When their group was sent on the mission, they were given everything they needed to ensure its success.
Not only was their objective highly important for the kingdom, but they also needed to protect the princess who had been sent with them for some reason.
Needless to say, they weren't expected to wander enemy territory bearing the colours of the kingdom.
That would just needlessly reveal their identities and throw any semblance of secrecy out the window, placing a giant target on their back.
A white, blue and gold target, to be exact.
To avoid this glaring problem, the team members were each provided with a military uniform from the Coalition.
Having had many skirmishes across the years, both sides had claimed more than a handful of lives from the other.
However, not all soldiers who had encountered their enemies met their end in combat.
Those unlucky enough to survive were captured as prisoners.
Which was where the uniforms they were changing into had originated.
They were all uniforms that once belonged to captured prisoners.
While this wasn't enough for them to brazenly parade through the Coalition's territory, it was enough to potentially avoid a confrontation on the off chance they encountered members of the foreign country's army.
…Something that they had no intention of doing.
As the group members finished changing, they also applied other disguises, such as wigs and glasses, copying Cecelia's attire.
While none of them were exactly famous, it was quite likely that the soldiers protecting the border would have known the faces of the group's captains, considering that the four were stationed on the same border.
It wasn't feasible to remember the face of every rank-and-file soldier belonging to the enemy. However, remembering the general appearances of the enemy's 2-Stars was necessary.
After all… Those were the people you wanted to avoid the most in the case of a direct conflict.
Once everyone finished changing, they all walked to the back of the van.
Going in the van further from here wouldn't be possible.
If they wanted to go stealthily, they needed to all travel on foot.
For that reason, they also applied a spray to mask their inherent body odour.
Trying to hide would be meaningless if creatures with a heightened sense of smell could sniff them out.
"Things are going to be far more exhausting…" Delsie muttered as she emptied the compacted contents of the MRE containers into several extremely large backpacks.
The others did the same with other bags.
They still had around twenty-five days' worth of rations left. For the trip back, they left roughly five days' worth in the van, shoving twenty days' worth of food for seven people into six bags.
Given that the princess was a normal human, carrying such heavy weights was beyond her.
However, she shook her head.
"Let me carry at least a little too. I need to at least try to pull my own weight."
Forced by the princess's stubborn request, they had no choice but to move several considerably lighter supplies into a seventh bag they had brought along as a spare.
She packed only a couple of MREs and several miscellaneous items, such as the tear measuring tool and the Power Analyzer.
As well as the bottle artifact that produced distilled water.
Handing the bag to her, Ginny studied the princess worriedly.
"Let us know if it's too hard, okay? Don't hurt yourself."
Cecelia threw her a rueful nod before slinging the bag over her back.
Her face slightly tensed as she felt the sudden weight make her sluggish.
However, she gritted her teeth and quickly steadied herself after a fair bit of effort.
Watching her, Ginny frowned.
"Is it too much, your highness? Would you like me to reduce it?"
Cecelia shook her head before turning around and taking a few steps away.
"I'm fine."
Though she said that, her gait seemed a little unstable at times.
However, for the most part, she looked fine.
Watching this, Lorie shook her head with a sigh before handing off a large backpack to Blaine.
"...Are you really going to bring your stove and pot with you? I know there is space, but wouldn't it be better to leave them behind?"
Blaine nodded his head as he grabbed the backpack and effortlessly threw it over his back.
Lorie gave the boy a wistful smile.
"Though… Part of me thinks that's the right decision. I mean… If your other dishes are near your boiled crab legs, I certainly wouldn't complain about the extra baggage."
Ginny smiled mischievously as she patted Lorie on the shoulder.
"Now, who's thinking with their stomachs?"
Lorie stiffened as she hurriedly turned away with embarrassment.
"That was… I was…. I was just saying…"
Delsie laughed as she grabbed two backpacks and tossed one to Rick.
Watching this scene, Rick sighed, but a faint smile was also evident on his lips.
"Come on… Let's get going. The longer it takes, the longer we risk the tunnel being discovered."
As the group left the tunnel, Rick made a small pocket in one of the nearby tunnel walls, which they used to hide their van and protect it in case someone or something came.
After sealing the small pocket of earth, Rick did the same to the tunnel's entrance.
As the group walked away from the freshly closed entrance, they were greeted by the sight of a sizeable, expansive jungle.
The lush jungle was far more thick here than the area they had entered from.
Apparently, it's far more lively, too…
Although they had traversed short patches of jungle on the way to the tunnel, they had done so at night.
A time when most creatures were fast asleep.
Now… It was broad daylight.
According to their watches, it was just a little past noon.
The group needed to move around in complete silence if they wanted to become some abomination's late lunch.
Just in case, Lyn stood near the princess, ready to protect her at any time.
Blaine wasn't that much further away, either.
As the group trodded through the tunnel, they naturally created a protective formation with Cecelia in the center.
It was a standard procedure to protect escorted non-combatants, but Cecelia couldn't help but frown sadly.
However… It wasn't long before a part of her agreed it was the right decision.