章 4: Preparations for battle (1)
Chris was grumbling, this might have been the worst night of his life. Last night, he was tired, both physically and mentally and yet he didn't manage to get much sleep and now, on top of that, his body was hurting, his neck throbbed and his eyes were bloody.
"Damn you rock pillows! I will eradicate you from this world!" This was Chris' first royal decree.
"Sire, are you up?" Berg came over after hearing Chris.
"Berg! Come over here!" Chris put his arm on Berg's shoulder and leaned in. "That rock pillow was a joke right? Is this a 'Let's haze the new king kind of deal?" Chris stopped and seemed to realize something. "Wait! Don't tell me you hogged all the good ones?"
"I-I would never my Lord!" Said Berg in a hurry. "We keep moving from place to place at a moment's notice. We have long lost all such luxury items. Now please come, let's eat!"
"Right..." Said Chris not entirely convinced as he followed Berg's back with squinted eyes.
On the way, many people bowed as they met Chris and he returned everyone's goodwill with a wave. It seems that word of mouth also worked very well in this world, as everyone addressed him as the 'Sun King'.
[Again with the Sun King stuff. Do they refer to all human kings as such? Or is this something prepared for me by that weird god?] Wondered Chris. [Let's ask later.]
The walk from Chris' quarters to the cantina only took a few minutes. Berg pointed to the southernmost cave as they got closer. "This is where we cook and eat. Most of the village will eat together, only hunters and sentries have their own schedules."
Chris checked out the cantina. Accommodations were very basic. There were few tables and chairs and no cutlery. Most villagers bunched up and ate standing in groups as they chated. Everyone had a big smile as they received their bowl of soup, a tiny cup, and a good piece of meat to chew on. Chris had a feeling that this was a better meal than usual for them.
And he was right, this was a special occasion as it was the first meal under the new King and so the cooks followed Berg's instructions and prepared larger portions. This certainly helped improve everyone's impression of Chris, who was currently trying to act as "kingly" as possible when he noticed everyone's gaze on him. He took small elegant bites of the meat and expertly used the tiny cup to scoop out the soup, in place of a spoon, as to not spill any on the ground.
[Hm? They look quite impressed. Are my manners super royal-like?] Chris was quite pleased with himself.
******* *******
People were chatting from a safe distance.
"Look, he is wearing the royal garments!" Said one villager.
"So this is our new king?" Asked another one. "He looks quite tall."
"Right, he is very tall. Quite impressive." Answered another ."But, why is he dunking his water cup in the soup?"
...
******* *******
"Aaah... I feel better already." Said a satisfied Chris. "So much stuff happened yesterday that I forgot to eat."
"I am very sorry my Lord! I should have made sure a meal was ready for you!" Apologized Berg.
"Don't worry, don't worry. I did not have much of an appetite anyway." Reassured Chris. "More importantly, how long until the list of personnel and resources is ready?"
"Titus' and Ferlin's lists are ready. However, I still need some time as I have to prepare Cid's share, my third lieutenant, who is still in recovery. But I should have everything ready soon."
"Then how about joining us on our patrol, my Lord?" Offered Titus. "It's always a good thing to be familiar with the surroundings."
[Hee...] Thought a reluctant Chris. [Standing next to Mr.Good Looks somehow pisses me off. It's lowering my stock with the ladies...]
"Well...Sure. Let's go."
"Don't worry, my Lord. There are no dangerous beasts near camp. The hunters have cleaned them out. We will be safe." Said Titus as he sensed Chris' reluctance and assumed he was just worried.
They left camp for an elevated spot with a good view of the valley. As Titus said, the patrol route was quite safe and they met no dangerous beasts.
[No monsters that's a relief. But this is very surprising, I can spot Red Maple trees and Douglas-fir trees. Those are all from my world. How did they get here?]
[Hm? What's this weird tree?] Chris' attention was grabbed by a tree he was sure never existed in his world. [A sturdy yellow trunk with thick branches and huge leaves. It smells nice too. Is it a fruit tree?]
He was about to touch the trunk when he was suddenly grabbed by Titus and pulled away. "Watch out!"
Just then he heard a disgusting noise "Sprltltltrt" followed by a huge amount of slime splashing where he stood just a moment ago.
"W-what the hell is that?" Asked Chris.
"Haha. This, my Lord, is the Yellow Barfing Tree." Said Titus with laughter in his eyes. "Its leaves contain a huge amount of that thick yellowish sap. It showers anything that moves beneath it with it. The sap contains seeds that the animals would then carry away. Don't worry it's not poisonous, but it's a pain to clean!"
"Thank god. Say, you didn't wait for the last moment to pull me away, did you?" Asked Chris.
"No way. I wouldn't dare my lord. Common, let's continue our patrol!"
Titus denied it, but Chris felt he was starting to see his real personality.
The group resumed their walk and Chris was now much more careful.
"Say, Titus... That sap smelled sweet, can it be eaten?" Chris finally asked.
"Sure. In the end, it's just sap, but just a little more watery and slimy than regular. You can make syrups and other products from it. It's just..." Titus hesitated a little.
"Just?"
