The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Chapter 388 - Confidence

            After Aleni unpacked her things, they went to the shore of the river for Milliendra to play there while discussing the mission results.

"I heard a few worrisome things and then found several others," Aleni said. "Lately, it seems that the army of the Sairus kingdom has caused a lot of trouble to this kingdom's army. They recovered the southern base and now are gaining territory while moving South."

"That is weird. The war hasn't progressed a single bit in two years," Zaos said. "What happened to change that now?

"Two things… they are using the bloody knights," Aleni said.

            Zaos frowned when he heard that. That was a name that he was expecting to hear ever again… why would they keep the name? For all intentions and purposes, the unit should have been disbanded after the war in the North. Without Zaos and because he helped the followers of the demon god, their last mission failed. Most nobles filled with envy would use that as an excuse to make that name disappear from history.

"Who is leading them?" Zaos asked.

"Your three subordinates, Nyana, Cohnal, and Melisse," Aleni replied. "If I remember correctly, you had one thousand subordinates, right? It seems that there are two thousand now."

"Well… they weren't bad soldiers and those three excelled in their respective fields," Zaos said. "It is no surprise that it has reached this far. I am curious as to why anything about them stayed silent until now."

"That is something I couldn't find an explanation for," Aleni said. "As for the other reason… The Sairus kingdom hired those assassins to take the lives of most enemy commanders. So the army of this country is losing the war and I think they won't last more than one month considering the resources this war took over the last two years."

            Now things were making sense. With an army that had gained a lot of experience over the last few years, like the bloody knights and the assassins causing disarray in the chain of command, it was only natural that the Ashiris kingdom would be in such a bind. Still, that must have decreased the morale of the rest of the army and even the kingdom's citizens. After all, everyone would eventually know that the king is using assassins… which only showed how much Dalyor wanted Milliendra back. Until now, only a few people knew, but Dalyor decided to focus on the war because the assassins informed him where Milliendra was… If she hears about this one day… Zaos' heart grew heavier just by thinking about it.

"So… they are after Milliendra," Zaos said. "It is surprising that someone was crafty as Dalyor wouldn't spread information that his granddaughter is in the enemy hands to rally his soldiers."

"I don't know why he isn't doing that, but I do know that we need to hurry," Aleni said. "After gathering Intel in some cities, I confirmed that the royal family of his kingdom is also pretty old, and they have a secret library. You can imagine what they would hide in such a place."

"... So, we have only one month to invade the capital of this kingdom and then check their library," Zaos said after a long sigh.

          While the kingdom was losing the war, there were still some idiots who were causing problems by using bandits. Are the demons really that stupid? Zaos thought that they were preparing a perfect environment for the demon god to take over the world once he returned. Still, it seemed that Zaos gave them too much credit.

"No… if all the countries wage war against each other before the demon god revives… it will be awesome for them," Zaos said. "A war that lasted for almost three years… it will take decades to recover the resources spent and the manpower lost."

"So, it is like that…" Aleni said. "I didn't hear anything about the demons, and the attack of the bandits had been pretty sporadic as of late."

"They are laying low… they misstepped before and they lost several of them, so they are being careful to prevent us from attacking them again," Zaos said. "Anyway, I don't like this, but it is time to leave this country…"

          They couldn't stay in a place that soon would become part of the Sairus kingdom. It will be hard for them to maintain such a large country under their command. Still, considering what Dalyor already did, it wouldn't be weird if he succeeds. He just needs to use the assassins to get rid of anyone who might try to rebel.

"Rest as much as possible for the day, we will head to the capital, tomorrow morning," Zaos said.

          Aleni nodded. While she didn't like the idea of leaving such a perfect place that Milliendra could grow up in, staying would be too dangerous. However, she couldn't help but wonder, where will they move to? That was probably the most peaceful place in the world for them. Leaving to Vezar would be too risky since the Ojala family were allies with the royal family of the Sairus Kingdom. The only two options were the mercenaries' country and the land of the followers of the demon god. Aleni didn't mention that, but the group that trained her to belong to that country, so she had as many reasons not to go to that place just like it would be terrible for Milliendra to go to the land of the followers of the demon god… still, that was a problem they had one month to solve.

            Later that night, Zaos was having trouble sleeping while thinking about the same questions. In the end, it seemed that staying in a single place was no longer an option for them. Since he had trouble sleeping, Zaos decided to craft more of those rings he gave to Aleni. However, he made them have several effects. Increasing endurance, speed, magic Resistance… healing.. Fortunately, they could stack with each other, so Zaos was confident that he would be able to endure the next ordeal, whatever happened.