After Karyl left, a fierce debate broke out among Palmen and the officers.
"We should retreat right now. We've done more than enough!"
"I think they've used the advance payment as bait and turned us into sacrificial pawns."
"No retreating! Do you think the Vardia bastards will just let us leave peacefully?"
"Even if we manage to withdraw safely, will Commander Hakan just sit back and let us...?"
Palmen, the squadron leader who had been watching the argument, spoke up.
"Commander Hakan said reinforcements will definitely arrive, so we must not retreat under any circumstances. Let's wait a bit longer."
"And what if we all end up dead? Can you fight properly without supplies, Squadron Leader?"
The Palmen Squadron had been hastily assembled for this mission, but the squadron leader's authority was not to be taken lightly.
However, to mercenaries, nothing was more important than their own lives.
Besides, hadn't they already bought plenty of time?
If they ended up surrendering the fortress, it would be the fault of the Valua Kingdom and the main force for not arriving on time—not theirs.
As the consensus leaned toward retreat, even Palmen finally made his decision.
"I'll send an envoy to the imperial army."
But the officer who went to convey their intent to withdraw under a white flag returned with his head severed.
This was a clear message: they would not be allowed to leave alive.
"Those damn dogs! We've clashed swords with them for a few days, and they won't even show a shred of mercy!"
"I told you! The Vardia bastards won't let us retreat so easily!"
With negotiations failed, Palmen immediately summoned Karyl.
"I hear you've been looking for a secret passage to escape through?"
"Couldn't find it. No sign of it anywhere. How did the negotiations go?"
"They failed."
"Then withdrawal won't be easy."
"Exactly. Got any good ideas?"
"Hmm, I do have a plan. The imperial troops are relying solely on their numbers and won't expect us to launch a preemptive strike. So..."
Karyl's plan was this:
Send a night raid squad to strike the imperial camp, creating chaos. Then, the rest of the mercenaries would retreat all at once while the enemy was in disarray.
It sounded plausible, but Palmen was a bit worried.
"If the raid is botched, it'll be worse than doing nothing at all."
It could waste their intact forces and endanger the remaining mercenaries.
In response to his concern, Karyl volunteered.
"I'll lead the night raid squad. Just give me thirty veteran mercenaries."
"You?"
Karyl was young, but he was already considered mid-tier in experience within the mercenary corps.
He had been a mercenary for six years, fighting in battles big and small since the age of seventeen.
But more importantly, his skills.
He wasn't an Aura Expert, but the swordsmanship and judgment he had demonstrated over the past two weeks far exceeded his reputation.
Especially when the walls collapsed—he had single-handedly held off the imperial army with skill and courage unmatched in the Palmen Squadron.
"Since it's a dangerous mission, pay the raid squad three times the usual rate. And promise ten times the pay to the families of any who fall."
"...Alright. I'll trust you."
With his decision made, Palmen hurriedly began selecting personnel.
Karyl reviewed the list of chosen mercenaries and refined the plan.
'Key targets: the stables holding warhorses, the barracks village where soldiers are quartered, and the powder magazine.'
They would be heavily guarded due to their importance.
But Karyl believed it was feasible.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Once the night raid squad was assembled and the plan set, Squadron Leader Palmen gathered all the mercenaries and delivered a speech.
"You've all fought well so far. Even if we can't hold this fortress, the main force and the kingdom's army won't blame us. Tonight, we leave this place."
The mercenaries cheered in relief.
After the officer sent to negotiate returned decapitated, they had feared total annihilation.
"The operation launches at dawn. Everyone, prepare to withdraw quietly!"
And so, time passed until dawn.
The night raid squad assembled in the open space behind the fortress gates.
"Ralph, what are you doing here? You weren't picked for the raid squad."
Karyl was startled to see his childhood friend among the selected mercenaries.
"I swapped with the guy who was picked so you wouldn't go alone."
"Go back now. Didn't you say you wanted to marry Eleanor?"
"Nah, that's just my pipe dream. Besides, we need every skilled mercenary we can get for the plan to succeed."
"You'll get yourself killed showing off like that, you idiot!"
Without realizing it, Karyl grabbed his friend by the collar and raised his voice.
In the fortress battle, Ralph had died.
Even though the situation had changed, Karyl had felt uneasy and deliberately removed him from the list Palmen had made. But this fool had volunteered!
"Hey! Don't you trust me? I'm the Immortal Ralph."
"Since when did you have such a grandiose nickname?"
"Haha! Surviving six years of all sorts of battles makes me immortal enough!"
Karyl shook his head at Ralph's bravado.
He wanted to break the guy's limbs to keep him behind.
But seeing his stubbornness, he figured he'd just follow anyway if sent back.
'Tch, no helping it. It's not like we're going into a full fight—just hit and run, so he should be fine.'
Keeping him close would prevent any issues.
