The clan heads around the table, including Musashi, antic.i.p.ated Caesar"s next words… Although they were a prideful race, their current dire circ.u.mstances caused them to listen closely to an outside such as Caesar."As I said before, food is a very important aspect of war, however, information is just as important. Your hunters are constantly being ambushed on hunts because they know where you are going to be" Caesar calmly explained to which Musashi and the rest nodded their heads.
"You need to ask yourselves, how are they getting that information?" Caesar asked as he swept his gaze through the room.
*creak*
At the side of the table, a relatively young man with short blue hair and glowing yellow eyes stood up. He walked towards the unfolded map on the table and pointed out a few locations.
"My name is Leo, the third clan head… Also, the leader of the hunting division" the man introduced himself courteously.
"It"s a pleasure to meet you, Leo," Caesar responded back simply.
Leo nodded his head and shifted his attention back to the map "we suspect that the Trolls have some sort of scouting magic or skillful scouts… We had cut the trees around our stronghold in a 10-meter radius as to make no possible hiding spot for a scout. Contrary to our expectations, they still figured out our location when we went hunting" Leo explained to Caesar.
"How do you normally decide your hunting pattern, and who do you inform," Caesar asked curiously.
"The hunting pattern is generally random, as to not give away our location easily… And I, of course, tell everyone in the meeting room my hunting schedule" Leo replied.
"Don"t tell anyone where you"re going hunting next time… take a few of your elites and move quietly" Caesar suggested.
Leo shook his head, "I don"t think that will work, the trolls seem to be hiding in wait every time we go out… That would just be suicide"
"You"re wrong, if that was the case… Ahri and I would have been attacked while heading towards your tribe" Caesar contemplated for a few seconds and replied.
"What"s the point of not telling us?" Charlie"s father asked.
"The fewer people that know, the better" Caesar calmly explained.
"Hmm, I suppose" Charlie"s father replied with a contemplating expression.
*bang*
"Alright, everyone is free to leave besides Ahri… we will have another meeting tomorrow night discussing the feasibility of what Caesar has told us" Musashi slammed the desk and roared majestically.
Caesar still had some ideas to help with their food problem, alas, he will wait until tomorrow to state them.
The clan heads around the table, including Caesar, nodded their heads and slowly exited the room… Caesar a.s.sumed that he wanted some alone time with his granddaughter so, he couldn"t complain.
*slam*
Caesar who was the last to leave the room, loudly closed the door… To his right, Charlie"s father and Leo were closely observing him.
"Look, we may have our differences, however, I respect strength and most of all, I love my clan… So, if you are willing to become one of us and support the tribe, I thank you" Charlie"s father opened up.
Caesar was quite taken aback, at first he thought both Charlie and his father were spies, but now this makes him think otherwise… Caesar closely examined his facial features and couldn"t detect any dishonesty.
Caesar shook his hands, "what is your name?" he asked curiously.
"Faust…" he replied with a smile.
"I"ve heard of your intelligent endeavors, I am quite curious how you thought of them" Caesar abruptly asked while focusing his attention purely on Faust"s change of expressions.
"Hehe, I"m a fighter by heart and don"t know much tactics… it"s normally my wife and son who support me from the back lines" Faust replied humbly while scratching the back of his head embarra.s.sed.
"Haha, I must give credit to your son and wife then… they hide quite well" Caesar laughed gently but his eyes were by no means smiling.
"Would you care to enter the training grounds with us, sir strategist? I can sense a strong air around you and it"s making me tingle with antic.i.p.ation" Leo suddenly interrupted both Caesar and Faust.
Caesar looked at Leo strangely for a few seconds, his word choice was interesting, to say the least. "Sure, I am also quite curious as to how strong a clan head is, as well as how strong your troops are… Who knows, I might need to implement my very own training" Caesar spoke in a shrewd tone.
Leo tilted his head in confusion for a few seconds but was soon replaced by a wide smile, "very well, follow me then!" he said excitedly and walked towards the opposite side of the mansion.
Caesar followed behind Leo and Faust followed behind Caesar.
----
After everyone exited the meeting room, Musashi walked towards his granddaughter and hugged her tightly.
"I"m so glad you are back," He said gently as he hugged her softly.
"I"m happy too, grandfather…" Ahri replied with tears threatening to fall out of her eyes.
They hugged each other for another few seconds before Musashi finally let go, he walked towards his seat and elegantly sat down.
"You"ve brought an interesting man back home, Ahri" Musashi spoke in an "elderly" tone
"He"s the best strategist I could find, his personal strength should also be higher than a clan head," Ahri said proudly as if Caesar"s achievements were her own.
"I"m sure he"s not only the best strategist you"ve found but also the best man?" Musashi asked playfully to which Ahri"s face reddened slightly.
"What are you talking about?" Ahri asked, playing dumb.
"You can"t fool me, my precious granddaughter… You have the air of a woman now" Musashi said with a chuckle.
"A w-woman?" Ahri asked while her faced flushed an even deeper crimson.
"Unless, of course, he forced you… if that was the case, I think I would have to kill him myself" Musashi said dangerously with squinted eyes.
"N-no, it was mutual, I promise" Ahri replied swiftly, but the embarra.s.sment on her face grew more apparent once she realized she was tricked.
"No need to be embarra.s.sed darling, in fact, you should be proud… because you"ve lost your chast.i.ty, those d.a.m.n clan members will stop hounding me to offer you to the troll price. And, not to mention…
Musashi paused for a second and strange gleam of light pa.s.sed through his eyes.
"You are the first non-vampire woman to ever become the lover of a full-fledged n.o.ble vampire, no, perhaps it"s not even correct to call him a vampire," Musashi said strangely.
Ahri"s embarra.s.sment slowly disappeared and she looked at Musashi curiously, "what do you mean?"
"Haha, you will know soon enough… but, I will give you one hint, do you really think the four progenitors shared the same blood as the other vampires? Was their power really comparable?" Musashi asked a few questions casually which caused Ahri to enter deep contemplation.
"What was the difference?" Ahri asked.
"Just know this, once that d.a.m.ned church figures out another one of them exist, they will do everything in their power to exterminate him… are you willing to still stand by his side?" Musashi abruptly asked.
Ahri didn"t even need a second to think before she nodded her head vigorously, "he"s willing to help out our clan, so I am willing to help him" she replied with determination.
Seeing his granddaughter so determined caused him to smile, he looked up toward the ceiling and couldn"t help but squint his eyes.
"Unfortunately I won"t be able to stay here long enough to see the both of you fight that abominable church," Musashi said quietly, just enough so that Ahri couldn"t hear him.