Right after the battle, my mind was filled with some strange feelings. It was the first victory I’ve ever achieved throughout the entire life of mine, including both previous and present ones. I felt good even though I needed not to be seen so happy when there were so many casualties.
This battle had badly damaged both sides of the camps. 4,812 killed and 13,238 injured on the side of Robros, and 518 killed and 3,671 injured on the side of Kara. The mercenaries were the group with the worst damage, having almost 3,000 victims just for deaths. It was predictable as I wiped them out with the camelry unit, but the damage was noticeably enormous.
But it was not the time for us to enjoy our victory and moan for the dead. The war had just begun. Kara will soon be surrounded by all the enemies if we are satisfied with this temporary victory. So it was rather the time to reach out.
“All the troops, Line up!”
In the early morning of the next day, I gathered the special troops and the 4th army of Kasim for participation. They all seemed energetic, despite the fact that they went through a battle just the day before.
Padilla said with a worried face, coming out to see us off.
“Why don’t you take a day off and march tomorrow?”
“No. There is no time. The future of Kara is depending on this war, day by day. A rest for a single day can turn out to be our greatest regret, especially on this month. We should tire them down. That’s why I’m asking you to tell other troops to get prepared for participation. We need to conquer a castle within a week.”
“Yes, sir. I will ask them to do so.”
I continued to speak.
“And I request you to treat the prisoners from the battle well. Treat their wounds and feed them enough meals.”
“I know. They are the workers-to-be of our Kara.”
I stared at Padilla.
It was common that most of war prisoners were forced to be slaves except for nobles and knights who can be exchanged with ransoms.
But that was not what I planned.
“Do not think of making the prisoners slaves.”
“Pardon?”
“There will be many more prisoners to capture from now on. How can we possibly make them all slaves? Think of the number of food resources produced in this great desert. The number of those who came across the desert from Robros is over 300 thousand alone. What do you think will happen if we own the number as slaves?”
The current popularity of the western great desert consisted of 2 million in the western savanna and 1.1 million in the Shikar tribe nearby including Kara’s. But what if 300 thousand is added to it out of sudden? It was too obvious. With the desolation of the entire territory after the war, if supplies sent by the kingdom Robros dries up, what follows next will be a great famine.
Padilla’s eyelids fluttered.
“Then what should we do?”
“Kill them all, or send them back to their home.”
“May I ask what would you choose to, Great Prince?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“I’m not sure. It’s not what I’m deciding. Anyway, you just treat the prisoners.”
“Yes, sir.”
I took Padilla to a quiet place and whispered into her ear.
“Right, and the rumor about sis Armida. Have you heard of?”
“Yes, sir. Please continue.”
Padilla was listening to what I say much more seriously than she had ever before.
There was a rumor going on in Kara that Armida might be a Valkyrie. That was because they could never imagine any other existences to knock down two moguls who are both on the top of the whole continent except for a Valkyrie.
Thanks for that, sis Armida couldn’t sleep last night worrying about. If people confirm what she is, not only will she be summoned to Kronos and banned from getting down to the ground, but she’ll also get a major punishment.
“Just explain that she was a hidden mogul, and that’s why she guarded you when the delegation from Robros came.”
“Would it work, sir?”
“It will. She’s been so strong from the beginning, and at the moment The bald grandpa and Zenbe couldn’t notice her existence fighting fiercely each other, and they were unlucky to be dragged into her unexpected attack. That makes sense, right? Even if they are super strong, it’s unlikely to avoid such a sudden attack in a hectic situation.”
That did make sense in a way, despite the appearance of sis Armida.
“But doesn’t she look like, at most, mid-20s? Even if you get rather younger on the outside after becoming a master, there should be a limit, right? Given that she was able to knock those two out at once, isn’t she at least of higher class or the highest class in master degree?”
“She used to be called a granny. It’s said she got much younger when reaching the grade as a mind master. There are huge physical changes at the moment.”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
“And I want you to make her a family record in here. Armida Agenta sounds good.”
