Less than six hours remained until sunrise. There wasn’t much time, but I figured I could still put some distance between us.
My resolve was set, and time was limited. As I pieced together my plan in my head, I left my patrol route and headed back toward the campsite.
Carefully suppressing my presence so that no magic power would leak outside my body, I ran through the forest at night and concealed myself in a bush located on the north side of the campsite.
Igor’s squad consisted of thirty-one people in total. Excluding Igor, the commander, the remaining thirty were divided into five units.
Even if this was only the outer area of the Great Forest, the Gradov territorial army wasn’t foolish enough to entrust night watch to a single scout and spend the night there.
From the four units excluding the elite First Unit directly under Igor, two members each from the Second and Third Units were taking turns standing guard that night.
In the darkness, I strained my eyes to assess the situation around the campsite. There should have been four soldiers on watch.
One soldier was tending the campfire about ten meters from the stream.
Two more stood at either end of the semicircle of tents arranged around the fire.
The last soldier, whom I couldn’t see, was patrolling the south side of the camp. This was the exact opposite side from the north, which I had been assigned to patrol.
From my position, the stream was to my right. Ahead right was the campfire and the soldier watching it.
Directly in front of me was one soldier, with tents behind him, and further beyond, I could see another soldier facing toward the stream.
…I will do everything I can to not be discovered, but I don’t even want to imagine what might happen if I was.
It was only a matter of time before it was discovered that I had abandoned my night patrol and fled.
The reason I hadn’t run off immediately and instead doubled back to the campsite was to secure at least the bare minimum of supplies and equipment.
There was a world of difference between the equipment of the skirmish unit and that of regular territorial soldiers. The skirmish unit was issued nothing more than dull iron knives and leather chest guards.
As for the water and food I had on hand, all I had were a few pieces of dried meat I had brought with me and water in a worn leather pouch.
It was only the bare minimum needed to stave off hunger during the three-day expedition.
Even stealing this is going to be tough.
If the expedition were a bit longer, they would be carrying a reasonable amount of supplies for the march.
With larger quantities, the supplies would be managed in bulk, and now that the war had ended, while they remained cautious about monsters scavenging in the forest, their awareness of theft was surprisingly low, which in a way made things easier to steal.
On the other hand, for a short expedition like this one, lasting only two nights and three days, both food and equipment were kept to amounts each individual could manage, so I would have to steal from personal tents.
The soldiers on night watch are of course armed… Even if I sneak in, all I could take would be food. If I slipped into a sleeping soldier’s tent, I might be able to take a weapon, but…
No matter how confident I was in my stealth, I had never snuck into a tent where a soldier was sleeping.
If the soldier woke up, the commotion could rouse the others, and if I were subdued by someone just waking, I could end up being killed.
Even so, I have no choice.
There was no way I could cross the Strark Great Forest with nothing but a single knife.
Even if I managed to take a standard-issue longsword from a territorial soldier, it might be little more than a drop in the bucket, but I wanted to increase my chances of survival, even if only slightly.
For now, I should change my position.
Keeping low, I moved from the bush where I was hiding, circling the campsite clockwise and slipping through the gaps between the trees.
From my current position, the campfire was now hidden behind the tents, and I could only see the soldiers stationed at either end.
The soldier on the left, just as before, had his back to me and was watching the stream.
The soldier on the right should have been guarding the opposite direction from the one on the left, but fortunately, he seemed to be looking toward the area where I had been hiding before I moved.
It’s not good to take too long. If I’m going to slip in, now’s my chance.
Even though I knew that, there were too many uncertainties, and I couldn’t bring myself to take the first step.
I was also concerned about the movements of the soldier patrolling the south side of the campsite, whom I still hadn’t been able to spot.
Even if he’s following his usual route, there’s still a chance he might look toward the camp. Still, he should mostly be watching with his back to it… it should be fine. Here I go!
If I thought about it any longer, I’d freeze in place, so I forced myself to move.
Suppressing my presence and taking the utmost care not to make a sound, I slowly slipped out from the cover of the trees.
Once I cleared them, I crossed the open space. With each step forward, the tension tightened. My heartbeat quickened so much it felt like it might leap out of my throat.
Twenty meters to go…
The soldier to my left might turn around.
Fifteen meters…
The soldier to my right might notice me moving at the edge of his vision.
Ten meters…
The soldier patrolling the south side of the campsite might already have me in his sights.
Five meters…!
As the soldiers on both sides disappeared behind the shadows of the tents, I felt a slight easing of tension, but I steeled myself again, reminding myself that nearly thirty soldiers were sleeping inside those tents.
I quickly crept up to the nearest tent.
The one positioned closest to the campfire and surrounded by the other squad members’ tents should belong to Igor and the First Unit.
The tents near both ends of where the night watch soldiers were stationed likely belonged to the Second and Third Units.
The tent I was about to slip into belonged to a soldier from either the Fourth or Fifth Unit, who would probably be in the deepest sleep at this late hour.
Jackpot.
Just standing at the entrance, a strong smell of alcohol stung my nose. As I slowly pulled the flap open, the odor grew even stronger.
How much did he drink?
Moonlight filtering through the opened entrance faintly illuminated a middle-aged soldier fast asleep. At his feet lay a flask, left uncapped.
My brother did say to rest and recover, but if you drink this much, you’d definitely get chewed out.
Ignoring the soldier, who showed no signs of waking, I stepped inside without hesitation.
Well, come morning, it’ll be obvious he was too drunk to notice me taking his weapon. He won’t just get a scolding for that…
Thinking he was in for a fairly miserable time, I took a closer look at his face and realized he was someone who had harassed me before, so I felt no guilt at all.
Ivan… I think that was his name? Back when he deliberately sicced a monster on me during an expedition, I really thought I was going to die.
While Ivan still showed no sign of waking, I began rummaging through the supplies, recalling that past misfortune.
Hardtack, cheese, nuts, and seasoned dried meat, huh. I’m grateful it’s all nonperishables, but it really does look like everything was picked to go with his drinking.
Though inwardly exasperated by how much of the food was clearly meant for drinking snacks, I gratefully took what I could. He still had more alcohol, probably planning to drink again tomorrow night, but I left it since I didn’t need it.
Now, anything else of value… a potion! I couldn’t tell the quality, but securing even a single potion at a time like this was a stroke of luck.
It seemed I had been truly fortunate to choose Ivan’s tent. I packed the stolen food, the potion, a few daily necessities, and my knife into Ivan’s bag.
I fastened the longsword propped beside the entrance to my belt in place of my knife, slung the bag over my shoulder, and finally put on Ivan’s cloak, which had been carelessly tossed aside.
If I were being greedy, I’d check the other tents too, but spending any more time would be far too dangerous. I’ve gotten more than enough. I should pull out before I’m discovered.
I left Ivan’s tent just as I was and retraced my steps.
If I waited for the perfect timing, I might end up unable to move again, so just like when I infiltrated, I suppressed my presence as much as possible and quietly slipped away from the campsite.
I didn’t look back to check on the soldiers standing watch. Prepared to run at full speed if I was noticed, I kept moving forward, step by step.
I slipped into the shadows of the trees, and only after confirming that no one was pursuing me did I finally glance back at the campsite.
After confirming that the soldiers at both ends of the tents were still standing as before, I fled deeper into the forest.
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