Chapter 154
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After Caesar delivered his long speech, the soldiers patiently waited for his next commands. Fortunately for them, they didn't have to wait for very long… Caesar raised his right hand high in the air and opened his thin lips, "Clan heads, lead the soldiers to Point A and Point B, as for you Akari, bring your soldiers with me" he ordered and jumped down from his podium.
To him, it was not necessary to explain his strategy to the foot soldiers, the only thing they needed to do was follow orders. As such, Caesar would rely on the clan heads to complete the simple tasks.
After his orders were relayed, the soldiers nodded their heads in consent and shifted their attention to their respective clan head. They were not aware of where 'point A' and 'point B' were located, thus, they needed to be led.
Thankfully, Caesar had informed the clan heads of his strategy prior, so they naturally knew where Caesar had wanted them to go. Thus, they turned around and ordered their men to equip themselves and prepare for battle.
Soon, huge lines of troops rushed out of the training grounds towards the armory. Seeing this, Caesar approached Falthor who was standing relatively close to the podium, "Falthor, prepare rations for the groups going to both points A and point B, make sure they are of equal amount and will last at the very least, two days" he ordered, to which the surprised Falthor saluted respectfully.
Caesar didn't wait for Falthor's reply and immediately headed towards where Akari was. He needed to make sure everything moved smoothly if they wanted a chance at victory. His plan heavily relied on emotions and prediction, as such, his stratagem could go awry with one simple misstep.
It took him a few seconds to locate the short Akari who was mixed in with hundreds of tall men, but he soon found her anyway. He raised his hand and called out to the distracted woman, "Akari, come here" He thundered, loud enough to turn the heads of all those present.
Hearing his loud roar, Akari frantically made her way towards him. She pushed through the many men in her way until she was finally in talking distance, naturally her soldiers followed behind her. "You asked for me?" She asked whilst subtly bowing.
Caesar put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her from bowing, he then proceeded to look at her straight in the eyes, "wait here until the others are gone, I would prefer to talk when it is quiet" he said with a slight smile.
In response, Ahri observed her surroundings and her face flushed with shame when she noticed how disorderly and rowdy the warriors were. They didn't appear to have one ounce of management and were shoving their way out of the training grounds. Although they were, in fact, strong fighters, they had only been briefly trained in formations, resulting in their current conduct to be relatively normal.
Caesar also knew of this, so he didn't pay it much mind. He didn't require them to leave the training grounds with grace, however, when the battle starts, he is going to make sure that they move in the most efficient and effective way possible.
Akari didn't know of Caesar's thoughts, so she could only look towards the ground in embarrassment. No one wanted to show their direct superior such a pathetic scene, especially since she was a new addition to the council.
Fortunately for her, she didn't have to wait for too long. The many soldiers quickly left the tight spaced training grounds, leaving only her troops, Musashi, and Caesar left. Once they were alone, Caesar raised her chin with his index finger as she was still gazing towards the ground.
"There's no need to be embarrassed, it is in their nature to act as such… it will only pose to be a problem if they act similar during battle, however, I will make sure that doesn't occur" he said reassuringly and removed his finger from her chin. He then gazed north and continued talking to the silent girl, "we will be heading north in fifteen minutes, we will set up our ambush just a few hundred meters away from the border… I assume you remember most of my plan, as such, I don't need to explain the details" Caesar's words continued as he inspected Akari's army.
Roughly half of them were women, while the other half were men. She was the only clan head that employed women as fighters. Although to most leaders, they viewed women as weaker subjects in comparison to men, Caesar viewed them much differently. In a battle of brute strength, a man would surely come out on top, however, women have many different strengths that men could never hope to possess.
It was because of these strengths that Caesar decided Akari and her group of warriors were more suited for this excursion than the others. While thinking here, Akari finally got ahold of herself and replied, "f-fifteen minutes? We still need to prepare ourselves…" she said hesitantly.
Instead of replying, Caesar snapped his fingers. The loud snap seemed to resound throughout the training grounds, and in response, a few medium sized wooden carts were brought towards him by a few maids. They were filled with an assortment of weapons, and it was clear that Caesar had already prepared for this moment.
Akari stared incredulously at the weapons before recollecting herself and ordering her troops to equip themselves, to which they nodded their heads in consent and walked towards the carts quite orderly. Vastly different from the other groups, the women were quite calm and didn't rush.
