Chapter 39: Fifth Episode: Chapter 3 (1/2)
Chapter 39: Fifth Episode: Chapter 3
Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The young lad opened his eyes. The extremely loud bugle sound and the yelling of the guards as they trained that came from the outside of the window made him happy. Just like the time in Damorga, even though the young lad was imprisoned, but he himself did not think so. The horns of the guards made him immerse in the illusion of being in an army. He always thought that he was in an army that was strictly managed. The time in prison was like serving in the army. Knowing this made the experience more acceptable for the young man than thinking that he was a prisoner.
Everyone had gone through a disciplined morning. Dulin’s knights just wanted to get home as soon as possible. The Princess wanted to get on with the journey. The grandson of Marshal Alan could not find his knights. The soldiers of the Fifth Division in the First Area of Guards all came curious to look at this scene. It was afraid only the Narcissus Knights still kept a cool head. They did not need any orders from their officers. They had already experienced setting out numerous times since the time they became soldiers.
Colonel Camille Rayen the Paladin said his thanks to the master of the Fort Hanodt. This young army officer had to admit that Lieutenant General Dallas Bobbaston was in fact a good, attentive general. Yesterday night, the soldiers in his organization did a thorough maintenance on the armors of the Narcissus Knights over the night continuously.
When the Narcissus Knights saw the shining armors, they were exceptionally happy. When they saluted to Lieutenant General Bobbaston as they marched out of the main gate of the Fort, their gazes seemed exceptionally happy too.
Major General Reynold Hewitt Preston rode on his claret colored horse at the back of the troop. He felt a little embarrassed. At the same time, he was also complaining. If he could have gotten hold of an army just like the Narcissus Knights, then the scene this morning would not even have happened. The knights he was in charge of did not even know what they should do. These guys simply stayed around in the troop, some even got lost in the city. Reynold truly did not want to bring these guys to meet with the Prince. It was too embarrassing!
The Prince also noticed something. Even if the newly-joined middle-sized knights were much more polite then those young masters in Dulin, but they obviously lacked a concentrated organization and discipline. After a long walk, their formation already did not seem neat. Oscar shook his head. He believed that he could never find a perfect combat force in the guards now. These soldiers had lived too long in peaceful life. At the most, they were simply a bunch of fighters who dreamed of engaging in war.
Oscar decided to not care about these knights anymore. He still had the soldiers from the Narcissus County. This was enough. There was nothing that the Narcissus Knights could not deal with.
This army platoon that was added to the guarding team was picked from the frontline troops that were about to depart to the northwest border by Marshal Alan. These knights had participated in the war against the Deiss. It took Marshal Alan a lot of effort to find such a platoon with combat experience from the Dulin Home Base. From the standpoint of old Marshal, such delicate problems about the organization of the army and so on would naturally be taken care of by the Narcissus Knights. The schedule of the Prince would absolutely not have much issues, so the guard duty was naturally an easy mission to accomplish.
The troop left Fort Hanodt and continued their journey towards the east. At this moment, the army had already left the administrative area of the Capital and went into the Swiesster. Once there were explorers who had made measurements about this place. They said that Swiesster was the very center of the whole Westland. Actually, this assumption of these explorers was incorrect because they had excluded the Persian Empire from the map of the Westland.
The most famous products of Swiesster were grapes and all kinds of agriculture products. It could be said that the major economic income of this province was agriculture. As they entered this province, the road became rough. Even though some roads were rough, but this did not delay much of the time of the journey.
It was midsummer. Every place in Swiesster was brimming with the cheerful green lush and the passion of hard work. There were wooden fence set up by the farmers by the road. There were lush green castors and colorful morning glories winding on the fences. Sometimes some brave small animal would cross the road. They would barely dodge the hooves of the knights. It was nothing much for these small animals, but those soldiers on their horses became restless because of it.
The white tip of the farms showed itself at the far away field. Often the sound of bell that rang during the praying session of the Church of Light could be heard from the small villages. The road stretched right towards the horizon. Peeking below from a tall spot, the knights would notice numerous bright parts of silvery grey colors twisting and turning between the hills.
The hills of Swiesster were full of grapes tree and rose plants. A huge area of grape farms were connected to the village and the forest. Even though the short rose plants seemed a bit lonely, but the strong aroma they emitted were able to reenergize the travelers who passed by this place.
The farmers who were working in the field saw a whole army of knights and carriages from afar. Even though these countrymen could not recognize the flag of the guards and the carriages of the Titan royal family, but they could recognize the emblem of the Narcissus Knights.
