minded way. What the hell happened that night? What did he talk about with Glen Zenard? The vice-captain stared at Glen, but Glen's eyes were focused only on the detachment. His eyes glistened with madness.

* * *

At the captain's order, the Pinne Estate's reinforcement made a big detour into the forest so that they wouldn't be caught by the Steelwall's detachment. Shortly after entering the forest, their leader issued an order. "Put away the useless weapons."

All the soldiers roughly dropped their spears. One soldier took out a magic box and put all of the spears inside.

The leader ordered again, "Take out what you're used to."

The soldiers brought out their new weapons at his order. They each took out a sword and a staff—anyone could tell that they were not ordinary soldiers.

"I'm going to explain this only once. After those dumb wits attack the Steelwall from the front, we're going to immediately attack from the rear. The elves are likely to strike back so be careful. Kill all the people who stand in your way! That's our only goal." The leader looked at his subordinates and asked, "Does anyone have any questions?"

A soldier asked, "What do we do if we get found out by those dimwits?" It was extremely disrespectful that they called their allies dimwits, but the leader didn't care because the words he said next were even more chilling.

"Kill them."

"Sir, we might get found out by all of them. If that happens..."

"It doesn't matter," he replied with a relaxed voice. "In the worst-case scenario, I was ordered to kill all of them."

"Yes, sir."

While saying words and showing actions that made it hard to believe they were on the same side as the allied forces, the Pinne Estate's reinforcements slowly infiltrated the forest.

* * *

"Attack!" At the captain's command, the pursuit team immediately hit the ground and started running. Since they lost most of their horses, they had to run with their own feet, but the sight of the knights charging at once was a majestic and spectacular sight to see. Glen was running in the very front.

The distance between him and the detachment narrowed at once, and the sight of his enemies came close to his eyes. Glen paid no attention to their flashing swords and armors—his only goal was Zich.

'Where is he!' Glen thoroughly scanned the campsite, but he couldn't see Zich. However, it didn't matter. 'If I kill a bunch of these guys, he'll come crawling out sooner or later!'

Baaam! After crushing the clumsily built wooden fence, Glen ran towards the nearest enemy.

'Die!'

Swoosh! Glen swung Tornium as it let out eerie black mana toward his enemies.

Slice! His sword cut through hard armor like slicing soft mud. However, Glen's expression didn't look pleased. 'What's this?'

It didn't feel like he sliced through a person. No blood or flesh flew through the air. He hurriedly examined the cut he made and found out that the inside of the double-layered armor was empty.

"What the..." Glen quickly sliced the armor next to him; that one was empty as well. He sliced another one, and it was the same for that one as well. "Ahhhhhhhh!"

Baaaaam! Tornium's huge black mana blasted the detachment's camp. Its force was so strong that the pursuit team rushing behind with a cry, stopped for a moment. However, Glen could care less about them. There were no signs of humans in the crater he made—just the remains of armor rolling around.

"What is this!!!" Glen furiously cried out.

At the same time, Zich snuck a glance towards their fake campsite. 'Well, Snoc will do a good job.'

His efforts to train Snoc hadn't been a waste. It was now time for him to trust Snoc and focus on finishing his job. 'Then shall I slowly begin as well?'

The walls of the Pinne Estate, which looked weak to him, clearly appeared into view.