After the prince"s carriage drove off Caesar turned to the rest of the knight"s and smiled "training for today is over, but we still have one thing we need to do... "
The knight"s all looked at Caesar with perplexed eyes.
"I want you guys to go home and get any extra buckets you have, preferably ones that can contain water and meet back with me on the outskirts of the kingdom"
The Knight"s paused for a second then roared "Yes marshal"
*step*
*step*
The knight"s started flooding out of the training grounds and running back to their houses.
"Hey, what do you think we"re going to be doing?"
"I don"t know man but I"m kind of excited"
"Hey do one of you guys have an extra bucket… I don"t think I have one haha"
"Yeah, no problem! My wife and I have tons of extra buckets"
The Knight"s all had wide smiles on their faces as they rushed to their homes… Seeing this Caesar smiled quietly and thought to himself "After enduring that grueling training together they have all become like family"
Caesar started walking towards the outskirts of the kingdom after the last knight left Caesar looked at the sun going down "ah, I told Sebastian to prepare lunch for two… what a waste" Caesar thought bitterly
*step*
*step*
Two people started following Caesar, they were naturally Ahri and Edward…
"What are you planning on doing ordering them all to bring buckets??" Ahri asked extremely curious from behind Caesar
"Have you ever heard of a moat?" Caesar asked back
"A moat?? No, I have never heard of such a thing"
Caesar stroked his chin and said "to put it simply, we are going to fill the large trench we created with water to bolster our defenses"
Ahri nodded slightly in understanding but still had traces of doubt in her eyes
They reached their destination while talking and started waiting for the knights to arrive… Ahri suddenly looked up Caesar and asked "I have never been in a battle before but when the warriors in my clan went into battle they would always pray prior… I have not seen you pray or show a concerned face even though the upcoming battle is extremely unfavored to you"
Caesar looked at Ahri surprised and rubbed her hair "haha when I see a commander praying do you know what I think?"
Ahri shook her head
"When I see a commander praying or showing a concerned expression I immediately would think that the commander is not confident, even if the soldiers are not confident and you are sure to lose. The commander must always keep a smile on his face to rea.s.sure the troops"
"I see" Ahri replied back then she showed a hesitant expression before continuing "I heard some people in the pub call you evil for burning the northern forest and ma.s.sacring the elves… is that true?"
"Yes, its true" Caesar answered back without a change in his expression
Ahri"s expression turned into sadness and said quietly "but I don"t think your evil"
"I destroyed many families, many homes… h.e.l.l, I even killed the elf princess"s father and brother, however, I saved many of my men"s lives. If I didn"t burn the forest many more of my soldiers would have lost their life. Even If I didn"t command those men, the kingdom would have found another to command them"
Ahri looked at Caesar with confusion
Caesar paused and continued "The elves were stopping trade within our kingdom, without trading, many in our kingdom would starve to death"
"B-but why do those same civilians call you evil even though you did it for them," Ahri asked with a confused tone
"That Is the responsibility of a commander Ahri, I will hold the weight of all the mistakes my soldiers or my kingdom make on my shoulders. I"m not here to be hailed as a hero or a saint, I am a leader and I will do anything to make sure I win with the least amount of casualties… People call me evil? So what, this kingdom doesn"t need me to pray for them, it doesn"t need me to be a hero nor a saint… It needs me to win and that is what I"m going to do no matter the cost" Caesar said in an extremely domineering tone
Caesar slouched down and looked at Ahri in the eyes "do you think the church fought with the vampires fairly? No!, but who is hailed as a hero and who is hailed as a villain now… you must understand one thing in war Ahri, there are no such thing as morals only victory and defeat"
Ahri nodded absentmindedly at Caesar"s words and started contemplating… seeing this Caesar laughed and said "but don"t worry too much about it, just follow my back and I will lead you"
While they were talking the knight"s slowly arrived with buckets in their hands, seeing this Caesar walked towards them and roared "Alright, let"s go for a walk to the nearby river!"
"Yes, Marshall!"
