Chapter 126: Preparation
Selena walked to a graveyard, where cold stone tablets stretched far out of sight, a white color carved with names blending with the earth.
She did not enter the graveyard but only stood behind a tree and looked inside quietly.
Now it was late afternoon; only after tomorrow would the day of war arrive. During the day, she did not show emotion to anyone because she was trying to maintain her calm; although she guessed such a situation would happen, she was indeed still very surprised. She only tried not to run up and kneel down crying. After all, Wafta was an acquaintance; his death was truly a great loss in every aspect.
Her eyes were sad, looking toward the sun hanging on the distant trees. She was very busy; even for Wafta's funeral, she could not attend, so only now was she here.
Returning to her room when it was dark. She threw her body onto the soft bed; her head ached as if something were hitting it, and the pain persisted without end, making her extremely tired.
Suddenly a knocking sound "Knock… knock…" rang from outside.
Isek and Takeshi were standing outside. Isek spoke:
"Young lady, can we enter?"
She sprang up, wanting to go to the table to sit, but it was as if something pulled her back, making her sit back on the soft bed; she also thought it was fine since they were all acquaintances.
"Enter."
Stepping inside, there was also Takeshi, which made Selena quite surprised.
Isek pointed toward Takeshi.
"We have finished. What should we do next, young lady?"
Selena nodded.
"Finished is good; continue to hire assassins to kill the strong ones or their leaders, especially find Varlen's room door for me."
Takeshi spoke:
"Then tomorrow will be even more dangerous; I will reinforce this fortress further."
Selena nodded, glancing at Takeshi once.
She knew that Takeshi was set up to be a temporary figurehead; when the battle occurred, their whole group would immediately leave this city to avoid the war and ensure their safety immediately.
As for a leader, there was none; she was too weak to lead the army; compared to Mythyr, these vice-captains were too weak—if they were made captains, it would surely not be stable, and who would need them? Currently, she had hired strong people, but they were only hired; if the city side did not have someone to suppress them, the mercenaries would hardly listen; worse, they might turn back if Varlen offered a higher price. She wanted to pay the mercenaries more, but in the current situation, paying more was not feasible; in this world, if power is not high enough, one must have strength to suppress strong men.
Trying to remember, on the Roam side, Mythyr once fought the city guardian there. Although it looked like Mythyr had the advantage, actually, it was not that much of a difference. Thus, currently, Selena was worried because there was a big hole in strength.
Currently, Takeshi had secretly gone with Isek; they had reached Roam City. With his earth element, Takeshi had created a stone wall covering the Roam city gate and created a large deep pit in front of the gate along with other large and small holes that would cause difficulty in movement.
Selena spoke after silently remembering:
"Then tomorrow will be quite dangerous as it is the last day, so Takeshi and Isek, you go patrol and check once more; if there are loopholes or suspicious points, report and repair them."
Isek nodded.
"Then you please rest."
Takeshi's presence was a great measure of reassurance; he only needed to go observe. So there was quite little work, not to mention only helping with defense.
Selena sat in the room and silently looked out the window; the room had no light. Usually, there were nobles who did not like using glowing stones, and she was among them; her room only used large candles.
Self-reciting in her head what she had:
"Currently, the army and mercenaries are ready; only fear being ambushed. But with this defense, it's probably temporarily stable, but it's best to remain vigilant."
"Each noble is only allowed to own a maximum of thirty cannons, so it's equal; this is a ban, so no one dares otherwise."
The cannon was a main weapon used to besiege cities and attack a large range very powerfully. It was created long ago before the unification by a person named Naturru. He was one of the people with a great invention, which was this cannon, named after him.
She continued thinking:
"Reserve equipment is ready; now only missing strong people."
She suddenly remembered that her father had called for her siblings long ago, but currently, they had not yet returned to the city. She suddenly had an unfortunate thought for them.
"Hopefully everyone can return."
Her eyes shifted to determination and non-compromise.
"If you dare to do anything to them, Varlen. I will kill you."
She bit her lower lip from worry, still afraid something unfortunate would happen. But she was quite strong; it was like she was preparing her spirit for the worst-case scenario.
Quick-witted people's minds often think a lot; sometimes there are things that must be thought through until one is tired enough to sleep or has a headache; sometimes thinking over and over, remembering all the feelings of a segment in the past. That was why recently she was frequently tired and had headaches.
Wafta's image suddenly appeared in her head—the practice battles with her and Mythyr. In her heart, it was truly still unresigned, disliking and not being fond of Kazuka since he had caused her teacher to fall into danger—currently unable to move and could only lie in a coma day after day. But she also respected her teacher's decision; she could do nothing; not to mention Kazuka's group had six people—though not clear, if they were equally strong, it was indeed still a concern.
"What to do? Fighting directly is hard to have an advantage. Likely let the mercenaries go up to fight directly with half the army. Then the remaining half will be for planning."
"Discussing with mercenaries might have spies and leak it; just put them in front."
"Probably let Takeshi go up to give a speech to be a bit bellicose; that way they think we are strong and will only fight directly."
"Everyone thinks Tharros can win easily; I hope so too. But if there is no strong force, who would go into a confrontation? It can only be that they have a trump card to dare to do so."
She suddenly opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling, light from the window casting on her body, eyes cold, then she gritted her teeth.
"Damn it, happening out of nowhere."
…
Gentle moonlight poured down, spreading a silver blanket over all things. The wind stopped blowing; trees stood still as if asleep. The deep black sky was punctuated by millions of sparkling stars; they seemed to be whispering fairy tales about the universe. Below the ground, all sounds of daytime life had sunk into silence. Only the sound of insects chirping remained, like a peaceful symphony of the night. The space was strangely quiet, bringing a sense of deep peace, making people want to immerse themselves in this absolute silence.
Varlen with five people standing before him. He was observing and evaluating.
One person with a tall stature, a solid body like a stone wall full of muscles, appearing clearly under black shiny armor. This guy's face was quite fierce; on his face were crisscrossed scars everywhere; he smirked chillingly as if excited; behind his back was a large red-black sword covering his large back. This guy was a mercenary, named Hufu.
Standing beside him was a middle-aged bald man with simple light brown clothes. He was Rom, also the person who blocked the way of Cavensyl's daughter, Funa, and killed her. He appeared very calm; looking at his face, one would imagine a monk, but without needing to sit in meditation—just standing was like meditating.
Beside him was a spearman with a small stature, wearing blue armor. The long spear slung behind his back along with his small stature looked extremely unbalanced; a indifferent face, mouth still chewing grilled meat voraciously as if not considering Varlen as anyone. This guy was Yahama, the person who went with Rom and blocked Funa's group and destroyed her.
Beside was a girl with a seductive body with curves in all the right places, deep purple hair making her even more charming, wearing very revealing deep purple clothes as if carrying a seductive and mysterious allure. She dressed revealingly like that without fearing anything because she was very strong and feared nothing. Each of her breaths was cold as ice but purple in color. Yahama glanced at her large breasts only slightly covered, but when she glanced back, he also startled and turned away upon feeling her eyes like sharp blades. She was Sasori.
The last person was Hita. A young guy, perhaps only the same age as Takeshi's group. He exuded a coldness, soulless eyes of a deep black like a bottomless pit. Looking handsome to an unbelievable degree with long purple hair past his shoulders. The clothes on his body were very neat and tidy, eyes directed forward and not caring about the people beside him who were peering and observing each other.
It seemed all five of them were mercenaries and not a team or acquaintances; they were all strangers. They remained silent without saying a word, observing and evaluating each other; some not caring, some excited and thrilled…