Chapter 107

107 Battle for pride

Finally, the old man gives in. This is Anne’s chance to save the orphanage children.

“We need to hide them closer, even though the shed was hidden, but it doesn’t effectively guard,” Anne said to the old man while tapping her fingers into her face, “Do you perhaps have a cellar at the inn?” she asked the old man once again.

“Yes, the aggrus cellar, on the third floor.” Said one soldier.

Vale and Anne looks at each other and nodded, Vale took the opportunity to explain to the others, “We hide them in the aggrus cellar, there it will be a good temperature for the children to be comfortable, and also we could guard them properly together.”

The old man massaged his head. “You forgot one thing, though, their scent. I hide them here because the bushes and the flowers could hide their scents from the Lycans.”

“That’s why we are hiding them in the aggrus cellar. The aggrus aroma will mask their scent.” Said Anne once again.

The others murmured while two soldiers talked to the old man. Xavier squeezed Anne’s arms and whispered, “Great job. Now let me convince him.” He joins the conversation and has a heated debate with the two soldiers.

When Anne saw Xavier smile and nodded at her, she open the orbim and saw Justice’s face in the mirror, “Hey, we did it. You should be ready to transport the children to go back to the inn.”

Suddenly Justice’s face changes into Xander, “Oh Gods! Really?! I’ll go there right now!” and once again his face appears but with such annoyance to the teenager.

.....

“I’ll see you there, and we need to talk just the five of us.” Said Justice to Anne by the orbim.

Anne nodded her head and then close the orbim. Vale and Henry were talking to some of the soldiers, discussing the transport of the children. Anne finally get the chance to open the door, she tried to pry open the chain, until two strong hands break the chain easily, it was Xander, and when he opened the door, two dozen orphanage children with various conditions lay on the floor.

“Vale! Please bring my medicine bag. I put it on my horse.” Anne shouted at Vale, where the magi captain rushed into the horses right away.

With the medicine bag on her, Anne begins to treat every wounded and ill children. Looking at their poor condition, she was glad that she was here on time. There were three children with fever, and two thirteen years with major wounds, possibly from the debris of the fight.

“What do you need? I’ll bring it here immediately.” Justice said to her, while his right hand squeezed at her shoulder.

“I want you to take the healthy children away first. This way, I could concentrate on the sick and the wounded.” Anne instructed Justice, while her hand was busy making the herbs mix for the feverish little boy beside her.

“I’m on it.” Justice steps outside the shed immediately, arranging the transport for the orphanage.

Xander was looking at Anne and her interaction with all four gentlemen. He was actually impressed by how well they worked together. All he could see was that Anne was the center of them all, they circling around the girl, even the crown prince, as the kingdom’s beloved royalty.

“That girl will become something greater for this kingdom.” Said a voice from beside Xander. Xander turns around to see the old man also looking tentatively at Anne. “Xavier looks so infatuated with her, all he talks about was her. It was kind of annoying.” Mumbled Xander to his uncle.

“Are you jealous that your brother finally met with his mate?” chuckles the old man to Xander.

Xander scoffed at his uncle. “Not because of that! Xavier won’t stop talking about the girl like she was some kind of special thing.”

“Oh, so you’re jealous of her, the one that getting all of your brother’s attention?” the old man was smiling, he then patted Xavier’s back several times, “Don’t worry, you will get your time with him, after all, you’re his family.”

Xander looks at his brother Xavier, he was in the middle of holding the young children inside the carriage, and together with Henry, they display good teamwork together, “I don’t think so, uncle, I can see that he obtained a new family now.”

Two hours went by, and Anne finally finished taking care of all the sick, orphaned children. She instructed that the cellar had adequate bedding and blankets, especially for the ill and the wounded one. Thankfully, the cellar has enough room for the children. They could sit and even sleep comfortably on the bedding with fresh new clothes.

After tending to the sickness and the wounded, Anne now checked the healthy ones. She asked the cook to prepare a bone soup with moobull meat and herbs to help them build up the nutrition in their body. Henry helped her distribute the food while she and Vale feeds the wounded and the sick. Justice and Xavier were inside the hideout once again.

“Don’t forget your promise. Anne already delivered hers, even using her skill to help you treat the children.” Justice reminded the old man, giving him a warning so that he couldn’t forget his own promise.

The old man glared at him. “Don’t worry, I will keep my promise. However, I never asked for your girl to treat the prisoners.”

“The prisoners?!” Glared Justice back at the old man. “They are young children! Who clearly desperately needed a healer! You should be thankful for Anne because I don’t see any healer on your soldiers.”

“We don’t need any healers. Dying on the battlefield is an honor for every werewolf.” Said the old man with a puffed chest, heaving with pride.

“What a good mindset, and you always wonder why your species are dwindling,” Justice said to the old man, while he calmly sip a glass of aggrus.

Being offended by Justice’s words, the old man asked the crown prince once again, “Are you mocking me, your majesty?”

“I can assure you I was just telling you the truth and nothing more.” Justice laid his words, not even trying to mince sweet or considerate words toward the old man.

Justice was, in fact, telling the truth. The other error of the werewolf was that they relied on so much of their own ability of fast healing, they intend to ignore other crucial job for their species, like the alchemist and the healer. They only become huntsmen or a knight, sometimes a magi like the old man and Xander.

The fast healing has its own set of challenges, and the old man, as the only leader of the remaining werewolf pack, never saw any problem. Unlike the Lycans who distribute their soldiers’ power evenly, they set a healer, and even have their own alchemist, the Lycans knew to cover their weakness very well.

The old man stared at Justice for a while, and then he let out a sigh. “Just go back to rest. Tomorrow, more soldiers will come and the preparation for the fight will begin.”

They disbanded as soon as the discussion was over. Justice and Xavier were waiting for Anne and the others at the cellar. He orders some food for all of them, thinking that they will be hungry when they go back to the room. His instinct was right, Anne, Henry, and Vale were coming with tired bodies and hungry bellies. They eat the food wholeheartedly while discussing another secret matter.

“Kirara is already back from the capital.” Said Justice to everyone in the room. Vale, Henry, and Anne stop their movement for a while. They were waiting for Justice to continue. “Bernard will be coming with my army, hopefully before the battle.”

“Is it possible, though? I mean, the lycans are in their element here, not to mention their power and number.” Henry still doubts the backup troops that will be coming for them.

“Better than nothing, do you think we could fight that monster without the help of the army from the capital?” Justice asked the questions back to Henry.

“Justice was right, werewolf is powerful but not as powerful as the glycans,” Xavier’s statement run deep into his own mind, “To make matter worse, the arrogance of my own family, could ruin the whole thing, we will never defeat the Lycans with werewolf pack alone, we need a backup army, and thankfully Justice idea to order Kirara for a backup coming as soon as he sense how crucial the win for the werewolf.”

“If only you told us about this sooner.” Muttered Vale, a bittered smile plastered on his face, “But, that was your decision after all. What can we do about it.”

“I am sorry, everyone, I... I just don’t want my private problem to become another problem for all of you.” A guilty conscience came into Xavier.

Justice heaved a breath, he stepped in front of Xavier and hold his shoulder, “Xavier, whether you like it or not, this private matter of yours will become the problem of our kingdom if you and your uncle failed in the battle against the lycans, do you ever thought about that?”

The only thing Xavier could muster is to shake his head. Anne stands up and smiles at everyone. “Now that everyone already cleared their heads, how about we go and get some rest? There will be a long day ahead of us.”

Justice suddenly held Anne’s hand before she went and sat on the chair again. “Anne, before you go, I have some information for you.”

“What is it?” Asked Anne curiously.

“It’s about your exam result.”