[A Certain General of a Marquis POV]

“We can’t go on like this…”

I took a pause and looked behind me.

There I saw 20,000 men.

For months we have been fighting in the frontlines against the Kaisels. As it went on, food, water, and reinforcement became scarcer. We all thought we could all go home in winter as it has always been.

“Sir, we can’t go on like this, please order us to go to Romwell.”

“I can’t,” I responded to my aide as I gazed toward the carriage before us.

Inside that is the young lord of the Romwell family. Unless he orders our retreat, we have to go on.

“This is insane! We left the frontlines with 25,000 men! Now I’m not even sure we have 20,000!”

“Quiet. He might hear you.”

“Lord General, the troops are starving.”

We thought the moment we moved northwards we could recoup our supplies in nearby towns and villages…

“Again?!”

“Sir the village is empty, all crops have wilted.”

“Fuck!”

The young lord shouted as he found out the villages nearby had been abandoned. It was common sense for us to take food from villages and towns we encountered, to live off the land, but none of that was possible for us.

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Most villages we encountered have been left abandoned, everything has been left empty. Houses burned and we could not even take refuge as the temperature got lower.

“Have you checked the nearby towns?”

“We have sent scouts to the nearest town to our camp, they are struggling too due to the harsh winter.”

“Young Lord, may I suggest something?”

“Huh?”

“What if we resupply in Romwell City first?”

“I have confirmed with the Lord of Romwell and nearby towns, the most they can send is enough to feed 5,000 men for 2 days.”

“No, we’ll head to Roella now, we'll reach Roella in 2 days at our current speed, Romwell would take a week. Tell the merchants we will buy wheat 3 times their original price. We can no longer delay, we need to get there first before the capital makes their decision.”

“Young lord!”

“My decision is final, tell Arren and the other lords to send that supply in Roella.”

“Yes, Lord.”

As soon as the day broke, everyone began to move. I pitied the men I brought with me.

I saw many of them sick and wounded. Many are starving and dehydrated.

“General, this is insanity.”

“I know…”

Among the 20,000 we brought, at least 8,000 were injured or sick. Further slowing us down.

“The cold has also made our situation worse, yesterday, 200 died.”

“This is worse than being at war with the Kaisels.”

I listened to the soldier’s conversation, I wanted to retort but I couldn’t. This was worse.

“All to tax some frontier town!”

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.

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After a day and a half, we saw the walls of Roella.

“What do you mean you have none?!”

I thought I could find refuge in this town but no, I was wrong, what we found was more hell. We tried getting water from nearby villages in Roella but all of them made the soldiers sick, all farmlands were burned, and even wild berries were all gone. Roella had neither food nor water for us.

The merchants? None of them would sell wheat to us. Even after threatening them, they refused.

“Sir, the troops need help, they’re dying.”

“To hell if they’re dying or not! We need to get to that city!”

After all the wars I’ve been through, this is something no one could ever win. We lost the war even before it started.

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[Luke POV]

“Calm down, Mr. Rowan.”

“Your Highness?”

I told Rowan. In front of me is the report I received from Cynthia and the others.

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“Prepare food and water. Also, order the mages to gather, we’ll be healing and taking care of a lot of people.”