Chapter 42 - I need ten Guards

"New rules you say? I'm listening my King and i am forced to obey as well."

Said Commander Alia.

"From now on the main entrance shall have twenty men and women guarding the area. One guard shall be armed with this crossbow and hidden from a distance, and if the Blacksmith can forge more crossbows, tell him to forge eight more."

Ordered Eric.

"Yes my lord. But may i advise you for our main defence to have less guards armed with crossbows. Eight seems to much. You are limiting a guard's potential by putting him or her behind a small crossbow."

Said Commander Alia in concern.

"I do not plan to put all eight on the main defence. I need ten guards. Ten Calidum Lutum guards that is. And four of them will be wielding Crossbows."

Said Eric and with a bit of a nervous tone he said

"Those ten Guards will join me on reclaiming Gaster Kingdom."

"My King this is unacceptable. If the world knew we exist, you will find them doing whatever they can to scrap personal profit from Lan Zhe. If not war, we will face much different trouble."

Explained Commander Alia with anger.

"Chan got away from us. He will inform the King of your existence. War is already upon you. War is upon us. If we don't start reclaiming Kingdom's one by one as soon as possible, Xakro's army will be so big that he would be able invade this place with minimal losses."

Said Eric. Well more like yelled. And continued

"Xakro mostly hides behind his army even though he can do much damage by himself.

And considering the damage i caused on Crutal Kingdom, he can't afford to lose more soldiers. Meaning we have the opportunity to attack small areas one by one until we make that coward bend the knee. For all we know, soldiers from Meridionali ignis are probably marching their way to Crutal Kingdom to replace some or all of the dead soldiers. We need to act now!"

"But what if Xakro's army actually does attack? We can't risk having less guards here, ultimately weakening our first line of defence. I need all if not more, of my guards here. This is the place they should raise a sword for."

Said Commander Alia.

"That's why i will only take ten guards. Forty five of our guards can fight off hundreds of ill.u.s.tratios. Imagine if all those forty five had full body armour. Not to forget the four hundred and five Lava Controllers. We have all the defence we need to fight off an army right now."

Explained Eric and continued

"But before the enemy's army gets bigger or before they start invading other continents, we need to reclaim Kingdoms one by one. We are fighting against an entire continent here. We need all the troops we can get. And if Gaster Kingdom can offer fifty soldiers that will fight by our side. Temporarily having ten guards less here is worth the risk."

"Gaster Kingdom has about one hundred Guards. And they are all ill.u.s.tratios. I doubt that any of the ill.u.s.tratios will side us. But i get your point of view. We need all the troops we can get. Be it ten, be it twenty, be it fifty. I'll have the best men and women ready."

Replied Commander Alia with a agreeing yet griefing tone.

"No. I do not wish to take all of the best guards. Get me one of the best, three of the average and six of the worse.

That way the ten will progress better. And the worse will escape their bad reputation.

I will ask my father to squeeze in some training before the initial attack. He is a Grand Master when it comes to wielding a sword after all."

Explained Eric with a comforting tone.

"Agreeable plan. Sorry for having doubts. I only wish the best for this town. And you are a kid after all. I did not expect such battle plans from a child honestly."

Replied  Commander Alia while looking at the ground.

"I do get you. But to make Ignis one again, we need to fight for it. The enemy is thousands of steps ahead of us. We can't risk going steps back."

Said Eric with his tone gradually calming down.

"I'll ask the blacksmith to boost the production speed. We have swords for all fifty five men but we need full body armour for all of them as well. The Sword for your father should be done in a few hours. I'll have a couple of the miners assist the Blacksmith as well. Although i doubt he can forge crossbows. But My King may i ask a question?"

She proceeded to ask in a curious tone.

"Twenty guards will guard the main entrance. Ten shall aid you on the battle of Gaster Kingdom, what about the other twenty five?"

"If all forty five guard the main entrance all day long, if an attack is to happen, they will be to tired for it.

We have forty five Guards. Make sure they all get enough rest and reward any guard with extra food if he or she works longer."

Explained Eric.

"But My King. We are already low on food. Is it wise to give out more? Some are already avoiding to eat in order for the weaker to survive."

Replied Commander Alia with slight sadness.

"I will solve the food situation within a week. First we need to see how many ignite gems we have after fixing the issues in the farm."

Said Eric and continued

"I will lead this great civilization out of darkness."