"Well... If I picked some of that sap right now and offered it to you. Would you eat it?" Teased Titus.
Chris remembered the disgusting noise and the way it looked all slimy. "Heh, I guess not."
The group continued.
"Titus. What's that?" Chris pointed at a strange tree leaking water.
"Oh is it the urination season already?" Titus looked quite pleased.
[What?]
"Haha, you look surprised my Lord. Did you not have such trees in your world?" Laughed Titus. "The trees store water underground and spill it out a few hours every day during the urination season. The extra water helps the surrounding plants to grow, and the tree slowly feeds on them afterward."
"Thirsty, my Lord? It's quite fresh!" Said Titus, as he took a sip.
"As if! If I'm not eating that barfing sap, I certainly won't be drinking from the urinating tree!" Shouted Chris.
The rest of the patrol was done in silence. Chris noticed other strange trees and animals on the way. The tentatively named, Ra-Pig made a return. This time Chris looked at it in details, it was a pig, with rabbit ears and tails. There were strange red trees on the way, those were all completely covered in spider webs and were very carefully avoided by the group. They passed by a pond and found a cute family of feathered porcupine-like creatures.
[What the hell is wrong with this place?] Thought Chris.
Chris made many strange discoveries until the path eventually led the group out of the forest and it started going up the side of a nearby mountain. They were now somewhere north of Five Cave Village.
Titus pointed to a nearby Cliff. "This should be the best vantage point in the area to check out the valley. Are you delicate legs holding out Lord?"
"Huff...Huff..." Chris was panting, the climb was harder than he expected. "If you are so worried, why not carry me?"
"Oh, I wouldn't dare offer something that would be so humiliating to you my Lord! Your reputation is everything to me!"
[Smartass.] Cursed Chris. [Now I can't even order him to carry me for payback.]
"Huff... Huff... " They finally reached the top of the cliff and Chris slumped down. "Haaaa, water please, my gourd is empty."
Titus handed him his.
*Gulp* *Gulp*
"Haa." Moaned Chris. [The water is incredible in this world...]
"Tasty right? I filled it up at the urinating tree earlier."
"Pfft!" Chris spat the water left in his mouth and cursed Titus. [Damn that pretty boy!]
"Nevermind. I'm good now. Let's check the valley!" Said Chris as he wiped his chin.
Titus pointed somewhere south. "You can see Five Cave Village there. You can use its position to put things in perspective."
Chris looked south, and as Titus pointed out, he could see the village and even make out the individual shapes of people coming in and out of the caves. They were too far, however, to recognize people from where they stood.
He then pointed southwest. "We can't see it from here, but that is where the Kunall Scout camp is, right behind those hills. Their patrols always start from there." He then pointed south and continued "And that chain of huge mountains in the south is where the Kunall fortress is located, it's built in the main accessway between both our territories. Most of their remaining forces in the area are located there." Titus then pointed west. "The capital used to be in that direction, it's too far to see it from here and it's mostly ruins now anyways. Hm?"
Chris noticed Titus' surprised and squinted his eyes to see better. The capital really was too far to see, but he could see a small settlement down west. It was too far to see clearly, but from the tents, Chris guessed it was most likely humans and rejoiced.
"People!" Shouted Chris.
But Titus frowned "Not good my Lord, those people are going to be in trouble."
"They are? How come?" Asked Chris
"They settled near the Kunall's patrol path and their camp is too big to be missed by the patrol." Answered Titus. "They are most likely new to the area if they didn't know this."
Chris seemed surprised. "You know their patrol path?"
"Huhu." Titus showed a proud expression. "Sire Berg was a general in the army. Therefore, when the capital fell, he made the appropriate preparations for our survival." One of the first orders he gave to us sentries and scouts were to spy on the Kunall's movements in the area and map the paths they used for patrolling, record the number of patrols, the number of Kunalls in each patrol and so on."
"As it turns out, they are quite lazy and mostly use the same roads." he continued his speech with pride in his eyes. "Thanks to this we have never been hit by a surprise attack! If a patrol leaves camp, we'll know. And if they get too close we'll also know!"
[Hoo. Way to go Berg! You know your stuff!] Praised Chris.
"The current Kunall scout force is very small. Just a few hundred." Continued Titus. "This is not enough to patrol properly, thus their wait&see tactic. From what we gathered, the Kunall scouts choose to only attack if they made visual contact with humans, or if they pick up rumors from the stragglers they capture, or if a settlement gets too large."
"For some reason, the eastern fortress is also, regularly, sending out groups of Kunalls to the southern region of the kingdom. It looks like they are searching for something."
Titus turned his gaze to the human camp, down west and continued. "They also like to check on the ruins of old cities. To see if people are trying to rebuild. And those people settled a little south of Claymire, an old mining town. The Kunall might not be looking too hard for us, but if they spot that camp, they will kill everyone in it!"
"Not good!" Worried Chris. "How long until the next patrol?"
"Hmm, according to my scouts, the last patrol left four days ago. A new patrol is sent out every seven days, so the next one is due in three days. The refugee camp is only two days away from the Scout camp so they have around five days." Answered Titus.
