After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

Surrounded by enemies, Annie, who was crouching low on the roof, was still somewhat shaken.

They actually found out?

She had observed carefully for a long time and confirmed several times that Elene had left before sneaking into the city. She hadn't expected that there were still experts in the Northern Army.

As planned, she intended to secretly capture a soldier and interrogate him about recent major events in the Northern Territory, especially information concerning Oswald.

This information is very important for someone who misses home but cannot go back.

But she was careless; a general as strong as a bear keenly noticed her actions.

The hundreds of Northern Army soldiers on the street were mostly heavily armored. Annie knew that once she fell into their hands, she would have no hope of breaking through their encirclement.

It was getting dark, so she had to buy herself some more time before making any plans to escape.

Having located several houses, Federico immediately ordered his soldiers to set them on fire. The flames, aided by the fuel, quickly rose, and thick black smoke billowed up towards the rooftops.

Forced to move, Annie drew her short bow and fired a shot. The swift whistling of the air made Federico frown. The arrow struck the giant axe that was blocking the way, forcing him to take a small step back.

Taking advantage of the enemy's distraction, Annie quickly walked through the thick smoke. Before the soldiers could even aim their crossbows, Annie, who was leaping in mid-air, bumped into an iron ball that was hurtling towards her.

However, the iron ball wasn't flying very fast, so it probably didn't have much of a killing power...

With a click, the iron ball disintegrated, releasing a burst of intense white light. Even though her reaction speed was fast enough and she managed to close her eyes in time, Annie still felt a stinging pain in her eyes in the bright daylight.

She stumbled against the stone wall of the house, grabbed the edge of the window, and just as she rolled into the house, a long spear whistled through the air and blasted into the spot where she was standing, sending up a cloud of debris and dust.

Upon missing his first strike, Erian immediately leaped forward, drawing his spear and simultaneously tracking his opponent's footsteps.

The two engaged in a chase, with Annie weaving nimbly through the dense housing, while Erian, who was rushing down the street, gave chase.

The soldiers quickly followed, setting up a tight net. As soon as Annie, whose vision was blurry and double-image, appeared in the room, she was met with fierce gunfire from the crossbowmen.

To get rid of Erian, who was equally agile and had been providing the soldiers with directions, Annie quickly nocked an arrow on her shortbow before leaping into the next room.

Along the narrow window, their gazes abruptly collided. To Annie's surprise, even after noticing the bow and arrow in her hand, Erian did not dodge or avoid it, but instead threw the spear in his hand with all his might.

A madman who fears no death.

Annie dodged the cold glint of light that streaked across the sky like a meteor. Her injured eyes prevented her from aiming again, and she could only abandon her attack and continue to flee amidst the increasingly dense footsteps of the soldiers.

But the cat-and-mouse game, which lasted less than ten minutes, was already over.

The circuitous soldiers had already blocked her path, and at the same time, a figure that filled Annie with despair appeared before her.

Paul stood on the rooftop, smiling slightly, looking just like an old man passing by.

With alarm bells ringing in her mind, Annie quickly unleashed a three-shot barrage, but Paul merely raised his hand slightly, and in an instant, his longsword cleaved through the arrows, before gracefully returning to its sheath with a fluid flourish.

"Give up your ridiculous struggle, soldier. If it weren't for the fear of accidentally harming civilians, you would have died on the spot."

Upon hearing this, Annie, still in a daze, noticed Lisa, who was floating above her head at some point.

Lisa put away her staff, and several magic circles behind her slowly dissipated into the void. She landed next to Paul, yawned without any regard for her image, and was clearly uninterested in what was happening here.

Annie dropped her shortbow and surrendered with her hands raised.

Despite careful planning and extreme caution, I never expected to be taken advantage of by a rough man.

There's no way to judge a book by its cover. Or rather, Federico, now grown strong and muscular, was too deceptive, giving the impression of being just a big, brute with little insight.

Annie sighed quietly. She had already decided that if her identity was discovered, she would threaten to use a curse. But now it seemed that her disguised and modified face with the potion had already helped her conceal her identity.

Especially Lisa; if even she can't see through it, then probably very few people in the entire Northern Territory can see through the disguise.

Federico was a little disappointed that he couldn't use the barbed wire, as he had always wanted to test the effectiveness of barbed wire on the battlefield.

The soldiers quickly stepped forward, bound Lisa's hands, and escorted her to Paul.

After jumping off the roof, Paul seemed to have a headache. Instead of asking any questions, he looked at Federico with a troubled expression.

"You didn't do anything wrong in the Southern Principality, did you?"

"Commander Paul, please watch your words. All our actions in the Southern Territory are in accordance with the orders of the Royal City."

Federico, with a serious expression, winked at Paul twice quickly. Paul immediately understood; it was probably because Miss Luna had allowed them to do something.

Luna used to be able to take the blame for the soldiers, but not now, otherwise wouldn't she be tarnishing the reputation of the acting duke of the Northern Territory?

"I understand. I misunderstood the righteous and loyal soldiers of the Second Division. Then, the scouts of the Southern Principality will be handed over to Battalion Commander Federico for interrogation."

After saying this, Paul bowed his head in apology and led the yawning Lisa away.

In order to ensure a smooth departure from the central district, Count Rondo dispatched his knights to cover the rear of the remaining troops. Federico and his men were infantry and also had to transport a large amount of spoils, so they needed to set off first.

"Same as always, leave some valuables for the civilians, then assemble and retreat in an orderly manner. Tell the brothers to go home."

After giving the brief order, Federico instructed his company commanders to lead their respective companies, while he, along with several heavily armored soldiers and Erian, escorted Annie into the camp outside the city.

Annie was a little nervous. She looked around and found that the Northern Army had not yet gathered the surrendered soldiers, which meant that the chances of her being noticed by Eleanor would increase significantly.

If she could, Annie would not want to see Elene; she had never liked the temperamental Elene.

She was, after all, a noblewoman, yet she could tolerate the lowly work of a personal maid, and wasn't afraid of being devoured alive by Oswald?

Moreover... while I can understand her aversion to the Hero Squad taking control of the Northern Territory, isn't letting the demons into the pass a bit too much?

If no one uses the Wish Star to return, how many years will that three-way melee last, and how many people will die before it ends?

Another thing is that Annie doesn't know if her marriage certificate with Oswald still exists, and if it does...

Not only was Eleanor disgusted, but she was disgusted too.

Back at the camp, Federico first went to the main camp to report the mission to Eleanor.

Alene sat in the main seat, now dressed in a crisp military uniform, her legs crossed as she carefully examined the intelligence gathered by the scouts, primarily concerning the events that had occurred in the royal city recently.

With her fingers gently tapping on the words "Countess Erin's Domain," Elena found the starting point of all the events.

The dungeon of Earl Eileen's territory.

First, Lilith's death verses took Thorne away. The Duke deduced that Thorne would appear in the dungeon where he had been resurrected, so he sent a message to Archbishop John, asking him to help with the investigation.

Medivh then set off for this underground city and his whereabouts remain unknown. The undead army has also passed through this area several times…

"Reporting to Lady Elene, the Imperial Guards in the city have been cleared out, and we have also captured a scout from the Southern Duchy."

Upon hearing Federico's report, Eleanor looked up and chuckled softly. She reached the same conclusion as Paul: only scouts seeking revenge would venture into a city occupied by enemy forces.

It seems we must talk to Luna. She can no longer blindly favor the Second Division, even if the Second Division is indeed meritorious and loyal.

"Ha, there really are some fearless people out there. Bring them up so I can take a look."