Erika in the camp was glued to the telephone all this time, ever wondering if something happened. She was afraid of the monsters that she faced last time, especially the unknown monster, that seems to have commanded the force.
At noon Bauer almost forced her to return home. Under the threat of her mother, she had to reluctantly leave the camp.
But she didn't stay in the palace for too long. In order to hurry back to the camp, she was started to quickly swallow her food, but her mother frowned.
"Don't swallow your food like that. Eat slowly." Mother said.
"Ah, excuse me. I will try to eat slowly." Erika answered. She was excited but didn't dare to eat fast anymore, afraid her mother might punish her again.
"Is something the matter? You seem to be in a hurry." Mother asked, suspicious about her activity.
"Ah, um... its nothing mother." Erika hesitated to answer. She was caught off guard and was in a pinch about what to do.
But it seems that her mumbling has made her mother even more suspicious. She kept pressuring Erika about it.
"Tell me honestly Erika, what were you doing until now and why are you in a rush. You even went out as soon as you finished breakfast." Mother cornered Erika. She was very serious.
Erika was in a pinch. She couldn't answer her question and kept mumbling. This made her mother press on even more. But as if a Godsend, the telephone set at home ringed.
"It must be father." Erika said. She was very excited "He must have reached the capital. I will go and pick it up." She ran towards the phone to pick it up. "Hello, is it you father." She held the phone on the left side and kept talking for a while.
"Yes, mother is here. I will give it to her now." She said and then called her mother. "mother, father wants to talk to you."
She brought the phone to her mother and handed her the receiver. She took the phone and started talking to the duke.
Erika found this to be her opportunity to escape her mother's scrutiny. Without wasting any time she ran away and went straight to the camp.
In the forest the platoon fought off some more random attacks from various monsters and reached another opening.
This was again full of treasures and valuable items. However, This time they prepared for any eventualities and formed up the defense while the cart bearer soldiers filled up the carts. The soldiers also replenished their ammo.
Meanwhile the telephone operator called the camp, "Hello, hello, this is the first platoon from the dark forest."
In the camp the other operator received the call. "Yes, first platoon, this is headquarters. We hear you, over." After picking up the call, the operator called Erika, "Kommandant, a call from the first platoon."
This was the call Erika was waiting for since sending the platoon in. She couldn't control her excitement. She almost screamed to the operator, "Yes! what are they saying. Is everything alright? Do they need reinforcements or anything?"
In the forest the telephone operator handed the phone to Emil who was in command of the force.
"Milady, I mean kommandant, this is Emil. We have located the point where we previously found the treasure."
Erika picked up the phone from the operator and listened to Emil's report.
She was having a bad feeling after listening to what Emil said and couldn't control her anxiety.
"Load as much as you can and immediately get out of there. I feel like something big is coming your way. Don't wait." Erika ordered Emil.
"As you say kommandant. I will get out of their immediately." Emil put down the phone and started to prepare the platoon to move.
He talked to the leutnant and the NCOs and ordered the troops to march. "Our kommandant believes something is not right and the monsters are planning something. So we must move." He said to the soldiers.
All the soldiers started to form up the line and moved out immediately. They were again marching through the dense forest at a very slow pace, keeping eyes on even the slightest of movements or noises.
It seemed as if the premonitions of Erika were right and the soldiers barely made it out of the clearing before they could hear the Earth shattering roars of monsters from the direction. Emil felt relieved as did the other troops.
"Ah, it seems our kommandant was right again." One of the soldiers said. "I am glad we are fighting under her." The soldiers were happy and cheerful.
Though they were now tired of traversing through this dark and dense forest fighting monsters. Some of them had their uniforms torn apart or were covered in blood and carcasses.
Emil or the other veterans couldn't cheer up just yet. They knew that the monsters will come looking for them and will catch them in a place that will be even more dangerous than the clearing.
"Hurry up. We are not out of the forest yet. Those monsters will soon come looking for us. And if we stay the night they will have huge advantage." Emil shouted to the soldiers.
The leutnant ordered the troops at the back to be more vigilant. An NCO went ahead to the scouts.
The platoon kept encountering weaker and mid sized monsters all throughout the journey.
"Don't dwell on them. They are trying to slow us down so the bigger ones can catch up to us." The leutnant ordered them.
Some monsters caught up with the soldiers in the rear. They had to be cut off by the soldiers. Luckily there were no injuries.
The platoon tried to follow the path they previously cleared earlier to reach the clearing. This eased their journey a bit coupled with the fact that the area was clear of monsters.
In the camp erika was walking all over the conference room of the kommandantur. She was having an uneasy feeling. She had already called the platoon various time and confirmed that all was fine but still she couldn't rest.
"Milady... I mean kommandant, you are worrying too much." Bauer tried to ease her mind. "You have already called them several times and confirmed they are fine so there is nothing to worry about. So please sit down."
Erika understood that Bauer was right and worrying was useless. So she sat down on a chair near the conference table. But she still couldn't calm down.
Before Erika could say anything she was cut short by a soldier who came inside the room.
"Kommandant, the first platoon is back." He said.
Erika now jumped up from the chair. She couldn't control her excitement. She ran straight to gate of the camp. Bauer followed behind her.
"Kommandant slow down. They are back you don't have to rush like that." Bauer screamed behind her.
It seemed Bauer's words fell on deaf ears. Erika didn't stop running. She rushed out of the camp holding her breath to meet the returning troops.
"Milady, ahem... kommandant, you don't have to rush to meet us like that." A familiar voice and the silhouette of a man she knew stopped her.
It was Emil. He greeted Erika while the other troops behind him gave her a military salute.
Erika was eager to hear from the returning soldiers about what happened in the forest. She bombarded the tired troops with excited questions. The soldiers tried to answer as best as they could.
"Ahem," Bauer cleared her throat. "Kommandant, the troops are all tired and it's getting late already. You should let them rest. Also if you are any more late, this time the madam will have you grounded for an entire year."
As much as she was excited to know more about how the mission went, she couldn't argue with Bauer on this point. Since it was almost dark and the condition of the troops was also not very good.
The soldiers looked tired. Their faces clearly reflected the hardness of the mission they went through. They were hungry, beat up and shaking. Some of them were covered in blood and mud and even their uniforms were in tatters.
"Fine, I will stop." She pouted at Bauer. "Listen troops, all of you have done a great job. Now take the loot to the camp and then you are dismissed. Go home and have rest. Tomorrow we will count the amount of treasure we got and have a feast at the camp for celebrations."
The last part cheered up the troops. They saluted her and took the carts inside the camp. After that they returned their weapons and ammo took baths in the camp bathrooms.
"Oh, one more thing." Erika said looking at Emil and the Leutnant, "Write a report about how the mission went today and don't miss anything out on it."
Saying that Erika left the camp. She changed her uniform before meeting her mother.
"Oh, welcome home. I was already thinking about grounding you for a year this time." Mother said seeing Erika return. "Where have you been after running off?" She enquired.
"Ah, I was just outside the town. Looking at the rural scenery." Erika answered.
She knew she would have to face her mother. So she prepared the answers beforehand. She sighed a relief in her mind but maintained a posture of seriousness outside.
Lucky for Erika, mother did not enquire more about the fact. Erika took a bath and had a dinner with her mother where she listened to what her father said from the capital. After that she went to sleep.
In her bed she couldn't help but wonder, how big the loot this time was. She was smiling.
"Maybe I will be able to recruit a whole regiment this time." She thought before dozing off to sleep.