“Your highness,” Raizer called from outside. However, he didn’t receive any response. So he called again, and expectedly there wasn’t any response.
Worried, he decided to open the door and enter. And Kali followed behind him. However, they weren’t alone. Behind them, Baron Pier followed.
The big silver wolf was the first thing they noticed when they entered the large warehouse. And it wasn’t alone. There was a deer centaur with it.
Before Baron Pier could understand what was happening, the silver wolf opened its eyes. However, Kali and Raizer were quicker.
They gave her a military salute before reporting, “Your Highness, we have a piece of bad news. The barbarian prisoners had broken out last night.”
The wolf had no intention of listening to their explanation. It started to stretch her body like a lazy dog. Because of her movement, Symona woke up.
“We have taken care of them. However, there were four casualties.”
The wolf's body changed into a werewolf after hearing Raizer's report. It looked at Raizer, saying, “Give them a proper burial. And send a year's worth of salary to their house. And tell them only one from their family would receive a job according to their merits.”
“Yes, your majesty.” Raizer nodded, adding, “And Viscount Root…”
“What about Viscount Root?” She smirked, asking, “did he have too much fun with the barbarian girl I have sent him?”
“Your majesty, he is dead.” Baron Pier hesitated a moment, adding.
“Dead? How?” Hilda was back to her human form. And Kali had brought a robe and covered her naked body. But the surprise on Hilda’s face was prominent when she asked, “Who killed him?”
“After the prison break, the barbarians escaped in different directions.” Raizer explained, “They had attacked the house where he was staying. From the situation, it looked like they fought. Although Viscount Root had killed the barbarians, he died from blood loss.”
Hilda was taken aback. But Baron Pier couldn’t believe in Hilda. After all, it occurred after Hilda presented him with the proposal to cross the viscount. He wasn't sure how Hilda did it, but he was certain it was Hilda's idea.
His first thought was it was the barbarian girl who had done it. After all, they were no one left in the room other than the general, barbarian girl, and…
‘Could it be the fox?’ He couldn’t help wondering. If the imperial prince could turn into a wolf, no one had said the fox couldn’t turn into a human.
But he had no way of proving it. Even if he could, he wasn't sure he was brave enough to do so. After all, no one would dare to give a hint to a subordinate before murdering his master, even if he was an imperial prince.
‘Either he is stupid, or he is a perfect schemer.’ And after remembering this was the prince who had survived in the imperial harem without any support, Baron Pier didn’t think he was stupid.
“Your majesty,” Baron Pier went on his knees.
“What are you doing?” Hilda frowned. At the next moment, her face was full of determination. She claimed, “Viscount Root was a great general in my army. I will avenge him. But the problem is, he had killed the barbarians.”
Hilda's heartless acting had convinced Baron Pier that she had sent someone to kill the Viscount. So, he quickly added, “if your majesty wishes, then I will try my best to support you. All the knights under my command will obey your order.”
Hilda pretended as if she didn't understand what Pier was saying. She explained, “There is no way I could intervene in the hierarchy of Duke Gerard’s knights.”
“Your majesty, if you want, I can take control of the…”
Baron Pier didn’t get to end his words as Hilda raised her hand to stop him, adding, “I can’t force you to do something so unethical.” Hilda smiled, adding, “after all, every one of us is fighting to protect the empire. So…”
“I understand.” Baron Pier had no problem understanding the meaning.
“As long as you understand.” Hilda smiled and said, “If that was all, then I have to ask Baron Pier to leave. I need to get ready.”
“Of course.” Baron Pier quickly complied and left the room.
As soon as the door closed Nuage, the three-tailed white fox appeared out of thin air. Hilda looked at it, saying, “Good work.”
“Thank you, my lord. It was something I am supposed to do.” From the voice, one could understand Nuage was happy.
“What about Helen?” As soon as Hilda asked about Helen, Symona perked her ears.
“She is with my lord’s pack.” Nuage reported. “I am here to take the barbarian children with me.”
“Good. Do it.” Hilda turned to Raizer, saying, “There is no need for us to waste more time. Order the army to pack the tent; we're leaving in an hour.”
