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Of Arms and Arcane: Chapter 187
🕑 Added 2025-01-21 12:42:00 +0000 UTCOver the past month since arriving at Fort Eldric, things have been rather slow, and from what I overheard when acting as a bodyguard for Dad, we were essentially playing cat and mouse with Valorhelm Dominion scouts. This resulted in a few deaths on both sides when they ran into each other or got the drop on one another.
But despite the deaths, neither the kingdom nor the Valorhelm Dominion made a fuss about it. They knew what they were doing and kept things close to their chest.
The only change that happened recently was Dad sending his own scouts to probe into Valorhelm Dominion territory.
As for myself, I spent shifts standing beside Dad and failing to look intimidating due to looking like a seventeen-year-old boy, a well-built seventeen-year-old boy, but inexperienced-looking nonetheless.
Before we entered the fort, Dad told me not to use my real name, so my current cover story was that I was the son of one of his knights in Dad’s retinue who had followed his father to pop his war virginity in the case that war really kicks off. So, for the moment, I am known as William, son of Jerome.
And as William, son of Jerome, I did not have the expectations of a noble’s son laid upon me. This allowed me more freedom of my own actions, especially after I begged Dad to allow me to explore the fort when I was off my shift instead of sitting by his side to help with paperwork.
I explored the fort and chatted with the rank-and-file soldiers. More than half of them are career soldiers, and while most were rotated around to different places in the region, some were permanently posted to the fort because their families lived in nearby villages, and like any soldier who has been at it for some time, they partook in the time-honored tradition of messing with the young new guy, namely, me.
But seeing that my cover identity was the son of a knight, they could not take things too far, so they settled with corrupting me. They made sure there were no higher-ranking soldiers around before they fished out flasks of alcohol from their pockets and tried to peer pressure me into getting drunk. When that did not work, they tried to make me flustered by telling stories of the ridiculous stunts they pulled while on leave or in brothels and told dirty jokes.
“Young Will,” one of the men called me as he slapped me on the back, “Have you ever heard the story of the Whore and the Horse?” but before I could reply, he continued, “It goes a little something like this. There once was a whore named Mabel, who took a trip down to a stable, she-”
I was just getting into what was turning out to be a funny limerick when the door to the mess burst open, revealing a soldier who shouted, “To arms! Man your post!”
In an instant, everyone scrambled, and so did I. When I reached Dad’s office, he had just finished barking orders to a few commanders. When there was only me, Dad, and one of his knights, I asked, “Dad, what's going on?”
Dad then pointed at the map on the table, “We are not so clear on the situation yet, but we just got the news that the enemy has started amassing forces close to our neighboring fort. So we are getting ready to either lend a hand or defend ourselves in case we get attacked ourselves. For now we-”
Just then, one of Dad’s men swung the door open to reveal a winded runner, “My Lord, there are reports that enemy forces are amassing near Fort Strep.”
Hearing that, I looked back at the map to find that Fort Strep was also a neighboring fort. This meant that we were sandwiched between the two forts, with enemies on their doorsteps. That news did not bode well because our neighboring forts were pinned down, and with forces at their door, they could not help us if we were attacked.
Dad turned from the map to the runner and said, “From now on, this fort is on high alert! Increase the shifts. I want everyone well rested and ready if the enemy comes knocking.”
Shit just go real, real fast.
***
~Valorhelm Dominion’s 3rd Legion HQ, In no man's land between the Valorhelm Dominion and Argus Kingdom~
Prince Avontus Valorhelm, sixth prince of the Valorhelm Dominion, was lounging on a sofa in his tent while two scantily clad servant girls were offering him delectable pre-cut fruits that most of the normal everyday peasantry would not even hope to see or smell in their lives, and holding foreign wine so exclusive and precious that only ten barrels of it are produced annually.
As the prince took his time biting a chunk of offered fruit and taking a sip of wine, a man clad from head to toe in highly decorative armor knelt before the prince.
When the prince had finished leisurely chewing and swallowing his food, he lazily gazed at the armored man kneeling before him and asked, “General Vash, how are the preparations going?”
“The preparations are going well, Your Highness. The forts beside our target have been pinned down, and we have successfully cut off all attempts of the three forts calling for help.” General Vash replied.
“And what of our friends from the Theocracy?” the prince asked.
“The priests from the Zagraf Theocracy have just arrived, Your Highness. They asked me to tell you that ‘They come bearing gifts.’” the general said.
“Excellent! I shall see these gifts for myself.” the prince said as he shooed away the two servant girls and stood up.
As they were walking out of the tent, Prince Avontus asked General Vash, “General, as I am here mainly for royal oversight and not as versed in military matters as you are, please explain to me how we managed to pin down two forts and have enough men to attack a third. I do not remember having that many men. In fact, my father only gave me five thousand men to carry out this operation.”
“That is because we do not have that many men, Your Highness. After we received information on the forts along the border and considering certain factors, I chose Fort Eldric as the target. And to make sure the neighboring forts do not interfere, I needed to do something to ensure they stayed put, so I just made up two fake armies.” the general explained.
“And how does one do such a thing? Armies do not grow on trees, do they?” the prince asked.
“No, they do not, Your Highness. But fake armies are a lot easier to make. All I need are warm bodies to put on a show. So I sent men to round up peasants from border villages and supplied them with uniforms and spears from our nearby forts.” the general replied.
“And what if the enemy sees through the ruse and attacks the fake armies?” the price asked.
The general shrugged. “Some peasants dying is of little concern to us. The real soldiers keeping those fake armies in order should have enough time to run to us and warn us. Then we can safely retreat before enemy backup arrives,” the general explained, to which the prince nodded.
“And besides, Your Highness, His Majesty the king told us that the Zagraf Theocracy priests will provide us with something that can turn the tide of battle, Do you know what it is, Your Highness? Otherwise, under normal circumstances, we would be sieging a fort with four times our current numbers.” the general said.
“I have an inkling of what it is, and we will see it shortly, general.” The prince said as they walked towards a procession of white-clad clergymen.
Comments
Samofthepen
Thanks for the spot. Corrected.
Severyn
Hi, you wrote presents instead of peasant. Probably autocorrect. Besides that good chapter
