As the days went by, I started spending a lot more time training the soldiers in using the crossbows. Luckily, Krewly managed to bring two more crossbows already by the next day, which meant I could perform the sessions three times as effectively now. Not only did that allow me to make my evaluations quicker, it also gave the soldiers a lot more practice. In order to help Krewly streamline production a little, we outsourced the bolt production to some other blacksmiths, quickly explaining to them the construction of a bodkin crossbow bolt and ordering quite a decent quantity of them. This allowed the dwarf to focus solely on the crossbows, while also ensuring we will not be running out of ammunition anytime soon, no matter how much we train.

Given the simplicity of using the crossbow over the bow, the soldiers started picking up on it a lot quicker. The few soldiers who were regularly using bows were, naturally, a lot better, but some footmen were catching up surprisingly quickly in terms of accuracy and even reload speed. If this keeps up, I might be able to form a fairly decent crossbowmen squad without sacrificing the archery division, which would help to massively enhance our range combat effectiveness. With all that in mind, the king agreed to purchase a larger amount of crossbows to eventually have the city guard be equipped with them too. This meant we might end up with a larger crossbowmen force on the day of the attack than I originally thought we could master, which was great news in and of itself.

Within the next few days, I managed to select a couple of promising soldiers and started training them exclusively in the use of this new, for them, weapon. The rest of the troops were just sparring in the meantime, preparing for the attack on the bandit camp. Everyone was eager to do it and recent reports confirmed the hideout’s location, as well as some links to local peddlers that were still under investigation. I already went over the attack plan with Liyanne and Gurthan and, to say the least, they were both stumped and how bold and reckless it initially seemed. The camp was located in a small valley within the northern mountains. The mountains weren't tall by any means, they were nothing more than rocky hills really, but their sheer cliffs made the valley extremely hard to access. Getting in through them could still be done with some effort but would be nearly impossible for a larger group to do it and remain unspotted. The only real point of entrance into the valley would be by the river that runs between one of the mountains and the valley itself, creating almost a small lake there. This, however, required boats and was a guaranteed way of being spotted. This gave the lookouts plenty of time to both raise the alarm and pester us with arrows the entire time, making this avenue of approach a real pain. As such, I suggested something that even I myself could consider a crazy manoeuvre but one that could be possible thanks to our new toys. In short, I wanted to dispatch the crossbow unit to try to scale the mountains from a few directions to get the upper hand over the bandit lookouts and swiftly take them down at a favourable distance. The crossbows should allow us to do that, having better performance at range and allowing the soldiers to fire from prone positions or from behind cover, resulting in them being much less likely to get detected. Especially if they appear on the side of the mountain that no sane commander in this world would ever even consider as a possible avenue of approach. Unluckily for them, I wasn't of this world, so using unorthodox tactics was right up my alley. This whole plan was still having one big issue, though: it was highly unlikely that the lookouts at the hills that we knew about would be the only ones. There were sure to be people at the entrance of the cave they hid in or even patrolling the valley itself and they would raise the alarm the moment they saw our boats. This was still a lot better than the previous predicament, giving them less time to prepare but still enough to potentially mount a decent defense effort or even try to intercept us during landing. To help prevent that, I wanted to join the crossbowmen unit and try climbing down and the inside of the mountain to get in position to clear the valley. The reason why I wanted to do that personally was to ensure the job was well done but also to be in a position where I can coordinate the attack from a more central position if needed. Needless to say, neither the paladin girl, nor the king, while generally intrigued by the whole tactic and generally in favour of it, were particularly thrilled about this part of my plan. Eventually, they gave in, under the condition that Liyanne accompanies me, which I was more than fine with. The two of us should still be able to remain fairly concealed and it would make me feel a lot safer out there knowing she’s there to assist me.

As such I was now standing behind a group of seven crossbowmen who were actively practising long-range shooting. Due to the limitations the castle’s courtyard offered, we decided to move onto the city walls and place some targets in the plains beyond them. It was fairly difficult to see if they had hit them or not from this far away but luckily we found a way to deal with that too. It turns out that some of the army’s scouts have a special Skill they call “Farsight”. It essentially allowed them to see distant things more clearly, as if they were looking at them through binoculars… or, at least, that’s how I understood it. At first, they weren’t that thrilled about just standing by and calling out shots but with a little monetary incentive, they were more than happy to assist. And as such, we were able to significantly enhance our training capabilities even further.