"Alright." Said Chris. "Let's go back to camp, we have a important decision to make."
This time they did not enjoy the scenery and went straight for the camp. They only had a few days to prevent the slaughter of the other camp.
There was no center of command in Five Cave Village, therefore Chris went straight to his quarters while Titus went to call Berg and Ferlin.
It didn't take long before Chris heard Berg's voice. "Lord, we heard from Titus." He was accompanied by Titus and Ferlin.
"Please sit we have much to discuss." As he said this, he pulled out the map and Titus pointed out a spot west of Five Cave Village.
"They are camping there." Explained Titus. "It was hard to see from our observation spot, but there should be at least a few hundred humans."
"We should send people to warn them!" Said Berg. "They seem to be about a day away, is that right?"
Chris just listened in and took the opportunity to check out Berg in more detail. He knew that Berg was previously in the army, but he recently learned from Titus that he was a general.
[From what I have seen so far, he seems like a good honest man. Talented in planning but perhaps a bit too honest for scheming dirty tricks.] Thought Chris. [Still, from what Titus told me he is an excellent leader in battles and good for moral].
"Yes, boss!" Answered Titus. "Maybe we could even drop a few traps in the Kunall's path?"
[That one, on the other hand, is quite the rascal...]
"Traps? And provoke the Kunalls for nothing in return? That's ridiculous!" Criticized Ferlin.
[Ooh, so Ferlin is the calm and logical one.] Noted Chris.
Chris finally decided to participate in the exchange. "I have a few questions. First, how many Kunalls are there usually in a patrol, and how many people are needed to defeat them?"
Titus was stunned for a second but then answered "They have three patrols out at all times, and each one had twenty Kunalls and is dispatched seven days after the previous one. This time should be no different."
He continued. "Given our current lack of equipment, in a frontal assault we'd need...100 to 150 people, and we'd sustain heavy casualties. Kunalls do not wear armor as their bodies are very tough, but they use huge weapons that can kill many people in one swing."
However, Chris had no intention of fighting 'fairly'. "We need to avoid casualties. What if instead of a frontal assault we used our hunters and scouts for hit&run ranged attacks? How about we follow Titus' idea and prepare a bunch of nasty traps?" Chris had a nasty smile on his face as he suggested this.
"Absolutely! Arrows won't damage their bodies much, but enough of them will bring them down! Particularly if we aim at the heads!" Said Titus excitedly.
"W-wait, please my Lord." Said a panicked Berg. "We don't need to fight the Kunalls. All we need is to warn the refugees, and they'll have enough time to flee."
"Warning them is not enough." Explained Chris. "My plan is to recruit them. We need to seize every opportunity, or nothing will ever change! That's why the Goddess sent me here!"
"We need people to fight for us, and people to man the fields, or we'll have to keep hiding in caves for the rest of our lives!" Chris stopped for effect and continued when he confirmed everyone's attention was on him. "That's why I have prepared two plans!"
"The first is the easiest and safest. We just need to invite them to join us. Explain our plans, and hopefully, they'll say yes. If they do, there is no need to fight the Kunalls patrol. This will buy us a lot of time before having to actually fight them."
"But there is no guarantee it will be this easy. They might not be interested, or they might have a stubborn leader, or they might just be too scared to join us. Therefore, I have a prepared a follow up plan!"
"Since our memory isn't that good, we might just 'forget' about the Kunall patrol if the refugees refuse our offer."
"B-but... They'll all die." Said Berg.
"Let me finish Bergy." Continued Chris.
"B-bergy..."
"All we have to do is show up when despair is at its highest and remove the threat in one fell swoop! I can already see it. 'The Heroic King saves the day' Every gentle lady have fallen for his charms!"
They could all feel the fervor in his voice.
"Why does it feel like you are hoping for the first plan to fail?" Asked Titus.
"Ahem." Coughed Chris. "For this we'll need to pretend to be hunters coincidentally meeting with them. Otherwise they will suspect the reasons for our visit."
"Very well, I will pass this on to all our soldiers." Said Ferlin.
"Titus and Ferlin are on board. What about you Berg?"
"I will gladly follow your orders, my Lord. But we need to prepare for both scenarios appropriately." Berg started detailing everything that would need to be done. "First we need more space. Five Cave Village cannot accommodate that many new people. We need a new place, somewhere safe with more space."
"I will have my scouts take care of that." Acknowledged Titus.
"We will also need more food, at least enough for a few days, particularly if we have to move and can not hunt as much. Please relay this to your hunters Ferlin." Said Berg.
"I will!"
"We also need to prepare the soldiers and hunters for this. Hunting and fighting beasts is not the same as fighting Kunalls. I will take this job." Continued Berg. "Everyone we have four days! Go!"
Everyone left Chris behind as they left his tent in a hurry. They all had many things to do.
[Well, that was fast... What should I do in the meantime?] Chris suddenly felt a little lonely.
[I know Let's prepare a good victory pose!]
クリエイターの想い 
Pastare
Pastare Editor: LtBeefy
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The next chapter will come in a few hours!
Enjoy ! :)
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