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When Belinda attacked, not everyone was sleeping like Bernap.

Amelia's aide, Conrad, the Lord Chief of Actium, was also staying up all night checking various things.

He pushed up his monocle and muttered as he flipped through the papers.

"It's a good thing the young lady bought a lot of food. I thought we would suffer a huge loss, but I didn't expect things to turn out this well."

Conrad smiled happily.

Amelia, whom he served, was truly an amazing person. Not only did she possess vast knowledge, but the strategies and worldly skills with which she utilized it were so great that even men would be amazed.

Not only that. She had a special sense. Amelia's occasional intuition led to unexpected results.

The purchase of large quantities of food during the last drought was also part of this.

Conrad, who had been smiling, hardened his expression and fiddled with the rapier hanging from his waist.

"hmm...."

It feels like a bug is crawling on the back of my neck. It's not a real bug.

To live.

Chaang!

The rapier, drawn out like lightning, pierced a corner of the tent. At the same time, a person jumped out from the dark shadows inside the tent.

"Tsk."

Conrad clicked his tongue. He aimed for the face and stabbed the assassin, who dodged it exquisitely. However, he didn't dodge it completely, as blood flowed from the assassin's cheek, where his mask was cut open.

Conrad tilted his head slightly as he looked at the assassin's expressionless face. It seemed like a familiar face to him.

He briefly recalled his memories and then said with a deep laugh.

"Aren't you… … the 'bribery king's' bodyguard?"

The assassin who targeted Conrad was Wendy, who was in charge of Claude's escort.

Since the matter was important, she had no choice but to participate in this operation.

Conrad had seen her before. She had been in charge when he first made his dealings with Fenris.

He continued speaking with a smile still on his face.

"Does your coming here mean that Earl Fenris intends to turn us into enemies as well?"

Wendy answered with her expression still blank.

"I've never been here before. Please don't pretend to know me later."

With those words, she threw daggers in succession.

Sssssss.

Conrad easily dodged the flying daggers and stabbed with his rapier. However, Wendy, who had no intention of fighting him anymore, repeatedly dodged backwards and took something out of her bosom.

widely.

Sparks flew along with the sound of metal clashing. Conrad realized his opponent's purpose and grimaced.

Wendy took the oiled cloth out of her bosom again, lit it, and threw it on the pile of papers.

Pfft!

Conrad spurted mana and swung his rapier at the cloth to put out the fire, but Wendy had thrown more than one.

She threw fire here and there and quickly escaped from the tent, and soon flames were rising all over Leipold's camp.

"What the heck! What the heck! What kind of kids are these!"

Ulkan, who had jumped out of the tent, swung his club in anger and screamed. Kalev ground his teeth as he trampled the corpse wearing a black mask.

He, the leader of the lynx smuggling ring, is also an assassin. He seemed to be very proud that he was attacked by assassins.

Ulkan and Kalev easily dealt with the assassins who attacked them, but not everyone is as skilled in combat as they are.

Several officers in Leipold's army died unexpectedly, which led to considerable chaos.

"The 4th Infantry Company Commander is dead!"

"Catch them! What are you guys doing!"

"It's gone! The enemy is gone!"

Everyone was in chaos as they were thrown into confusion by the unexpected attack. Everyone tried to catch the assassins, but Belinda and the assassins had already run away.

As Belinda ran away, she looked at Leipold's camp with regret.

"It's not as easy as I thought."

It wasn't really that high of a state of alert, as I was focusing on increasing speed just like Jiselle said. Despite that, I didn't kill as many as I thought.

On the contrary, the assassins she had brought were quite beaten. Belinda tasted bitterness.

"It's a skill that I worked hard to build up… … ."

Giselle and Belinda have been steadily training assassins. They have selected and trained the most talented ones and have been disguising them as servants within the territory.

Their true identities were so top secret that only Jiselle's closest associates knew about them.

Of course, the highest level ones are those like Wendy, who Belinda has raised since long ago.

"When I go back, I have to train more members."

Although the individual skills were not low because they received full support from the territory, they were still too few in number.

This is especially true when attacking high-level opponents like this operation. The lower-level assassins were not only unable to successfully assassinate, but were also unable to escape properly.

Still, they set fires here and there and caused chaos. They achieved their intended results, so they can buy time.

After the assassins fled, Amelia, who was looking around the camp, could not hold back her boiling anger and screamed.