Agenta was a name of a female mind master performed about 400 years ago. As she hardly appeared throughout history, there were no people who know her, nor her descendants since she was unmarried.
So the name was just right. There will be no argument if I simply say there were descendants.
“Ah ha!”
“In this society where people take a leap of faith in blood, they’ll move on with this name. And put me as Armida’s third cousin on her mother’s side or some. I needed a family record anyway so just put us together.”
“Okay. I will, sir.”
“Alright then. Thank you for that. I’ll be back.”
“Yes, sir. Travel safe, please.”
Shortly after, I went on an expedition, receiving a worrisome look from Padilla. It must be a painful journey but the reward will be delightful. The war ends when our long journey ends successfully.
* * *
Upon the barren land arose the dense pillars of dust. It was rare to see such a view with almost 10 thousand camelry soldiers marching.
I ran again and again, from morning to night, took a brief rest, and then ran again.
I wasn’t sure how far we had come, and where were we. The great desert kept showing us the gaunt side of its nature, with the broad barren field endlessly stretched out.
On the early night, Kasim pointed somewhere in the south.
“Master, Merisella will appear soon.”
Merisella was a small city-state with its population of 25,000 that was 7 days away from Kara. The number of its military force was about 500 to 700. At the moment, moreover, it was only 400 of them because they had sent 300 soldiers for attacking the castle of Kara.
“Do not care about them. They are a small fish.”
“But there must be some stuff to rob from them. Haha.”
“Other troops will take care. We are moving straight to the destination.”
Kasim seemed a bit disappointed.
Kasim had been engaged in robbery for a long while here in the great desert. It couldn’t be easy for him to deny his nature of stealing, though his nature becomes a great help once in a while.
He can figure where we are exactly at now even in the middle of the great desert which is basically the massive empty plain. If it hadn’t been for the robbers moving all around the desert, there would’ve never been a possibility.
“Hey, Kasim!”
“Yes, sir.”
“You need to throw your stealing habits away. You become an Emir right after this war. It’s the time you started to get your dignity.”
Although he was being scolded, a positive emotion appeared on his face. He had lived as a thief in his entire life. It wouldn’t have been easy for him to imagine himself as an Emir respected and looked up to by everybody.
“Master, Are you really appointing me to the position of Emir?”
“Why are you asking something so obvious? You’ve won the battle yesterday! That simply makes you an Emir.”
“Thank you, Master.”
“So no stealing. If we scatter our army to rob and get counterattacked, we will all die. Wouldn’t it be so sad to die here while taking small stuff, when you are all going to be either an Emir or a gentry? And if we win a complete victory in this war, even some leaders around you will become Emirs together and you become an Emir of a larger city. So just concentrate on winning the war only, instead of missing the big pie by desiring tiny ones, understood?”
Kasim smiled even bigger and shouted to the whole army.
“Soldiers! No robbing in battles from now on! We only seek to win! A victory pays us much more!”
“Yes, sir!”
I knew the thieves are the fastest in calculating profits.
You always get a chance to rob here and there, but a chance to change your own life. There was no one foolish enough to exchange their bright future for mere greed.
* * *
We rapidly passed by the castle of Merisella. It seemed that Merisella thought we were attacking them and a countless number of torches appeared on the top of the castle walls. But we didn’t care about them at all. We had other battles ahead that is important. We couldn’t waste our energy just to conquer a castle with a few hundreds of guards.
After moving for another 10km ahead, we stopped marching.
It had been a while since the sunset. Even though we had been able to move a little further with the lights of magic lanterns, but we couldn’t anymore. We could easily lose our way and an enough rest was essential for the travel tomorrow.
At the late-night, I checked the map at a temporary camp of mine.
‘As moving a bit further past Merisella, we have traveled about 150km.’
I had stuck with the tough schedule today, as I thought we needed to overdo a bit on the first day. I felt like thanks to the strategy, we could reach the destination within 6 days including today.
