"Who's this guy?"
Ghislain asked with a wry expression. The knights scratched their heads, grinning awkwardly.
"According to Tarim, he's one of the Revolutionary Army's vice-leaders."
"Is that so?"
When Ghislain turned his head, Tarim was already beside him. His movements were alarmingly quick.
"His name is Jaren. One of the four vice-leaders."
"You didn't mention a vice-leader would show up."
"Well… I didn't know who was leading which battalion. I couldn't know everything."
It was definitely a behavior befitting a guerrilla organization. No one knew who was leading the troops until they gathered.
Tarim, feeling defensive, quickly added more explanation.
"This guy probably didn't come just because of the war. vice-leaders rarely move around. They usually handle administrative work."
"Hm, is that so?"
Tarim eagerly explained everything he knew about the Revolutionary Army's structure.
"Yes, yes. vice-leaders are at least somewhat educated."
The Revolutionary Army was a sizable organization. Naturally, they needed people to manage money, food, and troops.
Such responsibilities couldn't be left to uneducated bandits, so the vice-leaders handled those tasks.
Especially under Leonard, who had taken his position through rebellion, the vice-leaders were reportedly relegated entirely to administrative duties.
Jaren, the vice-leader, glared at Tarim, who was explaining everything.
"You… traitorous bastard… So it was you who ratted us out…"
The failure of the ambush and the sudden attack on this village had been a bolt from the blue for the Revolutionary Army.
It was only natural for Jaren to assume Tarim had betrayed them and leaked the information.
But that assumption was only half-right. Ghislain had already known about the ambush before meeting Tarim.
Tarim kicked Jaren furiously as he shouted.
"How dare you try to deceive the Saint! The Saint already knew everything through divine revelation! I merely followed the will of the goddess!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Tarim kicked away with all his might. For some reason, he felt he had to.
Ghislain placed a hand on Tarim's shoulder and spoke.
"Stop empathizing with me so recklessly. This guy's unbelievable. What's with your empathy? Are you the King of Empathy?"
"…Yes, sir."
Tarim stepped back as Ghislain rotated his shoulders, axe in hand.
Beating people up was Ghislain's job, after all.
Crack!
"Ahhh!"
"This thing's been getting a lot of use lately. I hope you can empathize with me, too. So, why are you here?"
"Guh… You already know! That guy must've told you everything! We were trying to ambush the Allied Forces!"
"But why would an administrative officer come all the way out here?"
"Because it's important! And I can fight a little!"
"Sounds like a lie. My gut doesn't empathize with that."
"What lie…"
Crack!
"Ahhh!"
"Be honest. Why are you here?"
"I… I…"
Crack!
"Ahhh! Fine, I'll talk! Money! We came for money and supplies!"
"And where would you get that? What are you, tax collectors?"
This area was under Allied control and currently at war. How could a bunch of bandits claim they were here for money and supplies?
Breathing heavily, Jaren finally answered.
"I mean what we've stored in our hideouts."
"Oh? So you've stockpiled a lot, then?"
"With this operation, security will surely tighten in the area… If they kept searching, this village might get discovered too…"
"So you came to move it before that? And that's why you came personally?"
Jaren nodded reluctantly and continued.
"Yes… I was ordered to come. Since we wouldn't be able to use resources from this region until the war ends, they're meant for war funds."
The Allied Forces wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. They'd likely conduct thorough searches in the surrounding areas.
So the Revolutionary Army had planned to relocate the wealth stored in nearby hideouts.
When Ghislain glanced at Tarim, he frantically shook his head and shouted.
"I really didn't know about this! I don't even know all the hideouts! I only know the ones I was told about!"
Even for an ambush, supplies were necessary. Their supply method involved storing dried goods in various hideouts and fetching them when needed.
But even the hideouts were disclosed only on a need-to-know basis. Tarim had used the hideouts he knew to reach this point.
Ghislain pulled out a map and handed it to Jaren.
"Mark them."
"If I do, will you spare me?"
Crack!
"Ahhh! I-I'll mark them!"