Such a sight caused Akari to beam with pride. She even stole a few glances at Caesar, wanting to see his reaction. Unfortunately, she could only be disappointed, as it didn't appear to impress him in the slightest.
Dejected, Akari herself walked to the weapon carts and pulled out a short katana-esque weapon. She then lied up with the rest of her soldiers in front of Caesar. They were quiet, well disciplined, and even Caesar couldn't find a fault with their current behavior.
He raised his chin and gazed upon the many women and men in front of him, he then squinted his eyes and opened his lips, "we will be moving separately from the other groups for now, but we will also be the first to fight… don't ask questions, and follow me" He ordered sharply and turned around, he didn't need to see their reaction.
"Yes, sir!" they roared in response and followed after Caesar's departing figure, most of them didn't care for details. They would just simply follow Caesar's orders, that was how much they trusted him and Akari. Of course, there would be some that were curious, however, none of them were brave enough to actually ask.
As such, Caesar and Akari's group headed towards the east gates practically undetected. They quickly passed by the under-guarded gates and made their way north, with Caesar in front. He still adorned his tight black shirt, blue trousers, and a silver crown atop his head.
They moved in a unified order with around eight rows of roughly 50 soldiers in each row. They looked similar to a rectangle and moved relatively quiet. It was clear they had practiced marching at one point or another, which piqued Caesar's curiosity, however, he held himself back from asking Akari.
If everything went according to plan, he believed that Andrea would've already been captured by the trolls and questioned. As such, a small force would naturally come north in search of Ahri. The only problem being that Caesar didn't know the exact number of how many would come, nor did he know if the troll prince would be present.
Thinking to here, Caesar glanced at the soldiers following behind him, "quicken the pace… we'll be moving for another hour" he ordered and broke out into a jog, to which the others followed behind him at the same pace.
*******************************
While Caesar and his small force were busy marching, Andrea was currently kneeling down in a luxurious palace-like building. She rested on a red carpet and in front of her were a few fleets of stairs that led to a stone throne. To her sides were a few dozen marble pillars that held up the roof.
Unfortunately, she couldn't admire the beautiful interior because a few dozen muscular trolls that wielded spears were surrounding her. Their tusks ominously pointed in her direction and even saliva escaped from their mouths. Their skin was blue, however, a few had a rare green hue attached to their skin.
"I'm having trouble understanding… so you mean to tell me that some charming man broke into my stronghold, froze my crops, killed my soldiers, abducted my slaves, and simply let you out afterward?" a man seated on the throne asked strangely, he was quite robust and a long black beard flowed out from his chin. He had long black hair, yellow eyes, and he held a huge three-pronged trident in his hands.
To his right, a man who looked similar to him, albeit, much younger, was seated on a smaller throne. He was currently playing with a woman slave that was sitting on the arm of his chair, she was blonde human, and her face was currently stricken with discomfort, fear, and even humiliation.
Hearing his words, Andrea nodded her head with an aggrieved expression, "that scum wanted to taint my daughter's body… so I did what any mother would do and refused, however, he kicked me out of the stronghold and even kept my son …" Andrea spoke incoherently in between sobs.
The man seated atop the throne nodded his head in understanding, and soon, a loud laugh reverberated throughout the halls, "what useless mother, not even capable of saving your own children…" the man paused for a moment as he stroked his chin, "kill her" he said abruptly, but before the trolls stabbed down, the younger man stopped them.
"Wait, what if she knows some information?" he suddenly asked. He wanted to prove himself in front of his father. If he could gain some merit, then his father would gift him with more beauties. Just thinking about it made the young man sinisterly lick his lips.
In response, his father stroked his chin for a second before begrudgingly agreeing, "I suppose you could be right…" he said in a deep thunderous voice before shifting his attention back to Andrea, "do you know anything?" he asked.
As if waiting for this moment, Andrea immediately spilled everything she 'knew' about how Ahri was escaping to the north, and how the fox-kin were preparing for a retreat. As such, shock filled the expression of the nearby trolls.
"Haha, I told you father! I told you she would know something!" the younger man jumped out and down in excitement.
"Wait a minute my son, it could be tra-" Before the middle-aged man finished his words, his son interrupted him.
