Chapter 52

Otto and his party stealthily approached the scene where the fight was taking place, hidden in the darkness.

“Gah!”

“These filthy rebels! Charge! As long as I am here, not a single hair of the Crown Prince will be harmed!”

“Dieeeeee!”

The battle was intense.

The knights and soldiers affiliated with the rebels clenched their teeth and attacked the Crown Prince’s party.

On the other hand, the Crown Prince’s party fought back with all their might to overcome the crisis.

‘Let’s move.’

Otto gave a hand signal.

Swoosh, swoosh.

Then, Camille and the Kuntachi family’s swordmages began to take their positions.

Right after they took their positions.

‘Fire first.’

As soon as Otto’s signal was given, the attack began.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Camille and the swordmages, who had been hiding in blind spots like the bushes and behind trees, attacked the rebels holding torches.

“Gah!”

“Ack!”

The ones holding the torches and lighting the area fell.

Swoosh!

The swordmages used a simple water attribute magic to extinguish the flames of the fallen torches.

Then, darkness enveloped the forest as if it had been waiting.

Before the torches went out, the forest had been relatively bright, but it instantly turned into a pitch-black world.

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

In the moment of surprise, both the rebels and the Crown Prince’s party.

‘Attack begins.’

Otto and his party moved in unison, starting to sweep away the rebels.

“Gah!”

“Aaaaaaaah!”

“Cough!”

In the darkness.

The screams of the rebels echoed continuously.

It was a one-sided slaughter.

To begin with, the combat power of Camille and the swordmages was as strong as that of elite knights of a major nation, so even if they had engaged in a frontal battle, they could have eliminated the rebels in the blink of an eye.

Let alone, a one-sided ambush in a favorable situation?

A massacre was inevitable.

“Your Highness, Crown Prince.”

While Camille and the swordmages were sweeping away the rebels, Otto approached the Crown Prince and whispered.

“W-Who are you!”

The startled Crown Prince.

“We are allies.”

Otto reassured the Crown Prince.

“Please wait quietly until the battle is over.”

“W-Who are you, really?”

“I will tell you soon.”

The Crown Prince’s doubts were not resolved for long.

Thud!

About 30 seconds later, the last rebel fell, and the battle ended.

“Gonzales.”

Otto said to Camille.

“Yes…?”

Camille opened her eyes wide, as if asking what kind of nonsense this was.

“Gonzales, light the fire.”

“Gonzales…?”

“Hurry.”

“...”

Camille, though feeling a bit annoyed that Otto called her Gonzales, followed the order without a word.

This operation was a highly confidential mission conducted under a hidden identity, so it was necessary to use a pseudonym to hide their true identities.

‘Why Gonzales…?’

Camille was suspicious of Otto’s intentions.

* * *

When Camille lit the torch, the darkness lifted, and the gruesome scene was revealed.

Bodies, bodies, and more bodies.

The forest, littered with the dead bodies of the rebels, was no different from hell.

“W-Who are you?”

The Crown Prince asked Otto.

“I greet Your Highness, Crown Prince. We are the Black Brigade, a mercenary organization that operates in secret.”

“S-So it is.”

“I am Cain, the commander of the Black Brigade.”

“Commander Cain of the Black Brigade… But I never called for you?”

“It’s by the late king’s request.”

“...!”

“The late king, in his lifetime, secretly contacted us, the Black Brigade, and entrusted us with the Crown Prince’s safety in case of a rebellion.”

The lies flowed smoothly from Otto’s mouth.

“Is that really true?”

“Yes.”

“Oh!”

The Crown Prince believed Otto’s words without a doubt.

He had indeed suspected that it might be a trap set by Duke Alex.

However, there seemed to be no need to lie.

If Cain and his party had wanted to, they could have easily subdued the Crown Prince’s party and taken him to Duke Alex.

“Did my father really make such arrangements?”

“Yes.”

“Father….”

The Crown Prince’s eyes welled up with tears.

‘He’s a master of lies. Perhaps he was born under the star of lies.’

Camille shook her head at the scene.

“From now on, the Black Brigade will escort Your Highness. Is your destination Fort Pelton?”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

Otto said this and turned to Camille.

“Gonzales!”

“...”

“Gonzales! Aren’t you answering!”

“...”

“Tsk!”

“...Yes.”

Camille answered in a tiny voice.

She didn’t like answering to the name <Gonzales>.

“I will escort the Crown Prince to Fort Pelton, so from now on, you will lure the rebels.”

“What… do you mean?”

“I mean you will pretend to be the Crown Prince and lure the rebels!”

“...?”

“From now on, you will swap clothes with the Crown Prince! Execute!”

“...”

