Chapter 176: Thoughts

"Victor," I hear a voice call out to me within my sleep, urging me to open my eyes.

Upon doing so, I am met with the sight of a slightly perturbed Krul who's frowning.

"Is there something wrong?" I ask while raising my body from the bed.

"Yes," she replies before going silent.

Knowing that she's just taking a moment to think, I let her be as I use Clairvoyance to check the state of the town.

After a short while of looking around, I conclude that everything is okay.

"I had a dream," Krul all of a sudden says.

Could it be another vision? Hasn't this been happening more frequently nowadays?

I'm starting to believe that there is something that has triggered this.

"What was the dream about?" I inquire as I position myself so that I press my back against the end of the bed.

"I don't know," she responds with confusion all over her face, "All I know that it was a strange dream, and just thinking about it makes me uncomfortable."

For something to make Krul uncomfortable, it can't be anything simple.

"Alright," I say in a casual tone, "Let's forget all about that dream for now, as it's pointless to deliberate on something that we don't know much about."

Sharing my sentiment, Krul approvingly nods her head before asking,

"How are the soldiers doing? I highly doubt that this town is large enough to house several thousand humans."

"You're right about that," I reply, "However, these are soldiers we're speaking of. They're somewhat used to sleeping in uncomfortable positions and places, so they managed to make it through the night this time around."

"Yet, here you are, sleeping on a comfy bed with beauty on your side," Krul states teasingly.

Hearing her refer to herself as beauty so brazenly issues a light chuckle from me before I say,

"Stop speaking of such meaningless topics already, will you?"

{Father, it is highly recommended to make haste and complete the Calling.}

Hearing Irene say this in such a time and manner, it almost feels like she's trying to intervene, but I believe that I'm overthinking things.

With my attention having been brought back to my objective, I get off the bed and begin getting dressed.

---

"Your Highness!" a soldier respectfully calls out while jogging toward me.

The soldier extends his arm, presenting me with an envelope that has the seal of the royal family on it.

Assuming that it's from Henrietta, I nod toward the soldier, which he takes as me dismissing him before I open the envelope and take a look at what's written inside.

As expected, I am unable to make out most of what's written except quite a few things that I picked up in my times while staying in the academy.

Thus, I make my way back to the house I just came out of, in hopes of having Siesta read the letter out to me.

--

Once again, the content of the letter was related to the noble families, stating that the personal army has reached the fort by the time I receive this letter.

Well, isn't that just great? We now have more men stationed in the fort.

Perhaps, I should have them patrol the border to prevent any 'mouse' from escaping.

Now that I think about it, who are the ones in charge of all these soldiers? Surely, they have someone giving them orders, right?

---3rd POV---

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Guiche dubiously asks a blonde-haired girl with blue eyes.

"What, are you doubting my ability to give proper orders?" the girl responds with a snort.

"No, it's just that this doesn't seem right," Guiche hurriedly says in an attempt to appease her.

"I don't care what you think," she says before gesturing to a man to come closer, "He won't recognize me if I don't do something worthy of recognition."

Guiche has a hopeless look on his face as he lets out a tired sigh before walking away from the girl.

"You called for me, Young Miss?"

The girl has prideful look on her face as she nods her head and orders,

"Prepare the other men. We're going to cross the border."

As a response to her words, the man's eyes widen for a split-second before he nods his head and leaves to do as he was told to.

The girl then proceeds to walk around in the fort with a thoughtful expression on her face before she finally nods her head and says,

"This is the least I could do…"

---1st POV---

"Your Highness, the scouts have returned," Yvonne reports.

"And?"

"They've made reports about the state of three nearby towns," she continues, "As Your Highness suspected, only one of the towns is in an unusual state."

"Which also happens to be the town that we will have to go through if we want to get to the castle, right?"

"Correct."

How vexing. I could've gone ahead and made use of Norse Magic to form a gateway through which the men could've easily reached the castle, but that's no longer possible now that there is the issue of 'infected' townspeople.

Now that it has come to this, I will be making the most use out of my abilities from here on out. Even if it will reveal some of my cards.

After all, this Platform will become something like my personal world where I will build an army that is by no means going to be ordinary.

Having settled my thoughts, I say in a solemn tone,

"Yvonne, we will be proceeding as planned. However, tell the soldiers that they will soon be experiencing some supernatural happenings."

Yvonne seems to be confused by my words and wants to ask me several questions, but in the end, she decides to keep them to herself and leave the house to do as I instructed her to.

The plan is simple. I will have the men practice Organic Constructs mid-battle while gifting them with Insight as well.

This somewhat worked out back in Project Charlotte, so I'm wondering if it will be the same thing here.

In case this succeeds, I can have an army of men with alterable bodies making them capable of adapting to virtually any situation.

Just the thought of it brings a smile to my lips, and probably a shiver down the spines of my foes.

Nevertheless, I can't get excited too early, as there always is the chance that things might not work out as well as I expect them to.

"You're planning something again," Krul who has been speaking with Saturnus for the past few minutes suddenly says while gazing at me.

"The Creator is always planning," Saturnus remarks, "That was the case back in Project Higgins as well."