"There's no way such an idiotic human would dare lie in front of our majestic presence… please let me take my royal guard to capture their empress, I've been wanting to taste her for years now. Ever since that clan meeting you had with that damnable Musashi" The prince said with a tightly gripped fist, and even a blazing flame of determination was reflected in his eyes.
His father hesitated a moment before agreeing, "very well, but if you sense danger, do not hesitate to retreat immediately… although the fox-kin aren't very bright, I heard they employed the help of some dangerous man" he said and waved his son off.
"Thank you father!" the young prince nodded his head energetically and took off, not even sparing a glance back.
After he left, the troll king looked towards his left, "follow him and make sure nothing bad happens… I'll be relying on you" he said towards an old looking troll to his left, to which the troll responded with a deep bow and left shortly after.
Once those two left, the troll king shifted his attention back to Andrea, who was still seated on the ground, "if what you said is false… you know the consequences, correct?" the man whispered a threat with a dangerous amount of killing intent.
"O-o-of course…" Andrea replied with a fearful expression. However, she inwardly scoffed at the foolish king. He would soon be eating his words, he called her a useless mother for not protecting her children, alas, his son was going to die soon! Just the thought of it made her laugh inside.
"It's good that you understand…" the troll king replied and paused for a moment before looking towards the guards, "take her to the dungeon, she will stay there until we confirm if her words are true or not" he ordered and Andrea was soon taken out of the throne room.
The reason why the king somewhat trusted Andrea was mainly because he figured she wanted revenge on the man who allegedly raped her daughter. As such, he felt as though her words were moderately truthful, however, he could just not get rid of the bad feeling in his heart.
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After Caesar delivered his long speech, the soldiers patiently waited for his next commands. Fortunately for them, they didn't have to wait for very long… Caesar raised his right hand high in the air and opened his thin lips, "Clan heads, lead the soldiers to Point A and Point B, as for you Akari, bring your soldiers with me" he ordered and jumped down from his podium.
To him, it was not necessary to explain his strategy to the foot soldiers, the only thing they needed to do was follow orders. As such, Caesar would rely on the clan heads to complete the simple tasks.
After his orders were relayed, the soldiers nodded their heads in consent and shifted their attention to their respective clan head. They were not aware of where 'point A' and 'point B' were located, thus, they needed to be led.
Thankfully, Caesar had informed the clan heads of his strategy prior, so they naturally knew where Caesar had wanted them to go. Thus, they turned around and ordered their men to equip themselves and prepare for battle.
Soon, huge lines of troops rushed out of the training grounds towards the armory. Seeing this, Caesar approached Falthor who was standing relatively close to the podium, "Falthor, prepare rations for the groups going to both points A and point B, make sure they are of equal amount and will last at the very least, two days" he ordered, to which the surprised Falthor saluted respectfully.
Caesar didn't wait for Falthor's reply and immediately headed towards where Akari was. He needed to make sure everything moved smoothly if they wanted a chance at victory. His plan heavily relied on emotions and prediction, as such, his stratagem could go awry with one simple misstep.
It took him a few seconds to locate the short Akari who was mixed in with hundreds of tall men, but he soon found her anyway. He raised his hand and called out to the distracted woman, "Akari, come here" He thundered, loud enough to turn the heads of all those present.
Hearing his loud roar, Akari frantically made her way towards him. She pushed through the many men in her way until she was finally in talking distance, naturally her soldiers followed behind her. "You asked for me?" She asked whilst subtly bowing.
Caesar put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her from bowing, he then proceeded to look at her straight in the eyes, "wait here until the others are gone, I would prefer to talk when it is quiet" he said with a slight smile.
In response, Ahri observed her surroundings and her face flushed with shame when she noticed how disorderly and rowdy the warriors were. They didn't appear to have one ounce of management and were shoving their way out of the training grounds. Although they were, in fact, strong fighters, they had only been briefly trained in formations, resulting in their current conduct to be relatively normal.
Caesar also knew of this, so he didn't pay it much mind. He didn't require them to leave the training grounds with grace, however, when the battle starts, he is going to make sure that they move in the most efficient and effective way possible.
Akari didn't know of Caesar's thoughts, so she could only look towards the ground in embarrassment. No one wanted to show their direct superior such a pathetic scene, especially since she was a new addition to the council.
Fortunately for her, she didn't have to wait for too long. The many soldiers quickly left the tight spaced training grounds, leaving only her troops, Musashi, and Caesar left. Once they were alone, Caesar raised her chin with his index finger as she was still gazing towards the ground.
