The battle of the Eale plane.
"Other than the Red corps, two corps from the General of West's front will also be there. There will be 25,000 shield bearers, 20,000 archers, 30,000 cavalries and 75,000 infantries. With the army of new recruits, they will be around 180,000 strong."
"That is not much. We have 250,000 well trained one. It will be easy"
"Never underestimate the enemy." Unlike the people who were talking before, this voice was in lot lighter side. Not just voice even the man wasn't like the others in the tent.
"You are just a scholar, you don't know anything about war. The general allowed you to be in the tent, that doesn't mean you can talk."
"Come on don't be like that. Boy, tell me about it." Though he was called boy, the man was already in his 30's, but compared to the general who had a long white beard he did look little small. The white beard one was one of the top three generals of Torria, the great general Kirmac.
The official said in a polite tone "For starter, we don't know the general of the enemy. He certainly is the weakest of four cardinal generals of the empire but also he is the one about whom we know least. We don't know about his attitude, his tactics and his mentality."
"What is there to learn, we attack them and kill them." unlike general Kirmac others was least interested in the opinion of a non-combatant.
"Yes, we should attack them before they are ready. We should attack them when they have least expected." The official was really eager about it. It not just that he was nervous about his first deployment rather somehow he had this feeling that the war will be different this time. 'The wars of the world are changing. One who can't adapt will vanish.'
"That will be unethical. We can't do that." The general didn't say anything but the support of others were speaking for itself. Hearing the response the official couldn't stop sighing. "A spy in the Kingdom of Cantela have reported that the supply line of the kingdom was attacked by the empire even before it reached the battle region."
"If those empire's dog doesn't have any moral that doesn't mean we don't have any too." This one is the right-hand man of general Kirmac and he was against the entry of an official in the military tent.
'If you resist the change so much then you will go extinct.' It was not that every official of the ministry of war think that. His thought was different from other and that attracted the attention of the king. It was also for this reason why he was sent here. "It is not the matter of moral or ethics, it is about the results. Do you really think that people will remember anything other than the result of the war?"
The official was starting to lose temper. Unfortunately, the old fogies were waiting for it. "You are a scholar of the royal court. But here you are like a wallflower. Let us handle the matter of war. We are breed to fight." The last sentence ignited the fire inside them.
"It is a war, not a tea party, where you invite someone to your home and let him rest. If you miss the chance it will be too late" The official was almost pleading to them. He didn't have anything against the old one, he just wanted to change the way of thinking. He knew that there will be resistance but never did he thought that it will be so strong.
The general raised a hand and stopped others from talking. "What is your name boy?"
"It is Nus, esteemed general."
"Listen Nus, I understand you want to win the war, but the morals are something that we believe in. Once broken it can't be repaired. It we forget about the moral it would be a good idea to attack the enemy before they are ready but we have an army 250,000 strong. Movement of such a large army will attract the attention of enemy scout." The voice of general was pretty calm, neither fast nor slow. And the logic didn't give Nus any chance to refute. "On top of that, we are in open plain of Eale. If we don't have anything like the beast tide army of Penia then it will be impossible to give them to a surprise attack."
'Surprise attack? That is a pretty good name. At least the general is not as head-strong as his subordinate. I will just stay and help the general as much as possible.' Nus nodded, "This official understands the logic behind the general's words."
"Prepare the army we will meet them at the plane of Eale on the next full moon."
***********
"How much more?" The fatigued voice sounded from behind. Kinoya couldn't help to smile. 10 of his squad were all new recruits. There was no way where would an experienced fighter accept being under 12 years old. Lucky for him, his training earned the respect of the squad.
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"It would take one more day. By tomorrow noon we will be there." An old man answered before Kinoya. The difference in size was too distinct. Throughout the journey, Kinoya met many people, but somehow the aura around the old man was little different. "But we won't get much time to rest."
"It is our duty to fight, no matter where it is, we will fight."
The old man smiled hearing the answer from the one of Kinoya's squad. "It good to be young."
"It will be better if we are able to take some rest before going to the front line. Even little amount of fatigue can cause our life at the war."
The squad broke into laughter. "Sergeant you are too afraid, do you really think that demonic training was in vain." Another one added, "Sergeant is a child, after all, he needs his afternoon nap." They burst into laughter again. Somehow the old man looks were different again.
"Are you really 12 years old?"
