[Target: Captured Imperial Army Gunpowder Crates]
[Grade: Consumable]
[Condition: Unstable. Internal structure altered due to minute mana disturbances. High possibility of chain detonation even from a small impact.]
[Special Information: This gunpowder was used by the Imperial Army’s Magic Engineer Corps and contains an unstable substance that reacts with mana to increase explosive power.]
‘…This could work.’
I swallowed dryly. The true nature of the dead space Hanna had sensed was the gunpowder crates. Those stupid orcs had piled up a heap of bombs right inside their camp.
I raised the binoculars again and swept my gaze over the camp. Then I was impressed. The location of the gunpowder pile was incredible. Right next to it was an armory where weapons had been carelessly stacked, and clustered right beside that were the storehouses where they kept their food.
If we blew that up, we could cause chaos far beyond simply taking out the command post. Once those bastards lost their food and weapons at the same time, they’d fall into a panic, and we could slip away at our leisure in the confusion.
I lowered the binoculars and gathered the squad leaders.
“We’re changing the operational objective.”
The squad leaders’ eyes all turned to me at once. I pointed at the crates containing the pile of gunpowder.
“That is our target.”
“What is that, Lieutenant…? Aren’t they just crates?”
Sergeant Gunter tilted his head. From the outside, they looked like ordinary crates.
“That’s a pile of gunpowder.”
“……!”
The squad leaders who heard my words all widened their eyes in shock.
“D-Did you say a pile of gunpowder?”
Kurt asked back in disbelief.
“They stacked it that carelessly in the middle of their camp? No matter how stupid those orc bastards are, there’s no way…”
“It’s not because they’re stupid. It’s because they don’t know.”
I handed them the binoculars and explained.
“Orc civilization doesn’t have the concept of gunpowder. They probably think it’s just some strange-smelling black sand used by the Imperial bastards. That’s why they can leave it piled up out in the open like that.”
I spoke while recalling the setting from the game Heart of the Empire: Eagle Chronicles. In reality, the orcs mainly used shamanism and cold weapons; they had never developed gunpowder technology the way the Empire had.
A flash of doubt passed over the squad leaders’ faces when they heard me, but it quickly vanished. After seeing what Hanna and I had shown them on the way here, they had absolute trust in our abilities, so they did not question me.
“My God… Then if we just blow that up…”
Gunter’s voice trembled with excitement.
“That’s right. It’s a much surer method than striking the command post. We blow that up, cut off their supplies, and turn the entire camp into pandemonium. If we pull that off, we win without even having to fight.”
At my explanation, realization dawned on the squad leaders’ faces. Then Corporal Kurt asked a question.
“But how are we supposed to blow it up?”
“There is a good way.”
I turned to Private Klaus.
“Can you do it with a sniper shot?”
Klaus checked the target through his scope, then hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“The distance is possible. But the gunpowder crates are covered in thick wood, so I don’t know whether they’ll explode.”
“I thought as much.”
I nodded and took off my pack. Then I carefully pulled something out from inside. A new type of supply item I had received as a reward from the regimental commander last time. Before it was issued to the entire platoon, it had been given to me first for testing.
“This should make it possible.”
“T-That’s… the new supply round we’ve only heard rumors about?!”
“Damn, I didn’t even know we had something like that…”
Sergeant Gunter was startled. Kurt put a hand to his head, looking embarrassed.
What I had taken out was a recently developed new mana round. It was a special round with a fine mana circuit engraved on the bullet head, causing it to explode on impact and produce an effect similar to an incendiary round.
“Here, Private Klaus.”
I held the mana round out to Klaus. The mana circuit engraved on its surface gave off a faint blue glow.
“You’re… giving this to me?”
Klaus seemed genuinely surprised. As if it wasn’t enough to entrust such a precious item to him, I was also going to use it as the decisive shot that would determine the success or failure of the operation. But I did not miss the brief flash in Klaus’s eyes.
I patted him on the shoulder and handed him the round.
“The lives of our entire platoon are in your hands, Private. Can you do it?”
“…I will complete the mission even if it costs me my life!”
With a solemn expression, Klaus accepted the round and, without the slightest hesitation, pushed it into the rifle chamber. There was a metallic click as it locked into place.
Klaus took up position on one side of the ridge. It was the most stable sniping position. Soon, he slowly lowered himself into a prone posture, adjusted the scope, removed the suppressor, and began gauging the direction of the wind.
It was a suffocating stretch of time. The orcs in the camp were still loitering around the campfires without knowing anything, and the soldiers of 3rd Platoon kept their mouths shut as they focused on Klaus.
“…May I fire?”