"There's no need to be embarrassed, it is in their nature to act as such… it will only pose to be a problem if they act similar during battle, however, I will make sure that doesn't occur" he said reassuringly and removed his finger from her chin. He then gazed north and continued talking to the silent girl, "we will be heading north in fifteen minutes, we will set up our ambush just a few hundred meters away from the border… I assume you remember most of my plan, as such, I don't need to explain the details" Caesar's words continued as he inspected Akari's army.
Roughly half of them were women, while the other half were men. She was the only clan head that employed women as fighters. Although to most leaders, they viewed women as weaker subjects in comparison to men, Caesar viewed them much differently. In a battle of brute strength, a man would surely come out on top, however, women have many different strengths that men could never hope to possess.
It was because of these strengths that Caesar decided Akari and her group of warriors were more suited for this excursion than the others. While thinking here, Akari finally got ahold of herself and replied, "f-fifteen minutes? We still need to prepare ourselves…" she said hesitantly.
Instead of replying, Caesar snapped his fingers. The loud snap seemed to resound throughout the training grounds, and in response, a few medium sized wooden carts were brought towards him by a few maids. They were filled with an assortment of weapons, and it was clear that Caesar had already prepared for this moment.
Akari stared incredulously at the weapons before recollecting herself and ordering her troops to equip themselves, to which they nodded their heads in consent and walked towards the carts quite orderly. Vastly different from the other groups, the women were quite calm and didn't rush.
Such a sight caused Akari to beam with pride. She even stole a few glances at Caesar, wanting to see his reaction. Unfortunately, she could only be disappointed, as it didn't appear to impress him in the slightest.
Dejected, Akari herself walked to the weapon carts and pulled out a short katana-esque weapon. She then lied up with the rest of her soldiers in front of Caesar. They were quiet, well disciplined, and even Caesar couldn't find a fault with their current behavior.
He raised his chin and gazed upon the many women and men in front of him, he then squinted his eyes and opened his lips, "we will be moving separately from the other groups for now, but we will also be the first to fight… don't ask questions, and follow me" He ordered sharply and turned around, he didn't need to see their reaction.
"Yes, sir!" they roared in response and followed after Caesar's departing figure, most of them didn't care for details. They would just simply follow Caesar's orders, that was how much they trusted him and Akari. Of course, there would be some that were curious, however, none of them were brave enough to actually ask.
As such, Caesar and Akari's group headed towards the east gates practically undetected. They quickly passed by the under-guarded gates and made their way north, with Caesar in front. He still adorned his tight black shirt, blue trousers, and a silver crown atop his head.
They moved in a unified order with around eight rows of roughly 50 soldiers in each row. They looked similar to a rectangle and moved relatively quiet. It was clear they had practiced marching at one point or another, which piqued Caesar's curiosity, however, he held himself back from asking Akari.
If everything went according to plan, he believed that Andrea would've already been captured by the trolls and questioned. As such, a small force would naturally come north in search of Ahri. The only problem being that Caesar didn't know the exact number of how many would come, nor did he know if the troll prince would be present.
Thinking to here, Caesar glanced at the soldiers following behind him, "quicken the pace… we'll be moving for another hour" he ordered and broke out into a jog, to which the others followed behind him at the same pace.
*******************************
While Caesar and his small force were busy marching, Andrea was currently kneeling down in a luxurious palace-like building. She rested on a red carpet and in front of her were a few fleets of stairs that led to a stone throne. To her sides were a few dozen marble pillars that held up the roof.
Unfortunately, she couldn't admire the beautiful interior because a few dozen muscular trolls that wielded spears were surrounding her. Their tusks ominously pointed in her direction and even saliva escaped from their mouths. Their skin was blue, however, a few had a rare green hue attached to their skin.
"I'm having trouble understanding… so you mean to tell me that some charming man broke into my stronghold, froze my crops, killed my soldiers, abducted my slaves, and simply let you out afterward?" a man seated on the throne asked strangely, he was quite robust and a long black beard flowed out from his chin. He had long black hair, yellow eyes, and he held a huge three-pronged trident in his hands.
To his right, a man who looked similar to him, albeit, much younger, was seated on a smaller throne. He was currently playing with a woman slave that was sitting on the arm of his chair, she was blonde human, and her face was currently stricken with discomfort, fear, and even humiliation.
