Night of the Soulless Heathens – 448



#449. Second Winter 5

The news that Zion Etar had been falsely accused and captured and that Azadin was suspected of assassinating the king and his envoys reached Azadin’s royal palace.

It was also reported without omission that the northern kingdoms were uniting and transporting troops to subdue Azadin.

If you move that many troops rumors will inevitably spread even if you don’t like it.

The news that the four northern nations were joining forces to form an expeditionary force to subdue Azadin was enough to make people tremble but Azadin remained indifferent.

“Transporting troops during this season. That alone must be difficult. You all work hard.”

In reality transporting troops from the northern kingdoms was very difficult.

Even if they did it quickly it would take half a year for them to organize their army and begin the expedition. In the meantime Azadin could concentrate on other matters.

“But Midiam. Aren’t you going to save Zion Etar?”

“It’s not like the clan will betray us just because we don’t have Brother Zion.”

Midiam had looked up to Zion Etar the high messenger of his clan during his childhood.

But now she didn’t want Azadin to waste his strength in order to save Zion Etar.

“But what about those Cheetahs gathered in front of Sandokar? The Northern Alliance forces are taking a long time to transport their troops but they are already right in front of us.”

“They won’t attack right away either. The forces at the Sandokar Gate alone should be enough to hold them off for now.”

The Chitai light cavalry has gathered in front of the Sandokkar Gate but the nomad light cavalry alone cannot lay siege.

The light cavalry which had to continuously attack and retreat to make use of its mobility would lose its advantage the moment it was caught in a siege so they did not attack blindly but simply wandered around the Sandokar Gate and waited for reinforcements to arrive.

“Then let’s focus on the South Sea route expedition and the conquest of Btuma.”

Azadin divided his reorganized forces and went out to attack the southern fish-people with Lord Jecht while Lord Astarte took on the Naga kingdom that controlled Btuma and his own government.

“When spring comes food will run out and this is a long-distance expedition. My heart is about to burst out of my mouth. It’s really scary to be short of food.”

Medium trembled with anxiety as he watched Azadin continue the war even though food was running out right before his eyes.

But it is a war that cannot be avoided.

They were not the type of group to send envoys of peace and reconciliation just because they did not start a war.

“It’s okay. I told you I have a plan.”

Azadin reassured Midiam and set out on the expedition.

*********

While the northern kingdoms declared that they would subjugate Azadin the southern overlord Azadin himself set out to subjugate the fish-people who were threatening the Btuma expedition and the southern sea route.

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‘The King of Kings has no regard for the demons but the soulless blasphemer who is condemned as lowly fights the demons alone. Who is the true protector of humanity?’

In the south which was friendly to Azadin such stories were circulating.

Although it was a blasphemous statement in the eyes of the King’s Church the King’s Church had already lost its power in the south and Azadin’s New Testament Church had taken over most of the church so there was no way to stop the word from spreading.

And isn’t that true?

When comparing the actions of those who claim to be the legitimate bloodline of the great god-king and the actions of the soulless blasphemer Azadin as a king anyone with even a modicum of common sense will know even if they don’t like it which one is closer to the true way of kingship.

Even among the southerners who had been indifferent to Azadin’s New Testament the number of people who truly believed in and followed the New Testament gradually increased.

However the high-ranking officials and Queen Midiam who were in charge of the supplies for this expedition felt their hearts burning.

The reason it has a good reputation now is because it is ultimately paying for food with the soldiers’ salaries and the laborers’ wages.

However food supplies are limited while demand continues to increase.

If horses and cows stay still in a pen they will fill their stomachs and gain weight with just a little bit of food but if you make them pull a cart they will not be able to endure hunger no matter how much you feed them.

The same goes for people. Every time they march or go into battle the amount they eat increases several times and physical labor follows such as transporting weapons for the soldiers repairing the damaged roads etc. but all of this consumes food and supplies.

War in any case leads to the consumption of large quantities of materials.

In the north they are gradually gathering troops to subdue Azadin but Azadin is waging an expedition to subdue the Nagas who are not even coming right away with the supplies that are sure to run out in the spring and it is making me very angry.

But when the battle with the Nagas actually broke out a strange phenomenon occurred.

Food does not decrease.

No to be exact it decreases honestly as much as you eat.

But as the number of troops decreased even faster there were fewer mouths to feed.

*********

“No what is this…..”

Medium was bewildered by the magical events unfolding before his eyes.

As queen she was in charge of the finances that Scott had been in charge of.

She was smart from the beginning so she easily adapted to the work and started looking at the documents submitted by the accounting officials but the speed at which demand decreased was no joke.

That many casualties are occurring.

“That’s why I told you. It’s hard to believe that I love everyone.”