When I confirmed that everyone was doing a good enough job on the dry drills, meaning everyone was handling the crossbow correctly, was reloading it the way they should and that they weren’t posing any danger to themselves and those nearby, I let out a sigh of relief. Compared to how it looked just a few days ago, those guys went far and were now a really competent squad. So much so, that if anything, I was the one lagging behind. But then again, I basically had a cheat crossbow too, and it compensated a lot for my lack of skill. I didn’t want this to be my excuse, though, so once I knew everything was in order, I picked up my own crossbow, stood in line on the battlements and started firing down at the targets. Using this crossbow was like having a sniper rifle instead of a regular carbine, so I wasn’t as worried about the accuracy since the bolt speed and flatter firing arc took care of that. The operating speed of the crossbow was a different story, however. As such, I was focusing mostly on getting my reload speed down, which was still slightly behind that of the other soldiers. And in the position I was planning on putting myself into in the upcoming battle, if things go south, I need to be able to rain down as many bolts as quickly as possible.

We spent a couple hours practising, a bit longer than I expected we would, but the soldiers just didn’t want to stop. It was the last day of training, after all. Tomorrow, the king had instructed us all to take a day off so that we’re all at full strength and spirits on the following day, which was when we were to start marching out. And I’m going to be completely honest here, I’m greatly appreciating that order. The last week was hectic to say the least and, despite getting proper night sleep and even sneaking a few breaks here or there in-between training sessions, I could feel my body slowly reach its limits. Stress, overwork and the fact I was still not too used to the new diet were all slowly taking its toll on me now. Because of that, I decided to head straight for the bathhouse after the training session. I haven’t had time to use it since the first time I went there, back when only I arrived. The problem I run into now, though, was that I wasn’t the only person to get this idea. When I arrived, the place was already crowded and rowdy. As such I only ended up quickly washing myself but even that was better than the bowl of water and a piece of cloth I had in my room.

Leaving the bath, I honestly felt a lot more tired than when I entered it. The sheer volume of people was simply exhausting. Because of it, as I exited the building and was heading towards the main street, I didn’t immediately notice someone entering the bathhouse’s courtyard and almost bumped into them. I managed to stop myself and jump to the side at the last moment, startling the other person and, as it seemed, only now making them realize, we almost hit each other. As it turned out, it was Liyanne, who seemed to be barely holding herself up and didn’t even properly look at me, yet still took the initiative to apologize:

-Ah, sorry, I was deep in thought.

-Don’t worry, I should be more careful too. So, you’re attending the bathhouse as well?

Liyanne, hearing my voice, looked up at me, slightly embarrassed. She quickly tried to avert her gaze but realised that at this point it was likely too late to try to play it off and simply let out a heavy sigh and admitted with defeat:

-I simply over-exhausted myself while training. You don’t need to worry about me.

-Just because I don’t need to worry about you doesn’t mean I won’t be worried. You should be more careful, you don’t want to injure yourself before such an important battle.

-You’re right but I just feel restless… Do you have a moment to chat?

I looked up at the sky, trying to determine the time. It was still fairly early in the evening, so even if I wanted to hit the hay a bit earlier and get some decent sleep, I could just sleep in tomorrow, so time wasn’t a concern of mine. What was concerning was Liyanne’s body language. She was too fidgety to be just tired, so she must have been under some serious stress or there was something she wanted to talk about that was making her feel extremely nervous. I was always happy to spend some time with her, even if just for some small talk, but I felt she needed this chat more than ever, so I nodded my head and motioned to the side, suggesting we move to a slightly more private spot so that we don’t block the main path. The princess gave me a soft smile, turned around and moved a few steps.

Following the girl, I noticed she wasn’t wearing her usual padded shirt. Whenever I saw her, if she wasn’t wearing her armour, she was at least wearing a heavy, padded shirt that doubled as a gambeson. The same about her trousers, they were always thick, leather pants instead of something more comfortable. Today was different, however. She was wearing a very plain and rather thin linen shirt and the most normal breeches one could probably find, completely unbefitting a member of royalty. Even if the clothes were naturally fairly baggy, the simplicity of what she was wearing somehow ended up underlining her slim physique. I already had a chance earlier to learn just how light Liyanne really was but I never really got a good look at her silhouette. Not like I would get any chances tonight but seeing her like this made it a little easier for me to stop visualising her as fairly bulky under her usual armour.

