The Crimson Magister Chapter 72: V2-Intermission: The Southern Border

Read chapter 72 of The Crimson Magister by Okram on NovelPedia.

V2-Intermission: The Southern Border The war was not something any sane individual wished to participate in. While some exceptions existed, it was not the norm. When one stepped onto the battlefield, they usually carried with them a mixture of reasons why they fought. Some fought for glory, some fought for personal satisfaction, and some fought to defend their home out of sheer patriotism. However, what differentiated this war against the beast was that if the elves lost, they would have been enslaved and used as cattle for the southern savages. This was not mere war, but a struggle for existence. No sentient being wished to be eaten and treated like a cattle animal. Thus, even if weaker, each elven warrior fought with a ferocity never before seen in their history. Despite their relative weakness, defeat meant becoming food for the savages. While the Southern Beasts could have crushed them a long time ago, the presence of elites kept them at bay. Any time a large groups of beasts were spotted by their scouts, either Azure Hallowshield or the Spymaster Lira and their unit would have been dispatched to deal with them. Thus, normal soldiers were left to deal with small amounts of remaining invaders. However, in the past few days, the number of skirmishes they engaged in grew sparser. Two heavily armored men stood at a hastily built wooden watchtower as their green cloaks fluttered in the wind; their duty was to raise an alarm if the beasts approached, and fortunately, none ventured toward their outpost. “This really should make me feel more at ease, yet I cannot seem to get it out of my head that they are planning something.” “Commander, the beasts are not capable of strategy; if their numbers are reduced, it might mean that they have lost a sizable portion of their population and can no longer maintain their attacks.” “I suppose so, I suppose so.” The commander crossed his arms as his gaze fell over yonder. It was a quiet night that he prayed for, yet now it filled him with unease. “Boy, send the scouts, I won’t be able to rest until it is confirmed that no beasts are waiting in ambush.” The last thing we need is another Seventh Moon fiasco. Losing so many soldiers to an ambush was an embarrassment beyond compare, yet he had not heard from the royal family. His first assumption was that they merely did not think it was worth their attention. Arrogant as ever. His brow quivered, and he leaned on the wooden railing. Nobody had ever questioned why the beastman tribes united merely to fight against his home. Of course, it was not true unity like humanity or elves had when they built their kingdoms; instead, it was a loose alliance of various tribes, some prone to violence, while in rare exceptions, they went against their nature. The tribal alliance had attacked them, and ever since then, elven lives have suffered. Before they fought with each other, they thus kept their numbers to a manageable degree. They could protect their citizens from being captured and eaten, yet until recently, it grew harder to do so. Then, the attacks grew sparse. “What if it’s some kind of trick?” The generals would not believe him, nor did the capital respond to his concerns; it was like his leaders wanted their people to become pets to creatures of lesser intellect. His gaze turned up toward the full moon that hung above his head. A soft sigh escaped his lips as his eyes wandered to the blood-stained clearing in front of him. A single light flickered in the forest that bordered the clearing in the distance, which prompted him to squint his eyes. Then appeared two more, then three. His eyes widened, “An Attack!” While it shouldn’t have made him relieved, it was certainly better than the silent unease that invaded him. He turned sharply toward the guardhouse and pushed the door open. Inside was a small chair, a table with various reports, and a single candle that served as the light source. From the ceiling, a long rope connected to the bronze bell that h