I waited for a few more days, sending the fliers out with Phildina occasionally to gather information. After I had gotten a good scope of the situation, I was finally ready to make my move. Hence, I called all the soldiers and adventurers together to rey the news. It was early in the morning, and I could still see some sleepy faces and heads popping out of their tents, so I waited for Lucia to use her wind magic before addressing them all, beginning with,

  "Good morning, everybody! As you can see, we've not received any orders from the Kingdom for the past nineteen days," Most of them were starting to straighten up by now, as they could tell this was a matter of utmost importance. "During this time, we've been establishing an information network of sorts with the fliers, and what we discovered was shocking."

  I cleared my throat before announcing in a loud voice, "The Empire has already penetrated deep into our territory!" At this, the atmosphere suddenly changed, and panic started taking over. I expected this reaction, I thought to myself as I looked at their faces and heard their murmurs. Some were confused, others were angry, and many were worried, but I was not going to let it end there.

  "However!" I said, grabbing their attention once more. "There's still a way for us to turn things around and lessen the great burden our fellow soldiers have to bear!" The party was looking at me with pride in their eyes. Well, everyone except Matilda, but the color that was starting to return to some faces was enough for me.

  "We can do this by invading the Empire!" Aaaand silence... I knew this was going to happen, but it was still a jarring sight to see. Come on, guys! Where's the excitement? I joked internally, but I could completely understand their hesitation.

  "What's one Company going to do against an Empire?!" One of the soldiers shouted, and from the looks of things, many seemed to agree with him. Probably egged on by his infted ego, he stood up and challenged me, saying, "Who even gave you the authority to start acting like a big shot?!" I could only look on in pity as others voiced their agreement. It's sad how quickly people forget things, but that's fine. At least, now I know who won't be coming with me.

  Kimmel was about to stand up, but I stopped him with one hand and said, "It's fine." I can defend myself. "Well, then, Commander wise guy, since you are so qualified, what would you have us do? How would you turn this nearly hopeless situation around? Give us some of your most esteemed ideas loud and clear for all of us to hear!" I passed the figurative mic over to him and watched in pleasure as he fumbled his way through an expnation.

  "Ah, um, we could... Uh..." The more he tried, the more he embarrassed himself, and I could only hold in my ughter for so long until it burst out and continued for a while. I was practically holding my sides in pain and wiping tears from my eyes as I said to him,

  "Wonderful, simply wonderful! Your head is as empty as your appearance suggests, but I won't hold that against you. In fact, since I'm feeling especially generous today, I'll let you have your way! Take your goons, Commander wise guy, and die somewhere for all I care!" He looked around to see everybody who was with him moments prior hiding in the crowd, but I wouldn't let them duck the heat either. "And don't for one moment think that I forgot any of your faces!" I bellowed in anger, causing some familiar faces to twitch. "Get out of my sight, now," I spoke in an icy cold tone as I looked them in the eyes.

  After they got up and left, I turned to the rest of the Company and said with a cheery smile, "Now that the cowards are gone, I'll brief the strategy we will adopt from now on." It was probably the ck of information, but we had more than enough supplies because the Kingdom had been sending Battalion-sized rations, weapons, and equipment to a Company-sized unit for weeks now.

  Additionally, from the fliers' info, there was a route through the forest we could exploit that would also serve as adequate training for lower-level soldiers and adventurers since there were a lot of monsters there. I carefully thought through every step of the pn, and if executed well, we could divert the Empire's attention long enough to help our fellow soldiers.

  Of course, I was way more nervous than I let on, but at the same time, I was also quite excited. It really brought me back to those days when I would pn raids with my party members. I remembered the risks, rewards, and excitement with a nostalgic smile, thinking, This time, our lives are on the line, so I have to make it succeed. I won't tolerate any other result, I thought to myself that morning as we started getting ready.