Chapter 110

110 The preparation

They go outside immediately to welcome the troops from the capital. Justice was standing in front while they heard the galloping of the horses that come their way.

They weren’t disappointed. There are few troops that come but it was sufficient for the crown prince.

Vale counts the army that arrives. There are two dozen knights, ten magi, ten huntsmen, and eight healers, one even a healers captain. To their surprise, Vale’s subordinates and Xavier’s subordinates all came to their captain’s request.

“Are you sure? This is not the official request, you will gain nothing from it.” Xavier tried to reason with his subordinates.

“Oh, come on captain, this is such a fun adventure, we are not going anywhere.” Said the youngest subordinate, named Malek.

“Speak for yourself Malek, your partner already tire himself the last time he was here.” Xavier points at Junjin, who’s ready by the looks of the polished armor that he wears.

Junjin chuckles at his captain, teasing him, “Well, the last time I was here, I lost my captain out of nowhere.”

Smiling at Junjin’s remark, Xavier hold his shoulder and said, “I owe you my gratitude, Junjin, if it wasn’t for you, my sworn brothers will never be here.”

“They would come anyway, captain.” Said Junjin to Xavier.

.....

In the other place, Vale looks at his subordinates with disbelief on his face.

“Both of you come? Why?”

Martin and Brom just gave him a shrug but demanded to have a bed to sleep in.

“I need my beauty sleep before the battle, captain.” Said Martin to Vale.

Vale let out a sigh and then looks at Brom. He demanded a reason from him as well.

Brom yawned and said to Vale with a disinterested, as always, “Me? I just need to sleep.”

Gruntled at the sight of his subordinates, Vale calls the two of them to follow him upstairs, “Just use my bed for now.”

“Good, can I cuddle with Martin?” asked Brom.

The groan came from Martin, and while the three of them go to the second floor, Justice met with the healer captain that came along with the troops.

“Nice to meet you Captain, good to see a senior healer on the field right now.”

The healer captain bowed to Justice, “Thank you so much your majesty, my name is Nathan, the senior healer at the main hospital. The chief gave the permission after I revealed I wanted to help my hometown.”

Justice frowned at Nathan. “Wait, Wolgala is your hometown?”

“Yes, the huntsman Xavier wasn’t the only one that came from Wolgala,” said the senior healer at Justice. “Most of the volunteers here are calling Wolgala their hometown.”

“Fascinating, I never knew that they are plenty of people that became civil servants from Wolgala...” Suddenly another concern came to Justice, “They... they are not...”

“No, your majesty, they’re not lycans. Six of them are Werewolves, but most of them, like me, are just ordinary people.” Said Nathan to Justice.

Justice nodded his head. He lead Nathan to the hideout where the old man already waiting, “Alright, let us talk in the room first, the others will get a rest for now.”

When Justice and Nathan enter the room, the old man assesses the senior healer and is impressed by it.

“I assume you have more experience from the looks of it. Welcome to the team.” The old man couldn’t even hide his excitement at seeing Nathan.

“Thank you so much. It’s good that I could come and help my hometown.” Said Nathan to the old man.

The old man was a bit surprised by Nathan’s confession, “Wait, you’re from Wolgala?”

“I was born here, but... my mother took me away from Wolgala seven years ago,” Nathan explained his situation to the old man.

“Ah, I see your family escaping the purge.” The old man muttered with a dark expression on his face.

Justice remembered the purge, he was a teenager when his mother talked with the three kings about the purge that happens in Wolgala. The lycans were on a rampage, killing endlessly and without mercy to anyone.

The empress needs to bring her personal troops to put the lycans in check, sadly they forget to save the werewolf. Half of the werewolf pack was eradicated during the purge. They have failed to see the big picture. That’s why Justice doesn’t want to give the information to the empress, since his mother would never have agreed to the eradication of the lycans.

“The purge killed my two fathers. The only ones who got away were me, my mother, and my two sisters.” Nathan said with a certain glum on his face.

The old man steps In front of Nathan and holds his shoulder, “Don’t worry son, today you will have your revenge against those lycans.”