Hearing his words, Andrea nodded her head with an aggrieved expression, "that scum wanted to taint my daughter's body… so I did what any mother would do and refused, however, he kicked me out of the stronghold and even kept my son …" Andrea spoke incoherently in between sobs.
The man seated atop the throne nodded his head in understanding, and soon, a loud laugh reverberated throughout the halls, "what useless mother, not even capable of saving your own children…" the man paused for a moment as he stroked his chin, "kill her" he said abruptly, but before the trolls stabbed down, the younger man stopped them.
"Wait, what if she knows some information?" he suddenly asked. He wanted to prove himself in front of his father. If he could gain some merit, then his father would gift him with more beauties. Just thinking about it made the young man sinisterly lick his lips.
In response, his father stroked his chin for a second before begrudgingly agreeing, "I suppose you could be right…" he said in a deep thunderous voice before shifting his attention back to Andrea, "do you know anything?" he asked.
As if waiting for this moment, Andrea immediately spilled everything she 'knew' about how Ahri was escaping to the north, and how the fox-kin were preparing for a retreat. As such, shock filled the expression of the nearby trolls.
"Haha, I told you father! I told you she would know something!" the younger man jumped out and down in excitement.
"Wait a minute my son, it could be tra-" Before the middle-aged man finished his words, his son interrupted him.
"There's no way such an idiotic human would dare lie in front of our majestic presence… please let me take my royal guard to capture their empress, I've been wanting to taste her for years now. Ever since that clan meeting you had with that damnable Musashi" The prince said with a tightly gripped fist, and even a blazing flame of determination was reflected in his eyes.
His father hesitated a moment before agreeing, "very well, but if you sense danger, do not hesitate to retreat immediately… although the fox-kin aren't very bright, I heard they employed the help of some dangerous man" he said and waved his son off.
"Thank you father!" the young prince nodded his head energetically and took off, not even sparing a glance back.
After he left, the troll king looked towards his left, "follow him and make sure nothing bad happens… I'll be relying on you" he said towards an old looking troll to his left, to which the troll responded with a deep bow and left shortly after.
Once those two left, the troll king shifted his attention back to Andrea, who was still seated on the ground, "if what you said is false… you know the consequences, correct?" the man whispered a threat with a dangerous amount of killing intent.
"O-o-of course…" Andrea replied with a fearful expression. However, she inwardly scoffed at the foolish king. He would soon be eating his words, he called her a useless mother for not protecting her children, alas, his son was going to die soon! Just the thought of it made her laugh inside.
"It's good that you understand…" the troll king replied and paused for a moment before looking towards the guards, "take her to the dungeon, she will stay there until we confirm if her words are true or not" he ordered and Andrea was soon taken out of the throne room.
The reason why the king somewhat trusted Andrea was mainly because he figured she wanted revenge on the man who allegedly raped her daughter. As such, he felt as though her words were moderately truthful, however, he could just not get rid of the bad feeling in his heart.
After Caesar delivered his long speech, the soldiers patiently waited for his next commands. Fortunately for them, they didn't have to wait for very long Caesar raised his right hand high in the air and opened his thin lips, "Clan heads, lead the soldiers to Point A and Point B, as for you Akari, bring your soldiers with me" he ordered and jumped down from his podium.To him, it was not necessary to explain his strategy to the foot soldiers, the only thing they needed to do was follow orders. As such, Caesar would rely on the clan heads to complete the simple tasks.After his orders were relayed, the soldiers nodded their heads in consent and shifted their attention to their respective clan head. They were not aware of where 'point A' and 'point B' were located, thus, they needed to be led.Thankfully, Caesar had informed the clan heads of his strategy prior, so they naturally knew where Caesar had wanted them to go. Thus, they turned around and ordered their men to equip themselves and prepare for battle.Soon, huge lines of troops rushed out of the training grounds towards the armory. Seeing this, Caesar approached Falthor who was standing relatively close to the podium, "Falthor, prepare rations for the groups going to both points A and point B, make sure they are of equal amount and will last at the very least, two days" he ordered, to which the surprised Falthor saluted respectfully.Caesar didn't wait for Falthor's reply and immediately headed towards where Akari was. He needed to make sure everything moved smoothly if they wanted a chance at victory. His plan heavily relied on emotions and prediction, as such, his stratagem could go awry with one simple misstep.It took him a few seconds to locate the short Akari who was mixed in with hundreds of tall men, but