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The corner of Kant’s mouth rose ever so slightly into a smirk. He looked at Rowan, who appeared to be baffled.
He was laughing at Rowan. However, his expression remained calm. His furrowed brow revealed the anxiety he was feeling deep down. “Actually, we don’t have much water left after coming this far.”
“How much do we have left?” Rowan’s face became glum.
“Not enough,” Kant replied.
The temperature outside had shot up to 158 degrees Fahrenheit, yet the air inside the tent remained rather cool.
4
Both men silently sat across from each other without any other topic to continue the conversation.
Rowan’s face was sullen. It was as if he was the manifestation of dark clouds in the night, about to bring a storm. He knew what it meant to not have enough water at such a time. It was more about thirst, but it also meant that they would soon have to fight with all they had.
His senses were perceptive enough to know this after having spent so much time on battlefields.
There were more than 50 Jackalans found at the dunes, which were close to the Oasis Lookout. That meant the Oasis Lookout had long been taken over by the Jackalans.
“That’s how it is.”
Rowan eventually nodded and looked at Kant with a sour expression. “Bad news indeed, Your Lordship.”
“Yes, bad news indeed.” Kant nodded.
The air remained cool as Rowan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. “But, Your Lordship, aren’t you afraid?”
“Afraid? Afraid of what?” Kant asked as if he didn’t understand. “Why should I be afraid?”
“Heh.”
Rowan chuckled for a bit at the infuriating irony of it all. He was filled with frustration. It steadily built up in his chest and seemed like it was about to turn into flames of rage.
There was no way he was oblivious to what was happening. However, he dared not, and could not, do anything else.
Kant was an exiled baron, albeit the least favorite youngest son of the duke.
Regardless of if Rowan thought the man was better off dead, a proper excuse was needed for the baron to end up dead. For example, it would have been completely fine to have Kant taken out by the Jackalans on his way to his own fief. However, there was no way he could die by the hands of a knight of the Dukedom of Leo, especially one with no special status.
14
Kant was part of Duke Cameron’s bloodline, as well as a baron representing the Dukedom of Leo.
Kant had won the round. Unfortunately, that was how the rules of the world worked.
3
“We could head to the Oasis Lookout.”
Kant continued as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. “According to the records, there is spring water there.” Kant paused and looked at Rowan before continuing. “Fresh, sweet, high-quality spring water that is so good it could be used for brewing wine.”
5
“That is good to hear.” From Rowan’s perspective, all of that sounded pointless.
Rowan had no intention of humoring the baron any further. With a gloomy look on his face, he asked, “Your Lordship, what should we do from here on out?”
“Head to the Oasis Lookout,” Kant replied with a smile.
“But the Oasis Lookout has been taken over by a bunch of Jackalans. We have absolutely no chance of taking out those beasts with the kind of numbers we have on our side.” Rowan had grown impatient and laid the truth out.
Kant acted surprised. “What?”
“Your Lordship, we both understand what is going on here. Neither of us is a bloody fool.”
Rowan took a deep breath and said, “We need to take out the Jackalan Tribe at the Oasis Lookout one way or another. Otherwise, we will all end up dying of thirst in the Nahrin Desert. None of us will be able to survive.”
“This is serious.” Kant lowered his head as if he had not been getting what Rowan was saying.
Rowan ignored the movement and continued speaking. “My subordinates all have their own families. They have their beloved and their children. None of them want to stay here forever. That would be unfair to them.” He took a good look at Kant and said with a severe tone, “Your Lordship, I hope you can understand.”
“The Jackalans have taken the spring water of the Oasis Lookout for themselves.”
Kant seemed to nod with the same exasperation and said, “We will take out those Jackalans. Afterward, you all will be free to go home.”
“Any plans then?” Rowan asked while gritting his teeth.
Given how things turned out, there was no way he believed that Kant had no other plans in mind. Besides, it was this young baron who had caused all of this in the first place.
Kant, of course, had further plans to deal with the situation.
Struggling to hold back all his anger as he looked at Rowan, Kant said, “We will ambush the Jackalans while they are unaware of what is going on. The Jackalan Tribe doesn’t know that we’re here. So, we will lay in the dark. After all, we’re the ones with the element of surprise.”
4
“Ambush?”
Rowan’s voice slightly raised as he said, “The knights will suffer heavy casualties.”
Rowan took a deep breath before saying, “Please note that we only have 20 knights at our disposal, Your Lordship!”
