Vol 9 Chapter 78 (2/2)

“Zi Long, let me propose a toast for you. Thanks for your hard work today!” I toasted Zi Long as I thought so.

Zi Long was presently eating relaxedly. When she saw me toast her, she calmly set her chopsticks down and raised her cup, “It’s not too bad today. But I have to say, my lord’s martial prowess seems to have deteriorated. You will have to have a tighter training schedule from now on.”

“Ah… Un, alright.” I said as my hand trembled, feeling helpless at how merciless Zi Long was even at a time like this.

Wu… I cannot believe she actually saw that. I do have to admit however, that my martial prowess has deteriorated. I felt that keenly myself during the battle.

“Ah, yes.” I decided to ask her as I was asleep all this while, “Zi Long, what was the conclusion after the count?”

“Ah, that huh?” Zi Long had picked up her chopsticks and set down her cup but she put down her chopsticks once more when she heard me speak to her, “The result was very good. The enemy has lost in excess of 6,000 troops. As for our side, though we were lightly geared, the enemy’s commanders were drawn away which messed up their chain of command so we did not suffer heavy losses. During their final push to break through the surround, we did suffer quite a number of casualties though. In total, we have suffered less than 2,000 casualties.”

2,000 huh?

“Achieving such a resounding victory cannot have been easy. To think you actually scored a 3:1 kill/death ratio.” Wen Yuan gasped.

“I should also add that Lord Hua Tuo saved a tremendous number of lives today.” Zi Long added with a tinge of respect in her eyes, “If it weren’t for her and her team’s efforts, our casualties would have been in excess of 2,000.”

Looks like Hua Tuo and her team really worked hard after she met up with them huh? As I thought so, I looked around for her as I wanted to toast her but she was nowhere to be found.

“Lord Hua Tuo was really exhausted by the end of the day.” Zi Long said when she saw my sweeping gaze, “She just came back a short while ago and should be fast asleep now.”

“Ah, I see.”

She really worked hard huh?

“My lord, I have more good news.” Just then, Chen Dao spoke up. I looked over and saw that she was smiling as she continued, “While we were cleaning up, we acquired many sets of heavy plate from the enemy, the bulk of which are usable. In total, there are about 3,000 complete sets.”

“Ohhh~” I gasped when I heard this as we could now have a unit of heavy infantry of our own.

“There’s more,” Chen Dao said excitedly, “Our scouts found that they took the long route around when they escaped and did not send anyone to collect their camp stuff, which means that we have also gained a week’s worth of supplies for 9-10,000 troops.”

“Ohhh~~~” Everyone gasped and smiled widely when they heard this. The outcome of this battle has been perfect. We slew a renowned enemy general, we suffered minimal losses and we even gained equipment and supplies.

However, I personally cannot feel happy from the bottom of my heart. I am not someone from this era after all so my sense of values and how I perceive the value of life is different from everyone else.

Rationally speaking, suffering less than 2,000 casualties is cause for celebration but to me, it’s still 2,000 too many casualties. While we celebrate our victory, should we not mourn for all the lives lost as well?

This is not the first time a question of this sort has popped up in my head. From my experiences in this era, the answer is a resounding no, especially at a celebratory banquet like this. The reason, as I have gradually realised, is that death means something different in this era.

Everyone seems to be numb to death, which is ever-present in this era. Being able to live is a good thing of course but death is seen as something inevitable and unavoidable.

“Liao Hua, go and tally how many of those who died still have family members serving in our armies later on with Zi Zhong.”

Of course, that’s just the way things are here. As for myself, I have my own way of doing things.

“My lord, what are you thinking of doing?”

“Hmhm.”

Liao Hua asked while Zi Zhong merely hummed as she took out her abacus. I know though, that they both know where I am going with this.

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