Chapter 94: Ch 94: We are expendable…

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As I follow the group towards the tents that were prepared for us, I see Joaquin outside a tent arguing with a group of three young soldiers who seem very upset with the sermon that is falling on them.

So, taking advantage of the fact that now we have nothing else to do apart from wait for the resistance to come looking for us, I explain to Deirdre my intentions, and I move away from the group to talk to the old soldier and tell him what happened in the resistance camp.

As I walk away from the group, I think for a few moments with annoyance at the tenuous feeling of the bond with Azur, who is still with Deirdre, as he is apparently still upset with me.

'Haa… he'll get over it.'

"... For the last time, I don't care if the other party agreed to accept the bet. I already told you a thousand times that it is forbidden to strip the other members of the expedition of their rations." As I get closer, I start to hear Joaquin's voice more clearly.

The three young men look down at the ground with an irritated expression.

One of them must have said something under his breath, since I heard Joaquin's reply.

"Don't worry, the losers will also be punished for disobeying the rules. But the thing is, you were the ones who incited them to gamble their food, and that's why I had to talk to you first. Here," says Joaquin, handing each boy a sheet of paper, "Take this note to your unit commander. And you'd better not try to escape punishment because in that case the penalty will be even worse! We are in an army, for the labyrinth's sake!"

"Hey, how are you?" I say as I get next to him "trouble with some soldiers?"

"Bah, soldiers," he replies snorting grumpily, "that's too much to say...they are mere mercenaries."

And, after inviting me to sit on some chairs outside his tent, he begins to tell me about his problems.

Apparently some of the people who were hired through the tournament as temporary 'soldiers' have been stirring up various problems since we left the kingdom.

Gambling with ration food, practice fights that end with serious injuries, and clandestine parties are some of the problems Joaquin mentions to me with an irritated look.

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It is true that I didn't see any of this on our boat during the time we were traveling, but it is also true that on our boat was Lilian, one of the expedition leaders. And besides, it's not like I sought to interact much with the rest of the crew other than Lilian, Sebastian, Charity, and Deirdre either.

When Joaquin was done venting, I told him what happened at the resistance camp.

"So cheer up! Before long we can get moving. Aren't you happy to be back on the ground?" I tell him, after I finish explaining what happened at the resistance base.

"What do you want me to tell you, Xel? I don't like it here... According to Charity, most of the Orc armed forces in this city were already defeated in the battle on the beach. So there should only be a small number of soldiers in the city. But what if she's wrong?" says Joaquin sighing "Besides, this whole expedition has a scorched smell..."

"What do you mean?" I ask quizzically.

"Look... Do you remember that most of the nobles were supposed to come with us to this place to free the enslaved races and establish an alliance with the people of this continent? Well, the reality is that all that went down the drain the moment you won the tournament" he says and, surely, my expression must be reflecting my confusion, because as soon as he finishes saying it he explains himself "No, I'm not saying it's your fault. But since you won the tournament, the queen has lost her last reason to come, and has had to accept the demands of the majority of the nobles urging her to remain in the kingdom."

"Isn't the queen supposed to be able to do what she wants?" I ask, increasingly confused.

"It's not that easy. A good ruler is beholden to her people. That's why the queen can't leave her place to go help other races that we know little and nothing about..." explains Joaquin and sighs "Or so the nobles who did not want her to leave argued."

"Fine, but I still don't understand what that has to do with what you told me at the beginning. Yes, the queen is not coming. But how does that affect what plans there were for the expedition?"

"The nobles' argument was that, if the queen was indebted to her people, more or less the same could be said of them. And, if she stayed, they had an excellent excuse for staying as well.... They are all very strong due to being born with a golden spoon, but the reality is..." he says with a tone of disgust that I have rarely heard him employ and, after hesitating for a few moments, he continues in a low voice "that they are a damned bunch of cowards!.... The point is that the fact that you won the tournament generated a chain effect. Because you won, the queen didn't come. Since the queen didn't come, most of the nobility didn't come. Since almost none of the nobility came, the governments of the other races also did the same, and all that caused the governments of the four races significantly reduced the soldiers they sent for the expedition. The point is that in the end only very few 'real' soldiers came, and most were people hired at the tournament, or by the governments of the other races.... And the nobles who came..." Suddenly, Joaquin points in one direction "do you see that man over there?"

"Yes, that's Tomas Protego; I already know him. I've never spoken to him though." I say, recognizing the black-haired young man I had seen fighting at Octavo's side in the battle on the beach.

"Good. He's a pacifist. He detests conflict." says Joaquin flatly.

"Then what's he doing here?" I ask confused.

"Well... Although he doesn't like conflict, he's very protective of his own. That is why he took part in the battle on the beach, and that is why he has come on this expedition." says Joaquin bitterly "He is a good man, but my point is that he is not a fighter. And that's why he gets along very well with the church, and very badly with his father, Rodrigo. Thanks to the church Tomas got the position of leader of his house, as his father had no choice but to give in to him because of the pressures from outside his family. But for that very reason his father has been trying to get rid of Tomas in the shadows for quite some time, as he doesn't like the way his son manages the Protego house. Though he can't do anything directly since his son has the support of the church." he says and sighs "And the same can be said of the Estella's young up-and-comer, Lilian, who is already beginning to be a threat to her mother's position."

"Ahh. And you tell me all this because..." I say, not quite understanding what Joaquin is getting at by telling me all this.

"Because I want you to see the big picture." says Joaquin, who seems a bit irritated by my lack of interest "Why do you think Lilian Estella, a young girl about your age, and Tomas Protego, a pacifist, are the ones leading this expedition when there are people much more qualified for the task? Like General Julius, for example. That's because General Julius is a very important figure for the kingdom, even though he is not a noble. On the other hand, if we die in this place it won't really matter. We are just a bet by the leaders of the four races to see how strong the orc empire really is. As you see, we are expendable...I think it is precisely for this very reason that almost no one from the church of lights has come. They probably even tried to convince Tomas Protego to stay, but I guess they didn't succeed. That boy is very loyal to his own kind, and he has a reputation for being quite firm in the decisions he makes."

"Aha, but it could also go well, and we might be able to easily take over the city, as Charity and Lilian believe, right?" I say, to try to cheer him up, since it seems to me that he is seeing things with too much negativity.

To which Joaquin looks me straight in the face, without answering for a few seconds, with a strange expression on his face, and finally says after releasing a long sigh "yes, I guess that would be fine".

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