Chapter 48: Chapter 47 : Night before Battle

Though it was in the middle of the night, a corner of the Viscount Ray's fortress beside Teries River was lit up by torches as though it were broad daylight. A somewhat cramped room was packed full of men and women. They were all dressed in battle gear, but there was no unifying theme among them.

They were all mercenaries within the Treia kingdom who had responded to a hasty summons. Veteran and high level mercenaries notwithstanding, even low level mercenaries were present for this.

The more senior mercenaries had already realized that the why reason outsiders like themselves had been permitted into the fortress was in order to take care of the problems plaguing the Treia border. Some of these mercenaries had already begun guessing who the enemy was based on the location of the battlefield.

The great door to the chamber suddenly opened, and what appeared was four women—and  four man—causing a stir. Two of them were well known, Duke Cheney and Kennis the deputy captain of Knight legions. The captain, Demia Connery rarely appeared in public but the deputy often met people.

Two women and a man were dark elves. People didn't recognize their face but there was only single mercenaries group consisting only dark elves, Darkness serving Duke.

The mercenaries never saw the two girls. A strong looking girl with orange yellowish hair and a silver haired beautiful wearing unique leather armour. Both girls were strikingly beautiful.

As the group stood before the gathered mercenaries, Kennis in white armor unrolled the scroll in his hands, and pasted it onto the wall behind him.

It was a detailed map of the Teries River.

The first to speak was a thin man in his fourties wearing spectacle. He manifested cold and calculating demeanor.

"Ladies and gentlemen, to begin with, I'd like to thank you for being able to be present for this emergency meeting."

After the room had quietened down, he continued to address the mercenaries with an earnest expression on his face.

"Normally, the Mercenaries Guild would never interfere in national affairs."

"However, this is an exceptional case. The Mercenaries Guild has decided to cooperate fully with the Treia Kingdom, in order to quickly resolve the problems facing us. The princess will relate the details to us, so I pray you will be quiet and listen."

The word "Princess" made a huge uproar among the mercenaries. Scarlet's attention was attracted to a full bodied armour man who had been jumping and waving at her. Notably, he was surrounded by 5 beautiful girls in battle gear.

"Adine, stop it!" One of his female companion tried to cool him down.

Sora and Ripine only stared at that man, and couldn't concentrate on the princess.

The teenage girl with silver hair in braid slowly advanced, flanked by the members of Darkness and Duke Cheney.

"I am Scarlet Treia and I am deeply grateful that everyone here was able to respond to the extraordinary summons issued tonight."

She smiled demurely to them, and several sighs of affection rose from the mercenaries as they saw the delicate sight before them. The full bodied armour man was yelling "Scarlet. Scarlet." while being calmed down by his female companions. 

"Normally, I would render duly deserved praise upon all of you, but as time is of the essence, let us get straight to the point. Tonight, a border to Magrado—"

Here the princess raised a finger to a part of the map —the northeast corner— and drew a circle around it.

"—Has been surrounded by thousands of Magrado soldiers. The light from torches showed there could be over six thousand men landed, and I am certain you have all seen them."

Most of the mercenaries nodded in agreement, while some went to the palace windows to look outside. 

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That news sparked a disturbance among the mercenaries. They had finally realized that the region encircled by the invaders included the port and water route that made up the kingdom's economic lifeline.

The men with spectacle stepped forward with a stern expression on his face.

"I am Ray, the lord of this fortress."

"My fortress shall bombard any ships landing on the riverbank. We also gave 800 soldiers into princess' troops."

He then pointed at the map.

"Princess and the central army shall engage the enemy camp while the Darkness shall lead some mercenaries and knights to cover small entrance between Treia-Magrado-Germion border."

A veteran mercenary came forward and said,

"Then let me ask another question. I'd like to ask the Duke do something. What about the nobles' house troops and warriors? They should be taking their place in battle. Couldn't you lead those troops into battle, and let knights do the supporting role with us mercenaries?"

"Answer us!"

Duke Cheney stepped forward.

"The house troops are responsible for protecting their masters' estates, and the soldiers look to the defense of the capital. And the warriors they lead are tasked with defending the count and marquis families."

There was a hubbub among the adventurers, and the same person spoke up again.

"So you're saying they won’t be setting foot on the battlefield?"

"Indeed, that is so. Their duty is to stay in their demesne and protect the members of the noble families."

The air had changed. It had turned harsh. Cheney's words were could not be faulted, but even if one could understand them on an intellectual level, it was still unacceptable on an emotional level. The ones who earned their coin in blood were the mercenaries, and they were already prepared to sell their lives dearly in the coming battle. The nobles and royalty should have been the same way. Having taken the money of the masses, they should be rushing to their rescue instead of holing up safe in their castles. 

This was especially since they were taking the Kingdom's  two largest troops as their bodyguards. 

Hostility against the nobles and particularly the royals filled the air. Duke took a step back. He understood that at this point, anything he said would only sound like an excuse.

Therefore, the one who spoke for him was Demia Connery.

"Everyone, I understand you are not happy with his arrangement. But before that, I would advise you to keep one thing in mind. The one paying to gather you all here is not the noble families, but Princess Scarlet herself, out of her own private finances. The one who paid thousands of mercenaries was Lord Cheney. He is still risking his life by being here tonight. Certainly, I am as unhappy with the nobles as you are, but I would like you to consider that not all of them are cut from the same cloth."

The room calmed down somewhat as Demia finished her piece. Everyone was trying to control the anger they did not want to show to Scarlet.

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