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Chapter 95: To The Desert (4)

‘The basis of war is information warfare.’

Just before leaving the palace, Henry ordered Klever to keep an eye on Benedict.

After their business was done, Henry immediately left the palace with the Shonan army on horseback, as it was certain that Benedict, the eye of the desert, would have caught him if he’d wandered around the palace for no reason.

Therefore, even though they had enough supplies, Henry traveled around the capital to get more supplies on his way back. The plan was successful. As Henry expected, his spy returned to him with important information like a victorious general.

Henry used sensory sharing to confirm what he had seen and heard.

‘Ha, look at these guys.’

Mordred Highlander was a knight of the Highlander family. He was the imperial sixth sword and the sixth strongest in the empire.

‘I was wondering why a civil war started all of a sudden, but I didn’t know that Arthus was behind it.’

Arthus Highlander was the head of the Highlander family. He was the only grand duke of the empire and was the one who maintained the Three Great Families. He was the man with the most power in the empire after the emperor.

The fact that such a powerful knight had appeared in the subjugation area without letting the subjugation army know was the same thing as advertising that he was connected to the rebels.

‘What a shame. If I’d known that it would be like this, I would have just left them be.’

Henry gained much more information than he had expected. However, it was now impossible to send Klever back again, as he had already left the palace, and all palaces had magical barriers that prevented outsiders from entering.

Henry licked his lips in regret. He had no choice but to leave Khan.

* * *

The headquarters was on a temporary site that also served as the entrance to the Shahatra Gorge in the northeast, and it had eventually become an outpost.

The Shahatra Desert was full of basins, and the Shahatra Gorge was the only way to enter or exit. When one left the gorge, the sandy floor grew solid.

Right when they entered the headquarters…

“I feel like I’m going to die…”

“W-water, does anyone have water?”

“H-hey, look at the horses! There are horses!”

The soldiers of the other counts had already arrived at the headquarters and were resting. However, unlike the Shonan army, who were ready to leave at any moment, Eiji’s army and Falcon’s army panted as if they were going to collapse.

‘Of course, you can’t endure the harshness of the Shahatra Desert with those things that you’ve prepared.’

Even at first glance, it was clear that the number of horses had decreased; they had probably died of heatstroke on the way there. Henry watched the suffering soldiers and laughed at the incompetence of the two counts.

“Count, I’m sorry, but can I take a look at the soldiers before the evening meeting?” said Henry to Eisen.

“Are you talking about our army?”

“I just want to take a look around because I think their fighting spirit is overall not very good.”

“Alright, do whatever you like. I will be resting in the barracks.”

“Alright.”

Since they had successfully finished their mission, there was no reason not to allow it. Henry shouted at the top of his lungs so that the Shonan army and the other soldiers could hear.

“Attention, everyone!”

“Attention!”

Only the Shonan army answered Henry. The other two armies showed some interest in the but did not listen carefully. However, that didn’t matter, as this would be the last time they would be so indifferent.

“The officers of each army gather in front of me!” said Henry.

“Yes, sir!”

The Shonan army gathered faster than the other armies because their officers trusted Henry as much as Eisen did, thanks to the magical horseshoes.

On the other hand, the foramen of the other armies seemed a little hesitant. They were not a part of the imperial army, and there was no reason to listen to the orders of anyone other than their leader, the head of the family.

However, some smart officers knew that Eisen was more powerful than their own leaders, so they gathered in front of Henry reluctantly. Eventually, the others followed suit.

Henry pulled out a large sack that he was pretending was a Subspace Pouch in front of the officers.

“Thank you for all your hard work. It will be dinner time soon, so everyone can rest easy tonight. I’m going to share a special gift from Count Eisen for all of you, so eat it with gratitude for the count!”

Henry started taking out clean, cold water and various food he had stored in the chest. Of course, Eisen had never issued such an order. Henry had purchased these at his own expense. He’d claimed they were from Eisen because it would only benefit him if Eisen enjoyed a great deal of prestige.

However, the officers who had been with Henry for the last few days knew very well that it was not a gift from Eisen. Eisen had never thought to do something about their fatigue and hard work before. Henry was aware that even if he gave all the credit to Eisen, he would still gain all the respect in the end.

“Sir Henry, I sincerely thank you.”

“Sir Henry, thank you for the food.”

“I’m not the one giving it to you, it’s Count Eisen.”