“Huh?”

Camille reluctantly moved slowly after Otto shouted.

“Are you telling me to die?”

Camille whispered as she passed by Otto.

Pretending to be the Crown Prince and luring the rebels was an extremely dangerous task, almost a suicide mission.

Historically, it wasn’t uncommon for a loyal minister to pretend to be the ruler and lead the enemy to their doom.

“You won’t die, I promise. Don’t worry. I’m not that cruel.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I trust you, Camille.”

“If I trust you again, I might not even have a body to retrieve.”

Camille grumbled because she was willing to die for Otto but not for Crown Prince Louis Blanc.

“Anyway, execute!”

“...Execute.”

Just as Camille and the Crown Prince swapped clothes.

“It seems your subordinate is not following orders well.”

The Crown Prince said to Otto, seemingly unimpressed.

“Oh, well.”

Then, Otto answered loudly, as if for Camille to hear.

“This Gonzales is a very dangerous man. He doesn’t look it, but if things go wrong, he will kill people without blinking in broad daylight and wield his sword.”

“Wow….”

“I rescued him from prison where he was sentenced to death for various crimes and have been reforming him ever since.”

“Such a story, huh.”

“Though he may seem disobedient, he follows my orders well, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

Camille’s stomach boiled at Otto’s words, but she forced herself to hold back.

If she retaliated against Otto here, the situation would become awkward, so she had no choice but to endure.

“Gonzales! From now on, you will pretend to be the Crown Prince and lure the rebels! I will send five members with you!”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

Camille glared at Otto as if she wanted to kill him, then took five swordmages and disappeared into the forest.

“Then, I will escort you.”

As soon as Camille disappeared, Otto took the Crown Prince’s party and headed for Fort Pelton.

* * *

While Otto was escorting the Crown Prince to Fort Pelton, Camille and her party had to endure hell.

No matter how skilled Camille and her party were, being chased by the rebels day and night and luring them was a physically demanding task.

About a week later.

Camille and the five swordmages managed to shake off the rebels again and took a moment to catch their breath.

“Pant, pant….”

Kasim, a swordmage of the Kuntachi family, panted and spoke.

“Sir Camille… Are we really going to die? Pant, pant….”

“Maybe… we will.”

Camille answered briefly.

“This is madness… madness… Pant, pant… I can’t… Ughhhhhh!”

Finally, Kasim vomited the jerky and bread crumbs he had hastily eaten a few hours earlier.

Running continuously to lure the rebels had turned his stomach inside out.

‘This is a mess.’

Camille looked around and closed her eyes tightly.

“Pant, pant….”

“Ugh….”

“Haa, haa….”

“Such a dog’s life….”

Not just Kasim, but the other four swordmages were also in a sorry state.

Even the swordmages, who had been trained through harsh training for a long time, were showing their limits.

These were the swordmages of the Kuntachi family.

Of course, it was only possible for them to carry out the mission for a week.

“We just need to hold on for a few more hours.”

Camille encouraged the swordmages.

“Soon, we will reach Fort Pelton, and night will fall. Just hold on for three more hours….”

At that moment.

“Woof! Woof!”

“Woof woof woof!”

The barking of military dogs could be heard from a distance.

“Damn it.”

Camille bit her lower lip and immediately got up.

“Ugh.”

“Ughhh.”

The swordmages also got up, following Camille.

Thus, the pursuit began again.

Grinding his teeth, Camille vowed to take revenge on Otto, who was probably enjoying himself at Fort Pelton.

* * *

Meanwhile, Otto, who had taken the Crown Prince’s party to Fort Pelton, was indeed enjoying himself.

Just as Camille had expected.

“Burp.”

While Otto was patting his belly after a full lunch.

“Your Highness.”

One of the swordmages approached Otto and reported.

“The Crown Prince requests that you attend the meeting starting tomorrow morning.”

In fact, Otto had not been idle.

Through the rescue operation, Otto had gained the trust of Crown Prince Louis Blanc and successfully joined the suppression forces, securing a position.

In other words, from now on, Otto was to fight against the rebels as part of the suppression forces.

This was all part of his plan.

‘A fight is only enjoyable when it’s a real one.’

It was impossible for the Kingdom of Iota to defeat the Kingdom of Rozhan in a direct confrontation, even if the sky split in two.

Therefore, Otto needed to weaken the Kingdom of Rozhan as much as possible through this civil war.

His plan was to make them fight more fiercely and weaken the overall military power of the Kingdom of Rozhan.

“I will let him know.”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

Otto answered and checked the current date and time.

‘It’s almost the end of the operation. He should arrive by midnight tonight.’

Otto had calculated the exact time for Camille to reach Fort