Night Action

Before the army moved, the grain had to go first. This saying applied just as well to wars among ordinary people on the Faerun plane. An army of a hundred thousand brought immense combat power, but it also brought equally immense material consumption. Especially in a frontier region like Konola City, where transport was inconvenient and the surrounding natural resources were barren, Prince William's army had undoubtedly brought vast quantities of provisions. If those crucial supplies could be destroyed, then even if William's hundred-thousand-strong army did not retreat immediately, it would no longer be able to besiege Konola City so recklessly. This simple plan was the best way to deal with the crisis at hand!

Mainesi's plan was to launch a night raid after the fierce battle of the day had just ended, when the enemy troops and professionals were exhausted. He would use a Formal Level spell to block the enemy's detection divinations. The enemy's only Formal Level professional was Lunka, a warrior. A group of Journeyman Mages could never hope to uncover intelligence concealed by a Formal Level spell.

The rest of the plan was simple and conventional. The Journeyman Level professionals would act in small teams, infiltrate the enemy granaries, set them ablaze, and immediately flee. They would use this method to sabotage the enemy's logistical supplies. No matter how formidable Lunka was, he could not conjure food for a hundred thousand soldiers out of thin air. Then they only needed to withstand one more day of the enemy's fierce assault to gain at least a week of breathing room!

It might have had the flavor of stalling for time, but there was no better option at present! If Mainesi wanted to win a sliver of survival for Her Highness the Princess, this had practically become his only choice!

However... one problem remained—would the reward be enough to move this group of professionals?

It had to be said that a Formal Level expert possessed quite a few good things. At the very least, Journeyman Level knowledge could be called "abundant and varied." Without even blinking, Mainesi brought out several sets of peak Journeyman Level knowledge for the mages to choose from. The Princess also produced some "Royal Secret Manuals" and laid them before the combat professionals. Nearly every mage and warrior could find knowledge they could not refuse among them, and Punk was no exception!

Thus, a group of furtive figures dressed in black lightly descended from the city wall, scattered in all directions, and disappeared into the night beneath multicolored starlight.

To reduce the chance of discovery, the raiding party was organized into groups of three. Eight teams in total spread out and infiltrated the enemy camp from every direction. Mainesi was responsible for divining the location of the enemy supplies, so everyone only needed to advance toward their targets. As long as one team succeeded and destroyed the enemy's food stores, the operation would count as a success, and everyone would receive their reward. The team that destroyed a granary would also receive additional knowledge as a reward. Otherwise, regardless of the reason, if the core objective was not achieved, then... the operation would fail, and everyone would receive only ten gold coins as token compensation for their efforts...

Punk's team consisted of two mages and one knight. The mages were Punk and a shy boy named Put. This young man had only just advanced to become a Journeyman Mage and could only cast the simple Lesser Fireball. Though he cast it skillfully, that could not conceal the fact that he was a novice. The task of setting fires naturally fell to him! As for the knight...

"Mm~~ The air beneath these city walls really does make my blood~ boil!" ...Cain.

Punk helplessly shot Cain a glance. He was still as unreliable as ever. "Shut up!"

On this bright night, the light of three moons traced every body with a ring of silver. Their elongated shadows fell across piles of corpses no one had buried. Because the fireballs during the day had heated the air and created a temperature difference, the wind beneath the city wall had never stopped blowing. Robes tossed about by the cold wind cast grotesque, ghostly images across the ground!

"I have to say, Punk, why did you char these corpses? The smell is making me hungry!" Cain made an utterly horrifying remark under the moonlight.

"I say... Senior Cain, Senior Punk, do we... do we have a plan? A night like this seems... seems rather unsuitable for infiltration," said Put, who had remained mostly silent. As a Journeyman Mage who knew only one spell, he was around fourteen years old. He had joined this "Night Action" in a moment of greed, and it seemed he was already beginning to regret it. This was not an RPG dungeon where one could revive after death. In this real world, death meant death, completely and forever. Inside the city walls, Put might have been fired up, but now that he stood on a battlefield littered with corpses, all his passion had been extinguished, leaving only a pain in his lungs!

"Relax, kid. A wonderful adventure is about to begin. How can you wear such a mournful face? Don't worry~ I, the dashing Knight Cain, will look after you," Cain said, throwing an arm around Put's shoulders in the tone of a friendly older brother!

"R-really? Thank you so much, Senior." Having lived among the cold and distant mages all his life, Put experienced for the first time the brotherly loyalty he had imagined. The boy looked deeply moved.

Watching Cain and Put become as close as sworn brothers after only a few exchanges, Punk sneered inwardly. He actually dared let that smiling wolf Cain "look after" him. Heh, I can't wait to see that idiot's expression when Cain gets him killed!

"All right, no more talking. We're close to the enemy's main camp," Punk quietly reminded Cain and Put after crossing the moat and reaching the edge of a forest. Then he carefully crouched down behind a waist-high thicket. Cain and Put knew the seriousness of the situation and hurriedly fell silent.

Punk cast a Dimming Spell on Cain's armor, reducing the reflection from its bright silver metal by scattering its light. Put, meanwhile, pulled out a scroll and clutched it tightly in his hand, staring fearfully at the bright firelight in the distance.

The enemy camp was no different from a medieval defensive encampment. It had sharpened wooden chevaux-de-frise and fences, while rows of small tents stood neatly arranged inside. Torches illuminated the camp as brightly as day. The only difference was that, because several professionals were patrolling, there were fewer soldiers on guard. Yet these soldiers and professionals were not the sort of lazy veterans who slept while standing watch. They were disciplined elite soldiers, each standing ramrod straight at his post, gripping his spear without the slightest relaxation.

The dozen or so ordinary soldiers on guard were not much of a problem. Even though Punk was not a rogue, he was confident he could kill them all within a minute without making a sound. But... the highly vigilant professional patrols came by far too often. They were all teams composed of mages and warriors, five to a group, led by a Journeyman Level professional. It was nearly impossible to deal with them "silently"!

At the sight, Punk could not help frowning. Cain also rarely put away his cynical smile, and a hint of gravity appeared in his cold, gleaming eyes!

Only Put still stood beside them with an expression that said, "The seniors look so cool when they're thinking," his eyes sparkling.

The backend had finally been unsealed. Thanks to Editor Hearthstone and Chief Editor Dan Qing!