Chapter 23：The Violet Army

Cornelius Golmo Dunnwal gazed around the green, grassy plains surrounding his mansion from his own personal balcony.

What came into his sight were multiple tents which were all neatly arranged across the plains. Each tent was set up so perfectly that it seemed as if they were built by professional artisans.

Apart from the tents, there were also purple 'rectangles' spread out amongst the fields.

These rectangles were actually regiments that was composed of men dressed in purple uniforms.

And there were 6000 men in all.

Throughout his life Cornelius has seen his fair share of armies and battle but he has seen nothing like this before.

Each regiment moved as one, as if they were all one body as they followed their respective colonel's command.

Whatever the order was, the soldiers completed it with due haste and without the slightest bit of hesitation.

Sometimes Cornelius could faintly see them attach or detach a sharp metal object at the ends of their muskets in unison while in other times they quickly and seamlessly changed formations.

When they were not doing that they were either marching in unison or reloaded and then fired their muskets simultaneously before proceeding to repeat the action.

Since every single man followed every order without question and were so disciplined, it was very hard to believe that every soldier present were all previously lowly commoners, ranging from farmers to miners who were recruited from the various cities, towns and villages found within the Dunnwal's control.

If someone told Cornelius that one could create an army like this from the rabble of peasantry, Cornelius would have laughed in their face and dismissed them as a drunkard.

He was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong.

In fact, he would argue that the professionalism and discipline of these soldiers rivalled or even surpassed that of real knights.

All of this was the ultimate result of Cornelius' son's efforts. With this in mind, Cornelius could not be more proud of his son; Maxwell.

If Cornelius was being honest with himself, he would say that he originally had mixed feeling about Maxwell. On one hand the boy was a prodigy. Learning reading and writing skills at a very young age and on top of that, he also has the talent to read and understand information from any text no matter how old or indistinguishable it may seem.

However, Maxwell was also an aimless hedonist. Before he usually just lounged about while occasionally talking with his family.

Cornelius was glad that Maxwell finally put his talents into good use.

Especially now that it has been nearly ten years since the last major Panish offensive.

Cornelius was not ignorant of the Panish threat.

He was aware of how the Panish could start their advance at any moment.

He was also aware of how the odds are stacked heavily against Maxwell's favour.

But Cornelius doesn't care.

He was proud to know that the combined efforts of his offspring would result in a terrifying new kind of army.

A terrifying new kind of army that will either single handedly eliminate the Panish threat or go down in a blaze of glory.

If Cornelius remembered correctly then this army was named by Maxwell as the 'Violet Army.'

"Still admiring the view?"

"Why would I not?"

Cornelius responded to the voice behind him with joy.

There was no way he could mistake the owner of this voice. After all, how could one forget the voice of their own wife?

"This is our legacy Maria."

Cornelius spread out his arms in front of him as if to present the entire Violet Army to his wife.

"This is how our family name will be remembered. It would be insanity if I weren't proud of such an achievement. Even if I wasn't the one directly responsible for it."

Soon, Cornelius felt the sticky yet calming feeling of lips embedding itself onto his cheeks before feeling the warmth of arms coming around his belly and Maria's voice coming into his ear.

"This is the achievement of our kids. Our kids that we raised and nurtured ourselves."

Maria's voice was more soothing than it normally was. Maybe it was the atmosphere or maybe Cornelius may have had too much to drink. Whatever it was, Cornelius did not mind. He liked this feeling in the air.

"So the way I see it, this is just as much our achievement as it is theirs."

"We haven't even seen how this all plays out."

A small chuckle burst out of Maria's mouth as she playfully placed her arm around Cornelius' shoulders.

It seemed that she had something else that she wanted to say. However, it would seem that she would not get the chance to reveal her thoughts, at least not now anyway.

A sudden knocking from his chamber's door interrupted their moment before a elgant albeit nervous voice spoke.

"My lord!?"

Judging from the tone and composure of the voice, Cornelius guessed that the voice must belong to one of his knights. A knight who probably had some bad news.

"I believe that will be yours."

The next voice that Cornelius heard was the sarcastic joking voice of his wife.

With a short sigh Cornelius responded to the knight.

"What is it?!"

A short moment of silence occurred before the knight's voice answered back.

"The Paniards are coming."

...

Within the plains there stood one tent which looks strikingly similar to the rest.

However, despite seeming similar, this one was still different.

