Chapter 162: War

Miser was flustered by the question. Mia? A queen? How could his little child be a queen? That position entailed pressure and problems that she could not handle.

"Yes," Mia responded. "I want to be a queen."

Miser's jaw dropped as he heard Mia's response. He did not believe what he had just heard.

"What? Mia, no!" Miser said as he tried to convince Mia to back down.

"I want to do this father," Mia said with a resolute voice. "I want to avenge my mother."

Once Mia mentioned her mother, Miser was caught tongue-tied. He did not have any retort with her response since he also wanted to avenge his late wife.

However, he did not think that Mia ascending to the throne will be the answer to all their problems. She was just a child!

Mia looked at her father, and she immediately knew what he was thinking about. She had known her father her whole life, and she knew when she was being underestimated.

"I am not a child, father," Mia said while stomping her feet on the ground. "I can stand on my own feet."

"Queen? This little girl?" Aric asked as he looked at the tiny little girl in front of him.

"Yes. That's the only way we can with the war against the commander," Hugh stated. "Mia has to ascend the throne and throw the commander out of his position."

Darren stopped in his tracks and thought deeply about the situation. As a good friend of Miser, he also wanted to stop Mia from ascending the throne.

However, this was also a valid way to win the war. They did not have to kill thousands upon thousands of soldiers to win, they just have to convince them to surrender.

He knew best that the kingdom of Cheroque loved the royal family, especially Mia's mother. If it was reported that Mia was alive and well, they could gather enough loyal supporters in the court to overthrow the commander.

"Darren, please help me convince Mia that this is an outrageous plan!" Miser said as he turned towards his old friend.

However, contrary to his expectations, Darren only stayed silent. He could see that Darren was a bit guilty of siding with Mia on this one.

"No! You too? You are all crazy!" Miser shouted as he burst out of the room.

Mia was worried for her father, so she ran after him. However, Darren stopped her in her tracks.

"Don't go after him. He needs some time alone."

Mia stopped and looked longingly at the door. However, she turned her head to everyone in the room and shows a resolute face.

"How are we going to plan this?"

———————

It was deep in the night and tents were set up all over the place in a large plain surface full of grass. Inside these tents were the resting bodies of the Cheroque knights.

There was also a large tent in the middle that housed the commander of the army. He was currently sitting at his desk while looking at a piece of parchment paper.

Then, a smile grew on his face as he observed the contents of the paper.

The paper was a portrait of the current Mia. She was young and elegant, but she was as beautiful as her mother.

The line strokes on the painting were exquisite, but Mia's expression was that of loneliness. This was taken the day that she was taken hostage.

"You are your mother's daughter," he said as if he was talking to Mia via the portrait.

Then, his behavior quickly changed as he crushed the paper into a crumble.

"I hated your mother. She tossed me away for some country bumpkin that she met one day."

Then, he put the crumbled parchment paper on the candle next to him and lit it up in flames. It quickly burned up.

"Once I ascend as king with you as my queen, I will kill you with my own hands. Only then will that filthy blood be purged from history," the commander said as his expression got nastier and nastier.

"HA…HAHAHA…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

—————————

Hugh and the group had just finished a full of day of preparation. Even though they spent many hours talking, they still had not come up with one single plan.

There was too much that they did not know about the Cheroque kingdom and its citizens. Would they even believe that Mia was of royal blood?

They decided to sleep it off and decided the next day. They were all tired, and they needed a recharge of their energies, especially Darren who was still severely injured.

"Father," Mia called out.

Mia stepped out into the backyard and saw her father looking up at the skies.

Miser did not look at Mia and just continued to look at the stars.

"Father, I want your support on my decision. I cannot bear to go through this ordeal without you." Mia said as she approached Miser.

However, Miser continued to look at the stars in the skies as if he could see something there.

"See this, Arene? Your daughter is as bullheaded as you," Miser said as he addressed the sky full of stars.

Mia frowned and looked at the sky. Arene was the name of her mother, and it seemed like Miser was talking to her mother.

"When you were just a child, your mother said that once she leaves this world, she will wander around the skies as those twinkly little lights," Miser said as he pointed at the skies.

Mia saw the wonders of the constellation, but she could not see any signs of her mother.

"Sometimes, I like to pretend that she is there. I talk to her about stuff, stuff that I'm really worried about." Miser said as he put his hands in the sky and grabbed it.

"When you were kidnapped, I also talked to her about it. I kid you not, as soon as I finished my words, a shooting star traveled through the skies. The next day, I found Hugh and his group, and the rest is history."

Mia heard that amazing story, but it could be nothing more than a coincidence. However, she was hopeful knowing that there was a chance that her mother was watching over me.

"Mother, can you help me convince father? He's stubborn!" Mia shouted at the stars.

Miser chuckled. He shook his head and turned towards his daughter, and hugged her.

"I am just worried about you. You're my dear little daughter," Miser said as he hugged Mia under the stars.

Unbeknownst to them, a shooting star blasted through the skies.

———————

Inside the room, Hugh and his group were all alone. Serena had her arms crossed while one of her feet tapped the ground.

"So?" Serena said with an annoyed look. "Are you both going to tell me why we are going to war?"

This whole plan was invited by Jane and Hugh without any consultation. It was such a huge decision, but they treated it like it was nothing.

"It's the only way to win," Hugh said. However, this did not convince Serena.

"Why do you want to win this war? We stand to gain nothing from it. We are probably behind the other groups that were sent here. We still have to explore the whole dungeon," Serena blurted out.

"Dungeon, exactly," Jane said. "This is a dungeon."

Serena frowned as Jane said those words. At first, she did not understand what Jane was talking about. It was as if she blurted out random words.

However, she was soon brought into a deep spiral as everything came into place. She realized what this world was, and how to navigate through it.

"This is a dungeon. This war was most likely an event that would inevitably happen." Jane said.

"That's the reason why we were sent to this town, wasn't it?" Serena asked as she got through the realization.

"Yes. Sooner or later, the war is going to happen. Then, we as students will be enlisted into the military and fight in the civil war," Hugh said.

"I think that is how our teacher is going to score us, through the war effort," Jane said.

"Now that we are at the helm of the war, we stand a better chance at winning while also getting a tremendous amount of points," Hugh said as a smile crept upon his face.

Now that Serena knew the real reason why Hugh and Jane wanted to go to war, she was also on board.

——————

The next day, the commander's army marched into the plains. There were at least 3,000 troops marching and riding under the Cheroque flag.

The commander sat in a luxurious carriage that was pulled by four horses that seemed to be the finest stallions.

They continued to March until they saw the town in their sights.

Such a big army as them will not remain unseen. The townsfolks were alarmed as they raced back towards their houses in fear of the army invading.

Inside Miser's house was an emptiness that could not be described. Hugh and his group along with Miser's family were long gone.