Klaus, having finished his preparations, asked one last time.
“Fire.”
The moment my permission fell, Klaus’s finger pulled the trigger.
Fwish—Boom!
With a sound that tore through the air, the mana round was fired. The bullet flew in a blue trajectory and struck precisely at the center of the pile of gunpowder crates.
Kwagagagagagang!!
With a tremendous roar that shook the earth, a pillar of flame shot into the sky. The gunpowder crates exploded in a chain reaction, swallowing up a quarter of the camp in an instant. The shockwave rolled all the way to the ridge, making the trees sway as though they might snap.
“Kraaaagh!”
“W-What! What’s happening!”
“Fire! Fire!! There was an explosion at the storehouse!”
The orcs fell into utter chaos. But the flames rose without mercy.
Boom! Kwagagagang!
The fire spread in an instant to the armory and food warehouses beside it, triggering second and third explosions. The surviving orcs ran screaming between the burning barracks, but they could not even think of properly bringing the situation under control.
“Kraaaagh! The ancestral spirits are angry!”
“It’s a curse! The spirits of the earth are enraged!”
“Damn it, where is the shaman?! Tell him to put out this fire right now!”
It seemed they did not even know what had struck them. The bastards could not even imagine that this was an Imperial Army attack and believed a supernatural disaster had descended upon them. Some threw themselves to the ground and prayed in incomprehensible words, while others, overcome with terror, began blindly fleeing outside the camp.
“Now! Everyone retreat!”
I shouted. Without any lingering hesitation, we retraced the path we had come and began running like mad. Behind us, the chain explosions and the screams of the orcs continued to ring out. It was a success. A perfect success.
“Signal flare!”
When we had almost escaped, I gave the order to the signal flare gunner. The gunner pulled the trigger without hesitation. A red signal flare rose in an arc into the dawn sky.
It was both the signal that our mission had been completed and the signal announcing the general assault by our allies. Sure enough, not long afterward, the sound of shouting began to rise from the eastern side of the forest.
Dududududu!
Along with the shouts came the sound of machine guns. The frontal assault by 1st Platoon and 4th Platoon had begun. I kept running while glancing at the green dots on the minimap as they began to move in earnest.
After running without stopping, we soon arrived at the nearby rendezvous point. The soldiers staggered, gasping for breath. Some of them stared at the center of the forest, where smoke and flames were still rising, with expressions of disbelief.
“…My God. We… We did that?”
Private Hans muttered blankly, his face smeared with ash.
“That wasn’t just blowing up some bombs. The whole forest shook! Those orc bastards probably don’t even have bones left by now.”
A veteran soldier chuckled. With trembling hands, he opened his canteen and gulped down water.
“I still can’t believe it. We wiped out that many of them… without even properly firing a shot.”
“That bastard Klaus became a total hero today. How the hell did he blow that up from that far away?”
“It must’ve been thanks to that weird bullet the lieutenant gave him. Did you see it glowing? Looked like magic.”
The soldiers all chattered as they went over what had just happened. It was absurd. A difficult mission that involved infiltrating enemy territory with a single platoon, and an enemy force far larger than expected. Everything had been negative. And yet all of it had been overturned by a single gunshot.
Sergeant Gunter, unable to contain the emotion welling up inside him, ran over to me.
“…We did it. We did it, Lieutenant!”
Unable to hide his excitement, he seized my shoulder with hands covered in dust. In his eyes was a light that went beyond respect, almost bordering on worship.
“No casualties! Everyone returned safely! A perfect operation like this… this is the first time in my entire military career!”
“The operation isn’t over yet, Sergeant. Don’t let your guard down.”
I patted his shoulder and surveyed the battlefield. Unlike the excited mood among the platoon members, my mind was cold under the influence of the [Indomitable Mind] skill.
On the minimap, the red dots were moving fiercely eastward, then mingling with the green dots that represented our main force and flickering violently. The battle was turning in our favor.
It was right then. My brow furrowed on its own. Something unusual had happened near the western side of the minimap. A far greater number of red dots than expected had begun surging in that direction.
Twenty, thirty… This was not the level of scattered remnants. A massive group rivaling the main force was avoiding the battle in the east and attempting to break through an escape route to the west.
“Damn it…!”
The red dots that continued moving west soon passed beyond the range of the minimap and disappeared. But I knew where those bastards would eventually arrive.
‘The western ridge assigned to 2nd Platoon…’
Before heading into battle, I recalled Erika’s figure. She had been furious, treating the mission of blocking the escape route like she was being made an extra. Regardless of her competence, if she was caught off guard, there was a high chance they would suffer heavy damage.