Chapter 10

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When Leonid stormed the hideout, in the rear command post, young Christhardt was desperately trying to fulfill his duties.

"Got it? Don't let a single person out of the mountain!"

The shouts of Leonid and his raiding team could be heard from halfway up the mountain, and Christhardt rallied himself and his soldiers.

The thieves would surely try to escape down the mountain from here.

Christhardt's job was to capture them all.

There were soldiers from both countries on the road, but he had no intention of letting any of them through.

Soldiers were already stationed at all the likely escape points.

"From the tenth squad, two captured!"

The first report was quickly brought to the command post.

Along with the tension of the operation beginning, a sigh of relief rose at the report of two captures.

"More will come soon. Keep the lines of communication tight."

Christhardt had over sixty soldiers at his disposal.

He divided them into groups of five and stationed them to ambush the fleeing thieves, but the number was not sufficient to cover all the escape points from the mountain.

Therefore, Christhardt kept the command post's defense to a minimum and distributed as many soldiers as possible to various points.

If the thieves came in a group, he planned to have nearby squads join forces, but that seemed unlikely.

He didn't think they were that well-organized.

With a numerical advantage, they should be able to defeat them easily.

"Third squad, one captured."

"Fifth squad, three captured, one still in combat... should be captured soon."

As Christhardt had predicted, reports came in one after another.

—There are far fewer of them. This should be...

"Advance the seventh, eighth, and ninth squads. Fill in the gaps."

"Ha!"

At Christhardt's command, three messengers who had been on standby scattered.

The number of fleeing thieves was less than expected.

This was probably because Leonid's team was excellent and didn't let many escape.

Then, the possibility of anyone breaking through the encirclement was extremely low.

—This is a chance to earn merit.

Christhardt advanced some of the squads he had deployed to tighten the net.

By doing this, he could capture the thieves without missing any and do it quickly.

This would also reflect well on his evaluation.

He was confident that his strategy was sound.

"By the way... no report from the second squad yet."

While the reports of further captures kept coming in, Christhardt, who was looking at the markers representing each squad on the map in the tent, suddenly noticed the one squad that hadn't reported back.

The second squad was positioned in front of the main force... perhaps the thieves just didn't pass that way.

Not all squads would encounter the thieves, but...

"Messenger! Messenger!"

Just as he decided to send a messenger to the second squad, an urgent voice was heard from outside the tent.

Christhardt went out to see what was happening.

A messenger quickly approached.

"Second squad... annihilated! The enemy... is coming here!"

"...What?!"

The messenger had cuts all over his limbs.

"How many are they?"

"One... but he's strong... Lord Crolerus, please flee!"

"What are you saying—"

The messenger collapsed after saying that.

Christhardt immediately ordered his treatment.

The wounds were shallow, so he probably lost consciousness due to the poison spreading through his body.

—This is bad!

While watching the messenger being carried away, Christhardt realized his mistake.

He had been too confident that numbers would solve everything.

But sometimes, one strong individual can change the course of a battle.

One person like Leonid could be worth several, or even dozens. It wouldn't be surprising if the enemy had someone similar.

He had been treating his soldiers as mere pawns, a realization that came too late.

—No time for regrets. Focus on what needs to be done now.

Christhardt quickly switched his mindset.

One thief had broken through the encirclement and was fleeing.

He couldn't let such a dangerous person escape.

"Command post defense, assemble. We're going to face the enemy from the second squad."

"Please stop, Lord Crolerus. It's dangerous."

His deputy, an old soldier, immediately advised against it.

"Are you suggesting we run? That's not an option."

It wasn't about his pride as a lord.

As someone who protected the territory, he couldn't let a thief escape.

Though it was his first battle, he had practiced swordsmanship and had some confidence.

"Defeat the enemy from the second squad. Move out!"

Christhardt drew his slender sword and raised it to the sky, shouting.

This rallied the soldiers who had been shaken by the news of the second squad's annihilation.

After ordering the command post to be abandoned, he led his soldiers to the location of the second squad.

With the net already tightened, the other squads could handle the thieves they encountered, so no messengers were needed.

They soon encountered the one who had annihilated the second squad.

"Is my luck good or bad today? I have no idea."

The thief, wielding a short dagger, emerged from between the trees, shouting.

