章 16: Enemies, fated to meet

"Other than the Red corp, two corps from the General of West's front will also be there. 25,000 shield bearers, 20,000 archers, 30,000 cavalries and 75,000 infantries and with the army of recruits, they will be around 180,000 strong." After the soldier read through the scout report he left the tent with a bow.

"That is not much. We have 250,000 well trained one. It will be easy"

"Never underestimate the enemy."

"You don't know anything about war. The general allowed you to be in this tent, but that doesn't mean you can talk."

The tent had all the general of the army with a great general as the commander-in-chief. The meeting, that is going to decide the future of the kingdom of Torria, was taking place. It was natural that there will be an argument, however...

"Come on don't be like that. Boy, tell me about it. How they are going to overcome the advantage of 70,000 soldiers?" Though he was called boy, the man was already in his 30's, but compared to the great general, face decorated with a long white beard, he was on the younger side.

Being arrogant in front of the great general Kirmac would have been a grave mistake. Great general Kirmac is known for his benevolence and kindness, still one couldn't forget the bloody pages of history that had earned his rightful place as one of the three Great Generals of the Kingdom of Torria.

Thinking about it, the official couldn't help but choose his words with care, "To begin with, we don't know the character of the enemy general. He certainly is the weakest of the four cardinal generals of the empire, however, he is also the one about whom we know least about. We don't know about his attitude, his tactics and his mentality."

"What is there to learn, we attack them and kill them." Unlike general Kirmac others was least interested in the opinion of a non-combatant.

"Yes, we should attack them before they are ready. We should attack them when they have the least expected." The official was eager about it. It not just that he was nervous about his first deployment, rather…

'The wars of the world are changing. Even the shaman of the great temple of Djin had confirmed it. A disaster is coming. Who could be a bigger threat than that empire?'

"That will be unethical. We can't do that." The great general didn't say anything but the support of others were speaking for itself.

Hearing these expected responses, the official couldn't stop sighing. "A spy in the Kingdom of Cantela have reported that the supply line of the kingdom was attacked by the empire even before it reached the battle region."

"If those empire's dog doesn't have any moral that doesn't mean we don't have any too." This one was the right-hand man of general Kirmac and he was against the entry of an official in the military tent. But it wasn't just any official...

'Revolutionary'.

It was this term the king had used to praise his thinking. Coming from the family of a former great general he had spent all his childhood in reading countless historical records and he had understood...

'Those who got too stuck up with their old views had always gone extinct. The empire survived only because they had adopted those changes better than anybody else.'

His thought was different from others and that attracted the attention of the king. It was also for this reason why he was sent here. "It is not a matter of morals or ethics, it is about the results. Do you think that people will remember us just because we were righteous even if we lost the war?"

'One can't always exercise logic over the hot-blooded moral' He had known about yet he can't help it.

"Great lord had once said, "What is there to win a war when you have already lost your moral ground?"."

"You are a scholar of the royal court. But here you are like a wallflower. Let us handle the matter of war. We are bred to fight." The last sentence ignited the fire inside them.

One after another voiced their decisions and the protest got stronger. Those, who were standing behind the official, didn't even dare to take a breath in front of such strong blood lust and...

"It is a war, not a tea party, where you invite someone to your home and let him rest. If you miss the

chance it will be too late" The official was almost pleading to them, 'Don't you know we are on the same side?'

The great general raised a hand and stopped others from talking. "What is your name boy?"

"It is Nus, esteemed great general."

"Listen Nus, I understand you want to win the war, but morals and ethics are something that we believe in. Once broken it can't be repaired. If we forget about the moral it would be a good idea to attack the enemy before they are ready but we have an army 250,000 strong."

The old beard stopped to take a lung full, "And the movement of such a large army will attract the attention of the enemy scouts too."

The voice of general was pretty calm, neither fast nor slow. And the logic didn't give Nus any chance to refute. "On top of that, we are in the open plain of Eale. If we don't have anything like the beast tide army of Penia or Knight Templars of Cantela, then it will be impossible to give them to a surprise attack."

'Surprise attack? That is a pretty good name. At least the general is not as head-strong as his subordinate. But...' He was still reluctant but he nodded, "This official understands the logic behind the great general's words."

"Prepare the army we will meet them at the plane of Eale on the next full moon."

***********

"How much more?" The fatigued voice came from behind. All ten of his squad was fatigued from 5 days long marching. It would be wrong to say that he wasn't.

"It would take one more day. By tomorrow noon we will be there." An old man answered for Kinoya. The difference in size was too distinct. Throughout the journey, Kinoya met many people, but somehow the aura around the old man was a little different. "But we won't get much time to rest."

