Chapter 172 More

He knows, then, the blue-eyed person is the enemy.

And he wakes up.

The overly abstract prophecy was discussed. That was it. From the visions, the oracles and philosophers, along with the king's counsel, worked out that the kingdom was indeed in danger, a month ago. To dive deeper into the vision of King Folvin, the corpus of mages and scholars still, to this day, researched old books of dreams in hope of finding actual clues about how the kingdom was supposed to fall down, how it was attacked, and so, how it could be defended.

The vision wasn't categorical: If it appeared to the king, it was so that a different outcome could be sought.

Still, the vision terrified many scholars. The flames. There were flames. Some said that flames, in this context, were synonymous with divine retribution, with a long-awaited punishment for one's own sins. Some other gray-bearded scholars, masters of books, were even more freaked out when they wisely added that, in the vision, no one notices the flames. The kingdom faced a danger that they couldn't even see. Even when they were dying, through these visions, they didn't even know it.

Still, there was hope. Some said that the sun, unwilling to dive down behind the horizon, represented the saint lands of Roerden, unwilling to let the cold, darkness of the night through, intent on protecting the kingdom against the ill it faces.

But, really, some others opposed such a comment, saying that the sun did vanish in the end anyway.

And that's all the scholars could do. They could discuss the prophecy and try to figure it out, but that was all. It had been a month ago already. Theories, there were plenty. Still, most details about the vision were unsure.

If there was one thing they could be sure of, it was that they couldn't be sure: To protect themselves against their opponent, they needed to know who the enemy was. The blue-eyed person. Unfortunately, the enemy was hidden, and he would stay that way.

If there was one thing they knew, it was that the enemy was sly. So, it was decided unanimously that, in order to save the kingdom from its peril, the kingdom needed to be rid of its known enemies first. All of them. If all enemies disappeared, surely, that particular enemy would be defeated, too.

It was rather simple, but it was the best the corpus of scholars, along with the king's counsel, could find. At any rate, at a very pragmatic level, it made a lot of sense. Super-deadly or not, an enemy was never an enemy if they weren't at least that significantly dangerous.

Two of three matters had been discussed. All three children of the king listened attentively to the king as he spoke. With his father, the eldest son of the king also actively partook in the discussion. While his father narrated his vision, he was silent, but when the two of them explored the scholars' verdict, he had more to say than his father. After all, the unkingly ruler was faithful to his nickname. He didn't care much about what the oracles said about the matter of his kingdom. His eldest son knew better than him, and he shared his knowledge with his two younger siblings, while the king went back to his wine.

The king had done his part. Now, the eldest prince took the reins. The third matter was hence tackled.

In the example of the unkingly fat man, the gathering had more wine. Glasses were filled with sweet liquor, then passed around.

Warfare, then. What about it?

The State of Roerden knew war. Many wars. Always wars. To conquer the land, to chase away the State's enemies, and to finally know peace.

To this day, Ladafar still stood. The neighboring kingdom of the East, Voisiran, was also well into war against Roerden. Lastly, though the Demon Lords Alliance of Benelloan still hadn't made their position clear about the wars to come, after their overwhelming victory against the Elven Forest, it was known that the Independent Monster-city, which was Ladafar, was, by means of a recent marriage, allied to the Demon Faction.

So, the enemies were three. On today's front, however, the Demon Lords Alliance wasn't officially taking part in the war against Roerden. So, at best, the enemies were two, and at worst, they were three.

The point of their private meeting, without the captain of the military, was to lay the possible foundations of plans of war to come. Evidently, the three children wouldn't dive too deeply into it, right now, but they still discussed things, under their father's eyes.

A question was asked to Elina. Reports had confirmed that the help the Demon Faction sent to Ladafar dated back from roughly a month ago. Factually, it was understood that, when Elina was in charge of the campaign against the demi-humans of Ladafar, who were predominantly orcs, they were already backed up by the Demon Faction. So, the eldest son asked, what did Elina think about that?

She skillfully comprehended the question and responded that, according to her military judgment, though it may lack experience and wisdom, the orcs weren't much of a threat still. When Elina came back to the capital, after the battle of Greenfield, she was said to have failed her father with the results she brought home.

Even if she won a victory, the casualties in the Roerden army were far too many. After a day or two, the kingdom understood that the girl didn't fail her nation, but that she had done quite well, actually.

Yes, Ladafar was backed up by a third party. Yes, the demi-human threat that was estimated to last no longer than a season at most, became significantly more powerful.

Still, according to Elina, if the orcs weren't much of a threat then, they still were that way. Though the average level of their army was estimated higher than it was supposed to be, with no technology, weapons, and equipment, the orcs could be defeated.

The gathering sucked on their wine slowly, so as not to become too intoxicated, and the night went on. Honestly, the System tasked me with gathering information, but at this point, I just listened attentively without (mentally) taking notes.