Justice hates those words. There’s nothing good that came from an act of revenge. He just wanted to help Xavier and help the people from the lycans’ threat. Turns out, the old man has one thing on his mind.

“We should probably wait for two hours before we begin the meeting. The troops were exhausted. Nathan needs to build the healer’s tent as well.” Justice said to the old man, while he instructed Nathan to go with him.

The old man looks towards the crown prince before he goes out with Nathan. Nathan looks around the inn, trying to decide the perfect space to build the healer’s tent.

“If I remember correctly, you’re one of the senior healers on the second exam, right?” Said Justice to Nathan.

Turning around to look at Justice, he finally remembered the crown prince beside him. “Yes! You were there! Observing your favorite...” After the slips of the tongue, Nathan corrected his sentences right away, “My apologies, your majesty, I mean, you were there to observe your candidate.”

Chuckles, finally Justice, knew that the rumors already circling around about him and Anne’s relationship, “No worries, I knew about the rumor already.”

“Then you already know what happened to miss Anne, right?” Said Nathan, trying to figure out a bit about Justice.

Justice could see that Nathan was trying to assess him. He just gave him a smile and said, “That’s why you don’t see miss Anne here. She was already on the way to the capital.”

“Oh yes, we have met them, sir Henry was also there,” Nathan remembered the odd shape carriage with four Horses that they have met, “I just say, it was a good choice, your majesty, the new rules need her to be there to hear the result or else, the immediate dismissal will be given right away.”

Hearing Nathan gave him the new rules, Justice needs to hide his sigh of relief. That was close. If they asked Anne to stay, she will get immediate dismissal for sure.

“This is a new rule, right? We have got no immediate dismissal of the exam result before.” Asked Justice with a calm face.

“Yes, actually it was one chief that suggested the rules. I don’t know who’s the chief, though.” Nathan answered his question with no thoughts.

“One of the chiefs? Interesting...” muttered Justice. He will investigate this matter.

“Ah, I prefer this side for the healer’s tent, your majesty, close to the kitchen and fresh water.” Nathan gave the location for the healer’s tent. Justice look the location and gave him permission to build the tent.

“Better to get some rest first. We are going to have a meeting in two hours.” Justice gave his suggestion to Nathan, which he gratefully accepted.

Two hours later, all the captains and subordinates attended the meeting.

“So, tomorrow, the feast begins in the moonlight. They probably killed the first victims right before the moon came.” The old man explained to everyone in the room.

“Wait, we need to save them before they’re being killed, then.” Said Nathan, “So, probably ambushed them by noon?”

Xavier shook his head, “No, worst idea. The lycans will gather in the afternoon, right before the first kill, so we need to act fast, but right on time.”

Nathan looks at the map. He was worried now. “That would be almost impossible, then. I don’t want innocent people to be hurt in the process.”

“That’s why the magi will become our first garrison, along with the werewolf and the knight.” Said Vale to Nathan.

“What?!” his two subordinates clearly didn’t receive the note. “Captain, are you sure that is a good idea? We are always the second or third garrison in every battle.”

“Not for tomorrow’s battle. We are going to save the victims and let the werewolf and the knight fight their way. After we rescued those victims to the healers, then we assisted the troops.” Vale explained to his subordinates.

Justice looks at Vale and admires his initiative and bravery, “A good one Vale, I agreed, we need to save the victims first, I’ll be in the first garrison as well, to make sure the victims are saved and the lycans don’t go out from the circle.”

“Then the huntsman and some of the werewolves are waiting for the second wave as the second garrison.” Said Xavier to the old man.

The old man, thinking about it for a moment, got some concerns about placing the troops. “I don’t want all the magi in the first garrison. Maybe put two or three at the second garrison as well.”

“I can feel your concern. I’ll put two magi in the second garrison.” Vale said to the old man and then converse with his subordinates for the candidates.

Justice’s eyes are lit with excitement. This is the first battle where he got the initiative and command. Sadly, the battle will become his encounter with a certain someone, the one that he desperately needs to defeat and conquer.