117 Chapter 117: Massacre

Caesar soon made it to the west wall and patiently awaited for Soka's arrival. Although he thought about heading to the ghoul clan, if a battle did indeed take place, with Soka's pitifully small amount of troops, it would have long ended by the time he reached the clan's location.

Whether or not Soka won the battle, however, was an entirely different matter. Even with the meager number of about 50, with Soka's expertise alongside the strong elites, winning would not have been difficult.

The main concern Caesar had was the possibility of the trolls somehow intercepting them, alas, even the elites Soka led didn't know of their destination. If the trolls did, in fact, ambush Soka, then either he or one of the others in that secret meeting were spies.

Although Caesar could speculate who was responsible if that was indeed the case, he didn't want to count his chickens before they hatched… and as Caesar thought about this, a few shadowy figures appeared at the edge of the forest.

They were too far for Caesar to actually gauge their numbers or appearance so he didn't hesitate to leap off the walls and approach the figures he could vaguely see. Although they were in a forest, with Caesar's eyes and his strong sensory capabilities, it wasn't difficult for him to perceive movement a few kilometers away.

Right as Caesar landed on the ground, he blasted forward and created a gust of wind, traveling at a speed nearly impossible to detect with the human eye, and within the time for a stick of incense to burn, their vivid image soon came into his view.

He could see them dragging their weary bodies across the ground and the blood splattered over their clothes and armor. Their expressions were cold as they heaved large sacks over their shoulder.

Their numbers were relatively equal to how they were when they left causing Caesar to breathe out a sigh of relief and without hesitation, he jumped downward.

"Halt!" a slightly high pitched but also mesmerizing voice echoed out and the soldiers paused their footsteps. The fox-kin men looked at Soka with confusion apparent in their eyes, "why are we stopping?" one of them asked.

As if answering the curious men, Caesar jumped down from the tree he was resting on and presented himself, causing those around him to open their mouths agape. "W-when did the strategist get here?" one of the men whispered to a middle-aged man just adjacent from him, to which the man in question replied with shrugged shoulders.

Soka, who was at the forefront bowed with a twisted smile, "to be visited by the top brass is a dream come true" he said sarcastically.

Caesar furrowed his brows and squinted his eyes, "why are you so late?" his words paused as he examined the blood on many of the men's clothes and armor… "did you encounter a problem?" he asked.

"Didn't you say it yourself, boss? If the clan resisted and they were too weak, take their food and supplies with force" Soka replied with a sinister chuckle.

Hearing his reply, Caesar clicked his tongue in distaste, "I'm not too keen on massacring the weak and plundering all of their supplies, it makes us look like savages" Caesar spoke with a disdainful tone.

His words paused, "although I said to take their food by force, I didn't mean for you to take all of it and leave them nothing" he continued after seeing the massive amount of food in the fox-kin men's hand.

"It's fine, the dead don't need to eat, after all," Soka replied whilst licking his lips.

His reply made a vein pop out on Caesar's forehead, and in a split second, Caesar's slender fingers gently wrapped around Soka's neck.

"I understand your personality well, I was once a reckless child as well, thinking I was better than others and playing as the judge, jury, and executioner. However, I soon learned that there were many people similar to me, those that thought and acted like me, those that had the same ideals, alas, none of them were capable of contesting with me, do you know why?" Caesar asked.

Soka, who had his neck grasped, shook his head with a curious expression.

"Because those men thought they were gods gift, they believed that with no effort put forward they could easily topple over others. They didn't understand why people resisted them, they would get angry and treat people like mere objects… do you understand? To rule over people, you need people that are willingly ruled over. You cannot be a king without citizens"

Caesar paused and gripped his hand tighter whilst moving his face closer to Soka's "let me take a gander, when you reached their clan and saw that your force contained superior power, you got arrogant, a warranted arrogance. You thought that there was no possible way they were going to deny you. Thus, when they declined your offer, an immense amount of rage overtook you. 'Why would they deny us? We are clearly stronger' and with those thoughts, you ordered a massacre"

Seeing the ripples within Soka's eyes, he knew that his assumption had been dead on..."you, who consider yourself a genius don't believe others have the right to decline you… all species have pride, even if it's unwarranted, understand that, and work around it…" he said calmly "I want you to clean up your mess, make it appear as though the trolls massacred the ghouls, I don't want your mishap to create problems for any potential allies… do you understand?" Caesar said as he removed his hand from Soka's neck.

Seeing that Soka was in the midst of thought, he brought his face close to his ear, "remember, I don't care how capable you are… I need soldiers that follow orders, not those that massacre villages without consulting me first" he said whilst tapping Soka on the cheek and turning away.

Although Caesar knew that Soka was no fool and that the ghouls had a high chance of being aligned with the trolls. Massacring a village at a time when they were looking for allies was idiotic, alas, it was likely that Soka wasn't thinking about the consequences. At the very least, it would appear they didn't suffer any casualties.

As Caesar was walking away, a voice sounded out from behind and caused him to halt his footsteps, "how do you suppose I clean up this mess?" Soka asked, hesitantly. His past arrogant and sinister behavior dissipated and was, instead, replaced by one with curiosity. In Soka's mind, he had thought that Caesar was going to praise him yet he couldn't have been further from the truth. It was due to this fact, that Soka questioned himself and could perhaps grow from this experience.

Caesar turned around, "I'm sure you can figure out a way… I'm not too keen on personally fixing your foolish mistakes" Caesar dismissed Soka's question and left his and the fox-kin men's line of sight.

After Caesar gained a decent distance from Soka and the rest, he stopped. His eyes were squinted dangerously… 'I am partly to blame for informing Soka and the rest that food could be taken by force, I was being influenced by my emotions during that meeting…' thinking to here, Caesar once again picked up his pace and approached the fox-kin stronghold.

Caesar, himself, knew that Soka's morals, albeit questionable, were still present and that massacring a village for no reason was by no means what had transpired. Alas, how would the other small villages treat such information… It wasn't that Caesar didn't want some of his aids to have a mind of their own. He mainly condemned Soka because he wanted him to think more about the consequences of his actions.

Thinking to here, Caesar once again reminded himself to ask Falthor why he approached from the east and not the south.