A small captain of the Narcissus Knights held a board high. On this board were two intersecting knights’ swords. Both swords supported a sun on top of them. A few Narcissus in full bloom were embroidered on the surface of the sun. At the beginning of the fifth century of the Light Calendar, the Pope then was Radriere II. The Pope His Great Eminence did not care about the Persian knights who were still causing havoc in the country. Instead, he personally gave four boards that had been blessed to the Narcissus County. And these four boards had been treated as deities by the Narcissus Knights for many years of war. Every time when the board appeared, nothing could not stop these knights who seemed as if they were blessed by the God of Light with magic regardless of the situation.
A long war flag was on the pole above the boards. The war flag depicted a running fierce tiger. In the mouth of the fierce tiger had a narcissus in full bloom as always.
The message of an army would usually be represented by the war flag. This particular war flag used by the Narcissus Knight had the message of refusing any intention of establishing contact with them because this war flag was used to indicate a troop in the middle of a mission. The leader of the knights, Colonel Camille Rayen chose this war flag specifically. He thought that this would minimize many unnecessary troubles for the team.
The troop marched past the town. The simple Swiesster showed their blinding passionate admiration towards the visit by Swiesster hospitality. In the morning, the head of the farms would prepare a filling meal for the knights and bigshots in the troops; In the afternoon, the farmers who walked for almost ten few miles just to deliver freshly-baked bread, fruit pies and meatballs in soup; at night, the nobles in the town would prepare an exotic bonfire for the sake of the Princess of the Empire and the members of Andrew.
Madam Celia was very pleased with everything. Not only did she used the coins to exchange for some food, she even invited the local madam and misses to visit a few orphanages.
These few days, Oscar was also influenced by the simplicity of this place. Just like a real knight, he joined his own troop. He built tents with his knights, asked Kamille to teach him horsemanship and asked Commander Arden about they had to say to make simple meal. In general, this young lad felt like everything was going smoothly except for his relationship with the Princess and Annie.
Annie would still take care of his wellbeing as usual, but Oscar felt like something was really off between them. However, the most troublesome one was the Princess. She no longer refused to sit with the Prince in the same carriage or speak with him. But the young lad knew that the tone and expression of the Princess was extremely cold.
But this could not dampen the young lad’s excited feelings. In these ten years he had already gotten used to fresh blood and cold walls. When he was at a land that was brimming with life, his whole being was pumped up.
His Royal Highness Prince went with the Cavalry Association of the Cecil Organization to hunt in the woods along with the local nobles, participated in the mass organized by the local church in Brady and joined the Wine Festival in Vakach. When he knew that there was only one day left before the troops will leave Swiesster, this little guy bought a workshop and a manor from an old Duke, ignoring the opposition of his mother.
When the troops reached the borderline between Swiesster and Burton, the young lad could not help but sigh as he thought about this trip. Beautiful things always disappear fast behind our backs. When you thought everything would stop at a certain part of the journey, you would realize that this beautiful bond had turned into a time full of memory.
On the tenth day of their journey since departing from Dulin, the Prince’s troop entered Burton. They were behind of their originally planned schedule for a total of two days. From the Zousberg in Burton, the team had to proceed towards the south. Even though the east bound road would lead them straight to the Borne Forest in front, but the Prince did not plan to walk through that place when he planned the journey. The young lad thought that going for a short visit to the Music City, Vielonna would be a better choice.
The Lady Duchess did not comment anything about her youngest son’s arrangement. She was rather satisfied with her youngest son. Even though this little guy quietly eliminated the nephew of the Emperor silently in Westberg Fort, but the boys in the Andrew family had never once lost a battle. Thus, the blame was not on him. Duel and killing was the same thing no matter how different the motives for these two matters were.
Like any mother, the Lady Duchess Andrew, Celia was looking for a suitable excuse for her son. At the moment, she had put down the needles and thread in her hands, and happily looked at her son who was riding on a horse. Even though this little guy still could not control the horse quite well, but he had completely turned into a boy of the Andrew family!
Sasha E. also looked forward to the trip to Music City. That was the holy place of the classical music in Westland. The little miss hoped that her brother would find himself back in the Music City. After all, Vielonna was able to completely cleanse souls. The little miss thought that this was necessary for Oscar. If her brother still had the terrible state like a god-slayer, then she had no idea how she could face this man who was destined to become her husband.
Also looking forward to the trip to Vielonna were a few criminals. As the infamous criminals in Westland, they naturally would not miss the chance of committing crimes in this also-infamous town. The criminal database in the Department of Justice in Vielonna clearly recorded the stupid things once committed by these few super criminals before.
Colonel Kamille Rayen used an entire week to explain clearly about the background of the Special Warfare. It was not the case that this Paladin was bad at explaining things. It was that the comprehension ability of his audience was too low. For a very simple military issue, the Colonel always had to take half a day to explain to these criminals.