“Haha, of course. There’s no doubt about it.”

Henry couldn’t help but smile. However, the officers of the other armies looked puzzled when they saw the Shonan army accepting the gifts in a casual manner. However, it was normal for them to react this way since they’d never seen a count to show such kindness to hundreds of soldiers before.

One of the Shonan army officers walked up to the officers of a different army and said, “You fool! Sir Henry is the one giving this food, so hurry up and say thank you and just take it.”

“What? But he just said that this was from Count Eisen…”

“You idiot, of course, he did it to show his devotion to Count Eisen. I didn’t realize this before, but he really made a lot of preparations for the desert. Just go and shout ‘Long live Count Eisen’ and show your gratitude to Sir Henry separately.”

“R-really? Okay then!”

They were competitors because they served different masters, but there was no reason not to get along before the subjugation. The other officers bowed to Henry and took the cold water and food.

“Thank you, Sir Henry!”

“Yes, yes, go and share the meal with the rest of your army and rest up. Be sure to prepare ahead of time before your next duties.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Sir Henry, thank you so much!”

For several days, they had to endure their thirst with tiny amounts of lukewarm water, so the ice water that Henry provided was like a blessing from God. In addition, the officers were less stressed over taking care of their soldiers thanks to Henry’s plentiful supplies.

The mood suddenly grew warm. Henry’s supplies were God\'s grace for the soldiers.

‘As expected, there’s nothing like food to sweeten up the soldiers.’

He needed quite a lot of food and ice water to feed hundreds of soldiers, and the expenditure was enormous. However, Henry had the ability to handle magic and Elagon could handle ice, so the expenses were mostly on food.

‘This should do it.’

If Henry could buy the trust of the soldiers with food, it was a small price to pay. Besides, Henry had plenty of money, and he’d purchased most of the food using Aubert’s secret wealth anyway.

He had increased the fighting spirit and gained the trust of the soldiers without spending a penny of his own. Later that evening, Henry attended a meeting for leaders.

* * *

This was the first meeting since everyone completed their mission. The mood was calm since everyone had successfully completed their mission. However, there was a bit of unfamiliarity in the air because a new person had joined them in the meeting.

“My name is Hararion III.” It was the king of Shahatra, whom they had rescued from Khan’s Eye.

He had tan skin, flowing black hair, golden eyes, and a long, toned build. However, he was on the slender side compared to other men in the desert.

“My name is Eisen from the Shonan family.” Eisen introduced himself, and as he read a report by the secretary, he said, “It seems like there are no royal bodyguards… Is this everyone from the royal family?”

“Yes.”

“I assume your bodyguards are missing since they probably had to buy time for Your Majesty to escape. I’ll skip the small talk and get straight to the point.” Eisen was using honorifics, but he didn’t fully respect Herarion.

Herarion Khan III was the king of a vassal country, which placed Eisen at a much higher position.

‘Plus, he’s a powerless king right now who has been deprived of his royal authority.’

Henry looked down on Khan when he saw his droopy shoulders. ‘You’re quite different from your father. I can see why Benedict caused a civil war.’

Herabola Khan II, father of Herarion Khan III, had been a warrior who dominated the desert before Benedict. His strength was beyond Benedict’s, and he was the first to unify all four oases and establish Shahatra. His rule had been peaceful, and he’d been loved not only for his strength but also for his wise and virtuous political views.

Sadly, however, he’d passed away from an unknown disease, and his only son, Herarion, succeeded to the throne. Shortly after, he became caught up in Henry’s unification war.

“As you know, while Count Terion and Count Osca escorted Your Majesty, I met with Caliph Benedict, the leader of the rebels,” said Eisen.

“Yes, I’ve heard.”

“Then this will be a quick conversation. Benedict promised me that if I leave the royal family and Your Majesty behind, he will pay twice as much tribute.”

“I see.”

“Your Majesty’s response is much calmer than I expected. It seems like Your Majesty is not very desperate.”

“That’s not true. It’s just that I know that Benedict is trying to mislead the count with false information.”

“False?”

“With Shahatra’s current financial state, it’s difficult to send more than 1.5 times the tribute, let alone double. If he promised to double the tribute, it’s nothing but false promises.”

“That’s…”

“Aren’t you curious why Benedict asked you to hand me over?”

‘Oh wow, take a look at this guy.’

The king had another side to him.