he soon found her anyway. He raised his hand and called out to the distracted woman, "Akari, come here" He thundered, loud enough to turn the heads of all those present.Hearing his loud roar, Akari frantically made her way towards him. She pushed through the many men in her way until she was finally in talking distance, naturally her soldiers followed behind her. "You asked for me?" She asked whilst subtly bowing.Caesar put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her from bowing, he then proceeded to look at her straight in the eyes, "wait here until the others are gone, I would prefer to talk when it is quiet" he said with a slight smile.In response, Ahri observed her surroundings and her face flushed with shame when she noticed how disorderly and rowdy the warriors were. They didn't appear to have one ounce of management and were shoving their way out of the training grounds. Although they were, in fact, strong fighters, they had only been briefly trained in formations, resulting in their current conduct to be relatively normal.Caesar also knew of this, so he didn't pay it much mind. He didn't require them to leave the training grounds with grace, however, when the battle starts, he is going to make sure that they move in the most efficient and effective way possible.Akari didn't know of Caesar's thoughts, so she could only look towards the ground in embarrassment. No one wanted to show their direct superior such a pathetic scene, especially since she was a new addition to the council.Fortunately for her, she didn't have to wait for too long. The many soldiers quickly left the tight spaced training grounds, leaving only her troops, Musashi, and Caesar left. Once they were alone, Caesar raised her chin with his index finger as she was still gazing towards the ground."There's no need to be embarrassed, it is in their nature to act as such it will only pose to be a problem if they act similar during battle, however, I will make sure that doesn't occur" he said reassuringly and removed his finger from her chin. He then gazed north and continued talking to the silent girl, "we will be heading north in fifteen minutes, we will set up our ambush just a few hundred meters away from the border I assume you remember most of my plan, as such, I don't need to explain the details" Caesar's words continued as he inspected Akari's army.Roughly half of them were women, while the other half were men. She was the only clan head that employed women as fighters. Although to most leaders, they viewed women as weaker subjects in comparison to men, Caesar viewed them much differently. In a battle of brute strength, a man would surely come out on top, however, women have many different strengths that men could never hope to possess.It was because of these strengths that Caesar decided Akari and her group of warriors were more suited for this excursion than the others. While thinking here, Akari finally got ahold of herself and replied, "f-fifteen minutes? We still need to prepare ourselves" she said hesitantly.Instead of replying, Caesar snapped his fingers. The loud snap seemed to resound throughout the training grounds, and in response, a few medium sized wooden carts were brought towards him by a few maids. They were filled with an assortment of weapons, and it was clear that Caesar had already prepared for this moment.Akari stared incredulously at the weapons before recollecting herself and ordering her troops to equip themselves, to which they nodded their heads in consent and walked towards the carts quite orderly. Vastly different from the other groups, the women were quite calm and didn't rush.Such a sight caused Akari to beam with pride. She even stole a few glances at Caesar, wanting to see his reaction. Unfortunately, she could only be disappointed, as it didn't appear to impress him in the slightest.Dejected, Akari herself walked to the weapon carts and pulled out a short katana-esque weapon. She then lied up with the rest of her soldiers in front of Caesar. They were quiet, well disciplined, and even Caesar couldn't find a fault with their current behavior.He raised his chin and gazed upon the many women and men in front of him, he then squinted his eyes and opened his lips, "we will be moving separately from the other groups for now, but we will also be the first to fight don't ask questions, and follow me" He ordered sharply and turned around, he didn't need to see their reaction."Yes, sir!" they roared in response and followed after Caesar's departing figure, most of them didn't care for details. They would just simply follow Caesar's orders, that was how much they trusted him and Akari. Of course, there would be some that were curious, however, none of them were brave enough to actually ask.As such, Caesar and Akari's group headed towards the east gates practically undetected. They quickly passed by the under-guarded gates and made their way north, with Caesar in front. He still adorned his tight black shirt, blue trousers, and a silver crown atop his head.They moved in a unified order with around eight rows of roughly 50 soldiers in each row. They looked similar to a rectangle and moved relatively quiet. It was clear they had practiced marching at one point or another, which piqued Caesar's curiosity, however, he held himself back from asking Akari.If everything went according to plan, he believed that Andrea would've already been captured by the trolls and questioned. As such, a small force would naturally come north in search of Ahri. The only problem being that Caesar didn't know the exact number of how many would come, nor did he know if the troll prince would be present.Thinking to here, Caesar glanced at the soldiers following behind him, "quicken the pace we'll be moving for another hour" he ordered and broke out into a jog, to which the others followed behind him at the same pace.