“Are you certain, my lord?” Raizer, Hilda's army's middle-aged second-in-command, wasn't sure if he had heard correctly.
[Annonbee: At long last, Hilda's second-in-command has a name.]
“Do I have to explain it to you?” Hilda was not in the mood to answer those pointless questions.
“But the mountain bandits number in the hundreds.” Raizer tried to reason calmly. “There is a chance that their number is much higher,” he explained.
“General, you can leave.” Hilda waved her hand impatiently, signaling Raizer to leave. Despite this, he remained motionless.
‘The imperial Edict,’ Raizer sighed inwardly. After all, it was still far too abrupt. More importantly, it was not the responsibility of 'The Emerald Army.'
Most of the time, these small-time bandits flew under the radar until they hampered the trading of the capital. The imperial army and the capital guard would clear them out regularly.
However, an imperial edict arrived yesterday morning, ordering Hilda to lead "the emerald army" to subjugate the mountain bandits.
It wasn't a difficult task for a 2,000-man army. The problem is that the mountain bandits are elusive and know the mountain route like the back of their hands.
It will take not only a great deal of workforce but also a lot of time. Hilda, too, had been prepared to lose a few of them, but she was not willing to waste time except training her soldiers.
“I am willing to sign the contract, my lord.” Raizer asserted vehemently.
Hilda frowned as she stared at him, perplexed by his motivation. Nonetheless, she smiled and asked, "Do you know what you're talking about?"
“Hadn't all the soldiers in that special squad signed the 'contract of submission'?”
“So you've heard of the 'contact of submission'?” Hilda had anticipated as much. As a result, she inquired, “You must have also known that it is almost like a slave contract. Do you still want to sign the contract? Why?”
“Didn't you say that joining 'the Emerald army' is like joining the army of death? Naturally, I have no desire to die.”
“Then you should just leave the army.” Hilda couldn't help but laugh at Raizer's logic.
“I have no family for whom I have cared.”
“Do you really want to die?”
Raizer was at a loss for words. So Hilda asked again, "What can you give me, Raizer?"
“What?” It was yet another unexpected question.
“You should be aware that all the soldiers who signed the contract are under the age of 20. They are young, but they have a lot of potentials.”
With Raizer's nod, Hilda fired again, “And how about you? 29. Even if you are superior to them, they will overtake you. So, what do you have to offer me?”
“Experience. I have 13 years of experience.” Raizer made every effort to sell himself. “I don't think my lord would allow an inexperienced man he doesn't believe to lead his army.”
Hilda's lips curved up, but it didn’t show in her eyes. She took a scroll from the drawer and unfolded it. There was a large circle in the center, with a couple of smaller circles connected to it.
She took out a dagger, but when she cut her finger, she asked, "Are you sure? Making a contract entails making an enemy out of everyone who is opposed to me. Are you certain you want to meet him as an adversary?”
Rather than answering, Kaizer drew his sword and slashed his fingertip on the blade's edge, splattering blood across the larger circle. Hilda smeared her blood on one of the branch circles while infusing the other with her knight's aura.
And the scroll caught fire. Kaizer felt a sharp pain in his heart the next moment. The pain had vanished before he could comprehend what had occurred.
“So, what are we going to do?” Hilda didn't have time for the idle conversation.
“About?”
“The mountain bandit.”
“It would be difficult to find them if we went to the mountain. Aside from the merchant and mercenary alliance's road, the mountain is virtually unexplored.”
“And?”
“Almost every previous expedition had ended in failure. So going into the mountain forest is out of the question.”
“I know that much, general. What I am looking for is a solution to the problem.”
“We can pose as merchants to entice them out. The imperial armies extensively used this method.”
“They would have been annihilated a long time ago if they hadn't learned to avoid this kind of trap.” Hilda let out a sigh.
“Then we need to use a lure that is enticing enough that they won't be able to ignore it.”
Raizer spoke up as Hilda was contemplating a solution. And he wasn't done yet: "And when they come out, we need to give them a blow so hard that they won't be able to recover anytime soon."
“An enticing lure?” Hilda mumbled. “That is an excellent suggestion. General, Arrange for 100 soldiers, each with dagger mastery and a high level of agility.”
“100? My lord, isn’t the number is too low?”
“Just do it. And send Cyan here.”
“Okay.” Kaizer nodded and turned to leave.
“Before I leave, I will provide another set of training schedules. You should speed up their training.”
“But it's only been a week since they started training. Isn't it moving too quickly?”
“Don't be concerned about minor details.” She was naturally confident in her training schedule.
Kaizer nodded but said nothing. However, before he could express another of his concern, Hilda raised her hand to stop him.
“For the knights, delay as much as possible,” and she threw him a seal, adding, "As long as it's not an imperial edict, don't let them go."