There would be another historical battle that can destine the future of the great desert on the 7th day. If we win here, the territory or Kara expands again.
“Excuse me, master.”
I heard Nazir and Bayan calling me. I quickly folded the map.
“Come in.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Nazir and Bayan entered but hesitated in speaking. Apparently, there was something difficult to tell.
“What’s the matter······?”
“Actually, one of our troops heard you and Kasim have a conversation before.
I chuckled. It seemed like they were forced to visit my camp by their colleagues. Well, I wasn’t surprised because we had mentioned something of Emir and others during the conversation. Soldiers should be confused.
“So you are asking, what will you be given?”
They scratched their heads as if they were embarrassed.
“No, we are, we’ve already got our positions of the 9th gentry······. And we don’t desire for anything else but······.”
“But it’s me that would be in difficulty if you stopped desiring.”
“Pardon, Master?”
I continued to speak, putting the folded map inside my jacket.
“If we win a few times of the upcoming battles, no one can deny that you are the ones who have done distinguished services. Didn’t I say before, that the one who brings the head of Duke Bastian is an Emir from that moment?”
“Yes, master.”
“The upcoming battles are the same sort. Every time we win a battle, your statuses will rise upright. Not just for your statuses but your names will also be recorded in history as the greatest heroes of Shikar who saved the great desert, established the kingdom of Kara, and won the great battle. So you should deliver my words to everyone. Tell them to attend battles proudly, as their names will be written on the history book and remembered for generations. Understood?”
Nazir and Bayan smiled brightly. Apparently, my answer satisfied them quite a lot.
Seriously, it can’t be easier than this. So many people are willing to risk their lives for things that will vanish into the air in 8 years.
“Thank you, master. We will surely deliver your words to everyone.”
“Then go quickly and take a rest. The tough march continues tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.”
As they were about to exit my camp, some noises were heard. I went outside and saw a group of camelry troops dashing toward us.
It was only six of them so I assumed they came here for a conversation, not for an attack.
I moved forward.
“Who are you all?”
The mob of strangers got down from camels at once and walked in my direction without hesitation.
“We are envoys sent by the Emir of Merisella.”
“And?”
“Our Emir wants to know where you all came from.”
“We are from Kara.”
The envoys froze at the moment I mentioned Kara. The relation between Kara and Merisella was hostile at the moment. And I brought 10 thousand soldiers while their defense force consisted of less than hundreds. It would be weird for them not to fear us.
But one of them took a deep breath and soon started to speak as if they are threatening us.
“We don’t know how come the troops of Kara came all the way here, but do remember one thing.”
“What thing?”
“That there is the Robros expeditionary force of Marquis Fabius behind us. If you attack us the Marquis will not forgive you all.”
Every one of us including me smirked. They don’t seem to receive any news about the battle yesterday. As I remember, there were a quite number of Merisella soldiers who escaped from the battle. I have no idea what the heck they did until now.
Maybe we were marching so fast that we outran them heading back to their castle.
I gave a pat on his shoulder.
“Alright, I see. Just go. We were just passing by.”
“Can I trust your words?”
“Yes, yes. So just go quickly.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll count on you.”
After the envoys headed back in triumph, we all burst out laughing. I even felt sorry for their proud posture when their future was to be like a light before the wind.
Actually, Zenbe and his mercenaries were going to come here.
‘Well, they’ll figure it out soon or later.’
The second day came. We kept running since the dawn. It continued the next day and the day after.
Our destination was Ramis, a coastal town where the sea base of Robros troops located. If we conquer this place, not only could we cut their marine supply line, but we also could take half of the western part of the great desert completely.
Then the Robros troops cannot march toward Kara anymore, since the number of troops they can send to Kara will be reduced by 35 thousand after cutting the supply line.
That number can never beat Kara when 60 thousand of Fabius’ troops failed to.
And precisely after 6 days, we reached some seashore full of the smell of the sea