Chapter 47: Battle in the Mud 5

Agenda called out into the mine. "We've taken care of everyone outside. You're the only ones left. Surrender. If you do, you can meet a peaceful death. Otherwise, for your crimes, you'll face torture before a painful death, and your relatives will also be held accountable. Are you prepared for that? If you're recognized as common civilians acting under orders, you might be spared the death penalty. Surrender!" If they quietly turn themselves in, at worst they'd die quickly, and their families might be saved. They might even be spared. I hope they surrender.

"No one's coming out." "They might have committed suicide inside," the aide said to Agenda, as if hoping that were the case. "I hope they had that resolve." If they committed suicide, their families might avoid collective punishment. I hope for that too, to prevent any more tragedy.

"I'm calling for volunteers for a suicide squad. The tunnels inside are complex, and we don't know where attacks might come from. Of course, if you die, your family will receive enough pension to live comfortably. I need ten people willing to die. If you return alive, you'll be paid three times the normal wage. How about it?" In theory, we're only facing three people. If we're careful, we shouldn't die easily. There's no better job with such good terms. Everyone volunteered. "I'm moved to see such high morale in the Republican Army. However, there is some probability of death. I will exclude those who are married, those with elderly parents, and firstborn sons." This reduced the candidates to 21 people. Everyone drew lots, and 10 were selected.

"Now, let's move out." Led by Agenda, 10 Republican soldiers entered the tunnel. That's a real captain, taking the lead in dangerous work. This is how a commander should be. Otherwise, subordinates wouldn't follow. After a while, everyone returned. They were carrying three bodies.

"They committed suicide in the tunnel," Agenda murmured. Looking at them, two had been stabbed in the back, and the last one appeared to have slit his own throat. "Did the soldier kill the civilians to silence them, then commit suicide?"

"Well, something like that." "Seems like an unpleasant country," Ryu muttered. "Yeah, I think so too." If you fail, you kill the civilians and then all die—what kind of country is that? It's better to be alive even if captured by the enemy. "Such a country might attack us, right?" "Yes, we need to strengthen our defenses. We must report this to the king."

In the basement of the mansion, numerous giant lizards were found being raised. "So these were used for transportation." "Does that mean they're docile?" "They probably obey commands." These lizards were neither docile nor obedient. When someone tried to control them, several people were bitten hard, and it was discovered they were poisonous. The bitten areas swelled up abnormally. While we had no idea how they had been used, the lizards were all killed because they were dangerous. Hmm, I wonder how they used them. But they're extremely ferocious and poisonous, so we can't just release them. We had no choice but to kill them. It couldn't be helped.

And so the battle in the mud ended. All that's left is to return home.