125 The final decision
“I agree with the magic of master opinion. Rushing will only cause more casualties. We need to investigate this monster’s origins and scrutinize the recording to look for any details or information we may have missed.” The leader of the court mages spoke, causing Commander Ragnar to squint at him.
“What are you talking about Alexander? Do you really agree with this guy?” The commander looked at the leader of the court mages as if he were talking nonsense.
The commander was dismissing the master of magic idea as the opinion of a foreigner who didn’t care about the realm, but hearing a fellow countryman agree was a shock. commander Ragnar and the leader of the court mages were friends who fought on various battlefields together, so he cannot rule out his opinion.
“Just listen. That thing wasn’t a simple monster. It had knowledge of magic and strategy, ordering his minions in advance to destroy large-scale spells and use acid clouds with the sewer slis.
“We cannot treat this as a crusade against evil but rather as a war against an enemy army. An army of unknown power led by an extrely intelligent and equally powerful monster.” The leader of the court mages spoke resolutely and the nobles began to complain.
“So what do you suggest, leader of the court mages? Or do you do all this without a plan?” The cardinal sends him back, feeling offended by the way he derided the crusades.
“First, we will inform the nearest cities and fortress about the threat, but only the nobles who rule them. There is no reason to cause mass panic. Then, we must investigate the destroyed city of Faltra, where supposedly the first traces of of the undead army were discovered.” The chief of the court mages said.
‘This guy just repeated what I said in different words.’ The master of magic took a deep breath to contain his anger and let it go. The nobles seed to hear the man and he gained nothing by fighting over whose idea it was.
The leader of the mages court then turned to the master of magic and said: “We can use the portals of the order to gather our soldiers in the golden bow fortress, 10 days’ journey from the platinum fist fortress. Can we count on the order for that?”
.....
The borders of the Mirkor realm were protected by a line of fortresses and forts, all nad with a different weapon and tal. The Platinum Fist Fortress was the last and closest to the mainland’s central mountain range.
“The order is willing to cooperate if a concrete plan is made, but we are not going to be part of a suicidal plan.” The master of magic agreed to help.
“Let’s get the investigation done quickly, then. I’ll form an investigation team imdiately and send scouts and mages to that city. We’ll strategize based on the information we gather there.
“Just in case, we’ll send reinforcents to the golden arch fortress, along with scouts to watch over the undead. Is that good enough?” The commander coldly looked at the master of magic, but the latter pretended not to notice and nodded.
“It seems acceptable. The order will also send so mages to help with the investigation.” The magic master spoke and the rest of the eting went smoothly. They worked out all the little details for about an hour, while all the king did was nod his head every now and then and nod whenever he was called upon.
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In the end, it was decided that the investigations would be carried out in collaboration with the court mages and the mage order, with soldiers and knights of the realm as escorts. The nobleman who ruled the city Clastro was already organizing an expedition to send reinforcents to the city, but he had to cancel and leave matters to the kingdom.
Reinforcents were sent to the golden arch fortress using the order’s portals and entered a state of ergency, sending patrols and scouts on their way to the fortress. Those involved in the eting were on alert for the undead army’s movents, worried that they would move to the next stronghold or flee to the demihuman empire, where it would be impossible to pursue them.
Strangely, the undead didn’t show any signs of movent and it looked like they intended to stick around for awhile. The army concluded that the undead did not intend to leave for the ti being. Mages would be sent over the next few days to get a bird’s eye view using familiars, but it would take a few days for them to arrive.
The church movent was the strongest. It had been a few years since they had a crusade, so the fanatics were burning with battle spirits, many insisting that they should imdiately march to the stronghold to purge the evil.
When word got out that his brothers had fallen in battle and were forced to beco slaves of evil, many paladins and priests agreed that they should attack the fortress imdiately, but the cardinal managed to convince them to wait, saying that they were investigating the information from the monster and preparing to attack.
The order was the most silent on the matter. The master of magic reported the information to the dark elder first, who was extrely confused by the information received. He ordered the master of magic to keep up to date on the situation while also getting in touch with his mage slayers, ordering them to quicken their pace so they would arrive before the order’s investigators.
The dark elder no longer jumped to conclusions and waited for new information before deciding what to do. He was currently the only elder in the Mirkor realm, so all information passed through him and he had full decision-making authority.
The elder, along with several important figures of the order, watched the footage of the battle several tis, most trying to determine the level of threat the plant monster posed while the elder tried to find any sign of the mage slayers among the undead army.
Luckily, Emilia and Caio didn’t wear their costus as that would make them stand out in the midst of the army and they didn’t actively participate in the battle, so the elder couldn’t find any connection with his own team, but found a clue in an unexpected place.
The skeleton mage in the center of the army wore a cloak of order and the dark elder clearly rembered Finn saying that the corpse was being guarded by rookie mages of the order.
It wasn’t enough to be sure, but it kindled a strong suspicion in the dark elder.
In the midst of this tense mont, a person who was not at the throne room eting but was equally important beca involved in the matter. This would be the master of the kingdom’s adventurer guild, responsible for leading all branches throughout the kingdom, Florence Guilbert. She should have attended the eting, but unfortunately she had an equally important appointnt and was unable to attend.
The adventurers were more commonly known as monster hunters and would not normally engage in wars, focusing mainly on keeping monster numbers in check. But as the enemy were monsters and undead, the story was different.
The guild was a borderless organization, but on a much smaller scale, existing only on the Caprio continent. They were much smaller in numbers than the church of Eishin or the order of mages, but their mbers were individually very powerful, accustod to fighting constantly.
Despite their low power and being a relatively small organization, the guild’s influence was enormous, as most of the continent’s young talent was discovered through them. The adventurer’s guild was the most affordable way to earn fa and money, and they accepted anyone able to use mana among their ranks, nurturing their most talented mbers with their best resources.
They were a factory of incredibly powerful warriors and mages. Adventurers were incredibly versatile, taking on monsters in small groups where the army would need an entire battalion.
Guildmaster Florence included the adventurers in the war and the other nobles saw no reason to refuse. The guild master sent an extrely generous commission and many adventuring groups responded positively to the call. It was not yet certain how many would actually participate, but they would add a force that could not be taken lightly.
An air of tension began to hover among the nobles with territories close to the border, as if they were about to go to war. Many nobles began to stock up on supplies for a possible ergency, making the rchants selling the supplies suspect a possible crisis in the future and rumors to begin to spread.
The common people had no idea that a fortress had been annihilated, but the nobles’ stockpiling caused a decrease in goods in circulation and this did not go unnoticed.
The rumors that traders spread of a possible crisis did not help either, and many people started to stock up on food, causing prices to reach absurd heights in a matter of days and making it difficult for the poorest population to buy food.
It was a short-term problem, but a long-term catastrophe. Before the intelligence gathering was even over, the cracks in Mirkor’s realm had already begun.
End of volu 2
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