"Gisselle! Gisselle! Gisselle! How dare this son of a bitch dare me!"

Flames are shooting up from all sides and horses are running around. The sudden attack has turned the camp into a complete mess.

I was once again taken advantage of by Giselle. It was in a way I never expected, so I couldn't stand it.

Amelia exhaled heavily and looked around the campsite again. Everyone was moving around busily.

"Put the fire out quickly!"

"Check the personnel again!"

"Check where the breach started!"

The soldiers were equally confused. Still, some quickly came out armed and stood guard in all directions.

After a while, a knight approached and bowed his head to Amelia.

She glanced at the article and asked.

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"What about the damage?"

"The casualties are not that great. However… … several company commanders were killed."

The article reported the damage it had found. There were only a few dead soldiers, but the damage was much greater.

Knights aren't the only high-level force. Sometimes, a good commander is harder to come by than a knight.

Amelia's carefully selected mid-level officers have died. It will take a considerable amount of time to repair the damage.

The article's report didn't end there.

"They released the horses, sprayed poison around them, and set them on fire. As a result, many horses ran away or died. The poison has now been purified by the wizards. They are also catching the horses that ran away."

Horses are essential to increase the speed of the march. This must have been the biggest goal since the original goal was to hold back Leipold's army.

She closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and then asked again.

"How on earth did you get in here?"

Even though they were focused on speeding up, they could not afford to neglect their guard duty. The Leipold Army was strict about discipline, and Amelia especially valued guard duty, so no one stood guard carelessly.

In addition to the soldiers, high-level knights and wizards took turns standing guard.

There are an army of 5,000 people there. No matter how good your assassin skills are, it's impossible to avoid the eyes of all of them.

Even the assassins weren't all that skilled. Weren't there quite a few who couldn't escape and died?

The reporter hesitated for a moment and then continued his report.

"There was a tunnel… …."

"A tunnel? You dug a tunnel knowing where we're going to stay?"

"It's not that big. It's more like a hiding hole. I think they made several and hid nearby after they saw us moving. We found a few outside the campsite as well."

"Keep talking."

"Coincidentally, there were soldiers' tents over several pits. A few of them infiltrated through there and set fire to them first, and then the rest came out. The timing of the attacks was different."

Leipold's article quickly reported the full context.

Belinda, who already knew that Leipold's army would move as he said, continued to monitor their movements.

That's why they were able to hide in a hole prepared in advance near the campsite.

The most important virtue for an assassin is patience. It is not difficult to hide in an uncomfortable and narrow place for several days.

Because that was the first basic training that assassins received.

Amelia pursed her lips. When there are no enemies like now, and she is focused on moving quickly, her inner alert level is considerably lowered.

Since 5,000 people have to stay there, the campsite naturally becomes larger. If you just figure out the general location, you can easily get inside.

"What the heck… … How on earth did this guy… … ."

I still didn't understand. How on earth did Giselle figure out all of my actions?

'I have to figure it out somehow. This isn't luck or intuition. This is something I do with confidence.'

She could no longer think of Giselle as either too lucky or simply a genius. If anything, her past actions had been closer to a prophet.

But she still had no idea what method he had used. She felt a headache and pressed her forehead.

Bernap, who was standing next to him, asked cautiously.

"Then that guy, Giselle, is moving now too. What should we do now? Shouldn't we get there before that guy?"

Looking at the situation, it seemed that Leipold's army and Fenris' army were moving almost simultaneously. However, it was well known that Giselle's army was entirely cavalry. It was obvious that they were moving towards Desmond's territory at a tremendous speed by now.

Bernap, who had come to that thought, continued speaking.

"How about sending out cavalry and knights using the remaining horses right now? We won't fall behind in terms of speed either."

"I must have set a trap."

These are the guys who boldly infiltrated the camp to catch Amelia's ankle. Their destination was clear, so there was no way they wouldn't have set a trap to deal with the cavalry.

Amelia took the map and looked at it again, saying:

"But we can't give up right away. Split up and go in three directions. The fastest route, the middle route, and the roundabout route. Ignore everything else and take the castles and fortresses I've marked first."

Desmond is a great fiefdom. It is different from other fiefdoms in the north, which are just a few villages, or at most a few cities and fortresses.