He glared at Christhardt, who was dressed like a noble commander, with snake-like eyes.

"But one thing's for sure, you guys are out of luck. I'll kill you all!"

With that, the thief ran towards them.

"Maintain distance and surround him!"

Christhardt, following the standard tactics for a many-against-one fight, ordered his men to surround the thief.

The front soldiers spread out and raised their shields.

But the thief paid no attention to this.

"Yaaaah!"

The large body leaped like a spider on a thread.

In his long hands, blood-dripping daggers were held.

He accurately stabbed through the gaps in the soldiers' armor.

"Ah! Ah!"

"I don't want to... I'm going back."

The formation quickly broke. A few soldiers fled on their own.

It was inevitable.

Thinking the command post would rarely face the enemy, he had stationed many new recruits there.

They were hastily gathered from the territory and had almost no training as soldiers, nor much loyalty to the lord.

"...Damn."

Outnumbered, yet the battle was turned by one person.

Christhardt witnessed this firsthand.

But he wasn't a coward who would run away.

He didn't want to break his promise to Leonid to capture everyone.

"I won't let you through!"

He pointed his sword at the thief.

"Your noble kid's skinny arms are nothing!"

The thief shouted and leaped again.

Christhardt thrust his sword with all his might.

The attacker, having jumped from the ground, should have been unable to avoid the attack—except he didn't.

"What...?"

The thief twisted his body acrobatically in mid-air, dodging Christhardt's thrust.

However, he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"Not bad. For a noble kid, you're pretty good. I take back my earlier words. But... too bad you're facing me."

Standing up, the thief approached with incredible speed.

This time, Christhardt swung his sword horizontally, anticipating the dodge.

The thief stopped just in time and dodged it.

"Here, it's over."

With a short leap, the distance was closed.

The thief's dagger, stained red, aimed for Christhardt's throat.

—Here... damn...

Christhardt braced for death.

Still, he released his sword, intending to ram into the thief and take him down with him.

"..."

But the thief's body was nowhere to be seen.

He thought it had been dodged, but it was different.

"Ah!!"

A moment later, a cry of agony came from a distance.

Looking up, he saw the thief slammed against a tree.

—What just happened? Leonid!?

Leonid was suddenly standing next to Christhardt.

It seemed he had blown the thief away just as Christhardt was about to be stabbed.

"The wound..."

Shocked by the near-death experience, Christhardt could only mutter.

Blood was flowing from Leonid's shoulder.

The thief must have noticed Leonid and attacked him as he was blown away.

It was a terrifying opponent.

Christhardt, regrettably, wasn't a match for him, at least not now.

"This is nothing."

Leonid sucked the blood from the wound and spat it on the ground, likely to avoid the poison on the thief's dagger.

—But to knock out such a strong enemy with one hit...

And without using a weapon, just by slamming him with his shoulder.

The thief, who had been slammed into the tree, was completely unconscious.

—I was about to die here.

Relieved, Christhardt sat down on the ground.

He wouldn't admit to fainting, but he knew his life had been saved by Leonid, at the cost of his shoulder wound.

—Right, the poison!

"Get your wound checked immediately."

"What, all of a sudden..."

Christhardt stood up and rushed to Leonid, who looked puzzled.

"I'm fine, I already spat it out."

"No, even a small amount can be fatal if it spreads in the body. It'll be too late if you wait."

He couldn't let his savior die.

Christhardt forcibly supported Leonid's shoulder.

"...By the way, the battle..."

Suddenly remembering the operation, Christhardt muttered.

He thought it was odd to be worrying about a neighboring country's general while forgetting such an important mission.

"That was the leader. It's over."

Leonid casually answered from the side.

It seemed he had come to assist after the hideout was secured.

—So... it's over...

"Good work."

Christhardt smiled and offered words of encouragement to Leonid.

He received a silent, questioning look in return, but he ignored it.

Thus, the joint operation between the two countries ended with the annihilation of the thieves, and both Christhardt and Leonid were highly praised for their achievements.

Christhardt vowed to repay Leonid's favor in some form when the time came.

★2021/4/2 New work started. Please read if you like.

【I Failed to Reincarnate as the Villainess and Became the Winning Heroine Instead ~Abandoning the Villainess' Brother and Aiming for a Lover's Ending~】

https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7332gw/