Chapter 219.

PART 1.

Hatori is poring over the map of this area. For a moment, he marveled at this moment, since he never thought he would be able to do something like that in his childhood. Come to think of it, now that he keeps his eyes in the open, maybe it is time to redesign them for an intimidating look. The plastic eyeballs are not cutting it anymore.

He goes back to the map, marking various locations. Raven has ordered him to take over the nearby areas. These are not controlled by nobles. Instead, they have gotten in their heads that since the nobles and the king are busy against each other, they can do whatever, including raising their own army. Raven wants to end this threat before it develops, so he has ordered all the commanders located under their control to do one thing: bring the local powers to heel by any means necessary.

His location is pretty solid, so there is no chance of getting attacked. ‘Better stop thinking like that. In fact, it is time that I improve the defenses of the city.’ Thinks Hatori.

“Boss!” Badri salutes him. Hatori has no official military rank, so they have decided to call him boss. No one asked for his thoughts, and by the time Hatori thought of doing something about it, the matter was out of his hands. Shin has been recalled, so Hatori lost whatever support he could have gained from him.

Not that he would help him. this is the sort of thing that Shin would find amusing. ‘Come to think of it, I would too if I didn’t have this position.’ He thought.

“What’s up?” asked Hatori, looking up.

“There is a girl.” Badri looks at him with a strange look.

“Whatever you are thinking, it is wrong.” Said Hatori. v “Ha!” laughed Badri. “Anyway, the name of the woman is Mira. She is here as an official who would record the events in this region. Given you are the one in charge, she wants to be around you to observe things and record them.”

Hatori has a disgruntled expression on his face. “Is that necessary?”

Badri gains a serious look on his face. “Boss, understand that these documents will serve as the sources for the future history books. You are not in any position to refuse.”

“You at least checked her?” asked Hatori.

“Of course!” said Badri. “We’re not amateurs you know.” Badri poked Hatori on his shoulder.

“Very funny.” Said Hatori. “Fine, send her in,” he said with a sigh.

Badri smirked. ‘Figures. He knew that she was outside. I would have never come to him like this otherwise.’

PART 2.

Pashchim is an old and wily mage, who is in charge of the western mountains near the City of Hills. As he is the most powerful among the local mages who sprang up after the civil war started, the others flock to him and often look to him for an answer during a crisis. Even if they plan to backstab each other in the back once the threat has been dealt with.

It is actually considered polite to do so, as it is considered business as usual.

Dakshin is a middle-aged man, who has taken over the southern mountains. He often contends with Pashchim for taking over the new areas, as he is the most powerful one in the area.

Pooravi is a woman who has a lab in the eastern mountains and has a small population under her control, consisting of the people living in that area. She is the weakest among them, despite that, due to her necromancy, they do not dare to tread on her territory lightly.

They have all gathered here after facing and getting trounced by the boy in charge, who has recently arrived in the City of Hills, slaughtered the nobles, and is basically running the operations ever since.

The boy uses deceiving tactics, employing the soldiers and illusions ruthlessly. His attacks are coordinated strangely, and they are unable to deal with him. his soldiers are even worse. They do not respond to the one-on-one duels. Anyone who cries out for the challenge died, and they took their head as an example.

“That Hatori, he is a bully!” declared Pashchim. “Look how he fights. He subjected one of my mountain towns to a brutal siege, keeping them deprived of supplies until they surrendered!”

“That is nothing.” Said Dakshin. “He destroyed my outpost, and he is slowly creeping into my territory.”

“I thought he would be scared of my necromancy. Instead, he sent my own undead after me,” said Pooravi, shuttering after remembering that encounter.

“Look, it is clear that we cannot take this monster by ourselves.” Said Pashchim. “What do you say to an alliance?”

“Agreed!” said Dakshin and Pooravi quickly. They cannot wait to drive out Hatori.

“That city is defended,” said Dakshin. “But there is a massive hole. I suggest we take advantage of this.”

“Devious!” said Pashchim, rubbing his hand. “Our enemy is doing the same, so we should do the same to him. I like it!”

PART 3.

Hatori is receiving positive news from all fronts. So far, he has pushed the enemy hard and reclaimed a lot of the mountains under their control. If they do nothing, he will cut them, and bleed them dry of their territory.

It helps that he has delegated this task to the competent people recommended by Badri since Hatori does not fancy his chances of handling all the invasions by himself. He decides that his job is to keep the city secure, now that he has captured it. They do have experienced people and a large force, so invading the surrounding areas can be handled by others rather than Hatori putting his nose where it can be bitten.

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‘Speaking of keeping the city, I should implement my new plan.’ He thought to himself and called a meeting. Badri and other high-level officers who are not invading the three fronts arrive after his call. Deciding to cut to the point straight, Hatori tells them his plan.

