Chapter 34 (1/2)

“Your highness,” Gale said,” I have returned. Forgive me for my failures.” He was kneeling on the floor in front of the king who sat on his throne. He wore a white robe and his silver cross necklace was missing.

“Rise, Gale,” the king said, “don’t worry about the failure. I’m just glad you’re unharmed.”

Gale stood up. “I’ve made a few important discoveries in the time of my captivity,” Gales said as he pulled out a book from his robe’s newly sewn on pocket.

He opened the book and cleared his throat. “The leader of the new undead kingdom is the corrupted one who guards the fountain of youth. The reasons for founding the kingdom are unknown, but she intends on maintaining a close relationship with the demons. In my time as a captive, I was forced to teach a human boy manners,” Gale said, “I suspect she’s raising the boy as her child.”

“Hmm,” the king said as he rubbed his chin, “was there anything unusual about the boy?”

Gale nodded. “His eyes were golden and his pupils were slit. He was most likely imprinted by a snake or a lizard. He also regularly ate raw meat and he didn’t behave like a human child,” Gale said, “it seemed like the corrupted one wanted to establish a relationship between the demon princess and the boy.”

“Are the reports about the undead true?” the king asked, “they really don’t kill?”

“From what I’ve seen, yes it’s true. The corrupted one doesn’t want to establish hostilities with any of the nations,” Gale said, “I’ve also seen many human and demon villagers migrating to the undead kingdom. The border villages that I passed through are devoid of people and livestock.”

The king frowned. “That is unacceptable,” the king said, “simply unacceptable.”

Gale lowered his head. “Forgive me for my impudence,” Gale said, “but I think a few policies need to be changed in order to keep our people from leaving. The undead are offering food and shelter to the people at the cost of mana. The people no longer need to work for gold or food. A few low ranking adventurers have defected because of this.”

The king’s eyebrows knit together. “Our policy has worked for hundreds of years. Even when the villagers and serfs rose up in rebellion, we were able to continue without changing anything,” the king said, “we’ll just have to post guards at the borders and prevent the undead from coming in and the people from leaving.”

Gale continued to stare at the floor. “Times are changing, your highness,” he said, “the undead are a new faction that have the power to support a rebellion. Posting guards won’t work against an enemy that doesn’t need to sleep or eat.”

The king glared at Gale. “Are you questioning my ability, Gale?” he asked.

“No, your highness,” Gale said, “I am only speaking from my experience. Forgive me.”

The king nodded. “Very well. I’ll stay my hand,” he said, “tomorrow, the court will convene and we will discuss the best method to deal with this.”

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“We should crush them, your highness,” a man said, “overwhelm them with military force.” He was the leader of the reinforcements that got stripped by the undead army. He sat at a round table with a dozen other men, including the king and Gale. He was bald and had a black goatee. His armor was made of mithril.

“I disagree,” Gale said, “recklessly attacking them won’t benefit us in anyway.”

“What do you know?” the man said as he slammed his fist against the table and stood up, “you’re just a turncoat who lived with those damned skeletons.”

“Geralt,” the king said, “calm down.”

Geralt glared at Gale and sat back in his chair. A thin man with a white beard and blue wizard robes cleared his throat.

“Gale’s right you know,” he said, “if we attack the undead, what’s stopping the demons from attacking us? We’re in the same situation as before, but this time the undead and demons are colluding against us.”

“Oh? Then what do you suggest?” Geralt said as he turned to look at the man.

The man smiled. “It’s simple. We become allies with the undead also,” he said, “not only do we remove the threat of invasion, we also benefit from trade. A three way trade can definitely be prosperous for our nation. Think of all the items that we had to send adventures into the wilderness for that we can now obtain through trade. Magical beasts, rare herbs, water from the fountain of youth, maybe even phoenix downs.” The man’s eyes twinkled. He sighed. “It’s a shame that the tree of knowledge no longer exists.”

“But what can we offer them?” the king asked, “I imagine they don’t need any of our resources.”