Because it was inside this tent that Maxwell sat on his seat with the map of known world spread out in front of him on the table. He cupped his chin with his hands as if he was in deep thought while he stared at the map. Standing by his side was his first lieutenant; Erika Pollorov.

Whatever was going on inside Maxwell's mind, not even Erika knew.

Ever after personally accompanying him for nearly three months, she still barely knew anything about him apart from his astounding military talent and casual outward personality. However, anyone with even a semblance of a human brain would be wary of what is truly going on within that mind.

There was no way that someone who could be so nonchalant while also being brutally ruthless and efficient at the same time could be considered as a normal person.

It would be normal if Maxwell's outer exterior was either prideful joy in his achievements or sorrowful remorse in the lives he takes.

Although he was still young, stern seriousness was also acceptable.

Even sadistic delight in the knowledge of the pain and chaos he would create is more understandable than casual indifference.

He was well and truly an enigma.

However, Erika felt that she would eventually learn the truth behind Maxwell... one way or another.

"Stuck in deep thought again?"

Erika's thoughts were soon interrupted by the very person she was thinking about. Although he directly addressed her, his eyes was still focused on the continental map. Nevertheless, she still had to respond properly.

"It is as you say my lord."

Erika found no reason to lie. As such she decided to tell him the truth with the utmost respect. As expected, Maxwell replied in his casual tone.

"Then I'll just say that I hope it is something productive. After all, I have no need for day dreamers in my army."

[But don't you get stuck in deep thought yourself?] While thoughts like these were running inside Erika's mind, she still knew that she couldn't possibly voice these thoughts out loud. Instead she responded with what is expected of the general's second in command.

"I will try my best to fulfil your wishes my lord."

Erika heard a slight scoff followed by some light laughter erupt from Maxwell's mouth before he continued.

"If that's what you like to tell yourself."

Maxwell shrugged as he said this.

"Do you ever wonder why I chose you out of all the possible candidates as my first lieutenant?"

Erika was immediately caught of guard by his question, although she truly did wonder why she was chosen, she did not think that Maxwell would have been the one to take the initiative.

"I can't say that I haven't my lord."

"I see..."

Maxwell paused for a moment before he asked another question.

"Tell me, what is your house banner Erika?"

Although Erika was confused by Maxwell's intentions, she was still had to keep her noble exterior and reply properly.

"It is the purple fox on a grey background my lord."

Maxwell turned to face Erika when he responded.

"And that is why out of all the possible candidates, the one I chose..."

Maxwell raised his right hand and pointed at Erika as he said this.

"was you."

Suddenly, a sort of revelation formed itself within Erika's mind. Although she wasn't completely certain of it, the faint sly smile on Maxwell's face and the look in his eyes gave her the feeling that her hunch was true.

"Hey Maxwell! We got a bit of a slight problem!"

However, her thoughts were soon interrupted by Cromwell who barged his way into the tent. Soon after, another different voice followed.

"'Slight problem' my ass, I'm sorry but I think this may be more than just a 'slight problem'."

Keizwell sounded slightly irritated as he too entered the tent. In response, Maxwell only looked blankly at his two older brothers for a short moment before he questioned them.

"Well... are you going to tell me what this so-called 'slight' problem is or not?"

After the two brothers glanced at each other, it was Cromwell who explained the 'slight problem'.

"We have received reports that our outlying settlements to the west are now under occupation by a Panish expeditionary force."

"That's impossible! What about the Drussian coalition? Shouldn't they be facing the Paniards?"

Erika could not stop herself from speaking up when she heard Cromwell's explanation. Although she already deduced how this was possible, she was still clinging onto that slight bit of hope that perhaps things weren't as bad as they seemed. However, her hopes were quickly shattered by Keizwell.

"The Coalition has already fallen. The Guzzlow's army was virtually destroyed while the surviving Orburns and Guiltforts limped their way back to their forts and castles."

Keizwell sighed sombrely before he continued.

"As we speak, roughly 10,000 Panish veterans are already upon us."

[10,000 Paniards?] If it weren't for Erika's noble training, she was sure she would have suffered from a panic attack already. [We are outnumbered almost 2:1! How are we supposed to win against such odds?]

However, when Erika glanced at Maxwell's face, she saw something just as shocking.

On Maxwell's face was not fear as one would expect. It was not even his casual, relaxed expression.

But rather a face full of excitement.

As if the moment he has been waiting for has finally arrived.

With a smile he said.

"Well it's about damn time."