章 37: A moment before war
The day of intended battle, outside the city of Na.
A suffocating atmosphere enveloped the tent. Other than the commander-in-chief and the captain of his guard, there were Riyasu, Akai, and Vorn.
Though it was the first time Chanakya had entered the Commander's tent, he didn't have any fascination about it. His face was lacking any expression as he stood behind Kinoya.
Kinoya was different, different from before. He was wearing a loose cloth around his body, in place of red armour. The aura of an immature soldier was nowhere to be seen.
The only thing that had remained the same, was the talwar at his back. In his only eligible eye, there wasn't any resentment nor fear for those who were seated in front of him, neither there was any respect.
"Do you have any captives?" Kinoya's voice was bold. Though it was kind of disrespectful, the captain of the guard didn't utter a word.
"Captives?" The question was too absurd for Riyasu to understand. Not just Riyasu, none had known the logic behind the question.
"Do you have it or not?"
"Insolent!" So Riyasu slammed his hand on the table, "Don't you know how to respect your superior? We can take your head for disrespecting your superior."
"Do I look afraid? Do you think I care? You can try if you want." It was a challenge to their authority yet the general of the west could only clench his fist under the table. It was not just him.
Veins were popping on Riyasu's forehead as he was about to shout, but Vorn seized the opportunity, "We have some. Why? Are you going to ransom them?"
Kinoya shook his head but didn't answer, "Do we have any Torria armours?" With a nod from Vorn Kinoya added. "Then I will need 100 captives fully dressed in the armours."
"Why do you want them?" Akai was having a bad premonition about it and it was proven true.
"I will kill them."
"Kill them?" Akai couldn't help but shudder, looking at his eyes, "But they have surrendered. Some of them, not even the soldiers."
"Then find those who are soldiers. If there is a problem with that, then give me slaves, those I could kill. I don't care who they are, as long as I get 100 in Torria armours. I need them within half an hour."
Kinoya's answer was too hard to swallow and wasn't matching his age, Yet they knew this was the very person who had forged his path through the dead bodies.
Kinoya had little interest in what they thought about him. "Who is the general of the army?" So he asked.
"The one leading now is called General Manu." What was surprising to others was that the answer came from Chanakya.
"What about the one called Whitefreak?"
'Whitefreak?' none of them had heard of him. To be precise, it was their first time hearing the name of such a thing.
"Who is that? Never heard of him." Hearing such a question Kinoya could only frown, "What about the number?"
*Boom*
"What the hell?" With the roar, Riyasu slammed on the table, spilling wine everywhere. He didn't care whether it was the General of the west or anybody else, even if it was the minister of war, he would have done the same. "Why the hell are you taking orders from 13 years old? Did you lost your pride?"
His attitude towards Kinoya couldn't be more clear, but what was more surprising for Riyasu, was the attitude of others. Not just the three-star generals but also the Cardinals general, the pillar of the empire, was acting like subordinate in front of Kinoya.
"It is not about thirteen years old, but it is about what is right?"
"Killing the surrendered soldiers is the right thing to do?" Riyasu's eyes were red as he was howling his words out.
"General, you should remember that you are in the presence of the commander-in-chief." The captain of the guard thundered.
"Was he not?" Riyasu snorted and was about to add something but the commander-in-chief stopped them all. "Do you have any other plan?"
"We have sieged all those cities in just two months."
"What if we can't do it in six months?" Vorn pointed out the biggest crisis they were facing right now.
Six months, they had only six months. That was the deadline and they didn't even want to think about the consequences if they fail to complete the mission.
Even Riyasu was no exception. No matter what he said, even he wasn't sure that they would be able to successfully siege the city.
"There would be around 100,000."
'100,000? That's too little. They are bound to have more.' Kinoya thought for a moment before adding "The whole army will push through the middle under general Vorn. General Akai at the right and Riyasu at the left will be defending."
Riyasu was fuming. It was clear that Kinoya's attitude was worse only to Riyasu. Though he wasn't too respectful towards Vorn, he wasn't disrespectful either. But now he went straight for the authority of the commander-in-chief.
'Now you have done it.' His lips curved up, 'You shouldn't have said that, you cocky bastard.' Masking his smile, Riyasu shouted, "Who wants your plan? Do you think you are the commander-in-chief?"
It wasn't just Riyasu, even the general of the west himself was staring dagger at Kinoya. The least worried person was Kinoya himself, "When the general is weak and indecisive, the one under will be insubordinate."
There was pin-drop silence in the tent. Chanakya was stunned, Akai's back was wet with sweat. Those who can respond was too stunned to take breaths.
Kinoya stopped for a moment to look at the commander-in-chief, and with a smile, he continued, "But lucky for us, our commander-in-chief knew what is good and bad for him, for the army and the empire. He will choose the right option, and will lead us to the victory."
His fake smile disappeared as soon as he turned towards Riyasu, "I am not giving you orders. I am just giving you a plan to win. If you don't like it, you just have to go and siege the city."
He didn't know about the imperial edict neither Akai had told him about it. So when he saw the army at Na, he thought that they had agreed to go with his plan. However, when he observed the commander-in-chief he understood something else was driving them. And the attitude of others just confirmed it.
There was only one person who wasn't phased by petty politics and asked, "If it is defending then wouldn't it be better to let me do it?"
Turning to Vorn, Kinoya shook his head, "I don't believe him neither will he listen to me."
Everybody knew very well, what Kinoya was implying but Riyasu dared not to refute. Even Chanakya flinched for a moment. His intention was loud and clear. Neither he was forcing anyone to jump into a death trap nor he was saying that he will win the war for them.
"But what about the cavalry?" It was Vorn again.
"Use it, however you want, as long as they don't obstruct the three armies movement." A moment of silence was followed by, "Riyasu don't use cavalry by your left." With the word, Kinoya left the tent. Chanakya followed.
"Wasn't that too much?"
Kinoya looked at Chanakya with a smile, "Didn't you notice?"
"Other than your sharp words, was there anything else to notice?
Kinoya's smile grew bigger, "Did you think they swallowed my insult because they wanted to? They did because they are desperate."
"Desperate?"
"There could be many reasons. But it must be an order from the emperor."
"Imperial edict!?"
"That might be the case."
"Do you think they will let it slide?" Chanakya felt he didn't receive the answer from him.
"Right now I don't care how they would respond as long as we gain the victory." Kinoya smiled.
"That is a cardinal general. Even if he is half worthy of his title he will learn the new way. The only problem is his experience. He might have won the skirmishes before but never did he was in the actual war, like general Akai."
"And if he evolves, he will understand the value of me. Otherwise, he will die even before he could touch me."
Chanakya stopped to look at Kinoya, "Do you possess the power of retrocognition?"
"Is there something like that?" Kinoya never thought he would hear something like this.
"How could I know, you are the one with retrocognition. But I know one thing that whether we win or lose there will be punishment for you."
"Let's not talk about it, what about my troop?"
"Only 17. Three sergeants had stayed. Two of the old sergeant and Palsa. I was surprised to see that the battle maniac was able to control his urges."
'Aren't you a sergeant too?' Kinoya never spoke out loud but he was happy, "That is too much. Tell them to rest for now, and get ready at noon. And you go with general Vaicus, charge at the front, come back if you survive."
"What do you want to kill me?"
"I have a different plan for general Vaicus. I hope Akai will cooperate."
"But captain, are you sure that they will come out to fight us?"
"Don't worry I will give them the offer they couldn't refuse."
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