“Charge!”
Tens of thousands of armored soldiers stormed toward the city walls, shields overhead to block the onslaught of arrows that rained down from atop the city walls. Near the front of the wave of soldiers, a hundred soldiers held not weapons in their “free” hand, but
communally
lifted a giant battering ram to break open the city’s gates.
Numerous
siege towers carried hundreds of soldiers toward the castle walls. Next to these monstrous vehicles of war, several hundred soldiers carried ladders just long enough to reach the top of the walls.
As the first soldiers reached the edge of the castle walls, they planted the feet of the ladders into the ground, then
hurriedly
climbed upward. From a distance, it looked like an army of ants trying to climb a mountain.
Atop the castle walls, the city’s defenders had their own weapons of war. Foot soldiers poured giant pots of oil over the ramparts, then archers shot burning arrows into the mass of bodies below. As the pools of oil lit on fire, the unfortunate soldiers below the walls burned alive. To add to the chaos, multitudes of heavy rocks rained down upon those waiting for their time to climb the ladder.
The lucky cockroaches who survived their climb up the long ladders met a wall of spears and swords. Survival was impossible
, of course
. They could only try to fall forward, creating space for the next to make it further.
As the two sides continued to trade lives, the invading forces’ commander calmly watched on from a nearby hill.
“Hm.”
After looking at the progress his troops had made, he shook his head. “The enemy’s soldiers are performing much better than expected. At this rate, we’ll be able to take the city, but not without a great deal of bloodshed.
“Even worse, this will eat up valuable time before the Armoa Kingdom can respond.”
He scratched his head, then turned around to face the officers standing behind him.
“Any ideas?”
The various officers glanced at each other before one responded. “No, sir. Our teams scouting the city’s four walls for weaknesses, but they haven’t found anything yet.
”
“Hm.”
The commander looked back toward the city, while the officers behind him kept silent, afraid to disturb him.
A few miles away, a lone horse
slowly
pulled a carriage down a dirt road. Whatever designs and decorations the carriage might have
previously
had, the paint had long faded, and many of the delicate designs had chipped away. The body of the carriage itself had several holes in it,
clumsily
covered up by fabrics and other haphazard means.
Inside the carriage, a single man laid sprawled in its single seat, snoring
loudly
in his sleep.
Outside the carriage, however, several scouts
continuously
observed it, weapons at the ready.
One scout turned to a messenger behind him. “Inform the commander that we have spotted a carriage fitting his description. We will continue to observe, awaiting further orders.”
“Yes, sir!”
…
Half an hour later, the messenger had made his way to the commander’s tent.
“Message from scout four for the commander!”
The weary commander spoke without turning. “Speak.”
“Scout four has spotted a worn-down carriage along a road four miles from this location! He believes it is the one you spoke of two weeks prior.”
“Oh? Take command of a platoon and invite him here as fast as possible.”
“Yes, sir!”
The commander continued to shout orders. “Erlich, signal the men to retreat from the city walls and pull back to a safe perimeter.”
An officer saluted. “Yes, sir!”
Another officer couldn't help but speak up.
“Commander, why are we pulling back? It is only with continual pressure
that
we will
be able to
succeed in our siege of the city. Are you going to throw away the lives of our brothers who died for us to even reach the city walls?”
“Silence!” The commander stared at the officer until the latter averted his gaze.
“The one we are waiting for is a god amongst men. Wait, and you will see.”
“...” The officer didn’t speak up again, but doubt was clear in his eyes.
The commander sat down and smiled. He could still remember that scene from ten years ago…
On that day, that man had still been but a fledgling, one of the many students of the country’s special academy devoted to training the country’s future strategists.
It had been the day of testing - each class comprised but ten students, handpicked from the nation’s most prestigious families. The commander, back then, had been the examiner for battlefield intuition and strategy.
In short, battlefield
acumen.
To each student, he had asked the same ten questions, and mostly, he’d received the same answers.
“Your task is to conquer a city.
You have been assigned
50,000 men for this cause, but the city’s walls are tall and strong, its soldiers impeccable and willing to die for their lord.
The city is expected
to withstand your force of 50,000. Tell me, how will you conquer this city?
You are allowed
ten questions.”
Most of the students had
immediately asked
questions relevant to their own forces
as well as
the city. How high were the walls? How many archers did they have? What siege weapons were at their hands?
Yet, one student had responded otherwise.
“So, 50,000 soldiers is not enough to conquer the city?”
The commander had lifted an eyebrow, not without some anger. Had he not been clear?
“It is unlikely that 50,000 soldiers will
be able to
take the city, unless you discover a way to circumvent the enemy’s strengths.”
“Why not send 50,001?”
The commander, on that day, had
nearly
keeled over from anger. “... Please
give a reasoning
for your response.”
“The straw that broke the camel’s back.”
“...”
A thought had then entered his head, and he’d rephrased his original question. “What if I only gave you twenty thousand soldiers to conquer the city?”
“Then I would decide that I am fighting for the wrong side. If my country is providing me wood to fight steel, then it is the country’s fault for the loss.”
“So, if one day, if our Tero Kingdom could not provide you with the resources needed for you to fight your battles, you would betray us?”
“Betray?
Hardly
. A kingdom too weak to protect its people is no kingdom at all.”
He’d never imagined that the idiot who’d angered him so very much that day would have morphed into such a monster.
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