-So, what did you want to talk about?

I asked when I caught up to her, not giving my mind too many chances to wander off and start imagining things I might regret later.

-I wanted to ask how you’re holding up. How are you feeling?

I let out a heavy sigh, crossing my arms. I didn’t feel like she wanted me to reassure her that everything’s alright. I didn’t know if that was because she wasn’t wearing her usual armour or not, but I just couldn’t approach her as my commander this time. Instead, I opted to treat her more like a normal girl, like a friend, and decided to say things as they are.

-I’m a little anxious. This whole operation is a little much for me. I’m still not used to this world and its normalities and soon I’ll be heading off into actual battle for the first time in my life. I’d have to be crazy not to feel worried.

-Understandable. I also wasn’t feeling particularly well the first time when I had to go out and kill someone but you will have to endure it. You’re supposed to be acting as a military advisor from the Holy Alliance, people will expect you to already be acquainted with death, be it at one’s else’s hand, or yours.

-Yeah, thanks for reminding me of that pressure point too. So, you’ve already killed before?

-We clashed with the bandits here a few times already. But when I was training in Sevondrea, I also went up against bandits and rebels, much like we will soon. Trust me, killing doesn’t come any easier no matter how many times you do it unless you just accept that it has to be done.

-Well, I’m trying. I still haven’t come to terms with that, though. And even if I did, there’s no telling how I’ll react when the time actually comes. I can’t make any promises.

Liyanne opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but seeing my stern face, she gave up. Instead, she let out a sigh and gave me a smile.

-I understand. I know you’re doing your best for all of us. So, just don’t die on us there.

-Not planning on. And you, make sure you rest properly tomorrow. You clearly need it.

The girl nodded and wished me a good night before she disappeared into the women’s part of the bathhouse. I gathered myself and started walking back to the castle. Since Mearyl wasn't around, I quickly finished my supper and headed straight for the bed.

The following day was a fairly lazy one. I spent most of it simply loitering around the castle and the gardens, enjoying the last moments of peace. I couldn't sit still for the whole day in the end and ended up sneaking out for at least a few practice swings. Still, nothing notable really happened that day and the day we were meant to set out arrived soon enough. Early in the morning, the courtyard was already buzzing with life. After enjoying a small, rushed breakfast, Liyanne and I joined the soldiers outside. We run a quick check on the supplies and equipment, making sure everything is in order, and finally set out.

The mountains were positioned North of Katerial, just a few clicks out. There were no good roads up ahead though, so traversing the plains with all the supplies was still a logistical challenge. At one point, two groups were dispatched both West and East, numbering about forty people each. The last group that remained consisted of the crossbowmen squad of ten people, that was supposed to scale the mountain and ambush enemy’s lookouts, and the main strike force of about thirty that was to flow in through the river. Our scouts have already prepared a few boats for them to use, if the bandits haven't discovered them already. If they did, we would end up in quite a predicament, but I’m confident those guys will figure something out. For now, the crossbowmen and the strike force were to proceed together until reaching the foot of the mountain. At that point the attackers will head West, upstream, and the crossbowmen, Liyanne and I will start climbing up. The soldiers would then further split up, climbing in pairs along the width of the rocky hill. Together with the princess, we took more-or-less the middle of the mountain as our ascent point. This is where the scouting force indicated the most suitable spot for descending on the other side was, and since we needed to be swift, it was naturally the choice we went with. The downside was that, when exiting the cave, the bandits would be looking almost directly at us but we hoped the gray cloaks would help us blend in with the rocks enough to remain unspotted. Being able to get down quick or having space to potentially dodge enemy projectiles was much more important to both of us than some extra concealment that would also obstruct our view.

Before we started ascending, we took a small break to let our legs rest. Luckily, this was accounted for in the preparations, so we weren’t risking joining the fight late. We also dropped most of the stuff that weren’t meant to be used in combat. It was late afternoon already and we knew it’s going to take a few hours to properly clear and secure the hideout, so we took spare rations and supplies to set up a camp for the night. Most of the supplies were taken by the attacking group and would be stored somewhere near the river for retrieval later but we still carried some gear on us in bags. All those would only slow us down now, so we found a spot to stash them and left a mark so that we won’t spend two hours looking for them later.

