368 PRIVATE ARMY OF THE CHANCELLOR

His private army is also one of the most well supplied and most well armored in the Capital of Vanheim

Most of them were trained hard and they were all elites in their own rights. And most of his private army is the native inhabitants of this world

Some people said this is the Chancellor way of not showing favoritism to other adventurers. 

Truth is, Aero trusted the native world inhabitants more than he could trust adventurers. 

Because he is also an adventurer he understood very much how useless is trust between one adventurer to another.

And the adventurers might even be spies that could reveal his eccentricities regarding his weakness in the ankle

Why would someone as powerful as Aero need an ankle protector made of some weird metal?

If his private lives are investigated then maybe if Eric looked at it, he could deduce Aero weakness. 

Aero had never underestimated Eric ability to fish out useful information in the sea of useless waters.

That is why Aero is reluctant to trust adventurers.

Even now, when the adventurers no longer have the ability to revive, Aero would never underestimate the greed in human heart

That is why Aero private army were all of native people of this world. 

His private soldiers are always armored from head to toe with even their horses having metal armor covering their body.

Most of their horses is warhorses that is bigger than normal cavalry horses. The money that one had to spend to create such an elite unit is very expensive. 

But what does money mean for the Chancellor who controls the banks of the Empire. He does not care who makes the laws of the Empire since he controls the Empire money

Though, one must be perplexed how is Aero private army had arrived in the battlefield and participated in this battle?

They were summoned by Kyle

They at first did not want to come.

Since Kyle is not their lord and has no jurisdiction over them. 

But Aero had given Kyle his token so that he could order his private army to secretly come to the area before the battle started.

No one should underestimate the influence that Aero had in the Imperial court. 

Even the Emperor was shielded by the news of his whereabouts, how could people in the west could even get the news?

Of course, Aero private army had always been under the eyes of many factions in the capitals. 

If that is so, why would no one discover that the private army is moving toward the Ethylred Plain? And why no one finds it suspicious? It is quite simple actually.

A few months before the war breakout, his private army had already been doing military drills all around the area of the border.

Though, one could say it is something that Aero had put under the consideration of his plans. A serendipity event that had ease Aero plans considerably.

Aero even had the thought of rewarding that person when they go back to the Empire later

Aero with his intelligence squad up and running in Veranis got to know about this.

And he built a plan around this matter. 

he knows that because of the frequency of this military drill, no one would suspect that Aero had once again returned and now have a pan to bring back his private army under his fold.

They were many people that wanted to recruit his private army. But that is hard to do because simply there is only a few officials in the imperial court that could field a private army.

Most army is under the Council of War. 

Other than the few people that have contributed to the expansion of the Empire, there were not many officials that were allowed to hold private army 

And Aero is one of that people. 

Some people wanted to recruit his private army but did not dare too. 

This is because having a private army without deserving to would only paint a target on their back. The Emperor did not actually like his subject to have private army.

But the privilege of Aero having his own private army was given during the last administration, the decree of the founder of the Empire, the father of the current Emperor.

So, even the current Emperor is helpless to overturned this reward. He could but one could only imagine the memorial that he had to read and the countless of weeks debating about this matter with the official.

Not to mention the accusation that would surely be given to him

Since people would accuse him of ingratitude, unfilial and many others. 

Aero reputation as one of the founding members of the empire is strong in the mind of the people and the officials of the court.

Whether they like him or not, nobody would deny that the Chancellor had done the most in contributing toward the Empire and ensuring its prosperity

That is one of the reason why his private army even though he was not there was not touch by anyone. 

It is also quite touching for Aero to know that they still regarded him as their lord even after years had passed.

when Kyle come to them and showed his token to them, the leader of his private army simply once again inform the Emperor that they would be doing another military drill. 

No one found it out of the ordinary.

They went to the forest and when they had made sure that they were not followed, they then ride toward the Ethylred Plains and gather with the army and then once again fall to Aero control

Aero take a long look at his officer and he smiles a bit. Not all people wanted to deceive you. He sometime envies the naïveté of this people.

Aero could be cunning and sly but that is just one side of his personality. 

The virtues that he has, he usually hides. 

It is not because he ashamed of doing good thing. 

It is simply because the people he deals with treated kindness as a weakness. And as such he would hide his virtue and his kindness and his heart but flaunt his fearsome side.

When you are with tigers, don't act like a sheep if you don't want to be eaten. 

You have to act like a tiger and if you want to be at the top of the chain, then you have to act like you are the biggest and baddest of tiger.

Sighing, he then enters back his war tent. 

He knows he needs to finish ranking up all of his skill before the one-hour time is up.

Even now, the outside of his tent is full of sound of officers barking orders to their subordinate to hurry up.

With Kyle and Quentin going first, they could open the way. 

And Aero doesn't think that this takes is hard for them since they probably would not be able to withstand Kyle attack.

Not to mention, Kyle has replenished his army with the Veranis soldiers who had surrendered. It is without a doubt that Kyle would use those surrendered soldiers to attack the fort. 

He also put another strategy in the letter

The fort could easily be taken. But not the cities. However, if they use the right tactics, taking down cities is easy.

This opportunity that had opened up by killing the monarch of a country must be used fully.

They need to be fast.

The news of the battle would not have reached the westernmost border of Veranis yet. As such, there would be no large resistance. There would only be small resistance and small resistance could be easily be swept away.

What they have going on right now is speed. And high morale, fresh out of a victorious battle

As such, they need to overwhelm any resistance with speed. And even if those generals at the borders of Veranis got the news, they would be indecisive and they would be cautious.

What is the reason for their cautiousness?

It is simple.

The name of a person, the shadow of a tree. Aero of the East!

His name and reputation would make these generals hesitant.

If this happens in the Empire and the Emperor had die in an excursion or a battle, Aero would gauge the reaction and might take the throne for himself if the situation permitted it.

He would then stabilize the situation, united the forces and drive back the invasion or plan a countermeasure to stop the crisis 

But, as Alexander had no sons and had no heir, any declaration of wanting to be king could probably be seen as an act of disloyalty. 

It is nothing of course compared to the throne that awaited such person that dares to act in this moment, to declare himself king.

But such person must be determined in making the decision. He needs to bear the accusation that will come later that would surely rock the foundation of his establishment as king and quickly take the capital.

But they would be cautious because even if they manage to take the capital before anyone else, they then need to face the forces of Vanheim after that.

On one side, there would be people claiming that he is the usurper and wanted to oust him form the throne. On the other, there is external enemies coming in.

Is it not the throne a seat of thorns? Who would want to sit in such a throne?

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