1106: Raydoss Mages

He threw in the towel pretty much immediately. Any random soldier without specialized training stood no chance against repeated torture.

It seems his squadron boasted several earth mages, which allowed them to dig a tunnel underground and slip through the border. Makes sense, that’s probably why no one noticed them until now.

Their objective was to strike at the town of Alessa. However, they apparently surfaced in a different location than expected, and were currently in the process of searching for Alessa.

His squadron employed 7 earth mages and 15 soldiers for a total of 22 people. However, 4 of the soldiers were currently deployed to scout the area, including this man, so they only had 11 on duty.

I’d rather not pick a fight if we don’t know how strong our opponents are. Though considering the abilities of the guy they sent on a scouting mission, they shouldn’t have anyone much better.

『First, let’s capture the other three out scouting.』

「Okay.」

With Urushi’s nose and Fran’s senses on the job, we found them immediately. None of the four were properly trained as scouts, so they must be average soldiers, as expected.

We tied up the scouts after knocking them unconscious. Dragging them with us was too much trouble, so we left them on the ground. I guess we can take them in when we’re done, assuming no magic beasts find them.

We headed over to the location they told us about, and found the Raydoss mage squadron hiding in the woods, just as they said.

They didn’t notice at all when we snuck up to them. About as expected for soldiers with no scouting skills.

『That mage capable of land magic is the strongest.』

（Nn. Also, the soldier next to him.）

『He must be the squad captain.』

The mages were all pretty high level, so they seemed to be veterans. The soldiers were pretty weak in comparison, maybe around the same as Rank E adventurers.

The captain guy seemed a bit stronger, but still easy pickings for Fran. Seems like we should incapacitate the mages before taking out the soldiers.

It’ll be annoying if they split up and run, so we should block their escape routes first.

『We seal them in with land magic, then take them out as fast as possible, just like when we defeated Hideman. I’ll blast them with thunder magic, and you take care of the mage and captain guy.』

（Nn.）

『Urushi, you focus on the mages, but prioritize anyone trying to escape.』

（Woof!）

We approached stealthily and activated Great Wall to surround the Raydoss squadron.

Walls of earth surrounded them on all sounds with a rumbling sound and cloud of dust.

Fran stood right on top of the wall.

「W-What the…? Make an escape route, quickly!」

「「「Roger!」」」

Damn, they’re reacting faster than expected. I thought they might fly into a panic, but the mages immediately started moving toward the wall, with the soldiers following suit.

They made the decision to escape before even fully understanding the situation. Maybe they sensed the mana of my magic through the darkness?

Seven mages capable of earth/land magic could easily drill a hole through our wall.

We decided to settle things quickly to prevent any chance of escape.

After all, they still had no clue about Fran and Urushi. I blasted everyone with thunder magic as Fran jumped down from the wall and swung her blade.

「Gwah!」

「Wha――Gyah!」

A blinding flash of light pierced the darkness alongside a thunderous roar, allowing Fran to take down the two leaders by surprise. We spared their lives for now, but cutting off their limbs left them heavily injured.

All of the rest had been paralyzed by my thunder magic or bound by Urushi’s dark magic. They should be still alive too.

『Good job, now let’s get some info out of the leader. Stop his bleeding and drag him a bit further away. Urushi, you stay here and keep an eye on the rest.』

「Urushi, you can kill them if they try to run.」

「Grr!」

Hearing Fran’s threat made the mages tremble. Even if they were pretty strong, Urushi’s appearance at night was too intimidating for them to handle. Plus, he was using his Fear skill.

This skill allows him to magnify the amount of fear his enemies feel, though he hardly ever gets the chance to use it. If Urushi is up against someone that’s scared of him, he should be able to win without using the skill. Otherwise, it’s not very effective against someone of his level or higher.

Well, I guess it can be useful in times like these when we want to keep them in a panic. In fact, it did work pretty well when we interrogated the scouts.

We promptly interrogated the head earth mage, and he was surprisingly obedient.

He probably knew he had no talent for negotiation, and understood he needed to tell the truth if he wanted to save himself and his men.

Actually, he didn’t seem very happy with the operation in the first place.

This squadron did not originally work for the invading forces serving the South Conquest Duke. Their real job was to protect towns and cities from monsters, as one of the support organizations under the Red Knights.

That’s probably why they were unaccustomed to negotiating with or fighting other humans.

And then, the South Conquest Duke abused his authority to forcibly integrate the squad into his army. They were promptly assigned this suicide mission, so of course they would be unhappy.

Their main goal was to demolish Alessa’s gates and walls, which explains the number of earth mages. Rather striking at the walls directly, they could simply dig a giant cavity underground and collapse them.

The adventurers guarding the border would panic if their mission succeeded, and a portion might come running back to Alessa.

Wow, they really were treated as disposable.

「Even since I was little, everyone said Kranzel was a terrible country, and Raydoss was justified in taking it over.」

「…」

「But after living all these years, it’s pretty obvious our country is rotten to the core. Especially to people like me who have to deal with the higher-ups. We’re taking over Kranzel to save them? Hah, as if that pig knows how to rule people. What a joke.」

The head soldier whispered as he laughed self-mockingly.

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