Once the break finished, I stood up and looked up at the mountain in front of me. It wasn’t that tall, it really was nothing more than a glorified rocky hill, but that was the case for most mountains in this region, if not the whole realm. The tallest mountain I’ve seen around seemed to only peak at around six hundred metres over the terrain. I didn’t know how high above sea level we were, though, so it could still be a pretty darn tall mountain. This one was only about three hundred metres tall but it still took us almost an hour to scale. That was mainly due to the fact I needed a few short breaks to let my arms rest. Who would have thought that climbing with about twenty kilos of gear that’s rather restrictive would prove suboptimal and really tiring. Still, I was worried it would take me longer, so once we finally reached the top, we still ended up with some time to spare before the attack.

I was now standing on top of the mountain, able to see fairly far in nearly every direction. Only further North was blocked by even taller mountains on the other side of the river. South, behind us, I could even see Katerial in the distance. Meanwhile, under us, was the valley the bandits had their hideout in. Most of the ground was covered by trees, however, making it impossible to determine if there’s any activity on the ground. Looking at it, I would probably never even guess they’re here if I didn’t know it beforehand.

After confirming that there were no unwanted eyes on us, be it in the valley or on the mountains on the opposite side of the river, I decided to look around the horizon one more time. For a brief moment, I forgot all about our objective and just stood there, taking in the sights.

-Quite a view from up here, hm?

Liyanne shrugged at my comment. I guess, for her, there wasn’t anything too special about this scenery. She was living pretty much surrounded by this astonishing scenery, after all. To me, when I was mainly used to the sights of a bustling city centre back in my world and mostly limited to the castle interior in this one, what I could see now was truly magnificent. I did know, however, that I couldn’t be standing about for too long. Not only were we pressured for time, if anyone nearby was to look in this direction, they were sure to see us skylining, even as we were keeping a low profile. Given its size, I honestly wasn’t expecting this mountaintop to be this barren. There wasn’t even a withered bush or a big enough rock to silhouette against. We were completely exposed here.

After a couple of seconds, Liyanne walked up to the ridge of the mountain and peeked down, looking for a way for us to descend. A moment later she pointed to a small bench that should allow us to lay down and better conceal our position while still allowing us to observe the valley mostly unobstructed. As we were making our way down, I glanced over my shoulder towards the valley and towards the cave entrance that the bandits were using as their hideout. At the same time, two men walked out of it dragging a heavy-looking chest behind them.

-Hold. People.

Liyanne stopped moving almost immediately as I issued a hushed callout. We were pretty close to the position we wanted to take but as the bandits exited the cave, one of them decided to stretch his back and walk off some of the muscle pain from carrying that chest. He wasn’t staring directly at us but could still have us in his peripheral view. There was a higher chance we will remain undetected if we just stay still. Luckily, I was standing on a small rock and wasn’t hanging off the wall, so I could keep my position. As for Liyanne, I hoped her body strengthening magic works wonders for her. Even though she was essentially cheating in this regard, I was still feeling truly sorry for her.

After several seconds, the bandits picked the chest up again and started carrying it towards the river, under one of the trees. Looking at it from this angle, and being able to better see under the canopies, there seemed to be quite a few crates and chests unloaded onto the riverside. Could they be preparing to move out? Or were they just moving storage units to more easily unload and transport the loot from their plunders? According to our intel, one of the bandit groups should be out looking for loot right now and, if things went well, they should soon be clashing with our forces who were securing the perimeter near their usual hunting spot.

Seeing as the two bandits were now preoccupied and neither of them was looking above their own feet, I whispered to Liyanne that she can keep moving now. We quickly descended towards the bench and immediately went prone. We were still fairly high above the river, roughly a hundred metres, but the lower angle was giving us a much better view into the valley. As it turned out, the trees here were extremely tall, their canopy sitting at roughly hundred fifty metres. On one hand this seemed impossibly tall… on another, this was a fantasy world and we were looking at a valley surrounded by fairly tall rocky mountains, so it kind of made sense for those trees to grow abnormally like that.

-Want to wait those two out or continue descending?

