I lit the insides with a flashlight. There was nothing unusual at the entrance.

“Are there any forks inside?”

“Yes, deep inside, almost at the end. There will be two passages. One leads to the underground stockpile, the other leads to my personal quarters. Both passages reconnect, so it should not be of any concern.” The duke looked into the darkness, somewhere deeper in the tunnel.

“Old man!” I called out to him, and took off a pouch.

“Old man, take this.” I gave him night vision googles.

After all of the preparation were done, and the allies formed their shield wall, we proceeded inside.

While we will be the main attack force, those men will be our armor.

I attached a chemlight mark to everyone’s back to ease the recognition. It was necessary, since Old man was our only eyes. Even though everything was completely dark, the squad rapidly made its way through the passage.

“Checking time.”

“Wha…” One of the soldiers was confused by my behavior.

I looked at the green display of my wristwatch.

“3:12. Old man, we are resting here. Don’t forget to switch.” I broke a chemlight stick and the passage was lit with dim blue light.

“W-what k-kind of magic is this?!” I looked at the soldiers with disgust. So much for the ‘best of the best’, who trembled in fear.

“Stop it. You have 5 minutes of rest, and I suggest you use them well.”

Old man passed the night vision googles to Jester. Then they sat down to eat.

I sat down as well and drank some water.

“Are you… a magician…?” One of the allied soldiers approached warily.

“Any complicated technology is indistinguishable from magic. ‘Gulp’ We are moving in 1.”

“Got it!” (J)

Jester stood up and stretched out his hand to me.

“Hm? Thanks.” I accepted his good will.

“Check your weapons. Full combat readiness.”

‘Click’

‘Clack’

‘Clack’

Three magazines were loaded.

“Move out!”

Around 40 minutes later we encountered our first enemies.

“Contact up ahead!” (J)

BANG

BANG BANG

The allied formation crumbled immediately, some of them even dropped their shields.

BANG BANG

BANG

My ears were ringing, and I was a bit disorientated by the muzzle flash.

‘Clear.’ Old man told me. I guess.

The next engagement was better: this time the allies were not as troublesome.

BANG

BANG BANG

Our only source of intel was a dim light of a flashlight strapped to Old man’s rifle with insulating tape.

BANG BANG

“Clear!” (J)

“Checking time… 4:22. We are behind the schedule! Rest and then march!” After a couple of minutes to catch breath we continued moving. The enemy engagements were more and more frequent, which meant we are close. But we could not continue at this pace, the troops were running out of stamina.

Looking at how all of us were out of breath I squeaked with my last air.

“3 minutes! No more!” I threw a chemlight.

Almost immediately two bags of potatoes fell down…

“You ashame me…”

“Says the one who… Never mind…” (J)

“What were you going to say?”

“Nothing…” (J)

“You bet I’ll remember.”

“Still, I’d rather live for a bit longer, than die now.” (J)

“Haaa… Fine, be it your way.” I crawled to a wall and sat there. I looked deeper into the passage but there was only the darkness. I greedily drank water from the flask.

Perhaps we are so successful only because of how surprising our actions are. Unlike the medieval armies we don’t rely on the torches for night combat, and we can kill the enemy from the distance, before they approach too close, to strike from the darkness which handicaps any martial art and skill.

When it was the time to continue moving, I stood up and prepared to call everyone. However, before I could do it, I saw something… unexpected.

A door in the brick wall of the passage.

“Captain, it’s time to go?” (J)

“One moment.” I approached the door and opened it.