The army of the rebels and grey skins rushed into castle Heinfel almost unopposed. Rufus, Edward, and Pema had taken the castle with zero casualties on their side large casualties to the castle's garrison. Half of the garrison had been killed and another half had surrendered after realizing their other choice would be death.
The city was turned into a supply base for their war and their base of operations for now. Word was sent to Lehasa that all or any supplies that there was to spare for the invasion should be sent to castle Heinfel.
"This is good. We saved a lot of time. We also got a base for this war," Count Hunyadi said to Rufus while walking in the castle.
Rufus was looking at all the soldiers and warriors making camp inside the castle walls.
"How long do wars last usually?" Rufus asked.
"Hard to say. My last war was against the nation of Brahm. It was not luckily a long war, but it was extremely bloody. Sometimes wars have lasted many years. The empire of Heian and the people's state of Spade have been at war now for about sixty years,"
Rufus was worried about the war. He didn't want the war to last long. He understood that he was fighting for something bigger and important, but it still was a war.
Rufus saw the prisoners being harassed by the grey skins. About a hundred and fifty soldiers had surrendered and no one knew what to do with them. They sat against the wall with grey skin warriors kicking them and shoving them around.
"What is going on there?" Rufus asked Tashi.
"Some of the warriors are just venting frustration on those captives. They have lost loved ones and tribesmen to humans before. They are also a bit wet behind the ears when it comes to war so they also seem to want to prove themselves. The prisoners are just easy targets for their egos. Do not worry about that. Soon they will tire themselves and stop it," Tashi said and just brushed off the incident.
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Rufus saw one of the grey skin was just punching one soldier on the ground. Rufus walked toward the prisoners at a fast pace.
When the grey skin saw that Rufus was behind him he immediately stopped. Rufus went and helped the captive from the ground back up to sit against the walls.
All the grey skins and even the rebel soldiers looked confused. Rufus didn't know why people looked at him like that.
Count Hunyadi stepped forward.
"I understand how you feel, but this is just the norm of war. In war, a lot of emotions are involved, and people have a lot of hatred towards the enemy. You might stop it this time, but you cannot be every time present when something like this happens. You can try punishing anyone who harasses the prisoners, but it might just come back to bite you. They want to see you also share their emotions and grievances. That way they will fight for you even harder knowing you understand them."
"Yes, but they should realize that we are fighting so we wouldn't have to do things like this in the future. Shouldn't that motivate them enough?"
"An army is like a beast. It starts as a small cub but slowly starts getting hungry and more feral. It starts as good people, but war changes men and soon the leader of the army has to think of ways to feed this beast. An army needs a commander that can tame the beast, but also feed it."
The count had been to war before. He understood what war was all about.
Rufus walked to the grey skin who had assaulted the prisoners.
"As your punishment, you and your friends are in guard duty. Guard duty to guard the prisoners from them doing anything and from anything from happening to them. If someone has hurt these prisoners punishment will come to those who did the crime and to those who let it. So do your duty well," Rufus said to the grey skin with a slightly intimidating voice.
Rufus then walked away. The count looked surprised at how well Rufus handled the situation.
"I believe this is a way to keep the beast on a short leash and to give it something to chew on for a while," Rufus said with a smug voice to the count.