Caesar led them towards a river that was about a mile or two away and ordered them "fill up the buckets and walk them back towards the trench… this is meant to train your balance!" Caesar ordered out shamelessly
"Wow! We haven"t trained our balance yet, I wonder how that will help us in battle?"
"Who knows, all I know is that the marshall is always right so let"s do it"
"Hey, has anyone seen Ronny?"
The knight"s started filling up their buckets and walking back to the trench at a slow pace, Caesar supervised them as they walked back.
"Your posture is all wrong, here lean back 2 inches like this" Caesar instructed and demonstrated
"Yes, Sir!"
The knights slowly made it back to the trench and poured their buckets in, Caesar looked at the moon high up in the sky and ordered the knights to go back home and rest. "We will continue at the same time tomorrow, remember to bring your buckets!"
"Yes, Marshall!"
The Knights started separating and going back to their respective homes, Caesar also headed back to his manor but before he left he turned back towards Edward and Ahri "You guys can stay at my residence if you want, we have plenty of extra room"
"I-I guess that will work, w-we were running out of money staying at the inn anyway"
Edward shook his head, smiled wryly and said: "thank you, we will take you up on your offer"
Caesar walked back to his manor with Ahri and Edward in tow, they soon arrived at the residence and walked in…
"Welcome back young master… these are?"
"Its good to be back Sebastian, these are my friends that will be staying here from now. The man is called Edward and the lady is called Ahri, please take good care of them" Caesar smiled and replied to Sebastian.
Sebastian bowed respectfully "pleasure to meet you Sir Edward and Miss Ahri… I will lead you to your rooms if that is okay with you"
Both Edward and Ahri nodded their head embarra.s.sed and Sebastian led them to their rooms, seeing this Caesar stroked his chin in contemplation "Sebastian is truly one h.e.l.l of a butler isn"t he"
After Sebastian led them to their respective rooms he came back to the hall room…
"Young master, I did not prepare dinner because I didn"t know when you would return. Would you like me to prepare some for you right now?"
"No, it"s fine Sebastian I have lost my appet.i.te. Thank you for asking though"
Sebastian nodded his head and retired to the servant"s living quarters.
Caesar sat alone at the end of the dining table and started tapping the table
*tap*
*tap*
Caesar"s eyes suddenly turned cold "I hope those that are coming to attack my kingdom are prepared to lose their life because I promise I will show no mercy!" He thought to himself quietly
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"Lord Crowley, the cloudsteel is all packed up and ready to bring back to the kingdom"
"Good, we will reach there ahead of schedule and arrive tomorrow"
Crowley looked up to the sky "sigh, I hope we can live through this calamity" he sighed deeply and whispered to himself
"What"s wrong Lord Crowley?"
Crowley shook his head and smiled "nothing, let"s hurry up and head back towards the kingdom, my son and the king are awaiting our arrival"
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"H-honey our son Alfred was brutally beat by that evil man, we can"t just let him go away scot-free"
"We spoiled them too much my wife, I will send our third son Ralph with Alfred when he goes tomorrow as well, they need to change if we want this kingdom to have a future"
The queen starting crying "b-but they might die!"
The king looked towards the ceiling and said in a cold tone "that is a risk we are going to have to take!"
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Sitting at the campfire and eating tender meat Anna looked towards the young man to the right of her and said "I can"t believe you took on three flame bears yourself, that"s an amazing feat"
The man scratched his head in embarra.s.sment "I was trained by the church at a young age, so don"t praise me too much. They said I have similar talent to those n.o.ble vampires!"
Anna"s mouth gaped widely in surprise "That"s amazing!"
Suddenly a rough looking man interrupted them "stop your flirting, we"re going to arrive in about
a week and a few days, prepare for battle this one is going to be b.l.o.o.d.y hehe" he laughed sinisterly
After he said that he left and went back to his tent, both Anna and the young man were left with serious expressions.
"Hey, Anna. What are you going to do after this battle?" The young man broke the silence first
"I don"t know yet, but I think I"m going to try to regrow the northern forest"
"I see"
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