Walter and his group settled down in the middle of the woods and continues to plan ahead their strategy of attack against the enemy.
Since they have reached their destination much faster, Walter decided that it would be now better if they would ambush at night, that is, if they ever find the enemy's camp before the sun goes down, which seems to be already starting to do so.
If the two people he sent take time more than he is anticipating, then it would be bad to make an attack then; it would be very much harder since they would need to light torches, which if they do so, they will immediately be found out. The best kind of attack they have on their choices would be an ambush -
They would ambush the enemy camp in the night without them finding out they are there in the first place. Then, they would need to defeat their enemy without killing most of them, and if they can, they will capture them all. But most importantly, the safety of the slaves is their priority, only second to themselves.
Walter also made specific commands for all of them to follow to make sure everything would work out and for them to not make mistakes. Because of this, he is confident that they will be successful.
The plan he had thought of has the highest chance of them succeeding without any damage to their group whatsoever, that is if they execute it perfectly.
Walter had conveyed all of these to his group, and they all nodded to it with no one disagreeing. In fact, they are amazed by how well he's thinking about it, in his plan, he includes the well-being of everyone, not just including them, but also the slaves and the bandits themselves. Although the plan was simple, it was the best that most of them probably won't have enough strategic skills to figure out, especially when the strategy they're used with is the strategy of straight-up barging into the enemies just after they discover their location.
He is a good leader, they could all say that for sure: confident to lead them and observable enough to know how to utilize the use of them all - they are sure that he already has the idea of what their skills are just by observing them.
~~~
The sun is already going down and the light that is entering the gaps of the leaves and large trunks of the trees is already orange, soon turning into purple.
They have already finished planning, and after, Walter did not waste time and decided that they should introduce themselves to each other, knowing that it would be better if he knows them all by their names so that he can command them specifically by it and not just by pointing and signaling at them.
And luckily, they were all able to introduce themselves just before the two people he sent to survey the area came back with their neighing horses still alive and well.
[ It's a success Ainzach-sama, we've found their base... and it's not that far from here. ]
[ Good job... Did you count how many they were there? ] satisfied, Walter nodded, replied, and asks a question.
[ About twice our number... And they all seemed to have a good set of weapons and armory... It would be dangerous if we risk barging without any kind of plan... ]
[ Don't worry about that, Ainzach-sama had already figured out one. ] Zel spoke before he could. He sounded proud as if he was the one who figured it out. Of course, the two that are still on horseback did not ignore him and responded to him with a nod, also seems a bit surprised that Walter had already planned an attack before they could even report.
[ If you located their base without them noticing, then I'm assuming they're not on guard? ] he guessed confidently - though - he was immediately brushed off by the two of them.
[ No... They have people guarding their perimeter... We're just lucky we're able to see them from afar, far enough that they won't notice us. ]
[ Hmm... Is that so? ]
That's a problem - Walter thought as he pauses for a second, thinking of changing the plan he had already come up with if the circumstances about the enemy were a bit different than what he had thought so.
( I need to see them myself so that I could plan ahead more... ) muttering to himself, he turns to the others and gave his command.
[ We'll move to a different location... Gerald, Kira, take us to the spot you were able to observe them. ]
~~~
Walter and his group arrived at the location of their enemy.
Climbing up a tree, Walter observes them for himself, and as he does, his face immediately changed to the face of displeasure.
There were too many enemies. They're more than twice their size, at least at a number that would surely exceed that, and who knows there might be some others that are still not there and are still hiding in their many tents or still strolling inside the woods.
And like what the two he sent had reported, their gears are a bit more advanced than your everyday bandits, at least they're wearing armors and weapons that won't be ashamed to those of the guards in the city.
Anyhow, they're a bit careless, there are at least three or four people that are guarding their base, but almost all of them are either resting or sleeping. He would be able to take advantage of that and he's more than happy that these people were those kinds of enemies that don't think much about the risk of being ambushed by an opponent.
He had already fought many battles like this before, back when he was still under his many instructors and when he went to the academy itself. Either way, the task he sees in front of him is not really something that he considers difficult, at his standards, it would be average.
They would be very difficult opponents for ordinary groups of guards, adventurers, and mercenaries - luckily, Walter was the one who was sent to deal with these people, it's the right choice that Arthur had chosen him for this mission.
[ Yosh... ] satisfied, Walter went down the tree and went back to his group.
[ We'll stick to the plan... Only now... I will need to go on the front lines. ]