Raizer nodded and left the warehouse. Then Hilda turned towards Kali, “Arrange some clothes for her. Put a collar on her neck,” Hilda said, pointing to Symona.
“Would that be necessary?”
"Do you think others will do nothing if there is a barbarian roaming around in a human settlement?"
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Kali soon understood what Hilda was trying to say. So she left to do as ordered.
********
A week later. The commander's tent.
“Was there a need for that?” Hilda couldn’t help asking.
Ridic took a sip of the chalice and smiled at Hilda. As Hilda was trying to decode the hidden meaning of his smile, he asked, “What did the imperial prince intend to do?”
“They were just women and children. And they had already surrendered. Did you need to kill them all?”
“Women and children of barbarians,” Ridic spoke in a tone as if he was correcting Hilda’s mistake.
“Does it matter?” Hilda couldn’t help frowning. After all, they were part of Hilda’s plan. The barbarian women were always in high demand in the slave market. And war was always a costly affair. Naturally, she was trying to earn gold in any way possible.
But Ridic read her like an open book. He asked, “Why? Would selling to the slave trader would make their life any better?”
Hilda continued to stare at Ridic. But, Ridic continued, “Or you are letting your man have the time of their life with them again?”
Expectedly, Hilda had no words to refute him. In the last seven days, they had met three skirmish forces of barbarians and two human settlements ravaged by barbarians.
Hilda's guard unit was always the first to charge onto the battlefield. Overwhelmed by the sight of men in emerald armor drenched in blood, the common soldier of the army started to call them ‘The Blood Emerald.’
However, it was the Ashgard knight contingent that frightened Hilda the most.
They would kill everyone alive as soon as the fight was over, although they had never joined the combat without Hilda's order. As if they'd made a vow not to take any prisoners.
“Do you understand why the entire empire was terrified of Ashgard's knight?” Ridic emptied the chalice before answering, “It was because of my son. Richrit Ashgard.”
Hilda couldn't tell if Ridic was drunk or if he just wanted Hilda to know about his son. Hilda wasn't annoyed by hearing about the previous generation's greatest general. And that man is also Rhea’s father.
But Ridic never talked about his past endeavor. He said, “Do you know why they followed him without asking any questions? It wasn’t for his strength.”
“If only strength was a consideration, the imperial blood was far superior to him. But he was a man. A man who led his man with his action.”
“Even though I am his father, I am proud to have been able to ride alongside him in a few battles. Normally, he never killed an innocent person and even aided civilians from an opposing kingdom. However, there was an exception.”
“Nobody should suffer such agony, whether it is the barbarians or our adversaries. And I'm attempting to keep them from living a life worse than death.”Ridic sighed, adding, “that was what he said to me after he slaughtered all the innocent people in the city of Varjya.”
‘Isn’t that hypocritical?’ Hilda couldn’t help thinking.
“Do you think that is hypocritical?” Realizing that he had correctly guessed Hilda’s thought, he didn’t answer her. He stood up and was about to leave.
But before leaving, he said, “An eye for an eye would leave the whole world blind.”
Hilda sat there trying to decode the words of a wise old man. He killed them so she couldn't sell them to slave traders. She understood that much. However, she couldn't grasp the underlying meaning of those drunken conversations.
“What do you want to do, your highness?” Raizer asked.
Hilda shook her head and kept the wise words at the back of her mind. She asked, “How many days do we need to reach the fort?”
“After we bypass the mountain, it would be one day's journey. So it should take just three more days.”
“Good. We'll rest here for a couple of days,” Hilda said after a moment's thought.
“But, your majesty, wouldn’t it be better after we reach the fort?”
“There is a very slim chance of that. We might have to fight non-stop as soon as we reach the fort. So it would be better if we recharge ourselves first.”
Raizer nodded and was about to leave. He, too, stopped at the door. After a brief pause, he inquired, "What about the Ashgard knights?"
“What about them?” Hilda asked instinctively, sighing. “They are the righteous knights. We are different. We aren’t trying to make a name for ourselves, neither are we trying to win the war.”
“Then?”
“Then what? Did you forget what I told you on the first day?” Hilda gave him a sidelong glance, knowing well that he didn't. So she repeated, “We have only one aim. And that is to survive.”