Chapter 95 - The General is Sent on a Mission (Part 2)

  We left the mansion grounds and headed toward the castle, where a few guards were patrolling the corridors. They greeted us as we made our way to the throne room. As soon as we opehe door, I saw my aunt sitting there, with some of the Legacies seeming to try to grasp what had happened.

  “You! Stay in your pces,” my aunt ordered.

  It was my first time here, and I didn’t know what to do, but Sifu pulled me by the shoulder, guidioward the steps.

  “Are you sure I’m supposed to go up there?” I asked him.

  “Of course!” my aunt replied, having overheard.

  No one was allowed to asd the throeps without reason, not even Chloe and I were allowed to py around there. Those steps were practically sacred, the very pce where our aors and the facies had stood for millennia.

  I climbed up and stood oep beside Sifu, looking around at the others, trying to gauge what was going on from their expressions, but I couldn’t read anything. The door opened again, and my mother walked in.

  “What’s happened? I was called urgently,” she asked.

  “You’ll find out soon,” my aunt replied.

  My mother walked over and then asded the steps, standing beside my aunt at the throne. Everyone was a bit terying to uand the situation, but no one dared to question my aunt. When Aunt Margie was in her queenly mode, she wasn’t very approachable and had little patience for answering questions.

  We stood there until the door opened again, and a guard entered.

  “How is the farmer?” my aunt asked.

  The guard approached and k.

  “He’s already received treatment from Martha and is on his way here.”

  “Good, bring him quickly,” she said, gesturing for him to leave.

  I watched everything, trying to piece it together.

  “Sifu… why do you think I was called here?” I whispered to him.

  “The time for being a boy is over,” he whispered back.

  We waited for a while until some soldiers opehe door, and a group of people appeared.

  Three meered, looking tense and fearful. One of them was heavily bandaged around the head and chest, while the other two, though older, were also injured, with one having his arm ed in bandages.

  They approached and k.

  “Lady Margaery, we’ve e to ask for your help,” one of them said.

  My aunt stared at them.

  “I’ve heard a bit of the story, but I want to hear it from you,” she said.

  The oldest man lifted his head.

  “Our small vilge was attacked, and we were injured.”

  “I see that just by looking at you. I need every detail possible. I want to know who the fool was that invaded our nds,” she said sternly.

  The most injured man lifted his head and began to speak.

  “There were at least fifty of them. They were all on horseback, and some of them set our homes on fire. Others chased us with swords and wounded us.” He paused, and another man tinued.

  “Lady Margaery, they burned our crops. Everything we saved was ied in expanding produ, and they trampled it all with their horses, burning it down. Even our animals weren’t spared. One of our silos, which was fully stocked, was blown up by several fireballs.”

  My aunt took a deep breath and put her hand to her head.

  "I need more details. Tell me about their appearaheir armor, their ons—even the color of their damned horses."

  They looked fused.

  "It was dawn, and we were trying to escape the fireballs. We couldn’t make out much. As for the armor, there were no crests, just simple armor."

  "And the dead? How many were killed?"

  "Seven people were killed, and many others were injured," one of them said.

  My aunt furrowed her brow.

  "Were there any kidnappings? What did they steal?"

  "There were no kidnappings, and they stole… everything of value from our vilge. They looted everything, and what they couldn’t take, they burned," he replied.

  All the Legacies exged gnces.

  "What about material losses?" she asked.

  "Everything. They burned our crops, killed our livestock, set fire to our homes, and attacked us."

  Aunt Margie ched her fists.

  "You may leave. I will hahis situation. We will pensate you for your losses and assist in rebuilding what was destroyed. I’ll also seh mages to help fertilize the soil and provide a patrol for the area. I ’t bring back the lives that were lost, but I will take care of and treat those who survived," she said.

  "Thank you so much, Duchess. I ’t express how grateful we are. Everything we had was ied in pnting those fields. Thank you," the man said, a bit emotional.

  They left the room, and as soon as the door closed, everyouro my aunt.

  "Speak. I need your opinions," she said.

  Hugo was the first to speak up.

  "The enemy had 50 men on horsebad mages among them. This doesn’t seem like something that could be anized ht; it was well pnned. We o find out if other pces were attacked."

  Samantha interjected, "It could be a new gang. That’s a lot of people with horses, and they had mages with them. We o intervene as quickly as possible."

  My aunt bit her nail.

  "Fifty men on horseback, assuming they ted correctly. There were mages among them, and they focused oroying the vilge and its crops. Right when we’ve been encing farmers to make rge-scale iments in nd and crops. If these bandits attack more vilges, it will undermihe ei to rebuild this territory, especially if other farmers hear about this and bee fearful," she said.

  "We’re in a delicate moment, and this ’t go unchecked. What they did was worse than just stealing what they had. Burning the crops affeot only them but everyone who depends on those harvests," my mother added.

  "We o deal with this swiftly. There are 50 men riding through my nd after itting this crime. They o be found and made to pay. There will be no mercy," Aunt Margie said firmly.

  My mother looked at her. "I use my elemental power to help with the pnting. I already do this work on our farms. I go ahem recover what was lost. All I need are seeds aile soil."

  Aunt Margie was deep in thought as she listeo my mother’s words.

  "It’s risky... but I’ll send you with at least 100 soldiers. I’ll also dispatch earth and water mages to assist, and with you there, we accelerate the growth of the seeds. I’ll also send a healing mage to tend to the injured," she said.

  "I want to go as well," I said.

  I won't leave my mother in a retly attacked pce by herself.

  My mother looked at me, but before she could say anything, my aunt spoke up.

  "You will definitely go. I'm sending you and Sifu to resolve this situation," my aunt said.

  Everyone looked at her in surprise.

  "Margie, it's beehan a week sihan pleted a mission, and you already want to send him on another?" my mother protested.

  "My nephew will be the military leader of this eerritory, and I have high expectations for him. Nathan is more than capable of handling these problems, and you know it. He will be with Sifu, who will assist him," my aunt replied firmly.

  My mhed deeply.

  "The boy will be with me, Lady Katherine. I believe we're a good team, and we’re just going to iigate. They might be on horsebad could have gone far, but that doesn’t mean they’ve covered their tracks. Fifty horses leave trails, and that gives us a path to follow," Sifu reassured.

  My mother looked at us, still ed. "You’ll only follow the trail aurn at the first sign of serious danger. He may be an assassin, but that doesn’t make him invincible," she said.

  Sifu and I nodded in agreement, and a part of me was a little excited to have some real a again. I might just be a child, but I have the soul of a warrior. Ever since I started fighting in this world, my love for battle has been rekindled. Being a human warriain is limiting, but the thrill in battle es from the challenge of overing those limits.

  As soon as we left the throne room and the door closed behind us, I looked at Sifu.

  "So, we’re just going to locate them and then e back?"

  The monk looked at me and smiled.

  "Of course not. We’re going to hunt them down and kill every st one of them."

  "Old man, I thought you were the type who loved peace or some mystionsense like that..."

  The mo out a hearty ugh.

  "I am a man of peace, and I will live for it until the day I die. But if someone brings war to my doorstep... then I will deliver war to them."