Chapter 38. Only Death (2)
It was 3"O clock in the afternoon. The warmth of the early winter"s sunlight felt good. I was enjoying a leisurely cup of tea at a place where the vantage point was great for viewing the battle field.
Down below, the two factions, the Wild Hog Rock Faction and the Thunderbolt Tree Faction, were busy getting ready for the battle. As they were nocturnal by nature, 3"O clock in the afternoon would be like an early morning for them.
I suppose it would be like 3"O clock in the morning for the humans. To see them gathered like this with their tools, at such an early morning, it wasn"t too hard to see how excited they were.
These two factions have been looking for the right time to clash to begin with. Internally, I was certain that there were many of them who thought that it was for the best.
“Kura moost k.u.mora hudan harasah (Listen, you cowards who hit and run)!”
A good sized Orc, from the Thunderbolt Tree Faction, stepped forward and began to taunt the opposition. In response, a pair of Ogres, from the Wild Hog Rock Faction, stepped forward and yelled back.
The both sides got loud, and the area was filled with vulgarity and screaming. It was an act to keep their, own respective sides charged up before the battle. It was followed with the sounding of the battle drums as part of the war ceremony. The sound of drums was deafening.
It was like watching a battle of the primitive men. There were extended periods of time during which they exchanged verbal a.s.saults, or performed other ceremonies before the fight began in earnest. In the process, the sun was already setting slowly in the west.
This was why they gathered so early. It seemed that the battle would begin after the sunset.
Zzzz-. Zzzz-,
Right at that moment, the ring vibrated again. It was Kubalt. Gosh, this man has nothing to do, calling so often?
-Your highness.
-Valer, how is it going?
-Thanks to the G.o.ds, I"m doing fine
-Ha, ha! You"re making a joke that is very unlike of you. I called to let you know of some information that I obtained today.
Kubalt had good news to tell me. It was about the internal disputes within the Rajter Knight Family. As Walpurgis has proposed an unlikely compromise as I requested, there formed, two conflicting factions, one urging to accept the proposal and the other pushing to go all the way to the end as the emperor wished.
The strategy to buy time was working quite well. Walpurgis, by principle, would never agree to a degrading compromise, but not knowing this, the Rajter Knight Family has taken the bait and was squabbling internally.
-Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
-I just figured that you would like the news. Um, but I hear loud noises in the background?
The two factions have clashed in earnest. With the loud shouts that would blow away the mountains, they were pushing towards each others" directions in waves.
-Ah, I"m watching a group tournament. The Wild Hog Rock Faction and the Thunderbolt Tree Faction are clashing with each other. This is the main event of the day.
-Hha, that must be a sight to see. Even the team names are entertaining. Which team did you bet on? You wouldn"t say that you do not know how to make bets, would you?
-Hahaha. How could I not know, your highness?
I told Kubalt that my bet was on both teams losing. Then he thought that was odd.
-It is quite rare for both teams to lose in a group tournament? Is there such a case?
-With unusual maneuvers, it would be possible.
-You must have bet that both teams will disqualify with penalties then? I would think the odd of that happening would be very low. You seem to be clear cut when it comes to gambling.
-Hahaha. All that need to be done is to increase the odds.
That was right. The method was to increase the odds. Quietly waiting for a game to end was not my style. After engaging in some more small talks, we hung up. Then as if he has been waiting, Krulark appeared from behind me. As soon as the sun has set, he, who was a vampire, became active.
“Winter must be the vampires" favorite season since the sun sets this early.”
“This is the first time that I"ve welcomed winter after I"ve become a vampire, but now that I heard what you just said, it truly seems that way.”
“Do welcome many more winters from now on.”
I asked whether the troops were ready. Currently, there were 70 undead under my command. I told them to get ready for the battle when the sun sets.
“Certainly. Are you looking for the right time to attack them?”
Krulark asked as he watched the two factions engaging in a fierce fight. I shook my head.
“That would be pushing it. At a glance, there are more than 1 thousand. Even if when they are exhausted, there is too much of a gap in the headcounts.”
“We are all prepared to die for you.”
“I appreciate everyone"s determination, but if they discover us, the undead, they will stop fighting. The dead beings have the power to even bringing the enemies together.”
Even if they were invincible forces, jumping into the midst of 1 thousand demon tribe members would cause them to instantly melt away. There was never an intention to jump them even if they were all exhausted.
“Then what would you do? I only follow your orders as I am slow witted.”
“There is a simpler maneuver in this type of situation. Krulark, I hope that you will learn my ways going forward.”
“Please to teach me.”
Getting up from my chair, I walked towards Philip. Then a vampire knelt on his four, offering his back. I stepped on his back and got on the horse.
“The most interesting thing about any war is in launching a raid on the unattended headquarters. While they are too preoccupied with the clash, we will go around the empty villages. Mostly non combatants will remain in the villages. They will be completely annihilated.”