Chapter 21: Conversing with Horus and the Mysterious Officer

As Hasdrubal began 'writing', Horus approached me quietly and whispered near my ear "Is this truly necessary my liege?"

Hearing this I smile slightly, as I begin to remember many scenes from my past as I thought 'He is still the same man I knew from my previous life. Even when he gained the title of the Silver Reaper of the South he remained uncorrupted by the horrors of war.

To his dying day he despised needless cruelty. No matter how many enemies he faced, or how tired he was, Horus always made sure to kill them in the quickest and most merciful way possible. That was a big reason why he was not only feared, but also respected.

Something I was greatly envious of back then.'

I stop reminiscing about the past, turn to him and ask quietly "Do you believe that what I'm doing now is nothing more than aimless cruelty to appease my wounded ego after he disrespected me?"

Horus remained silent after hearing my words, but his silence spoke louder than words. Seeing this I smile, and say jokingly "Am I such a man in your eyes, Horus?"

Hearing this he swiftly bows so low his forehead touches the floor as he says "Of course not, my emperor! Please forgive my carelessness!"

Seeing this I immediately pull him up as I calmly say "Relax. Of all the people in this tent you've known me the longest, I would never take offense from your harmless words. If anything, I'm grateful for your presence."

As Horus stood back up he showed a confused expression upon listening to me thanking him, and he asked curiously "Why do you thank me, sire?"

"Because you are questioning my decisions bravely, with no ulterior motives." I say calmly. But this only confuses him even more, so I decide to further elaborate.

"There are two kinds of people that every monarch must always avoid no matter what. The first are fanatics, who are so loyal that they believe that their leader is infallible, thus they do whatever is asked of them, even if their leader is objectively wrong.

The second are yes-men who are too witless, cowardly, or ambitious to object to their decision, no matter how horribly wrong their sovereign is. That's why I'm thankful for your presence Horus."

Listening to my words Horus, Hamilcar, Sodarus, and a few officers who were eavesdropping on our conversation felt joy, pride and thankfulness swell in their hearts at the thought of serving such a sublime sovereign.

I continue "The second reason is that judging from his character he is most likely always looked down on his soldiers, and isn't liked by them, at most they would say 'That's what he deserves.' The third reason is that he is not respected by his fellow officers as well.

If you observed his uniform, it is clear that he's a high ranking officer, but he obviously lacks the necessary qualities for such a high rank, and no self respecting officer who fought his way up to his position through his talent, skill and hard work would ever acknowledge a man like him." The officers once again proved my point when they began nodding their heads in agreement, since they would never accept a man like him among them.

"I'm too short sighted, my liege." Horus said apologetically.

"Indeed, you are. If you wish to still be of use to our emperor in the future, you must master these basic skills, young man." Sodarus advised calmly.

Horus turned toward him and said humbly "Understood general. Thank you for your honest advise." This earned him an approving nod from Sodarus.

At that moment Hasdrubal said "My liege, I have finished, but this disrespectful worm has fallen unconscious."

Hearing this I say "It doesn't matter. Order a squadron of Diomedes Knights to take him back to the enemy camp, and make sure to tell them that they must show him to as many Luminous soldiers as possible."

"Understood, your majesty." He replied while saluting.

Within a few minutes all the arrangements were complete, and the spare table that I ordered the guard to bring arrived. As the men sat back in their chairs I calmly said "Since all distractions have been delt with, let us begin the war meeting. Hasdrubal begin with your report."

But before Hasdrubal could talk, Sodarus quickly interjected "Excuse me, sire, but may I say something first?"

Hearing this many were surprised, even including Hamilcar, while I raise an intrigued eyebrow and say "Of course general. What do you have to say?"

Sodarus took a deep breath and said calmly "During the battle I faced a mysterious officer who was my equal in terms of martial prowess, and even after clashing in several bouts of battle neither of us was able to emerge victorious."

Hearing this all the men showed disbelieving expressions, as they all thought 'Someone was able to fight the man known as the Storm lord to a standstill?! Who is this man?'