And if danger arose, Karyl would ensure Ralph survived and escaped.
With his resolve firm, Karyl clapped to draw the raid squad's attention.
"Alright, listen up. I'm explaining the plan now, and I'll only say it once, so pay close attention!"
Karyl detailed the enemy camp layout he had observed during guard shifts, soldier deployments, and precise infiltration methods.
Before his regression, he had been a 16-year veteran mercenary.
He had risen to supply staff officer in the continent's strongest mercenary corps, Leviathan, accumulating vast know-how.
This included the Vardia Empire's field fortification layouts and night watch systems.
Unaware of this, Ralph and the mercenaries gasped in admiration at the briefing.
"Whoa! Karyl, when did you get so smart?"
"I've always been smart."
"But this is beyond what a single mercenary should be capable of..."
As Karyl sheepishly accepted the praise, Ralph slyly suggested,
"How about starting your own mercenary corps later?"
"My own corps?"
"Yeah. You convinced the squadron leader we had to escape somehow, right? A lot of guys saw you in a new light after that story."
With sword skills, the eloquence to sway superiors, and now strategy—forming a small corps wouldn't be hard.
"Anyone can just start a mercenary corps? Let's escape the fortress first and think about it later."
Karyl shrugged, confirmed everyone understood the plan, then led them out of the fortress.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Karyl and the night raid squad moved west as silently as possible.
Splitting into three groups midway, they infiltrated toward their targets.
Karyl and Ralph's group headed for the powder magazine.
Based on imperial camp-building methods, Karyl approached where it was likely located.
It was an abandoned village. While standing guard, he had seen wagons entering via telescope.
'Once flames rise from the stables and barracks, and the powder magazine blows— the imperial camp will erupt in chaos. Our comrades left in the fortress can slip away safely in the confusion.'
In the original history, after the Palmen Squadron was wiped out, the Leviathan main force and Valua Kingdom army arrived.
The Vardia Empire troops holding the fortress clashed fiercely with the Valua forces.
And ultimately, the imperials won.
'Hakan probably sneaked into the underground tomb during the bloody battle between the two armies and claimed the holy sword. But where did he get that info?'
Both armies had mobilized, so they clearly had related intelligence.
Yet even the imperial vanguard that seized the fortress beforehand hadn't found it, so they lacked detailed tomb info.
Could even the leader of a top-10 continental mercenary corps obtain divine weapon secrets that easily?
Good luck?
Or some other reason?
'Tch, drop it. No point dwelling on unknowns. Right now, succeed the raid.'
Leading the mercenaries, Karyl spotted sentries and nocked his bow.
Shhwick— Thunk!
Thud! Thud!
Karyl's two arrows struck the throats of sentries hiding behind the stockade almost simultaneously.
Ralph and the mercenaries were impressed.
"Whoa, I should've learned archery."
"Bullshit—you always skipped practice."
After that, it went smoothly.
With Karyl clearing obstacles ahead, the squad infiltrated the village undetected.
But the village looked odd.
Dug-up pits everywhere.
"Why dig random trenches?"
"Probably prepping for the Valua Kingdom army."
"Maybe."
They tilted their heads, but Karyl knew the real reason.
'They're searching for the underground dungeon with the holy sword—Rolan's tomb. That's why they weren't pressing the attack.'
They knew it was somewhere in the wasteland and were digging suspicious spots.
Killing the envoy was to prevent word from spreading.
Thanks to the imperials' futile digging, they benefited.
Avoided concentrated assaults on the fortress, and the exhausted diggers slept deeply.
"These imperial bastards snore like thunder."
"But where's the powder magazine?"
"There."
As his comrade spoke, Karyl pointed after scanning the village.
Sentries guarded a warehouse-like building.
"That's the powder mag? What if it's grain or something...?"
"Look close—no lanterns there or in surrounding houses. Means something flammable inside, so they doused the lights."
"Brilliant!"
The squad stealthily approached the warehouse, sniping sentries and massacring guards on Karyl's signal.
They picked the lock, entered, and saw stacks of cannonballs and powder kegs.
"Bingo!"
"Hurry! Patrols could come anytime!"
Urged by Ralph, they pried open kegs, linked fuses.
They spread powder around outside for the fire to spread.
As they finished rigging and prepared to withdraw—
"Well, well! Smelled something rotten, and here come the rats."
A burly knight emerged from the darkness.
Dim moonlight revealed red armor.
A subtle, mystical glow flowed over it.
Anyone would call it 'magic.'
No mercenary was ignorant of it.
"M-Magic armor?"
"Then he's a Cavalier!"
"Shit, we're screwed!"
Unlike the cursing, grimacing mercenaries, Karyl's eyes gleamed coldly.
The Cavalier's appearance was familiar.
'That build, double-headed axe. No doubt! The bastard who killed Ralph!'
Enemies meet on a single log bridge, as the saying goes. Exactly that.
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