“Would the people go for it?” asked Badri.

“Their consent is not needed. This is war, remember?” Hatori reminds them.

True to Badri’s prediction, people did complain of cannons being put on the walls and tall buildings. But the new guy in charge is not listening to them at all. Huffing in indignation, they continue to live their lives, putting up with this madness.

They hope that this mad guy will be replaced soon, and some sensible person will be put in charge here, who will see that the city is quite safe with its natural defenses. When Hatori heard all of this, he had a great belly laugh.

“These morons were living under the heel of the enemy just a month ago. And now that we retook this city, they think they are safe!” he exclaimed. “How the hell are these people alive to reproduce?”

“Political connections.” Answered Badri with distaste clear in his tone.

“Dammit!” cursed Hatori.

Politics makes him mad enough that he sometimes thinks that it would be best if he decides to live outside of the civilization. But he then remembers that he will not have any facilities that a city has to offer, and then he has to rethink that plan. Squeaking some rats is worth putting up with if he does not have to go out in the open when nature calls, and mosquitos.

Hatori snarls for no apparent reason, and Badri takes a step back. He does not want to get in the way of his superior when he is mad. He remembers the carnage from the school days quite clearly, as well as the beating he gave him about a month ago when Hatori showed up for the first time. thankfully for Badri, the moment of madness is quickly gone.

PART 4.

A few days later, in the middle of the night, several airships appear in the sky. The mages stationed in the mountains immediately sounded the alarm, as those ships were dropping some objects from the air which turned out to be bombs prepared through some explosive potions.

However, this assault could not last for too long. The cannons stationed on the buildings and mountains began to target these ships, shooting them down from the air. other cannons that were put near the river also sank the boats coming to attack the city.

Hatori who is suddenly awakened from the explosions comes out to see the situation. However, things are under control, so the night shift tucked him under the blanket and told him to go back to sleep. They did not listen to him when he tried to argue.

The next morning, Hatori meets with the people who protested the defenses that he installed, and he shows them the effectiveness of his strategies. “I swear.” He finished. “If you ever tried to complain like brats again, I’ll just leave with my forces, and let you suffer just like you did under that woman. Is that clear?”

“Yes.” was a very dejected reply.

“Sir.” Said Badri, interrupting the tearing down going on. “Those three are here to see you.”

“You let them in?” asked Hatori, leaving with Badri.

“Of course not. but given they said that they came here in peace, we didn’t have much choice.” Said Badri.

Hatori arrives to see an old man, a middle-aged guy, and a woman. “So, you three. what do you want?” he asked bluntly.

Badri winced. His superior is not a diplomatic person, that is for certain. He makes a mental note to make sure he does not handle anything of the sort outside of their territory. “We are here to surrender to you. We acknowledge the throne’s control over our territories and this region.” Said the old man.

“However, we have some demands.” Said the middle-aged man.

“Demands?” said Hatori, before they could continue. “You don’t have any demands. You were beaten by my forces completely. Your attack last night also failed spectacularly. You don’t get to have any demands. The general demands the total submission, and that is what you will do.” Electricity surrounds Hatori’s body, as he gets agitated by this conversation.

“And if we don’t?” asked the woman, intimidated, but not showing it.

They are beaten by a young man, that is humiliating enough. They do not need to humiliate themselves any further by showing fear before him.

“Then I’ll just march into your territories, and slaughter everyone, including children and pets. And I will continue to do this, until you come to your senses, or you die in battle.” Said Hatori.

Hearing his casual tone, Pashchim, Dakshin, and Purvi all pale. They have not seen someone so young talking about the genocide so casually. “We—” coughed Pashchim. “We accept our total defeat, and hereby submit to you totally.” He sighed.

“See now, was it that hard?” asked Hatori with a smile.

“Just, just leave us alone for a while here,” asked Dakshin.

“As you wish.” Said Hatori, and left with Badri. As they close the door, they hear the sounds of weeping starting to come from the room.

In the night, Mira notes the conversation of Hatori with the soldiers. “Boss, would you have really killed everyone if they did not surrender to you? would you really make us do something like that?” asked one soldier.

“Of course not,” said Hatori. “I would do it myself.”

“Are you a sick bastard or something?” asked Badri.

“Not at all. I do not derive any pleasure from killing.” Said Hatori. “But I don’t want the blame of the slaughter to fall upon you. soldiers fight to protect, not to slaughter.”

“All this talk of killing is too grim.” Said one veteran. “Let’s drink to our victory instead!”

“Yeah!” they all cheered, while Mira continued to note the reaction to Hatori’s statement, and gave her own thoughts on what he said, and why he said it.