Liyanne didn’t answer my question immediately. She crawled up to the edge and looked down, analyzing our potential ways down, before quickly crawling back to her previous spot.

-Next potential spot is just slightly above the river, it looks like. The climb also doesn’t look any easier than before.

-And we’re going to be basically at an eye level there, with no cover. I guess we will have to wait those two out then.

Liyanne nodded slightly and looked up at the sky, trying not to raise her head too high up either. Once she did, she frowned, as if realising something she didn’t like.

-We still have some time but not too much. The soldiers will start moving soon.

-It will still take them a while before they swim down the river. Let’s hope those two won’t loiter around for too long.

We continued watching the two bandits as they neared the other boxes. Once they put the chest down, they both let out visible, almost exaggerated, sighs of relief. After that, they seemed to be chatting for a short while. One of them seemed to be almost angry at something and he suddenly turned around, going back towards the cave. The other one sat down on the chest and appeared to be resting.

-We can continue moving if you can take this guy down.

I glanced over at Liyanne, then back at the bandit. I closed my eyes, exhaled slowly, cussed a few times under my nose and eventually nodded.

-I’ll try.

I slowly reached for the crossbow on my back, swinging it from under my cloak to the front, realising I should have probably have done that the moment we touched down. I already had the weapon pre-cocked, so all I had to do was to position and load it. With a little adjusting, I managed to get a decent firing position and aim at the guy on the ground. I waited until his colleague fully disappeared into the cave before I pulled the trigger. The usually quiet twang of the string and the prod now sounded unbearably loud as it echoed through the valley. It didn’t matter much, however, as the bolt seemed to have hit the bandit in the stomach. The power of the impact caused him to fall off the chest. He seemed to be trashing about for a moment but, after a couple of seconds, he finally stopped moving.

I exhaled slowly, realising I have just fired, and killed, another human being. However I didn’t have time to fully grasp that as I felt Liyanne nudge me, fairly strongly, in the side.

-Stop staring and get a move on.

Without thinking too much about it, I stood up to a crouching position and recocked the crossbow, slinging it back and preparing for further descent. Somehow, the pain in my hands as we climbed down felt different than it did before but I couldn’t quite place the difference. Everything seemed a little bit more distant… until I grabbed onto a loose rock and almost plummeted head-down into the river seventy metres below me. Luckily, Liyanne noticed this and managed to pull herself and grab onto me, pushing me towards the wall at the same time. This gave me just enough stability that I could reach out and find a new ledge to grab onto.

-Thanks. You saved me.

-Focus, Edward. You’re all good?

-Yeah… I’m good now. We can continue.

I didn’t start climbing down immediately, however. Liyanne was right, I had to focus on making sure I don’t die on this bloody wall. I don’t know what I was thinking about since I let that crossbow loose but I had to focus on the here and now. I took a deep breath and continued the descent, eventually making it to the next bench unscathed. There, however, we run into a different problem. This was the lowest we could go, and we were still roughly twenty metres above the river. The few metres directly above were completely smooth, washed off by the water erosion and there was no other mountain bench we could stop at.

-I guess we have to wait for our guys now.

As I said that, I swung the crossbow back in front of me and loaded a bolt onto it. I was having it pointed roughly in the direction of the cave entrance, so that if someone comes out, I can quickly and easily aim at them. Somehow, though, I couldn’t quite bring my hand anywhere close to the trigger again. I tried not to look towards the dead body, simply counting up seconds in my mind to make sure it doesn’t wander to it either. I was silently praying that no one else comes out of that cave before our troops arrive.

Liyanne gave me a concerned look. I noticed her expression in the corner of my vision. She seemed worried about me but also didn’t know how she could potentially comfort me. After a couple seconds, she simply returned to watching the valley with me. Time passed and nothing seemed to be happening. I managed to lose count of how long we were sitting there and started again twice already when the girl suddenly nudged me with her elbow, nodding towards the upstream.

-That’s our guys.

-About time.

The princess looked over at me again after hearing my somewhat weak reply. I shook my head and stood up, unloading the crossbow and throwing it onto my back yet again. I nodded towards the cliff.

-We better start climbing down so that the guys can pick us up. I’m not feeling like swimming with all this gear on.

