"And, you are?" The furbolg asked curiously, he had been aware that someone was spying on his and Faust"s conversation, however, he wasn"t quite sure of the persons motive nor location.
The fox-kin soldiers opened their eyes wide in surprise, including Faust, none of them had sensed Caesar nor expected him to have been following them.
Caesar didn"t pay much heed to their shock and half bowed elegantly, putting his right hand over his heart whilst smiling… "it"s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, I am referred to as Mephisto, however, my friends call me Caesar" he greeted courteously.
The furbolg nodded his head, "I am known as Tiberius, but my family and clansmen call me Tibber, alas, I am more interested in your position within the fox-kin than your name" Tiberius said bluntly.
"Of course, I am the strategist that leads the fox-kin…" Caesar said as he straightened his back from his bowing position. Although he was still shorter than Tiberius, who was as tall as a bear, he wasn"t dwarfed like Faust.
Tiberius stroked his chin in contemplation while glancing between Faust and Caesar, "does he speak the truth?" he asked whilst shifting his attention to Faust who nodded in response.
Seeing Faust"s confirmation, confusion flashed in Tiberius"s eyes as he examined Caesar… "why did you not reveal yourself in the beginning? Did you perhaps not trust the furbolg clan"s morality?" he asked.
"You misunderstand, in truth, I kept myself hidden on the a.s.sumption that the trolls may have attacked… as you may know, their information gathering skills are top notch" Caesar explained.
Tiberius nodded his head in understanding, although he doubted that Cesar gave him the real reason, he didn"t sense any ill intent from his words.
"So, since you are the man in question, I"m curious as to what your plans are… surely gathering more troops is not the limit to your insight" The furbolg spoke after scrutinizing Caesar for a few moments.
Hearing Tiberius"s question, Caesar couldn"t help but let out a chuckle… "the plan isn"t only recruiting soldiers, but also utilizing them… Strength lies in attacking after all" Caesar explained with a wide smile.
"You mean to bring the fight to them? Wouldn"t we lose more men that way?" Tiberius asked. He didn"t understand why Caesar would prefer starting a siege battle when the defendants have the advantage.
"Surely you jest, the attackers always hold the advantage, while the defenders are forced to merely respond. With me leading, the chances of us losing once we reach their walls are…" his words paused for a moment as he stroked his chin.
"Zero!" he said.
Tiberius squinted his eyes, "I can see that you are very confident, however, I am not sure that I alone am qualified to place the lives of my clansmen in the hands of a stranger… it doesn"t matter how competent you are. Thus, I have decided to consult the members of my race about your proposal. I will send a messenger tomorrow at noon, notifying you of our stance" he said and turned around to walk back in the thick tree.
Seeing his large back disappear within the tree, Caesar turned around and faced Faust, "you did well in convincing him… I"m impressed" he complimented.
Faust scratched his head, "I merely spoke the truth… without help, our clan that has stood for hundreds of years may fall" he replied humbly.
Caesar smiled in response, "it"s good that you are shedding your pride and arrogance, without those two traits, you and your clan will reach higher than ever before"
Without waiting for Faust"s reply, Caesar hopped onto a nearby tree and waved his hands at Faust and the group of fox-kin, "I"ll see you back at the stronghold" he said.
Faust wanted to ask a few more questions, alas, Caesar disappeared from his sight in the next second, causing him to smile wryly and order his troops to return. He would just ask him once they reached the stronghold.
Caesar, who was traveling atop the trees was in the midst of deep thought, "Faust convinced that furbolg much better than I had antic.i.p.ated, although I followed him on the presumption he was a spy, it would appear my a.s.sumption was false" he thought to himself.
Thinking to here, Caesar immediately thought of the green haired clan leader, as well as a few others… they were the most reasonable choices, however, he didn"t think the trolls, or whoever is helping the trolls, would select such buffoons.
While Caesar was in deep contemplation, he soon arrived outside the stronghold walls. He scanned the surroundings and didn"t see any signs of Falthor or Soka yet, so he stealthily jumped on the walls and waited for their arrival.
The fox-kin Night.w.a.tch could be considered decent at best, one soldier would be responsible for an entire 10 meters amongst the walls, not to mention half of the time the Night.w.a.tch were generally too tired to actually stand guard, so they just fell asleep.
A vein appeared on Caesar"s forehead as the sound of the nearby guards snoring entered his ears... he stood up and nudged the sleeping male with his foot.
"Hmm, oh, M-mr strategist, what are you doing on the walls" the fox-kin man, still half asleep, asked in a confused manner after seeing Caesar"s face.
"I"ll take your shift for the night, go back home and get some rest" He replied with an irritated tone, he didn"t want to listen to the man"s snoring for the next hour.
"are you sure? I mean, w-will I still get paid? He asked wide-eyed.
"Look, no one is going to know about this besides me and you… now go and get some rest" Caesar responded and shooed the guard away with his foot, to which the fox-kin male stood up and scrambled away with a happy smile.
"Man, the strategist is so nice!" the guard muttered while walking back home.
After the fox-kin male finally decided to leave, Caesar breathed a sigh of relief and went back to waiting for Falthor, Soka, and Faust. On the a.s.sumption that neither of the groups ran into any problems, they should arrive within the next hour…
Thinking to here, Caesar sat down and closed his eyes. About 10 minutes later, Faust and his group returned without much trouble… Caesar thought about approaching them, but on second thought, he just waited until they snuck back in the stronghold and split up.
After about 35 more minutes of waiting, Caesar could finally sense two groups of mana in the distance, he snapped his eyes open and looked in East. He could see many blurry figures walking.
Caesar squinted his eyes, "midgets?" he muttered in confusion after he saw the group traveling with Falthor. If Tiberius"s race was considered giants, this race was the exact opposite.