Overwhelmed by pain, Jaren hurriedly marked the map.
Loyalty or camaraderie didn't exist in the Revolutionary Army. It was a group ruled by Leonard's reign of terror.
And that fear naturally crumbled when met with something even scarier.
Standing up, Ghislain addressed the knights.
"Keep him around for now; we need him to verify some things. The rest of you, clean up the village."
The mobile army corps began searching through the wreckage of the ruined village. Many Revolutionary Army soldiers were found dead under the rubble, while others were injured and unable to move.
Thud!
"Ugh!"
The mobile army executed the injured without hesitation as they continued their search.
There was no point in taking prisoners. They'd only waste food and exhaust the effort to manage them.
Jaren trembled at the sight. He'd heard rumors about their ruthlessness, but seeing it first hand was horrifying.
'I've told them everything. Is there anything else I can say?'
He wracked his brain desperately, thinking he needed to reveal everything he knew to stay alive.
As the mobile army cleared debris and searched the village, they found entrances to underground caverns.
Inside, they discovered vast stockpiles of dried goods and treasure.
Ghislain chuckled at the sight.
"Brought back quite a haul."
It was the loot accumulated from years of plundering. It meant there were treasure troves like this scattered across the continent.
Jaren knew the locations of many hideouts, though some were too far to reach immediately.
Of course, Jaren admitted he didn't know everything. Each vice-leader oversaw different regions.
The only person who knew all the hideouts was Leonard himself.
"Always the cunning one."
Ghislain sent Dark to inform Claude and the other mobile army corps commanders about the hideouts.
Once the mobile army destroyed the hideouts, Claude would dispatch forces to recover the loot.
"Well, let's go loot the rest."
Ghislain wasn't one to pass up unexpected gains. While reaching distant hideouts might be challenging, he planned to strip all nearby locations clean.
As always, money was better in abundance.
***
"Haah... The operation was a complete failure."
Leonard gritted his teeth as he fled. His ambush, which had never failed before, had failed this time.
A full 10,000 Revolutionary Army soldiers had vanished. He hadn't seen the final outcome, but it was easy to predict.
Of course, the Revolutionary Army wouldn't collapse from this. If a group could be brought down by such a small loss, they wouldn't have been sweeping across the continent for so long.
There were still plenty of Revolutionary Army soldiers left. Most of them were helping the 3rd Corps of the Kingdom of Artrode.
The problem was that Leonard's pride had taken a huge blow.
"What a disgrace."
He had set out with confidence, only to be completely outplayed. The Salvation Church and the Kingdom of Artrode would undoubtedly look at him with disdain.
He gritted his teeth involuntarily. How did Duke Fenris find out?
And then, there was the feeling of Duke Fenris's aura he had sensed, albeit briefly.
"Even a one-on-one fight wouldn't be easy."
He had rarely encountered someone with such an overwhelming presence. Even if he unleashed all his power, Leonard wasn't certain he could win.
He had always concealed his strength, maintaining a calm demeanor. But still, there were so many strong people in the world.
"First, I need to move the supplies."
In Stonebrook Village, there was one of the vice-leaders, Jaren. If he had been killed during the fight, it would have been better, but if he had been captured, he would have likely spilled everything about their hideouts.
Leonard hurriedly moved to another hideout. He never trusted his subordinates.
There were five hideouts in this area. Even if Jaren had spilled everything, Leonard had moved faster than the mobile army, so at least four of them should still be intact.
Bang!
Leonard exploded his mana and dashed forward. Only the village mayor knew his face.
He planned to meet him secretly and send all the supplies to the Kingdom of Grimwell. At least that would allow him to save face.
He would also send a messenger afterward to handle the other nearby hideouts.
But...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"What's this?"
Leonard couldn't believe his eyes. The army had already arrived and was sweeping through the village!
He hid and watched. This wasn't the army led by the Duke Fenris; it was a different force altogether.
A woman was massacring the villagers, throwing dozens of daggers in every direction.
"How is this..."
This didn't make sense. Only Jaren knew the location of this hideout.
