Mark took another sip of wine while looking at the glass with a surprised expression.

"Damn..." Mark said out loud as he set the cup back on the table. "This really is quality wine."

Then he looked at the food spread across the table.

There was freshly baked bread, cured cheese, fruits he didn’t recognize but that looked incredible, and what appeared to be smoked meat sliced into thin strips.

Mark picked up a piece of bread with some meat and tried it.

"...That’s pretty good," Mark murmured, chewing calmly. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Meanwhile, less than two meters from him, the blonde officer was standing with a dagger at his throat and his body trembling like a leaf.

"W-who sent you?!" the officer shouted in a voice that broke with every word. "Was it those idiots from the federation?! Or was it some disgruntled noble?! Because if that’s the case i’ll pay you double!"

Mark glanced at him sideways while grabbing another piece of meat and placing it between the bread.

"Dude, I have no idea what you’re talking about," he said with his mouth half full.

"Don’t mess with me! An attack like this doesn’t come from nowhere! Someone had to—!"

"I’m telling you I don’t know what you’re talking about," Mark cut him off in a bored tone. "I didn’t even know this camp existed until a few minutes ago."

The officer was left with his mouth open, not knowing how to respond to that.

Mark looked at the table again.

’It’d be a shame to leave all of this here,’ he thought, examining the remaining bottles of wine.

Then Mark wiped his hands on his robe and got to his feet.

"Yuki, let’s go outside," Mark said, walking toward the tent’s exit. "I want to see how the others are doing."

"Understood, Master."

Yuki pulled the dagger away from the officer’s throat and pushed him forward with one hand, making him stumble.

"Walk!" she told him, keeping her dagger pointed at him.

Mark pushed aside the tent flap and stepped outside.

The first thing he saw was the clear sky, and the second was that there was no more fighting.

"Well," Mark said, looking around. "That was pretty quick."

The camp that less than fifteen minutes ago had been swarming with soldiers was now just an open field covered in bodies and rubble.

There were hundreds of corpses scattered across the entire expanse of the camp, some split in half, others missing limbs, and many more completely unrecognizable.

Behind Mark, the officer stumbled out of the tent pushed by Yuki, and what he saw shattered him.

The blonde dropped to his knees on the ground with a dull thud.

"No..." the officer murmured, looking around with unfocused eyes. "No, no, no, no..."

His head turned from side to side, searching for something, anything, a soldier still standing, a sign of resistance, some indication that not everything was lost.

But he found nothing.

"How is this possible...?" the officer said in a broken voice. "This was supposed to be... this was supposed to be the quietest post to command..."

The officer lowered his gaze to the ground and his hands sank into the grass.

"I paid a lot to be assigned here..." he murmured in a tone that was no longer fear but total disbelief. "I paid a fortune to get this post... nothing was supposed to happen here... it was supposed to be safe..."

Mark looked away from the officer and walked toward where Ely and Alice were working.

The two of them were moving bodies.

Ely was carrying three corpses over one shoulder and two under her other arm with the same ease someone might carry firewood.

Alice had two bodies, one in each hand, gripped by the breastplates of their armor as she dragged them toward a pile that was already quite high.

"Good work, you two," Mark said when he reached them. "You finished everyone off pretty fast."

Ely dropped the five bodies onto the pile and dusted off her hands with enthusiasm.

"It was nothing, Master!" she replied, quite pleased with the compliment. "It was like taking candy from a baby."

"I agree," Alice added, letting the two bodies she was carrying fall beside Ely’s. "Not a single one presented any real challenge."

"Not even the mages?" Mark asked.

"Rose took care of the mages in under a minute, my lord," Alice replied with a shrug. "And being honest, I don’t think it cost her much effort either."

Hearing them, Mark let out a short laugh.

"Well, I’d have to agree with you," he said, looking at the pile of bodies that kept growing. "I don’t think we were even at it ten minutes."

"Eight, Master," Ely corrected in a proud tone. "I counted."

"Really?"

"Of course, it’s always good to know how long a mission takes," Ely said with a proud tone.

Mark shook his head with a smile and left them to keep stacking bodies.

Then he felt a presence approaching from his right.

"Master," Aria said, walking toward him.

"What is it, Aria?"

"What are you planning to do with that guy?" Aria asked, nodding toward the blonde officer who was still on his knees outside the tent.

Mark turned in the officer’s direction.

"Interrogate him," Mark replied, looking at the man still on his knees. "I’d like to get as much information out of him as possible."

"And if he refuses to talk?"

Mark went quiet for a second.

"I don’t think that’ll be the case," Mark said with a shrug. "The guy doesn’t exactly look like someone willing to die for his ideals."

"But what if he does?"

"If he doesn’t want to cooperate..." Mark said in a tone that dropped slightly, "I’ll simply kill him and then revive him so he can answer my questions."

Aria looked at him in silence for a second and then let out a small laugh.

"That’s a very good plan, Master," she said with an amused smile. "Pretty twisted, but effective."

"Thanks, I suppose."

"Do you mind if I come along?" Aria asked, pressing her hands together in front of her.

"Fine by me," Mark said as he turned around. "Come on, let’s go."

Both walked back toward where Yuki and the officer were.

He was still on his knees in the same spot, head down and hands resting on the grass. He hadn’t moved an inch since Mark had left him there.

Mark stopped in front of him and his shadow fell directly over the officer, covering him completely.

The man, feeling the shadow, slowly raised his head.

His eyes, red and full of a terror he no longer tried to hide, met Mark’s as he looked down at him from above.

"Hey dude, do you mind if we have a little chat?" Mark asked with a half smile.