Espionage

Elle had rushed into ambushing a Squad Leader because the base camp would probably begin to suspect something was wrong soon. The rest would be on a higher alert level when they realized their comrades were disappearing one by one.

And Elle decided it would be best to confirm if they had noticed.

So with her Silent Movement ability active, giving her one hour of stealth, she approached the base camp.

A pair of elves stood guard, blonde and more heavily armored than the scouts and Squad Leader Elle had encountered so far. Each squad had three guards who were assigned to remain in the base camp.

The camp itself was surrounded by six massive trees, the branches and roots providing natural barricades by winding close together. The only openings large enough to fit a person were guarded. Besides the opening that Elle was approaching, there was one other opening that was also guarded although each only had two guards.

But Elle wasn’t about to test her luck too much. While no ordinary person could notice Elle through her low visibility and silent movement, someone in the camp could be observant enough to do so.

Instead, she went around the side, and found an area where several elves sat around eating. “Haven’t heard from Viridi or Myra from my squad in a while,” one said.

“I haven’t seen Gilda or the Squad Leader in a bit either,” another said.

“Some of them haven’t been back in a week. And Squad Leader Miriel usually comes back every day. Do you think something is wrong?”

An elf with a commanding presence, golden hair tied up in a ponytail, eyes green as any tree leaf, strode up to the gossiping elves. “Do you think our scouts could be defeated by stray goblins? How about Squad Leader Miriel?” She demanded an answer of the gossipers.

“No, Squad Leader Herme,” one choked out tensely.

“Then there is likely something more dangerous lurking in these ruins. From now on, you are to patrol in pairs and report back at regular intervals. No more of your foolish solo excursions that last as long as you please.” Herme made her orders clear, and then stepped away.

This would make Elle’s sneak attacks more difficult. And the next one would confirm their suspicions.

But the fortunate thing was that they had no idea who Elle was or what she was capable of.

Elle continued her observation, scanning the camp for any other key figures. She noticed a few tents, but there wasn’t much in the way of structure. However, there was one especially large tent, and Elle could faintly hear mechanical noises from inside. That was likely the workshop of the Lock Mistress. But the timer on Elle’s skill was running out, so she retreated even though she got no confirmation on the Lock Mistress or the unit’s Commander.

Once she was a safe distance away, Elle returned to her Domain.

Inside, the goblins were working hard. The agriculture level had been raised to 2, and the fields had tilled themselves on one of Elle’s Race level ups. The vending machines provided calories, and the mini fridges that had appeared in every room prolonged how long scavenged food could last. But Elle still ordered the goblins to begin planting the fields to diversify their diet.

She wanted to take as much time as she needed to wipe out this unit of elves. And of course she would enjoy playing with her captives in the meantime.