"Yes, the sergeant is really 12 years old. But don't go by the look, he is top of the recruits."
"He got both dual sword and shield sword skill. The sergeant isn't someone you should mess with."
Just a moment ago they were making fun of him, and now they were like worshipping him. Very small but little warmth spread through his heart. Journeying with them for a month made him realise that none of his squad was bad at heart. They might be little dumb, straight-forward but not the ones with an evil thought. He was happy with his squad. Soldiers can be breed through war but you can't breed a good heart. You have to born with it.
"So you are the one called Kinoya?" Heavy voice of the old man broke his chummy thought. The air around the old man changed again. Kinoya straightened his back and confirmed.
"Do you want to change the regiment?"
"Does it matter? It's not like I got backer in the army. I will be the same no matter where I go, someone with no background. I have just one, a job that is to fight and I will do it no matter from which regiment I am from."
"Boy I like you, I will be looking forward to fighting with you." With the words, the old man turned and left.
'That old man must have some background. Did he want me in his regiment? If he has his own regiment he is at least a one-star general. But he wasn't riding a horse. No matter who it is I don't have to hurry as long as we are on the same side.
*********
"Pitch the tents here, we are going to stay here"
"Sergeant, can we go into the city?"Drow pleaded.
"Yes, sergeant. It's been a long time. We hadn't had any good food or company." Other also added the request.
"No one under Major rank is allowed to enter the city."
"But?"
"No, but, think about it. What will happen if 50,000 of you enter the city at once? This place is good, close to the well. Not too close nor too far from the camp centre. Pitch here. I think I can get something other than the dry ration, meat may be."
Kinoya could hear the cheers as he left.
The front of the supply station was too crowded, filled with big muscled men. Some were wearing red armour while the others were wearing the blue one with snow-peak mountain symbol. The number of blue armour was far more numerous than the red one but that didn't mean anything to Kinoya.
He went to the supply counter and showed the badge. The person inside the counter was a little surprised when he saw Kinoya. Actually, the people around him was too big and they were old enough to have Kinoya as a child.
'This child must have some background or have immense talent.' Without hesitation, he pulled out a good beast leg with a bag of rice. But not all was as clever as this man. As soon as Kinoya gabbed it another hand hold the beast leg.
"Who lost a kid? I fished out a kid with my food." The man was over 6 feet tall with muscles bulging all over the body. He was smiling with his pure yellow tooth while looking towards Kinoya. "This is no place for a kid, boy you should go and send your father back."
'Should I ignore it? There is no reason for me to fight a useless fight.' Kinoya looked around. One thing was clear that the legs other were getting was little dried one whereas the one in his hand was fresh. He didn't understand whether the supplier was helping him or creating trouble for him?
"Boy, why are you holding on? It's not a toy?"
"Then why are you snatching candy from a child?"
The man looked at Kinoya with confused eye and burst into laughter "The boy thinks it's a candy." With his loud voice, soon others joined. The blue one was laughing while the look on the face of red corps was ugly.
"If you want to fight then move out, don't block the entrance."
"Who is going to fight with a child?" The man tried to jerk off Kinoya from the leg.
"Why not we fight over there?" Kinoya was all smile.
The man was surprised moment but smiled, "Boy, you don't know when to give up. But don't worry you, daddy, will teach you a lesson." Both of them came out but none released the leg. Soon a ring formed around them.
"Boy let me tea…" he didn't able to finish his word before he received a kick on the back on the right knee. Even before he could understand what just happened he was already on his knee. But he was a trained man after all.
Kinoya already released the grip on the leg. The man was on his knees but was still agile enough to swing his arm. Kinoya may not have enough strength to knock out in one punch but his agility was high enough not to get caught. The swing missed and Kinoya appeared at the other side and kicked at the other side of the head. It was quite a blow but wasn't enough to knock him out. It angered him to the extreme.
The man stood up, holding the leg in left hand he took out the sabre. The temperature plunged. Kinoya felt chill his spine, the pressure was high enough to make him faint, but he persisted.
'There was no way it could originate from him.' He looked around to find the source. All of sudden the chill intensified. Everything around him stopped in a breath.
A smile greeted him. A chilling but beautiful smile. Kinoya couldn't control his body anymore as the woman moved toward the man who has a handy turned into a statue, a stink was originated from him. Not even the wind was blowing, the woman moved and patted on the cheek of the man. "You shouldn't bully a child."