"It is our duty to fight, no matter where it is, we will fight."

"It good to be young."The old man smiled hearing the answer from Kinoya yet before he could say it loud, Kinoya added, "But it will be better if we can take some rest before going to the front line. Even a little amount of fatigue can cause our life in the war."

The squad broke into laughter. "Sergeant, you are too afraid. Do you think that demonic training was in vain?"

"Sergeant is a child, after all, he needs his afternoon nap."

They burst into laughter again. Somehow the old man looks were different again.

"Are you 12 years old?"

"Yes, the sergeant is 12 years old. But don't go by the look, he is top of the recruits."

"He got both dual sword and shield sword skill. The sergeant isn't someone you should mess with."

'Aren't you making a joke out of me, a moment ago?' Kinoya couldn't help but take another look at his squad members.

Journeying with them for a month made him realise that none of his squad was bad at heart. They might be little dumb, straight-forward but not the ones with evil intentions. He was happy with his squad. 'Soldiers can be breed through war but you can't breed a good heart. You have to born with it.'

"So you are the one called Kinoya?" Heavy voice of the old man broke his clumsy thoughts. The air around the old man changed again. Kinoya straightened his back and confirmed.

"Do you want to change the regiment?"

"Does it matter? It's not like I got backer in the army. I will be the same no matter where I go, someone with no background. I have just only one job and that is to fight. I will do it no matter from which regiment I am from."

"Boy, I will be looking forward to fighting with you." With the words, the old man turned and left.

'That old man must have some background. Did he want me in his regiment? If he has his regiment he is at least a one-star general. But he wasn't riding a horse.' Kinoya shook of those thought out of his mind, 'No matter who it is, I don't have to hurry as long as we are on the same side.'

*********

"Pitch the tents here, we are going to stay here"

"Sergeant, can we go into the city?"Drow pleaded.

"Yes, sergeant. It's been a long time. We hadn't had any good food or company." Other also added the request.

"No one under Major rank is allowed to enter the city."

"But?"

"No, but, think about it. What will happen, if fifty thousands of you enter the city at once? This place is good, close to the well. Not too close nor too far from the camp centre. Pitch here. I think I can get something other than the dry ration, meat maybe." Kinoya could hear the cheers as he left.

The front of the supply station was too crowded, filled with big muscled men. Some were wearing red armour, while the others were wearing the blue one with the snow-peak mountain symbol. The number of blue armour was far more numerous than the red one but that didn't mean anything to Kinoya.

He went to the supply counter and showed the badge. The person inside the counter was a little surprised when he saw Kinoya. The people around him were too big and they were old enough to have Kinoya as a child.

'This child must have some background or have immense talent.' Without hesitation, he pulled out a good beast leg with a bag of rice. But not all was as clever as this man. As soon as Kinoya gabbed it another handhold the beast leg.

"Who lost a kid? I fished out a kid with my food." The man was over 6 feet tall with muscles bulging all over the body. He was smiling with his pure yellow tooth while looking towards Kinoya. "This is no place for a kid. Boy, you should go back and send your father back."

'Should I ignore it? There is no reason for me to fight a useless fight.' Kinoya looked around. The leg in his hand was fresher than the meat others were getting. He didn't understand whether the supplier was helping him or creating trouble for him?

"Boy, why are you holding on? It's not a toy?"

"Then why are you snatching candy from a child?"

The man looked at Kinoya with confused eye and burst into laughter "The boy thinks it's a candy."

With his loud voice, soon others joined. The blue ones were laughing, while the look on the faces of red corps was ugly.

"If you want to fight then move out, don't block the entrance."

"Who is going to fight with a child?" The man tried to jerk off Kinoya from the leg.

"Why not we fight over there?" Kinoya was all smile.

The man looked at Kinoya in amusement, "Boy, you don't know when to give up. But don't worry about it, I will teach you a lesson, in place of your dad." Both of them came out but none released the leg. Soon other ringed around them.

"Boy let me tea…" he didn't able to finish his word before he received a kick on the back on the right knee. Even before he could understand what just happened he was already on his knee. But he was a trained man after all.

Even on his knees, the man larger than Kinoya. He threw his palm towards Kinoya. Kinoya may not have enough strength to knock out in one punch but his agility was high enough not to get caught.

The swing missed and Kinoya moved to his blindside. The kick soon connected to the other side of the man's head. It was quite a blow but wasn't enough to knock him out but he was fuming now.

The man stood up, holding the leg in the left hand he took out the sabre and…

The temperature plunged as a chill ran through his spine. The invisible pressure stopped him from breathing...