Chapter 300: They’re like completely new people!

Only 2 weeks have passed, but Queen Maribel’s group has gotten a lot stronger already.

“At the rate we’re going, it won’t be long before we could take back our kingdom!”

“Ohh? Let’s move to the next phase then!”

“Already!?”

“What do you mean? I thought you wanted to retake your kingdom as soon as possible?”

“Y-yeah, but we assumed it would be half or a full year before we take action…”

Actually, we already made various preparations toward that goal.

“I agree, we can’t afford to dillydally. We have the people forced to be under their rule to worry about.”

Queen Maribel subtly nodded and said so.

Likely thanks to her powerful Gift, [Battlemaiden], Selen has already declared that she was battle ready despite training for only a short while.

As for Ganzasu-san, who possessed the [Iron man] Gift, it would seem that Gori-chan’s spartan training has made his muscles bulge to the point that his armor no longer fit him.

“Right. We might have been training for only a short while, but we’re nothing like we were before! As we are, we’re totes…err, that is, certainly going to succeed!”

…it would seem Gori-chan passed not only battle know-how to Ganzasu-san but also the way she talked.

By the way, the group has grown in number from 50 to 80. We had collected the soldiers who finally made it to the small oasis from before as well as those who were just wandering around nearby.

“We might have gotten stronger, but the enemy still far outnumbers us! Moreover, this time, they can use the town as part of their defenses. So, make no mistake, this will be an arduous battle! And yet, failure of any kind is not an option. This is our last chance to take back our kingdom! Even at the cost our lives, we must take back our home!”

“““OOOOOH!!”””

In response to Queen Maribel’s heroic resolve, the soldiers of Enbala raised their fists in the air.

“Mhmm. In acknowledgement of your resolve, I’ve prepared some additional numbers for you.”

“Additional numbers?”

“Yup, and there they are.”

“Them!?”

Upon seeing the arriving group, Queen Maribel’s group gasped and brought up their guard.

“It’s alright, you can all relax. Everyone here has been fully rehabilitated, right?”

“““Yes, sir! We have turned over a new leaf!!”””

The new arrivals shouted their reply and then snappily saluted.

As for who they were, they were the sand raiders who have been recently sent to the village’s rehabilitation facility.

“They’re, they’re like completely new people! What happened to them!?”

Queen Maribel was surprised by the dramatic change and asked so.

To which, Granny Nema grinned and asked something back.

“Eheeheehee, do you really want to know?”

“N-no…I’ll have to decline…”

Now that the reformed sand raiders were part of our forces, their first task was to shave off as many of the enemy soldiers as they could.

I wonder how big of a subjugation force the enemy will send once the reformed sand raiders falsely reports the Queen’s location?

After that move, they were to blend in with the enemy force and cause confusion by attacking their supposed allies in various locations of the city.

“I see…then we can advance all the way to the palace with minimal resistance.”

“Ohh, we’re actually getting inside the palace through a tunnel.”

“Tunnel? What are you talking about…?”

I had already setup an underground tunnel that led directly inside the Enbala kingdom’s royal palace, so we could storm the place at any time now.

　　　　◇　◇　◇

“…huh? We’re going to be fighting soon, so why aren’t you, I don’t know, more alive?”

“““It’s because this isn’t what we expected at all!”””

…which brings us back to this moment.

“How do I explain this? We imagined that we would be risking our lives more to take back our kingdom, I guess.”

“We totes…certainly didn’t think this operation would be this well setup.”

“Well, we can never be truly prepared, right? Ahh, I almost forgot, we have prepared many potions, so feel free to carry with you one or two of them.”

“““You even have potions!?”””

By the way, to assist Queen Maribel’s group in battle, Gori-chan as well as 10 hunters led by Selen were participating in this operation. Moreover, we also planned to have villagers who could use healing magic—such as Kurine-san, the elf who had the [Healing hand] Gift—wait in the underground tunnel just in case.

“Alright, let’s go, shall we? There should be a hundred soldiers guarding the palace, but I think our side should be able take care of them.”