After pa.s.sing the inner gates, a huge courtyard appeared in front of Caesar… fake mountains, ponds, and other forms of eye candy presented themselves.Not only was the courtyard luxurious, but also heavily guarded… Fierce looking guards were stationed all over the place, they held one-handed swords and looked extremely skilled.
"At first glance, this tribe looked utterly pathetic… perhaps that"s because of the incompetent leadership?" Caesar thought inwardly as he glanced around.
While Caesar was observing the inner working of the tribe, Joe, Ahri, Khan, and Charlie all had caught up with him.
"Don"t run off on your own, sir strategist… The guards could mistake you for a trespa.s.ser" Khan patted Caesar"s shoulder and spoke in a serious tone.
"I"ll be more careful next time" Caesar replied back with a smile, after which, he subtly glanced at Charlie who shivered under his gaze.
"Haha, no harm, no foul." Khan laughed loudly and patted Caesar on the back.
Caesar actually quite liked Khan"s naive and honest personality, he much preferred this type of person over someone that schemes behind his back.
"We should hurry along, the clan leaders have already been called to a meeting" Ahri cut in while glancing anxiously at the large mansion in the middle.
"Haha, I know you"re anxious to see your grandfather… let"s hurry up then" Khan replied with a wide smile and led them closer to the opening of the mansion.
As they got closer, Caesar couldn"t help but admire the architectural design of the building, it was held up by wooden pillars and a solid foundation… the j.a.panese-like mansion could easily house over 100 people.
While still deep in thought, they arrived in front of a wide sliding door… Ahri walked to the front and Khan respectively opened the door.
Caesar, who was to the right of Ahir squinted his eyes once he saw what was inside… A large round table with 13 people sitting at each seat, each of them varying in appearance greatly. At the very end of the table, hidden by a thin piece of fabric was another man, presumably Ahri"s grandfather.
"Each and every one of these men is at least equal to a B+ monster" Caesar speculated,
"Come, my daughter, sit" A deep and majestic voice resounded through the halls, the man hidden behind the thin fabric gestured to the seat beside him.
Ahri nodded respectfully and slowly walked towards her seat, upon arriving, she elegantly sat down and smiled widely while looking in the direction her grandfather was seated.
"Khan, find your seat" the man spoke once again, this time, the age in his voice was very apparent.
Khan slightly bowed and took a seat at the very end of the table, once they were both seated, the rest of the people at the table focused their attention toward Caesar.
"I presume you are the strategist my daughter found?" The man asked curiously.
"Your presumption is correct, please call me Caesar," he said respectfully whilst half-bowing elegantly.
"It"s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Ceasar, my name is Musashi" the man introduced himself politely just as Caesar did to him.
Caesar nodded his head in recognition, to those worthy of respect, of course, Caesar would give it.
"Come sit down Charlie" A man at the very end of the table rudely interrupted the two, he had long flowing red hair and a decently sized beard… his features couldn"t be considered young but they were by no means elderly.
"Yes, father!" Charlie responded enthusiastically and walked over to the seat his father had motioned to.
Musashi who was sitting the furthest away slowly stood up, he pushed aside the thin blankets of cloth hiding his face and walked towards the roundtable. In his hands was a large scroll that he started to spread out in the middle of the table.
"I do, in fact, trust my daughters fore-sight, however, I am quite curious as to how great of a strategist you are" Musashi spoke slowly while flattening the map on the board.
Caesar examined the map which was being placed down by Musashi, many different clan names, terrain, and other necessities were in vivid detail.
"The main problems our fox-kin tribe currently faces are the trolls and the food shortage… our soldiers are indeed stronger than the trolls, however, they are more cunning and larger in number" Musashi calmly explained.
Caesar nodded his head in understanding, he walked closer to the roundtable to get a better view of the map.
"Although it"s quite strange to ask this of you, as you probably don"t know much about our tribes" inner workings… how would you solve these problems?" Musashi asked, his expression carrying a playful smile.
Caesar observed the old man in front of him, weathered features, short grey hair, and a small goatee. But, what astonished Caesar the most, was that this old man was stronger than everyone else in the room beside maybe himself.
"Ahem, sorry for interrupting clan leader, but, the problem regarding food… I have a solution" Charlie suddenly interrupted from the other side of the table.
Musashi turned his head towards Charlie and urged him to continue.
"As you may know, the soldiers and n.o.bility gain more food than the non-fighting civilians… I suggest that we split some of the rations equally amongst everyone so no one goes hungry.
Most of the clan heads around the room nodded their heads, "truly selfless Charlie, you have a great future" some of the clan heads complemented.
Musashi frowned in displeasure and turned his attention back towards Caesar, "what do you think of his suggestion?"
"Idiotic" Caesar replied indifferently.
The clan heads around the table ground their teeth angrily, "Who the h.e.l.l are you to tell us that the plan is idiotic? You don"t even know anything about our clan" Charlie"s father roared.
Caesar licked his lips and smiled slyly, "I may be misunderstanding, but, is your clan trying to survive longer or win the war?" he asked playfully.
Silence enveloped the room and everyone look at Caesar curiously.
"One of the most important aspects of war is food, an army can not march on an empty stomach… Do you want to weaken your soldiers so that your civilians have a feeling of temporary comfort? Simply preposterous"
Caesar paused and swept his gaze through the room.
"You need to tackle the problem first hand instead of temporarily mending it, let"s take your first problem for instance… the trolls. The reason they are beating you is mainly due to their superior numbers"
Musashi and the rest of the clan heads nodded their head, they were curious as to what this seemingly intelligent strategist would say next.
"From my understanding, the trolls require females from other races to breed… Because of this, they probably go to smaller clans and abduct females" Caesar spoke confidently even though it was merely a guess.
"You are correct, they do indeed go and steal women from other clans" Musashi replied.
"Those clans probably hold a strong hatred for the trolls, who goes to say they won"t join you in a coalition to destroy the trolls? Or who goes to say that we can"t ambush the trolls as they attempt to abduct the women?" Caesar asked a few questions nonchalantly.
He paused for a second and continued…
"Strength lies in attack, not defense"
Musashi squinted his eyes, "that is a feasible idea, in fact, I agree with it for the most part… however, who would lead the troops?" he asked
"Haha, of course, I recommend my dearest of friends Charlie, he has shown extraordinary intelligence and I think he is perfect for the job," Caesar said shrewdly.
"Indeed, a grand choice" Musashi also smiled slyly.
"I-I don"t think I"m ready for such a job yet," Charlie said quietly.
"SILENCE, you will do as I say, even if you"re the son of the first clan leader" Musashi roared angrily, effectively shutting Charlie up.
"I would recommend completely annihilating the group of trolls in front of the clans, one by one… This way you can show your "allegiance" to the smaller tribes" Caesar placed heavy importance on the word "allegiance" in his speech.
"Hmm, the trolls tend to go the kobold clan every week, and tonight is the start of a new week… Charlie, go prepare 20 elite troops and head towards the Kobold clan, IMMEDIATELY" Musashi ordered sternly.
Charlie nodded his head absentmindedly and ran out of the halls, once he left, Caesar casually walked to his seat and sat down.
"Now my friends, let me explain how we can improve your food problem" Caesar spoke with a wide grin.