Azadin looked at such a medium and smiled bitterly.

*********

The main force of Azadin’s army is mostly conscripted refugees with no combat experience.

If these refugee soldiers fight the flying and crawling Nagas or the fish-people who threaten the South Sea no matter how well they are commanded there will inevitably be casualties.

Azadin suffered such casualties and deployed a large number of troops to win by sheer numbers.

And while reorganizing the unit that was in shambles after the battle he promoted those who gained experience among the refugees to the elite men-at-arms.

As those who die in this work the demand for troops decreases and the combat power of the unit actually increases.

Of course it doesn’t only have good effects.

Combat experience made people sick and the elite soldiers who returned alive committed crimes such as assault murder rape and drug use.

“I do this knowing that there will be much bloodshed and sacrifice. It is an absurd assessment to say that I who kills so many people love all people.”

“That’s not true. This is inevitable. The fish-people appear in the South Sea so we have to fight for our lives and we have to free the humans who are being raised as livestock by the Nagas in Btuma from suffering. Furthermore they are not the kind of people who will simply back down if we send a delegation to the fish-people and the Nagas. Of course there will be bloodshed and Your Majesty does not need to blame yourself for this. Just look at what other kings do.”

Medium felt sorry for Azadin for feeling guilty.

“When you see other blessed kings saving the people of their own towns and cities and abandoning others to horrible deaths your Majesty who does not kill his own people with his own hands has no reason to reproach yourself. But your Majesty reproaches yourself because you know better. Unlike other foolish kings who wage war without knowing how many soldiers will die your Majesty knows the number of people who will die because of the orders you give now and so he is distressed. But someone must do it right?”

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“That’s true.”

“Then don’t blame yourself too much and take care of yourself. It seems like you’re not feeling well these days.”

“Did you feel that way? I guess I’m trying my best.”

“No that’s a separate thing. What are you making me say?”

Medium glanced at Azadin.

“By the way I heard that Zion Etar was captured by the North. What do you think? Should we rescue him?”

Azadin asked Midiam.

“Well it would be good to rescue them if we can but I don’t think we can. It’s unlikely that the Northern Qing would take hostages against us.”

“Is that so? But is it okay for the Etar clan?”

Azadin asked if there was any problem with the influence the Etar clan had among the Heralds.

No matter what the force that supports Azadin is the Etar bloodline who had a political marriage with Azadin.

There were many other clans who still believed that Azadin had monopolized the New King’s Book.

He is distrusted by the public as a member of the Herald Clan and is discriminated against as a traitor among the Herald Clan.

Given that situation the existence of Zion Etar was also important to Azadin.

However realistically it is likely that Zion Etar was killed or worse the moment he was captured.

“It’s okay. Even if my brother is gone the Ethar clan will support His Majesty and even if the elders of the other clans keep His Majesty and the Ethar clan in check there is no other place to reach out to. In Arael’s rebellion and the Battle of Korasaar my clan lost much of the strength and power that it had accumulated. However it would be ambiguous to join hands with other forces. If the Northern Emperor has enough agents to kidnap Sion’s brother then they will have even less need for my clan.”

Medium took a cool-headed look at the situation. She still loved Zion Etar but she coldly cut him off and said that it was not worth the huge sacrifice to rescue him.

“Oh my. Our queen is so wise that I am so proud of her.”

“Who is your disciple?”

“Even though I was your apprentice I didn’t really teach you much.”

“Oh yes yes. I guess I was born with great talent. Then.”

It was when Medium said that and laughed.

Ismail approached the tents of Azadin and Midiam.

He cleared his throat and made a noise outside the tent.

“Your Majesty. The Chitai light cavalry has bypassed the Sandokar Gate and advanced south. We have received word that they are currently pillaging and massacring southern Sandokar.”

Instead of attacking the Sandokkar Gate without waiting for the Northern Qi and its reinforcements the Chitai crossed the line and bypassed it.

“What about Sandokar? I bet he’s prepared.”

Azadin gathered a cavalry detachment that was different from the Celestial Fire and stationed them at Sandokar in case the Cheetah light cavalry bypassed Sandokar.

In other words the Celestial Fire was a tactic to block the retreat of the light cavalry in case they bypassed Sandokar and came to pillage by deploying the second corps of knights who could not keep up with the marching speed of the elite knights.

It was also much more advantageous to deploy the valuable cavalry force that could have achieved many results if deployed on the Btuma front to Sandokar.

“But Your Majesty the current Count of Sandokar and his family as well as many of the commanders and high-ranking officers are said to be suffering from attacks by assassins. And those assassins are….”

Ismail took a deep breath and spoke carefully.

“They say they use the Kazas method.”