He had expected that Jaren might have been captured and spilled the information. But what didn't make sense was that it wasn't the Duke Fenris who had received the information—it was someone else.
It was impossible for word to spread this quickly. Leonard couldn't understand what was going on.
"D-Different place. I'll have to go check."
Under normal circumstances, he would have fought back, but right now it was impossible. The village had no soldiers, while the enemy had superhumans and elite troops.
He thought it was a coincidence. Something he didn't understand was at play, but he had no choice but to believe it was a random series of events.
However, when he arrived at another village...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Ahhh!"
A massive woman was destroying the buildings in the village, while the soldiers seemed to have nothing to do.
Upon closer inspection, this woman looked like the saintess, Parniel, whom he had only heard about.
In any case, this was another army.
"…."
Leonard blinked in disbelief.
The enemy troops were moving faster than he could. They knew the locations of all the hideouts, and he had no idea how they were managing to coordinate so swiftly.
This shouldn't be possible. No army could communicate this quickly.
Since Leonard didn't know about Dark's existence, he remained confused and disoriented.
"D-Different place…"
For the first time, the usually composed Leonard was clearly flustered.
He rushed to the next hideout, the closest one. He had to reach it before the enemy could.
He pushed himself to the limit, unleashing all of his power.
Boom!
He moved like a streak of light. He thought it couldn't possibly happen again. He convinced himself it had to be a coincidence.
But...
"Yahhh!"
Boom!
"…."
At the third hideout, a woman was wielding a hammer bigger than her own body, smashing everything in sight. She looked incredibly angry.
There were 2,000 soldiers here, and a white-haired superhuman was among them.
"Gillian?"
That meant it was definitely the Fenris Mobile Army.
Leonard had no choice but to accept it.
"Really... they contacted them."
Somehow, the Duke Fenris had managed to send orders to other units at a breathtaking speed.
This was a massive advantage in war. No wonder the Lutania army had been outmatched.
The ten battalions that hadn't made it to Stonebrook were likely also caught by the divided mobile army.
"Haah... This isn't good."
Leonard gave up on going to the next hideout and decided to move directly to the furthest one.
Since it was farther away, the enemy would be slower to reach it.
Boom!
Leonard's speed was incredible as he poured all his energy into running.
When he finally arrived at the last hideout in the region...
"Just as I thought."
Because of the distance, the mobile army hadn't reached this village yet. He quickly hid in the village and met the mayor.
"Ha! Leader! What brings you here so suddenly?"
"Take all the supplies here and move them immediately. It's urgent."
"Huh? What do you mean…"
"Hurry! The enemy knows about this place! Get armed and move!"
"Understood!"
The mayor quickly gathered the villagers. The villagers quickly armed themselves and began hauling supplies from the underground storage.
Thanks to their constant preparation, they moved swiftly. Each group worked together, and in no time, the supplies were loaded onto the wagons.
Leonard couldn't relax, even as he watched. He was certain the mobile corps would arrive at this village soon.
"Pack what you can and move out. Split up the troops to confuse the pursuers."
"Understood."
There were only about two hundred villagers, but the supplies they were carrying could support an army of thousands.
They had to move it all. After all, they had prepared fake wagons for this exact scenario.
Now, to create confusion, the fake wagons would be spread out in multiple groups.
As the preparations were almost complete, Leonard clenched his teeth and turned his head.
"Damn it... They've already arrived."
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
A group of soldiers was charging forward with overwhelming momentum. Only the mobile corps could move like that.
Leonard had no choice but to step forward.
"I'll buy you some time. Hurry up and move."
He didn't intend to engage in a full battle. He just needed to delay enough for the wagons to escape.
But then, he saw a man riding at the front of the group. His cold expression made Leonard's face harden.
"Who is that?"
It was obvious. That man was incredibly strong.
Before Leonard could finish his thought, the man swung his sword from atop his horse.
Swoosh!
[T/L: I am in dire need of support. I will give discount to all those who will buy the rest of the chapters all together, so please support me the reader on my webnovel platform and read ahead chapters on my ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]