“Trickery is the basis of all strategies. To pretend to go after one target while the true force heads for another, or to feign weakness to lure the enemy into a trap, those are just the most basic things a commander ought to learn.

Sure, some people decried such trickery in battle as dishonorable or foul play, as they offended their oh so tender sensibilities and honor. In reality, those people are little more than fools, whose primitive addled underdeveloped brains could not fathom such ideas.

They are to be ignored and trampled, for after all, all is fair in war.” - Gregorius Aurelius Secundus, Famed general and later Second Emperor of the First Elmaiya Empire.

While the majority of the Free Lances strike force under Reinhardt’s lead spread havoc in the rear of the Bostvan army’s encampment, a smaller group of twenty moved far more quietly. They stuck to the shadows, and only fought when they could not avoid it, in which case they took care of their enemies in silence before they could make a sound.

The small group was composed of selected members of the mercenary company, those who were skilled in subterfuge and moving quietly, and more importantly, those who were able to move unhindered in the dark of the night. As such, most of the group were people of Elven descent as well as select members from Fatimah’s Nightstalkers, with Elfriede in the lead.

Ylisera and Olyvee, along with Lili and Rózsa were part of the force, as well as another five mercenaries of elven blood. Ayrie was amongst the group, as the young girl stuck closely to her aunt, and showed that she deserved to be there despite their young age.

Those of elven blood had sharper eyesights, to the point that they could easily identify shapes and movement even in the darkest of night. It was the main reason they were chosen over Egil’s goblins, whose eyes needed more light to function well at night, even if they could perceive heat sources as well.

On the other hand, the dwarven members of the group were ineligible because they were less skilled in subterfuge in general. The same applied to most of their therian members with good night vision. Fatimah’s crew had some enchanted artifacts that allowed them to see clearly in the dark, and were skilled at the covert work the mission demanded, hence their presence.

As for Elfriede, she never relied on sight to begin with, and her magical senses, which extended in a sphere around her, was invaluable in such a situation. Under her lead, the group snuck in the darkness as they avoided frantic groups of soldiers or removed the ones in their way, headed straight towards a set of fancier tents deeper in the enemy encampment.

Their scouts had spotted three such clusters of tents, one in the middle of the encampment, and another two further ahead and behind. The ones in the middle and closer to the front were too far away for them to target safely, but the one in the rear was an enchanting target with acceptable risks for the mercenaries.

Reinhardt had guessed that those tents likely served as resting places for officers, with the ones at the front likely reserved for the field officers and the central ones for the high commanders. They hoped that some supply officers - maybe with a portion of the army’s supply if they were lucky - would be in the rear tents.

As they approached the large, decorated tents, Elfriede noticed how there were still guards stationed around them despite the havoc that engulfed the encampment from the night attacks. With silent hand gestures, she gave commands to the group, and they split up, four of them to each of the five tents.

Elfriede herself went with Olyvee and Ayrie, as well as another half-elven member of the mercenaries as they skulked closer to the tents. They waited in the shadow, just out of sight of the guards nearby, as she counted the numbers in her head.

When Elfriede counted to a hundred, she leapt out of her hiding spot, and her blades swung at the unsuspecting guards. The keen mithril edges of the weapons met and parted flesh and bones almost as if they were mere paper, and two heads rolled on the ground before either guard realized what happened.

Olyvee took out one of the further guards with an expertly thrown knife to the face. On the other side, Ayrie and the last mercenaries downed the last guard, the younger girl’s thrown dagger accurately striking the guard in the throat, even as the older mercenary’s circular chakram bisected the man’s face.

Similar scenes repeated by the other tents, as the mercenaries descended on the unsuspecting guards and polished them off quietly. The only noises that were produced were those of blades striking flesh, and the rattle the guards’ armor made as they fell dead.

“What is this ruckus!? Could you peasants not do anything correctly!? Stop dithering like cowards and deal with these traitors already!” yelled a man as he came out from the tent Elfriede’s group had targeted. The man rubbed his eyes with a hand, clearly still half-asleep, and wore a pompous-looking uniform over his haphazardly donned armor.

Elfriede had not even turned to face the man, as her left hand just struck to the back, the short scythe-like blade on her weapon pierced the man’s temple from the left, and silenced him permanently. She had long noticed his movement with her wind-based senses, and had been in position to take the man down the moment he left the tent.

Before the dead man could even drop, Elfriede had severed his head and stored it for bounty. She also took the man’s lapels, which had his rank insignia, and a string of rings she found on the man’s neck, worn like a necklace.

That done, Elfriede entered the large tent where she found another officer type - this one a middle-aged woman who was still in the midst of donning her armor - while the rest kept watch outside for her. The woman inside the tent just spotted her and was about to raise her voice when her head rolled over before she realized she had been cut.

The occupants of the tent dealt with, Elfriede then ransacked the place as she took anything she thought might be valuable, especially documents and storage items, before she finally left. As soon as all the other teams had also searched their tents, they exchanged nods and hurled a flaming jar into each tent, before they sneaked away back to where the Free Lances still caused a massive commotion.