Today, when the troops were a few miles away from Vielonna City, Kamille Rayen finally reached the final stage of the conversation.
”Gentlemen! I believe now everyone has a general and conceptual understanding of the war now. Then Special Warfare is, let me repeat the words of Lieutenant General Figg Andrew Tibotty, to utilize the contradiction between the Persian tribes and nurture an anti-government force within the border of the Persian Empire. By using this anti-government force to topple the government of the Persian Empire, the strategic aim is to completely divide the Persian Empire.”
”These anti-government force is mainly made of the minority tribes that are sick of being enslaved and oppressed within the borders of Persian. These people are not only good in combat, they also had a deep hatred against the people of high social status in the Persian Empire.”
”Then what role do the Andrew family and Narcissus Knights take on in this matter?” Ricky was a little confused but he thought that the so-called ‘Special Warfare’ was definitely not simply sowing discord.
”Dear Mr. Butler, I must admit that you are smart. You have stated the key to this problem. Andrew is responsible for planning and organizing the rebel army, and also the strategy training for these Persians. Sometimes the army officers of the Narcissus will directly order them to engage in war. If it was more than ten years ago and someone told you these things, he would definitely be charged with treason. But now, it is no secret anymore. I can even tell you this. There are still a few individual Knights troop comprised of Persians in the Narcissus Knights.”
”Oh! I understand now. I just did not think that Lieutenant General Figg Andrew Tibotty’s strategic aim was so ambitious! If I am not mistaken, his so-called Special Warfare was to topple the current government of the Persian, and even cause the division of the Persian Empire.” Ricky suddenly understood everything. He truly did not expect that there was someone with such exceptional strategic mind in the Andrew family.
”Yes. The Second Young Master has always been a courageous one. At the beginning everyone thought that his way of thinking has a strong opportunistic color to it, but it was until he came back from Baghdad West that the people realized that...”
”Wait! Where is Baghdad West?” It was the first time the King of Sins heard of this name. He did not think that there was a place in Westland that he had not heard of.
”Oh yes! Baghdad West. That is the Capital of the Persian Empire.”
”Are you saying…... Are you saying that Second Young Master had been to the Capital of Persian before?” The King of Sins was extremely surprised of this news. He had once been at Persian, but he did not go deep into that place. He did not think that any Titan soldier could ever survive in that place even for one day.
”Yes! To be more accurate, the Second Young Master had fought battles until he reached the Capital of Persian. He was the first Titan soldier who reached the front of the Baghdad West city. This is the reason why so many young generals want to be his followers. He is forever a hero in the heart of the Narcissus Knights.”
”I... I don’t believe it!” The King of Sins truly did not want to believe in this. He had already suffered so much when he was at the border of the Persian. Now, there was actually someone telling him that an army troop once reached the Capital of the Persian!
”Please listen to me. The Second Young Master only had a Division of the army troop with him, but he gathered a rebel army that had more than forty thousand people at the border. These rebel army were all Persians. They knew very well of the geography of that place and the deployment of troops of that area, so there was not much trouble as they advanced. To be honest, no one would believe this even if they were told. No one knew that there were Narcissus Knights in this rebel army. And as they advanced, there were even some places that they were not resisted by the local force. Thus, the Second Young Master successfully utilized all sorts of factors to carry out this advancement.”
”What happened after that?” Ricky was so curious. He did not know the Narcissus Knights dis such an amazing feat before.
”Hehe. The Second Young Master said that he only took a glance at the Capital of the Persian and came back.” The Paladin could not help but laugh when he said this.
”Why?” Ricky continued to ask.
”The Second Young Master had mentioned! Baghdad West is like the sacred place in the heart of the Persian. The rebel army had given up the fight as they reached that place. The way they treat that place is just like that of the pilgrims. Moreover, the Second Young Master also said that he will need a hundred Divisions to attack a city as large as Baghdad West.”
”Wait a second, okay? Let’s not talk about that Second Young Master.” The Poison Doctor suddenly spoke. He felt that everyone kept going out of topic these days. ”Didn’t anyone notice at all? We all seem to discuss about my smoke suppressant! Did you guys forget? It was because Kamille mentioned the special arrows I passed to Ricky that we are talking about this Special Warfare!”
”Oh! Yeah! Haha!” The Paladin laughed awkwardly. He realized that these few criminals did not show a very nice expression.
”Ah! It... It is this way!” The Paladin quickly sat seriously. The swell on his neck still had not disappeared! ”The Special Warfare still has not created much impact until this day. The current force of the rebel army is still relatively weak. They usually will not attack the middle-sized or large-sized city and formal army that has a scale larger than Division. They always used the advantageous quick speed of the knights to eliminate the smaller military aims....”