There was no use in occupying places that were not key strategic points. It was obvious that they would be treated as invaders and driven out.

At least if we occupy one key strategic point, we can hold out under the pretext of an alliance. If we do that, the Duke will take care of the rest.

At Amelia's command, the knights and cavalrymen quickly moved to resolve the confusion.

Their sole objective is to occupy and hold out in the area designated by Amelia until the main force arrives.

Doo doo doo doo doo!

The faces of the cavalrymen, who had not been able to rest properly, clearly showed signs of fatigue. However, as expected from those who had undergone intense training, they were not disheveled.

After sending the cavalry away, Amelia looked around at those who remained with sharp eyes and said.

"Get up and moving as fast as you can. There's no time to rest."

If he had anticipated his movements and made these preparations, Giselle would also be heading to Desmond's estate. Now it was a race against time. He had to move a little faster.

Ugh.

Amelia ground her teeth as she moved.

'Giselle, Giselle… … . This son of a bitch… … .'

The anger from being treated this time won't go away. If I had just stayed still, I wouldn't have suffered such humiliation.

As she had expected, the cavalrymen who had gone first were lying down on the fastest route.

Most of them fell into pits filled with thorns and lost their lives, while those who avoided them ended up tripping on timber that had been cleverly placed high enough for a horse's feet to trip on.

As the horses fell, the wounded lay groaning, and the few able-bodied cavalrymen left could not even think of advancing further, but only cared for the wounded.

He brought Amelia the stakes that the soldiers had placed here and there.

The stake had these words engraved on it:

[Made and maintained by the great blacksmith and his friends.]

"These guys dare… … ."

Amelia's eyes lit up. Not only did she get in my way, but she also provoked me with such a petty insult.

She knew who had set the trap just by reading the text. It seemed that the dwarves who were staying in Fenris had made their move.

I had a strong feeling that I had to catch and kill those guys.

While the wounded were being treated, the cavalrymen who had gone the other way returned.

"What happened?"

"There was an obstacle."

"obstacle?"

"A wall was built by piling up trees and stones in the narrowest path of the canyon. I had no choice but to return to take another route. I brought one of the traces that was there."

The commander leading the cavalry held out one of the stakes he had been carrying.

[Made and maintained by the great blacksmith and his friends.]

"...."

I had heard long ago that this territory was home to many strange people. However, seeing the traces they had left behind was unbelievable.

It was too late to turn back anyway. The Leipolds quickly cleared the trap and moved again.

And when they arrived near the fortress which they had set as their first objective, the commander of the cavalry which had gone the furthest back joined the main force.

"I'm sorry. The enemies have already captured the fortress."

"...."

How fast did they have to move to capture the front-line fortresses immediately after winning the war?

It wasn't like someone had betrayed her and leaked the information, because she had never told anyone about her plans.

Amelia didn't say anything and just kept a cold expression on her face. She led her troops and approached the fortress.

Sure enough, the flag of Fenris was waving over Desmond's front line fortress.

"...."

Amelia just stared at the flag and still said nothing. Bernap, who was next to her, quietly stepped back.

Bernap knows that when she is at her angrier, she becomes colder than anyone else.

'Ha, let's not get involved with that guy. Since we've taken over Leipold, it should be enough to just eat up the northern half.'

Bernap couldn't say anything and just groaned inwardly. Her ambition was beyond his ability to keep up with.

'If we just give up greed, we can live happily ever after.'

He just dreamed of living happily with Amelia. He was a man who pursued a simpler happiness than you might think.

Since Amelia didn't say anything, her aides couldn't speak carelessly either. If they got on her nerves now, no one would be safe.

When Army Leipold was just staring at the fortress.

Squeak… … .

Suddenly, the fortress gate opened. And from there, Giselle, riding on a black horse, came out with her knights and slowly began to approach Leipold's army.

Amelia, who saw that sight, also rode her horse and slowly advanced. Bernap and her entourage and knights surrounded her like an iron wall.

Giselle, still covered in blood, and Amelia, looking neat, stopped at an appropriate distance.

Jiselle spoke first.

"Long time no see, Amelia."

Amelia also slightly raised her chin and answered with an arrogant expression.

"It's been a while, Giselle."

The two people looked at each other and smiled.

With eyes full of life.

Before the laughter could even fade, Amelia's hand moved slightly. At the same time, mana began to flow into Giselle's spear.