Kaizer was naturally taken aback because it was his first time holding an imperial prince's seal. He turned to leave, giving Hilda a deep bow.
As he opened the door, three hooded figures entered the room. Even though he was intrigued, he closed the door after leaving.
“Is he reliable, Chief?” The man took off his hood, revealing grey wolf ears above his head.
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“Even if he isn't, he's bound by a contract. He'd perish if he tried to betray.” The woman was also a member of the wolf tribe. She had, however, received a deep scar above her face. Nonetheless, she had a warm smile on her face.
“Do you think the chief is as stupid as you?”
“Scar!?” the man growled.
“Stop doing it.” When the third person spoke, the other two fell silent.
Even though they appeared to be a bickering couple, they were actually a mating couple. Rozen and Scar; Hilda had grown accustomed to the antics of these two advanced wolf warriors. However, it was the third person who had taken her by surprise the most.
She leaped out of her chair and hugged her. Nonetheless, she was pushed away. “There are a lot of important things we need to take care of,” the woman said solemnly.
“I'm just glad you're here, Wolfy.” Hilda removed Wolfy's hood, revealing her all-too-familiar face.
“Chief, we have some good news for you,” Rozen reported, completely destroying the mood between the couple, who were staring into each other's eyes. “Ouch! Why are you pinching me? Would you like to fight?”
Scar shook her head as she looked at the idiot. Hilda had already returned to her seat when she looked around.
“Is there any news?”
“The Eigen family would send soldiers to aid in the subjugation.”
However, seeing Hilda's frown, Rozen couldn't help but wonder, "Isn't that a good thing?"
“It would have been if the Eigen family's daughter wasn't going to marry the eighth prince.”
“Eight? Wasn't there only three?”
“Idiot.” Scar cursed. “There are a lot of princes, more than 30 in total. However, only three people hold the title of 'imperial prince.' The eighth prince would have become the third imperial prince if it hadn't been for the chief.”
Rozen still wanted to ask a question, but Wolfy didn't let him: “They're going to send around 200. Will it be acceptable to take only 100 soldiers?”
“It doesn't matter what the number is.” Hilda smirked, adding, "Don't I have my pack?"
The three pairs of eyes all turned to Hilda in surprise before thunderous laughter broke the silence.
“At long last, the chief has agreed to take us hunting.” The gray wolf's ear above his head was flapping with joy.
“But, not all of them.” Hilda added, “20-30, at most.”
“Will the other soldiers cooperate with us?”
Before Hilda could respond to Scar's question, Wolfy inquired, "Are you planning to kill them?"
“Of course. Why would we allow those bandits to live?” Rozen spoke first, but both women were staring at Hilda intently.
Hilda nodded, then added, "I don't think they're going there to help us subdue the bandits."
“If something happened to them, Marques Rozen would not let it go.”
“If they can bury the matter of an imperial prince's death, it should be simple to conceal the death of a few soldiers. Even if they are Marques Rozen's soldiers.”
“Marques Rozen's third son would lead the subjugation squad,” Wolfy stated solemnly.
“Oh! Then, when everything is finished, we should send an excellent gift to Marques Rozen.”
“Are you certain you want to make an enemy of such a powerful family?”
Hilda smiled warmly at Wolfy's solemn expression. “Wolfy, you've been with me since I was born. You are aware of everything I have done up to this point, correct?”
Wolfy wasn't sure why Hilda was bringing up the past, but she nodded anyway.
“Then tell me, what have I done to irritate them?”
Wolfy had no answer to this question.
“They will try to kill me even if I sit in my manor and do nothing,” Hilda continued. Wolfy was unable to refute her (H) logic once more.
“Then why should I cower in fear?” Hilda’s smile became brighter as she said, “All I need to do is to send a serious message to everyone who wanted to kill me.”
“But…”
Hilda didn't let her finish, saying, “There is no but. Simply put, we need to convey a strong enough message to have them leave in fright whenever they believe I'm easy prey. I'm not the kind of person who gives up without a fight.”
The room fell silent until Rozen laughed and said, “That's how an alpha should be. I'm glad I kept up with you.”
“What if someone becomes suspicious of it?” Scar was more composed than Rozen.
“No one will doubt anything as long as none of them return.”
Wolfy frowned at Hilda's response, but not before warning her, "as long as you successfully subjugate the bandit and make a triumphant return, but none of the Marques Rozen's soldiers return, everybody will understand."
“Do you really think I'd be able to make a triumphant return with so few soldiers?”
“Huh?” None of them could believe what they had just heard.
Hilda smiled and explained, "Why should I reveal all my cards and make my enemies nervous?"
“So, what are you going to do?”
Hilda didn't respond to this question, just smiled.
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