*******************************While Caesar and his small force were busy marching, Andrea was currently kneeling down in a luxurious palace-like building. She rested on a red carpet and in front of her were a few fleets of stairs that led to a stone throne. To her sides were a few dozen marble pillars that held up the roof.Unfortunately, she couldn't admire the beautiful interior because a few dozen muscular trolls that wielded spears were surrounding her. Their tusks ominously pointed in her direction and even saliva escaped from their mouths. Their skin was blue, however, a few had a rare green hue attached to their skin."I'm having trouble understanding so you mean to tell me that some charming man broke into my stronghold, froze my crops, killed my soldiers, abducted my slaves, and simply let you out afterward?" a man seated on the throne asked strangely, he was quite robust and a long black beard flowed out from his chin. He had long black hair, yellow eyes, and he held a huge three-pronged trident in his hands.To his right, a man who looked similar to him, albeit, much younger, was seated on a smaller throne. He was currently playing with a woman slave that was sitting on the arm of his chair, she was blonde human, and her face was currently stricken with discomfort, fear, and even humiliation.Hearing his words, Andrea nodded her head with an aggrieved expression, "that scum wanted to taint my daughter's body so I did what any mother would do and refused, however, he kicked me out of the stronghold and even kept my son " Andrea spoke incoherently in between sobs.The man seated atop the throne nodded his head in understanding, and soon, a loud laugh reverberated throughout the halls, "what useless mother, not even capable of saving your own children" the man paused for a moment as he stroked his chin, "kill her" he said abruptly, but before the trolls stabbed down, the younger man stopped them."Wait, what if she knows some information?" he suddenly asked. He wanted to prove himself in front of his father. If he could gain some merit, then his father would gift him with more beauties. Just thinking about it made the young man sinisterly lick his lips.In response, his father stroked his chin for a second before begrudgingly agreeing, "I suppose you could be right" he said in a deep thunderous voice before shifting his attention back to Andrea, "do you know anything?" he asked.As if waiting for this moment, Andrea immediately spilled everything she 'knew' about how Ahri was escaping to the north, and how the fox-kin were preparing for a retreat. As such, shock filled the expression of the nearby trolls."Haha, I told you father! I told you she would know something!" the younger man jumped out and down in excitement."Wait a minute my son, it could be tra-" Before the middle-aged man finished his words, his son interrupted him."There's no way such an idiotic human would dare lie in front of our majestic presence please let me take my royal guard to capture their empress, I've been wanting to taste her for years now. Ever since that clan meeting you had with that damnable Musashi" The prince said with a tightly gripped fist, and even a blazing flame of determination was reflected in his eyes.His father hesitated a moment before agreeing, "very well, but if you sense danger, do not hesitate to retreat immediately although the fox-kin aren't very bright, I heard they employed the help of some dangerous man" he said and waved his son off."Thank you father!" the young prince nodded his head energetically and took off, not even sparing a glance back.After he left, the troll king looked towards his left, "follow him and make sure nothing bad happens I'll be relying on you" he said towards an old looking troll to his left, to which the troll responded with a deep bow and left shortly after.Once those two left, the troll king shifted his attention back to Andrea, who was still seated on the ground, "if what you said is false you know the consequences, correct?" the man whispered a threat with a dangerous amount of killing intent."O-o-of course" Andrea replied with a fearful expression. However, she inwardly scoffed at the foolish king. He would soon be eating his words, he called her a useless mother for not protecting her children, alas, his son was going to die soon! Just the thought of it made her laugh inside."It's good that you understand" the troll king replied and paused for a moment before looking towards the guards, "take her to the dungeon, she will stay there until we confirm if her words are true or not" he ordered and Andrea was soon taken out of the throne room.The reason why the king somewhat trusted Andrea was mainly because he figured she wanted revenge on the man who allegedly raped her daughter. As such, he felt as though her words were moderately truthful, however, he could just not get rid of the bad feeling in his heart.