With that, I crouched at the edge of the bench and scouted a descent route. I started climbing down without waiting for Liyanne’s response. Our soldiers arrived in five different boats and now one of them, the least loaded one, was breaking away from the fleet and keeping close to the mountain, instead of heading for the valley. They arrived directly under me just before I managed to reach the lowest point where I could confidently hold onto, roughly four metres above the water level. I looked down, over my shoulder, confirming their position.

-You guys ready?

-Ready!

One of the soldiers tossed me a rope which I barely managed to catch. It had a loop at its end and, with some difficulties, I managed to squeeze into it and tighten it around my waist. Once prepared, I gently pushed myself away from the wall and fell down into the river, making sure to cross my arms on my chest and keep my posture as straight as I could, falling feet-first. Once I broke the water, I immediately started kicking my legs, trying to swim up as much as I could. I could feel the rope tug and pull me up. Before long, my head broke out of the water and I involuntarily gasped for air. Nearly immediately two hands grabbed me, one by each shoulder and pulled me up. I grabbed onto the edge of the boat and vaulted over. I landed heavily on the deck, just barely managing to not roll only my back. My head was spinning slightly but it quickly passed as I regained my orientation. I pulled myself up just in time to make space for Liyanne, who fell into the boat much the same ungraceful way I did.

-My God… it actually worked.

I let out a laugh, wiping my face off and throwing my hair back, having a hard time believing that this was actually over. Well, the most risky part, at least. Now that we managed to get down from the mountain safely and regrouped with the soldiers, the next was venturing into that cave. But it was still a moment before we beach and regroup in the valley, so I had a few moments to relax, or at least try to. My mind was now focused on the potential dangers that might lurk inside. I had to be ready to face them head on now. I had to be ready to potentially kill again, this time staring directly down my opponent’s face. Somehow, I felt a little different about it now. Now that I knew I would be in much graver danger, the perspective of having to kill someone was suddenly much less terrifying. Or was it because I already killed someone in an, arguably, much less honourable scenario…

The boat hit the riverbank and we all jumped out onto land. I dropped my soaked through-and-through cloak, I wouldn’t need it in the cave anyway. This lightened my gear by at least a few extra kilos, making me immediately feel better. The rest of my clothes and gear were still completely soaked, resulting in everything being much heavier, which was already extremely annoying and tiring. And colder, too. I can tolerate this for a while longer but I was hoping we can be done with this hideout fairly quickly so I can change into something warmer. I knew, however, that rushing things here would only make it more difficult for us from now on, so I decided to maintain my composure and not act rashly.

-Okay, everyone, here’s the plan once again. Liyanne, myself and five of the previously selected will enter the cave up ahead as a scouting force. We don’t know the layout or enemy’s numbers, so getting some extra intel is a priority right now. That’s why we need a group small enough to not make too much noise but still large enough to potentially hold out until reinforcements arrive.

Liyanne moved up next to me, placing her left hand on the pommel of her sword and the right one on her hip. Seeing as she wanted to say something, I took a step back. She nodded to me in thanks and turned back to the soldiers. Meanwhile, I turned to look at the cave. We had two soldiers posted there as sentries for anyone who could potentially come out of there, but an extra pair of eyes certainly couldn’t hurt.

-This is an important moment for all of us individually but also for the Katerial as a whole. I know you were all waiting for this moment for a long time, however as Sir Edward stated, we’re heading into the unknown. For that reason, hold off for just a little longer so that we may crush those bloody bandits with as much force as possible. Do not let a single one of them escape.

The soldiers all saluted her. It was clear that they all wanted to cheer but were luckily disciplined enough to realise that this could alert the bandits, so they opted for a more quiet option. As she finished her speech, the princess turned around and tapped me on the shoulder.

-You’re ready?

I didn’t look back at her, instead moving my left hand down to my sword and grasping at the hilt. I held the air in my lungs for a few seconds and exhaled it slowly, clearing my head. Only then I turned to face her, giving her a reassuring smile.

-I am. Shall we, then?

Liyanne nodded and motioned at the selected five soldiers to follow her. She took the lead into the cave. I motioned at the selected soldiers to get a move on too. One of them approached me and handed me over my shield, which I hadn't taken with me on the climb. I was already encumbered enough as I was back there. Now, armed with familiar weapons, I felt a little more courage. I puffed my chest out a little as I continued behind Liyanne towards the cave.

The true challenge of this operation began now.