“My people will be a part of this,” Kant said with a calm expression. “If our ambush is a success, the Jackalans will be thrown into chaos. We’ll take them all out before they can regroup and organize an effective retaliation.”
1
“Do you mean those peasants of yours, Your Lordship?”
Rowan’s face was filled with unconcealed sarcasm and ridicule. “I have to admit, they are good at working in the fields.”
“They can fight as well,” Kant replied.
“Your Lordship, you’re playing with fire here.” Rowan glared at Kant with anger in his eyes. “That is being irresponsible to my subordinates.”
Kant looked at the man in the eye calmly and replied, “It’s either that, or we all die of thirst in the desert.”
“This is a gamble with our lives on the line.” Rowan’s voice was somewhat raised.
“That is how war works,” Kant replied without shirking away. He remained looking at the middle-aged man while he rummaged through his pocket for a purse. “Will this be enough?”
The purse was woven with sturdy linen threads. Clanging metals could be heard as Kant threw the purse.
“Well
” Rowan caught it and felt the obvious weight of the metals in his hand.
Kant said, “This is a reward for the hard work of you and your men. It is 20 Great Silvers.”
“20 Great Silvers?” Rowan’s breath became somewhat rushed since that was not a small number.
Their monthly pay was only 20 Small Silvers each. The exchange rate between the two types of silver currencies was 100 Small Silvers for one Great Silvers.
7
That money meant that every one of the knights would receive five months’ worth of extra pay.
“I know you all could leave after escorting us to the Oasis Lookout, so this would be my pay for hiring you.”
Kant looked at Rowan and solemnly said, “You should be able to understand that if our ambush is a success, we may all come out alive.”
The term “ambush” meant a surprise attack out of nowhere. It was as simple and straightforward as it could have been.
One could have called it “sneaking up on one’s enemy” as well.
It was a tactic to deal an effective blow on one’s enemy when one’s forces were vastly outnumbered by said enemy.
The effect of an ambush was even more apparent when cavalry units were concerned since they had the advantage of high mobility. The effects of employing such a tactic would have been like no other. That was why Kant went all the way to pull what he pulled. It was to force Rowan and the knights to stay behind.
An ambush from only 10 Swadian Recruits and 20 Swadian Peasants would have been pathetic.
3
“When will we be doing this?”
Rowan’s expression softened after taking the Great Silvers.
He looked at Kant and said, “We need to wait for the right time when the Jackalans are the most relaxed. Perhaps dawn would be a good choice for doing so.”
“No.” Kant immediately shot down the suggestion.
While the Jackalans were at their most relaxed moments before dawn, Kant’s entourage did not have too much time to wait.
“Why?” Rowan frowned. He was very confident about his experience on the battlefield.
Kant explained, “The slaughtered Jackalans at the side of the dunes will have alerted those at the Oasis Lookout. If none of them return during sunset, the Jackalan Tribe will be able to guess that there are enemies nearby.”
Rowan’s breathing became ragged as he asked, “When should we do it?”
“Sundown.”
After thinking for a while, Kant seriously said, “We shall launch the ambush when the sun is about to set.”
“The evening glow,” Rowan added.
“That’s right. The sun will be our ally. The light shall conceal our presence.”
Kant took a deep breath and said, “There is no way they can detect us quickly enough. At that time, all your people need to do is charge as quickly as you can, throwing the entire tribe of Jackalans into chaos.”
Kant paused for a bit and slowly added, “After that, my men and I will charge as well.”
It was silent in the tent. It took quite a while before Rowan looked up and said, “Alright.”
“We won’t fail,” Kant said, smiling as he looked at Rowan. “Trust me. The battle today will be one of your proudest stories when your people are out having a good time drinking in the tavern.”
Rowan chuckled and glanced at Kant. “I sure hope so.”
He walked outside the tent and said to Kant, “We’ll get prepared.”
“Sure.” Kant nodded.
He was all alone in the tent again, but his expression had become incredibly severe.
A brutal battle was about to begin.
There were probably some among the knights escorting them that would end up dead. As for Kant’s current Swadian members, who were in charge of the construction of his estate from then on out, some would be lost as well.
You can’t go through life without making huge gambles once or twice.
Kant took a deep breath.
He chose to come to the Oasis Lookout. That in itself was tantamount to gambling on its own.
He had next to nothing, yet he wanted to live. The only way to secure a good life was to give it his all.
1
Kant touched the light crossbow by his side and chuckled in a self-deprecating manner. Well, it’s not like we’re going to lose for sure.
He had come all this way to win.
It was a victory he had to secure at all costs.